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The Larson Family Story...and Marriage

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Submitted By dpcarson
Words 3427
Pages 14
The Larson Family Story
FAS 331
Darrell Carson
11 October 2012

Academy Award winning actress, Gwyneth Paltrow stated in an interview that marriage is hard. She was referring to her union with the Coldplay front man, Chris Martin. Both Martin and Paltrow are in lines of work that help them to live relatively comfortable lives financially. Yet, by her own admission, without major financial burdens, marriage for them is still difficult (Heller, 2011). American poet and rapper, Notorious B.I.G. said in one of his most popular songs “Mo’ money, Mo’ problems” (Wallace, 1997). In this simple lyric, he was trying to convey the fact the money does not solve everything. In fact, it brings its own set of problems. While he may have been correct, the absence of money brings its own set of unique obstacles, especially within the family dynamic. Many marriage counselors will say that there are numerous pitfalls for all families. Children becoming teenagers, managing the day to day workings of a household, and parents getting older are just a few of the obstacles that families can face. However, financial stress can be one of the largest obstacles that a family has to tackle. In a poor economy, these problems are magnified. For the case of this paper, an imaginary family will be used to illustrate these problems.
Jason and Janet Larson have been married for ten years. They have three school aged children. Jason works for a construction company as an electrician. Janet works as a teacher at a local high school. Together, their household income is about $100,000 a year. For most of their marriage, life has been comfortable for the family. However, with the downturn in the economy, Jason gets laid off. The family has now lost $5000 a month, or $60,000 a year in income. With a monthly food bill of $450, and a mortgage of $1500, now being paid by Janet, the

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