alt Hacker NewsIt makes more sense to me (both from a personal, and the bank's perspective), that a single person on double income goes to zero salary when he loses his job, thus its riskier lending to him with his monthly payment being 25% of his income, than say 2 people at half salary, in which case one person's income share of loans jumps from 25% to 50%, a financially difficult situation, but temporarily manageable.
I agree in principle but I would venture a guess that number of two-income families that can deal financially with a loss of one source of income is very low.
the very first financial discussion I had with my wife (fiance at the time) was that we will always live off a single salary and 2nd salary will always go into future bucket (we tap in for larger purchases or fancy vacation here and there). I don’t think many families are setup this way though - in my limited personal experiences a loss of one source of income leads to sale of the house/condo and move (rent or downsize)