Though we hear rumors of trade wars, tariffs, recessions, inflation, high housing prices, and large U.S. federal debt, it is also true that—on average—there has never been a better time to live in the world than it is today, from an economic perspective.
Far too many people can’t access economic prosperity. But for many across the world, today’s standard of living is much higher than what it ever used to be. The average American standard of living is about 4 times higher today than it was in 1950. [1] Worldwide, people earn roughly 9 times more income on average than they did about 150 years ago—even though there are billions more people. [2]
Instead of dedicating most of our income and labor towards the basic food, shelter, and clothing needed to survive, in today’s economy we have access to travel, sports, technology, restaurants, cars, health care, education, and more. With a few flicks of our fingers, food can show up at our door in a matter of minutes. If that wouldn’t be magic to our hunter and gatherer ancestors, I don’t know what would be. And today, young people have the luxury to choose from over 800 occupations across 400 industries when it comes to work, instead of the singular option of inheriting the trade of their mothers and fathers. [3]
The economy—the way we do things to survive and enjoy this lone and dreary world—has changed significantly since I was a baby, and even more so than when my grandparents were babies. Over the last hundred years, jobs have shifted away from the home and farm to the factory to the computer and phone. And assuming the right incentives stay in place to encourage innovation and cooperation, the economy will continue to change how we put a roof over our heads and food on the table. For indeed, economic growth is inherently defined by change—new industries and production methods rise while old ones are replaced, leading to more output per hour.
Thirty years ago this September, the Church released The Family: A Proclamation to the World at the General Relief Society Meeting. As the Proclamation states, we as Latter-day Saints believe that the family is “central to the Creator’s plan,” that it is “ordained of God.” [4]
But what is the place of the family in today’s global economy, an economy which has radically changed in my own lifetime and may radically change again? How can we strengthen the original intent of the Proclamation—to uphold the family as the fundamental unit of society—when the economic forces of specialization, competition, and geographic mobility tug us in different directions? And how can families navigate economy and help it to succeed?
This essay briefly discusses the evolution of the economy. Then it proposes how Latter-day Saints can strengthen families and navigate the global economy. Such examination can help Latter-day Saint families to prosper and help the miracle of the global economy to survive. Throughout the essay, I will also share thoughts with the young people of today, from my perspective as a mother, economist, and Latter-day Saint.
The Past Economy
In the past, much of human activity was concentrated in the home: it was not uncommon to be born, play, learn, work, and eventually die at home.
Likewise, most family members—men, women, and children—worked at home (or very close to it), laboring shoulder-to-shoulder in economic production either used directly for household consumption or traded locally. Families or small tribal groups had to hunt, gather, grow, preserve, and prepare food; collect water; construct homes; sew and mend clothes, blankets, towels, and tapestries; build furniture; and so forth. These fundamental economic tasks provided the goods and services needed to survive.
Women were crucial to the economic well-being of their families when homes were the center of production, as it was in the Latter-day Saint pioneer economy. As historian Leonard Arrington states, “Their activities included not only the bearing of children and important contributions toward family income, but also the fulfillment of certain specific economics goals of the Mormon Church.” [5]
Just like Latter-day Saint pioneer women, most women have worn many hats throughout human history, from raising children, to producing vital economic goods needed to survive, to building communities.
The Present Economy
Since the Industrial Revolution, the economy has slowly departed the home. It has now decentralized across the entire planet. Today’s economy is built on two important principles: specialization and trade. Instead of working side-by-side, family members work in a specialized trade (or invest in their future ability to work) and purchase goods and services in stores and shops from others who have likewise specialized. And with advances in technology and transportation, this economic exchange has spread worldwide with globalization.
As a result, today homes are stuffed with goods delivered by complex global supply chains rather than humble homemade origins. Each household is far less self-sufficient. Instead, each is part of a vast global network of interdependence. Each household financially supports—and is likewise provided for by—numerous jobs performed by workers worldwide: farmers, factory and retail workers, truck drivers, meal shoppers and preppers (thank you Beehive Meals), teachers, coaches, tutors, therapists, cleaners, landscapers, and more.
Families are dependent on strangers on the other side of the planet to grow our food and sew the clothes on our backs—and they are dependent on us. Strangers even read the stories to our children at night via apps.
This process of economic specialization and trade is the foundation of the wealth of nations. It is the economic miracle that has alleviated poverty and suffering for people all over the world. A cooperating group will always have a higher standard of living than one self-sufficient individual or family because humanity can pool its collective intelligence together and increase productivity.
The Paradox of Today’s Economy
There has never been a better time to live on the planet than today, and—though not perfect—a global economy based on cooperation has simply been the best anti-poverty program humanity has ever seen. But there is a paradox to the economy: as the time in each day and throughout one’s life is spent in specialized economic tasks, family members are increasingly separated from each other and their local communities — who they used to work beside and do business with.
Other economic systems have forcefully separated family members to become economic actors in service of the state. Our global economy, on the other hand, pressures families in a far more subtle (and non-violent) way. But in doing so, it ironically creates disenchantment with the global economy and threatens its very success.
Many of today’s challenges and debates, I believe, can be traced in part to discomfort with the way we live our economic lives—subject to intense global competition, rapid technological change, and increasing distance from those closest to us. We’ve seen a rise in debates about trade restrictions. We’ve witnessed loneliness and estrangement. Trends supporting tradwives, homeschooling, and homesteading are steadily rising.
Though the global economy pressures families, I have a hunch that it can only survive if it has strong roots in families and local communities. (I also believe that humanity only has hope for achieving peace between nations if we can figure out how to get along with those closest to us. In a climate of rising political polarization, it is noble to uphold and honor the bonds that we share with our families).
How can we strengthen families and communities to offset the natural drift demanded by the market and simultaneously ensure that the miracle of the global economy can survive? And how can Latter-day Saints navigate the global economy so that their families can prosper?
Strengthening Families in Today’s Economy
1. Blend the spheres of work and home
Latter-day Saints can strengthen their families by mending the gap between work and family.
Whereas the economy and the home were intertwined in the past, today they inhabit separate spheres, re-enforced by economic specialization. [6] When the home and the economy are seen as separate, the workplace and our culture frown upon moving between the two spheres. They discourage family-flexible work environments. And they penalize people who move from being at home to working in the labor force, or from working in the labor force to being at home.
I believe that when the home and economy are viewed as separate functions, both suffer in the long-run. Perhaps it would be better for the economy and families if the cultural and economic barrier between home and market was much more porous. For example: how do companies treat off-work hours? Is there flexibility for employees to engage in mid-day family obligations? Do companies appreciate the impact they have on the well-being of their employees’ families? Are people valued when returning to the labor force after a long absence, particularly from caretaking? Do we support mothers or fathers who stay home with their children? Do we support them when working? Similar, how flexible are education institutions towards families? These changes can be achieved at the grass roots level within companies, families, and schools or larger policy changes.
When the market and our culture honor families, families benefit. And in turn, the economy benefits from access to labor market potential and strong families and communities.
2. Support families with young children
As Latter-day Saints, we can strengthen families by honoring and supporting the sacred space of infancy and early childhood and by supporting parents. Just like fathers worked alongside their extended and nuclear families to provide for their family’s economic needs in the past, so were mothers also surrounded by a village to raise her children.
The Proclamation states that “Extended families should lend support when needed.” And the truth is that extended families were needed historically—they helped raise children and bolster the home economy throughout human history. And it is how many cultures still go about raising their kids.
Extended family members are available to raise children for many, but in our modern world that may not be the circumstance for families who are pulled by economic opportunity or need to the other side of the state, country, or planet.
After moving around the world a few times, I quickly learned this important lesson: every mother needs a village to help her raise her children. She was never meant to raise her children alone. One of the most important things she will do in her life is to not just raise her children, but to also build a safe village for them.
How society goes about building a village varies culture to culture, whether it is familial, market-based, or something in between. Depending on what country we’ve lived in, we’ve had extended family, neighbors, stay-at-home mom friends, playgroups, playgrounds, preschools, nurseries, babysitters, nannies, and government-sponsored Kindergartens to help our family. I likewise have been in the village for many other families.
I am not necessarily advocating that tax dollars be used to support families with babies and children. (I understand the problem of large and rising U.S. federal debt because I used to help write that report for Congress). But if what we spend our tax dollars on reflects our values, it is clear that—at least in the United States—we don’t value supporting parents and their babies relative to other fiscal priorities.
How noble would it be if we as Latter-day Saints, in a unique Mormon way, could support and strengthen the sacred space of infancy, early childhood, and parenthood. For example, what if members attended to new parents and babies as diligently as we did to new converts? Could American members create a postpartum economy, such as what exists in Southeast Asia? What if the LDS Church sponsored childcare programs, as Protestant churches in the southern United States do with Mother’s Day Out (MDO)? What if the Church sponsored other gatherings and spaces for pre-K children, as it does for children, teens, and young adults? What if the Church were to support local institutions that benefit children? What if the Church and its members were to advocate for local, state, and federal policies that boost families, such as paid family leave, flexible work arrangements, childcare subsidies, and tax breaks for families?
3. Spend time with families and local communities
Latter-day Saints can strengthen their families by taking stock of how they spend time with their families. And they can build the strong roots the global economy needs by supporting their local communities.
In today’s economy, family bonds are increasingly centered on leisure and extracurricular activities rather than work and service. But I believe the latter are needed to help forge resilient relationships.
Latter-day Saints can strengthen their families by finding something to work shoulder-to-shoulder on, such as a small business or yard and household work. Together, they can commit to their local communities and higher causes, whether they be religious, political, environmental or social. They can honor local traditions, culture, and places of gathering. And in doing so, they can help build the strong roots the global economy needs and offset the natural drift demanded by the market.
Navigating Today’s Economy to Strengthen Families
1. Adapt your career
Latter-day Saints can help their families to prosper in today’s economy by focusing not on a career specialization but rather career adaptation.
When I was born, manufacturing jobs constituted 18 percent of U.S. nonfarm jobs. Today, they total 8 percent. [7] In previous generations, most people would have farmed. Today, agriculture and related industries account for less than 2 percent of U.S. employment. [8]
In today’s economy, jobs are found in industries like health care, education, professional and business services, retail trade, and leisure and hospitality—which have remained labor-intensive. But someday, they may not be. If good institutions and cooperation remain, the economy will continue to evolve and may do so at an even more rapid rate due to technological change.
The Proclamation asserts that parents are obligated to provide the necessities of life to their children. To the young people of today: when deciding how to provide for your future family’s economic needs, shift your mindset from specializing in a certain major or career path to being willing to adapt to whatever the economic landscape will bring. If an analogy helps, prepare to be hunters and gatherers of economic opportunity, rather than farmers who plant a career as a crop to harvest.
You may pick a career that will soon be automated or outsourced; conversely, there will be incredible economic possibilities in your future that don’t exist today. Be willing to adapt to long-term structural shifts in the economy by pursuing unexpected opportunities in other industries and gaining new skills, both technical and soft.
Some may wonder whether higher education is worth the investment given the quick rise of artificial intelligence (AI). And the truth is that no one exactly knows the magnitude or the timing of impact of AI on the economy. It will likely vary industry-to-industry. But know that the economy will always favor those who have specialized skills, training, and knowledge as opposed to those who don’t have any. When it comes to pursuing that training, Latter-day Saints should carefully balance the investment with expected returns. It’s also likely the higher education economy will adjust to reflect the opportunity cost of obtaining an education, so there may be innovative ways to pursue education and training to come.
Be willing to adapt to short-term booms and busts in the economy as well. You will benefit from exciting periods of economic growth, but you will also experience recessions, which will require adaptation to keep a roof over the heads of your family.
2. Adapt your labor force participation
Latter-day Saints can navigate the economy to strengthen families by being willing to adapt whether and how they participate in the labor force.
When it comes to balancing the spheres of home and work (which will hopefully be more porous in the future), young Latter-day Saint women may wonder whether they should participate in the labor force after they have children, drawing from cultural norms and the following passage in the Proclamation:
Fathers are to… provide the necessities of life... Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.
However, depending on what culture and economic class one is in, the following sentence from the Proclamation is often overlooked:
In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another...
Fathers are obligated to raise their children. Mothers are obligated to economically contribute, consistent with what they have always done historically.
The main difference between the past and today is that that economy is no longer centered in the home. It is no surprise then that dual-income households are increasingly needed, since the economic contribution of mothers has typically been critical. Fortunately, in today’s economy mothers and fathers have found new and creative ways to support their family’s economic well-being since machines and markets replaced what they traditionally manufactured at home. With today’s technology, there is an incredible amount of flexibility and possibility for what providing for your family looks like.
To the young women of today: hopefully you will live very long lives. Over the course of that time, a lot will happen—both good and bad. There will be incredible economic possibilities in your future, ones that don’t exist today. Conversely, there will be recessions, natural disasters, wars, job losses, injuries, illnesses, disability, and death. You will likely be surprised by how your life turns out.
The Proclamation states that “circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation” to the economic gender roles previously stated. And the truth is that those circumstances will be the norm at some point in your lives, because of the nature of the economy and the natural opposition in our lives.
Therefore, whether you participate full-time, part-time, or not in the labor force will depend on the various economic opportunities and hardships you face, as well as the season of life you are in. (The same applies to men). Your personal calling, desire to receive an education, needs of young and elderly family members, and health circumstances of yourself and your loved ones will inform whether and how you work in the labor force—all of which may fluctuate month-to-month, year-to-year, or even decade-to-decade.
As a result, being economically flexible and willing to invest in or maintain skills that are in-demand in today’s economy should be the assumption when charting your life’s course—not the exception. When it comes to the macroeconomy, there is a lot that you can’t control. But you can control how prepared you are to move in and out of the labor force when called.
3. Support economic institutions and cooperation
And lastly, but most briefly, Latter-day Saints can ensure that the economy can prosper by continuing to support the pillars that have fostered economic growth: good institutions, innovation, and cooperation and trade. As stated, a cooperating group will always have a higher standard of living than a self-sufficient individual, family, or nation.
The reflex to turn inward towards self-sufficiency is tempting, especially when witnessing conflict and natural disasters. Homesteading movements now boast millions of followers. And indeed, Latter-day Saints have been prompted to prepare for natural and man-made disasters. But when taken to an extreme, insularity contradicts Latter-day Saint teachings. We believe that every soul, worldwide, is great in the sight of God. We are called to preach and learn from all four corners of the earth. With that global attitude of benevolence, the desire to trade with other nations is consistent with our divine view of humanity, as well as prosperity.
Conclusion
When Latter-day Saints mend the gap between the home and the economy; support families with young children; spend time with their families and local communities; adapt to the changing global and technological economic landscape; remain willing and able to move in and out of the labor force when called; and support economic institutions and cooperation, they can navigate the global economy, help it to succeed, and strengthen their families. And in doing so, Latter-day Saints can promote the original intent of the Proclamation after all: to uphold the family as the fundamental unit of society.
NOTES:
[1] U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Real gross domestic product per capita [A939RX0Q048SBEA], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A939RX0Q048SBEA, April 26, 2025.
[Back to manuscript].
[2] Brad DeLong, “DeLongTODAY: In the Year 2525…,” retrieved from https://braddelong.substack.com/p/for-paying-subscribers-in-the-year, April 26, 2025. [Back to manuscript].
[3] Bureau of Labor Statistics, Overview of BLS Statistics by Occupation, retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/bls/occupation.htm, April 26, 2025. [Back to manuscript].
[4] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” retrieved from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world?lang=eng, April 26, 2025. [Back to manuscript].
[5] Leonard J. Arrington, “The Economic Role of Pioneer Women,” Western Humanities Review, Vol. 9, Jan 1, 1955: 145-164. [Back to manuscript].
[6] Temporarily reversed by work-at-home trends. [Back to manuscript].
[7] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, All Employees, Total Nonfarm [PAYEMS] and Manufacturing [MANEMP], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/, April 26, 2025 [Back to manuscript].
[8] Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat15.htm, April 26, 2025.
[Back to manuscript].
Full Citation for this Article: Barello, Stephanie (2025) "How to Create an Economy that Strengthens Families and How Families Can Navigate Today’s Economy," SquareTwo, Vol. 18 No. 2 (Summer 2025), http://squaretwo.org/Sq2ArticleBarelloEconomyFamilies.html, accessed <give access date>.
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