work hard and succeed

A couple of days ago the New York Times had an article titled "The State of Families, Class and Culture" -- saved this paragraph because was trying to Figure Out things --
success
accomplishment
money
etc.

Here is the paragraph:
> > > > > Why is this happening? As the economist Richard Wolff tells the story in his book "Capitalism Hits the Fan," for a century before 1970 most American companies paid wages that slowly rose decade by decade, so that a male worker could feel better off than his dad and trust that his son would be better off than he was. But by the 1970s, the deal was off; corporate profits continued to rise while workers' real wages stagnated.

Scrambling to make up for this fact, fathers worked longer hours. Mothers got jobs -- and this in a society without paid child care or parental leave. Families went into debt.

The blue-collar family became the shock absorber of the broken deal.

On top of this, Americans of every class found themselves less and less secure about their jobs, pensions and health insurance. For as Jacob S. Hacker, the Yale political scientist and Democratic adviser, argues in "The Great Risk Shift," over the last 30 years, companies and government have offloaded risk onto the shoulders of individuals. < < < < <

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Phrases jump out at me and stay in my mind:

"...by the 1970s the deal was off"

"The blue-collar family became the shock absorber...."

"...Companies and government have offloaded risk...."

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Why was the deal off?
Whose idea was that?

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