Economists say unemployment numbers haven’t been this high since 1983. So let’s go back to that year for a movie also dealing with recession and job loss — but with a humorous touch from John Hughes.

“Mr. Mom” tells the tale of Jack and Caroline, a typical one-income family living a decent life until Jack (Michael Keaton) suddenly loses his job. The two agree that mom (Terri Garr) will take a position with a marketing agency while dad stays at home to look after the house and kids. But like any hard-working father, househusbandry is foreign to him, and the movie follows his misadventures with cleaning, shopping, potty training, cooking, school duties, neighborhood gossips, and all the glories of suburbia.

Bathroom scenes are used often, from emergency trips to the toilet, bathtime and plumbing problems, to an explosion of toilet paper and even a butt-drying-by-hand-dryer incident at Jack’s disastrous job interview.

The movie winds down with a psych-up scene in a steamy master bathroom as dad goes from A-Z on the reasons he shouldn’t return the advances of his cougar-neighbor Joan (Ann Jillian).

But, as with most Hughes movies, the main characters have learned some lessons and changed throughout their journey, and it ends with the topsy-turvy mess being righted again with mom and dad in their rightful places — with a better appreciation of both lifestyles.