> when mothers were at home we were all much healthier
1950s America is never coming back. It was a uniquely dominant time for the US geopolitically so of course a lot of indicators looked good. That doesn’t mean mothers staying home was the cause of it any more than men wearing suits to the office was the cause of it. Single income households have never been the norm.
Second, what you’re suggesting doesn’t make practical sense. Men with college degrees tend to marry women with college degrees. So since neither is likely to make substantially more than the other, it makes sense for both to work.
And that’s how things have been for centuries. Thousands of years even, across cultures. Women and men both worked. Usually farming, but still working. Single income household was a historical aberration.
>Single income households have never been the norm.
???
Yes they have. The children worked for the family but if there were any kids or birthing going on, which there usually was, the mother stayed home and worked (managed the estate for the richer folk) at home. Way before the 1950s.
I don't think you understand that women and men working was definitely not a normal thing for the last few hundred years. I'm not sure why you think that.
1950s America is never coming back. It was a uniquely dominant time for the US geopolitically so of course a lot of indicators looked good. That doesn’t mean mothers staying home was the cause of it any more than men wearing suits to the office was the cause of it. Single income households have never been the norm.
Second, what you’re suggesting doesn’t make practical sense. Men with college degrees tend to marry women with college degrees. So since neither is likely to make substantially more than the other, it makes sense for both to work.
And that’s how things have been for centuries. Thousands of years even, across cultures. Women and men both worked. Usually farming, but still working. Single income household was a historical aberration.