>That is actually remarkable given that women entered the workforce en-masse during that time. The labour participation rate went from 60 percent in 1970 to 66

>That is actually remarkable given that women entered the workforce en-masse during that time. The labour participation rate went from 60 percent in 1970 to 66 percent in 1992. At the same time, average hours worked per employed person declined from about 1900 hours a year in 1970 to 1790 hours a year in 1992: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/USAAHWEP https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/USAAHWEP So there was no relative growth in the size of the work force. Socialism destroys the economy. Believe it or not, forcibly confiscating the earnings of highly productive people, to give without discrimination to less productive people, is poison to an economy. And that is all social welfarism amounts to: https://youtu.be/arOGHY27JwI https://youtu.be/arOGHY27JwI Leftist authoritarianism that destroys incentives and breeds dependency. But hey it's politically fashionable to defend welfare, because it makes it look like you stick up for the underdog, so that's what the majority will continue to do. Any politician that promises more government "help", from the pocket of the faceless taxpayer, will have a major advantage in any election. That's why social welfare spending has increased so dramatically over the last 50 years.