I agree with your comment about women entering the workforce (note that I said ironically). It's another good example of an arms race. The equilibrium with just

I agree with your comment about women entering the workforce (note that I said ironically). It's another good example of an arms race. The equilibrium with just men working was unstable. As soon as some women start to work, the cost of property in particular starts to rise, then other women are forced to work to afford a mortgage. (Property is often the constrained resource in the system, which means it captures most of the value from any beneficial change in the economy - e.g. SV startups are ways for geeks to work hard transferring money from VCs to landlords). However, liberation of women from the home is a goal in itself, and part of the long run solution. When women are emancipated, legally and socially, with access to contraception and education, in a society with a base level of utilities and appliances in the home (or village), and just enough of a welfare system to ensure that children are not seen as a pension policy, then progress can be made towards the sunlit uplands.