3 ms·

We had universal childcare until we converted single-income families into dual-income families in order to make the boomers who they bought houses from rich.

lokar 5mo ago
And to give women full agency over their own lives
- philipallstar 5mo ago
  No one has full agency over their life. The men who generally work harder, longer, and for more of their lives, that are shorter as a result, don't have fully agency. Having a boss isn't agency.
  - komali2 5mo ago
    Ok, then, to give women as much agency as men have.
    - philipallstar 5mo ago
      Having to work is less agency than not having to work. Being able to choose to work, and choose a nice lifestyle career while your husband has to work a hard job to afford the lifestyle is far more agency than men have.
      - komali2 5mo ago
        > Having to work is less agency than not having to work. Both are working. One is getting money that they get to decide what to do with, the other (the wife) doesn't get paid but gets room and board but very little autonomy - for example, they were expected to deliver sexual gratification on demand, mood or no. It's honestly surprising to me how people seem to still not be aware of the amount of labor women at home do, especially in previous eras. Read any old book, you'll find wives cooking every single meal solo for every single person in the household, managing every aspect of the kids' lives, functioning as a secretary for the husband, cleaning the entire house, often doing the yardwork, managing the social calendar, all while keeping up appearances so they're an attractive wife. They worked way more hours than their husbands.
        philipallstar 4mo ago
        > for example, they were expected to deliver sexual gratification on demand, mood or no. This a caricature. Women were women back then.
  - asadotzler 5mo ago
    Women couldn't have bank accounts, in my lifetime.
    - CGMthrowaway 5mo ago
      Ah, money. What life is all about.
0xWTF 5mo ago
Women want their own income stream because of the innumerable ways men get into trouble. If her man gets into trouble, she wants a plan B, for her and her children. I don't think anyone was thinking about how that would prop up the housing market 30 years later.
- CGMthrowaway 5mo ago
  That's a nice story, but the truth is when women first entered the workforce in meaningful numbers, it was primarily unmarried women. Society strongly expected women to leave the labor force once married, and businesses actively banned married women from working

lokar 5mo ago

And to give women full agency over their own lives

philipallstar 5mo ago
No one has full agency over their life. The men who generally work harder, longer, and for more of their lives, that are shorter as a result, don't have fully agency. Having a boss isn't agency.
- komali2 5mo ago
  Ok, then, to give women as much agency as men have.
  - philipallstar 5mo ago
    Having to work is less agency than not having to work. Being able to choose to work, and choose a nice lifestyle career while your husband has to work a hard job to afford the lifestyle is far more agency than men have.
    - komali2 5mo ago
      > Having to work is less agency than not having to work. Both are working. One is getting money that they get to decide what to do with, the other (the wife) doesn't get paid but gets room and board but very little autonomy - for example, they were expected to deliver sexual gratification on demand, mood or no. It's honestly surprising to me how people seem to still not be aware of the amount of labor women at home do, especially in previous eras. Read any old book, you'll find wives cooking every single meal solo for every single person in the household, managing every aspect of the kids' lives, functioning as a secretary for the husband, cleaning the entire house, often doing the yardwork, managing the social calendar, all while keeping up appearances so they're an attractive wife. They worked way more hours than their husbands.
      - philipallstar 4mo ago
        > for example, they were expected to deliver sexual gratification on demand, mood or no. This a caricature. Women were women back then.
- asadotzler 5mo ago
  Women couldn't have bank accounts, in my lifetime.
  - CGMthrowaway 5mo ago
    Ah, money. What life is all about.

0xWTF 5mo ago

Women want their own income stream because of the innumerable ways men get into trouble. If her man gets into trouble, she wants a plan B, for her and her children. I don't think anyone was thinking about how that would prop up the housing market 30 years later.

CGMthrowaway 5mo ago
That's a nice story, but the truth is when women first entered the workforce in meaningful numbers, it was primarily unmarried women. Society strongly expected women to leave the labor force once married, and businesses actively banned married women from working