What was life like in the workplace if you are a woman or bringing up a young family in the 80s?

[Martinii]

I was only a small child in the 80s, so I can't really remember it.

There's always people saying how wonderful the 80s were, and you can't deny the music, films, and fashion were great. But that's always from women who were either a child or teen during the decade where life can be fairly carefree (like any decade as a young person).

I'm watching Working Girl, and it made me think how women were expected to wear skirts, tights, heals, etc. My mothers experience of bringing us up in the 80s as a single mum wasn't rosy, and I know she wouldn't look back in great fondness (except maybe the music).

So if you were working (as in an adult rather than a teen doing shifts for pocket money) or you were bringing up a young family, what was it like?

I think that poster who says that in the 80s nurseries were only 3 hours a day, and for 3 years old plus, has got themselves confused with nursery schools, which were more of an educational thing, so yes for 3+. As they were a nursery 'school' :they would follow the times of a school day, so sometimes 9 am to about 3.30 pm, but yes many of them only ran mornings sessions which is where she's probably getting the 3 hours from. This was because it was thought that 3 hours education was plenty for such young children. They could be attached to a primary school (and maybe pre-prep school), or could be private and separate. These existed for decades. Do they not anymore? They were never meant to provide full day care, and the child would go back to their carer, usually mother, after each session.

Day nurseries, providing full day care, have existed for decades too, though. Although much fewer than today. They also took babies. I heard that in London during the war some existed to help all the women doing war work. After the war many closed down though!

A family in our street was using a full day care nursery in the 70s. The parents both worked in professional jobs.

I had my first child in 1980 and went back to work when she was 3 months old. I worked as a waitress and then in a pub and a social club. Lots of smoking, obviously. I was the main breadwinner, my then husband was working most of the time but also had periods of unemployment. We had to claim benefits to top up our income and even then we struggled. I had my second child in 1984 and went back to work three months after that - we needed the money! I didn't have to wear tights but it was the norm. We didn't have any of the things that people think are normal now - no mobile phones obviously, only 1 (second-hand) television, no car, no trips out with the children (unless local and free).

It was very hard work!

I suppose it's all the similar terminology that causes confusion, and people forget.. Day nursery and nursery school both called 'nursery'.

Another thing that existed for the purposes of education was playgroups, again typically morning sessions only for 3 and 4 year olds or maybe 2 and a half if out of nappies. Typically they'd run in a village hall, staffed by a rota of mothers who were often very enthusiastic. Some were run privately and charged (low) fees I worked in one for a while, in between office jobs. They were for families who wouldn't have been able to afford private nursery school fees. Obviously these mothers were otherwise at home! They were really popular.

But now the same word 'playgroup' seems to be used for a drop in place where the parent or carer stays while the children play. Babies and toddlers too I think? We used to call those 'mums and tots groups' or something like that.
. I imagine the original type of playgroup no longer exists, due to the majority of parents being both employed full time. Does anyone know?

Banking in London in the 80s sounds like it was the place to be. Especially with the travel to the US.

Could you tell me some more about your career, please? I'm just interested.

Perhaps naively I think it all sounds a very glamorous and exciting (although not the colleague on the flight obviously).

The play group in our church hall was a lifesaver for me. I had no family nearby and partner worked offshore for 9 months of the year. Twice a week I could drop my 3 year old off for 3 hours for about a pound. I used to go to an exercise class and pick up the shopping in peace. It stopped me going mad.

Playgroups re-branded as pre-schools, I think, probably because of Ofsted and the introduction of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum or equivalent. I don't think it would now be possible to run them in the same informal, super-cheap way.

There do still seem to be groups for carers and babies/toddlers - what would have been mother and baby or mother and toddler groups back in the 80s - run as drop ins. Those were never intended as daycare, I would say, just to be places mothers/nannies/grandmothers etc could go to get out of the house for a change of scene, chat with adults, different toys, a few simple activities and a bit of social interaction for the little ones. The one I went to in the early 90s cost a couple of quid a session and that covered the rent of the church hall, insurance, tea/coffee/squash/biscuits, occasional new toys.

The nursery school my children went to is still going strong, I'm happy to say. It's run by the local education authority and offers education primarily, but with a breakfast and after-school club to provide wraparound care for those who need that. Most primary schools now have nursery classes. That wasn't the case back in the 80s, I'd say. I remember quite a bit of expansion in the 90s, probably connected with Labour winning the 1997 election.

I had my 3 children in the 1980s . 3 months Mat Leave then back to full time work . Mortgage rate was double figures so no option to stay at home . Where I worked didn’t allow part time working . Nearly all my friends worked full time .
Not allowed to wear trousers at work !
I am now retired and a so- called boomer . Tired of being told how easy we had it compare to now !

I don't know if anyone has any stats on how many women went back to work after having children, and how soon, back in the 1980s. I started my first proper job in 1984 in the London office of a huge accountancy firm. My firm was extremely unusual for the times because around half the trainees were female. We were all on the same payscale (Equal Pay Act had been in force for about a decade, I think) and there were plenty of women seniors and assistant managers (i.e. recently qualified accountants). There weren't that many female managers, though, and there were very few women partners at that point. (The admin staff were overwhelmingly female.)

Once I'd been working there for a while, it became clear why there were so few women at senior levels. Obviously one reason was that there had been fewer women entering the profession. But another was that people who wanted to be partners had to work round the clock and be seen to be doing so. It was about as far from family friendly as could be imagined. I was already married and very keen to have children, and I simply couldn't see how I could balance the demands of career and family in an environment like that. That was one reason why I moved in a different direction after I qualified (there were others). I didn't have the impression that many women senior to or contemporary with me were returning to professional practice promptly after having children. They seemed more likely to go off and work in industry or to move to a smaller firm that might offer part-time work, for a time, anyway.

What I remember is lots of people smoking at their desk which I hated as a non smoker.
I worked for a fashion retailer in the buying office. The menswear team were drinking in the wine bar every lunchtime. On Fridays they never used to return to the office after lunch.
The senior buyers never answered their phone (landline of course) even if it was right next to them.
'Lady Buyers' were a thing. As the junior, I was expected to collect their dry cleaning and pick up their lunch and cigarettes. When my buyer was ill we all had to visit her in the private hospital down the road from the office and be kissed on the cheek. It was so funny.

No desk top PCs until the v late 80s.
When we had our product review us poor juniors used to have to photocopy the presentation pack and our bosses like to out do other managers by having the most pages in their pack. Photocopiers always played up and caused stress that morning before the meeting. All analysis was done with a calculator and handwritten onto template paper forms. We had to manually file huge computer printouts on stripy paper.

We had to manually file huge computer printouts on stripy paper.

OMG yes I remember the stripy paper!

That's not true at all. Plenty of women returned to work after having a baby

Apart from a couple of friends who married very wealthy men , all of us returned to work after having DC . As I said earlier , we had 3 months Mat. Leave . Quite brutal when I think about it . I remember after my third , trying desperately to find a dress to wear as I hadn’t lost all my baby weight .
The exhaustion was overwhelming.,

My son was born in 1989, I became pregnant when working abroad and DH and I decided to return to the UK, when I was 4 months pregnant. As we needed the money I started temporary work, which continued until I was 8 months pregnant. I had no time off for antenatal appointments and no maternity leave.

I was offered a permanent job when DS was 9 weeks old, found a childminder ASAP (it was quite easy then) and started work - we needed the money, benefits weren't so much of a thing. Childminder cost £72 a week and was flexible about late pickups etc. Jobs were usually fulltime no flexible working. No tax credits.

Interesting thread!

Maternity leave started in 1979, before that you could be made to leave your job if you had a baby.
I took Maternity leave in 1980. My manager was fuming. He phoned me when my daughter was about 3 weeks old shouting "I'm holding a job open for you, Young Lady". I was entitled to 7 months which included 3 months unpaid. Child care was hard to find , my parents helped.
In the 1980s people were still smoking at their desks but the dress code had relaxed a bit and it was okay to wear trousers.
In the 1970s skirts and dresses were required and you had to call older colleagues Mr or Mrs XX. Sexual banter and getting your bottom tapped were common and you were expected to laugh.
In some ways things were more relaxed than now re pressure of work and breaks (in offices at least not so much in factories).
In the 1970ss a lot of people were having affairs at work with little batting of eyelids. There was definitely a double standard with women being blamed and men excused.
A very young woman got pregnant to an older man, she was labelled as a "tart" no-one said anything about his abuse of power.

Oh, you couldn't take maternity leave until you had worked two years for your employer. There were no "in work" benefits such as tax credits and the benefits system assumed a male breadwinner so income support etc were paid to the man. Only family allowance (child benefit) could be paid to the mother.
Women's refuges started around 1980. I was a socail worker and the police would not attend domestic violence situations just saying "it's a domestic".
In some ways we were a fortunate generation, but not with regard to Women's rights.

There was supplementary benefit so there was at least one in work benefit. Erin Pizzey set up the first women's refuge in 1971.

I'm not saying it was all great but just for accuracy.

I started work in 1983 when people smoked at their desks. Everyone was pretty relaxed and there were lots of laughs. We all went to the pub Friday lunchtime and if someone got a bit drunk, none of the managers seemed to care. The dress code was a blouse, pencil skirt and stilettos and the men wore suits and ties. Women left when they had babies in the 80s but this changed in the 90s.

Biggest problem for me was being surrounded by other staff (men and women) chain smoking at the desks in the same office.

As for dressing etc., I worked at three accountancy practices in the 80s. "Business" attire was what was specified. There was never any pressure on us women to wear skirts/dresses, high heels, etc. I usually wore a blouse and smart trousers with some kind of low court shoes, as did most of the others. A few women wore high heels and skirts/dresses, but I don't recall any pressure on them to dress like that.

The biggest "problem" as such was fixed hours, no flexitime, hard to get part time hours and hard to get work from home hours. If you wanted permanent part time or WFH it had to go up the command chain to get approval from the bosses and if you had an appointment, you'd have to take half a day or a day holiday as there was no mechanism to come in late/going early/long lunchtime and make up time another day. In all three firms, it was very much a "start at 8.30, lunch is 1-2 and finish at 5.00! The bosses (and other staff), and clients, expected you at your desk during those hours!

Supplementary benefit was not an in work benefit. It was added to sickness or unemployment benefit if the amount you were entitled to fell below the amount deemed necessary for living costs or to someone not entitled to any other benefits.. Many married women were not entitled to sickness and unemployment benefit because they had paid the married woman's stamp (that option ended about 1979). For a family living together supplementary benefit was paid to the man. Supplementary benefit wasn't paid to people in work.
I know that Erin Pizzey started the first refuge earlier. I was going by my experience of working in Lancashire in the late 1970s and early 1980s when refuges were first opening.
I once called the police as a woman phoned me screaming that her husband was attacking her. They refused to attend with the exact words "It's a domestic"

I think the inwork benefit was Family Income Supplement.

Yes, you are right. I had remembered wrongly. Family Income supplement was introduced in 1971. I had thought it was later.

in the late 70s early 80s from what remember it was mainly that women didn't go back to work after having a baby but did perhaps do cleaning when husband came in from work .The main and almost only childcare was playschool in a village hall a couple of mornings a week for a couple of hours
There were very few day nurseries
When I had my daughter in mid 90s you only got 12 weeks paid maternity leave and to come back part time was difficult to get job share was just being introduced as was a career break up to 5 years where they guaranteed you a job
Certainly in late 70s very early 80s it was all Terry towelling and rubbers as they were called
However when I had my daughter in mid 90s nearly everyone used disposables bottles were made up for the day about six at a time left to cool down and popped in the fridge don't think they are told to do it like that now
In the 80s rusk was added to the bottle of milk to thicken it if you had a hungry baby! However this was very much frowned up in the 90s as was considered a chocking hazard. Baby led weaning was unheard of and baby was started on very sloppy rice made with baby milk then onto fruit and veg purees

in the 90s you were advised to wean your baby at 16 weeks old