Aibu to think that both the male and female

[Hedgeblog]

partners working outside the house is not a new phenomenon? Surely it doesn't date to the 1960's that women were finally given freedom to work outside the home? If you asked our mothers and grand mothers you'd think that was the case.

Neither my mother nor either of my grandmothers worked after having children.

My mum had to leave her job at the bank when she got pregnant in 1967

Hedge- only those that worked could get medical attenetion and a small out of work benefit, so if you cut women out of the equation, it solves male unemployment and means that costs are kept down. Then the workhouses were opened or 'outdoor' relief started so the working class had to work for slave rations, with families being seperated. It was the start of social policy against the poor.

My mother, aunts and grandmothers never worked outside the home after getting married. Our family were very poor, but not originally from the UK (parents emigrated here when I was a child) and it's not common for wives to work there.

One of my Grannies was in the Wrens though, she was married to a military man.

My mother stopped working when she married (but my father was in the forces, so difficult to work when you are moving constantly anyway).

I don't think my maternal grandmother ever worked. My paternal grandmother was an actress/dancer until she married, and then stopped working. But this coincided with moving to Australia (where my grandfather lived) so I don't know if she would have continued to work if she had stayed in the UK.

Her mother worked until she dropped, as far as I know - they owned a hotel though, so she wasn't working "for" anyone else.

So really I am the first female generation of my family to have an expectation of working as a married woman....

Women have always worked but have, until relatively recently, been legally barred from some jobs and legally been paid less. Our grandmothers Had it tough.

My grandmother worked as a part time school cleaner later on - to keep the household afloat. God forbid, though, that she should in any way neglect her household duties as a result.

I recall that when she had her children, her sisters (they all lived fairly close by) would come in daily and 'do' for my grandfather while she was up in bed with the baby. (Slippers by the fire, meal on the table, house cleaned etc.)

I was the first woman to have a "proper" salaried job in my family. My mother was a ballerina and later a model, my grandmother never had a pay packet in spite of more or less running the family farm as a small business, her mother, my great grandmother lived as a "lady" because there were far more staff and her husband took a much greater interest.

DH's mother was a teacher (deputy head) but had to leave work as soon as her first pg began to show (1960) because that was the way it was, dh's grandmother was a trained nurse but once she was the mother of five spent the rest of her life - 1940's onwards cleaning, not sure what her mother.

My nan always worked but my mum and mil didn't work once they were married. My mil's mum worked so I'm thinking perhaps it was more common for the 1950/1960s wives to stay at home.