First time watching call the midwife. I am shocked how different life was in the 50s

[Grest]

I am very late to the party here. But just getting in to this now. It’s so shocking how much society has changed. I was a 70s baby which isn’t really all that much later. It’s weird to think how much different life is now.

Women could not work with small babies as there was no help with childcare. Although plenty of poorer women did home work. The poorest would take in washing, but there was lots of home workers doing things like sewing.
In the sixties my mum did not work until all of us were at school as she had no one to look after us, she was a single mum and very poor. But as soon as she could, she worked during school times, and then full time when she could pay a neighbour to keep an eye on us.

Yes, my auntie did lots of home - working jobs when my cousins were small in the sixties.

If anyone is interested in social history, specifically women's, there's a fantastic book called "Working Class Wives" by Margery Spring Rice, based on interviews with women in the early 30s. It covers all aspects of their lives and much is direct quotes from the women themselves.

Childcare was a lot more lax in the 60s. I remember being three or four, and playing with my cousins in a park in north London till it got dark. We then went back to Nan and Grandad’s house - my cousin (who was all of 12 -our group of five ranged in age from 3 to 8) was supposed to let us in but he was out. We then walked to the pub, as kids weren’t allowed in the pub, we had to get someone going in to find one of our relatives, who came out, gave us the key and we went home. This was unusual though, we were usually locked in the house and told not to answer the door (no phone back then).