General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Over all - was life better 50 years go today - or was it worse? [View all]Warpy
(111,256 posts)We lost the former, men's wages declining so quickly that married women and mothers have become a major part of the work force because it takes two paychecks to raise the kids and those paychecks don't extend to educating them and/or saving for retirement like one paycheck did in 1963.
However, it's less of a horror show out there for women and for people of color as the rigid race and sex based caste system was broken down.
In 1963, unskilled male workers and skilled female workers were at the bottom of the pay scale, but that scale was a solid enough floor that both were able to survive above the poverty line on full time wages. The pill had just come out, making childbirth a choice instead of a catastrophe for women who took it faithfully. Unfortunately, single women had to do a lot of lying to get it and abortion would remain illegal for another 11 years. Most men's rooms had a condom dispenser.
Economically, we've all been screwed over, no matter which skin color or sex we are. However, life has improved greatly especially for women but also men of color. There is a lot more we need to do to achieve full equality, but we are likely to get there at some point.
The next revolution will be the economic one. Let's hope they don't force us to accept the re enslavement of women and the near enslavement of men of color to accomplish it.