Peony, your blog had me thinking (uh oh-is that a good thing?)
Did the social changes of the sixties help get us into this pickle? The radical feminists told us that women were oppressed by staying home. Women entered the labor market in huge numbers, and that surely must have driven down wages for everyone.
It is taking more and more secondary education for people to basically keep their heads above water these days. I wonder if that has to do with the competition of women as well as men for the same jobs. Sadly, I think it is unrealistic to expect everyone to wait until they are like 28 to enter a vocation of marriage, but it seems that must be done to earn a decent living in many parts of the country.
The other thing is if you have a man with a family or a woman who would be bringing in a second income competing for the same job, is it more moral to give the job to the man? I personally say “yes” but discrimination laws (which are needed) would say “no”. I think laws aside, I wonder if there was a time when there were more SAHMs it was understood that a husband supporting a family would need the job more…