From yesterday's conversation with my cousin--some idle speculation on the interrelated threads of suburbanization, car ownership, feminism, women working and inflation:
- after WWII we had a lot of people moving to the suburbs, the Levittowns, or the Manassas Parks where my in-laws moved to.
- if the household owned one car, then the wife was stuck at home (see yesterday's post on food trucks), or dependent on clubs/associations where one woman could provide transportation.
- there was, I think, more inflation in the economy than we've become used to in the last couple decades. Inflation around the Korean War, worries about inflation in the 50's and early 60's, actual inflation beginning late 60's.
- inflation made it harder and harder for the one-wage earner family to manage, particularly as the boomer generation was exploding, increasing the pressure for women to go to work.
- the return to work would increase the returns from a second car, which would in turn liberate women a bit more.
- all of which undermined some of the women's associations, like the League of Women Voters and the AAUW. But the experience of the workplace and the paycheck would empower women.
I've not done any research for statistics to back up these threads, but they fit my general impressions.
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