Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
And it worked well. Inflation through most of the 1950s was running in the 0.x range. It's never been that low sense.
Inflation slowed in the early '50's to below 1% after post war economic changes. Inflation was low in the mid '50's, but by 1956 it was 3%, in '57 it was 2.9%.
A cousin of my father was married to a man who worked at a gas station. He raised his family, and his wife was a SAHM. Try doing that today.
That was pretty normal since most women didn't work. We grew up around one income families living in single family homes. Most of them were working class to middle class, there were a couple of "rich" people in town in the big houses. There were the poor people too on the other side of town. Most of them still lived in their own small homes. There were a couple of small apartment buildings for the poorest. No homeless.
One reason for fewer homeless was federal legislation. After WW2, the federal government became increasingly involved in housing to ensure returning veterans and their families had housing. That increasing involvement continued into the 1950's. The Housing Act of 1954 increased funding for rehabilitation and construction. The Act was amended again in 1956 providing more support.
"The new law permits the government to insure larger home mortgage loans, carrying smaller down payments and longer terms. Millions of our families with modest incomes will be able, for the first time, to buy new or used homes. Families will be helped to enlarge or modernize their present homes." Part of President Eisenhower's statement upon signing the Housing Act of 1954
Some women decry how there was no option to work in the 1950s. Today, there is usually no option to be a stay at home mom. You HAVE to work to make ends meet, or live a lower middle class lifestyle.
We traded forcing women to have to stay home, for forcing women to have to work. How is that an improvement?
Some women decry how there was no option to work in the 1950s. Today, there is usually no option to be a stay at home mom. You HAVE to work to make ends meet, or live a lower middle class lifestyle.
We traded forcing women to have to stay home, for forcing women to have to work. How is that an improvement?
Actually to the best of my knowledge there was nothing stopping women from working in the 1950s, if they so choose to. So it would from woman having a choice to work or not, to having no choice today.
Actually to the best of my knowledge there was nothing stopping women from working in the 1950s, if they so choose to. So it would from woman having a choice to work or not, to having no choice today.
A lot of women worked in the 1950s -- it was only a very specific class of women who were this stereotypical suburban housewife. Women were teachers, secretaries, nurses. If their families ran stores and restaurants, they worked in the family business. Women cooked and cleaned for other families. Many of them didn't have a choice, either.
A lot of women worked in the 1950s -- it was only a very specific class of women who were this stereotypical suburban housewife. Women were teachers, secretaries, nurses. If their families ran stores and restaurants, they worked in the family business. Women cooked and cleaned for other families. Many of them didn't have a choice, either.
My mother worked in a clerical job until she got married, while my dad was in WWII. After that, my dad supported the family, and this was typical in their circle of friends.
That was pretty normal since most women didn't work. We grew up around one income families living in single family homes. Most of them were working class to middle class, there were a couple of "rich" people in town in the big houses. There were the poor people too on the other side of town. Most of them still lived in their own small homes. There were a couple of small apartment buildings for the poorest. No homeless.
Yes, typical houses were small, with one bathroom. They were single family houses with yard at least. Nobody thought anything of it. It was normal.
My mother worked in a clerical job until she got married, while my dad was in WWII. After that, my dad supported the family, and this was typical in their circle of friends.
My experience in the fifties was that many of the women who did not work outside of the home took extra work as homemakers. These women took in wards of the state who otherwise would have been in the large orphanages. So, in addition to their biological children, these women also had foster children to care for and to look after. They were paid by the state for their services and several widowed women in my neck of the woods served as foster parents.
Some eventually adopted one or two of the children they had cared for but most children were not adopted. The females went off to work as operators for the phone company or some such and the males were drafted into the army. Many of these foster children did not finish high school.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
