My wife and I are a team and do whatever needs to be done as a team, it doesn't matter who does what.

With my profession I had the pleasure of one or both of us being home at any one time Unfortunately the pressures of city / town life seems to be eroding many of the pleasure of being a parent Who'd of thought putting a roof over your head and food on the table would be nearly a Anti family thing to do?

No doubt about it family life back then was better. Not only because of the dynamics or structure of the family but back then kids would go outside and invent their own fun.

I enjoy working part time but also spending time at home with my son. I would hate to work full time and miss out on him life

Today it is a very different world

After our first child was born I went back to work because we needed the money but I didn't see my baby all day until I got home. I hated it. I would miss my baby's first step, her first word, in fact I would miss being with her, so why have her? When I told my husband we decided he would get a part-time job as we were saving for a house. That ended up in his taking on 3 part-time jobs. Five years later baby number 2 arrived and baby 3 arrived 4 years after that. We received no baby bonus or family payments, we had no phone, coloured TV, holidays or eating out but I was at home with my children rearing them, teaching them and helping them to grow up with our values not someone elses. I was very busy with craft lessons, reading lessons, fete's and tuck shops with a child in all 3 schools but when our daughter got to year 10 all 3 urged me to re-enter the workforce. Staying at home is a decision I have never regretted as all 3 have grown up to be responsible, God fearing, tax paying and law abiding Australians. They have given me 9 grandchildren but unlike us they want it all so apart from the 2 grandchildren I baby sat the others have all been reared by child care. It's a shame because they are only young once. My priority was my children, not things.

For sure would be good for me and children

Certainly if money was not an issue.

Yep

I do not think so. I think a part time job would be ideal.

I like now days as women are working. Its up to person to this 1950s ways

Ah the days when women were ladylike the men gentlemen such good days not now

totally agree Dane, If you want kids then stay home and look after them till at least school age

Yes lovely

Yes but who can these days

retired from being home hubby

I am certainly happy with being a housewife, although of course I am not perfect - we manage to live well on one income

I am housewife for over 3years. Husband has his own company and wants me to stay home and look after our son and house. In the beginning i was keen and i thought that is what i want do but truth is it's not for everybody most definitely not for me i want be part of something and not be mum and housewife only. I recently start study and hope i can still have career on my own. Other mums say to me be happy to be at home and not stress with work but that is just not who i am...

I would stay home BUT she wont let me

The world is now full of single parents who have to do both on one income

Yes, would be happy to stay home if money wasn't an issue

yes, - everyone new their place in life, the children were cared for by a parent who was always available for them. The wife took care of the house, and the father brought home the bacon. No car families, or if you were lucky, one car. You spent only what you had, and the only money borrowed was a mortgage, if you were fortunate, if not rent was paid. No government subsidies for child care etc. No credit cards. Shops closed Saturday afternoon, and all day Sunday. Those old days had a lot to recommend them!

Absolutely not - I wanted to escape from the age of 4 No intellectual stimulation at all I saw what household slavery was like - always women in an inferior position

Weren't they the good old days. Where one could rely on one income. Things were good here in Australia then in away. My mum was a married school teacher and couldn't get work for awhile. I hated sharing my mum with others but she was a very good teacher. Dad was always busy at his own business, I hardly saw him when I was little. Well in away we are doing that now. Hubby is on a pension and with living rurally not may job opportunities out here not that I really want a job. We just manage with what we have and what we get. Young Australians borrow too much money today but most of the young ones have every thing they want. New cars, caravans, boats, they go for holidays to Somerset and all the cars are under ten years old. When we were their ages we camped in tents not $80'000 caravans and $200'000 plus RV's.

those were the good days, happy families, no money worries, satisfied with what you received. Most important thing was family time on Saturday and Sunday, those are now gone with the wind

I really think it’s important for a least one parent to be there for the children …. Sometimes I think luxury items and there affordability comes before family these days … I know it’s hard these days with so many jobs being only part time for families to make ends meet so can see this subject from both sides …. I was lucky to be able to work during school hours so was there for my kids before and after school and school holidays would have hated to miss this time with them …. Their childhood goes so fast Edited 16-Nov-21 14:06pm

It’s so sad that people can’t afford to do that now And with everything open weekends families don’t get quality time together anymore as usual one has to work What was so wrong with late night shopping on Thursday and Friday’s…then everyone wouldn’t be in this situation :-(

It works for us as my husband had a better paying job

My partner has got himself a good paying job starting next year whilst I lost mine due to covid but also because we are moving interstate. I wouldn't mind being a housewife and tending to the home and shopping etc but I feel like society frowns upon it or sees it as strange. People judge when you don't have a job and don't seem as accepting.

Yes i stayed home for the first 12 years then got a part time job and yes we did not have the expensive holidays or the best TV etc but we got by

Those were the days...

When I changed gender from male to female I found that I could no longer reverse a car nor read a map. And those bloody men leaving the toilet seat up was really annoying.

Wouldn't the world be a nicer place if we went back to that!

I must be old school because that's the way I've always been.

There were many perfect things in the fifties like respect, courtesy and good manners. There were also many not so good things, if only we could pick and choose…..lol

I was born 1945, The fifties hid a lot of unhappiness and resentment due in part to the structure of work during the war, what happened after the return of the men and the idyllic lifestyle was a myth. The invention and distribution of the contraceptive pill plus the rise of the womens movement was a turning point. In short, the answer is no

Perfect? As in the movies, not a hair out of place, not a speck of dust to be seen, all the children spick and span, but then again it was all in black and white and would not have shown the finer details.

Isn't it really all about Greed and Instant Gratification? Today people seem to want the big house with 6 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms,4-car garage, pool, tennis court, lounge and family rooms (just what else is a lounge if not a family room?) and they are prepared to go into extraordinary levels of debt to have it all and have it all NOW. Yes, it can be argued that "Interest rates are Historically Low" and they are BUT they seem to forget that those Interest rates can, and inevitably will, rise. Many not so old people today can still remember the Low Interest Rates of the late 1980s only to see them rise to between 17%-19% for Home Loans. That regime could well return and then what will happen? Mass evictions, bankruptcies with the accompanying Mental Health disasters ending in Suicide. The Good Old Days, compared to today were indeed just that. Mums and Dads were content with starting out small and building up.

i think anyone would be happy to do so times changes and so does the economy to have a roof over your head and food on the table it takes two to work and the other to work part time or full time if they so choose. The days are different and children learn and parents learn how to cope with it. Then a house sold for 20,000 dollars and today the same house would sell over 60,000 it is basically what a person want out of life and ensures that each member of the family are taken care of.

Yes it would be great to go back to the 50,s I loved going up in these years it was the best

Mom and dad had 9 kids and dad work and mom took care of the house. one income and we did just fine.

It's fascinating how gender roles have evolved over time :-) Poem from Ada Limon titled 'Wife'. I’m not yet comfortable with the word, its short clean woosh that sounds like life. At dinner last night my single girls said in admonition, It’s not wife-approved about a friend’s upcoming trip. Their eyes rolled up and over and out their pretty young heads. Wife, why does it sound like a job? I want a wife, the famous feminist wrote, 'a wife who will keep my clothes clean, ironed, mended, replaced when need be'. A word that could be made easily into maid. A wife that does, fixes, soothes, honors, obeys. Housewife, fish wife, bad wife, good wife, what’s the word for someone who stares long into the morning, unable to even fix tea some days, the kettle steaming over loud like a train whistle, she who cries in the mornings, she who tears a hole in the earth and cannot stop grieving, the one who wants to love you, but often isn’t good at even that, the one who doesn’t want to be diminished by how much she wants to be yours.Edited 16-Nov-21 08:19am

I would but I'm sure I would get bored with the lack of challenges. I would like to work from home as well.

yes

Very happy!

I don't think its any different today for any family to have a stay at home parent. The only reason people say they can't afford for one parent to stay at home is they want everything now. We took five or more years to save for a house deposit. We bought second hand furniture until we could afford new. Now they have to have a big house fully furnished, new car in the garage. The money would not be an issue if they were not so unhappy when they couldn't have everything now.

I have always stayed home and looked after my children while my husband works. We dont have alot of money on one wage, but we are comfortable and save for big things. I do alot around the house, cooking, cleaning, mow the lawns, do gardening and fix things and taxi driver for the kids. I am so much closer to my children than their father and enjoy every minute of the time I spend with them.

We now live in a world whereby, in order to survive financially, BOTH partners need to work and BOTH need to equally share the household chores. It is even harder financially for a SINGLE person household

It’s one of the best times and we have lots of memory

Each to their own - as long as it is voluntary.

I like all the freedoms we have today. Women didn't have much say when it came to politics and only had a small range of career options. Wife beating was a lot more accepted back then as well. If money wasn't an option then I wouldn't want to be confined to the house. I'd stay at home for the first few years of a child's life as children benefit a lot, but after that I'd be out the door either working probably on my own business or furthering my education. Sitting still and looking pretty is not my thing.

If money wasn't an issue they both could stay home and enjoy their family

People should be able to afford to live on one wage or salary

I grew up in the late 50's and was fortunate enough to have had a good start in life. Mum went to work when we were all at school, and my older brothers and sisters would help us younger ones get ready for school and we would all catch the buses to school together some in primary and some in secondary. It was a great life and have no regrets or issues with it.

I don't know any about in the 1950s is because both of my parents have work outside the home when I were growing up. I were born in the late 80s and both of my parents were born in the late 60s.

Yes. Children had a parent that can spend more time with them. Listen to them and be there if they have any issues. Children want to be listened to and not be ignored by a parent who is tired from working. I have read where children can get into more trouble with two people working. While it is harder now to buy a home parents try for the sake of the family. Unfortunately the child misses out and you need to know what your children are up to in the world we live in now. Things would not be so rushed to get home and do the tasks that are required when they get home if one stayed home and the other worked.

Like Anneliese said on the outside it seemed like a perfect world, but underneath there were a lot of secrets that no one dared to expose. We had a family friend whose wife told my mother he caught him in bed with their sixteen year-old daughter. I was also abused emotionally and sexually, and it seemed to be OK. I can't imagine his wife pretending it didn't mean anything. As a child, I sat there as she told my mother! No one seemed to understand the impact that has on children. Now children are more protected, but we have them being abducted and even killed sometimes by their family members. I blame a lot on drugs, but what was the excuse before drugs? We just have the media now to let the stories all out. I don't know what the answer is. Take your children to church and give them a good foundation. Only God can straighten this mess out! I don't mean to preach, but we need hope.

My dad was born in the late 1920s and I think there was certainly a lot of class back then. Even going to the supermarket he would dress up in a casual suit with a shirt and always wear a dress hat whenever he left the house. He would greet neighbours, hold doors, give up his seat (even as a senior), always hard working and would do everything by the book. People just don't do that anymore. My dad worked 2 jobs at some point, my mum looked after us until we were old enough to attend kindergarten and school, we did a lot of extra activities on the weekend and after school. They both had their roles. The 50's perfection seems a little plastic and fake to me, like it's squeaky clean on the front but underneath is hiding a lot of mess and tension.

The 1950s was supposedly the era of ideal homes and perfect housewives (strictly a MYTH and PROPANGANDA) - in the USA. Actually (in REALITY) the 1950s was about racial segregation in public schools, housing, lynchings, color and white signs (POSTED) aka as white privelege (today), sexism at an all-time high, and the lack of job opportunites for miniorities (which is still an issue) - in the USA. There is NOT one good memory in the 1950s for me to reminiscence ABOUT (pertaining to society)! What minority (in the USA)) would desire to go back in time - to the 1950s (under any CIRCUMSTANCES)?!

The most important thing to remember about the American dream is that it is exactly what it was and continues to be...a total fantasy..heavily supported by Hollywood, American commercial TV and successive governments...most of it never happened...and never will...but its lots of fun to play along...and we can all enjoy it...and have "American restaurants"...and "theme parks"...and other rubbish....

If one thinks the 1950's were the perfect scenario they are dreaming. It was how things were depicted in shows on TV such as Father Knows Best and My Three Sons if people remember them but in fact life was nothing like this. Women felt stifled not being able to work even part time. My mother tried and my father did not like it one bit and made it tough for her so she stopped trying. She resented him for the rest of his life. Nowadays, two parents working is the norm to pay for their homes, food, bills, cars, etc. Children go to Day Care and Pre School and I have found most of these children well adapted and confident. Times have changed and looking back to 70 years ago through rose coloured glasses is a falsehood. Reality is how we live today.

It could work for me. :)