I think we would have more woman getting married if they had a more family friendly work situation.”
Don’t necessarily agree. Women of my generation worked full-time and often in supervisory or management positions, kept the house, did the laundry and ironing, cooked breakfast and dinner, packed lunches, made a lot of clothes for everyone, had babies and were good mothers. Of course we had our babies when we were young, had more energy and were more flexible and less demanding, unlike women today.
We had unpaid maternity leave when the boss decided it was time and returned six weeks after the baby was born.
Not sure exactly what it means by women having it all. I don’t think I missed out on anything in my career, with my spouse or with my children. I can guarantee you I never sat around in the evening reading, watching TV or having a leisurely glass of wine. But by having children when you’re in your early or mid 20’s, you have a whole lot of life left after they are grown and gone.
A big part of it is that women can get as much from a paycheck from the government either through disability (PTSD is a big one), or from having a child and being a single mom. Getting off the dole often results in a loss of benefits, plus (to many others), the loss of freedom that comes from getting your own check, vs relying on your husband to provide.
It’s not even break even that’s the deal, there is a premium being put on getting your crazy check because it means not having someone else in your life telling you what to do, etc.
It’s a terribly lonely way to go. I wish, as a man, that I knew the answer but the answer doesn’t seem to be “ask them to marry you”. So I’m stumped.