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Are young mothers really better off than in the past ?

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Nonnie Mon 31-Dec-18 10:08:45

Life is so different to when I had children that I think it is impossible to compare. I do think we accepted things rather more than mothers do today.

As for sharing earnings DH and I have only one bank account between us and various savings accounts. We have always shared despite him earning more than me most of the time. We didn't see monetary contributions as being of more value than mothering and homemaking. One dil earns more than DS and she simply pays for the extra things. The other dil only works part-time and DS pays for pretty much everything. I don't think money is an issue in either case.

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maryeliza54 Mon 31-Dec-18 10:05:59

I just don’t think it’s possible to generalise about now and then - there are so many variables. My dd was born in the early 80s and in my circle of friends, we all took maternity leave, often went back to work part time and had partners who shared the whole range of domestic duties. But I’m very well aware that then as now not all women had those options and good careers. My daughters life as a mother of young children, and her friends, is similar. All in committed very equal relationships working usually part time at the moment. But again life’s not like that for many and never was,

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stella1949 Mon 31-Dec-18 09:49:37

I keep hearing about how we grandmothers were so badly off when we were young. Strict gender roles supposedly crushed our individuality and society squashed us into lives of discontent. But were we really so unhappy ? And are young women today so much better off ?

I've been lurking on Mumsnet lately, and all I seem to see is tales of women trying to be good mothers despite unbearable conditions.

So many women seem to have children with a "partner" who they don't live with . I read one today where they'd never lived together despite two children, but "he comes over and looks after them sometimes" which I thought was really big of him. When I commented that it would be better if they lived together, and shared everything, I was flamed by several posters who told me I was being old-fashioned. Whoops.

Many women live with husbands or partners but there is no real sharing of money - they chip in a certain amount for bills but "he keeps the rest of his as he earns more than I do". What ever happened to sharing everything, no matter how much he earns ?

Girls go home after one or two days of giving birth, and go back to work when the baby is a couple of months old. They have been liberated in order to have a tougher life than we ever had " back in the bad old days".

I think we were much better off when we were young mothers - I feel really sorry for girls today.

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