In many cases, a woman’s lot seems to have hardly improved by marriage. The 1950s were a decade marked by the post-World War II boom, the dawn of the Cold War and the Civil Rights movement in the United States. Many of them became wives and mothers as the men came back from the war. If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked. Women had, during World War II, taken men’s jobs while they had been away at war. This was the age of respectability and conformity. Post-feminist revolution, 1950s housewives carry a certain amount of hip kudos. The 1950s family home was also very different from our own. Learn about the myths and realities of women's lives during the 1950s.

The life of the average married woman in the 1950s and 60s was very different from that of today’s woman.

Courses. Women’s roles were greatly changed in the 1950s, with the men coming back from war and taking their jobs back. Now that we have equality (or a facsimile thereof) we don't have to be on the defensive anymore. Very few women worked after getting married; they stayed at home to raise the children and keep house. After the war, many women wanted to keep their jobs. If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website. It was less common for married women to work and many took on the childcare and housework, while their husbands went to work.

“America at this … Just 1.2 per cent of women went to university in the 1950s. We can wear a stiff, full skirt, vintage aprons, masses of lipstick, absurd hair and play at having afternoon teas and being as ultra-feminine and retro as we want.

Search. Housework was much more difficult, as for example people did their washing by hand, instead of in a machine, and with refrigerators being a luxury item for most people, food had to be bought daily. Learn about the myths and realities of women's lives during the 1950s.