zlacker

I don't think it's purely economic. I think birth control plus legalized abortion changed relationships, and those happened at roughly the same time. (Roe v. Wade was 1972, IIRC.)

The decline of religion also probably plays a role here. You'd have a hard time blaming that on the end of the gold standard.

I mean, sure, economics almost certainly plays a role. But it's not the sole cause.

>>Animal+(OP)
Feminism in general (with birth control and abortion) changed things quite a bit if we consider it including the rise of women in the workforce. Look at the chart of labor participation. I believe its changes at the time mostly reflect women starting to get jobs.

Although, people could maybe speculate that dual income families also became a necessity as a result of worsening economic conditions. I don't know.

(And for the record, I'm not using feminism as a negative word here.)

>>brvsft+81
I suspect that it is longer term economic trends that are driving the changes. For thousands of years humanity was primarily agrarian, and all of our social structures were built around that. Before that, as Hunter-gatherers our social structures were something else.

The industrial and agricultural revolutions have only recently allowed most of us to live in cities and do other work than trying to grow enough food to survive. And so new ways of living are arising that work for people in the new era.

We are probably going to see a lot more variety in living arrangements before things settle into a new normal. I wish I could be around for the next couple hundred years to see it all happen!