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Hard working couples struggle to buy the basic food and shelter which their grandfathers had purchased while their wives stayed at home.

Is this an example of truth through mere assertion, or of pluralizing anecdote to equal data?

In any case, I disagree with the assertion, because I think it's a stretch that such a couple would consider what was "basic" in 1955 to be acceptable. It's tough, though, since quality of life is so, well, qualitative.

Another aspect I question about the mid-50s is how war surplus affected cost of goods. How many of those single income households were buying goods that had been subsidized by their wives' work for the war effort? There are strong hints of this effect in early computer power supplies, as 400Hz wasn't historically common in commercial power.




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