The old-fashioned world of full-time jobs for married men, with children


I always wanted to grow up and be like my dad. That is, I wanted to get a good corporate job, wear a tie, that sort of thing. I really wasn't clear on what he did, but he sat behind a desk, working for a big company. And today I'm pondering the world he lived in, which was starting to fade away while I was still a kid.

I was born in 1958, and my dad's first job out of college was for a big company. He had served in WWII, used the GI Bill to get a college education, and stepped into a bright future. He had everything going for him, he was tall, handsome, intelligent, a veteran, and a married man.

The United States economy was just perfect for him, and the types of jobs that a man like him could get were designed for married men, and especially for married men with children. It seems so far away now that's hard for me to imagine, but I'm gonna try. By the way, that's me on the tricycle there.

Yes, times have changed. A lot. Back when my dad went looking for work the want ads in the paper were divided into "Help wanted: men" and "Help wanted: women". The expectation was that men would do the work, and women would stay home and raise the children. I can remember my dad talking about the importance of things like health insurance, and sick time. These things faded away as the expectations of the workforce changed.

Speaking for myself, I did fine as a corporate guy in the '80s and '90s. I inherited my dad's ability to look good in a sports coat, and I also had a good work ethic, which I still have. What would have worked against me, to get hired, and promoted, was my lack of a wife and children. In my dad's day, those men would have been the first to be hired, and promoted. Bachelors were just considered not as desirable for companies. But like I say, luckily for me times had changed.

It was good for me, and it was also good for women. It would have shocked my dad to see so many women in the companies that I worked for. And not just stereotypical female jobs, but managers, supervisors, everything. Most of my bosses in my corporate career were women.

It also would have shocked my dad to see the end of pensions. I watched them fade away, mostly unnoticed by anyone, to be replaced with saving plans, like 401Ks. Then I watched health care insurance go away, sick time go away, vacation time go away. By the late '90s I was working on contract, and if I didn't work, I didn't get any money. There was no safety net, so I tried not to get the flu. I wondered how families coped, and I still wonder.

Times change, and whether for the better or for the worse depends on your point of view.

Image at the top of this post: Mankato, Minnesota in 1961
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