Abstract
Some of the most important factors influencing society today have been brought about by changes in women' s lives. Improvements in the education and career aspirations of young women have meant that many women (though by no means all) feel a sense of independence, and of control over their own destiny, which would have been unheard of in previous generations. This has implications throughout the lifestages, leading to a variety of social phenomena, including:
- the rise of the hard-drinking ‘ladette'
- more couples in which the woman is the highest earner
- more single-parent households (almost all of them headed by women)
- more working mothers of young children
- post-family women who are ‘staying younger longer' , and refusing to conform to stereotypes dictating how older women should look and behave.
The negative side to this freedom and independence is that women can feel under pressure to ‘have it all' and to ‘do it all' , leading in some cases to tiredness, anxiety and/or depression.
This report examines how women' s lives alter as they get older and enter different situations and lifestages, looking at the differences and similarities between them.
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