The-Conquest-of-Happiness-by-Bertrand-Russell

even in relation to that problem we can deal with it
only in so far as amelioration lies within the power
of each individual without alterations in the social
structure.
This is, of course, a very grave limitation, for the
causes of family unhappiness in our day are of the
most diverse sorts, psychological, economic,
social, educational, and political. Where the wellto-do
sections of the community are concerned,
two causes have combined to make women feel
parenthood a burden far heavier than it was ever
felt to be in former times. These two causes are, on
the one hand, the opening of careers to single
women; on the other hand, the decay of domestic
service. In old days women were driven into
marriage by the intolerable conditions of life for
the spinster. The spinster had to live at home in
economic dependence, first upon her father, and
then upon some reluctant brother. She had no
occupations to fill her days and no liberty to enjoy
herself outside the sheltered walls of the family
mansion. She had neither the opportunity nor the