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

classes is therefore able nowadays, provided she
is not below the average in intelligence and
attractiveness, to enjoy a thoroughly agreeable life
so long as she can keep free from the desire for
children. But if this desire overwhelms her, she is
compelled to marry, and almost certainly to lose
her job. She sinks to a much lower level of comfort
than that to which she has been accustomed, since
her husband’s income is very likely no larger than
that which she was previously earning, and has to
provide for a family instead of only a single
woman. After having enjoyed independence, she
finds it galling to have to look to another for every
penny of necessary expenditure. For all these
reasons such women hesitate to embark upon
maternity.
A woman who nevertheless does take the plunge
finds herself, as compared with the women of
former generations, confronted with a new and
appalling problem, namely the paucity and bad
quality of domestic service. In consequence of this,
she becomes tied to her house, compelled to