As we celebrated America’s 250th birthday last weekend, I thought about our last big national party, the Bicentennial in 1976. Many of us were there, meaning we have now lived through at least one-fifth of our nation’s history.
Do you remember the inflation, high gas prices, rising interest rates, concerns about Iran and worries about a recession in the 1970s? Even though the headlines are similar now, it struck me how much our lives as women have changed at work and at home in ways we could not have imagined.
Growing up in the 1970s, I remember the women in my family often complained that their life choices were limited. They could be teachers, nurses, secretaries or housewives. That was it.
Some girls they knew were unable to go to college because it was considered a waste. My grandmothers would remind me that I was the first girl in our family who could become anything I put my mind to. Many of you might remember hearing something similar.
Even women 10 or 20 years older than us did not have the same opportunities that we had, and I think it put pressure on us to succeed.
Two-income households
Although it was the women’s movement that encouraged women to pursue careers, the economic challenges of the 1970s often made two incomes necessary. It was not always that women wanted to work for personal fulfillment. Many families simply could not make it on one income.
Often, after paying for work clothes and pantyhose, taxes, a second car and childcare, wives were told that the second paycheck did not make a significant difference. So, women chose jobs with benefits such as health insurance or a pension, and they knew they could save their families from ruin if the plant where their husbands worked closed or if layoffs occurred, which did happen.
Divorce reached record highs during the 1970s. Many of us lived through the legal separation of our parents or witnessed it in other families. When a household split, studies showed women and children were financially devastated while men experienced an increase in disposable income.
Many women saw education as a path to better lives for themselves and their families. My mom found that being a registered nurse was low-paying and not something she had wanted to do. Like many women, she went to school at night after working all day to earn two more degrees during the 1970s.
She was on her way to becoming a superwoman.
Having it all
I remember being gifted the bestselling book “Having It All” in 1982. The same year, I saw the movie “Dancing as Fast as I Can,” about the perils of having it all, with my mom, and she cried through it.
We were told we could “have it all,” but if both spouses were working, who would load the dishwasher or pick up the kids? So, having it all may have meant doing it all for many women: working full-time, raising children, keeping a beautiful home, keeping our spouses happy and serving on the PTA. A sociologist coined the additional work women did “The Second Shift.” I never saw my dad load a dishwasher.
At the same time, America embraced “greed is good” with McMansions, luxury cars like Beemers (BMWs) and Club Med. Expectations at work and at home kept growing, while many families were also trying to keep up with the Joneses.
Many women who worked paying jobs felt guilty about not spending enough time at home, and during that time, widely reported studies suggested that long hours in daycare could harm young children. Meanwhile, many women who did not work outside of the home felt bad about not contributing financially or making use of their education. It sometimes seemed there was no right answer.
The glass ceiling and before ‘Me Too’
Many of us hit that glass ceiling hard.
When I entered my profession in the early 90s, the percentage of women entering public accounting had already doubled in just over a decade, yet women were still only a tiny percentage of partners. Several of my friends passed the CPA exam on the first try but never became licensed because the firms would not provide them with the required audit experience or sign the required form. It was more profitable for the firms to keep women working as low-paid staff than to allow them to obtain their licenses.
I was in my mid-20s when the Anita Hill hearings were broadcast in 1991. Unwanted sexual advances, crude jokes and racist and sexist comments were just something most of us put up with at work. I do not remember complaining about it, except in conversation with other women.
Suddenly, it was being discussed publicly and on TV in detail by men. I remember several friends filing lawsuits for harassment soon after.
Economic downturns and a pandemic
The 90s and 2000s brought one economic challenge after another. Savings and loan failures. The dotcom bust, housing crisis and the Great Recession.
Through it all, women adapted. Some became primary wage earners for the first time or had to delay retirement because their 401(k)s had lost value. Some cared for aging parents who had lost their retirement. Some raised their grandchildren or helped adult children who could not afford to live on their own.
Even after the pandemic lockdown, women returned to work at a pace that shocked economists, and by early 2026, women held slightly more jobs than men. It was also reported for the first time in NASA’s history that the newest class of astronauts would have more women than men.
Celebrating women
Remember the Charlie perfume commercials (which ran for 15 years)? It was the first perfume commercial to feature a woman in a pantsuit, and rather than sitting around in lingerie, waiting for her man to buy her perfume, she confidently glided down an urban street with her suitcase. When it aired in 1976, she represented something many women wanted to become.
We could not have imagined at that time that in 2026, 28 countries would be led by women, or there would be four women sitting on the Supreme Court,
We can also be happy that our daughters and granddaughters are no longer the only female in the classroom or conference room and that they do not have to serve coffee or accept overt harassment and discrimination. Many of them live with evolved men who share in the housework. Most importantly, they have more choices about how they want to live their lives and should not feel they have to manage everything on their own.
There is still more to do. For instance, did you know the Equal Rights Amendment was first proposed more than 100 years ago and approved by Congress more than 50 years ago, yet it still has not become part of the Constitution?
But this year, as we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, let’s also celebrate the role women played in our nation’s progress and success. It deserves to be a larger part of America’s story.
I hope you have time to reflect on what you remember and share it with the younger members of your family. I hope you have time to reflect on what you remember and share it with the younger members of your family.
Michelle C. Herting is a CPA, an accredited business valuation specialist, and an accredited estate planner specializing in succession planning and estate, gift, and trust taxation.