It is a mistake to look at the postwar era through rose-colored glasses when nearly a third of postwar children grew up near or below the poverty line. It is necessary to recognize that the family patterns of the period – a high birthrate, a stable divorce rate, and a low number of mother in the workforce – were a historical aberration. The era’s child-centered character represented a reaction against Depression hardships, wartime upheavals, and Cold War insecurities. We need to recall that the stereotypical 1950s childhood was confined to a minority of children, and that it was a product of a constellation of circumstances unlikely to ever return. Segregation, sexual liberation, the fight for civil rights and a more balanced look at how society treats its least valued members were set to throw the supposedly idyllic growth of the children of the time into a group and culture distinct from that of their parents.
