The cost of living went up because households with two incomes outbid households with one income for scarce goods like housing. I'm not sure how it could have

The cost of living went up because households with two incomes outbid households with one income for scarce goods like housing. I'm not sure how it could have played out differently. Women have always, always worked to support themselves and their families. But the invention of household labor saving devices freed up enormous amounts of time that would have been spent primarily in the household. Of course those women would look for additional opportunities to support their families. It's the same story as men moving from farm labor to factory labor as farm labor became increasingly mechanized.