Introduction
America underwent high scale economic and social change which swept across the country in the 1970s and 1870s. There were revolutions in the social conventions; as the economy grew and wages shot up, every American citizen seemed to be enjoying a decent standard of living. Literally every sector of life was touched by these dramatic changes.
From the work force where the number of women shot a record high, to the women’s dressing style. Prices fell and consumer consumerism went up by several folds. The infancy of 1970 saw the continuation of the activism of the previous decade, especially the women and other minority groups who were fighting for equal opportunities in the social and political realm. This paper will look at the economic and social changes that took place in America during the period 1970s and 1980’s, their causes and possible impacts.
Economic and Social Changes in the 1970s and 1980s
The on set of 1970 also saw the end of the Vietnam War and the countrywide recognition of environmental conservation strategies. On 22nd 1970, America celebrated the “Earth Day” to drum up awareness on nature and its occupants. Though it was not a universal success, there was a great advancement and the whole world was put on notice on the effect of depletion of the ozone layer and other kinds of pollution (Kaelble, 1986, p.183). The government faced grave opposition from activists who criticized most of their development moves.
The government also altered the demographic portrait put into effect some immigration laws. These laws changed a lot of things in the United States, and the way of doing things took a different turn; the cross boarder rules were made more stringent, and so were those guarding on trade and cross cultural practices. Illegal immigrants, particularly from Asia and Latin America as well as from Mexico and South America were barred from crossing the boarders into the U.S. It was said that the better living standards that U.S was giving to refugees in their country were the great contributor to the massive migration (Schultze et al., 2002, pp.14-17).
The women did not relent in their quest to achieve economic and political equity with their male counterparts. Between the years 1971 and 1972, the women movements’ vigorously pushed for this equality. Top on the list were the NOW (National Organization for Women) and NWPC (National Women’s Political Caucus). The twin groups pushed the Congress to approve the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) but opposition was too strong which led to the failure of the ratification (Warren and Provenzo, 1983, p.356). After the failure the change advocates redirected their focus to “the right to life” campaign which opposed the governments funding of abortion.
This fight bore a slight success in 1976 when the government agreed to cut off the funds for abortion–sending a clear signal that it had started softening its stand ready for change. Economic equality among the sexes was still a far off dream; it was still more like an elusive goal. A softening stand swept across the entire state. Most womenfolk moved into nontraditional jobs, companies instituted new programs where women could be trained; other entrepreneurs came up with day care centers to ease the load on working mothers. But the pay disparity between men and women was still significant. Warren described the situation as a “glass ceiling” for women. This meant that women could only climb the social ladder up to some level, beyond which they can go no further.
The 1970’s also saw the waning of gender related stereotypes and gender-neutral terms were encouraged across the nation. The government took lead in this; for instance, policemen became police officers, mailmen to mail carriers, firemen to fire fighters while stewardesses became flight attendants. The whole idea of the State and the interest groups was to combat social and economic inequalities that were previously legitimized by the law; for example the Jim Crow Laws. The Supreme Court moved in 1974 to restored racial balance by declaring segregation illegal.
Affirmative action was given top priority as the government sought to find a level ground for both the minority and the dominant groups. More of the minority groups got their ways into big higher learning institutions and into the job market. The issue of affirmative action led the establishment of “Native-American Policy” to address what the President Nixon termed “Support to Tribal Autonomy”. In the demographic field, the 1980 census noted in (Hibbs, 1987, p.55) revealed that the distribution and composition of the American society was quickly changing. The baby boom came to an end, reported divorce cases rose and a larger percentage of the population was composed of older folks. This led to a compulsory raise of the retirement from 65 to 70 by 1978.
There was a complete contrast in America in the 1980s of the Reagan’s Administration and 1970s Nixon’s Administration. Almost everything stalled. The Cold War intensified in the 1980s and so were the power struggles between the Soviet Union and the United States. The battle of supremacy took a front stand instead of economic and social enhancement. The U.S now concentrated more on containing rogue nations than restraining communism. Several nations were involved in ethnic conflicts and support of international terrorism and the U.S government felt that they had to bring this to an end. The economic status gave the government no easy time; it was in the 1980s that the economic growth hit a snag, thanks to the recession and exploding deficit. Several humanitarian programs were either suspended and some completely dropped programs. “The 1980’s was like every man fort himself and God for us all”. By this time women had gained a considerable forward leap but perfect equality was still far from being achieved (Bigsby et al., 2001, p.87).
Causes of Economic and Social Changes
The causes of the notable shift in the economic and social arena were mainly attributed to the awareness that the society was exposed to due to the numerous movements from the civil society groups in the 1960s. Many women as well as the minority groups came to realize that their happiness lay only in a possible equality in the economic and social aspect. They therefore did all humanly possible to see into this realization. These were the movements that made significant differences in the economic and social platform despite the stiff opposition from the government. The stable economy of the 1970s also called for increased demand for workforce. And women came in handy for that. The companies therefore had no choice but to employ them…it was this demand that led to above mentioned entrepreneurs coming up with such services like daycare. The cross-culture came as a result of infiltration of the US traditional social practices with other foreign cultures (McClellan et al., 1988, pp.347-352).
Both Nixon and Regan administration wanted to live the true legacy of American dream of being a democratic nation; that was therefore the main force that drove them to push for acquisition of complete racial equality. The Regan Administration was torn between the need to satisfy the people’s economic demand and social comfort and that of sheltering America’s security. He therefore shifted goals to concentrate more on looking at global agenda and not national issues. This was also reported to be one of the major reasons that made the two decades so different. Recession also had its share of effects which were of cause not pleasant.
In 1981 under the leadership of Regan, the Congress passed an Economic Recovery Tax Act which was geared to reduce the personal income tax by about 25% within a three year period; it was also believed to lower the capital gains by 50-70%. This was Regan’s strategy of expanding the U.S economy through what he called “greater investment”. He cut spending on numerous social programs like job training, housing and school lunch. All these did not work; instead, the government accumulated moiré debts which soured to unprecedented degree. The military budget shot up and the number of individuals living in poverty in America shot a notch higher. The trend remained so until 1983 when inflation reduced and the economy grew due to the tax cuts (Hibbs, 1987, pp.27-39).
Conclusion
As a conclusive remark, this paper can hold it that the economic and social that swept over America was basically due to a force of an idea whose time was ripe. Women had lived in oppression for quite a long time. The boom at the 1970s and the economic downturn of the 1980s were also the main reasons that led changes that were witnessed in the social system. The policies fronted by different administrations of Regan and Nixon had there share of contribution. But whatever happened, it could be said that it was for the better especially for women and other minority groups, and also for the entire American Society. The changes were the best that had ever happened to the democratic state; it has led to the empowerment of the discriminated lot and the acquisition of that ability to survive in hardship. When the economy goes on a nose dive, it can be countered effectively with the latest changes in the economic and social arena.
References
- Bigsby, H. and Whyte, C. (2001). Quantifying Phytosanitary barriers to trade: In N. Hooker and E. Murano (Eds.), Interdisciplinary Food Safety Research. New York, NY: CRC Press. p.87.
- Hibbs, D. (1987). The American Political Economy: The relationship between politics and economy. Harvard University Press. pp.23-59.
- Kaelble, H. (1986). Social Mobility in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Europe and America in Comparative Perspective. St. Martin’s. pp.183.
- McClellan, B. and Reese, W. J., (Ed). (1988). The Social History of American Education of Illinois Press.pp.347-370
- Schultze, L. C. and Mackie, C. (2002). At What Price? Conceptualizing and Measuring Cost-of-Living and Price Indexes. National Academic Press. pp.14-17.
- Warren, H. B. and Provenzo, E. F., Jr. (1983). History of Education and Culture in America. Prentice-Hall. pp.351-379.