By 1980, young people were remaining longer in education than they had in the past and women were increasingly embracing opportunities to complete secondary schooling, embark on post-secondary education and enter the paid workforce. The "golden days" of men's near universal employment were over, and with the decline in manufacturing, the demands for a better educated, skilled workforce increased. Education and employment trends in turn contributed to the postponement of marriage. With the wider availability of the contraceptive pill in the 1970s, women started to delay marriage and postpone having children.6 Feminism fuelled new aspirations for women beyond the confines of marriage and motherhood. Fundamental changes were occurring in society and flowing to family life.