Anthony, I do agree with you about women today, although the same cannot be said for them all. There are still plenty of younger men and women that make fantastic parents, work full time and are generally regarded as respectable, contributing members of society.
However, equally, I see my fair share of "chavy scum" parents. Just the other week I was in the co-op in Leeds by the bus station and saw a woman with about 10 kids with her - must've been on a day trip out. She was buying them all drinks. One young boy picked up a bottle of water whilst all the others went for fizzy drinks. Her response was "ya wan' wa-er? I'm not f*ckin' payin' fa wa-er. Ya can av a f*ckin coke!". VILE woman. For starters, nobody should use that language infront of children. Secondly, she should be GLAD that any child would opt for water over a fizzy drink - any decent parent would want that.
I think people today, on the whole, are lazy. Young mothers, although a lot are perfectly fit Mum's, do not appreciate how hard it was years ago. Everything is so convenient now.
My Grandma, for example, has 5 kids. She was washing for 7 in a tub and mangle until 1962 when she got her first twin tub. My Mum still remembers the day she got it and recalls it being like all her birthdays come at once. My Grandma did all the cooking, cleaning and worked part time, later full time, at McIntosh's in Halifax and later at Cossett Carpets in Bradford. My Mum's family didn't even have a TV until 1968.
We need to really appreciate how far we have come and how convenient a lot of things in life are now.
RE: Terrys nappies. I was born in 1990 and Mum still used Terrys nappies with me. She'd soak them in boiling water and napisan in an old tin bucket before putting them through the washing machine.