If women left the workplace and remained at home.

Do you think society would be better or worse if the tide shifted, women left the workplace and went back to being housewives/stay-at-home mothers?

Far worse. Woman are conditioned by society to be the emotionally rational ones. Men are designed to be competitive.

The kids need SOMEONE at home and there isn't anyone usually because both parents are working, that's the problem. This is why I think the nuclear family idea doesn't work anymore, it was different when a whole family could live on one person's paycheck but that's not much of a reality anymore...neither is the idea that a family can consist of two parents and two or so kids and they turn out fine...I think when possible there should be extended families involved...okay, maybe the parents aren't at home when the kids get back from school, but what about grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc? Wouldn't having them around be beneficial to the children as well in that they're still with family, still with people who can help them and listen to them, who doesn't get paid to do it?

Worse

There's a little bit of a double edge there. There's a benefit for the mom to be home & raise the kids rather than baby sitters, but it isn't very practical with todays economy. Unless one is making a substantial amount of money it's almost impossible to live off one paycheck. But I think the woman runs an even greater risk doing this. There's the chance she can wake up one day to find herself alone. Whether it's a marital break up or through death she can end up in a very bad situation. She may have devoted her entire life to her husband & family but a woman who is unemployed with no job skills is going to have a very difficult time. If she still has children at home it's even worse. Ending up homeless or having a huge number of women seeking public assistance isn't going to benefit society. It's important for people to be able to stand on their own two feet. And it's good for everyone, male & female to be productive & have a life outside of the bubble. I think society benefits when it has happy productive self sustaining people.

Society survived before it and it'd survive if we undid it.

In general, people want too much for one pay check to afford them all the luxuries in life. I know that isn't true of the many who legitimately need two incomes just for the basics. But it is true for a lot of people who say they both need to work, but in truth, don't really.

If my husband earned a decent wage, my first choice would be to be home with the kids, at least until the were all in school, but I'd like it to be something my hubby ASKED of me, not demanded. We'd also have to be earning enough to live comfortable, and not pay check to paycheck, for me to stay at home with the kids. Living simply is fine, but to always be worrying about money would be hard.