Maybe that's women entering the work force? While the prior generation mostly had single providers, more and more women entering the work force often part time resulted in statistical work hour reductions as in your chart.
https://www.epi.org/publication/webfeatures_snapshots_07072004/
I would just suggest you're working really hard to engage in narrative-fitting, here.
Well, I did ask myself this question since early in school: If GDP grows some percent per year since 100 years, why is it most of us still have to spend most of our time working? Are we really 100 times better off today? Why can't I just work 5h/week and be 20 times better off than back then?
