Significant Shifts in the Street
In the summertime, Loes often sits in front of the house - a sight reminiscent of what the street looked like before Loes en Ton moved here. Nowadays, the aunties do not sit in the doorway anymore, which has had a significant influence on the streetscape. There used to be dozens of children playing and messing around in the street, and there was always an auntie outside or sitting in front of the window to keep an eye on the children. Nowadays, only a handful of children live in the Wolmarans.
Both of these developments are due to women’s emancipation. Because the women in the street started working during the day, just like their partners, they disappeared from the streetscape. Improvements in anticonception in the 60s led to smaller families. Can you imagine families of 15 used to live in the small houses of the Wolmarans? In 2022, the total number of children living in the street will not even surpass the number of children some individual families used to have.
Emancipation also had an influence on family structures: divorce used to be almost impossible due to a lack of financial independence of women. This day and age, most women have their own income, which allows them relative financial freedom from their husbands. Because of this, divorce is more feasible. This has normalized the presence of single parent families.
Another group that has altered the demography of the street are students. Students have always been present in Transvaal - partially due to the presence of Royal Student Rowing Association “Njord” on the Morsweg. However, due to the current growth of the student population in the Netherlands and Leiden, the Wolmarans also fell victim to so-called ‘verkamerde woningen’