Are you assuming that because I live in Gateshead that I am a typical kollel/chinuch wife who has come from a typical kollel family?
I come from a normal, working family, my father works very long hours and is often home late. My husband works extremely hard in his business and is often home late. He is also often working through the night (he is a self-employed business owner) or waking up at 3am to do paperwork that he has no time for during the day. So, yes, I know how late some people work.
In the winter, people finish work early to make shabbos – why not in the summer as well, just because shabbos is later and it seems manageable to do a complete normal work day on Friday?
Midwesterner – your point about krias shema is a good one. However there are many minyanim here which do a mincha/maariv just after plag and then all my husband needs to do is say shema again when he goes to bed. However, if you’re talking about a shabbos meal, let me give you a practical example:
Plag last week – 7.58 – this is what time I lit.
By the time my husband was home from shul it was just before 9. We made kiddush almost straight away.
Shkia was still after 10pm, so that is more than the 50 minutes you proposed, and more than 100 minutes between plag and shkia.
Nightfall was 11.16pm.
Any more comments?