Employment Opportunities for Women in Britain at the Outbreak of the War

Employment Opportunities for Women in Britain at the Outbreak of the War

Shortly before the outbreak of the war, working and middle-class women

were fighting for new freedoms and a different role to play in the

advancing industry. The majority of Britain’s women, wanted to be

equal to men, rather than being house bound or something to show off.

With this new motivation to play a more important role, secondary

schools and universities were opening to women, allowing them the same

education as men.

At the time of World War One, many people believed that the war had

helped advance women politically and economically. Mrs Millicent

Fawcett, leading feminist, founder of Newham College Cambridge and

president of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies from

1897 to 1918, said in 1918: 'The war revolutionised the industrial

position of women - it found them serfs and left them free.'

The war did offer women increased opportunities in the paid labour

market. Between 1914 and 1918, an estimated two million women replaced

men in employment, resulting in an increase in the proportion of women

in total employment from 24 per cent in July 1914 to 37 per cent by

November 1918.

The war bestowed two valuable legacies on women. First, it opened up a

wider range of occupations to female workers and quickened the

collapse of traditional women's employment, particularly domestic

service. From the 19th century to 1911, between 11 and 13% of the

female population in England and Wales were domestic servants. By

1931, the percentage had dropped to under 8%. For the middle classes,

the decline of domestic servants was made easier by the rise of

domestic appliances, such as cookers, electric irons and vacuum

cleaners. The popularity of 'labour-saving devices' does not, however,

explain the dramatic drop in the servant population. Middle-class

women continued to advertise for servants, but working women who might

previously have been drawn into service were being drawn away by

alternative employment opening up to satisfy the demands of the war.

Nearly half of the first recruits to the London General Omnibus