The Employment Opportunities of Women in Britain in 1914 at the Outbreak of War
Women did not really have many jobs before the war started in 1914.
Women were not permitted to have jobs because if they were married
their loyalties ran with their husbands. This also applied if they had
a child. The women's job was to make sure that the house was nice,
clean and tidy for their husband to come back to and they had to cook
all of the meals. Overall in life the women were expected to do all of
this. They had to accept that they could not go to work; it was the
job of their husband. The women were dependent upon the men to bring
in the money so that they could go and buy everything so that they
could cook the meals.
Some women did go into working labour such as textiles, dressmaking,
and clerical workers and in the food industries. Even with these jobs
they could not compare to the amount of women who just did domestic
services around either their own home or for their employers at their
home. This mainly happened in the Sweated Trade, which was clothing
and dress making. In the sweated trade women were often paid 'piece
rate' for the amount of items that they made in a week.
The men expected the women to give up their jobs once they became
married. This is because the men did not think that it was acceptable
to send their wives out to work. Most women had to have jobs as
domestic helpers because their husbands did not bring in enough money
for them to survive on altogether so they needed to earn extra money
for food. Not all of this money came form completing domestic
services; they had to have other jobs as well because the earnings
were not that high for women. Women were paid two to three times less
than men even if they did the same hours a day. Over the country in
the industrial areas of Britain was where most of the women worked in
The women were in charge of the house and sometimes the field. The women also had to cook and skin the animals. The men were in charge of hunting and fishing for food. The hardest responsibility was making war and protecting the village.
is only a snapshot of one moment in history. It does not tell us about
women each had specific jobs they were to do in order to keep things running.
Families with limited financial resources had to sell their personal goods or labor to feed and clothe themselves. In poor families, the housewives had to cook meals, make clothing, and clean in addition to making household goods to use and sell. Middle class and upper class women shared in most of these chores in their households, but often had servants to help.
So her, her mom, and her sisters usually took care of all the planting, weeding, harvesting the garden, and harvesting the fruit. There was absolutely no electric washing machines, henceforth several hours of scrubbing on a washboard wasn’t uncommon either.
Plan of Investigation This investigation will evaluate the question, to what extent did the British Women’s Auxiliary Air Force assist the Allies’ war efforts during the Second World War? This question is important because in World War 1 British women were active in the war effort but to a limited extent, acting as nurses on the battle field and working in munitions factories, but resumed their traditional roles in society after the war. In World War 2 women were more active in the military through auxiliary groups, such as Women’s Auxiliary Force (WAAF) and it is important to understand how much of an impact their work made on the Allies war effort.
"Leeds Express: 4 March 1868 I wonder, Mr Editor, Why I can't have the vote; And I will not be contented Till I've found the reason out I am a working woman, My voting half is dead, I hold a house, and want to know Why I can't vote instead I pay my rates in person, Under protest tho, it's true; But I pay them, and I'm qualified To vote as well as you. " Sarah Ann Jackson The purpose of this investigation is to analyse the issues surrounding the eventual enfranchisement of women in 1918, to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the militant Suffragette campaign in the early years of the twentieth century and to decide whether the outbreak of war was instrumental in achieving enfranchisement, or merely a fortunate coincidence. The poem written by Sarah Ann Jackson underlines the fact that many middle class women had, throughout the reign of Queen Victoria, taken issue with men's dominance over their lives and had worked hard throughout these years to draw attention to women's right to equality. For these women, enfranchisement was not their sole aim.
Throughout the period from 1750-1914, women would typically work in their husbands’ homes and would perform house duties at a very basic and fundamental level. Women would generally wait until they found a man that would marry them.
than 60 hours a week commence to earn only about 78.3% of what men in the same group
daily chores that were normally expected of them, but they were asked to go to work. Suddenly
When American officially entered World War II in 1941 changes occurred for many people. The draft was enacted forcing men to do their duty and fight for their country. Women were asked to hold down the home front in many ways, ranging from rationing, volunteering, saving bacon grease and making the most of their commodities they currently had. There was also a hard push for women to take war production jobs outside the home. Before the depression, just a few years before the war, it was not uncommon for a woman to work for wages, but as the depression set in, married women were at risk of losing their jobs. Numerous women were fired or asked to resign in order to make room for a man who had lost his job. Many citizens felt it was unfair for a family to have two wage earners when some families had none. (Kessler-Harris) Previously, the average workforce of women was young and single. However, when the war started, couples were married at a younger age, putting the typical worker in short supply. This led to a rapid increase in older married women going to work outside the home. “During the depression, 80 percent of Americans objected to wives working outside the home, by 1942, only 13 percent still objected.” (May) By the end of the war, 25 percent of married women were employed. (May) Although women had worked outside the home prior to World War II, their entrance into the war production labor force created change in the typical gender roles and provided an exciting and yet difficult time for many women who were gaining their independence.
women some of the things that they wanted but they also gained some things by living
“Gee, I wish I were a man!” It is an odd thing for a woman to say, but during World War II this saying was a common advertisement to encourage women to join the workforce during the war. The
When the war began men had to leave their families and jobs behind. World War I was a complete war because all of the world’s assets had to be used and the entire nation’s population was involved. Anyone that had the ability to work had to work. The women had to take up jobs and went through a lot changes in order to support their families during the war. World War I gave women with the chance to have a significant part in the victory of the war which had an impact them and changed the lives of all women forever.
The woman was raised to be a great spouse, to play maternal acts, to be able to care for her spouse, to be devoted, to be proper, and to assist him with money and watch over her kids and care for the home through selling, retailing, and planting. The female was made to be industrious from her dad 's home so it would be beneficial in her spouse 's home (Oluwagbemi-Jacob 227). Women have several different roles throughout the house and on the land. The females had several more jobs than the male does. Oluwagbemi-Jacob stated “The females make the fire, do the cooking, and serve the meals etc… The females would sweep the kitchen and the rooms of the family houses…