How did WW1 affect the women in Britain?
Before World War One mostly only men worked and they were thought to be the "breadwinners". The jobs they did usually required alot of strenght and were very tiring. Women worked hard too, but their jobs are done alot differently. Only about 30% of the workforce was female and the majority unmarried, these women were servants.
During WWI (1914-1918), large numbers of women were enrolled into jobs left by men who had gone to fight in the war. New jobs were also created as part of the war effort, for example in munitions factories. The high demand for weapons resulted in the munitions factories becoming the largest single employer of women during 1918.
This led to women working in areas of work that were formerly reserved for men, for example as railway guards and ticket collectors, buses and tram conductors, postal workers, police, firefighters and as bank ‘tellers’ and clerks. Some women also worked heavy or precision machinery in engineering, led cart horses on farms, and worked in the civil service and factories. However, they received lower wages for doing the same work as men,
and thus began some of the earliest demands for equal pay.
Women’s employment rates increased during WWI, from 23.6% of the working age population in 1914 to between 37.7% and 46.7% in 1918.
During WWI (1914-1918), large numbers of women were enrolled into jobs left by men who had gone to fight in the war. New jobs were also created as part of the war effort, for example in munitions factories. The high demand for weapons resulted in the munitions factories becoming the largest single employer of women during 1918.
This led to women working in areas of work that were formerly reserved for men, for example as railway guards and ticket collectors, buses and tram conductors, postal workers, police, firefighters and as bank ‘tellers’ and clerks. Some women also worked heavy or precision machinery in engineering, led cart horses on farms, and worked in the civil service and factories. However, they received lower wages for doing the same work as men,
and thus began some of the earliest demands for equal pay.
Women’s employment rates increased during WWI, from 23.6% of the working age population in 1914 to between 37.7% and 46.7% in 1918.
Sources:
http://www.striking-women.org/module/women-and-work/world-war-i-1914-1918
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/0/ww1/26439020v
http://entrenchedww1.weebly.com/role-of-women2.html
http://www.striking-women.org/module/women-and-work/world-war-i-1914-1918
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/0/ww1/26439020v
http://entrenchedww1.weebly.com/role-of-women2.html
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