Women and Work

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Women and Work

• 1880s-Present Day

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Women and work before World War One
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• The largest group of women workers were in
  domestic service. They often worked long hours
  and lived in the homes of their employers.

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• A large number of women worked in the textile
  industry

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• Many women were employed in 'sweated industries'
  like shirt making, nail making and shoe
  stitching. Working hours were long and pay was
  very low

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• Women began to find work in offices. The
  invention of the typewriter and the telephone
  played an important part in this.

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• A growing number of women went to university.
  More women began to enter the professions e.g.
  there were 477 female doctors by 1911.

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• Working women were paid less than men even if
  they did the same jobs.
• It was rare for middle and upper class women to
  work. They were expected to marry then look after
  their children and their home.

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• Women and The First World War

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• Women did the jobs of men who were fighting in
  the war.
• Women did important work in munitions factories

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• Women worked in service jobs e.g. public
  transport, farm work, nursing and the Civil
  Service

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• Women's pay increased during the war.
• Many women lost their jobs when the war ended and
  men returned home.

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Inter-War Period

• Women were better educated as a result of the
  Education Acts of 1902 and 1918. There were more
  job opportunities for women in the 1920's and
  1930's due to better education. Many women found
  work as clerks, teachers and nurses.
• Industries changed. Many women found work in the
  new light industries e.g. making electrical
  goods.
• The Sex Disqualification Act of 1919 made it
  easier for women to go to university and enter
  the professions. Middle class women benefited
  from increased job opportunities.
• .

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• The Marriage Bar prevented many women from
  staying at work after marriage. The civil service
  did not allow women to work after marriage.
• Working conditions in the home remained very
  hard. Cleaning, washing and cooking took up a
  great deal of time. New electrical appliances
  such as washing machines and vacuum cleaners
  slightly improved the working conditions of
  housewives in the 1930s.
• By the 1930s about one third of women in Britain
  worked outside the home. One tenth of married
  women worked

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• Women and work
• After World War Two

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• Women carried out vital war work during World War
  Two. Many women learned skills which helped them
  to find work after the war was over.
• Light industries such as electronics continued to
  grow and provided many job opportunities for
  women.
• Service industries such as banking grew and
  provided many jobs for women.

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• Many women were employed in shop work.
• Many women found work in the new welfare services
  set up in the 1940s. Large numbers of women found
  jobs in the National Health Service.
• By the 1960s, 38 of married women worked.
• Women were paid less than men even if they did
  the same jobs

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• Women and work - the fight for equality

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• Many employers were against equal pay for women.
  They were afraid of losing money.
• Many trade unions were against equal pay for
  women. They believed that equal pay would lower
  mens wages.
• Some jobs introduced equal pay for women before
  others. Women's wages in the civil service and
  teaching matched mens wages by 1961.

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• The Equal Pay Act was passed in 1971. Men and
  women were to be paid the same wage for doing the
  same work.
• The Sex Discrimination Act was passed in 1975.
  Women were to treated in the same way as men in
  education, housing and employment.
• Despite changes in the law women in Britain are
  still employed in less skilled and lower paid
  jobs than men. Many women are expected to work
  and look after a home at the same time.