Effect on women of WW1/WW2

Focus of the topic

Background Info

Women before WW1 and WW2: role was to be at home

1/4 of women did work outside the home

expected to leave their jobs once they got children

Body

WW1

large number of women took up jobs vacated by men who had to fight at the war

Jobs such as: railway guards, ticket collectors, police, etc

employment rate rose up to 47%, including married women

Benefits

Protest movement for wage rise spread

Spread to other areas

Gained vote in 1919, after Woman Suffrage movement

societies like NUWSS put policital activity largely during the war

presence increased in society

Gained skills

helped women to gain equal rights

Disadvantages

Paid less money compared with men for same job

50%-60%

after the war, some women continued working but with lower wages than men

Dangerous jobs to hand,e TNT, caused their skin to turn yellow "canaries"

Emotional cost

France 600000 war widows

Loss and worry felt by womens

Summary: Short-term: more disadvantages, But allowed woman to stand on the starting line to equality in long-term.

WW2

Similarly, women had to work

19 million women working in 1944

Unlike WW1, women got higher-responsibility jobs

ex: military as armed force/pilots

Benefits

Attitude toward women started to change

before: many men did not still accept women in workplace

changed as they worked really hard for their jobs

Equal pay compulsory in some states

More women in the workforce, but women were pressured to leave their jobs

Gained skills in new jobs

historian Winkler: reasons for joining war effors are

many women tired of monotomy of domestic works, repeating same tasks

wanted to earn money and enjoy independence

had sense of nationalism and patriotic motivation

Disadvantages

Many went back to their traditional roles and were excluded from well-paid jobs

Still lower wages & higher risk of getting fired, in many places

Summary: Still disadvantages from inequalities existed, but helped the movement in long-term

Conclusion:

Possible Essay Questions

Resources

Notes

May Examでwomen in 2 regionsが出たので、万が一womenが出たとしても流石に全く同じ文言では出ないだろうと予想

なのでwomen in asiaは飛ばして良さそうかな