The Employment Opportunities of Women in Britain in 1914 Essay

When women started working in factories, they faced hardships in working conditions. There were dangerous fumes and explosive dangers. There was always the risk of accidental explosions. It was even harder for mothers because there were not any child care policies offered by many companies. Women soon began making unions, such as the National Women’s Trade Union League, where women met and found ways to help raise women wage and have better work

In the late nineteenth century women were beginning to find a place in the more public spheres of life. Larger numbers of women than ever were in paid employment; by 1874 twenty percent of females over fifteen were employed. Many

The wartime jobs produced lasting careers and life-style changes for women. Some of the jobs they did were telephone operators, factory workers, seamstresses, and physicians. Most of the women that were hired for these jobs were young and unmarried because they had fewer obligations to attend. This meant, they could work long hours with little pay since they did not have a family to provide for. It was

Before 1840 women were viewed as something that needed to be taken care of. They could not own property, fathers would not mention their daughters in their wills, women could not be treasurer of their own companies, it was the husband’s responsibility. Only seven vocations were available to them outside of the home in the late 1840’s; widows would receive no share of her husband’s property or his families, and if one did not marry or remarry she had to enter one of the few employments for her or be a charity case for her relatives. When factory jobs became available to women they were quickly taken because it gave women a way to be independent and not a burden to their loved ones, but earn and spend their own money however the wished. For once

Also during this time, the Panic of 1837 occurred leaving many unemployed, therefore the number of women employed during the 19th century would have been even higher. Women at this time period worked mainly in textile and clothing factories. Although many young girls worked in factories, as shown in the letter written by a factory worker, life in a factory is much different than life at home. At first the girl questioned why factories were ever made, however, with time the working life grew on her. Also, often times women were worked much harder than the men. In the letters written by a frontier woman in Iowa in 1861, the male worker worked much less than she did. She stated that “the hired man left just as the corn planting commenced” and she was left to do the hard work. This illustrates the inequality between the two genders very well.

As men had gone into war, many jobs needed workers. The largest single employer of women in 1918 was the munition factories due to the high demand for weapons. Though there was initial resistance to hiring women for what was seen as ‘men’s work’, in 1916 there was an introduction of conscription made need for women workers urgent. The government began coordinating the

Women temporarily filled non-traditional roles in the wartime labour force and society (MacIvor 14). The entrance of women into society and out from their roles as homemakers was monumental as it was the first time women were seen as capable individuals, held paid positions, and proved they could do “man’s work”. Married women who entered the workforce juggled between working full time hours and being the keeper of the house and children. War records were created to commemorate women’s roles during the

The industrial revolution swept through Europe and North America during the 19th century, affecting the class structure, economy, government, and even the religious practices of everyone who lived in or did commerce with these new "industrialized nations." It made the modern age possible, but it was not without its "growing pains." The position of women before the industrial revolution was often equivalent to chattel, and then as now, they were expected to take naturally to housework and child rearing. The history of working women in the Industrial Revolution is rife with accounts of abuse and tragedy, but overall it improved their position in capitalist societies. Below, I will explain the

Women during the Industrialization were given specific jobs in factories that were not performed by males. For example, in document 5, an illustration shows how women were employed to transfer the coal from the mines to the surface, or haul coal to the shafts. Both occupations were refused to be performed by males. Another example would be in Document 2, where a journalist reported the working facility of female textile workers. Its stated that the female work of carpet weavers should not be underrated, but yet acknowledged. Despite the difficulty of the job, they were still distinct

But now, due to the rise of the corporate office, many other opportunities had opened up. Typists, filing clerks, stenographers, and even some secretarial roles all became possibilities for these ambitious young women. All these job openings helped support a great number of young women who had fled the poverty of the countryside, which in comparison to mills or farming, was an improvement. The 1920s saw the empowerment of women, as they began to challenge the traditional ideas of women’s role in society. However, although the increase in female employment was expanding, there were very clear

war work on a huge scale until after the first year of war. To begin

Low wage wasn't the only problem as women had to go through sexual harassment and were usually taken advantage of by their male employer. With barely enough money to feed their families each week, working class women lived and worked in dangerous and unhygienic conditions. Usually in the poorer parts of town such as the slums.

The Changing Role and Status of Women's From 1914-1928 We are studying how far the role and status of women changed between

As more men entered the armed forces, women needed to replace them. By the war's end, hundreds of thousands of women had entered the workforce, many of them in traditionally masculine occupations such as engineering, munitions, transport, business, and eventually even the military. The war produced a leap in women's employment from twenty-six percent in the workforce in 1914 to thirty-six percent by 1918. One million women worked in munition industries, forty-thousand served as nurses, and twenty-thousand joined the Women's Land Army as agricultural workers (Marwick, 1977). For the young and the middle-class, work outside their homes was indeed a new experience. On the other hand, working-class women were used to paid work, but the type of work was new. Many left low-skill, low-wage jobs, especially in domestic service, for better paying skilled labor in factories and workshops (Kent, 1993).

During Britain’s Industrial Revolution, a multitude of different jobs were opened to the working class of men, women, and children. While this era offered a wide variety of new opportunities for everyone, women were somewhat excluded in areas such as occupation availability and wage due to the cultural norms of the time period.