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Women During The Great War Essay

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The Great War 1914 – 1918 enabled women a greater opportunity in the workforce. This was primarily due to the majority of the men serving the Mother Country during the war. However, when the war ended, the returning veterans sought to return to their old jobs. For, the working women this meant their employment in the workforce would be compromised. Primarily because the male employees were put before the women, with both employment opportunity and pay. Henceforth, the majority of the female workforce would get the sack to make the way for the returning employees. The inevitable sacking of women, who made up 45% of the workforce by the 1920s, would ultimately send Britain into recession(ref). Although patriarchal society Britain, neglected …show more content…

Being left widowed and with child, this could have been the result of her husband either dying in the war or some factory accident. Like, Edwards, many other young women were left with this fate after the war. As a result of this women like, Edwards were put into a position where they needed to take on the role of the ‘breadwinner’ (Todd, p. 85). Although many women relished in this new role, due to being a step towards equal pay and opportunity in the workforce (ref). Nevertheless, the desired type of work for women was to become a domestic servant. This was primarily because being employed as a domestic servant provide women with great equality in the workforce in terms of protection, pay, and opportunity. Frankly, this job was hard to come by, which meant that many women, like Edwards, were employed to work in factories, like the Sheffield Steel Factory. Where women had to work longer hours in dangerous conditions to make a living support their families. Due to the faction of pay, the women were --- % less than the men’s wage, these women were forced to bring up their families in the slums. These tiny housing compartments which were insufficiently and quickly built. Thus is evident in the illustration ------- that depict the poor living conditions that women like Edwards were forced to endure, along with their long hours working with little pay. Due to this, women like Edwards were in search of a

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