Women in the Workforce

Women’s roles during World War II impacted the war, and greatly changed how women were perceived from then on. Before the war, women were only seen as stay at home mothers whose job was taking care of their children. During that time period, women did have other jobs that they worked at outside of the house, but they weren’t recognized as much for it. (“A Change in Gender Roles”). In the past, women’s rights weren’t nearly as fair as they are now. Most women were only known as caretakers and could not pursue the same careers as men. According to “A Change in Gender Roles”, “During WWII all of this changed and a revolution in the work force was eventually seen. Numbers of women working outside the home rose exponentially and they thought they were there to stay. Women also played a large role in the military, which had never been seen before. Gender roles had changed in the modern world; women throughout the nation made a huge impact on the Second World War efforts.” Eventually, women’s rights started to advance as more women started working outside of their homes. The number of women in the military increased, which helped out the soldiers and gave women more rights. A considerable amount of women also played a big role in the Red Cross. “They distributed 29 million food parcels for prisoners of war and refugees 13 million units of blood, and packaged kit bags for soldiers. (“Women in World War II,” 1410) Women who did not directly serve in the war still contributed by gathering supplies for the people

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

Women only worked in their homes caring for their family’s, they never had the opportunity to work outside of their homes in places such as factories or in the government and they had no benefits within the house until the war began. The war

Canadian women were being urged to stay at home and support soldiers by manufacturing various goods, because of their fragile and emotional personas. Considering how many men had left Canada to fight in the war, women had to adapt and take on new roles. These new diverse roles crossed many social norms and encompassed a whole variety of industries.

Throughout this article the writer makes numerous references towards how the government of Canada attempted to do the right thing towards female workers during the war, but it also shows how the government’s heart wasn’t into it, thus just making offers to female workers just to appease their complaints for the time being until the war was over. The government was terrible on providing financial support to women whose husbands were away at war, offering only meager amounts of their pay each month, thus forcing more women into the workforce. The article goes on to further explain how during the war, women felt empowered by their circumstances and how once the war was over that women continued to fight towards equality and many refused to ‘go back to the kitchen’ after the war and further challenged the norms by continuing to work.

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 number of workingwomen increased by 25%. Perhaps the most iconic figure of the 1920s, the flapper became the symbol of a youth movement that championed new ideas about womanhood and appropriate female behavior. After the Great War, young women were unwilling to return to traditional female roles. Unfortunately, great numbers of married women still did not hold jobs, and roughly 10% of them worked outside of their homes. Among single women, there was a large increase in employment during this era. Some of the occupations that had always been weighted towards women were teaching, social workers, nurses, and librarians. Women who were working-class could find textile mills to be one example of factory where jobs could be found. On the farm, women helped out in a countless amount of ways, as they traditionally had.

Undeniably, the outlook of women in the workforce changed following the advent of World War II. Traditionally, the role of caretaker of the house and home was assigned to the woman. Society and institutions facilitated, accepted and supported this way of thinking and way of life. Working outside the home was considered "a man's job". A woman expressing an interest in being anything other than a homemaker and wife was frowned upon. Accepted was the notion that men are better laborers and a woman could not perform at the same level as a man and therefore are undesirable candidates for work in the office or in factories. When America entered in the Second World War, the role of women as primarily stewards of the home was forever changed. As men answered the call of duty, they left behind a void not only in the hearts of their loved ones but also in the workplace. During this time not only were vacancies found in the work that once employees turned soldiers left behind but also we witnessed an increase of labor need for specific industries, such as those that supported the wartime efforts. Women entered the workforce in droves, filling the much needed void in the offices and the factories. Women become the soldiers on the home front and once the war was over, there was no erasing the progress women made in proving capable and ready to hold gainful employment outside the home. This paper addresses women in the workforce,

World War II was the catalyst that changed the opportunities available to women and eventually the way they were regarded as a viable workforce. Suddenly women throughout the United States were pushing themselves to their limits to support the war effort. Women were fulfilling jobs and responsibilities that many previously believed to be impossible for their gender. Opportunities were opened in steel plants, ammunition factories, and even the United States military. As the war progressed the number of male workers declined dramatically. Society had no choice but to turn to the mothers, sisters, and daughters of our nation for help. The results for each woman varied

Women served an important role in WWII. They not only took the challenge and stepped up to take the places of the men off fighting in the war to work in factories, but they also fought side by side with those risking their lives and fighting for their country. They were needed everywhere during the war. There were an unbelievable amount of job opportunities for women during the war and many supported the brave acts of voluntary enlistment. “‘A woman’s place is in the home’ was an old adage, but it still held true at the start of World War II. Even though millions of women worked, home and family we considered the focus of their lives” says Brenda Ralf Lewis. Without the help of those women who were brave enough to

While their husbands were away at war, the women had to work and take care of the home. Women who had never worked outside the home before had to work out in the field all day now, or

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 the war in the 1940s, an aggressive media campaign urged more than six million women into the workforce. It is astonishing seeing each year; there were better accomplishments that women were making. Many learned new techniques such as working in steel plants, shipyards, and lumber mills. Sports also became a new and admired era in this time. The famous “Rosie the Riveter”, “We Can Do It!” was a part of the governor campaign that brought women into the workplace during the war. Following the end of WWII, most of these jobs went back to the men, and women were encouraged to either return back home or find a “female” job. This reveals that women were used. They were only needed when most of the men were in the war. In

After 1917, when women were allowed to join the military, the most popular job was nursing. 33,000 women served as nurses during the last two years of World War One, for the first time women were officially considered apart of America’s military (Time Line: Women in the U.S. Military). The more years that passed with women involved in the military, the more respect they gained in the

World War II was the first time that women were greatly encouraged to join the workforce. Nearly 6 million women took industrial jobs such as steel plants, shipyards, and lumber mills at the urging of the government and media (“Women of the Century”). Because the men were away fighting in