1951-64: The position of women Flashcards
What were women seen primarily as in the 1950s?
Housewives. The ideal woman was a wife and a mother. The average age of marriage was 21 and 75% of all women were married.
How many women went to work in 1951?
Only 1 in 5.
When was the Mass Observation Survey and what did it capture?
1951 - It captured a woman’s typical day which mostly consisted of domestic activity.
What was the family allowance (benefits) supposed to ensure?
That women did not need to work and the welfare state was based on full employment for men.
Describe the mortgages and bank accounts.
They were in men’s names making women largely financially dependent on their husbands.
What had happened by 1964?
Although the number of working women had risen, it was still relatively uncommon for married women, especially those with children, to go out to work.
Why did trade unions tend not to support women working?
They believed that this would lower wages.
Why else did people oppose women working?
It would be damaging for children if their mothers work.
What happened to those women who did work?
There were some improvements, though mainly for the middle classes, as equal pay for teachers (1952) and for civil servants (1954) was introduced.
What were women’s lives in the home improved by?
New labour-saving devices. Between 1957 and 1959 the number of households owning a washing machine rose by 54% and refrigerators by 58%
What had happened by the end of this period?
second-wave feminism, which argued that women were unfulfilled and trapped by the homemaker role, was beginning in the US and would spread to Britain in the later 1960s
