Economic Flashcards
% of workforce that was women by 1900
18.3%
what were typical jobs for women during the period of growing industry 1870-1910?
Lower paid casual employment
Domestic services
Low paid unskilled manufacturing jobs
Bradwell vs Illinois
When
What
Impact
1873
Myra Bradwell applied to take the Bar exam in Illinois- state says she cannot
would ‘destroy femininity’
SC 8-1 against bradwell
Refulable by the state itself bc the 14th Am said nothing ab right to practice a profession
Muller v Oregon
when
what
impact
1908
Women provided w lower working hours than men
Appeared to promote health and welfare of female workers
Reinforced gender stereotypes in workplace
justifies lower pay
WW1: strengths
How many extra jobs in industry and agriculture?
Examples of industry jobs
Slogan
How many women worked directly for armed forces?
BUT
3 million more working than in 1865: extra jobs in industry and agriculture
Industrial expansion- engineering products, war material etc
Farming- food exports rose
Male labour shortage meant women worked in heavy industry in great numbers
30k in armed forces but mostly nursing and domestic roles
Opportunities often didn’t last past the war
1920s boom
introduction of what
how many women joined workforce in the 1920s
Example of unequal pay
The introduction of the
assembly line
brought about many new opportunities for women in factories as it reduced the physical demands of many jobs.
More than 2 million women joined the workforce in the 1920s.
Pay remained unequal
Eg: cotton industry
Female weavers= $26 per week
Male mate= $29 per week
1920s education
By 1930…
Educational opportunities were increasing.
By 1930= 50k women w college degrees (3x more than in 1920)
Great depression- 1930s
when
impact
Great depression: 1929-1939
Onset of depression meant more pressure for women not to ‘steal’ jobs from men
26 states tried to ban women working during the depression.
But as women worked for less, they got employed more:
12%->15% in the 1930s
New deal benefits
Wagner act- right to join unions
Women’s trade union membership during the new deal era of the 1930s increased from 265,000 to 800,000
New deal limitations
FLSA 1938 established a minimum wage however in 1939, women still earnt less than 20% males
WW2 strengths
How many
Job types
Propaganda
WAC
6 million women entered workforce
Women were 1/3 of all workers
Heavy industry- lumber and steel mills, transport etc
Propaganda stressed their abilities to do heavy industry
Special Women’s Advisory Committee to advise on the utilisation of women for the war effort
WW2 limitations
Pay still unequal
Women still expected to do domestic roles
Working women unable to secure support in form of childcare and cheap restaurants or canteens that British working women achieved- Remained divided. Conservative women’s groups didn’t support greater help for working mothers or equality of opportunity, believing that war shouldn’t erode traditional family values.
Equal pay Act
when
who
what
1963
Kennedeys new frontier
Men and women who work in jobs that are equal in terms of skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions shall receive the same pay.
By 1992, still payed 32% less than men
Civil rights Act
when
what
impact
- Title VII employers couldn’t discriminate on the basis of sex (or race etc)
Pregnancy Discrimination Act
when
what
but
1978
Amended title VII of civil rights act
employers also couldn’t discriminate on the basis of pregnancy status or childbirth et
By 1992, still no paid maternity leave in US (except in 5 states)
