Female American Dream - Economic

Question 1

What were female employment prospects prior to the 1920s?

Answer 1

Very few women were able to work as they faced huge levels of discrimination across society.

Question 2

What was the economic situation for most women in the First World War and the 1920s?

Answer 2

Most women remained economically dependent housewives and in turn had to spend time at home raising the family, in some circumstances some women did have to work if they required extra money in the house.

Question 3

How did some jobs such as teaching, treat women?

Answer 3

Many women were simply barred from working in this positions as many employers refused to hire them instead choosing to hire men.

Question 4

What jobs opened up to Women during the 1920s?

Answer 4

Many women began to work as typists as well as engaging in shop keeping however there were no manual labor jobs for white married women.

Question 5

Who benefited most from the changes in the roaring 1920s?

Answer 5

Well off and single white women fared best during the 1920s as there was an extremely small degree of liberalization within society.

Question 6

How did the Great Depression effect Women?

Answer 6

It effected class more than gender, some women began to become the sole breadwinners in family in so called pink collar industries as so many men were out of work. Women with many children suffered heavily with the media focusing on a Native American Woman who had lost three children during the depression. Small industries did not pay as much as smaller ones.

Question 7

How did the New Deal Effect Women?

Answer 7

They did receive a degree of aid and relief however, this was mostly through their association with men rather than receiving aid individually.

Question 8

What is an example of a woman struggling during the Great Depression?

Answer 8

Florence Owens Thompson who was a Native American Woman lost 3 children due to immense poverty at the time, an image of her was famously published in the media.

Question 9

What did the 1932 Bureau of Labor report on women workers in slaughtering and meat packaging?

Answer 9

97% were working as the only wage worker in the family or they were working to support their husbands wages. Not because of wanting to work or choice mainly due to the need to support their husbands income, especially for lower class women with no reserves for the family to fall back onto.

Question 10

How did Labor regulations impact Women?

Answer 10

The New Deal introduced regulations however., they mainly applied to industrial work rather than farming and domestic services therefore, most women were not effected by these regulations as they made up a large proportion of domestic services.

Question 11

What happened to women who could not find work or did not have access to the available relief programs during the depression?

Answer 11

Many were forces into the migrant labor market in which they had to cooperate with immigrants who had been brought into the US in order to fill gaps in the labor force, they were often paid very little and working conditions were abysmal.

Question 12

How did the New Deal help families?

Answer 12

There was aid given to families with dependent children however, white men were prioritized in unemployment aid and relief efforts. No new deal agencies were established for women however, Eleanor Roosevelt did set up 36 training camps for Women.

Question 13

How did the WPA help women?

Answer 13

In 1933 CAMP TERA was established which had a suffragist background and taught Women in a Women’s only college as they needed around 2 million Women in work. It was founded by Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins and Eleanor Roosevelt. It was geared towards training and support in industries such as forestry rather than directly getting Women involved in work. The 36 camps established took 5’000 Women a year and the course lasted 3-4 weeks with no wages.

Question 14

What was the Wage gap during the Great Depression?

Answer 14

1 Dollar for white men.
61 cents for white women.
23 cents for black women.

Question 15

What was the impact of the great depression on women?

Answer 15

Edged out of the most appalling jobs by white men as they were prioritised for employment, such as agriculture jobs.

Question 16

Who is Fannie Peck and what is her impact?

Answer 16

She was an upper class woman living in a deprived area, she went on to found the Housewives League of Detroit in 1930 which originally had 50 members to advocate for African American Women in the local area. Campaigned for affordable food and meat as well as investing money into a credit union and in turn gave money to African American Women for business, homes and college education as they received no federal support. 10’000 women joined and it lasted 30-40 years.

Question 17

How does the second world war impact black women?

Answer 17

Although discrimination and segregation was still absolutely in play many women were able to get jobs previously not open to them due to the work shortage. The number of black women in nursing rose from 1’100 in 1939 to 2’600 in 1945. However, many employers will still racist and many white women simply refused to co-operate.

Question 18

What roles did Women Serve in the Second World War?

Answer 18

They served in every single role aside from actual combat.

Question 19

How much did employment rise for women between 1940 and 1945?

Answer 19

It rose from 27% of Women to 37% of Women.

Question 20

How many married women worked outside of the home in the years 1940-1945?

Answer 20

One Quater of Married Women worked outside of the home.

Question 21

How much did married women in the workforce increase 1940-1945?

Answer 21

Married women in the workforce increased from 15% to 23%.

Question 22

How many women were in the Women’s Army corp?

Answer 22

It was made up of 200’000 Women.

Question 23

How many Women served in the Armed forces both at home and abroad?

Answer 23

350’000 Women served in the armed forces.

Question 24

What happened to Women’s trouser sales during the second world war?

Answer 24

Sales multiplied by 5 times between the years 1941 to 1942.

Question 25

How many Women worked in agriculture in 1953?

Answer 25

An estimated 3 million worked in agriculture including a number of migrants, husbands also tended to work on the farms and the growing industry led to higher rates of employment.

Question 26

How many women worked in munitions factories during the second world war?

Answer 26

6 Million women worked in Munitions factory as there was huge demand.

Question 27

How did Propaganda impact Women’s work in the Second World War?

Answer 27

Women were urged into the war industry through various means such as posters such as the famous Rosie the Riveter poster saying “we can do it”.

Question 28

What were the positive impacts of the Second World War on female job prospects?

Answer 28

Female employment had risen, especially for married women aged 45-55 becoming more accepted in society. Restrictions on Women working in certain jobs was limited.

Question 29

By how much and why did the workforce of married women increase after the second world War?

Answer 29

10.1 million in 1940 to 22.2 million in 1950.
This was due to the fact that many job restrictions were limited and a wider range of jobs were made available to Women.

Question 30

What were the negative impacts of female job prospects on married women after the second world war?

Answer 30

Half of the women working during the war left work due to pressure as well as the removal of federally funded daycare in 1946 although some did it by choice. Some marriages did not last the war and many divorced/widowed women continued to work.

Question 31

What was the drive behind the rise of female employment?

Answer 31

Female appetite for work and equal opportunity.

Question 32

What was the Male to female employment ratio in 1950?

Answer 32

Women earnt only 53% of what Men did.

Question 33

How did the White Flight Impact Women’s economic standing?

Answer 33

19 million people moved into the suburbs during the white flight. Despite segregation it did encourage women to talk to each other and form their own communities.

Question 34

What was female employment like during the 1960s?

Answer 34

40% of women were working in what was described as low income Women’s jobs.

Question 35

What happened to agricultural women due to the white flight?

Answer 35

Women who worked on farms (and women of colour) did not have the opportunity to access Suburbia as many white families began to buy from malls rather than local shops. This in turn meant that they were cut off economically and had far less opportunities than Suburban Women.

Question 36

What happened to the overall economic development of Women?

Answer 36

Women became more legally active as they gained more societal support and more legislative freedoms, though the economic climb was much more slow and gradual due to the limited opportunities during boom and bust times. In the 1950s they were restricted and during the 1930’s/1940s and 1970s there was a depression although during the 1970s and 1980s women could be economically independent to a fair extent.