Women 2 Flashcards
What wartime industries did women work in during WW1?
- 200000 in metal and chemical industries that were essential t the war effort, by 191 , 1 million women worked in these fields alone whilst taking on roles that men traditionally did (train drivers, engineers, in shipbuilding yards)
- by jan 1918, there were approx 7.3m women working full time
- women efficiently ran hospitals, schools, and offices
Their participation highlighted their economic and strategic value for the state
How were women involved in the armed forces in WW1?
- 800000 women worked in munitions during WW1
- auxiliaries, drivers, telephones, signallers and nurses — by 1914, 40000 women had travelled to be nurses in France
Why did the NUWSS and WSPU suspend their campaigns for women’s suffrage?
- adopted a patriotic and nationalist stance
- hoped victory for Britain would be victory for civilised values and democracy. Hoped cooperation in the war effort would lead to women’s suffrage by the end of the war
What opposed the role of women in WW1?
- the Mother’s Union and Women’s Institute particularly reinforced the maternal, traditional roles of women as mothers and place within the home in 1915
- the decade after WW1 saw many of the gains that women made overturned because of harsh economic realities after 1918. Wartime employment was only required when the conflict was taking place
This was concordat with the views held before the war
Who was included in the 1918 Representation of the People Act?
- all men over 21
- men over 19 if they had seen active service
- women over the age of 30if they were taxpayers occupying premises valued at £5 per year
- women married to a taxpayer occupying premises valued at £5 per year
- female graduates in university elections
Who was excluded from the 1918 Representation of the People Act?
- poorest women over 30
- all women nder 30
- unmarried women living with family
- women living with employers
What percentage of the electorate did women make up in the 1918 General Election?
43%
This was 8.4 million women voters
Why did women have to wait so long for the vote?
- had to battle against the interests of parliament - concerned on how enfranchising millions would impact results of elections (all sides didn’t want women to support their opponents)
- women were considered inferior to men in the 19 century, despite some changes in opinion due to WW1
- women themselves were also divided and some agreed that their gender should not be involved in politics, especially due to the perception that they would not understand it
- split between suffragists (NUWSS) and suffragettes (WSPU) - public disagreements between leaders
- wider political concerns took attention of the government
What are reasons for the changing position of women?
- work of campaigners e.g. suffragettes, suffragists
- ideological, cultural, social change
- economic and technical change
- impact of the wars
What role did campaigners like the NUWSS have in women gaining the vote in 1918?
- more rational tactics meant they were taken more seriously than WSPU
- paper and letter campaigning
- stopping during WW1 won them favour with the government and people who had initially opposed them
What role did the suffragettes and WSPU have in women gaining the vote in 1918?
- direct action is slightly more effective
- brought issues directly into the public eye with their more direct tactics
- Emily Davison was the most radical action. + the government didn’t want the movement to further escalate
- stopping during WW1 won them favour with the government and people who had previously opposed them
What role did the impact of WW! Have in women gaining the vote in 1918?
- 30% of the workforce in 1914 compared to 1/3rd in 1918 (7.31 million)
- NUWSS + WSPU stopped their campaigns during WW1
- women’s land army set up in 914 and had 40000 women serve as nurses in France
What role did ideological, social, cultural, and economical factors have to women gaining the vote in 1918?
- more women were becoming educated so could more effectively campaign for their right to vote
- more people were becoming accepting of the notion of female suffrage
Why did the decade after WW1 see many of the gains women had made be lost?
- economic problems in Britain
- returning soldiers forced women out of employment
- numbers of employed women retuned to 1914 levels (5.7 million)
What was the largest source of employment for women after WW1?
- service sector
- 1.25m women worked in domestic servitude (mostly working class)
- it was unpopular work but limited opportunities for working class women due to a lack of education and bad social attitudes
What opportunities were there for working class women compared to the middle class after WW1?
- WC = light manufacturing, consumer goods = 2/3rds of their work was done at home (domestic outwork, baking, brewing, sewing, piece work
- MC = gradual improvement in education and careers = teaching, law ,science, civil service
- clerical work became a growing sector of female employment with 1m women employed as typists by 1921 (benefited both WC & MC)
What was the 1919 Sex Disqualification Act?
- prevented the barring from careering law or civil service on the grounds of gender, giving women greater career opportunities
- many professions still had marriage bars
What was the role of women in WW2?
- involved in every aspect except combat
- war work gave women the opportunity for independence
- still had roughly 70% lower pay
What was working life like for women post-WW2?
- in the 50s, women earned 53% weekly of the average mans pay
- in the 50s and 60s, new jobs were being created in the expanding economic sector (secretary, receptionist, typists, clerks - now seen to b a woman’s job)
- female teachers are now entitled to equal pay to the school masters - this bill didn’t pass as Churchill threatened to resign
- marriage bar as slowly lifted (1946 = married women could work in the civil service)
What was the options of family and birth control for women after WW2?
- sexual revolution = more women were entering sexual relationships without marriage, and committing adultery when their husbands were in active service
- divorce rates rose (12240 in 1944 to 60190 in 1947)
- better access to birth control methods (pill made available in 1961/1962)meant less children, less health issues, less money spent
- household appliances like the vacuum made household work easier
- 1951 = 1/5 of women had a job, 1957= 1/3rd of women
