How life changed
Women's life before war
Before war began many women had the job of managing the house and looking after their children. Other female roles included jobs such as teachers, nurses, secretaries, typists, telephonists, librarians, shop attendants and in the printing industry or some females could of had a job in a family company also they had jobs in clothing and food industries. Males practically had all the other jobs such as banking, trading and being clerks, men had all the high earning jobs because they were the one's who earned all the money for their families. In society men were placed above women, in some countries women weren't even allowed to vote yet. Women had limited access to markets, productive services, education and health care.
Women's life during war
When men went off to war it was expected that women would continue doing their jobs and would continue looking after the house and their children. But because of war many countries were spending a lot of money on weapons and artillary and othwer stuff to win the war. So that meant that there was food and clothes shortages and lots of things became more high priced. With everything becoming high priced many women had no job and had to look after their children or had low paying jobs and so they needed money in order to survive. But the government did not want women to leave the home and go out and get jobs because they thought it would upset the balance of society. In 1916 after the introduction of conscription in March 1916, the government allowed women to have men's jobs but when they came back from war they were expect to go back to their normal life. Now women applied for all sorts of jobs such as insurance and banking which were originally men's jobs. The became munitions factory workers (people that work in factories that supply materials for war eg. weapon and ammunition), shipyards, mechanics, nurses, farmers official war artists and spies. They made stuff for war like bandages and socks they also sold war bonds. Also the amount of workers filling what were originally 'women's jobs' increased. Also many women encouraging men to enlist, and were often used in recruiting and pro- and anti-conscription propaganda posters some women would even send white feathers as symbol of cowardice to the men who wouldn't sign up for war and would shun them. Women gained at higher profile in society because of how they helped the war and the work they did. But they were still payed lower wages then men and that is why some shops allowed women to work, women having lower wages meant the shop employer didn't have lose even more money and so then they buy more food and stuff because of the rising prices war had left.
Statistics
A survey conducted in 1917 showed 68% of women had changed jobs since the war began, 16% had moved out of domestic service, 22% that were unemployed in 1914 now had work and 23% had changed factories.
Women’s contribution to the workforce rose from 24 per cent of the total in 1914 to 37 per cent in 1918
In Great Britain for example, just before World War I, out of an adult population of about 24 million women, around 1.7 million worked in domestic service, 800,000 worked in the textile manufacturing industry, 600,000 worked in the clothing trades, 500,000 worked in commerce and 260,000 in local and national government (including teaching). The British textile and clothing trades, in particular, employed far more women than men and could be regarded as 'women's work'
By 1914 nearly 5.09 million out of the 23.8 million women in Britain were working
In July 1914, 212,000 women worked in engineering and munitions, by 1918 the total was nearly a million.
Before war began many women had the job of managing the house and looking after their children. Other female roles included jobs such as teachers, nurses, secretaries, typists, telephonists, librarians, shop attendants and in the printing industry or some females could of had a job in a family company also they had jobs in clothing and food industries. Males practically had all the other jobs such as banking, trading and being clerks, men had all the high earning jobs because they were the one's who earned all the money for their families. In society men were placed above women, in some countries women weren't even allowed to vote yet. Women had limited access to markets, productive services, education and health care.
Women's life during war
When men went off to war it was expected that women would continue doing their jobs and would continue looking after the house and their children. But because of war many countries were spending a lot of money on weapons and artillary and othwer stuff to win the war. So that meant that there was food and clothes shortages and lots of things became more high priced. With everything becoming high priced many women had no job and had to look after their children or had low paying jobs and so they needed money in order to survive. But the government did not want women to leave the home and go out and get jobs because they thought it would upset the balance of society. In 1916 after the introduction of conscription in March 1916, the government allowed women to have men's jobs but when they came back from war they were expect to go back to their normal life. Now women applied for all sorts of jobs such as insurance and banking which were originally men's jobs. The became munitions factory workers (people that work in factories that supply materials for war eg. weapon and ammunition), shipyards, mechanics, nurses, farmers official war artists and spies. They made stuff for war like bandages and socks they also sold war bonds. Also the amount of workers filling what were originally 'women's jobs' increased. Also many women encouraging men to enlist, and were often used in recruiting and pro- and anti-conscription propaganda posters some women would even send white feathers as symbol of cowardice to the men who wouldn't sign up for war and would shun them. Women gained at higher profile in society because of how they helped the war and the work they did. But they were still payed lower wages then men and that is why some shops allowed women to work, women having lower wages meant the shop employer didn't have lose even more money and so then they buy more food and stuff because of the rising prices war had left.
Statistics
A survey conducted in 1917 showed 68% of women had changed jobs since the war began, 16% had moved out of domestic service, 22% that were unemployed in 1914 now had work and 23% had changed factories.
Women’s contribution to the workforce rose from 24 per cent of the total in 1914 to 37 per cent in 1918
In Great Britain for example, just before World War I, out of an adult population of about 24 million women, around 1.7 million worked in domestic service, 800,000 worked in the textile manufacturing industry, 600,000 worked in the clothing trades, 500,000 worked in commerce and 260,000 in local and national government (including teaching). The British textile and clothing trades, in particular, employed far more women than men and could be regarded as 'women's work'
By 1914 nearly 5.09 million out of the 23.8 million women in Britain were working
In July 1914, 212,000 women worked in engineering and munitions, by 1918 the total was nearly a million.