In a very tiny sector of women population, few did successfully become professions. Yet, the income was still less than men. They had no legal bars and were socially unacceptable. They would lose their respect from public if they chose to be one of the professions. With all the tight rules and regulations, women just could not have lots of work choices. In conclusion, there were practically hardly any jobs and chances for women to show their potential and their abilities at work during the outbreak of war in 1914.
Question 2: Why did the number of women employed in Britain begin to rise significantly from mid-1915?
Before World War I actually started, women’s employment opportunities were limited by the little education they had. When the war began in 1914, people expected the war “would be over by Christmas” in 1914. Business as usual as Herbert Asquith said. There were no changes and the lives of women continued to be the same as before. However, the turning point of the roles of women started to change in 1915, when the people started to doubt the belief of “business as usual”. Things started to change and more men were needed for the war and the jobs that men did before 1915 were empty. Suffragette Emmeline Panknurst saw the chance of success created by the war and quickly launched a “Right to Serve” March persuading women to support war effort which also at the same time helped the government. Results were that more than 400,000 women entered the work force. It was a fact by then that women were desperately needed to replace the jobs of men. The event of Great shell shortage would then open a new chapter of women in Britain.
In 1915, David Lloyd George ordered for more weaponry and ammunition, which meant that many more workers would be needed. Women were then employed and had the chance to prove that they could work as well as men. The Great Shell Shortage not only brought women into the war effort in large numbers but also changed the attitude of society towards women. They were not just delicate girls that sat at home for most of the day but were working in “men’s” jobs. The Government was forced to employ more women as the war continued. This opened up more employment opportunities for women.
By the end of 1915, more men volunteered for service. With an army that big, more supplies of munitions were needed. There weren‘t enough men to supply them and women had to take the place of men in the newly opened factories. However, the greatest change came when men were conscripted into the army. All men that were strong and able to work were conscripted into the army leaving behind only the old, the young and women. By that time, the government finally realized the importance of women towards the war effort in order to win this battle and began to employ vast numbers of women. These events together changed the job opportunities of women significantly.
However, these changes were short term and wouldn‘t last. As soon as the war ended, men would come back to work and women fired. Yet, after the war, women had demonstrated that they could work like men. On the whole, it was mainly because the society realized that war would not be over soon that caused the numbers of women employment to increased as they were not enough men to work. That’s when all these led to the expansion of job opportunities for women.
Question 3: In What ways did the First World War change the employment opportunities of women in Britain?
The old idea of women working in domestic services, textiles or sweated trades was adapted when the people realized that the World War 1 would not end “before Christmas” and would be a war that required the involvement of women for the war effort. Men went to War and Women were needed to do what they could do to keep their country running. Women were for the first time in history accepted to work in “Men’s” jobs such as factory workers, doctors, drivers, car mechanics, and airplane builders. In profession, an increase number of women became doctors and teachers. However, women were paid less and not promoted as often as men. In addition to that, discrimination against women still continued. In the Society, the laws were still sexist and inequalities towards women were still commonly seen.
During the war, Lloyd George promised a “land fit for heroes to live in” and “ a war to end all wars”. That meant that all the men who had served in the war should be treated as heroes on their return. That meant that they would have new homes and promised jobs. “Heroines to scroungers”, 2/3 of the women who had jobs during the war were kicked out of their positions and men were employed back. It was actually stated in their contract that they would lose their jobs when the war had ended. In result of that, 1,845,000 women were employed in domestic services, well above pre-war; 22% were unemployed in 1914 and now had work.
In the short term, women gained from the WWI because of the high wages e.g. $3 per week they received was much higher than the ones they did in 1914. About 7.5 million women got paid employment during the war. They had wider range of job choices than they had in 1914. However, the war was just a temporary given opportunities that was created just for emergency like WWI, so changes of course, was short-lived. In the medium term, all of the gains were lost completely. Men came back from war and women were sacked. Women were forced to return to pre-war jobs but many asked for a higher wage and insisted not to wear uniform unless they were given one. Their education level still remained the same as in 1914. Basically, no significant changes in the employment opportunities of women were made. Actually, some of the women fell in social scales. Their husband died in the war and they themselves lost their jobs. These women would have to rely on the pre-war traditional occupations. Moreover, girls‘ education remained unchanged because of the debts that Britain owed to the U.S.A. With the financial problems Britain was facing, most of the families could not afford to invest on their daughters’ education. This caused the women hard to expand their employment opportunities any further. In the long term however, WWI was seen as the turning point of women roles because it gave the chance to women to prove that they were capable than believed and could work up to men’s standard. Some however might argued that the lack of education of lower and middle class women could still lowered the job opportunities. Yet, as the women have won their respect from WWI and are enabled to vote in 1918, they would eventually have the power to fight for their equal right to demolish the laws and lengthen their education. Furthermore, women were socially more acceptable to many different jobs which later increased the employment opportunities for women. In 1918, the proportion of women works rose strikingly in public transport (for example, from 18,000 to 117,000 bus conductors), 9,500 to 63,700 banking, and 505,000 to 934,000 commerce, so ultimately the proportion of women employed grew after the war. The laws now weren‘t “The laws that men have made.” Said Emmeline Pankhurst. The right to vote could then change their lives, which resulted in a forever changes of women employment opportunities.
