Describe the employment opportunities for women in Britain in 1914 at the outbreak of war.

The first 200 words of this essay...

Coursework assignment one: The Home front 1914-1918

Describe the employment opportunities for women in Britain in 1914 at the outbreak of war?

In 1914, women's roles were traditional ones. They had housewife duties and did the cooking, cleaning and motherly chores of the household. Women were regarded as precious and that they lacked the same mental ability as men. A woman's place was in the home. Upper class and most middle class women were expected not to work. In 1911, a census showed that 90% of all married women did not work at all. But as more men joined the army, more jobs became available to women.

Pre 1914, women worked as servants and in factories. In 1914 there were 5.9million women working out of 23.7million. In domestic service, there were 1.5million women working, 900,00 were working in textiles and 500,000 in the sweated trade. Middle class women sometimes worked as lawyers, teachers, teachers or doctors. But this was a very small number and very few middle class married women would be working at all. Upper class women rarely worked either. Upper class women usually did charity work and the few upper class women that did work