Describe the employment opportunities for women in Britain in 1914, at the outbreak of world war one

Women were much more likely to choose a job that did not need a high level of education, but these jobs were also limited: for example, there were many jobs in coal mining, as coal was a major source of fuel, to warm homes and to power factories, but women found it too hard to carry out this sort of physically demanding work.  5.9 million women worked at the time, (25% of the female population) and 1.5 million women (6.3% of the working population) worked in the domestic service, making it the most popular type of work, for women. Workers very often lived in the attics of houses and worked long hours carrying out chores such as cleaning and cooking.  Pay was very low in the domestic service, most women earned around £5-£10 per year and only got half a day off every week, or even month.  Many working class women, however had to work these long hours to live.

Another major employer of women was the manufacturing or textiles business, around 900,000 women (4% of the working population) worked long hours, in cramped mills, which was very dangerous for their health.  Men also worked in factories, but the opportunities in this trade were much greater for men than they were for women: men were often promoted above women, as overseers, and they received much more pay, women received about 2/3 of mens wages.

The ‘sweated trades’ also relied quite heavily on woman’s labour.  About 500,000 (2% of the working population) women worked in the sweated trades, working in workshops and houses, making goods such as clothes and jewellery.  Again, pay was low because many women were paid ‘piece rate’, meaning they were paid for the amount of work they did rather than the number of hours.  

We can see that, it wasn’t very difficult for women to find work, but their choice of work was very limited.  Many women were forced into jobs because they had to feed themselves and their families.  Employers took advantage of these circumstances so most women had to put up with the worst conditions and lowest pay.  Trade Unions were usually opposed to womans’ labour because they feared ‘dilution’: they did not want mens wages to be lowered because of unskilled women, who were paid less than men.  Men had all the political power, as women weren’t allowed the vote, so not only were job opportunities limited for women, but also the opportunity to change their status.