In this answer I will say how the two wars affected women, which will mainly be about jobs.

The 1920s were the birth of the flapper. A flapper was a young woman who wore short skirts, had short cut hair, wore lots of make-up, smoked cigarettes and drank cocktails. These things were very daring in the 1920s as women were supposed to be in the house and setting an example instead of going out smoking and drinking.

Women had many jobs during the 70 years. In the early part of the century very few women worked at all. Those who did work worked in the domestic service and the textile industry. Most women first entered work during the First World War when they worked in munitions factories, or as nurses, drivers or clerical workers. After the war men came back and women were deprived of their jobs but some women did get jobs outside in clerical work, teaching and nursing. The Second World War employed many women in industry, the armed forces and civil defence. After the Second World War the returning soldiers once again forced women out of the work that they had occupied. Some women found work as clerks and typists in the local and national government offices of the welfare state while the demand for teachers and nurses increased: there were 7,198 women doctors and 549 women dentists in 1945. As

prosperity returned to Britain in the 1950s and unemployment fell, more women began to work. Source L shows statistics for women’s occupations. Domestic service decreased rapidly between 1931-1951 because it wasn’t a very nice job and there were other nicer jobs to be had. Textiles decreased because the industry was in decline. The number of typists doubled between 1931-1951 because more women wanted jobs and that job suited them because it wasn’t hard physical work. Electronics increased because it was a new expanding industry. Nurses increased because of more women wanting jobs and with the development of the NHS there were jobs to be had. Teachers also increased because of more women coming in to work.

At the start of the century most women lived in poverty because of bad wages. Gradually the wages got better especially after the two world wars when more women were employed. During the 1960s both men’s and women’s wages were rising quickly. There was little unemployment and many women had more money than ever before. Women could go out to work but many of them chose not to do so. The amount of women who go out to work remained remarkably stable and most women in the period 1945-1981 stayed at home. One thing women didn’t have was equal pay. It had been accepted in principal by the trade unions in 1885 but it wasn’t until nearly a century after in 1970 that the equal pay act was implemented.

        The health of women changed dramatically during the first 70 years of the century. At the start of the century the medical profession rarely treated women properly. This was because many working class women could not afford to pay for medical treatment. The causes of this were poverty, bad housing and child bearing. Women often had to put the health of their husbands first because the family needed the husband to be at work to earn money. After the two world wars there was less poverty and even some prosperity this meant that there would be less health problems. In 1948 the National Health Service (NHS) was set up. This meant free health care for everyone no matter how well off you were, the funds for this came from general taxation. In the 1960s the first effective contraceptive pill was made available, this was a big change when 60-70 years earlier some women had no chance of even getting to see a doctor.

        During those 70 years women had changed a lot, at the start of the century they had no rights, no health care, and no money. By 1970 women had the right to vote on the same terms as men, they could go out to work with equal pay to men, everyone had better health care with it being free for all, the contraceptive pill was introduced giving women control of their sex life instead of relying on the men, and some women even found prosperity with money to spend on fashion. The two world wars made men rely on women to do their jobs this gave men a higher opinion of women because they were able to do the same jobs just as well as men. In the end women inevitably got equal status to men.