Women Coursework

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Ed Gee

1. Describe the role and status of women in the late 1940s and 1950s

During the Second World War women took over the jobs vacated by the men leaving for the front. This gave women a new sense of independence previously denied to them. Because they had jobs they could spend the money that they earned on luxuries such as clothes and socialising. The Beveridge Report further boosted this boom in independence in 1942. This report suggested the creation of the welfare state. This created the NHS, which for the first time gave women health insurance even if they didn’t work. Previously any women who didn’t work couldn’t pay the insurance stamp and so would have to pay for any health care they had to receive.

However, when in 1945 the war ended the problem of soldiers returning form the front with no job to go to occurred. The government policy became to give men priority for jobs over women. It was put under the spin that Women should return to the home and have families so that the nation could recuperate after the losses of the war. It meant that women no longer had the independence given to them by working. At the same time the Austerity Budget was announced. This focused on rebuilding after the war and very little money was left for the consumer luxuries that had been enjoyed by women during the war. It was a period of very low morale for women. With out the jobs they could afford less, the only jobs they could get were part-time ones because that meant they could be paid less. This distinction in pay between men and women marked women down as of a lower social status.

By the 1950s things were beginning to change. Women were slowly beginning to work again, especially in the professional sectors. It was a gradual change which reflected the change in the economy. As the nation moved away from reconstruction and into consumer goods there was more need for women in industry. Jobs such as the sectary were taken over by women who were better suited to using the typewriter. This increase of working women gave them more money and so returned to them the independence discovered in the war. As well as an increase in jobs this change in the economy led to the increase in availability of luxury items such as the washing machine and other items that made the domestic workload far smaller. By having more time on their hands they could justify working in part time and then full time jobs. The increase in jobs also coincided with a boom in the economy that created the jobs to be filled. As there were more jobs there were fewer grounds on which men object to women working; it was no longer the case that they were driving soldiers, who had given so much during the war, out of work. They weren’t neglecting their duties at home by working as they could do the chores in far less time. It could also no longer be argued that they weren’t capable of the jobs, with increases in the numbers of women with university degrees.

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This increase in work meant that women were able to prove themselves as equals to men. However, this opportunity wasn’t truly grasped until the 60s and 70s. Before that women seemed happy to work as subordinates to men, getting less money for often similar work.

2.  What made the 60s and 70s a period of social change?

During the 1960s and 70s the economy was changing. It had grown out of the reconstruction and austerity period into consumer products. This rapid development in all areas led to the claim that ‘You’ve never had it so good!’ people’s disposable incomes ...

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