“’Women over the Age of Thirty Gained the Vote in 1918
Mainly Because Of Women’s Contribution To The
War Effort.’ Do You Agree?”
“Women over the age of thirty gained the vote in 1918 because of women’s contribution to the war effort.” I agree with this statement but I think there are lots of others factors that need to be thought about. I believe that there were many reasons why women over the age of thirty got the vote, women’s contribution in the war being the highest on the list, but not the only factor. Other factors which in my opinion played a part are the coalition government, the female suffrage groups, an international move for women’s suffrage, pressure from other members in the government, a new Prime Minister who was sympathetic towards women’s suffrage, the war being an excuse for the government to give in and in 1918 the government having other priorities to deal with.
I believe that the war was a main factor which lead to many things and impacted the fact that women got the vote. As men went off to fight in the war, jobs became more available for women; soon men were conscripted to fight in the war so the jobs almost had to be done by women. They took over jobs such as bus conductors, bus drivers, policing, and chimney sweeps. These jobs had never been filled by women before in such vast numbers. Also the war brought many jobs for women in munitions factories. All the time the women were putting themselves at risk because the explosions could kill or injure the workers. Also the chemicals would cause the workers to vomit and turn their skin yellow, leading them to get the name the canaries. In the worst cases the chemicals caused cancer and infertility. But women still did the work; they felt that they were giving something back to the country. Middle and upper class women joined an organisation called the Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs.) It was set up to provide nurses and cooks for the army by the suffragists and suffragettes to prove their worth. There was no pay for this work and that is why women from only the better off families could do it. They would take over the jobs of men so that they could go and fight on the front line in the war. The next step that was taken to help women’s contribution to the war was the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, Women's Royall Naval Service and Women’s Royal Air Force; they gave the army the opportunity to send every possible man to the front line, letting these women carry out the non combatant jobs. This led to women leaving home, and becoming more independent.
