Describe the employment opportunities of women in Britain between 1914 and 1918

        900,000 women worked in munitions during the war. Whereas middle and upper-class women did nursing and agricultural work, it was mainly working-class women who worked in the munitions factories. Some of this work was dangerous as TNT had to be handled to make explosives. Women were expected to and carried out these works which were before considered to be “men’s work.” An estimated three hundred women were killed from TNT poisoning and from explosions but the exact numbers are unknown. Many women chose this line of work as it directly helped the war effort and women who did this job were seen as patriots. Patriotism was a large pull factor in attracting workers to munitions factories and this negated the fact that the jobs were hard and stressful and for long hours: “That was where they wanted people most… that’s where they kept saying, you know, your King and country needs you,”  Amy May. Women earnt upto £5 per week which was much higher than the average wage for an industrial worker pre-war of 11s 7d which was another pull factor for workers.

        Another change alongside the fact that women began to work was their working conditions. Lady Welfare Supervisors were introduced to perform a wide variety of tasks that controlled and assisted female workers; welfare supervision had: “…tended towards creating a better class of factory girl,” Ministry of Labour. This was a huge change socially as women had barely worked before, let alone having a job such as management which used to be solely reserved for men. Munitions work was dangerous but well-paid so I feel this was a good employment opportunity as many working-class women who were in these jobs had little or no choice about what they could do.

        Another area where there was a great increase in female workers was the transport industry. There was an increase of fivefold in transportation. They took on jobs that men had departed that other women also did such as booking clerks and also jobs that women had never done before such as ticket collecting and engine cleaning. Again, these women suffered harassment from male colleagues: “The tram used to sway an’ he’d give turn round to me and he’d give me such a grin. He knew I wasn’t used to that,” Annie Fry of a male tram driver in Southampton. Most of the women who worked in transport were working-class; it was only supervisors and inspectors who were middle or upper-class women.

        There were areas of work however where there was a decrease in workers such as domestic services. This is because these jobs were non-essential in a time of war and women wanted to be seen to be doing a more productive profession. Patriotism and camaraderie are both factors in the decrease in numbers of 24% for female workers in this field during the war period.

        Employment opportunities between 1914 and 1918 arose mainly from men who vacated their posts to go to war. I believe that the best new work opportunity that came up for women was in transportation. There was increase of 544% in female transport workers between 1914 and 1918. These jobs were fairly well paid compared to others and weren’t dangerous or insecure (at least until men returned from war). Women became valued in work and were able to join trade unions and other organisations. Some were paid the same as men, but, however, many women lost their jobs after the war when men returned to work. Women began to realise their potential they had when released from the restraints of staying at home looking after the children all day.