Why did the Number of Women employed in Britain begin to rise significantly from mid-1915?

        Another important reason as to why numbers of women employed in Britain rose in 1915 was marches for women’s rights organised by the suffragettes. In an attempt to capture the patriotism involved in war and utilise it for their own benefit they modified their previous ‘right to vote’ slogan to ‘right to serve’ along with ‘right to work’. The march took place in July and over 30,000 women participated in it. The marches were well timed to highlight the fact that women were willing to help in the war effort and highlighted the fact that the real enemy was not the women but their opponents on the battlefield, specifically Germany.

        On top of the many women employed in munitions factories in 1915, many women also took over the jobs of men who had ventured abroad to fight in the war. This included jobs on farms and there were even women that joined the police force. By 1916 there was another significant surge of women in employment in Britain due to the fact that soldiers were now being conscripted as oppose to volunteering this meant that every man         who was the right age was forced to join the army opening up many more slots for unemployed women to fill in.

        When women did work however it was not always ideal circumstances. Women were not allowed equal pay for the same job as man, and there were always dangers. Women had also become increasingly unpopular amongst the male remaining male workers who feared ‘dilution’ meaning they did not want their pay to decrease due to the poor work of the less skilled women. Strikes were held as a result and many women were told they would instantly lose their jobs upon the homecoming of men fighting in the war. Women were often given a hard time in the workplace by their male counterparts, often the men would try to confuse the women and often jokes, both verbal and practical were made at their expense. Ultimately there was a significant increase in employment for women I  Britain in 1915 but it did not come without a cost.