Family Life & Work

• The number of working women in industry increased from 3.3 Million in 1914, to 4.8 Million in 1918 (yet trade unions were keen to assert the reappointment of men at the expense of women after WW1)
• The 1919 Restoration of Pre-War Practice Act meant women who had been employed in munitions factories were forced to return to pre-war employment or stop working if this wasn't possible, this re-stablished the 'marriage bar' (expectation that women would stop work once married) as a social convention
• The loss of manpower during WW2 meant women were conscripted in huge numbers, the percentage of women who worked as engineers, in transport or the chemical industry rose from 14% in 1939, to 33% in 1945
• Thousands of women also served as farm workers in the Women's Land Army in WW2, and also non-combat roles in the armed forces (led to wider acceptance of women as workers, slowly removing the domestic sphere and traditional roles of gender)
• In the 1920's, the 'flappers' flaunted their independence by smoking in public and dressing in far less restrictive clothing
• By the late 1950's, a Manchester Guardian Survey revealed that while 40% of housewives were content in their role, 50% were bored a lot of the time
• In 1951, 25% of married women worked
• Labour-saving devices such as Vacuum Cleaners and Washing Machine enabled women to devote less time to domestic chores
• Shifts in the labour market meant there were more part-time and unskilled jobs, which made up the majority of female employment
• Sociologist Viola Klein (1965) found that 60% of working women did unskilled jobs
• The Equal Pay Act of was passed in 1970 due to criticism of women taking home over half of the wage of a man completing the same job
• A key reason for Equal Pay Act (1970) was the 1968 Ford Dagenham Strike - A three week strike where 300 female sewing machinists led Ford to accept equal pay for women doing similar jobs to men (although they were still only awarded 95% of men's pay in the final settlement)
• The 1975 Employment Protection Act meant women could not be sacked for getting pregnant and gave 6 weeks paid maternity leave to those who qualified through 2 years' service
• The 1975 Sex Discrimination Act made it illegal to discriminate against women in employment