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SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR YOU TO THINK ABOUT IN RELATION TO QUESTION 2

The political impact of women’s roles in the First World War

The support from women during the First World War was not to be forgotten, but it is not as simple as saying war work got women the vote. Many men did not like women doing ‘their jobs’ and there were even strikes against women workers early in the war. At the end of the war, many women were forced to give up the jobs that had given them so much personal freedom and a good wage. Fashion for women had even changed with new hairstyles, clothes that were more practical (including wearing trousers!) and a growing belief that they really were the equal of men.

As the war rumbled on, the government had to address the issue of voting rights. It had decided in 1916 that any new laws would give all men over 21 the right to vote. If men were to fight in the trenches together then it was felt they deserved the vote. Many also now believed that women deserved the vote. Even Herbert Asquith, who had previously been against women voting, was now in favour, and most people believed that without the women’s contribution to the war effort the war might have been lost. The Representation of the People Act, 1918, was a victory for men as well as women. Men got the vote at 21, with women getting the vote at 30 years of age. However, only 6 million women (out of 13 million) qualified for the vote. If all women over 21 had been given the vote then they would actually have outnumbered the men. In 1928 a second Representation of the People Act was passed, giving women the vote at 21, on the same terms as men. Emmeline Pankhurst died just a few days after the Act of Parliament became law.

The role of women in the Second World War

When the Second World War broke out, many men hoped that their wives would be able to stay at home while they fought against Nazi Germany. The Separation Allowance was less than most men had earned before the war, so many women began to look for new employment opportunities. At first jobs were scarce, and then as the war effort gathered pace the government began to look for ways in which to recruit women into essential work. Propaganda campaigns were used but these were less effective than expected. The posters were vague and did not make it clear what the jobs entailed or what the rate of pay might be. Many women said that they were too buy looking after their families.

In March 1941 a new law was established which meant that all women between the age of 19 and 40 had to register at an employment exchange. They could then be directed into specific jobs to support the war effort. In reality there were many exceptions to this role. Women with children under 14 did not have to take up war work, but they could still volunteer. Married women had to be found jobs near home, while single women could be sent almost anywhere. Long hours meant that women were not always happy in what they did.

Post-war legislation to promote equality for women

Women’s experience of the Second World War had been very different from the First World War. They did in many cases so the same sort of work as they had done in the First World War. They worked on farms, as nurses and had put on military uniforms. However, in the 1939-45 war they had had to register for work and were in the front line. One thing had not changed. When the war ended they were expected to return to the jobs they had held before the war. By 1947 over 2 million women had left work and returned home.

By 1947 there was a labour shortage. Women had to be persuaded to go back to work. Many had missed the wages, even if they were traditionally lower than men’s wages. They also missed the friendships that working provided.

As the 1940s and 1950s progressed, many women found the traditional role of mother, wife and homemaker more difficult to follow when they had experienced so much freedom in the war years. Equally, many marriages ended as returning soldiers could not fall back into the pattern of married life they had previously left behind.

Attitudes of young people had changed by the time the 1950s drew to a close. Greater freedom and more money in their pockets meant that young people experienced more independence than ever before. At the start of the 1960s young women seemed to demand a level of equality with men that had never been expected ever before. Television spread new ideas about equality and increasing numbers of women went to university. However a ‘glass ceiling’ still existed and by the end of the 1960s the fight for equality and for the end of sex discrimination was under way.

The year 1968 saw the 40th anniversary of the Act which gave at least some women the vote on equal terms with men. It seemed to stimulate a new campaign for equality. An Equal pay Act had been passed in the USA in 1963. Many women in Britain wanted this too.

During 1969 women’s liberation groups grew and made their demands for equality. Their work was successful, as in the following year the Equal Pay Act became law.

Legislation in the 1970s

The Equal Pay Act 1970

• Equal pay for men and women

• Equal holidays, pensions, bonuses

• Equal work had to lead to equal pay

• If you could prove that the work you did was the same as a man’s job, it was of equal value and you were entitled to equal pay.

The Sex Discrimination Act 1975

• No discrimination in the workplace on the grounds of gender

• No discrimination on the grounds of marital status

In 1976 the Domestic Violence Act was also passed. It helped establish refuges for women and their children who needed to live somewhere secretly so that a violent husband or partner could not continue to assault them.

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Many MPs believed that reform was inevitable and that by allowing some women the vote in 1918, it would keep the suffragists happy but also delay more radical reform – such as full and equal voting rights for men and women.

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