The Employment Opportunities of Women in Britain in 1914

The Employment Opportunities of Women in Britain in 1914

Woman in Britain in 1914 had several job opportunities and from this

period onwards the number of employed women began to rise

significantly. This coursework will cover the following points; the

kind of work women did, the payment they received and the working

conditions under which they worked and chances of progress for women

workers. One of the main reasons for these conditions was that most of

the governmental departments were dominated by men whilst women were

society’s stereotypes. The other main factors include the lack of

female education on a further degree and Victorian attitudes at that

time.

The main job in which women were employed was domestic service.

Domestic servants worked under deplorable conditions and could not

complain as Trade Unions did not exist. These domestic employees often

worked long hours and were only granted a half a day break per week,

or even a month, off. The payment that they received was not

commensurate with the amount of work undertaken. Approximately one

million and a half women were hired for an average pay of five to ten

pounds per annum. Domestic service attracted so many young girls

because the school leaving age was twelve and many went straight in

service, hence pay was very low. This profession did not require a

high level of education as most of the work undertaken was manual.

Textile firms provided women with employment as was the case in the

past, starting from the Industrial Revolution. Woman could supervise

sinning and weaving machines as effectively and methodically as men,

but because of man’s dominance in the socie...

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...ian attitudes started to change

towards women, giving women more freedom before the War. Nevertheless,

the War opened the path of equality, and soon afterwards women got the

right to vote although it was under more conditions then the men’s

right to vote.

In general, in my point of view the most important factor which led to

equal rights and the vote was the radical change of attitudes the

government and society in general took towards women. Many

improvements were made, and now women could work in many different

professions and a new respect had been created towards women because

of World War One. Women had the right now to either work in which

field they chose or to stay at home. In my opinion, if it was not for

World War One and all the events it triggered off women would not have

the same rights as today.