3B - The Changing Role and Status of Women, 1918-1945

Question 1

How was the experience of working women characterised after WW1?

Answer 1

Work opportunities highly gendered. Experience of women in the workplace was often one of low skill, low wages and long hours

Question 2

How did the Representation of the People Act 1918 help women?

Answer 2

Women over 30 gained the right to vote if they were married to or a member of the local government register, a property owner or a graduate voting in a university poll

Question 3

Why was the ROTP 1918 bad for women?

Answer 3

It only allowed ‘well educated’ women to vote

Question 4

How much of the vote did women comprise in 1918?

Answer 4

43% which is low considering the loss of life of men during WW1

Question 5

What did the 1928 Representation of the People act do?

Answer 5

Enfranchised all women on equal terms with men

Question 6

How did WW1 help women’s employment opportunities?

Answer 6

Enabled women to make gains in the workplace as the entire population was required to work: worked as auxiliaries, drivers, telephonists, signallers and as nursers

Question 7

How were women employed in 1914 and how had this changed by 1918?

Answer 7

1914 - Large female industrial workforce. 200,000 employed in metals and chemicals industries.
1918 - Over 1 million in these fields alone. 11,000 women worked in one factory to make explosives.

Question 8

How did women’s employment change after WW1?

Answer 8

Gains overturned, wartime empl. only lasted as long as war continued. Men returned to work and forced women out of the workplace. Numbers of women employed returned to pre war levels.

Question 9

What was considered as women’s work in 1918 as 1.25 million women were in service?

Answer 9

Maid, cook or cleaner usually. Unpopular work but opportunities limited due to lack of education and the prejudices that existed.

Question 10

How were there clear gender roles in the 1920s?

Answer 10

Factory work - WC. Clerical work - MC, educated, artisan class.

Question 11

What area of work was the biggest growth area for women in 1920s?

Answer 11

Clerical work biggest growth area, 1920s 1 million employed as typists or clerks, 1931 - 1.3million

Question 12

What emerged as an option for women in the 1920s?

Answer 12

Light manufacturing - poorly paid, unemployment benefit for women set at a lower rate, no incentive for employers to offer better rates of pay

Question 13

What did 2/3 of all work done by working class women consist of in 1920s?

Answer 13

⅔ of all work done by WC women = baking, brewing, sewing, household tasks and caring for children

Question 14

How did MC women feel about the ROTP acts?

Answer 14

Suffrage campaign led by MC women and wanted women owning property to be enfranchised, only radicals wanted WC enfranchised

Question 15

When did unis begin to accept women and how was this done?

Answer 15

Sex Disqualification (removal) Act 1919 - made the civil service or law a profession open to women

Question 16

How many female medical practitioners, nurses, architects, civil and structural engineers were there in 1931?

Answer 16

3000 female medical practitioners, 180,000 nurses, 21 architects out of a total of 6000, two structural and two civil engineers

Question 17

What was a common career for educated women?

Answer 17

Teaching but until 1944 they had to leave the profession if they got married.

Question 18

What % of the workforce was divorced, single or widowed in 1931 and why?

Answer 18

84% because married women expected to stay at home to be supported by their husbands

Question 19

How many women were in politics in the interwar period?

Answer 19

Never more than 5% of MPs were women and number of women MPs peaked at 15 in 1931. Couldn’t use commons dining room.

Question 20

How did Edith Summerskill, Labour MP, describe life as a women in politics?

Answer 20

“it was like a boys school which had decided to take a few girls”

Question 21

How many women did the Labour party attract?

Answer 21

More than any other party, 150,000 joined between 1918-1924. Many Labour still felt that women should stay at home, only 9 women served as Labour MPs in the interwar period

Question 22

How were women more influential at a local level in the interwar period?

Answer 22

1930 - less than 15% of elected local councillors were female. Many focused on social issues such as education and welfare.

Question 23

How did total war increase women’s working opportunities?

Answer 23

• 1944 - 80,000 women worked for Women’s Land Army

- Women’s Voluntary Service supported civil defence forces and offered shelter to bombing victims

Question 24

What non combat roles did women take on during the war?

Answer 24

• Drivers, cooks, intelligence analysts, clerks, radar plotters and mechanics in Air Force, Army and Navy
• Women cryptanalysts and translators worked to break enemy codes, women spies occasionally carried out work

Question 25

How did women help with war production?

Answer 25

Worked in munitions factories, aircraft construction, parachute packing and uniform manufacture

Question 26

How did the war benefit women?

Answer 26

• Better pay
• New skills and confidence in their abilities
• Had levels of importance
• Overseas postings and relocation gave women opportunities and experiences they had never had
• Opportunity to work alongside men gave a sense of participation and contribution

Question 27

What did the 1937 Matrimonial Causes Act do and how did people feel about it?

Answer 27

Allowed for divorce if either partner had been unfaithful, or deserted them for 3 years or more, opposed by CofE and Catholic Church but widespread public support

Question 28

How did 1937 changes in divorce law impact women?

Answer 28

4,800 before vs 38,000 in 1951. Although, views towards divorce reflected in King Edward attempting to marry to American divorcee Wallace Simpson - unpopular

Question 29

When was the first Birth Control clinic founded and by who?

Answer 29

1921 - Dr Marie Stopes but health workers who directed women to this clinic were sacked

Question 30

How did people feel about the Birth Control Clinics?

Answer 30

Clergymen condemned clinics as filthy and unnatural. Labour in 1927 voted against allowing local authority funding for birth control clinics.

Question 31

How did the authorities react to birth control clinics in 1930?

Answer 31

Local authorities arguing that it was essential to fund clinics. Gov decided that it was acceptable to advise mothers who already had one child and for whom second pregnancy would damage their health.

Question 32

How did the church and the General Medical Council react to birth control clinics in 1930?

Answer 32

CofE allowed married members of their congregations to use birth control. General Medical Council allowed doctors to give contraception advice to married couples only. WC women not covered by insurance schemes did not benefit from this advice.

Question 33

What freedoms did women have after WW1 in the 1920s after their husbands had died?

Answer 33

Clerical jobs allowed some single women to enjoy the birth of consumerism in the interwar years. Young women rejected fashion of Edwardian era - liked ‘flapper’ look - short haircuts and exotic fashions e.g shorter skirts

Question 34

What did the glamorous and promiscuous Flapper girls of the 1920s and 1930s enjoy doing?

Answer 34

Dancing, jazz music and social freedoms. No evidence to suggest their sexual attitudes were any different to others. Unladylike activities like smoking and drinking also adopted.

Question 35

How did the GD have a disproportionate impact on women?

Answer 35

Ate less so their families could eat. 1933 - Hungry England Enquiry reported that women were starving to feed their families. Assistances means tested in 1934 - more difficult