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The changing role of women at work since World War Two

• After World War Two, many women had to leave their jobs as men returned from fighting in the war and replaced them in the workforce.
• In the 1950s, more women began to challenge their roles as mainly housewives and mothers.
• Many were becoming frustrated with what they saw as a boring and limited life at home. They wanted to begin their own professional careers, often in jobs that had traditionally been male occupations.
• By 1960, there had been an increase of 35 per cent in the number of women at work in comparison to ten years previously.
• Over 22 million women were in employment - almost half of the whole country’s workforce.

Eleanor Roosevelt, the widow of President Roosevelt, had campaigned for women’s rights since the 1920s. In 1960, she set up a commission on the status of women at work. The report found that despite the increase in the number of women at work, they experienced substandard conditions and opportunities in comparison to men. Examples of this included:

• Women on average earned less than half of what men earned, even for the same work.
• More than 90 per cent of managers were men.
• The most common role for women was clerical, such as secretarial or reception work.
• Women could lose their job for getting married or becoming pregnant.
• Less than 10 per cent of doctors were women.