Women In Wwii Essay Research Paper World

Women In Wwii Essay, Research Paper

World War II marked a retreat from the existing notions of women’s capabilities and proper roles. With the men gone at war, women had to take over the work force. Government propaganda encouraged women to do their patriotic duty by leaving their homes and entering the workplace. At the wartime peak in July 1944, 19 million women were employed. This was an increase of 47% over the level in March of 1940. For the first time, married women outnumbered single women in the work force. Women over thirty-five made up 60% of the increase in the labor force. Girls between 14 and 19 added another 17.3% to the total (Anderson 4). Women took over the common jobs of building ships and planes, becoming lumberjacks, train conductors, steelworkers, and drill press operators (Rappaport 224). Patriotism was only one of the many motivations for women to sign up for work. Economic necessity, the excitement and challenge of work, the need to cope with the loneliness and anxiety caused by having their husbands and sons overseas, a disaffection from housework, a desire for more social independence, the sense of purpose accompanying productive work, and other such personal considerations complemented the desire to help in the war effort. Seattle City bus driver, Josephine Bucklin said, “‘ We do feel we’re doing something concrete for the war effort. Besides, it’s thrilling work, and exciting, and something women have never been allowed to do before”‘(Anderson 26-28).

Not only did the war bring large numbers of newcomers to the labor force, it also provided a wonderful opportunity for upward mobility for millions of women who had previous work experience. The wartime system of labor priorities enabled women to escape the low-paying female – dominated fields of domestic and personal service. Women could now obtain jobs in the burgeoning war industries or in the government. Between 1940 and 1944, the number of women employed in manufacturing increased 141 percent, while those in domestic service declined by 20 percent (de Pauw 144). Wartime imperatives were therefore undermining the sex – segregated labor market and the ideas that preserved it. This got rid of a long impediment to economic advancement for women. Some long – standing iniquities were also disappearing. In 1942 the National War Labor Board established an equal pay principle when it decided that same rates should be paid to women when the work they did was the same as the work done by men. Union contracts containing inequitable pay were allowed to remain in force. Pay scales for jobs traditionally performed by women were presumed to be acceptable and pay differentials were allowed in some cases. Despite these loopholes, some firms did pay women equally, and the differences between men and women’s average earnings slightly narrowed during the war years. This was primarily because of the increased demand for women in the workplace (5-6).

Much prejudice existed in the workplace against women, though. Many employers persisted in discriminatory practices, even in the face of unmet labor requirements. Many still refused to hire women. The belief that men should be the primary breadwinners in the family was especially significant in limiting women’s job opportunities as long as unemployed men were still available to fill labor needs. In January 1942, the Seattle Times editorialized against any immediate hiring of women, because “‘it is fairly obvious that the chance of a man to get a job may be delayed if a woman gets it first.’” A letter to the Seattle Star supported this position, adding, “‘ I don’t want my wife to take a man’s job as long as I am still able to work for our living.”‘ Another letter said, “‘ I never let my wife work, and I know she is a far sweeter woman than many women who have been coarsened by having to get out in the business world. I say, let’s keep the women out of the industry and out of the war.”‘ Hampered by these conventional attitudes, women found their competitive disadvantages in the labor market further increased because most of the job openings were in employment classifications traditionally reserved to men (23-25).

The critical labor shortage created by the war did not mean all discriminatory barriers had been broken down. Discrimination against black women proved to be one of the most unyielding. Even employers who were willing to hire black men and white women refused to change their practices to include black women. Employment officials continued to refer black women for service jobs. Many war plants which refused to hire them, employed them for only limited kinds of work, and/or segregated them on the job. Employers believed and feared that the entrance of blacks would provoke resistance on the part of white workers. Despite the persistence of discrimination, urban work opportunities improved considerably during the war years for blacks (Rooke 33-35).

Problems had arisen from the vastly growing numbers of females in the work force. Many people had problems with the idea of working mothers. Public resistance to the idea of working mothers held down the labor force participation rate of women from age 25 to age 34. Paul Mcnutt stated, “‘no women responsible for the care of young children should be encouraged or compelled to seek employment which deprives their children of essential care until all other sources of supply are exhausted.”‘ Even in