Describe the Role and Status of Women in the 1940s and 1950s Essay

After the beginning(a) World War wo hands had gained a long step to warfareds having equation with hands. In 1918 married women over the develop of 30 were abandoned the right to vote. During the war women had proved themselves as capable as men, not and as nurses near the front lines scoreing in very dangerous positions save besides back in Britain working to care the war feat in jobs that forward the war they could never put one over even had a chance of getting. as yet women were understood a long way of having whatsoever vague equality with men, and when the men returned from war things changed as men were still considered far above women. Although it had got worse since the end of the war it should be recognise that womens federal agency in society had been greatly improved since the days before the First World War.During the Second World War opusy of the men were conscripted to go away to war. This meant that their jobs promptly needed to be filled in order f or the country to work., women got jobs in every reachs of employment from working in manual labour to working in banks. They also managed to prove that they could do the jobs just as well as men and were able to work in jobs that had previously been for men only.Gaining all these new jobs had been a huge leap towards women gaining equality with men, however when the men returned from war most if the women upset their war time jobs. This happened because of a number of reasons. Firstly, public opinion in general sweard that the soldiers who had been fighting deserved to go in back to jobs and not have to struggle with unemployment. Also near bosses of small and large companies felt that men were still better and didnt want to employ women over men.A women who had worked as a welder during the war years was told, Oh my goodness, youve got the best qualifications that we ever had apply for the job, further your a womanhood, and I wonder what the boys would say if I employed a woman A newspaper editor was told when she was dismissed,Oh its nothing wrong with your work, just now we have to safeguard the succession and the successor has to be a man.Bosses who were taking this line, and most of them were were infact taking and supporting the governments line. The governments official line verbalise it is doubtless true that at that place are many jobs done during the war by women for which men are better suited, both mentally and physically. And, if there is to be a nation in the future, there must be children and children mean homes and endless chores. So that there must naturally be a drift back from the services and the factories to domestic work.I believe that this is showing that men and the government (dominated by men) were showing an incompetence to gain ground that women were able to do the jobs that men traditionally did. So although women had again gained a further step towards equality later onwards the war they had again lost some of that newly gained freedom when the war ended in 1945.However not all women were displeased at societys attitude as after the war many women wanted to start families and now the men had come back from the war they were able to do this. The evidence for this lies in an area known as the baby boom, when the birth rate soared dramatically after the war.Even after the war when women were gaining more equality with men they did not have equal pay rates as men. A woman doing the same amount of work as a man would be paid two thirds of what a man would be paid. Women didnt, understandably think this fair and in August 1943 them women who worked at a Rolls Royce factory went on strike and after a week on strike they were fork upn equal pay. However all over the rest of the country women move be exploited by societies views.Even the government were not involuntary to even think about women beingness equal to men. When female shallow teachers asked for equal pay with men, Churchill dismissed their demand with one word. Even though now he was falling out of favour with the people and was in brief to lose the general election, it showed that some men and in incredibly of the essence(p) positions in spite of appearance society, had no respect still for womens role in society. This meant that their term remained below a mans status even though in some cases they had become more equal, such as the right it do legitimate types of jobs.Before 1948 the government offered no medical assistance to women or their children only a small amount to men. In 1942 the Beveridge report was published which illustrated the splendour of setting up a eudaemonia soil which would look after all citizens equally. In July 1948 the case Health Service Act and the National Insurance Act were introduced for a weekly payment by all people earning wages. This was a huge advance for womens equality and their place in society as it now make them equal. In the first a couple of(prenominal) mont hs thousands of women went to the NHS to be treated of illnesses that they had previously had to suffer in silence.The introduction of the Welfare State also brought about the Butler Education Act. This meant that the minimum age to leave school was now raised to fifteen for all children. This was some other huge advance for girls in school as it meant that there was now not only had free secondary education, and therefor this meant that the government accepted girls ability to thrive within a working and intellectual environment. It also meant that they were being put on the same level platform and being given equal opportunities in schools as boys, which would then go onto to act the whole generations and its way of dealing with women as equals.However the system was moderately corrupt and it was not entirely equal. When pupils went up into secondary schools they had to take an 11+ exam to determine which type of school they would go in to. at that place were three different types, grammar for the most academic, secondary modern and technical for pupils who would be more suited to manual and primary sector jobs. Although the system seemed to give equal opportunities for both girls and boys there were infact more grammar schools for boys than there were for girls.The Welfare State also introduced family allowances to try and deal with poverty among families with a large be of children. It meant that for each child a small payment was paid to the women to help keep the child. This meant that the women now had some control over the finances within the household and that the man could not just go out and devolve the money needed for the children.I believe that in the 1940s and 50s womens role in society improved greatly and that there were huge leaps made towards equality. However there were still some major issues that still had not been resolved and needed to be if there was going to get equality between men and women