Just as they had in World War One, women were once again called on to serve new roles at the outbreak of World War Two. In fact, women during World War Two played an even larger role than they had in the first one. Governments everywhere, and particularly in the United States, were desperate fill the jobs left empty by the man who had gone into the war. This time around, the work the women were asked to do came with significant changes to how the work was done, including part-time employment. They were also growing demands from many women for equal pay for equal work. In many ways, the changes which took place in the workforce during World War Two were much more significant than those during World War One because when the war was over many women wanted to stay in the workforce and did so. There were other changes during the war in the role of women as well, even including military service.
Women in the Service
While there were some objections from some of the old line officers in the U.S. military, as well as that in those of some of its Allies like Great Britain, the decision was made to set up entirely female units in many of these armed forces. In time, there were female pilots flying military aircraft. Their job was to move the planes from one location to another, although not to engage in combat. Other women in the military engaged in a wide range of technical jobs, from operating in anti-aircraft searchlights and radar to acting as flight controllers for pilots. Many of the younger channels, such as Eisenhower, were in fact strongly supportive of having women in the military in behind the lines roles.
The War At Home
In Europe, millions of women supported their nation’s war effort by working in armaments factories. In 1941, Great Britain went so far is too conscript women up to 40 to work in bible was issues in factories, government and in agriculture. While in the United States women were not compelled to work by conscription, there was a massive campaign designed two motivate women to support the war effort by going work.
The iconic image of Rosie the Riveter comes from this time (Robert, 2013). This painting, created by Norman Rockwell, was published on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post and became symbolic of the strong, confident American woman who could rise up to any challenge. The creators of this propaganda wanted women to feel that they were as perfectly capable as men of being laborers, electricians, welders or bricklayers.
Worker Rights
However, despite the need for women in the workplace, there was still tremendous sexual discrimination. Many of the mail businessmen who ran the factories were slow to accept that women could do the job and do it well. Women, and particularly minority women, were almost always paid less than men were for doing exactly the same job. In fact, African American women often found that they were placed in the worst paying jobs, such as cleaning or working in the kitchen, until wide protests changed this.
In addition to join the work force itself, many of these women decided to join trade unions as well. Also, there were significant changes to work schedules in general, with Part-time work becoming much more, and so was too allow for in the responsibilities of woman might have at home. More than that, many more women began working as professionals in architecture, medicine and law. There were many more women photographers and journalists, a number of whom covered the war in Europe.
Another change that came to the workplace the cause of the influx of women taking over the jobs of men was the creation of governments sponsored Day Care Centers. For many women, it would’ve been impossible to take on a job if they had no one to look after their children. For other women, it was necessary to make their own arrangements with friends or family looking after their children while they were at work.
How They Recruited
When World War Two began, unemployment had been debilitating in the United States all through the great depression. Very quickly however, industry in the United States had to reopen factories and convert production from consumer goods to military items. This caused unemployment to drop from almost 10% at the beginning of the war two barely over 1% by the end of the war. During the war, production of weapons exploded, with the U.S. building almost 100,000 ships in 1944 alone. In total, the United States built more than 70,000 chips of all types during the war. We built tanks and jeeps by the tens of thousands. Obviously, the United States and industry needed all hands on deck. This required finding ways to recruit women into the workforce.
Thus, urged on by the Federal government, thousands and thousands of women would never had any job other than housework took up their roles as clerks, welders and bricklayers. By the end of 1944, more than 1/3 all the people working in assembly lines in the United States were women. During the entire war, more than six million American women went to work. More than that, those women who had already been in the workforce will for the war found that they could now move up from a lower level menial positions to much better paying jobs.
This changing situation in the workplace increased women’s income, self-respect and their independence. Unlike what happened in the period following world war one, when women generally went back to their old lines, following World War Two many women decided they wanted to continue working outside the home. This changed American society in many ways. Even though many were forced out of their new jobs by the returning GI’s, survey showed that a very large number wanted to keep this newly gained employment and self-reliance.( Kalas, 1996).
An interesting point about the war and women’s efforts during the war is that even they are military activity, such as transporting aircraft, was ignored and they were denied veterans benefits. This did not change until 1979. In fact, with the failure to pass the ERA amendment in the 1970s, women to this day still do not receive equal pay and equal treatment with men who are performing the same kind of work. Nevertheless, the women of World War Two did pave the way for the America we live in today where women are heads of large corporations, senators, secretaries of state and even (potentially) President of the United States.
Works Cited
Kalas, Andrea, and Rhona J. Berenstein. "Woman Speaks": Representations Of Working Women In Postwar America." Journal Of Film And Video 48.3 (1996)
M.M.B. "Rosie The Riveter: Women Working On The Home Front In World War II." Horn Book Magazine 71.5 (1995): 617. Literary Reference Center. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.
Robert, Siegel. "Michigan Woman Who Inspired WWII 'Rosie' Poster Has Died." All Things Considered (NPR) (n.d.): Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.
