Women in the Job Market in World War II

 
   
   
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Women in the Job Market
In World War II

By Sydney Gennari

 

The Beginning: Women, Before The War

 

In 1940, only 10% of women who worked were employed by factories, but by 1944, the figure was up to 30%.

The average man made about $54.65 per week, while women were only paid $31.21 per week.
World War 2 Begins
September 11, 1941
The President of the United States publicly declared that he had ordered the American Navy and Air Force to shoot on sight at any German war vessel.

October 27, 1941
In his speech, Roosevelt once more expressly affirmed that this order was in force.

The US Government’s Role in Women Working

Soon after the war began, the US Government realized that there was a serious shortage of workers. Soon they started a “propaganda campaign.” This campaign was focused on encouraging women to take up a factory job.

 

This campaign involved many different tactics to encourage women to start working factory jobs.

Women were told that:

If they DID work…
they would be more respected.
a soldier would live because of them.
the war would end sooner.
they would get high pay and have extra money for the more glamorous things in life.
their husbands would be proud.

If they DIDN’T work…
they would be called slackers and would be un-patriotic.
they would not have enough money to survive.
they were as good as the men that avoided the draft.
an American soldier would die.
the war would last longer.

 

 

Part of the US Government’s effort to get women involved in jobs that involved helping the US Army was a character called “Rosie the Riveter.”
Rosie the Riveter and the Working Women

Rosie the Riveter represents the millions of women who worked in assembly plants and factories to assemble ships, tanks, guns, trucks and rations during World War II.

The first time the world ever saw Rosie the Riveter was on the cover of the May 29, 1943, issue of the Saturday Evening Post. She was drawn by Artist Norman Rockwell.

Posters of other cartoon women were also used. Snappy catch phrases played a big part in persuading women to work.

Many women answered the Government’s cry for more workers, and they did so with pride.
Soon it became unusual if a factory did not employ more women workers than male workers.

A male worker recounts the sudden boom of female workers and their surprising ability to do a “man’s” job…

 

“A woman was placed on the job here, another there, until it was no unusual thing to see shifts on the fill and press lines consisting of about 50 percent women. They did their jobs well…
Then one of the shift supervisors had the idea to form an all-girl line as an experiment. The experiment worked and today, the 10-girl crew in the fill-and-press building...is breaking all production records....”

 

 

Women had many jobs available to them that had not been available to them before.
Such as:

tailoress
recorder
meteorological assistant
link trainer draughtswoman
laboratory technician
hygiene inspector
flight rigger
photographer
postal assistant
x-ray technician
dental mechanic
fabric worker
radar operator
telegraphist
wireless assistant
clerk pay
equipment assistant
nursing orderly
marine

 

 

“A slump came and so I then went to work in a factory that made shirts for the army. It was a kind of conveyor belt system each one doing our own bit to the shirts. We were paid about 7 shillings a week.”
Hilda Pownall nee Jones
Recounting how WWII started when she was 14, so she decided to work.

Most women were excited with the new opportunity to work. They were mainly excited about the money that they would be paid, but the idea of helping out, making a difference, learning a new skill, and being patriotic were also very persuasive.

“I remember a woman saying on the bus
that she hoped the war didn’t end until
she got her refrigerator paid for.” –

Peggy Terry describes life 
in Kentucky during the war. 
From “The Good War” by Studs Terkel, 1985.
 

 

 

A picture showing how empowering being a woman marine in WWII was.

Eugenia Holman, a Redstone WOW (that is, Woman Ordnance Worker) explained her reasons for doing defense work in an open letter to a "friend" published in the Redstone Eagle post newspaper in May 1943…

“when...[my husband] and my brother and my cousins and all the other boys come back home, I want to be able to look them in the eye with a clear conscience and say, "I did all I could”. ”

 

 

There were some women, though, who opposed women entering the workforce. They believed that women should not get themselves involved in a “mans’ game” and should instead stay at home and watch after their children.

Among the groups that apposed women working in “war jobs”, the Catholic Church was one of the most influential.

The Commonweal, Catholic liberal weekly, claimed that the Women's Army Corps was "intended to break down the traditional American and Christian opposition to removing women from the home…by bringing back the pagan female goddess of de-sexed, lustful sterility."

 

When WWII first started, many factory owners said that they would not hire women workers. As the war progressed, however, many factory owners found themselves making the decision to either hire women or close down.

Most companies saw women only as a temporary solution to the shortage on workers, so they felt no need to formally train them. This blatant carelessness resulted in the injury, and in some cases death, of untrained women workers.

Working women were often discriminated against by their male co-workers. Women were often given supplies that either didn’t work at all, or hadn’t been properly maintained.
Male co-workers also mocked women and ridiculed them, making it had for women to work side-by-side male workers.

““ You’re a pretty good mechanic,: he said finally, and added “for a woman…[but then again…] it ain’t women’s work.””
A male worker talks to one of his female co-workers about being a mechanic.
American Women and World War II
By Doris Weatherford

While it was true that at first many male workers were angered by the fact that women could work beside them, some male workers adjusted.

Male workers even began to respect the women that pushed up their sleeves to make a difference.

As one male worker recounts…
“These girls are all handling a man's job. Every-one of them believes she has a personal stake in this war, and she does.”

Of course, while women working was widely seen as a solution to the shortage on workers, it also proved to be a problem.

Working women with children did prove to have problems juggling both being a mother and working. It was the state’s duty to provide a form of child-watch for working women with children, however, most states simply overlooked that obligation. There was little or no money to fund a child-care service.

Working women often went to work early and came back late. A working mother would often take the night shift so that she could take care of her children during the day. However, this only worked if the woman’s children were in school, otherwise she was unable to work and keep her responsibilities as a mother.
THE END OF WORLD WAR II

September 2, 1945
The war is over! Japan officially surrendered!

Germany had officially surrendered before, but until September 2, 1945, the US was still at war with Japan.

Counting the Dead

Deaths (in order from greatest to least):
Country: -----------------Total Deaths:
USSR ----------------------21,300,000
China-----------------------11,324,000
Germany--------------------7,060,000
Poland-----------------------6,850,000
Japan------------------------2,000,000
Yugoslavia-------------------1,706,000
Rumania---------------------985,000
France----------------------750,000
Hungary--------------------525,000
Austria----------------------520,000
Greece------------------------500,000
United States-----------------410,000
Italy----------------------------400,000
Czechoslovakia--------------380,000

Tragedy vs. Triumph

Some people say that WWII didn’t help the women of today because after the war was over, most women lost, or gave up, their jobs to returning veterans.It is true that some women did stop working after WWII was over, it is also true that many continued to work.
Regardless of the numbers of women that worked after the war, WWII made jobs available for women that had never been available before. WWII started a trend of women working:
1940:19%
1950:28.8%
1960: almost 50% *The percentage of women that made up the US Labor Force.

Population Division U.S. Bureau of the Census Washington, D.C.
January 1999
Population Division Working Paper No. 32

I think women working war jobs during WWII was both a tragedy and a triumph.

It was a tragedy because it took thousands of American men being shipped off to die for The United States to realize that female workers were capable of doing what male workers could do.

Women working during WWII was also a triumph. The acceptance of women in jobs that were previously only considered for men, lead to the acceptance of women in all jobs today.
Without WWII, it is possible that women would still be seen as secretaries, assistances, and stay-at-home moms.
Fin

June 15,1939
The US Congress passes the Fair Labor Standards Act. This was the first national effort to legislate a minimum wage, set at 25¢ an hour, and put a ceiling on how many hours a week a person can work, set at 44 hours a week.

Congress men signing the
Fair Labor Standards Act.
December 16, 1939
The National Women’s Party meets in Washington and urges the Congress to act on equal rights.

A National Woman’s Party demonstration.
The United States
Civilian Deaths:
----------------
Military Deaths:
500,000

Total Deaths:
-> 500,000
Allied Powers
Civilian Deaths:
33,000,000
Military Deaths:
17,000,000

Total Deaths:
-> 50,000,000
Axis Power
Civilian Deaths:
4,000,000
Military Deaths:
8,000,000

Total Deaths:
-> 12,000,000

However, it was important that women that held jobs just for extra money, knew that they were taking money from a man (or woman) that really needed that money.

“A girl living at home and having few expenses may be able to accept, let us say, $10 a week for her work, using that money only for her own personal needs. Her employer will say to a man, "We can use girls in this job, therefore we do not need you; but if you want the job, you can have it at $10 a week." If the man can find no other job, he may be forced to take the one for $10 a week, which means that his family will live at a very low standard. And this will be the fault of the girl who did not understand that she was part of a big labor group and that she had to consider the good of the whole body.”
“A Woman’s Place in the World”
By Eleanor Roosevelt
Originally published in Click 7 (August 1944)

There were also many factors that decided if a could work.
Some being:
The availability of child care
Marriage status
Income status (lower/middle/upper class)
The skills they posses
The availability of the job they request

After the war many women lost their jobs to the returning veterans. However, there were women that continued to work because they liked the money they made and they felt empowered working side-by-side men, even if those men were disrespectful to them at times.

  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
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