1. Women at War
By Isobel Shepard

2. Women At War
This presentation explains how men’s views of working women changed because of WW2.
It also shows how women’s expectations of what they could do and achieve was changed.

3. Before the War Men didn’t think women could do their work
Married women weren’t expected to go out to work
The Marriage Bar prevented women from working after they were married
Only 1 in 10 married women went to work
Women worked in the home – cooking, cleaning, looking after the house and children.
Conditions were hard

4. During WW2
As the men went to war, the women had to do the men’s jobs because they needed to feed the country, keep supplies for the men at war and carry on providing service.
By 1943, 90% of single women and 80% of married women worked.
As the war went on, the government sent posters around persuading women to do the men’s jobs as there were no men to do it.

5. Jobs That Women Did …. Factory work (e.g. munitions)
Billeting officers
Mechanics
Driving – ambulances, fire engines etc.
Nursing
Land army
Resistance workers

6. The Land Army
We needed to increase the amount of food grown within Britain – because we’re an island.
We needed more help on farms
So the Women’s Land Army :
Looked after animals
Ploughed fields
Harvested crops
80,000 women were in the Land Army.

7. After The War
Women realised that they were quite good at doing men’s jobs.
They had learnt lots of new skills to help them find jobs in the future.
Many more women decided that they would carry on working after the war.
Jobs women did included:
Factory / industry
Service industry (shops, banks)
Healthcare
By the 1960’s 4 in 10 married women worked.