Did World War One actually improve life for women?

1. Did World War One actually improve life for women? To describe the benefits to women’s lives To explain why the development was limited To analyse the extent of development using a range of sources and arguments

2. At the time, many people believed that the war had helped advance women politically and economically. • In 1918 Mrs Millicent Fawcett said,  'The war revolutionised the industrial position of women - it found them serfs and left them free.‘ • How far do you agree with this statement?

3. Task • Read the article by Professor Joanna Bourke and look for positives for women and negatives. • Put your points in to a table in your exercise book • Use the additional information and any other material that you can find to help you. • Now use your notes and table to answer the question 'The war revolutionised the industrial position of women - it found them serfs and left them free.‘ How far do you agree with this statement? (This is a GCSE style question)

4. Additional information 1 • After the war women were allowed to work in higher professions such as solicitors and accountants as well as doctors or civil servants. This is because of the Sexual Qualification Removal Act and the Right to Serve procession. The Right to Serve procession made the government change their minds about women working as this was the only way to keep up production, whilst The Sexual Qualification Act actually allowed women to work in the same jobs as men. In 1919 Oxford allowed women to study degrees for the first time. Women could stand for election into Parliament and Lady Astor was the first women to be elected into a seat in 1919. Women were able to vote at the age of 30 in 1918. The war gave women a greater variety of jobs but most of these were lost at the end of the war. There were still better prospects for higher careers after the war such as lawyers and accountants as well as doctors or dentists. A good example of this is that in 1911 women made up 6% of those employed in the higher professions. By 1915 they had increased to only 8%. In 1921 the percentage of the female population with a job was 31%. This was a 21% increase from 1911. This is because when the men got back from the war most women voluntarily gave up their new found jobs. Only a few of the Upper Class women did work after the war.Read more at http://www.infobarrel.com/Roles_of_Women_in_WW1#VDFOMXb9QhfcQsij.99

5. Additional information 2 • The First World War strongly influenced the development of women's rights in 20th-century Britain. It opened up new employment opportunities for many women, who replaced the millions of men sent to fight on the Western Front and elsewhere. Jobs in munitions factories, transport and other key areas that had been dominated by men now became increasingly feminised, and under the Representation of the People Act (1918) the franchise was for the first time extended to women. To equate the First World War with the 'liberation' of women in Britain, however, is far too simplistic. The 'democratic' franchise of 1918 in fact gave the vote only to women over the age of 30. More important in this regard was the Equal Franchise Act of 1928, which finally gave women the vote on the same terms and at the same age (21) as men. The apparent advances made in the workplace were often illusory. Many women lost their jobs when demobilised soldiers returned to Britain in late 1918 and in 1919. Women continued to face barriers to equal pay and to equal access to certain professions, despite the Sex Disqualification Removal Act of 1919 - which, in theory at least, made it illegal to exclude women from jobs because of their gender. • http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/brave_new_world/women.htm

6. Proportions of Females in certain Occupations, 1861-1911 -The proportions of females in certain occupations, and their variations at successive censuses from 1861, may be seen from the following table, ...... These tables relate to the whole country, but it may be pointed out that the numbers of the two sexes in certain occupations vary considerably in different localities.

7. Mark scheme • Level 4 : When finding answers to historical questions, they begin to use information as evidence to test hypotheses. They begin to produce structured work, making appropriate use of dates and terms. • Level 5 : They investigate historical problems and issues and begin to ask their own questions. They begin to evaluate sources to establish evidence for particular enquiries. They select and deploy information and make appropriate use of historical terminology to support and structure their work. • Level 6 : They investigate historical problems and issues, asking and beginning to refine their own questions. They evaluate sources to establish relevant evidence for particular enquiries. They select, organise and deploy relevant information and make appropriate use of historical terminology to produce structured work. • Level 7 : They investigate historical problems and issues, asking and refining their own questions and beginning to reflect on he process undertaken. When establishing the evidence for a particular enquiry, pupils consider critically issues surrounding the origin, nature and purpose of sources. They select, organise and use relevant information and make appropriate use of historical terminology to produce well-structured work. • Level 8 : They analyse and explain a range of historical interpretations and different judgements about historical significance. They suggest lines of enquiry into historical problems and issues, refining their methods of investigation. They evaluate critically a range of sources and reach substantiated conclusions independently. They use historical terminology confidently, reflecting on the way in which terms can change meaning according to context. They produce precise and coherent work.