World War 2

Women

The Effects of War on Women

     Wartime economics developing gave women freedom that they never had before. There was still a little 

discrimination towards them, but not as much as before the war. It was like the men realized how they needed

the women and how much they could help. While the men were in the war, the women had to fill in jobs. The women had more of a chance to decide who they wanted to be as a individual. 

     When the men came back from war the women were in danger of losing the jobs that they took to support

their country. Some of the women didn't mind losing their jobs. The hours were long, they didn't get paid well,

there was little benefits, and the physical labor was difficult. But, some of the women still wanted to keep their

new jobs. Many people in the public just assumed that the women would return to their homes. In addition, 

most of the people in the public expected the men would return to their jobs because the men left their jobs for

the war so when they returned home they would just go back to work. They went home because their husband

and majority of the society thought that they should. Also, some returned home because of their pre-war life

plans.

     Many women wanted to stay at work, but a lot of of people didn't understand why they wanted to. The

women liked the independence they had gained. Also, they liked making their income. They even have done

polls and the average number of women that said they wanted to stay working was 75 percent. The women

made a lot of progress during this time. Many of the women that remained working got a decrease in salary

and even demotions. 

     The women felt the effects of the war on them for their whole life. Women had new opportunities, 

experiences, and became more independent. Some of the civil rights movement were because of the things that

happened during World War II.                                                            

"Women and World War II." History web pages. 04 May 2009      

          <http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/st/~cg3/outline.html>. 

"WWII Women & the Homefront." Teacher Oz's Kingdom of History. 04 May 2009

          <http://www.teacheroz.com/WWIIHomefront.htm>.