The Effects of War on Women 

By: Sara Cook

When the war was over for America in 1945, millions of fighting men came home to be with their famalies. While the men were fighting, women had started to work and start to work and do jobs that were usually for men. Women had to work in order to pick up the slack. This included teaching, civil services, working in ship yards, factory work and many other things. Things used for domestic supplies went to millitary use. Although many women went to work, it still wasn't enough to keep domestic production at a normal state. Women started to gain more freedom and choices as they could do varieties of work. Their roles, opportunities, and responsibilities expanded. When the men came home, the women's work would stop and their freedom was going to be taken away again. Many people assumed that  women would just go home and continue life like before the war. It was more up to the women than it would seem.

Before the men came home from combat, working women had long and hard days. The typical life of one would only include about five or six hours of sleep.  Mom's would work a night shift and take a few naps during the day while their children were at school. They would come home from their night shift right as their children were off to school. Also, they would have to wake up at lunch to see their kids and make them lunch. Women's jobs included a small pay and many times not many benefits. Even with women's jobs, housework was still never shared and they continued all of their responsibilities. Every once in a while there was discrimination, but not enough to scare away women.

After the war, when women were finally asked to return home, it was largely their choice. Many people assumed that they would realize that their position was just temporary like the soldiers in the army, but some women stayed working. There was no one thing that all women did. They all made different choices and carried out different things. The war was a strong awakening for women. They saw that they could survive without all the men working jobs. They took up the work and learned they could do it themselves. They became much more independent and this started a revolution for women's rights.

Evacuation

Young mothers and their children were evacuated from some cities during the war. This was because many of the cities were considered in danger. There was a total of 3.5 million children who were evacuated from many different large cities. Many of these children went with a teacher. Almost all of the teachers were women because everyone still had the mindset of teachers being women.

Factory work

Many women chose to do factory work. They worked long hours and worked in the production of many things including ammunition, aeroplanes, and uniforms. Skilled women earned what to them seemed like a lot. Many didn't realize that men doing the same job would be payed much more. It was also common that an unskilled man would get more money than a highly skilled female worker. When this became an issue in 1943, women at the Rolls Royce factory went on strike. Many protesters were hit by rotten eggs as well as tomatoes and other nasty things. The strike finally ended when the women started recieving the pay a halfway skilled man would get. This was still not fair, but it was certainly better than before.

Resources:

• Giampaoli, Cristina. Cristina Giampaoli's Home page. 11 Mar. 2008 http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/st/~cg3/0~index.html.
• Rosie The Riveter." 11 Mar. 2008 <http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/st/~cg3/pagethree.html>. 
• Trueman, Chris. "Women in World War Two." 24 Feb. 2008 <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/women_WW2.htm>. 
• Lewis, Jone J. "World War Two Homefront: Women at Home." About.com. 28 Feb. 2008 <http://womenshistory.about.com/od/warwwii/a/women_at_home.htm>. 
• Lewis, Jone J. "Women and World War 2." About.com. 9 Mar. 2008 <http://womenshistory.about.com/od/warwwii/a/overview.htm>.