women in wwii


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Roles for Women in WWII

WWII opened up the doors for women to fill hundreds of typically male dominated roles in the workplace. However, most of these roles evaporated quickly after the war was over. According to a survey done at the Springfield Aresonal in Massachusetts, 81% of women said they hoped to continue working after the war. Within one week of VJ, every woman had been fired. Similarly, a survey in Detroit found that 72% of women workers that had been laid off after the war wanted to work but couldn't find a job.

A little known fact about Rosie the Riveter is that she in fact hurt the restaurant and laundry business. Restaurants were forced to close because they couldn't find waitresses, because the women holding those jobs were quiting to make better money in factories. Prior to WWII, most women who held a job had been stereotypically young and single - waiting to meet Mr. Right. Of women age 14 and up, 27% of women had a job in the workplace in 1940 - it rose to 35% in 1944 and had declined again to 29% by 1947. Interestingly, even though factories were desperate for laborers, older women had a difficult time finding work. - Working Women on the Homefront in WWII

Here are some of the jobs that had been recorded in articles of the period: (note: it's pecular that many of these positions required extensive former training for a woman to step into one of these roles. Did these women chose these vocations in college, and simply never hold formal employment?)

Recommended

Recommended Reading about roles for women during WWII: