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Women are overwhelmingly concentrated at the lower levels

Of the occupational hierarchy”



The First World War strongly influenced the development of women’s rights in the 20th century Britain. It opened up new employment opportunities for many women, replacing men sent to fight. The jobs in munitions factories, transport, 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 it is far too simplistic. The ‘democratic’ franchise of (1918) in fact gave only the vote to women over the age of 30. It was the Equal Franchise Act of (1928) which finally gave women the vote on the same terms and at the same age (21).

Women contained to face barriers to equal pay and 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. By 1943 there were 7.25 million women employed in industry, agriculture, the armed forces and the civil defence organisation. Many women lost their jobs when demobilised soldiers returned to Britain. (Jenni Murray 20th Century Britain).



In political terms the war helped revive the women’s movements. The education act (1944) established the principles of free education for all, from primary to secondary, but at eleven plus there were there were quota’s for admission to grammar school. The Hunts post of 1954 published an article “Girls brainier than Boys”. It informed it’s readers that too many girls had passed the exam and Education authorities had decided to limit numbers. The quota’s persisted in some parts of Britain until the High Court ruled them discriminatory. In Britain in the 1970’s the equal pay act was...