Opportunities for women in 1914

Lucy McConnell

Describe the employment opportunities of women in Britain in 1914 at the outbreak of war.


In the 19th Century women’s opportunities were limited by the social attitudes in Britain. Society was male dominated at this time regarding employment, politics and social attitudes. It was thought that women should only do feminine jobs so the most common employment for women was in domestic service, as textile workers and in the sweated trades. In these jobs women were not treated equally to men with women being paid a lot less then men for doing the exact same job. However by the early 19th century new employment opportunities became available for women with jobs in retail, as telephonists and as secretaries all becoming more popular.
The pre-war female population was 23.7 million with 5.9 million women being employed. 1.5 million women worked as domestic servants where the working hours for women were very long and the pay was low. To be employed as a domes...