In World War II, many working-age men were drafted into the armed forces to fight abroad. During this time, women were drafted in to take their places in factories and construction. When WWII ended, most men came home; while many were unable or unwilling to return to their old jobs, there was not the same urgency for women to be in the workplace. As such, society had to deal with new attitudes and expectations regarding women’s employment.
Educated women who were married and had children, were most impacted by the mobilization during WWII. [1] Women's Labor Force participation post-WWII was correlated with mobilization rates in their respective states and was also due to the rise of the tertiary sector, increase in part-time jobs, adoption of labor-saving household technologies, and education. [2]
Before World War II, there was persistent and systematic discrimination against women workers. The women working the labor force prior to the war, were usually impoverished and minorities. [3] Women who worked outside their homes prior to World War II, had jobs as receptionists, secretaries and department store clerks. [4] There was a belief in US society that women of the middle and upper classes, should never go into the outside workforce, because it was beneath them. [3] This allowed for the inclusion of legal bars to married women working in many professions.
During the high unemployment of the Great Depression, many thought men should have hiring preference, to allow at least one provider for every family. The U.S. culture encouraged women to gain employment before marriage, but upon marriage they were expected to dedicate themselves to their main duty - maintaining the family home. The important anti-discrimination legislation Equal Pay Act of 1963 would not be passed until 1963. In 1940, 28% of women over the age of 14 participated in the labor force while men over the age of 10 had a 96% workforce participation rate. [5]
The war caused the mobilization of 16 million American men. Each states’ contribution of eligible men varied between 40% (Georgia) and 53.6% (Maine) as such the impact on other demographic groups was varied. [1]
By 1945, 37% of women were in employment, encouraged by factors such as war time propaganda [6] or needing more financial income with their husbands either in low-earning military posts, or killed or injured in action. [5] The government had created posters and films of women in the workplace in order to persuade American women to serve their country by joining the workforce, taking over for the men while they were away. [4] Virtually 1 in 4 married women were working in the outside workforce by 1945, [7] in jobs such as steel workers, lumber workers, office workers, construction workers as well as non-combat pilots. [4] Women worked long hours for less pay in dangerous conditions and often experienced sexual harassment on the job. [4]
By 1945 there were 4.7 million women in clerical positions - this was an 89% increase from women with this occupation prior to World War II. [8] In addition, there were 4.5 million women working as factory operatives - this was a 112% increase since before the war. [8] The aviation industry saw the highest increase in female workers during the war. By 1943 there were 310,000 women working in the US Aircraft Industry which made up 65% of the industry's total workforce. [7] This was a huge increase since the number of women working in the aircraft industry prior to the war was only 1%. [7]
During the war 350,000 women worked for the US Armed Forces. By 1945 the Women’s Army Corps had more than 100,000 members and 6,000 female officers who worked more than 200 non-combatant jobs stateside. [7] Women's Airforce Service Pilots were the first female pilots to fly military aircraft. [7] These women transported cargo and assisted with target missions. More than 1,000 women served as Women's Airforce Service Pilots throughout the war; 38 lost their lives. [7]
As a result of higher paying jobs being filled by women, the number of domestic workers dropped dramatically. It became extremely difficult to get women to fill lower paid jobs in restaurants and laundromats. [8] During the war nearly 6 million women joined the workforce. [4]
Additionally, women in the workforce struggled with housework and finding childcare. Many women left their children at home without adult supervision or any form of childcare. Some women left their children at home with their husbands if they had different shifts, with their older children or relatives. [8] Only 5% of American women had their children in daycare centers towards the beginning of the war. [8] As a result, the government provided funding for childcare and welfare committees so that more women could enter the workforce. [8]
While women's wages rose more relative to men's during this period, real wages did not increase due to higher wartime income taxes. [1] Although jobs that had been previously closed to women opened up, demographics such as African American women who had already been working experienced less change. Their husbands' income effect was historically even more positive than white women's. During the war, African American women's engagement as domestic servants decreased from 59.9% to 44.6%, but Karen Anderson in 1982 characterized their experience as “last hired, first fired.” [9]
There has been controversy about the significance of World War higher-paying crease of women in the workplace. William Chafe in 1972 [10] called the war a "watershed event" forcing a change in attitudes about women in the workforce. However women were also employed during World War I, and no such change in attitude occurred after that.[ citation needed ]
By 1950 the portion of all women in the labor force was down to 32%. [5] However, married women had joined in extraordinary numbers over the previous decade, with most age groups increasing their labor participation by an unprecedented 10 percentage points. [11]
Claudia Goldin used Gladys Palmer's retrospective surveys of women and men's work history from 1940 to 1951 to track changes in weeks worked and labor force participation rate and correlated that with states’ mobilization rates. [12] World War II mobilization had little impact on the long term labor force participation of women without a high school diploma, however, it did have some positive effect on the long term participation of more highly educated white women, especially those who were married during the war. [1]
Nevertheless, the bulk of evidence suggests that the influx of women into the workforce during and after the war was primarily due to other, longer-term trends. [11] [1] Other important factors at the time that led to general increases in women's participation in the workforce include: the rise of the tertiary sector (see table), increases in part-time jobs, adoption of labor saving household technologies, increased education, and the elimination of "marriage bar" laws and policies. [2] "Marriage bars" forbidding the employment of married women in various government and white-collar positions were especially common during the Depression, but in the early 1940s they were largely eliminated. Part-time jobs gave added flexibility with raising children. Labor saving devices lowered the time cost of homemaking. Expanding high school and college education better prepared women for employment. There was also a decline in the stigma that a husband's worth was less if the wife worked. [2] The divorce rate was still low in the 1940s and 50s and less important as a factor. Labor force participation was no longer only a transitory phase of a woman's life, as women transitioned to a role of both mothers and workers. Middle-class mothers as well as those from the working class were faced with the double shift of working a job and in the home.
In the table below shows a breakdown by sector of jobs held by women in 1940 and 1950. Women overwhelmingly worked in jobs segmented by sex. Women were still highly employed as textile workers and domestic servants, but the clerical and service field greatly expanded. This tertiary sector was more socially acceptable and many more educated women entered. Wages were low, averaging roughly 60% of men's and there was little room for advancement. [13]
Occupation | 1940 | 1950 | Increase | Percentage of Total Increase |
---|---|---|---|---|
Professional, technical | 1,608 | 2,007 | 399 | 24.8% |
Managers, officials, proprietors | 414 | 700 | 286 | 69.1 |
Clerical | 2,700 | 4,502 | 1,802 | 66.7 |
Sales | 925 | 1,418 | 493 | 53.3 |
Manual | 2,720 | 3,685 | 965 | 35.5 |
Craftswomen, forewomen | 135 | 253 | 118 | 87.4 |
Operatives | 2,452 | 3,287 | 835 | 34 |
Laborers | 133 | 145 | 12 | 9 |
Service Workers | 2,699 | 3,532 | 833 | 30.9 |
Farm Workers | 508 | 601 | 93 | 18.3 |
Unemployment, according to the OECD, is people above a specified age not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the reference period.
In economics, a discouraged worker is a person of legal employment age who is not actively seeking employment or who has not found employment after long-term unemployment, but who would prefer to be working. This is usually because an individual has given up looking, hence the term "discouraged".
The labor force is the actual number of people available for work and is the sum of the employed and the unemployed. The U.S. labor force reached a high of 164.6 million persons in February 2020, just at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Before the pandemic, the U.S. labor force had risen each year since 1960 with the exception of the period following the Great Recession, when it remained below 2008 levels from 2009 to 2011. In 2021, The Great Resignation resulted in record numbers in voluntary turn over for American workers.
The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic region like a city, state, or country. Within a company, its value can be labelled as its "Workforce in Place". The workforce of a country includes both the employed and the unemployed.
During both world wars, women were required to undertake new roles by their respective national war efforts. Women across the world experienced severe setbacks as well as considerable societal progress during this timeframe. The two World Wars hinged as much on industrial production as they did on battlefield clashes. With millions of men away fighting and with the inevitable casualties, there was a severe shortage of labour in a range of industries, from rural and farm work to urban office jobs. While some women managed to enter the traditionally male career paths, women, for the most part, were expected to be primarily involved in "duties at home" and "women's work," especially after the wars were over. On the other hand, the two wars also victimized women and subjected them to numerous incidences of sexual violence, abuse, and death.
A part-time job is a form of employment that carries fewer hours per week than a full-time job. They work in shifts. The shifts are often rotational. Workers are considered to be part-time if they commonly work fewer than 30 hours per week. According to the International Labour Organization, the number of part-time workers has increased from one-quarter to a half in the past 20 years in most developed countries, excluding the United States. There are many reasons for working part-time, including the desire to do so, having one's hours cut back by an employer and being unable to find a full-time job. The International Labour Organisation Convention 175 requires that part-time workers be treated no less favourably than full-time workers.
A pink-collar worker is someone working in the care-oriented career field or in fields historically considered to be women's work. This may include jobs in the beauty industry, nursing, social work, teaching, secretarial work, upholstery, or child care. While these jobs may also be filled by men, they have historically been female-dominated and may pay significantly less than white-collar or blue-collar jobs.
The labor force in Japan numbered 65.9 million people in 2010, which was 59.6% of the population of 15 years old and older, and amongst them, 62.57 million people were employed, whereas 3.34 million people were unemployed which made the unemployment rate 5.1%. The structure of Japan's labor market experienced gradual change in the late 1980s and continued this trend throughout the 1990s. The structure of the labor market is affected by: 1) shrinking population, 2) replacement of postwar baby boom generation, 3) increasing numbers of women in the labor force, and 4) workers' rising education level. Also, an increase in the number of foreign nationals in the labor force is foreseen.
A double burden is the workload of people who work to earn money, but who are also responsible for significant amounts of unpaid domestic labor. This phenomenon is also known as the Second Shift as in Arlie Hochschild's book of the same name. In couples where both partners have paid jobs, women often spend significantly more time than men on household chores and caring work, such as childrearing or caring for sick family members. This outcome is determined in large part by traditional gender roles that have been accepted by society over time. Labor market constraints also play a role in determining who does the bulk of unpaid work.
Claudia Goldin is an American economic historian and labor economist who is currently the Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University. She is a co-director of the NBER's Gender in the Economy Study Group and was the director of the NBER’s Development of the American Economy program from 1989 to 2017. Goldin's research covers a wide range of topics, including the female labor force, the gender gap in earnings, income inequality, technological change, education, and immigration. Most of her research interprets the present through the lens of the past and explores the origins of current issues of concern. Her recently completed book Career & Family: Women's Century-Long Journey toward Equity was released on October 5, 2021.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development defines the employment rate as the employment-to-population ratio. This is a statistical ratio that measures the proportion of a country's working age population that is employed. This includes people that have stopped looking for work. The International Labour Organization states that a person is considered employed if they have worked at least 1 hour in "gainful" employment in the most recent week.
Since the industrial revolution, participation of women in the workforce outside the home has increased in industrialized nations, with particularly large growth seen in the 20th century. Largely seen as a boon for industrial society, women in the workforce contribute to a higher national economic output as measure in GDP as well as decreasing labor costs by increasing the labor supply in a society.
The high school movement is a term used in educational history literature to describe the era from 1910 to 1940 during which secondary schools as well as secondary school attendance sprouted across the United States. During the early part of the 20th century, American youth entered high schools at a rapid rate, mainly due to the building of new schools, and acquired skills "for life" rather than "for college." In 1910 18% of 15- to 18-year-olds were enrolled in a high school; barely 9% of all American 18-year-olds graduated. By 1940, 73% of American youths were enrolled in high school and the median American youth had a high school diploma. The movement began in New England but quickly spread to the western states. According to Claudia Goldin, the states that led in the U.S. high school movement had a cohesive, homogeneous population and were more affluent, with a broad middle-class group.
Unemployment in the United States discusses the causes and measures of U.S. unemployment and strategies for reducing it. Job creation and unemployment are affected by factors such as economic conditions, global competition, education, automation, and demographics. These factors can affect the number of workers, the duration of unemployment, and wage levels.
The added worker effect refers to an increase in the labor supply of married women when their husbands become unemployed. Underlying the theory is the assumption that married women are secondary workers with a less permanent attachment to the labor market than their partners. As statistics show, married women do not always behave as secondary workers; therefore, the effect is not a universal phenomenon.
The Soviet working class was, according to Marxist–Leninist theory, supposed to be the Soviet Union's ruling class during its transition from the socialist stage of development to full communism. However, according to Andy Blunden, its influence over production and policies diminished as the Soviet Union's existence progressed.
The gender pay gap or gender wage gap is the average difference between the remuneration for men and women who are working. Women are generally found to be paid less than men. In the United States, for example, the average annual salary of a woman is 83% that of a man. However, this figure changes when controlled for confounding factors such as differences in hours worked, occupations chosen, education, job experience, and level of danger at work, which has adjusted figures in the United States from 95% to 99%. At the global level, the World Health Organization has estimated women healthcare workers earn 28% less on average than men; after adjusting for occupation and hours worked, the gap is changed to 11%.
American women of Spanish and Latin American descent, also known as Latinas, contributed to United States' efforts in World War II both overseas and on the homefront.
Family policy in the country of Japan refers to government measures that attempt to increase the national birthrate in order to address Japan's declining population. It is speculated that leading causes of Japan's declining birthrate include the institutional and social challenges Japanese women face when expected to care for children while simultaneously working the long hours expected of Japanese workers. Japanese family policy measures therefore seek to make childcare easier for new parents.
Women in the workforce in Francoist Spain faced high levels of discrimination. The end of the Spanish Civil War saw a return of traditional gender roles in the country. These were enforced by the regime through laws that regulated women's labor outside the home and the return of the Civil Code of 1889 and the former Law Procedure Criminal, which treated women as legally inferior to men. During the 1940s, women faced many obstacles to entering the workforce, including financial penalties for working outside the home, job loss upon marriage and few legally available occupations.