The Effects of Wwi on the Roles and Responsibilities of Women in Australian Society

The Effects of WWI on the Roles and Responsibilities of Women in Australian Society

Australia entered the First World War along with Britain in August 1914. The roles of women were traditionally restricted to caring for the home and children, and in some cases, paid domestic labour. WWI changed these roles somewhat by providing the circumstances for women to fill the roles of men for a time, although it was always expected that when the men returned they would once again be the main bread-winners of the typical family. Women were depicted as the weaker sex in recruitment and conscription campaigns, and in need of protection. The roles may have shifted slightly in the direction of gender equality by the end of the war, but the change could have been much more pronounced had the laws permitted it.

While the men were absent fighting overseas, in addition to raising children, many of the women left behind took on more active roles in society such as paid jobs, fundraising, and other voluntary organisations. At the outbreak of WWI, it was uncommon for women to have jobs, and even these tended to be in lower-paid occupations. The expected role of women was to manage the home and raise children, but with the withdrawal of about half a million men from the workforce, women increasingly assumed the physical and financial burden of providing for families. However, the replacement of females on male-dominated industries was not immediate. Women's contribution to the workforce rose from 24% of the total in 1914 to 37% in 1918, but the increase tended to be in what were already traditional areas of women's work; in the clothing and footwear, food and printing sectors. There was also some increase in the clerical, shop assistant and teaching areas. Unions were reluctant to let women join the workforce in greater numbers in traditional male areas as they feared that this would lower wages. A cartoon from 'The Worker' 10 February 1916 depicts a returned soldier being rejected for employment because the business is able to pay lower wages for females. From the outset, Australian women were keen to be as actively involved in the war effort as men. Women applied to work in what were considered traditional women's role; they volunteered as cooks, nurses, drivers, interpreters, stretcher-bearers, munitions workers and skilled farm workers. However, the government still discouraged any attempts by women to serve in the armed forces for fear it would upset the balance of society. While the nurses were welcomed, all others were politely ignored in their requests to serve overseas, even though "...women beat a path to the doors of the authorities, begging to be allowed to assist, to help win the war, to give of their talents" (Adam-Smith, P., 1996). To add insult to injury, in Britain, women were permitted to be employed