The Lives on the Home Front Were Greatly Affected by World War 1

“The lives on the home front were greatly affected by world war 1 “

World War One began on the 28th July 1914, 750,000 men from Britain joined the war in just a month. It was also known as the Great War as there was a large number of people who died.  This war saw a massive change in the role of women as there were more job opportunities for the women to take on. The lives of women before the First world war were really different from the lives of women nowadays. They were shown to be less intelligent and powerful than the men and they didn’t get equal chances. They were second class citizens with very few rights. Also separating men’s life and women’s life was firmly drawn.  Men and women’s   lives were completely different as they both had a specific role to play in society, as men would go out and work and bring home the money also known as the “breadwinners’ and women would stay at home looking after the children, cooking and cleaning as they were seen as the weaker sex. The lives of women on the home front changed dramatically during the war as they were given the opportunity to go out to work and take over the men’s jobs because they were out at war, there was also changes in society as there was improvements of health and education for women. Before the war, the education for women was not good.  More men went to university than women did. Women were not allowed to study all the subjects especially science. They were expected to learn subjects like cooking and sewing. As long as they were not only to learn science, they couldn’t get into jobs such as engineering, medicine. But, during the First World War, they started to get equal chances with the men.

Before World War One, men were thought as the breadwinners, brining in the weekly wadge. The jobs they did were often tiring and required a lot of strength. Women worked hard too, but their jobs were often done in their own home or somebody else’s home. About 30 percent of the workforce was female. Working class women took in paid piece of work at home as they have for many generations. Carrying out a piece of work meant that women were paid depending on how much work they produced. They undertook tasks such as washing, ironing, and sewing. Women also worked hard as housewives, taking care of their children and organising a home. This is also known as domestic service. In 1915 the Pankhurst’s organised the right to serve campaign where 60,000 women took part. Source A2 highlights the change of women’s employment during WW1. Firstly, this source is reliable as it its primary information. This source shows the social and economic changes of women in the industry after the right to serve campaign, such as there was an increase in jobs in transport from 1914 to 1918, meaning a lot more women were employed in these jobs during the war. The graph also shows the decline in domestic service from 1914 to 1918 as more women were being employed in higher paid jobs, making the working and economic changes very clear from before and during the war. This source is very useful as it shows the work done by women and how it changed during World War One. It also agrees with my own knowledge. This information is very limited as it does not include other places in Britain. It stated that this information is collected in wales and England.