Women on the Homefront
Women's Roles Before WWII
Before WWII began, women were commonly known to be stay-at-home caretakers rather than employees of the work force. At the start of World War II women in the workforce was not unheard of, though it was not thought of as acceptable as in today's society. During the depression, women working was looked down upon because men were also in need of jobs and much of the population believed that the man should be the supporter of a family. Despite the idea of it being thought of as "tacky" for women to work outside of the home, it had been going on for years before WWII. Women who needed to increase their income to take care of their family or had lost their husbands often held positions at jobs, though it was clearly not as common as it is today.
Women Enter the Workforce
When the war began, the need for supplies increased drastically and factories sought to employ mainly men. At first, many factories and businesses doubted the shortage in men because of the war, but soon realized they would need to turn to hiring women to help keep the troops supplied to fight. The U.S. government began a propaganda campaign to encourage women to join the work force to aid the men in war. They made short films, posters, and even had a poster-girl for the effort known as "Rosie the Riveter". Seen below is a short film used by the government to rally-up women of the United States.
Propaganda Posters:
The Statistics
After the war continued to progress and women continued getting jobs and it wasn't long before around 2.5 million women worked outside of the home. They were employed at factories, shipyards, and manufacturing plants. When the war came to an end, the numbers had increased significantly. Around 18.8 million women were working, though most women did leave their jobs when the war ceased and men began returning home. The affects that the war had on the public's view of women in the work force were drastic. The campaigns and increase allowed for society to become far more accepting of women who worked outside of the home.