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Thanks
for your note to Feminist.com--and
for thinking of us for help
with your History Day project.
I'm not too familiar with the
work situation in Europe post
WWII, but I consulted one of
the books that I have (A
Century of Women by Sheila
Rowbotham - available at the
Feminist.com
Bookstore) and here's what
I found:
"Firms
had been forced to adapt to women's situation in the home
by the demand for labour and
the declining numbers of unmarried
women available for work. As
more married women were going
out to work, there was a marked
shift in the age composition
of women workers...In 1931 half
the women in the workforce were
under 25 by 1951..only a third
of them were....Attitudes to
women's employment when children
were young varied regionally.
A 1959 study on shift work in
Yorkshire, an area with a long
tradition of women working,
found that women with pre-school
children were in favour of it...
A survey of 253 Aberdeen women
who had their first baby between
1950-1953 showed that 35% were
working five years later. The
wives of unskilled and semi-skilled
men were most likely to be employed--money
was the main factor. But many
women also liked to work because
of the company.....Problems
with part-time work were that
it tended to be low-paid and
those working less than 30 hours
a week weren't entitled to benefits.
Women's pay in relation to men's
declined over the decade....Women
were employed in the distribution
and light industry, clerical
and administrative sector, nurses
and midwives...."
That's a start. I also suggest
that you look at biographies
of Simone de Beauvoir and other
famous women who lived during
this time. Information about
their personal lives will undoubtably
uncover more information about
the general situation for women.
Good luck to you and your team
mates.
—Amy
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