A Woman’s Place in WW1 – Wife and Mother: women’s work in pre-war Britain

In the years preceding the First World War employment was not the ‘norm’ for many women. Those that did work worked in ‘female friendly’ roles such as domestic service and so called ‘luxury trades’.

Ordinarily, once married, women would give up any paid work to focus on fulfilling their role of wife and mother. Those that continued to work tended to be poorer women for whom paid work was the only option in order to keep food on the table for their family.

For the women that did work there were a number of problems, not least of all that women’s work was poorly paid. This was partly due to the fact that it was viewed as separate and inferior to men’s work. This attitude would prove to be a considerable barrier to achieving equal pay for equal work during and after the war.