WWII: Women on the Home Front

During the Second World War, the United States saw a significant resurgence of women in the workplace. The country needed women to perform the jobs that had traditionally been done by men now that most were off fighting on the front lines. This was the first major occurrence of white middle-class women joining the workforce. Before the war, it was typically women of color or poorer white women working to support themselves and their families. The war presented the majority of women, for the first time, with the option of paid work, those who chose not to work found agency within the home. For the first time, women were independent. In the absence of men, women needed to fill both roles. 

With this new need for women in the workforce, the industry found it needed to bend the rules previously put in place that were now hindering the productivity of the new, female-led, workforce. Women, and their employers, found themselves battling against labor laws. For instance, women in California were prohibited from lifting more than 25 pounds or working over 48 hours a week. To keep women working, unions found they needed to acknowledge equal pay, and employers found themselves adjusting themselves to compensate for the needs of women. Daycares were set up so women could work longer hours, uniforms were changed, and breaks for diaper changes were given. Some employers even found women were better at their jobs than men. Their attention to detail and work ethic sometimes increased productivity, beating what a typically male workforce could accomplish.