OCR Specification focus:
‘The New Deal and World Wars altered work and expectations for women.’
The New Deal and the mobilisation for two World Wars transformed women’s roles in American society, reshaping employment, expectations, and activism, and laying foundations for future equality campaigns.
Women and the New Deal: Changing Roles and Federal Responses
Context of Women’s Position by the Early 1930s
By 1932, American women remained largely confined to traditional domestic roles, with limited political influence and employment opportunities. The Great Depression deepened these challenges, as high unemployment intensified pressure on women to leave the workforce for men. Yet this period also created openings for change, as new federal programmes reshaped the state’s relationship with women.
Women in the Workforce and New Deal Opportunities
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal (1933–1939) aimed to address the economic crisis through large-scale intervention, indirectly altering women’s work patterns and expectations. Despite enduring gender discrimination and unequal pay, women benefited from several New Deal initiatives:
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided employment for women in roles such as sewing, education, and healthcare, though often at lower pay than men.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) excluded women, highlighting persistent gender bias in employment schemes.
The National Recovery Administration (NRA) included codes that set minimum wages and maximum hours but often failed to challenge discriminatory pay scales between men and women.
The Social Security Act (1935) extended welfare support but excluded many women-dominated professions, such as domestic service and agriculture, from benefits.
Despite these limitations, the presence of women in New Deal agencies signalled gradual change. Frances Perkins, appointed as Secretary of Labor in 1933, became the first woman to hold a US Cabinet post, shaping labour policy and advocating for social welfare reform.
New Deal: A series of federal programmes, reforms, and public works projects introduced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1939 to address the Great Depression.
Eleanor Roosevelt and Advocacy for Women
Eleanor Roosevelt, as First Lady, played a pivotal role in expanding the visibility of women’s issues. She championed women’s involvement in public life, held press conferences restricted to female journalists, and advocated for women’s employment and rights. Her activism helped normalise women’s participation in politics and policy-making, expanding expectations of female citizenship beyond domestic roles.
Impact of the Second World War on Women’s Work and Expectations
Women’s Mobilisation During the War
The outbreak of the Second World War (1939–1945) catalysed dramatic shifts in women’s work. With millions of men enlisted, labour shortages opened unprecedented opportunities for women across industries.
Office of War Information photograph of a lathe operator machining aircraft parts (1942), evidencing women’s transition into skilled, previously male-dominated industrial work. The composition highlights machine operation, protective clothing, and focused technique. This complements the text’s emphasis on wartime skill acquisition and economic independence. Source
Federal campaigns, such as those promoting “Rosie the Riveter”, encouraged women to take on roles previously reserved for men, including:
“We Can Do It!” (1942–43) by J. Howard Miller promoted confidence and productivity among wartime workers, and later became a symbol of women’s industrial contribution. Although displayed briefly inside Westinghouse factories, it came to embody the broader mobilisation of American women. Some later reproductions conflate the poster with “Rosie the Riveter,” but the image’s educational value lies in its clear depiction of wartime gendered labour messaging. Source
Manufacturing and heavy industry jobs, particularly in aircraft, munitions, and shipbuilding.
Positions in engineering, technical support, and clerical work within the war bureaucracy.
Military auxiliary roles, such as the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES).
By 1945, around 6 million new female workers had entered the workforce, increasing women’s share of the labour force from 27% in 1940 to nearly 37%. For many, this was their first experience of financial independence and skilled employment.
“Rosie the Riveter”: A cultural icon representing American women who worked in factories and shipyards during World War II, symbolising female strength and industrial contribution.
Shifting Social Expectations and Post-War Realities
The war altered public perceptions of women’s capabilities, proving their competence in demanding and skilled roles. However, this transformation was not fully sustained after 1945:
Many women were dismissed from wartime jobs to make way for returning servicemen, reflecting a reassertion of traditional gender roles.
Despite job losses, women’s labour force participation remained higher than pre-war levels, indicating a long-term cultural shift.
Women increasingly valued economic independence and continued to seek employment, contributing to the growth of clerical, service, and professional occupations in the post-war era.
The wartime experience also fuelled aspirations for equality. The demonstration of women’s competence in industrial and military roles challenged prevailing gender ideologies and laid foundations for the second-wave feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
Government Policy and Institutional Change
Federal Responses to Women’s Wartime Contributions
The federal government actively facilitated women’s mobilisation through policy and propaganda:
The War Manpower Commission and Office of War Information coordinated recruitment and public messaging to encourage female employment.
Programmes like the Lanham Act (1940) funded childcare facilities, allowing mothers to work in war industries.
Ann Rosener’s OWI photograph (February 1943) from a war workers’ nursery shows health inspection at the Bella Vista Nursery School, Oakland. The image demonstrates the organised, state-supported childcare infrastructure that underpinned female labour mobilisation. While it includes operational details (supervisor inspection) beyond the syllabus line, this context clarifies how provision functioned day-to-day. Source
The military formally incorporated women into auxiliary services, expanding their participation in national defence.
These measures demonstrated a recognition of women’s essential contributions, though often framed as temporary necessities rather than steps toward permanent equality.
Continuing Limitations and Structural Inequalities
Despite advances, structural barriers persisted:
Wage inequality remained entrenched, with women typically earning less than men for equivalent work.
Occupational segregation confined many women to lower-skilled or “feminised” roles, even in wartime industries.
Minority women, particularly African American and Latina women, faced compounded discrimination, often relegated to the lowest-paid jobs.
These enduring inequalities highlighted the limits of wartime change and the ongoing struggle for gender equality in work and public life.
Broader Social Impact and Legacy
Expanding Political and Social Roles
The New Deal and wartime mobilisations transformed not only employment but also the social and political roles of women:
Increased workforce participation empowered women economically and socially, broadening their influence in family and community life.
Women’s involvement in trade unions grew, as they organised to improve wages and conditions, particularly during the war.
Public attitudes toward female capability and independence shifted, albeit unevenly, fostering debates on gender roles that would intensify in later decades.
Foundations for Future Feminist Activism
The experiences of the 1930s and 1940s created the conditions for later feminist movements. Women’s expanded participation in public life, exposure to skilled work, and recognition of structural discrimination informed the campaigns for equal pay, reproductive rights, and legal equality that followed in the mid-20th century.
FAQ
Before the 1930s, many employers and lawmakers believed married women should not work, arguing they were taking jobs from men. The New Deal did little to challenge this view, and some federal programmes even discouraged married women’s employment.
However, the Second World War significantly shifted attitudes. Labour shortages meant that even married women were actively recruited into industry. Although many were pushed out of work after 1945, the idea that wives and mothers could contribute economically gained broader acceptance, influencing post-war employment trends.
Minority women, particularly African American, Latina, and Asian American women, faced compounded discrimination based on race and gender.
New Deal programmes often excluded them, especially if they worked in domestic or agricultural roles.
During the war, they were more likely to be hired into the lowest-paid, least secure jobs and faced segregation in both the workplace and military auxiliary services.
Despite this, wartime employment offered some minority women their first access to industrial jobs and union membership, laying groundwork for future civil rights activism.
Propaganda was central to mobilising women for the war effort. Government campaigns used posters, films, and radio broadcasts to portray working women as patriotic and essential to victory.
Figures like “Rosie the Riveter” presented industrial work as both feminine and heroic.
Messaging often reassured women they could still fulfil domestic roles while contributing to the nation.
Campaigns targeted specific groups, including married women and mothers, to address labour shortages.
This messaging helped normalise women’s participation in work and public life, even if post-war culture attempted to reassert traditional roles.
Frances Perkins, the first female U.S. Cabinet member, served as Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945. Her role was groundbreaking and influential.
She was instrumental in shaping landmark policies such as the Social Security Act and minimum wage laws.
Perkins advocated for fair labour standards and workplace safety, including measures that indirectly benefited women.
Her leadership demonstrated women’s capacity for high-level policymaking, challenging assumptions about their political capabilities and broadening expectations of women’s roles in government.
Yes, women’s trade union membership increased significantly during the Second World War as more women entered industrial work.
Organisations like the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) actively recruited female workers, and some unions created women’s committees to address workplace discrimination and equal pay.
Women used union membership to campaign for better wages, maternity rights, and workplace safety.
However, many unions remained male-dominated, and women often faced resistance when seeking leadership roles, reflecting broader gender inequalities that persisted despite growing participation.
Practice Questions
Question 1 (2 marks):
Name two ways in which the Second World War changed employment opportunities for women in the United States.
Mark Scheme:
Award 1 mark for each valid point, up to a maximum of 2 marks.
Possible answers include:
Women took on industrial jobs in factories, such as aircraft and munitions production. (1)
Women entered technical and engineering roles previously reserved for men. (1)
Women served in auxiliary military units such as the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) or WAVES. (1)
The government provided childcare facilities (e.g., under the Lanham Act), enabling mothers to work. (1)
Question 2 (6 marks):
Explain how the New Deal and the Second World War changed expectations of women’s roles in American society.
Mark Scheme:
Level 1 (1–2 marks): Basic description with limited explanation. Likely to list changes with little development.
Example: “The New Deal provided jobs for women. During the war, women worked in factories.”
Level 2 (3–4 marks): Some explanation of how expectations changed, with relevant factual support. May focus on one period more than the other.
Example: “The New Deal gave women roles in government and welfare work, such as Frances Perkins becoming Secretary of Labor. During the war, women were encouraged to work in industry, showing they could do jobs traditionally done by men.”
Level 3 (5–6 marks): Developed explanation showing how both the New Deal and the war reshaped expectations, with specific examples and clear links to societal attitudes.
Example: “The New Deal increased women’s involvement in public life, with Eleanor Roosevelt promoting women’s employment and Frances Perkins shaping labour policy. Although many New Deal programmes discriminated against women, they marked a shift away from purely domestic roles. The Second World War accelerated this change: women filled skilled industrial jobs and served in auxiliary military roles, demonstrating their capabilities and challenging traditional gender expectations. These experiences encouraged women to seek independence and laid foundations for future feminist activism.”
