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Women's Changes In Canada After Ww2

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Before World War II began, women were not a large part of the workforce. Women were expected to stay at home and take care of the children and the house while their husbands went to work. The Second World War changed these views and women’s labour was recognized as a valuable resource. Women’s employment was a new idea and was strange for some people to see. The beginning of the war was a pivotal point in the changes coming for women in the workforce. In my paper I will be discussing how and why women’s employment in Canada changed because of WWII. The Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC) contributed a lot to the changes in women’s employment during World War II. In the Second World War, Canada recognized that this war was going to be very …show more content…

Forty percent of the women who enlisted said that patriotism was their motivation. Around one-third of the women said that they joined in search of new opportunities and adventure. Other women stated different reasons: that they wanted to be near loved ones who were already serving, experience the prestige of being in uniform, and release men for combat …show more content…

Donating clothes, planting victory gardens, knitting scarves, socks, sweater, and mittens were common contributions women made from their own homes to support the army. World War II opened opportunities for mass numbers of women to work and leave the home for the first time in history. When the war was over and the surviving soldiers came home expecting the women to quit the jobs they had taken, most women did quit but still wanted to work. As for the women whose husbands had perished during the war, they were forced to continue to work to take care of themselves and their families. The war was a time for the women to get a taste of work and more independence. This was a beginning point for the changes that would come for women’s rights and opportunities. Women’s employment increased from 5.1 million in 1939 (26% of all women of working age) to over 7.25 million in 1943 (36%). 90% of all able-bodied women aged 18-40 were engaged in some form of work or National Service by September 1943. Whether these women were working in the CWAC, in factory jobs, or even doing volunteer work from home, they were engaged in work. World War II changed the way people viewed women working outside the home. The Second World War allowed women to see that their contributions to society could be of value both in the workplace and at home. Society also recognized

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As World War 2 progresses, we will see millions of males being drafted after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. This created a lack of manpower in the workforce which women beginning to take the jobs that men usually before the war. As women move into the workforce during World War 2 they will experience inequality and discrimination. Despite the inequality and discrimination that women had to endure to while working during World War 2 was a good experience for women across America. Women entered the workforce open up many opportunities, “It had been long assumed women couldn't do those jobs -- engineering, other professions in the sciences, manufacturing jobs that had been considered men's work, things women were believed to be too weak to do” (kcts9.org).

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During World War II, Woman’s were assembled for duty in the Canadian Armed Forces, for the first time. The armed force was shy of men in war services and administration, which lead the Canadian government to choose and declare on August 13, 1941 to give woman’s the privilege to take an interest in war utility. 50,000 women were enlisted and more than half provided service in the Canadian Army. Most were doled out occupations including customary female work, for example, cooking, clothing and administrative obligations, also woman had pioneer roles in the mechanized and specialized fields. The Canadian Women 's Army Corps (CWAC) performed fundamental administrations, both at home and abroad, that achieved Allied victory.

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Women participated in the military services, got the education to work in skilled labour so that they did much better than before and received popular recognition step by step because of their own hard work. “You learn a lot from living in with a group of girls; we were all much enriched by the experience. Better people for it. You were not just yourself, you behaved, became party of something much bigger than yourself.” Sheila McClemans in Patsy Adam-Smith Australian Women at war said.

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Before the war, it was not likely for women to work in factories. However, by 1945, women made up one third of all industrial workers. This was a big change for women, because women usually only worked at home

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The statement that “the Home Front during World War II provided many social groups in American society an opportunity for advancement that they would not have otherwise had” is somewhat valid since not all social groups received such opportunities. Women are a specific example of a group that benefitted economically and socially from the war. Advertisements and propaganda encouraged women who had never entered the workforce before to “find their war job” (Doc. 2). New jobs had opened

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During the War many things had to change in order for the country to survive and function. With so many of the able bodied men off fighting in the war women had to take things into their own hands in order to get things done and many of them did. Many women with their husbands and family members gone to help provide for their family and assist the war effort worked in war factories and did other jobs that were usually viewed as just for men. The jobs that many women took

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Not only were the women recruited into the old jobs vacated by the men, who had gone to fight in the war, but new jobs were also created as part of the war effort. The government’s attitude towards female employment at first was negative as they were reluctant to allow the women to do any jobs left by the men. This later changed, as the government began pushing forward the idea of employment of women through campaigns and recruitment drives. Working as railway guards and ticket collectors, buses and tram conductors, postal workers, police, firefighters and as bank tellers and clerks, women began to change the concept of what was before deemed as ‘men’s

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World War 1 played a crucial role in aiding the movement for female equality in Canada, however, it also hindered it by contributing to the enforcement of gender roles in the workplace. Not one single event will end the constant battle women must endure in all aspects of life, though certain opportunities, such as the job opportunities received during the war, most certainly help women in the fighting of said battle. When numerous jobs were left open by men who were called to the front lines of the war, women were finally presented with the opportunity to work outside of their homes for the first time and provide for their families. Next, generous amounts of awareness of social change were brought to light for women’s contributions throughout

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In 1939, no one thought that women, who weren 't even considered people decades before, would have such a massive impact in the Second World War. Canadian women 's contribution to the war effort, and their role at the home front and overseas had greatly increased since the previous, devastating First World War. The Second World War brought change to Canadian women on an unpredictable scale, though their volunteer work, paid labour force, and their contributions in the armed forces. Surely without the contributions made by the Canadian women, Canada and her allies would not have been as successful as they were. By far, the prime contribution made by Canadian women to the war effort came through their unpaid labour as volunteer work.

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As depicted in Document 3, more women were joining the workforce in factories and having jobs only before being occupied by men. More women were joining the workforce in response to the open positions caused by men enlisting and being drafted into the war. To continue the U.S.'s productivity of supplies and to support themselves and their families, women began to take positions in workplaces that were mostly looked at to be as men's jobs by society. Women had more financial independence and were able to be employed in a larger variety of jobs due to the need for women working in factories to make materiels for World War

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The Effect of Women on the Outcome of World War Two World War II effected women tremendously by taking them out of their comfort zones and chucking them into the work force and pushing them to do most of the work men normally would have been doing. The war also effected women by providing opportunities for them to serve in non-traditional roles; in fact, some of them enlisted into the military to serve the United States. The way the war effected women is that they had to take care of family in addition to performing work normally done by men. It was difficult to find people to watch after kids which made life during this time very difficult. After the end of World War II society in general was effected considering the baby boom.

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The industries changed to the mass production of war materials, and without the people working in the war industries, we would have never survived and won the war. However, one of the biggest attitude changes were the ones women created about women working in the factories alongside men. Just like WWI, when the men went off to work, women would work with materials to help provide for the family. Women did the same in WWII, but they kept working. Everyone’s attitude changed toward women in the workplace.

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Canada has been involved in various wars from the beginning of its colonial history. Just as the nature of these wars has changed over time, so too has their effect on Canadian women. Women have actively participated in war, from nursing and munitions manufacturing during the First and Second World Wars to the increasing involvement of Canadian women in the military. While some women have been traumatized profoundly by Canada’s wars, others have benefitted from them. Women have often assumed traditionally male work during wartime.

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The war had provided a variety of employment opportunities for women and the most common job for women was at home, working in factories and filling in positions for their husbands, fathers, and brothers in their absence. Although the highest demand for workers were in previously male-dominated

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In the article it says that women entered jobs like engineering, other professions, and manufacturing jobs that many people believed that those jobs were too dangerous for women and women were too weak. In their jobs, women made airplanes, warships, munitions, and tanks working in technical and scientific fields. Also, after the war, women were still employed as secretaries, waitresses, or in other clerical jobs. This was often called the “pink collar” force. This article shows how sometimes women are given clerical jobs that show people underestimate the abilities of women.

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