This essay is about the significate rise in women employment

Essay by becca_12_88A-, November 2003

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In mid-1915 men started to join the army and needed somebody to take over their jobs while they was away and the only people to do this was woman. Men joined the armed forces in mid-1915 because a great deal of posters was becoming more direct, so men were left feeling guilty if they didn't volunteer. The posters carried out slogans such as 'Daddy, what did you do in the great war?' This implied that men might be asked awkward questions from their family in the future if they did not sign up. A further reason for them joining up was that government used women to put pressure on them. They used slogans such as 'Women of Britain say Go'. Men who did not volunteer were known as cowards and women would approach them in the street or in other public places and handed out to them white feathers which was a sign of cowardice.

In mid-1915 The Military Service Act was put into action. It made all unmarried men between the ages of 18 and 41 accountable for services in the armed forces. When they needed more men to fight the Act was then extended to include married men, in May 1916. Conscription became compulsory because not enough men were volunteering to sign up so it needed to be made an act. The only men who didn't have to join were all men with bad health, those in retained occupations and conscientious objectors. So retained occupations meant they were employed in a significant job, such as mining, fire service, family responsibilities sop they couldn't leave and men who objected to war on moral grounds.

Women did all sorts of occupations while men were fighting; they done domestic service, which involved working as cleaners, cooks, or as chambermaids. In textiles,