Employment and Trade Unions

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Employment and Trade Unions
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Employment and Trade Unions

• 1851 3 million women employed - 42 of workforce
• 80 of women workers in domestic service,
  clothing trades and textile industry
• They lived in, worked long hours for poor pay
• Earned half a mans salary for doing the same job
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Employment and Trade Unions

• Technology led to 97 of women in office work
• Women however had to give up their job when they
  were married

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Employment and Trade Unions

• Women worked through the TUs to improve their
  conditions
• Although numbers did not increase until after
  1870s due to opposition from men
• Men believed they were entitled to the higher
  wage as they were the bread winner

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Employment and Trade Unions

• Increase membership from 21,085 in 1877 to
  437,000 in 1914
• Why?
• Strong membership in Lancashire cotton unions but
  excluded from general TUs until mid century
• 1875 attended the TUC

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Trade Unions

• 1893 first women factory inspector
• Although TUs failed to make an impact on domestic
  service were 1.5 million were working
• However by outbreak of war women had achieved
  improvements but still lagged behind

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Activity

• Describe the main cause, the events and the
  outcome of the Match Girls strike in 1889
• In what ways could the strike and its outcome be
  described as a landmark victory for womens
  rights?

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Lack of education

• Little chance of education for working class
  women
• Role was either in the factory or at home
• They were to be content and behave themselves!

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Middle class

• Most were educated by a governess who taught them
  how to read, knit, sew play the piano and paint
• The girls were educated to be good wives and
  mothers
• male educationalists believed that the stress of
  education could damage the health of a young
  girl instead they needed rest

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Change in education

• 1848 Queens college in London was founded as a
  training college for women teachers,
• set new standards of education in girls schools

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Taunton Commission in 1868

• Set up to enquire into the education of boys,
  included girls schools at last minute due to
  Emily Davis
• Found a deficiency in girls education, solely on
  domestic duties and accomplishments
• Some good schools e.g. academic schools such as
  Cheltenham Ladies college founded by early
  feminist pioneers.
• However in the minority

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Debate over the nature of reform

• 1st school of thought make education for girls
  as good as but different from boys
• 2nd school of thought girls education should be
  identical to boys
• All agreed an increase in number of good schools
  for girls

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Emily Davis

• Campaigned to gain women the right to university
• Opened a school for women in 1869 later known as
  Girton college
• Followed by Newnham Hall by Jemima Clough

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Summary

• Oxford University and 4 in Scotland enrolled
  women in 1879
• By turn of century more middle class women going
  into higher education and into professions
• By end of Victorian era there is no doubt that
  the causes of womens rights had made significant
  progress but they still had no voting rights