ABSTRACT
Women were narrowly restricted to work that was portrayed as less skilled than that of men, and their conditions of employment and pay rates were inferior. But from the position of the women who were tied to the line all day, men not only had the advantage of work that was physically less intense and more varied and mobile, but also they appeared to be rewarded more for doing less. As the prime workforce in factories up and down the country women were employed for assembly-line work. There they assembled the components and final goods manufactured in radio, domestic appliance, motor components, canned food, biscuit and clothing firms. At the end of the First World War women trade unionists voiced considerable anxiety about female unemployment as women were ejected from their wartime jobs. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.
