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How Did Ww2 Affect Australian Women

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Australian Women on the Home Front during World War II

World War II, ushered in opportunity, prosperity, and an entirely new lifestyle for many Australians. The war helped the Australian economy out of depression by employing millions, this especially had an impact on the women of Australia.
World War II also brought changes to the lives of the majority Australian women. More than 900,000 men joining the army, there was a labour shortage as the men left their jobs to join the army, this meant that women were recruited into the occupations that were usually performed by men. This meant for the women that there was better employment, new skills, regular wage and becoming more independent.

With the great proportion of women were now employed …show more content…

It led them to expect more than they had before. People's expectations, financially, spiritually, were raised. We were going to reach the end of the rainbow... I remember a woman saying on the bus that she hoped the war didn't end until she got her refrigerator paid for. An old man hit her over the head with an umbrella. He said, 'How dare you!”

This quote shows us that the war was good for the economy, as it opened jobs that had a good wage as this quote tells us that she wants to pay off her new refrigerator before the war ends. This shows that the women were obviously attracted by the higher wages and the main portion were prepared to do overtime for the extra pay. They were expected to work six days a week and, eventually, to go on to two shifts . If asked why they’re working overtime women would say that they wanted to help with the war effort, but admittedly the high wages had swayed their decisions.
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 28 April 1942
I think a lot of women said, Screw that noise. Cause they had a taste of freedom, they had a taste of making their own money, a taste of spending their own money, making their own decisions. I think the beginning of the women's movement had its seeds right there in World War …show more content…

The poster states that the women are now needed in the factory industry, “4,000,000 more will be needed to smash the axis”. The authors purpose for this poster is to try to encourage the women of Australia to enrol into a job in the munitions industry. This lead to more women joining the industry and propelling the war effort.

A Women’s Land Army recruitment poster, 1943-45. Held at the Australian War Memorial.

This poster is targeted towards the women of Australia to join the war effort by joining the women’s land army. This was because of the shortage of the male recruits forced the military to establish female branches in 1941 and 1942. Which were the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF), the Australian Army Medical Women’s Service (AAMWS) Women's Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) and specifically the one promoted on this poster Australian Women's Land Army. These female branches were disbanded after the war.
Bibliography
Pearson History Book, Page 83. (2013). 10th ed. Australia: Pearson Australia, p.83.Shmoop.com.
(2017). World War II: Home Front Quotes. [online] Available at: https://www.shmoop.com/wwii-home-front/quotes.html [Accessed 17 Aug.

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