The professions

The Sex Disqualification Act of 1919 removed barriers to women in certain professions, notably the law. In 1922 Miss Ivy Williams became the first woman to be called to the bar. By this time women had already begun to replace men, or boys, as clerical workers. The London County Council (L.C.C) appointed its first women clerk in 1894, and by 1914 had 40 'lady typists'. The office boom of the 1960s increased the number of women in offices.

The marriage bar

Until the last half of the 20th century, married women faced particular discrimination in the workplace due to the assumption that a mother could not devote time to both a job and a family. The 1919 Act had legislated against women being barred from work for being married, but the Civil Service kept the bar in place, as did the L.C.C. Even teachers had to retire from their jobs if they chose to marry. During the Second World War, labour shortages forced the L.C.C. to suspend the marriage bar, and it was finally abolished in 1945.

In 1910 fewer than 10% of married women worked. By 1990 this had increased to 60%.

Equal pay

Before the Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Acts of 1975, women could be treated as cheap labour. Women could be paid less than men on the assumption that a woman was not the main wage earner in the household and would be supported by her husband.

Even after 1975, attitudes to women in the workplace did not change overnight. The year-long Grunwick dispute at a photo-processing plant in Brent began in 1976 with the assumption, on the part of the employer, that the largely Asian women in the workforce would accept poor working conditions.