question_answer 12)

What were the changes in the kind of work available to women in London between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries? Explain the factors which led to this change.   

Answer:

(i) In the 18th and 19th centuries, a large number of women were employed in the factories because during that period, most of the production activities were carried out with the help of the family.   (ii) With technological developments, women gradually lost their industrial jobs and were forced to work within households. According to the 1861 Census, about a quarter million women worked as domestic servants in London, most of them were from migrant families,   (iii) However, in the 20th century, women again started getting employed in wartime industries and offices because most of the male citizens were fighting at the front.   (iv) Many women increased their family income by taking lodgers or paying guests. Some earned their living through tailoring, washing or matchbox making.