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Women's pay in British industry during the Second World War

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  • IAN GAZELEY

Abstract

This article reviews the evidence pertaining to changes in women's relative pay during the Second World War and presents new evidence relating to important wartime manufacturing industries. It is argued that gender pay inequality declined sharply where women were employed in industries that had previously been dominated by men, but did not occur in industries that had traditionally been important areas of female employment. The explanation for this pattern probably lies in a combination of excess demand effects and institutional factors, both of which were strongest in wartime munitions industries. Because of the importance of these industries to the war economy, the behaviour of inequality in munitions dominates the behaviour of inequality across all industries. Nearly all existing scholarship acknowledges the impact of the Second World War on reducing the employment segregation of women, but simultaneously views the war as an unimportant episode in the history of gender pay inequality. This article shows how the transition from ‘female’ to ‘male’ work also led to a significant improvement in women's relative pay.

Suggested Citation

  • Ian Gazeley, 2008. "Women's pay in British industry during the Second World War," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 61(3), pages 651-671, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:61:y:2008:i:3:p:651-671
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0289.2007.00412.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October.
    2. Zabalza, Antoni & Tzannatos, Zafiris, 1985. "The Effect of Britain's Anti-discriminatory Legislation on Relative Pay and Employment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 95(379), pages 679-699, September.
    3. Susan Harkness, 1996. "The gender earnings gap: evidence from the UK," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 1-36, May.
    4. Gazeley, Ian, 2006. "The levelling of pay in Britain during the Second World War," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(2), pages 175-204, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Helen Paul, 2015. "Editorial: Women in economic and social history: twenty-fifth anniversary of the Women's Committee of the Economic History Society," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 68(2), pages 1-17, May.
    2. Ian Gazeley & Andrew Newell & Kevin Reynolds & Hector Rufrancos, 2024. "Household structure, labour participation, and economic inequality in Britain, 1937–61," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 77(1), pages 41-59, February.
    3. Gazeley, Ian & Newell, Andrew T. & Reynolds, Kevin & Rufrancos, Hector Gutierrez, 2017. "What Really Happened to British Inequality in the Early 20th Century? Evidence from National Household Expenditure Surveys 1890–1961," IZA Discussion Papers 11071, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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