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Watch: What jobs did women do at home?

By 1918 there were five million women working in Britain.

Watch our video to find out more about women's work on the home front.

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What jobs did women do in towns?

Many women took jobs in shops, or typing in offices.

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 3, Two women operate a telephone exchange switchboard during World War One, Clerks dealt with letters, filing and typing As more women started to work in offices, they were trained in tasks like bookkeeping (keeping a log of money) and working a switchboard (a telephone control centre).
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What jobs did women do in the countryside?

Women worked in all areas of farming, including ploughing the soil.

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 3, Women in the Land Army shovelling stacks of hay on a farm., Women's Land Army Forage Corps By 1917 more and more women were working on farms as 'Land Girls'. In the Forage Corps women fed and stacked hay bales on British farms.
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What weapons did women build?

  • The war created lots of new jobs.
  • Many women were brought in to build weapons.
  • They worked with explosives which made some workers ill or their skin turn yellow.
Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 2, Female munition workers cutting copper bands for shell cases and oiling the machinery in a Birmingham factory, March 1918., Women worked in munition factories all over the country One of their jobs was cutting copper bands on shell cases and oiling the machinery.
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How did life change for women?

A large carriage full of suffragettes campaigning in London in 1910
Image caption,
The Suffragettes were one of many groups asking for better rights.
  • Despite doing the same jobs as men, women were paid less.
  • Women working in shops were paid around half as much as men.
  • Only British men were allowed to vote to choose a government.
  • This was unfair and lots of women protested to demand better rights.
  • In 1918 women with property over the age of 30 were given the right to vote.
A large carriage full of suffragettes campaigning in London in 1910
Image caption,
The Suffragettes were one of many groups asking for better rights.
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Activities

Activity 1: Quiz 鈥 Women on the home front

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Activity 2: History Explorer game

Play this game to test your knowledge and learn even more facts about World War One.

History Explorer: Secrets through time

History Explorer: Secrets through time: KS2 History

History Explorer: Secrets through time
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Bitesize Primary games. game

Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.

Bitesize Primary games
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