Social Impact of the Second World War
- Created by: Grace Lidgett
- Created on: 11-04-13 10:59
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- Social impact of the Second World War
- African-Americans
- Blacks doing industrial jobs in 1939 averaged 40% of the earnings of white workers - by 1945 this was at 60%
- In 1942, 3/5th of people thought blacks were treated fairly and in 1944 only 1/3rd did
- The biggest change was public opinion
- Negor soliders were segregated and often humiliated but towards the end of the war men were ranked together
- Membership of the national association for the advancement of coloured people (NAACP) rose during the war from 50,000 to 450,000
- There were still race riots - the worst being in Detroit in 19423 when 25 blacks and 9 whites were killed
- 4 times the amount of African-Americans were employed after the war
- Women
- Women were invariably paid less than men for the same work
- Women at work increased by 50% and constituted as 40% of workers on aircraft assembly lines
- Wartime polls repeatedly showed that the majority of women as well as men disapproved with working wives
- By 1947, the proportion of women in blue collar occupations were lower than before the war (26.2% - 24.6%)
- Temporary necessity rather than an expansion of freedom - benefits were short term
- Trade Unions
- The war certainly strengthened the influence of union organisations
- Unions worked together to form a united voice
- Stikes counted for well under 1% of all days lost during the war
- Unions dutifully announced a "no-strike" pledge after pearl harbour
- Very little was achieved during these no strike years
- More employers than ever introduced paid holidays, health insurance and better pensions
- One exception was the coal strike of 1943
- Roosevelt responded by creating an emergency power but he never had to use it
- The Smith-Connolly Act restricted strikes with votes/ballots after the coal strike
- After the war, impact of unions had not improved greatly
- In general terms, most results of the war were positive
- The most dramatic change was the collapse of unemployment- 9 million in 1940 - 780,000 by Sept 1943
- There was greater equality in distribution of outcome
- The earnings of the bottom fifth of society rose by 68%
- There was greater equality in distribution of outcome
- In almost every measurable index, living standards rose - rationing was not as severe as Britain or Russia
- Life expectancy rose by 3 year on average and for blacks it increased by 5 years
- Infant mortality dropped by a third!
- California's population rose by 72% during the war
- African-Americans
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