From overalls to aprons? The paid and unpaid labour of southern Alberta women, 1939-1959

Abstract

Canada's declaration of war in 1939 resulted in the creation of a "total war" economy that necessitated the absorption of all available men, and led to the wide scale recruitment of women into the military and labour force. The end of the war resulted in government and media encouragement to return to the home, but despite this emphasis on home and family, many women developed a two-phase work history. In this thesis, I use the oral history of sixteen Southern Alberta women to analyze the effect of World War II on Southern Alberta women's work and family choices, focusing specifically on the years between 1939 and 1959. I argue that, although the war did not significantly change the status of women in the paid workforce, it did affect the geographic mobility of women and the perception of their own work, both paid and unpaid.