대공황기 미국 여성노동시장의 변화

The change of woman’ labor market in America during the Great Depression

The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. Ideologically, the depression gave new currency to the dogma that woman’s place was at home, that women who worked did so mainly for “pin money,“ and that jobs should be reserved for male “breadwinners”. As unemployment rose an family income sank, government, business, labor, and public opinion reinforced the need to exclude married women from the work force. But throughout the depression, women’s overall participation in the labor market increased, to a higher level than ever before. Women entered the labor market at twice the rate of men, the number of women workers rose 25, and the proportion of married women who worked rose as well. The increasing number of women in the work market has many different causes. First of all, There was sexual segregation in the labor market. Women workers were concentrated in “women’s fields,” such as sales, clerical, and service occupation, and these were less hard hit than the areas of heavy industry where few women were employed. In addition, while all wages fell, women’s wages actually rose proportionally until thery were 63 percent of men’s wage. Second, there were efforts of many influential women. Jane Addams founded Hull House in a Chicago slum in 1889. It offered highly-educated women, who had felt powerless due a lack of opportunities to do professional work, the opportunity to apply their knowledge. These women worked as key members of the social reform movement. In addition, they advanced into the department of administration, which meant that they had an influence on the construction of the national welfare system. Jane Addams’ legacy continued with the ‘New Deal’. As a result, women made unprecedented in roads on appointive office, a triumph symbolized by Frances Perkin’s appointment as labor secretary and she constructed women’s network in the administration during the New Deal. Finally, the fact that there was an increase in the number and proportion of married women in the labor market between 1920 and 1940 indicates that traditional value were gradually breaking down in the face of changes. Women and their families were willing to accept a new life-style in response to a personal recognition of economic realities. To the extent that these women were from middle-income families. Since then The increase of married women in the labor market continued. Therefore, Great Depression is the time to strengthen the basics of modern labor force in America.