Even though both wars of the twentieth century caused irreparable damage to most of the population, they had a particularly positive impact on the situation of women and minorities. The wars changed the lives of many of them, and in some cases, it was a change for the better. Women managed to show society that they can work on an equal basis with men, that their intellectual development allows them to play a significant role in public life. The minorities’ lives were also not the same – it became much easier for them to go to university or take political office. At the end of the second decade of the twentieth century, the lives of women and minorities were revolutionized for the better.
First of all, the wars resulted in the acquisition of full civil rights by women and minorities. Men could vote from the age of twenty-one; women were somewhat inferior to them in this, but their voices could still influence public life for the first time in history. As a result, women were given the full right to vote in 1928 – a situation that finally began to resemble absolute equality. Moreover, education has become more accessible, as a result of which women and members of minorities have started to acquire new skills and become more confident in themselves. The opportunity to study and work guaranteed them greater freedom, which began to manifest itself in the professional sphere and their personal lives. All the options that modern women and minorities have would not have been available without these revolutionary changes in the twentieth century after the wars.
The “new type” of working women and minorities was not as easy to exploit as employers had expected. Representatives of these social strata went on strike under the slogan “Equal pay for equal work.” The intolerance of the unfair situation became particularly acute as women and minorities became increasingly involved in labor and social activities during the war. They became more actively engaged in the struggle to improve their financial situation.
One of the most notable improvements in the lives of minorities and women after World War I and World War II was the change in healthcare. Among them, life expectancy has increased, and morbidity has fallen, and the loss of a child in infancy has become rare. In the post-war years, infant mortality decreased by two-thirds; the reason for this was an increase in living standards and improved nutrition. Higher earnings allowed many families to buy more food; in addition, the state’s post-war policy of banning alcohol also positively impacted the financial situation of these social groups. All of these criteria combined have led to incredible improvements in health care for women and minorities.
The wars of the twentieth century led to a dramatic change in the role of women and minorities in all spheres of society. They have firmly taken an important place in the economy, politics, and culture. This place has become more significant, important, but still not equal. For a long time, the woman was only a showcase of her husband’s social and economic achievements. Such significant global socio-economic processes as wars have undoubtedly affected the position of minorities and women in society. There have been positive changes in the economic and political situation of these social strata. The struggle for equal rights for women and minorities took place in the post-war modernization of socio-economic structures. Cardinal social transformations could not but affect their position, causing an increase in the activity of these social strata.
Reference
McWhirter, E., H., & McWha-Hermann, I. (2021). Social justice and career development: Progress, problems, and possibilities. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 126(1), 408-421.