1961 women's employment - wow!

[ifIwerenotanandroid]

Someone found this letter in a house she bought, & posted it on X. I've never seen anything like that before.

This is why we should all listen to the generations who came before us: we may think we know what's what, but history can always surprise us. I've been amused by posters on X claiming this weekend that there have never been communal changing rooms for women in the UK & that no teenage girls ever went shopping with their friends for fun. As a member of the biddy mafia I know they're wrong but they're quite insistent, even the men.

When did all the polytechnics become universities? I don't remember, but if the polys weren't counted until they were unis, that would bump the figures up a lot straight away.

Yep getting stuck in something too small in a room full of strangers is a moment I wont forget in a hurry! At least it was only other actual women back then.

Most polys became universities from 1992.

Same in England. My mother was paid off which went towards buying their house I believe. She was 24!

That reminds me of an article I read, by a woman who qualified early in a male-dominated profession - I think it too was engineering of some kind.

She said they actually had a higher exam pass mark for women, in order to prevent too many qualifying and "taking jobs from men". And were quite open about it.

I remember my mum being refused a credit card in Debenhams or house of Fraser because she did not have a husband to provide his earnings. Despite her having a widows pension that was more than the average wage.

that was about 1985.

i do remember M&S not having changing rooms at all. They had a reputation of accepting returns no questions asked due to that. I saw on twitter recently someone arguing about their changing rooms- it may even have been if they had communal ones. In that case I think they were wrong as M&S never had changing rooms in that era, and I’m reasonably sure they had women only to start, and not communal due to their bra fitting service.

I remember going to a gig in a working men's club with my mate's band. Someone told him "you can't bring IT in here." He meant me.

I couldn't get a drink without the man buying and wasn't allowed in the bar, only the lounge area where they played. This was 1993!

DH was born August 1961. His mother, a teacher, had to finish work at the Easter holidays, otherwise her pg wpuld be unseemly. No right to return to work. My parents married in Feb 1960. My mum wore an empire line dress and my grandparents rented them a house near Brighton for a year after the wedding to lessen the evident shame. I was born in the July.

The sex discrimination act passed in 1974 (possibly 75). I think it's v interesting that our super equality conscious NHS still call women to their apppointments as Jane Smith and men as Mr John Smith. Some publicly funded institutions still haven't caught up. (St Georges, St Helier, Epsom just in case anybody disbelieves).

Miss Selfridge had communal changing rooms in 1996 when I was at uni.

The El Vino's case was 1982 (the Court of Appeal held it was sex discrimination not tp let women sit at the main bar). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_and_Coote_v_El_Vino_Co_Ltd

In the 80's my sister failed to get into the RAF as they had a higher pass rate for women. Never admitted officially though but my Dad knew someone on the inside.

Also 1993, went to open up a new bank account (in those days they'd give you a cheque, to take to the next bank) - they wouldn't open an account until my dad had co-signed for the account, because I was single. I was 30 and had a job! It had to be my husband (fat chance ) or my father.. 1993!

A lot of young women think this stuff happened in 1910.

Definitely remember communal changing rooms in the 80s.

Also in the 1970s women could not get a mortgage or bank loan without a male guarantor.

My mother had to quit her job when she was due to give birth to me-1978

When I was leaving school,the only career advice was nanny/secretary/nurse-nothing else could be considered (1994)

When I was pregnant with dd,one midwife was very snotty with me for being a single parent (1997)

A male friend was shocked that I walked into a pub by myself and ordered a drink
(2007) (I did tell him to stop being a bloody dinosaur,but he doubled down and i was being unreasonable apparently)

I remember my mil telling me that when she married fil,she couldn't go to the bar herself,she had to wait for him to buy her a drink (1972)

I went into a shop to buy something and the bloke smirked and actually asked if 'your husband is allowing you to spend his money on this?'

I'd love to say this was 30 years ago,but it was last week
I told him it was none of his business and walked out-i earn my own money and spend it as i wish

Definitely into the 90s, not just the 80s.

Thank you for this. I also thought it was still ongoing in the 1990s but Google results said otherwise. Looks like people are historically happy to ignore laws that favour women?!

I agree - i think the whole #metoo seems to be the basis for all the safety talk and theres zero understanding of any of the other issues. Seems like we need a campaign to publicise the other forms of everyday sexism.

Heather Binning was not offered her first job in the construction industry because the company had no ladies loos. Toilet provision is not trivial or about Victorian purity values… it was literally used to gatekeep women out of the workplace!

I was trying to organise fitted wardrobes for my new house in 2000 but the sales man wouldn't accept the order until my husband approved. I explained I was the main wage earner and my husbannd had no interest in our home décor. However, when the sales man called later than evening to speak to my husband, he got sharp shift and told by him that he did not approve the sale as he wasn't buying from a sexist outdated company.
we went to ikea instead

And it’s women who are the rights hoarding dinosaurs?! 🦕 🙄

"When I was leaving school, the only career advice was nanny/secretary/nurse-nothing else could be considered (1994)"

When I was leaving school in 1981 careers advice was as you'd expect - so I think it depends where you were. I remember my Mum getting a mortgage on her own behalf in 1978 and whooping with delight when we left the bank!

My Mum just wouldn't let anyone stop her though - she drove us all over Britain - including all round London several times on her own. She also took us abroad and bought a business. Admittedly she was unusual and not at all like my friends' mums.

My mother started work straight from grammar school in the early 60s and she chose her employer because they had a progressive policy of paying women the same as men. This was before the law was changed and it was perfectly legal - indeed normal - to pay women less.

Which bank was that? I had my own bank account (NatWest) from being a student in 1980 and indeed, gave a reference to the bank for my parents when they wanted to open a bank account at the same branch as me in the mid 80s (they'd only had a TSB savings account until then)

All the banks were falling over themselves to give students (male and female) bank accounts in the 70s/80s!

I left school at 16 and started my first job in 1986. I opened a current account on my own and had my wages paid in but there was no overdraft. I remember the meeting was quite formal with the branch manager. I remember getting a car loan around 1989 without a guarantor. I guess it was at the branch manager's discretion.

That was definitely against the law by then, but I imagine it was pretty daunting to go to an Employment Tribunal, especially if you didn't have support from a union.

I find that hard to believe. I was born in 1960. I opened my first bank account in 1976, no signatures required, I just wanted one. No problems opening other bank/building society accounts in the early 80s, getting a credit card or buying privatisation shares. I applied for a mortgage aged 21 in 1981 and had no issues at all.

The only issue I ever had was double glazing, c2000. Anglian. They wpuldn't quote unless there was an apt with my dh present. Simply couldn't understand it woukd be a cash purchase and I owned 80% of the equity in the house.

My Grandmother went to Medical School. She qualified as a Doctor. (Early Fifties).
And then she married, had children, and was the dutiful Civil Service wife.
Didnt even practice for one day.

I think it would be called grooming now... she met my grandfather when she was still at school and he had jyst returned from the POW camps in the Far East.

ETA... her sister, a Nurse, lived her entire life (pretty much) with her female "companion". After her death, my grandmother did muse that they were likely more than friends.

This is women's history. These are our lives. It's so important to remember these things. Thank you for sharing, everyone. So fascinating.