2005 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Gender and Ethnicity in British Economic History in the 19^<th>and 20^<th>Century
| Project/Area Number |
14530099
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Economic history
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| Research Institution | Nagoya City University |
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Principal Investigator |
OKUDA Nobuko Nagoya City University, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Science, Professor, 大学院・人間文化研究科, 教授 (00192675)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2002 – 2005
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| Keywords | gender / ethnicity / immigration / women's labor / Great Britain / イギリス |
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| Research Abstract |
The main research area has been the women immigrants who came to Britain just after Second World War and the policies towards them. Instead of concentrating upon a particular ethnic group, focus was put on a particular sector of women's work, which was suffering severe labor shortages, that is, domestic staff in hospital. By doing so, the research has been able to show that the labor market was structured and re-structured along with the gender and ethnicity line and the Government's strong mindset on gender and ethnicity behind the policy.
Although domestic staffs were indispensable for hospitals, the work had been regarded as low status and low paid job. The war-time labor shortages drained hospitals of possible sources of women workers in Britain. While the Ministry of Health tried to recruit and retain women by improving working conditions, they turned their eyes to Irish women. After failing to gain enough workers, they focused on the displaced European persons, especially Baltic women. The advantages of recruiting displaced person was that they could be retained where they were needed most by using possibility of expulsion as a threat. After Baltic women dried up the Government turn to the Ukrainians and the Polish and then Germans and Austrians. With their male counterpart, they were called the European Voluntary Workers(EVWs).
On the other hand, the West Indian people were discontented the EVW scheme. Being the British subjects they thought that they should have given priorities in entering British labor market. Under the cumulating pressure from the colonies, Ministry of Health tentatively carried out similar scheme to recruit women from Barbados. By early 1950s, West Indian immigrants started to arrive in Britain and the Ministry of Labor, and its regional offices were anxious to locate West Indian immigrants into jobs and in due course West Indian women were places as the domestic staff in the hospital.
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