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This Day Tonight: Married women and work in 1960s Australia

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Old photo of women walk to work along street
This Day Tonight: Married women and work in 1960s Australia

SUBJECTS:  History

YEARS:  9–10


Can you imagine a time when it was uncommon for married women to be part of the workforce?

When women who worked outside the home were blamed for their children's poor educational performance and juvenile delinquency?

This clip from 1966 examines the rise of working mothers, a controversial development at the time.


Things to think about

  1. 1.How and why do you think women's roles changed during the 20th century? Before the 1960s, it was often assumed that a married woman's place was 'in the home'. However, during the 1960s the proportion of married women in the workforce increased significantly. Many families sought extra income to achieve better lifestyles, and many women wanted independence and interests outside their homes.
  2. 2.How many women were in the Australian workforce in1966? What fraction of the total workforce did these women represent? What fraction of them were married? What fraction of the married working women were in the age group likely to have children at school? In which countries was the percentage of married women in the workforce higher than in Australia?
  3. 3.A number of different views and priorities regarding working mothers are expressed in the clip. Identify the perspective of each of the following people: the reporter in the clip's opening sequence; the school teacher; three of the working mothers interviewed in the middle and later parts of the clip. Why might these perspectives be different? Do you agree with the comment 'It's the quality of the home life that's important, not the quantity'? Why or why not?
  4. 4.Suggest how a TV program today might approach the issue of working mothers. Outline the main ways it might differ from the 1966 video clip. Explain how and why the social changes that have taken place since the 1960s would influence the perspective of a modern TV program.



Date of broadcast: 27 May 1969


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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