177:, a British conservative magazine, offered a few reasons for the justification of marriage bars. The article said that women who were married were supported by their husbands, therefore they did not need jobs. Furthermore, marriage bars provided more opportunity for those whom proponents viewed as "actually" needing employment, such as single women. Another argument
31:. Common in English-speaking countries from the late 19th century to the 1970s, the practice often called for the termination of the employment of a woman on her marriage, especially in teaching and clerical occupations. Further, widowed women with children were still considered to be married at times, preventing them from being hired, as well.
150:
While common throughout the United States, the marriage bar was relaxed in certain geographical areas and time periods. Contrary to urban areas, rural areas often needed teachers so they were willing to hire married women. Marriage bars were less strict during World War I because women were needed in
188:. Returning servicemen who wanted jobs, and afterwards the depression in the 1930s, led to the implementation of marriage bars in many professions. However, marriage bars were often justified on tradition, especially in places where there was a very strong tradition of married women as caretakers.
74:
While "marriage bar" is the general term used to encompass all discriminatory hiring practices against married women, two variations were commonplace for employers in the 1900s. The "hire bar" is the classification of the prevention of hiring married women. The "retain bar" is the prevention of
134:
The practice of marriage bars arose in the United States in the late 1800s. Marriage bars were often seen in the teaching and clerical industries. While many women hid their marital status in efforts to keep their jobs, marriage bars were not banned by law until 1964 when
196:
While not directly related to the marriage bar, certain de facto discriminatory hiring practices raised similar concerns for women as the marriage bar did in the earlier 1900s. For example, certain discriminatory practices against pregnant women led to the US
151:
the assistance of war efforts. At the beginning of World War II, 87% of school boards would not hire married women and 70% would not retain a single woman who married. But in 1951, only 18% of the school boards had the "hire bar" and 10% had the "retain bar".
154:
Marriage bars generally affected educated, middle-class married women, particularly native-born white women. Their occupations were that of teaching and clerical work. Lower class women and women of color who took jobs in manufacturing, waitressing, and
34:
The practice lacked an economic justification, and its rigid application was often disruptive to workplaces. However, marriage bars were widely relaxed in wartime due to an increase in the demand for labor. Research carried out by
86:
until 1949, when the bank abolished its marriage bar. Classifying women as supplementary, rather than full-time staff, allowed employers to avoid paying women fixed salaries and to terminate women more easily.
443:
39:
to explore their determinants using firm-level data from 1931 and 1940, find out that they are associated with promotion from within, tenure-based salaries, and other modern personnel practices.
755:
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122:
and in 1973 for the
Foreign Service; until then women were required to resign when they married. Having a marriage bar was made illegal throughout the UK by the
450:
181:
makes states that unmarried women are more reliable and mobile than married women, as they did not have a family or other pressing responsibilities.
159:
were often unaffected by marriage bars. Discrimination against married female teachers in the US was not terminated until 1964 with the passing of the
103:
had a marriage bar between 1932 and 1944, although it was a partial ban and was not fully enforced due to the BBC's ambivalent views on the policy.
763:
198:
335:
667:
872:
258:
426:
642:
308:
O'Leary, Eoin (1987). "The Irish
National Teachers' Organisation and the Marriage Bar for Women National Teachers, 1933-1958".
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until 1975. The marriage bar prohibited married women from joining the civil service. It was abolished in 1946 for the
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To avoid seemingly discriminatory practices, many employers utilized marriage bars to classify married women as
887:
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284:""Must a woman . . . give it all up when she marries?": The Debate over Employing Married Women as Teachers"
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Marriage bars were connected to social and economic fluctuations, as well, especially after the end of
63:
483:"Women of Ireland: Change Toward Social and Political Equality in the 21st Century Irish Republic"
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Several other jobs in the UK had marriage bars until sometime in the 1970s, for example the
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710:"The historic role of women scientists at BGS and a look at what is happening today"
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506:
Galligan (1997). ""Women and
National Identity in the Republic of Ireland"": 45–53.
144:
336:"BBC - Standard Grade Bitesize History - Women and work : Revision, Page 3"
185:
104:
83:
55:
24:
545:"Marriage Bars: Discrimination Against Married Women Workers, 1920s to 1950s"
362:"Marriage Bars: Discrimination Against Married Women Workers, 1920s to 1950s"
236:"Why Many Married Women Were Banned from Working During the Great Depression"
143:
prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, sex, or
111:
rather than permanent until 1949, when the bank abolished its marriage bar.
59:
709:
694:
75:
retaining married workers. Both terms fall under the larger umbrella term.
686:
668:"A Marriage Bar of Convenience? The BBC and Married Women's Work 1923–39"
321:
840:
Celebration of the 40th anniversary of the lifting of the
Marriage Bar
361:
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In the UK, the marriage bar was removed for all teachers and in the
795:"The Marriage Bar » 22 Aug 1946 » The Spectator Archive"
557:
544:
370:
100:
96:
468:"The long, slow demise of the "marriage bar" • Inside Story"
82:, rather than permanent. This was the case, for example, at
42:
Since the 1960s, the practice has widely been regarded as
414:
The
Economics of Imperfect Labor Markets: Second Edition
444:"2015 Review BPFA Report of the Netherlands Government"
819:"The inter-war years: 1918-1939 | Striking Women"
107:
utilized a marriage bar to classify married women as
253:(4th ed.). London: McGraw-Hill. p. 402.
50:, and has been either discontinued or outlawed by
427:"Dutch gender and LGBT-equality policy, 2013-16"
643:"Winning Equal Pay: The value of women's work"
8:
846:in 2006, regarding the marriage bar in the
594:"BBC - History - Themes - Women - Teaching"
58:, the marriage bar was removed in 1957, in
728:"Women in the UK Civil Service - History"
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708:Pennington, Catherine (August 1, 2016).
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576:"1901-1950 - Lloyds Banking Group plc"
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416:, by Tito Boeri, Jan van Ours, pp. 105
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16:Ban on the employment of married women
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199:Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978
23:is the practice of restricting the
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760:United States Department of Labor
675:Twentieth Century British History
641:University, London Metropolitan.
666:Murphy, Kate (1 December 2014).
543:Goldin, Claudia (October 1988).
62:it was removed in 1966, and in
1:
211:Feminisation of the workplace
91:History in the United Kingdom
842:- transcript of a speech by
130:History in the United States
549:NBER Working Paper No. 2747
124:Sex Discrimination Act 1975
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756:"Anti-discrimination Laws"
618:"Victorian Women Teachers"
580:www.lloydsbankinggroup.com
249:Borjas, George J. (2007).
873:Employment discrimination
848:Australian Public Service
116:British Geological Survey
66:it was removed in 1973.
364:. Working Paper Series.
360:Goldin, Claudia (1988).
141:Civil Rights Act of 1964
52:anti-discrimination laws
732:www.civilservant.org.uk
288:Women's History Matters
823:www.striking-women.org
519:Cite journal requires
395:Cite journal requires
216:Women in the workforce
799:The Spectator Archive
647:www.unionhistory.info
481:Patterson, Rachel A.
48:sexual discrimination
44:employment inequality
834:Further information
766:on 7 September 2018
687:10.1093/tcbh/hwu002
495:on October 8, 2015.
109:supplementary staff
80:supplementary staff
868:Feminist economics
470:. 8 December 2016.
290:. 18 December 2014
238:. 8 November 2021.
171:A 1946 article in
120:Home Civil Service
192:Similar practices
157:domestic servants
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186:World War I
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770:6 December
737:2021-11-13
652:2021-11-13
627:2021-11-13
603:2021-11-13
294:2015-11-04
222:References
70:Variations
25:employment
380:153507595
345:8 October
340:bbc.co.uk
316:: 47–52.
137:Title VII
60:Australia
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376:S2CID
318:JSTOR
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