Pressures on factory women: between the devil and the deep blue sea

Abstract

Women engaged on mass-production work in factories, especially those who are married and those who have dependent children and who work full-time, are exposed to negative and opposing pressures. They are caught between the unremitting demands of home and family, associated with their accepting a domestic division of labour which limits their time, energy and inclination to undertake outside employment, and the tedious, paced factory jobs which they accept as the only kind of work available to them in their circumstances. Work outside the home enables them to earn the money on which their households depend, to meet others and to leave domestic chores for a time, but factory work itself introduces other pressures, such as noise, repetitive movements and so on, from which they are unable to escape.

The implications of these findings from a study commissioned by the Department of Employment from the Medical Research Council are discussed in relation to social and psychological factors and the limited impact of equality legislation.