Within two months after the war, some 800,000 women had been fired from jobs in the aircraft industry; the same thing was happening in the auto industry and elsewhere. In the two years after the war, some two million women had lost their jobs.
In the post-war years, the sheer affluence (wealth) of the country meant that many families could now live in a middle-class existence on only one income. In addition, the migration to the suburbs physically separated women from the workplace. The new culture of consumerism told women they should be homemakers and saw them merely as potential buyers for all the new washers and dryers, freezers, floor waxers, pressure cookers, and blenders.
-- David Halberstam, The Fifties
(a) According to David Halberstam, when World War II ended, what happened to many of the women who had been employed during the war?
(No Response)
Key:
Score of 1:
- Identifies one result of women's employment during World War II
Examples: women were fired from their jobs; did not have to work; were forced to become homemakers; separated from the workplace; were isolated
Score of 0:
- Incorrect response
Examples: migration to the suburbs stopped; divorce
- Vague response that does not answer the question
Example: the country became wealthier
- No response
(b) What does this passage indicate about the role women were expected to play in the 1950s?
(No Response)
Key:
Score of 1:
- Identifies one role women were expected to play in the 1950s
Examples: women stayed at home; they had to be homemakers; they became stay-at-home housewives; potential buyers
Score of 0:
- Incorrect response
Example: women had jobs outside the home
- Vague response that does not answer the question
Examples: middle-class; separation from the workplace
- No response