There Was A Time, Not Yesterday But Not In The Ancient Past...

[sandyRoe]

...either, when a woman teacher married she had to resign from her job. That might have happened in other professions too.
What was the thinking behind regulations?

[sandyRoe]

* behind such regulations

[jno]

way back, before the war I think, any woman who married was expected to give up her job.

By the time I was growing up they didn't have to quit till they got pregnant. The assumption was that their husband would keep them, and that was broadly true: a single wage would support two adults and maybe a child or three.

[MargoTester]

I think it applied mainly to women who worked in the civil service and was not lifted until the early 70's

[sandyRoe]

I suppose the men who made such regulations were convinced that the women they were discriminating against were really happier wearing a pinny in their kitchens.

[Peter Pedant]

all about gels getting the vote innit?

Jews and Roman not allowed in the two universities, ( prior to 1829). My deah mama was not allowed to take London Uni finals ( coz they werent allowed to join which was avowedly non-denominational) - so had to pass "the conjoint degree" run by the Royal Colleges. - 1934.

Time was when the fellows of oxbridge colleges had to resign when they married - - which did keep the teaching staff 'young'.

[Barsel]

When I got married in 1968, my husband asked me to give up work because he wanted to just go out to work, come home to his cooked meal and not have to do anything else. So, I did all the cooking, washing up, cleaning, shopping, decorating, everything. Once I got into a routine, I realised I could get a part-time job and that's what I did, but it wasn't easy to get one because employers thought a young newly wed woman would leave to start a family.

[Peter Pedant]

just to bring us up to date
it is now unlawful to ask a gel if they are planning ....
" You gonna have kids or wha' ?" is deffo verboten
at an employment interview

[Vagus]

The thinking was, to keep women in their place..in the kitchen! How awful that must have been for so many women.

[sandyRoe]

Young and predatory? Innocent young chaps from public schools must have been quaking in their boots if invited to discuss their work over sherry and biscuits.

[Atheist]

I think that the reasoning was that men have to work to support their wives and kids, whereas women would be looked after by their husbands.