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Hub AI
Marriage bar AI simulator
(@Marriage bar_simulator)
Hub AI
Marriage bar AI simulator
(@Marriage bar_simulator)
Marriage bar
A marriage bar is the practice of restricting the employment of married women. 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.
The practice lacked an economic justification, and its rigid application was often disruptive to workplaces. Marriage bars were widely relaxed in wartime due to an increase in the demand for labor. Research carried out by Claudia Goldin 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.
Since the 1960s, the practice has widely been regarded as employment inequality and sexual discrimination, and has been either discontinued or outlawed by anti-discrimination laws. In the Netherlands, the marriage bar was removed in 1957, in Australia it was removed in 1966, and in Ireland it was removed in 1973.
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 retaining married workers. Both terms fall under the larger umbrella term.
To avoid seemingly discriminatory practices, many employers utilized marriage bars to classify married women as supplementary staff, rather than permanent. This was the case, for example, at Lloyds Bank 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's employment more easily.
The ban on married women in the Australian Public Service was implemented under the Public Service Act 1902. In 1958, The Boyer Report, initiated by Sir Robert Menzies, and headed by Sir Richard Boyer, recommended that the ban be lifted. The ban was not lifted, however, until 18 November 1966, after Harold Holt became prime minister.
The Civil Service (Employment of Married Women) Act became law in Ireland on 31 July 1973. This legislation ended the marriage bar which had prevented married women from working in the civil service. The marriage bar in the wider public sector ended the following year.
In the UK, the marriage bar was removed for all teachers and in the BBC in 1944. The BBC 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. Lloyds Bank utilized a marriage bar to classify married women as supplementary staff rather than permanent until 1949, when the bank abolished its marriage bar.
Marriage bar
A marriage bar is the practice of restricting the employment of married women. 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.
The practice lacked an economic justification, and its rigid application was often disruptive to workplaces. Marriage bars were widely relaxed in wartime due to an increase in the demand for labor. Research carried out by Claudia Goldin 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.
Since the 1960s, the practice has widely been regarded as employment inequality and sexual discrimination, and has been either discontinued or outlawed by anti-discrimination laws. In the Netherlands, the marriage bar was removed in 1957, in Australia it was removed in 1966, and in Ireland it was removed in 1973.
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 retaining married workers. Both terms fall under the larger umbrella term.
To avoid seemingly discriminatory practices, many employers utilized marriage bars to classify married women as supplementary staff, rather than permanent. This was the case, for example, at Lloyds Bank 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's employment more easily.
The ban on married women in the Australian Public Service was implemented under the Public Service Act 1902. In 1958, The Boyer Report, initiated by Sir Robert Menzies, and headed by Sir Richard Boyer, recommended that the ban be lifted. The ban was not lifted, however, until 18 November 1966, after Harold Holt became prime minister.
The Civil Service (Employment of Married Women) Act became law in Ireland on 31 July 1973. This legislation ended the marriage bar which had prevented married women from working in the civil service. The marriage bar in the wider public sector ended the following year.
In the UK, the marriage bar was removed for all teachers and in the BBC in 1944. The BBC 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. Lloyds Bank utilized a marriage bar to classify married women as supplementary staff rather than permanent until 1949, when the bank abolished its marriage bar.