What long term effects did World War 2 have on women's lives?

World War Two had a profound effect on the women of the United States -- particularly in the area of employment. Prior to the war most women were homemakers, stay-at-home mothers. few had a job or worked. Jobs for women were limited -- nurses, salesgirls, domestics (cooks, maids, cleaning women, etc.). During the war -- with all the men of draft age in the service and a giant demand for workers in war plants, factories, etc -- the women had to give up their old ways, roll up their sleeves and go out and work for the war effort. Needless to say they performed an enormous service for the country. I don't know what the country would have done without them. This broke the male-female work barrior and from then on there have been more and more women in the workforce. I don't know what the percentage of women in the workforce is today -- but it's very high. The extra income with both husband and wife working certainly provides them with a better lifestyle, better housing, and a lot of things their grandmothers didn't have. vcs