Reframing Women’s Life and Labour: A Critical Inquiry into Ferdynand Zweig’s 1952 Perspectives on Gender, Work, and Family in Post-­War Britain

Abstract

This article revisits Ferdynand Zweig’s Women’s Life and Labour (1952), illuminating the paradoxes of women’s position between paid employment and unpaid caregiving, and establishing it as a key historical document of post-war Britain. Written during a period of reconstruction, Zweig’s study captures the indispensable nature of women’s labour as well as the cultural pressures that sought to confine it to the domestic sphere. His descriptive analysis reveals the contradictions of a society that relied on women’s economic contribution yet denied its full recognition. The article shows that, despite being rooted in the immediate post-war context, Zweig’s work continues to influence debates on gender, work, and social policy. By highlighting the structural invisibility of domestic labour, the enduring wage disparities, and the limitations of welfare provisions, Zweig’s observations remain strikingly relevant for understanding persistent inequalities. However, the analysis also shows that, shaped by the assumptions of his era, his conclusions require critical revaluation in light of later policy reforms and shifting gender norms. Reconsidering Women’s Life and Labour today highlights the importance of historical perspectives for contemporary debates: Zweig’s account not only provides a portrait of mid-twentieth-­century Britain but also lays the groundwork for examining how institutional legacies continue to shape women’s opportunities in work and family life.