11th July 2013 / 2 Comments
Weekend /
30th January 1974
Good jobs. Good money. Good times; with a ‘lively’ posting in Northern Ireland, I expect. Although it must be emphasised that being on the front line isn’t the only career being promoted here. Long-term readers will recall adverts for nursing also concentrating on pay and holidays/time off, which is something unthinkable nowadays, not least because large nationalised organisations with collective pay bargaining are becoming something of the past. I suspect Thatcherism, with its emphasis on ‘hard work’ (but only for a certain section of the population) did for this sort of advert, as questions around holiday & benefits are now considered taboo in job interviews, as if all jobs were a selfless vocation, rather than a honest exchange of labour/skill for money. Again, this coyness about benefits seems to disappear the further you get up the greasy pole. Curious!
Tags: careers, social history
11th June 2012 / 2 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
4th July 1969
Dammit Mary, I hate it when you’re so bloody reasonable. I’m pleased we’re past the point of having books called ‘Careers for Girls’, though, regardless of how sensible the rest of your advice is. I was also touched by the widow going on holiday by herself for the first time, which can be daunting today, let alone back then. I hope she had a lovely time!
Tags: careers, Mary Marryat, problem page
26th March 2010 / 4 Comments
Woman's Own /
14th July 1967
I know, but I couldn’t resist. Here’s another attempt to sell nursing as anything other than a noble vocation, with salaries of £700 being waved in front of young women. Just two years later, an average weekly wage for women of £20 was being quoted in this title, which makes £1040 a year. So the nursing wage isn’t necessarily *that* amazing. You might get 6 weeks holiday a year, but a 42 hour working week means that you need it!
Tags: blatant sexism, careers, health, nursing, social history
25th September 2009 / 15 Comments
Woman's Own /
20th June 1969
This advert startled me somewhat, because I’ve never seen a career sold to anyone on the basis of the holiday included. I can only conclude that holiday offered in other jobs didn’t come to much, as 5 weeks is now around the standard in the UK. Nowadays, nursing is more complex than it used to be, and the recruitment is centred firmly on the rewarding aspects of nursing, rather than having time off in the middle of the week to go, er, shopping.
Tags: blatant sexism, careers, nursing, social history