"This essential student resource is the first of its kind to study this period. Working chronologically from the early 1840s to the end of the twentieth century, it examines more than 150 years of women's employment history and the struggles women have faced." "With suggestions for research topics, an annotated bibliography to aid further research and a chronology of important events which places the subject in a broader historical context, Gerry Holloway considers how factors such as class, age, marital status, race and locality, along with wider economic and political issues, have affected women's job opportunities and status." Students of women's studies, gender studies and history will find this a fascinating and invaluable addition to their reading material.