Protective Legislation in Britain, 1870-1990: equality, difference and their implications for women

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Abstract
Protective legislation sets special conditions around women’s participation in the labour market and involves consideration of hours, wages and reproductive hazards. From the late nineteenth century, arguments have been couched in what contemporary feminist theory calls the equality versus difference debate — the call, on the one hand for identical treatment of the two sexes and on the other for recognition of women’s special needs. This paper examines the positions of feminists and anti-feminists and of men — as employers and employees, as trade unionists and politicians — and reviews the legislative developments at the turn of the century and again more recently. Arguing that all have ignored the structural determinants of women’s inferior position in the labour market, it calls for a reforumulation based on the notion of diversity.

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