1969-70 public information films: jobs for women, young girls and early school leavers

Here are three public information films made by Richard Taylor's studio at the turn of the seventies, all advising their audiences - school leavers, unemployed women, and parents of young women - on finding work. All three can be found on the Charley Says DVD compilation.

First is Jobs for Early School Leavers, a 1970 film that is included in the BFI database
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"You are now fifteen years old. You're beginning to be aware of many things - in particular, the prospects in life before you."



"Are you going to leave it all to the hand of chance and just let yourself be landed into the first job that comes along?"



"Don't be soft - stand up for yourself! Think of what you really want to do, and go after it."


"What's up? Not clear about the way? Do you remember you had a talk from someone about the different kinds of jobs there are? He's the man to look for now."


"You can be sure of making a start in the right direction with help from your careers teacher and the local careers officer."









Next is a film from 1969 titled Jobs for Young Girls, which is something of a fashion time capsule. The short can be viewed online at the National Archives site; there's also a BBC article about it.


"When your daughter goes to work for the first time..."


"...the excitement she feels, with her own money to spend..."

"...and crowds of new friends. Maybe she won’t care what job she does - before the gloss wears off..."

"...she may get married and have a family..."

"...and it’s only when she thinks about working again that she’ll feel let down, going back to unskilled work."

"But if she gets help to prepare for a satisfying job now, then later on, she’ll have a career to go on with."


"Make sure your daughter sees her career teacher at school, and the local careers officer."








And finally here's Jobs for Women, another film from 1970. Kevin Donnelly's article Stupid Gits: a short history of British Public Information Films touches on the short: "PIFS are... indicators, like adverts and programmes, of their society," he says. "'Jobs for Women' (1970) seems very patronising - encouraging young women to get careers rather than jobs - but is made for an society where this concept was relatively fresh and the employers did not need to pay equal wages for the same jobs."

"You know, when I was at home stuck and the old sink, I used to dream about going to work again, and all the different jobs I could do."






"But when the time came, and I did get the chance, I didn't know hoe to start or where to go."




"Then one day, on my way to the shops, I was given a government leaflet. It told me all about getting a job again, and the tax, and about training for things."