Women’s Labour Life in the Rear: Conditions and Medical and Healthcare Provision (with Reference to the Kazak SSR)

This article examines the key aspects of women’s daily labour life during the war, including their working conditions and the healthcare services available to them. For Soviet women, everyday life during wartime intertwined the demands of both production and family responsibilities. In the emergency conditions of war, the everyday practice for most women was to navigate challenges related to their new status as primary breadwinners, while also continuing to address traditional problems associated with providing for all aspects of family life. The study of Soviet women’s labour, working conditions, and healthcare provision during the wartime emergency has gained heightened relevance in the context of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War. Examining the negative consequences of the unfavourable working conditions and healthcare challenges faced by these women during the war years presents a valuable opportunity to appreciate the vital importance of their labour contributions and the patriotism and sacrifice they demonstrated. Drawing on published and unpublished sources, as well as regulatory legal acts and documents extracted from the archives of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and memoirs of contemporaries, the authors examine the social aspects of women’s mobilisation in strategically important industries, their working conditions, and the distinctive features of the medical and healthcare services provided to female workers. The study concludes that the Soviet party and healthcare authorities at the union and republic levels made concerted efforts to improve the status of women. However, in some instances, these efforts were undermined by the failure to properly implement relevant decrees and resolutions, as well as the improper distribution of scarce rations and industrial goods by organisations and individuals in charge.