Women became active participants in the workforce outside the home.
Rationing of many essential products became part of daily life.
Women in the workforce: Between 1940 and 1945 the percentage of women in the American workforce rose from 27% to 37%. The demand for workers pulled not only single women but married women into employment outside the home, elevating the number of married women working to around 25%.
Rationing: Sugar, coffee, butter, cheese, meat, canned foods and various other food products all became subject to rationing, as did other essential products like gasoline and fuel oil.