Waiting for a living wage

Pro female suffrage propaganda poster designed by Catherine Courtauld and printed at the Suffrage Atelier. Headed 'Waiting for a Living Wage'' the poster depicts an exhausted female worker and refers to the powerless situation of women employed in the sweated industries. The message being that working conditions for these women will only improve once women won the right to vote and gained a voice in parliament.
The Suffrage Atelier was founded in London in February 1909 as 'An Arts and Crafts Society Working for the Enfranchisement of Women'. Its object was: 'to encourage Artists to forward the Women's Movement, and particularly the Enfranchisement of Women, by means of pictorial publications.' Co-founded by Laurence and Clemence Housman the Atelier attracted a range of artists including Catherine Courtauld, the designer of this artwork.
The Atelier artists specialised in hand-made wooden block prints, stencilling and etchings and produced visually powerful posters and postcards to publicise the pro-suffrage campaign.
The Atelier was associated with the militant Votes for Women campaign, in particular the Women's Freedom League. It also ran the Art Stall at the WSPU's fund-raising Women's Exhibition in 1909.