Women's Cooperative Guild

The Women's Co-operative Guild was formed in 1883. It supported women's suffrage and argued that women should have full equal rights with men. The Guild also played an important role in the campaign for the Maternity Insurance Benefit. Many leading women trade unionists such as Margaret Bondfield and Mary Macarthur were active in the organisation. The organisation also carried out research to obtain information that would support its campaigns. For example, Dr. Armand Routh provided evidence that working-women were much more likely to suffer still-births than non-working women. By 1910 the Women's Co-operative Guild had 32,000 members.