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Notes -
I think there were a lot of factors. Most of the rest of this comment is going to discuss first-wave feminism because I think the conditions there are more legible.
On the economic side, before we can have women doing (outside the home, waged) work the economy needs to have a demand for women's labor and women need to have the capacity and desire to engage in that labor. Other comments have noted the increased mechanization of labor as a factor in the increase of demand for women's work. Decreasing the capacity gap between men and women makes them more interchangeable as workers. On the capacity side, the rise of labor saving devices in the home and public schooling gave women the capacity do engage in this work. The primary tasks that women spent most of their time doing were substantially reduced, freeing them up to use the time on other tasks. This gives us an explanation for how women could start participating more in work outside the home. Why did they want to? For this I think we have to turn to social factors.
On the social side, I suspect women wanted an income for the same reasons anyone wants one. Existing in our society requires money. The more money you have the more in control you are of your own life. Women probably wanted to engage in waged work to be more independent, autonomous, and in control of their own lives. There is no shortage of contemporary stories of women ending up in awful relationships due to lacking much by way of alternatives.
Another factor here, I suspect, is status. Our communities, both local and global, award status almost entirely on individuals who do work outside the home (then and now). If you are scientist you can get international recognition in the form of the Nobel Prize or various other science prizes. If you're a rich philanthropist your name can be a watchword for the arts, sciences, and all kind of international causes. By contrast if you're a home maker what kind of recognition or acclaim can you acquire? Sure people talk a lot about the importance of being a good wife and keeping a good home but where is the broader recognition of individuals? It's entirely absent. Women (and only women) are supposed to be satisfied with the status of merely being a good housewife to her husband while it's fine for him to seek international acclaim by one avenue or another.
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