Women and Labor History: Entering the Paid Workforce

By the late 1800's women began to enter the paid workforce in increasing numbers, for a variety of reasons. Some went to work so they would have their own money, others had no male support, and had no choice but to get a job. Since there were little opportunities for work in rural areas, many moved to the growing industrialized cities, where work was available. In the late 1800's, there were more women leaving the country sides to find jobs in the city, than men were.

People assumed that all women had a male supporting them, so because of this myth, women were expected to work for much lower wages than men. Many women had to support not only themselves, but a family as well, on her very low wages.
Some women worked for just a short period of time before they married. However, many women worked for an extended period of time. Also, many left and reentered the workforce a number of times during their lifetime. These women would quit work when they got married, then return to work later to supplement their husband's income. Some women would quit to have a baby, or to nurse a sick relative and return to work when they could. At the same time, some women never married and worked for wages all their lives.

"Women belong in the house... and the Senate." ~Author Unknown

Sources:

Meyerowitz, Joanne. Women Adrift: Independent Wage Earners in Chicago, 1880-1930. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988.


Groneman, Carol, and Mary-Beth Norton. To Toil the Livelong Day : America's Women at Work 1780-1980. 1st Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1989

"Beyond Conventional Wisdom: Women's Wage Work, Household Economic Contribution, and Labor Activism in a Mid-Nineteenth-Century Working-Class Community" by Carole Turbin.

Photo: http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/images/females/photo08.jpg