how did the industrial production impact the women labour force
Answers
Did the specific status of European women have any consequences for the process of Industrialization?
First of all there is a so to speak technical and static effect. The social position of European women
allowed a comparatively high participation rate. Of course in agriculture there arose no significant
differences to other cultures. But even the institution of master service allowed a better utilization of labor
capacity.
A far stronger effect must have been gained in towns. The great variety of jobs provided many
possibilities to work not only for female inhabitants but also for the surrounding regions, which fostered
migration – the latter also leading to a better utilization of the labor force.
On the other hand the status of European women had, as has been pointed out, removed any barriers against gainful work outside the home. This effect became even more important with the advent of the
Manufacturing system and later on with Capitalist Industry. In both cases entrepreneurs could dispose of
a huge amount of female labor, which was already used to work outside home. And both of them relied in
certain branches to an overwhelming degree on female labor. In the wake of Industrialization almost all
young unmarried women outside agriculture were engaged in some gainful work outside the home. So all
that meant ceteris paribus a higher gross domestic product per capita of the population.
In the same direction worked the fact, that handicrafts as well as traders were assisted by their spouses
in their work. First by running the household also for all workers, later on by direct cooperation with their
husbands in their respective trade. Additionally it may be remarked, that monogamy in these layers
reduced private consumption in favor of saving and investment.
Represented the latter fact already a dynamic aspect, this is far more true for the female contribution in
forming the individualistic and entrepreneurial type of men, who became the carrier of Industrialization.
First of all it was the comparatively high educational standard – also of women – in town, which
determined the qualification of labor; for well-educated mothers pass on their knowledge to the children
and hence improve their learning capacities.