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Showing papers by "Jane Humphries published in 2021"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors used new wage series for men, women and children in combination with an established cost of living index and standard assumptions about family size to construct a measure of family welfare in England, 1280-1850.
Abstract: We use new wage series for men, women and children in combination with an established cost of living index and standard assumptions about family size to construct a measure of family welfare in England, 1280-1850. We ask whether this family could achieve a standard of living historically defined as ‘respectable’. We extract information from primary and secondary sources to make adjustments for the participation rates of women and children, the varying number of days worked over time, the changing involvement of married women in paid work, and the evolving occupational structure. The resulting series is the first to depict the living standard of a representative working family over the very long run. Prior to the Black Death, our family existed just above subsistence, afterwards shortage of labour brought substantial albeit not unassailable gains. Tudor era turmoil and constraints on women’s work pushed the family below the ‘respectable’ standard. From the mid-1600s however, the gradual transformation of the economy coincided with improved welfare. Over these centuries, it was rare for men’s work alone to sustain the family at a respectable level; women and children’s earnings were necessary. This calls for a re-evaluation of the chronology, causes and consequences of long-run growth.

13 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article provided a novel framework within which to evaluate real household incomes of predominantly rural working families of various sizes and structures in England, 1260-1850, and found that small and intact families enjoyed high and rising living standards after 1700 while large or disrupted families depended on child labour and poor relief until c. 1830.
Abstract: We provide a novel framework within which to evaluate real household incomes of predominantly rural working families of various sizes and structures in England, 1260-1850. We reject ahistorical assumptions about complete reliance on men’s wages and male breadwinning, moving closer to reality by including women and children’s contributions to family incomes. Our empirical strategy benefits from recent estimates of men’s annual earnings, so avoiding the need to gross up day rates using problematic assumptions about days worked, and from new data on women and children’s wages and labour inputs. A family life-cycle approach which accommodates consumption smoothing through saving adds further breadth and realism. Moreover, the analysis embraces two historically common but often overlooked family types alternative to the traditional male-breadwinner model: one where the husband is missing having died or deserted, and one where the husband is present but unwilling or unable to find work. Our framework suggests living standards varied widely by family structure and dependency ratio. Incorporating detailed demographic data available for 1560 on suggests that small and intact families enjoyed high and rising living standards after 1700, while large or disrupted families depended on child labour and poor relief until c. 1830. A broader perspective on family structures informs understanding of the chronology and nature of poverty and coping strategies.

4 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the relationship between gender equality and economic growth has been studied in the context of development economists, and the authors sketch the pathways with respect to gender equality in economic growth.
Abstract: Development economists have long studied the relationship between gender equality and economic growth. More recently, economic historians have taken an overdue interest. We sketch the pathways with...

1 citations