The female labour market in English agriculture during the Industrial Revolution: Expansion or contraction?

This article reviews some of the recent literature on women's farm work and adds evidence from sources such as Marshall's Review and farm accounts to consider patterns of expansion and contraction in the demand for female lab our from the capitalist sector of English agriculture over the period 1700- 1850. The amount of work available to women, the sexual division of labour and female wage rates are discussed. It argues that although generalization s regarding the causes of increase or decline in female work and wages are not easily made, the final impression is that both before and during the In dustrial Revolution, the demand from agriculture for female labour was limi ted.