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How Skilled Were Agricultural Labourers in the Early Nineteenth Century?

Burnette, Joyce LU (2006) In Economic History Review 59(4). p.688-716
Abstract
Using the wage accounts of two different farms in the 1830s and 1840s, matched with census records to determine the age of the workers, this article estimates age-wage profiles for male and female agricultural labourers. Females earned less than males, and had less wage growth over their life cycles. Male wage profiles peaked at age 30–5, earlier than the wage profiles of workers today. Before the age of 30 wage growth was more rapid than increases in strength, but less rapid than wage growth among factory workers. If wage increases after the age of 20 indicate skill acquisition, then male agricultural labourers acquired a significant amount of skill, but less skill than contemporaneous factory workers.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
agricultural laborers
in
Economic History Review
volume
59
issue
4
pages
29 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:33749408386
ISSN
1468-0289
DOI
10.1111/j.1468-0289.2006.00363.x
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
a7c2f0ef-cd3f-4ec7-93d9-19ce9199067f
date added to LUP
2017-09-21 15:35:17
date last changed
2022-04-25 02:42:54
@article{a7c2f0ef-cd3f-4ec7-93d9-19ce9199067f,
  abstract     = {{Using the wage accounts of two different farms in the 1830s and 1840s, matched with census records to determine the age of the workers, this article estimates age-wage profiles for male and female agricultural labourers. Females earned less than males, and had less wage growth over their life cycles. Male wage profiles peaked at age 30–5, earlier than the wage profiles of workers today. Before the age of 30 wage growth was more rapid than increases in strength, but less rapid than wage growth among factory workers. If wage increases after the age of 20 indicate skill acquisition, then male agricultural labourers acquired a significant amount of skill, but less skill than contemporaneous factory workers.}},
  author       = {{Burnette, Joyce}},
  issn         = {{1468-0289}},
  keywords     = {{agricultural laborers}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{688--716}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Economic History Review}},
  title        = {{How Skilled Were Agricultural Labourers in the Early Nineteenth Century?}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0289.2006.00363.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.1468-0289.2006.00363.x}},
  volume       = {{59}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}