Kvinnor i avlönat husligt arbete
Karlsson, Tobias LU and Nilsson, Malin LU
(2022)
p.173-192
- Abstract
Domestic service has historically been one of the commonest forms of employment for women. In this chapter, we pose the question whether paid jobs in domestic service offered any career opportunities for women. A point of departure for the chapter is the existence and possible meanings of various occupational titles in the sector, for example ‘servant’, ‘housemaid’ and ‘housekeeper’. Our investigations shows that there was no substantial difference between the two first-mentioned titles; the title ‘servant’ was basically replaced by the title ‘housemaid’. Housemaids and housekeepers were, however, two distinct groups in Gothenburg in the interwar period. The average housekeeper was older than the housemaid. Yet, the housekeeper did not... (More)
Domestic service has historically been one of the commonest forms of employment for women. In this chapter, we pose the question whether paid jobs in domestic service offered any career opportunities for women. A point of departure for the chapter is the existence and possible meanings of various occupational titles in the sector, for example ‘servant’, ‘housemaid’ and ‘housekeeper’. Our investigations shows that there was no substantial difference between the two first-mentioned titles; the title ‘servant’ was basically replaced by the title ‘housemaid’. Housemaids and housekeepers were, however, two distinct groups in Gothenburg in the interwar period. The average housekeeper was older than the housemaid. Yet, the housekeeper did not earn more than the housemaid and the housekeeper were seldom the manager of a staff of servants. Housekeepers were more often replacing a housewife in the household of a single man. Thus, the labour market of female domestic servants in interwar Sweden offered few opportunities for upward social mobility.
(Less)
- author
- Karlsson, Tobias
LU
and Nilsson, Malin
LU
- organization
- alternative title
- Women in paid domestic service
- publishing date
- 2022
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- domestic service, Gothenburg, Gothenburg Population Panel, housekeepers, housemaids, interwar period, occupational stratification, social mobility, women
- host publication
- Liv i rörelse : Göteborgs befolkning och arbetsmarknad 1900–1950 - Göteborgs befolkning och arbetsmarknad 1900–1950
- editor
- Karlsson, Tobias and Lundh, Christer
- pages
- 173 - 192
- publisher
- Nordic Academic Press
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105030805282
- ISBN
- 978-91-88909-94-7
- 978-91-89361-22-5
- DOI
- 10.21525/kriterium.34.g
- project
- Historisk arbetslivsforskning
- Female Empowerment and Economic Growth: The Case of Sweden 1749-2016
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- bdb25040-edef-4980-a773-f928041ea3b7
- date added to LUP
- 2021-12-27 15:24:37
- date last changed
- 2026-04-17 03:13:35
@inbook{bdb25040-edef-4980-a773-f928041ea3b7,
abstract = {{<p>Domestic service has historically been one of the commonest forms of employment for women. In this chapter, we pose the question whether paid jobs in domestic service offered any career opportunities for women. A point of departure for the chapter is the existence and possible meanings of various occupational titles in the sector, for example ‘servant’, ‘housemaid’ and ‘housekeeper’. Our investigations shows that there was no substantial difference between the two first-mentioned titles; the title ‘servant’ was basically replaced by the title ‘housemaid’. Housemaids and housekeepers were, however, two distinct groups in Gothenburg in the interwar period. The average housekeeper was older than the housemaid. Yet, the housekeeper did not earn more than the housemaid and the housekeeper were seldom the manager of a staff of servants. Housekeepers were more often replacing a housewife in the household of a single man. Thus, the labour market of female domestic servants in interwar Sweden offered few opportunities for upward social mobility.</p>}},
author = {{Karlsson, Tobias and Nilsson, Malin}},
booktitle = {{Liv i rörelse : Göteborgs befolkning och arbetsmarknad 1900–1950}},
editor = {{Karlsson, Tobias and Lundh, Christer}},
isbn = {{978-91-88909-94-7}},
keywords = {{domestic service; Gothenburg; Gothenburg Population Panel; housekeepers; housemaids; interwar period; occupational stratification; social mobility; women}},
language = {{swe}},
pages = {{173--192}},
publisher = {{Nordic Academic Press}},
title = {{Kvinnor i avlönat husligt arbete}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.21525/kriterium.34.g}},
doi = {{10.21525/kriterium.34.g}},
year = {{2022}},
}