Introduction. Rural women workers: the forgotten labour force -- Women, work and wages in historical perspective -- Differing views of rural women's work in documentary material: an overview of printed sources -- Women in the agricultural labour market: female farm servants -- Women in the agricultural labour market: female day labourers -- Alternative employment opportunities: domestic industries -- Survival strategies: women, work and the informal economy -- Conclusion Assessing women's work
Summary
The work performed by women who lived in the nineteenth-century English countryside is still an under-researched issue. Verdon directly addresses this issue, placing the rural female labourer centre stage for the first time. The involvement of women in the rural labour market as farm servants, as day labourers in agriculture, and as domestic workers, are all examined using a wide range of printed and unpublished sources
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-227) and index
