Women´s Work and Wages in Finland, 1600 - 1920

A few hundred years ago, the countries were poor and unequal. Since then, some have prospered and become equal, some have not. The project Women's Work and Wages in Finland explores the importance of women's economic agency for Finland's long-term economic development. The focus is on women's access to the labour market and the gender pay gap from the pre-industrial era to the threshold of industrialization.
Kolme palonruokkijaa. Maaninka, Tuovilanlahti. v. 1928. Ahti Rytkönen, Jyväskylän yliopisto, Avoimen tiedon keskus, Tiedemuseon kokoelmat.
Three women on a slash-and-burn field feeding the fire. Maaninka, Tuovilanlahti. 1928. Photographer: Ahti Rytkönen, Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥, Open Science Center, Science Museum

Table of contents

Project duration
-
Core fields of research
Languages, culture and society
Sustainable business and economics
Physical activity, health and wellbeing
Research areas
JYU.Well
Hyvinvointi, kestävyys ja sivistys
Valta, rakenteet ja kriisit
Societal and cultural change processes
Department
Department of History and Ethnology
Faculty
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Funding
Research Council of Finland

Project description

Economic growth is typically aided by gender equality. The only way for women to achieve economic independence and agency is through their own earnings or business profits. The study examines, via the lens of women's earned income, the relationship between women's work and economic development in Finland from pre-industrial times to the threshold of industrial society. The variations in women's income levels, the gender pay gap, and the regional variations in the standard of living within the country can all be more thoroughly examined using historical wage data. This will provide a more thorough understanding of how women have shaped Finland's prosperity.

Poverty and gender inequality still exist in some parts of the world. Historical evidence demonstrates the possibility of change and its potential for everyone concerned. In order to evaluate the economic development of the present and the future, as well as the gendered form of labor and livelihoods, it is crucial to understand historical dynamics.
 

Naisten ansiot

Project team

Project leaders

Riina Turunen

Riina Turunen

Academy Research Fellow

Project members

Eero Ahola

Research Assistant