Married women and work in nineteenth century Lancashire: the evidence of the 1851 and 1861 census reports.

This paper re-examines the steep decline in the employment of married women over the second half of the 19th century in Lancashire England. The employment of married women in 1851 and 1861 in Lancashire was considerably higher compared to England and Wales as a whole. Later by 1911 the number of employed married women had declined in the country as a whole. However based on findings the proportion of employed married women was much higher than the national average in 1851 and 1861 for the textile districts of Lancashire. The status remained in 1911 although there was a decline between 1861 and 1911 with the order of magnitude proportional to the national decline. Significant geographical difference in the level of employment of married women occurs within England Wales and Lancashire. High number of employment among married women in Lancashire was mainly due to the presence of major industry. Employment of a more casual nature than in textile mills possibly was unnoticed by the enumerators. Thus actual amount of work done by women was not fully reflected.