The Role of Family Earnings in the English Industrious Revolution 1650-1780

This paper argues that in order to understand changes in the living standards of labouring families over time, as well as patterns of work, it is necessary to consider the work and earnings of all family members, including children, in detail.Certainly by the time David Davies and Frederick Eden came to write about the poverty caused by the great inflation in food prices after 1780, their key analytical tool was the family budget.They were aware that before the rise in prices, and also of fertility, the availability of work in the cloth industry, or in projects of agricultural improvement had led to increased earnings through family work.Here I will demonstrate how family earnings increased in the period after 1660, as both agricultural and industrial production increased, showing how important it is to go beyond simply measuring wage earnings.Agricultural historians have debated when crop yields went up, but certainly by 1700 England was producing enough grain to start exporting a surplus to the continent in most years once population stabilised.The increased availability of food energy produced by agriculture als led to an increased number of people being able to work in non-primary sectors of the economy.E.A. Wrigley has estimated that the percentage of the population engaged in primary agricultural production fell from 76% in 1520 to only 36% by 1801.In absolute terms this meant that the population engaged in agriculture in 1800 was about 3,140,000 compared to 2,870,000 in 1600 even though the amount of land under cultivation had increased considerably and crop yields were much higher.In addition the cloth industry grew in the period under consideration providing employment.There was a tremendous increase in the demand for labour in this period, much of which was met by the employment of women and children.-In this paper I will examine how family earnings increased in the period after 1650 as both agricultural and industrial production increased showing how important it is to go beyond simply measuring wage earnings.Agricultural historians have debated when crop yields went up, but certainly by