An analysis of the occupations of free women in the antebellum USA

Barry Chiswick and Francisco RaeAnn Halenda Robinson ()
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Francisco RaeAnn Halenda Robinson: Department of Economics, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, 2024, vol. 18, issue 2, 363-403

Abstract: This paper analyzes the occupational status and distribution of free women in the antebellum USA. It considers both their reported and unreported (imputed) occupations, using the 1/100 microdata files from the 1860 Census of Population, the only Census that asked free women’s occupations while slavery was legal. After developing and testing the model based on economic and demographic variables used to explain whether a free woman has an occupation, analyses are conducted comparing their occupational distribution to free men, along with analyses among women by marital status, nativity, and the prevalence of slavery. This paper highlights the importance of including unreported family workers in discussions of free female labor market contributions, as their inclusion dramatically shifts the overall female labor force participation rate, as well as their occupational distribution.

Keywords: Sex; ratio; at; birth; Women; ·; Labor; force; participation; ·; Occupational; distribution; ·; Unreported; family; workers; ·; Enslaved; workers; ·; Immigrants; ·; 1860; Census; of; Population (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J21 J82 N31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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