Liberation Technology? The Impact of the Sewing Machine on Women

Philipp Ager () and Davide M. Coluccia ()

CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series from University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany

Abstract: This paper provides novel evidence on how technological change shaped women’s labor market participation, fertility, and marriage in 19th-century Massachusetts. We distin guish between the sewing machine’s dual role as a manufacturing technology and as a household appliance. Using rich town- and individual-level longitudinal data, we show that this innovation induced divergent responses across the wealth distribution. Women from lower-wealth households increased labor supply, delaying marriage and reducing fertility. In contrast, for wealthierwomen, thesewingmachinefunctionedasadomesticef ficiency tool, enabling earlier family formation and greater civic engagement while reducing market work. Ourfindings demonstrate how household constraints and social norms mediate the effects of labor-saving technologies, suggesting that technological progress can reinforce inequality by influencing women’s economic and social roles.

Keywords: Technology; Gender; Female Labor Force Participation; Fertility. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J16 N31 N61 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 105
Date: 2026-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2025_761

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