The numbers of women entering the workforce have steadily risen since the mid 1950s. The nature of the family unit has correspondingly changed; the family in which the man was the husband and breadwinner and the woman was wife and mother devoted full time to home and family is a rarity. The attempt on the part of working family members to…

Covers women's labor history in the United States and in industrialized nations from the early 1800s to the present. Provides primary source documents from New England workers in the 1830s and 1840s and from women workers on global assembly lines in the 1980s. Includes discussion questions. (LS)

This monograph focuses on the working class in Boston during 1775, the period just before the American Revolution. Seven sections describe Boston's geographical and political background; working conditions, employment, and controls; income by industry and occupation; standards of living; social life; mobility and the situation of minorities; and…