Impact on Women
In traditional communities, women had been an indispensable part of a household's economic survival.
-- Women farmed, raised animals and oversaw important functions of the household.
Enclosure of common lands meant that women (and men) were forced off the land
Economic opportunities for women thus decreased significantly
--many families with daughters were eager to get them out of the house as they were an extra mouth to feed.
Young women increasingly went to towns or cities where they became domestic workers, or in many cases when there were no alternatives, prostitutes.
Families who were able to get by in the countryside often supplemented their income through the cottage industry, or putting-out system (mostly for spinning or weaving.)
Women played an important role in spinning and weaving.
-- Women farmed, raised animals and oversaw important functions of the household.
Enclosure of common lands meant that women (and men) were forced off the land
Economic opportunities for women thus decreased significantly
--many families with daughters were eager to get them out of the house as they were an extra mouth to feed.
Young women increasingly went to towns or cities where they became domestic workers, or in many cases when there were no alternatives, prostitutes.
Families who were able to get by in the countryside often supplemented their income through the cottage industry, or putting-out system (mostly for spinning or weaving.)
Women played an important role in spinning and weaving.