Medieval workers had far fewer jobs than historians thought, study finds
Researchers analyzing 18th-century Danish records found agricultural and construction workers averaged just 170 days of employment yearly—well below the 250-day assumption long used by historians and economists. The finding reshapes understanding of pre-industrial labor markets and suggests historians may have overestimated historical living standards and worker productivity.
Originaltitel: All in a Day's Work: Evidence From Danish Manorial Accounts on Labor, Seasonality, and Living Standards
<p>We use detailed microlevel data from the Danish Price History Project to estimate the number of days manorial employers engaged day-laborers in eighteenth-century rural Denmark. We find that agriculture and construction employed men for an average of 170 days per year and women for 104 days-far below the commonly assumed figure of 250 days for full-year employment. These figures likely represent a lower bound on sector-specific labor demand rather than total annual work effort by individuals, who may have supplemented their income with other types of employment. Our findings show strong seasonality in work availability, with most labor occurring during the summer months, and provide new evidence on how labor demand patterns shifted over time. By focusing on sectoral employment patterns, this study contributes to recent literature on the organization of work in pre-industrial economies and highlights the importance of seasonal dynamics in shaping labor markets.</p>