Women and economic evolution: or, The effects of industrial changes upon the status of women

by Theresa Schmid McMahon

The effect of economic changes upon the status of women have been many. They have forced and are still forcing an ever increasing number of women into the factories to compete with each other in the poorest paid field of labor. The homes of these women are a disgrace to civilization. It is seldom that the comforts or the decencies of life can be found there. These same economic forces are making it possible for many middle class workers to better their financial and social condition but they threaten the masses with poverty or the necessity of the wives entering the industrial field with their husbands. They have also made possible a widening leisure on the part of many women whose husbands are successful business men. Never in history were there so many idle women.

Only the rich and the poor who are adjusted to economic conditions can afford to marry. The one class has no fear for the future, the other class has no hope. It is in the large middle class retaining social ideals and struggling to adapt itself to changing conditions with as little sacrifice as possible, where one can best measure the effects of economic changes. It is there parents appreciate the necessity of giving their children educational advantages superior to their own. Each generation expects more of the past than the last, and what is true of individuals is true of institutions. There is a growing demand for more highly trained men and women. Hence parents appreciate the necessity of limiting the size of the family in order to meet the increased demands made upon them.

Each individual adjusts himself as best he can to his economic life, and his economic life tends to be the center of his social life. When the former changes, the change is reflected in the latter and the sum total creates a social consciousness reflected in the existing social institutions.

It is doubtful if women as a sex will ever reach the same economic and social status as men. Individual women, especially certain unmarried ones, will do so but as representative of a class in society rather than sex.

Unless some radical changes take place in society we now little dream of, the majority of women will prefer home life to active industrial careers. This will be made possible in part by the inherent gallantry of men, and a social conscience which will make fewer economic demands upon the mothers of the race than upon the fathers.

Whether one half of the race can support the other half will never be tested, for there will always be a large army of women, married and single, who will prefer their economic independence to any form of co-operation in housekeeping.

The question resolves itself ultimately into whether the average man will in the future be able to support a family without the financial assistance of his wife; and whether society can afford, either industrially or morally, to support an increasing number of idle women. The question will be solved by one of two forces and probably by both. These are economic necessity and our educational institutions. To prophesy the effects of these forces upon the status of women in the future, it would be necessary to assume that these forces themselves are in no immediate danger of undergoing radical changes. The assumption would be wrong, for the atmosphere is charged with discontent with the present economic conditions. When the latter are sufficiently controlled to assure a measure of contentment among the people the home will adjust itself like any other adaptable institution.

Many of the responsibilities formerly associated with the home are now performed by the state municipality. This changed condition is especially noticeable in the care and education of children. The functions of the state are no longer confined exclusively to police powers, but aim through constructive legislation to bring about industrial and social conditions conducive to the welfare of all its citizens.

Through its educational policies it is possible for the government to so regulate and develop the institutions of society as to minimize some of the evils arising out of modern economic life, and to direct social ideals which will reflect themselves in the industrial habits of man.

The home and all allied institutions show the influence of economic habits, and whatever changes take place in the latter—whether resulting from a conscious social influence or a laissez-faire policy in industry—will in time make themselves felt in the former. The home comes nearer being an expression of the industrial development of mankind than any other institution of society.