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How Long Was the Workday in 1880?

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Author Info
Atack, Jeremy
Bateman, Fred

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Abstract

This article develops the first comprehensive set of estimates of daily hours of work in 1880 using new data from the Census of Manufactures. We conclude that the average workday was almost exactly 10 hours in 1880 almost a decade earlier than hitherto supposed. Our statistical analysis also reveals small but statistically significant variations in hours between firms and industries, between regions, and by location. We also find that higher-paid workers probably substituted leisure for income, that total employment was unresponsive to hours, and that hours and days of employment during the year moved together.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Cambridge University Press in its journal The Journal of Economic History.

Volume (Year): 52 (1992)
Issue (Month): 01 (March)
Pages: 129-160
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Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:52:y:1992:i:01:p:129-160_01

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  1. Michael Huberman, 2002. "Working Hours of the World Unite? New International Evidence on Worktime, 1870-1900," CIRANO Working Papers 2002s-77, CIRANO. [Downloadable!]
  2. Michael D. Bordo & Robert D. Dittmar & William T. Gavin, 2003. "Gold, Fiat Money, and Price Stability," NBER Working Papers 10171, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Dora L. Costa, 2000. "From Mill Town to Board Room: The Rise of Women's Paid Labor," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 101-122, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Jeremy Atack & Fred Bateman & Robert A. Margo, 2001. "Part-Year Operation in Nineteenth Century American Manufacturing: Evidence from the 1870 and 1880 Censuses," Working Papers 0106, Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University, revised Mar 2001. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Jeremy Atak & Fred Bateman & Robert A. Margo, 2001. "Part-Year Operation in 19th Century American Manufacturing: Evidence from the 1870 and 1880 Censuses," Macroeconomics 0105001, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Robert W. Fogel, 1994. "Economic Growth, Population Theory, and Physiology: The Bearing of Long-Term Processes on the Making of Economic Policy," NBER Working Papers 4638, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Michael R. Haines, 1991. "The Use of Historical Census Data for Mortality and Fertility Research," NBER Historical Working Papers 0031, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. W. Michael Cox & Richard Alm, 1993. "These are the good old days: a report on U.S. living standards," Annual Report, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, pages 2-25. [Downloadable!]
  9. Dora L. Costa, 1998. "The Unequal Work Day: A Long-Term View," NBER Working Papers 6419, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  10. Dora L. Costa, 1993. "Explaining the Changing Dynamics of Unemployment: Evidence from Civil War Records," NBER Historical Working Papers 0051, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Dora L. Costa, 1995. "Health, Income, and Retirement: Evidence from Nineteenth Century America," NBER Working Papers 4537, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Jeremy Atack & Fred Bateman, 2000. "Downtime in American Manufacturing Industry: 1870 and 1880," Working Papers 0048, Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University. [Downloadable!]
  13. Dora L. Costa, 1998. "The Wage and the Length of the Work Day: From the 1890s to 1991," NBER Working Papers 6504, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Fogel, Robert W., 1993. "Economic Growth, Population Theory, and Physiology: The Bearing of Long-Term Processes on the Making of Economic Policy," Nobel Prize in Economics documents 1993-1, Nobel Prize Committee. [Downloadable!]
  15. Jeremy Atack & Fred Bateman & Robert A. Margo, 2000. "Productivity in Manufacturing and the Length of the Working Day: Evidence from the 1880 Census of Manufactures," Macroeconomics 0012003, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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