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Labor-Saving Durables, Women’s Labor-Force Participation, and Government Macroeconomic Policy: The Case of Postwar Britain

Peter Scott & Karina Pavlisa

European Review of Economic History2025https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/heaf017article
AJG 3ABDC A
Weight
0.50

Abstract

The postwar era witnessed substantial changes in women’s formal workforce participation and economic status, driven by equal pay legislation and labor-saving durables that removed most of the fatigue from household tasks. To explore the importance of the postwar “industrialization of the home,” we focus on the UK, where successive governments both restricted the diffusion of labor-saving durables and blocked equal pay legislation, as part of deflationary strategy. We explore the negative impacts of these policies and show that when the restrictions were relaxed in the 1970s, consumer durables ownership and married women’s contributions to household incomes rose substantially.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/heaf017

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@article{peter2025,
  title        = {{Labor-Saving Durables, Women’s Labor-Force Participation, and Government Macroeconomic Policy: The Case of Postwar Britain}},
  author       = {Peter Scott & Karina Pavlisa},
  journal      = {European Review of Economic History},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/heaf017},
}

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

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