‘At the rate of 28 sous and a half oil per month, and mesureta’: The wages of female olive pickers in Mallorca, 1645 – 1687

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to make an empirical contribution to the reconstruction of female wages in the pre-industrial agricultural sector. Despite the complexity involved in the construction of wage-series, particularly those of women’s wages, it is worthy continuing using and improving them in order to understand the social and economic functioning of pre-industrial agrarian societies. The study focus on the island of Majorca where an important olive oil specialization through large farms took place along the 17th century exporting its surplus to the international market. Female and child labour were hired in those farms to pick olives, which became a key factor in the reproduction of this agricultural system. For these reasons, the knowledge of the evolution of wages is a crucial element in capturing the evolution of the exploitation expenses, as well as the importance of wages in the income and living standards of agricultural families.