Arbeit und Alter in ländlichen Gesellschaften der Frühen Neuzeit. Die Erwerbstätigkeit im Alter zwischen eigenem Besitz und den Zwängen einer „Ökonomie des Auskommens“

Abstract

Abstract Despite the growing interest historians have expressed in old age and ageing in recent decades, our knowledge of the labour force participation of elderly people in pre-industrial times is still very limited. This is due to the fact that historians have, for far too long, discussed ‘old age’ mostly in terms of ‘providing for the elderly’ whilst more or less ignoring the wide range of activities the elderly were engaged in as well as the high rate of life-long labour force participation before the late 19th century. This study, on the one hand, discusses the social position of ‘retirees’ (former rural house owners), a social position often seen as an archetype for modern ‘retirement’. Numerous examples are presented from the regional case study of South Bohemia as well as from other parts of Central Europe showing that pre-modern retirees quite often continued to work in many different ways. In many cases inter vivos transfers of land and houses were not undertaken in order to allow for retirement from all activities but rather to facilitate a change in the individual’s own main focus of activity from one occupation to another. In a second part of the study the economy of makeshifts of the poor is analysed. Using rare sources from several South Bohemian parishes enables us to document the importance of the mixed economy of the poorest section of the rural elderly.