Teaching and family: either or both? Work and family among women primary school teachers in northern Sweden, c. 1860–1937

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines the life and career trajectories of teachers recruited to primary schools in coastal northern Sweden. A variety of historical sources are combined to construct collective biographies which include approximately 500 primary school teachers divided in four birth cohorts. Main findings show that women teachers with a teaching certificate came to constitute a majority of the teachers from the 1870s and onwards in the rural region studied. These women teachers were increasingly inclined to form a family of their own and the share that never became mothers decreased continuously during the studied period. Furthermore, among those who formed a family the practice to return to work when the children were older increased over time. Towards the end of the 19th century having children became an increasingly available option among women teachers and a few decades later it had become common. In sum, through the combination of multiple sources, this study suggests that women primary school teachers in Sweden were able to combine family and teaching well before these rights were protected by law in 1939.