Abstract
Using data from the U.S. Census manuscript collections from 1850 1860 1870 1880 and 1900 this study examines the prevalence of the family wage economy among different categories of occupations and across ethnic groups. Two aspects of family wage economies are examined: the use of child labor and the use of the labor of young adults and/or adolescents. We find that there are marked differences in the levels of use of both types of labor across occupational and ethnic categories and over time. In general our data show that it was those workers who were most economically distressed who turned to the family wage system as a way of adapting to the emerging industrial economy. (EXCERPT)
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