The position of women in highly developed countries is examined. Before the Industrial Revolution the members of the family all contributed economically. The Industrial Revolution caused the men to be increasingly independent of the economic contribution of the family while it caused the women and children to become more economically dependent on the extrafamilial occupations of husbands and fathers. Step by step the womans sphere shrank to the household only. The assumption that the percentage of women working has risen strikingly in the postwar period has not been borne out by the censuses. The number of women in the workforce has increased somewhat from 1950-1970 mainly because of the increased tendency of married women to work. Women typically participate in economic activity only as a supplement to their primary status inside the home. Genuine alternatives are now being offered to women however and it is probable that women will choose these alternatives primarily for positive reasons such as satisfying their best talents and drives rather than for negative reasons such as not wanting to be "a mere housewife".