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Trends in real wages during the industrial revolution: a view from across the Irish Sea

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  • FRANK GEARY
  • TOM STARK

Abstract

This article calculates cost of living indices for Ireland between 1785 and 1870 and real wage indices for agricultural labourers, textile workers, and building workers. These indices show gains in real wages which are not consistent with current hypotheses about widespread pre‐Famine immiseration, though textile workers did experience a reduction in earning power. Before the Famine, wages proved sticky downwards in the face of falling prices; after the Famine, money wages rose faster than prices. A revised UK index suggests that real wages began their increase earlier, in the 1820s, and increased by around an additional 10 percentage points by 1870.

Suggested Citation

  • Frank Geary & Tom Stark, 2004. "Trends in real wages during the industrial revolution: a view from across the Irish Sea," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 57(2), pages 362-395, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:57:y:2004:i:2:p:362-395
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0289.2004.00281.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Frank Geary, 1998. "Deindustrialization in Ireland to 1851: some evidence from the census," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 51(3), pages 512-541, August.
    2. T. R. Gourvish, 1972. "The Cost of Living in Glasgow in the Early Nineteenth Century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 25(1), pages 65-78, February.
    3. Frank Geary, 1995. "The Act of Union, British-Irish trade, and pre-Famine deindustrialization," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 48(1), pages 68-88, February.
    4. Eric L. Almquist, 1983. "Labour Specialization and the Irish Economy in 1841: An Aggregate Occupational Analysis," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 36(4), pages 506-517, November.
    5. Feinstein, Charles H., 1998. "Pessimism Perpetuated: Real Wages and the Standard of Living in Britain during and after the Industrial Revolution," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 58(3), pages 625-658, September.
    6. Gregory Clark, 2001. "Farm Wages and Living Standards in the Industrial Revolution: England,1670–1869[This resea]," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 54(3), pages 477-505, August.
    7. Kravis, Irving B & Heston, Alan W & Summers, Robert, 1978. "Real GDP per Capita for More Than One Hundred Countries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 88(350), pages 215-242, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gregory Clark, 2005. "The Condition of the Working Class in England, 1209-2004," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(6), pages 1307-1340, December.
    2. Solomos Solomou & Ryland Thomas, 2019. "Feinstein Fulfilled: Updated Estimates of UK GDP 1841-1920," Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) Technical Reports ESCOE-TR-04, Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE).
    3. Gregory Clark & Kevin Hjortsh�j O'Rourke & Alan M. Taylor, 2014. "The growing dependence of Britain on trade during the Industrial Revolution," Scandinavian Economic History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(2), pages 109-136, June.
    4. Gregory Clark & Kevin H. O'Rourke & Alan M. Taylor, 2008. "Made in America? The New World, the Old, and the Industrial Revolution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 523-528, May.
    5. Gregory Clark, 2005. "The Condition of the Working Class in England, 1209-2004," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(6), pages 1307-1340, December.
    6. Solomos Solomou & Ryland Thomas, 2023. "Updated estimates of UK GDP from the income side, 1841–1920," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(3), pages 701-727, August.
    7. Fredrik N G Andersson & Jason Lennard, 2019. "Irish GDP between the Famine and the First World War: estimates based on a dynamic factor model," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 23(1), pages 50-71.
    8. Bielenberg, Andy & Geary, Frank, 2006. "Growth in manufacturing output in Ireland between the Union and the Famine: Some evidence," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 119-152, January.
    9. Gregory Clark & Kevin Hjortshøj O'Rourke & Alan M. Taylor, 2014. "The growing dependence of Britain on trade during the Industrial Revolution," Scandinavian Economic History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(2), pages 109-136, June.
    10. Cormac Ó Gráda & Eric Vanhaute & Richard Paping, 2006. "The European subsistence crisis of 1845-1850 : a comparative perspective," Working Papers 200609, School of Economics, University College Dublin.

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