Occupational Breakdown of Germany’s Population (1882-1907) Industrialization changed the way the rapidly expanding German population earned its livelihood. In 1871, about 49% of the workforce was engaged in agriculture; by 1907, that number had fallen to 35%. In that time span, many Germans migrated to urban areas to take full advantage of employment opportunities in growing industries. Industry’s share of the workforce rose from 31% to 40%. It is obvious that women represented a much higher proportion of the workforce in some sectors – e.g., domestic service – than in others. As note 9 reminds us, in order to appreciate the size and significance of female labor – especially in agriculture – contemporary statistics must be interpreted carefully.
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page 1 of 2 Gainfully Employed Persons and their Dependents by Economic Sector (in thousands) Economic sector Year Total number of gainfully employed Number of women in % Family members (d)(7) Gainfully employed and family members in % of total population A. Agriculture (1) 1882 8,236 2,535 30.8 10,564 18,801 41.6 1895 8,293 2,753 33.2 9 834 18,127 35.0 1907 9,883 4,599(9) 46.5 7,634 17,517 28.4                 B. Industry (2,8) 1882 6,396 1,127 17.6 9,359 15,756 34.8 1895 8,281 1,521 18.4 11,652 19,933 38.5 1907 11,256 2,104 18.7 14,799 26,055 42.2                 C. Trade and commerce (3,8) 1882 1,570 298 19.0 2,665 4,236 9.4 1895 2,339 580 24.8 3,344 5,683 11.0 1907 3,478 931 26.8 4,458 7,935 12.9                 D. Domestic Service (4) 1882 1,723 1,466 85.1 539 2,261 5.0 1895 1,772 1,548 87.4 453 2,225 4.3 1907 1,736 1,570 90.4 320 2,056 3.3                 E. Administration, military, and independent professions (5) 1882 1,031 115 11.2 1,027 2,058 4.6 1895 1,426 177 12.4 1,218 2,644 5.1 1907 1,739 288 16.6 1,445 3,184 5.2                 Total A. through E. 1882 18,957 5,542 29.2 24,154 43,111 95.3 1895 22,110 6,578 29.8 26,501 48,611 93.9 1907 28,092 9,493 33.8 28,655 56,747 91.9                 F. Those without occupations and those drawing pensions (6) 1882 1,354 702 51.8 756 2,117 4.7 1895 2,143 1,116 52.1 1,016 3,159 6.1 1907 3,405 1,792 52.6 1,568 4,973 8.1                 Total A. through F. 1882 20,311 6,247 30.7 24,911 45,222 100.0 1895 24,253 7,694 31.7 27,517 51,770 100.0 1907 31,497 11,285 35.8 30,223 61,721 100.0
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