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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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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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