What Jobs would a Victorian Woman have?
The term Victorian covers a broad spectrum, as it covered a broad time frame-approximately 60-70 years. Most of the upper class and middle class probably wouldn’t have had jobs outside of the home, and if they did it probably was only to help tend a family business, etc. If a woman did have to earn a living there were several options. She could become employed as a seamstress, which payed little (unless she was lucky enough to be a dressmaker for some of the upper class). She could do handwork to sell (embroidery, etc.) Many women were governesses, maids, etc. Factory work was also a possibility. If a woman was educated, she could find employment as a teacher (or governess as stated before). Even if she could not find work outside of the home, she could take in ironing, sewing, or washing for a busy middle class lady (upperclass women would have had a live-in maid). Nursing and clerking (secretary) were even possibilities. Of course, some were reduced to prostitution and begging, but t
throughout the Victorian era, domestic service was probably the largest area of employment for working-class women. Large numbers also worked in factories, or in sweatshops (i.e sewing clothes). Laundry work was another way a lot of women earned a living. For middle class women, teaching was the main acceptable way to earn a living in the early part of the Victorian era, though quite a lot of women earned a living through writing. There were many succesful women authors in the Victorian period. From the 1850s onwards, nursing became a respectable occupation for women, due to the reforms made by Florence Nightingale to the nursing profession. Schools of nursing were opened in England, and nursing also became a highly esteemed occupation in the USA. A great many women worked as nurses during the civil war, about four thousand professional nurses and many more as volunteers. Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to graduate from a USA medical school in 1850, and other women entered t
