Note 49 — Chapter III

Even the married women of the bourgeoisie find themselves more and more forced to contribute to the revenues of the family by working for money,49 and this for reasons already cited in speaking of unmarried women: the increasing difficulty of the struggle for existence, and the diminution of the importance of household occupations. Outside of those whose economic situation forces them to work for money, the number of women who seek to earn something is becoming greater and greater. With these it is not necessity that forces them, but the spirit of independence awakened in them by the example of the others. If, on the one hand, the supply of women’s labor increases, on the other hand the demand is increasing also; for though it has been asserted that women are incapable of anything beyond housekeeping, they have proved their aptitude for many of the professions. And besides, the labor of women is much sought after, for not being yet organized like men, the wages they can obtain are not so large.