Looking for Work? Or Looking for Workers? Days and Hours of Work in London Construction in the Eighteenth Century

Abstract

This paper provides new information and data on how work and pay actually operated for skilled and semi-skilled men on large London construction projects in the early 1700s, and for the first time, offers detailed firm level evidence on the number of days per year worked by men. Construction workers' working days were bounded by structural factors of both supply and demand, men worked a far lower number of days than has been assumed until now. This has implications for our understanding of the 'industrious revolution', and industrialisation.

Keywords: England; industrial revolution; industrious revolution; labour input; living standards; wages, building craftsmen

JEL Classification: J3, J4, J6, N33, N63