Introduction

This book, first published in 1914, examines the economic position of women at the turn of the twentieth century. Women’s economic position had been undermined by the helpless dependence engendered, among the better-off, by nineteenth century luxury, and among manual workers by the loss of their hold upon land and by the decline of home industries. The essays collected here examine the changing state of affairs, with a new force at work: the revolt of the modern woman against economic dependence in all forms.