Farm wages and living standards in the Industrial Revolution: England, 1670-1869.

Using manuscript and secondary sources, this paper calculates a consistent series of day wages for male farm workers in England from 1670 to 1850. The new series differs considerably for the years 1790-1820 from the still widely used Bowley series. Wages are also estimated for four regions by quinquennia. The new series suggests that real agricultural wages showed little long term movement in the 180 years from 1670 to 1850. Real wages in 1840-49 were only 20% above their level circa 1700. As expected real wage trends differ sharply between the north and south. Real wages declined 10% in the South West, but rose by 75% in the north. The flatness of the real wage series implies Feinstein is too optimistic about real wages in general in the years 1790-1820. It also is inconsistent with the claim of rapid productivity advance in agriculture anytime in the years 1670-1850.