Rural Living Standards and Inequality: A Case Study from Southern Sweden 1780-1919
Willner, Sam
2021
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Citation for published version (APA): Willner, S. (2021). Rural Living Standards and Inequality: A Case Study from Southern Sweden 1780-1919. (Lund Papers in Economic History; No. 2021:219).
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Download date: 27. Sep. 2021 Lund Papers in Economic History
No. 219, 2021
Rural Living Standards and Inequality: A Case Study from Southern Sweden 1780-1919
Sam Willner
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC HISTORY, LUND UNIVERSITY Rural Living Standards and Inequality: A Case Study from Southern Sweden, 1780-1919*
Sam Willner♦
Abstract For several decades a lively debate has been ongoing regarding how living standards and economic inequality actually developed during the agrarian and industrial revolutions in 19th century Western Europe. This study examines rural living standards and inequality among common people in five Swedish parishes, based on circa 4,000 probate inventories in the period from 1780s to 1910s. It is probably the most comprehensive study done so far regarding wealth development of a local Swedish rural context, covering the entire 19th century, comparing and analysing the material standard of living for different socio economic groups related to the fundamental social processes taking part during the 19th century, such as the agrarian and industrial revolutions. The local design in combination with a relatively large dataset allows for more detailed analyses and controlling for more variables than is usually possible in studies on a higher geographical level. The local approach, taking into account specific contextual factors, could help to reveal relevant mechanisms affecting the development and distribution of wealth that might be hidden in studies based on aggregate data on national level not considering regional variations. Among farmers net wealth increased stepwise during the 19th century to a large extent due to rising real estate values, while lower social classes, largely in accordance with several previous studies, witnessed stagnating wealth levels until the breakpoint around the1860s, whereafter material resources started to rise substantially according to the wealth estimates. Besides real estate increasing bank savings was a major factor for the improving wealth in early 20th century, but also an increasing number of movable assets, such as
*Acknowledgements: A great thank to Erik Bengtsson, Department of Economic History at Lund University, for many valuable comments and suggestions. ♦ Sam Willner, Department of Culture and Society (IKOS), History unit, Linköping University.
1 household utensils, furniture and bed clothing, contributed to an improvement in standard of living regarding comfort and hygiene in late 19th century. Improvements in agricultural production is likely to somewhat have counteracted the negative impact from the population growth and the rising proportion of the landless population. But still until the last severe crop failure, and the onset of the great emigration wave to the US, in late 1860s bad harvests appear to have had a temporarily negative effect on health and economic wellbeing among the labouring poor. The great US emigration reducing the supply of labour contributed to pushing wages upwards and to the rising standard of living of workers in late 19th century. According to the Gini-estimates inequality culminated around mid 19th century between farmers and workers as well as within the different social groups, and then declined substantially in late 19th century, contrary to the findings from studies of national level. Simultaneously the social structure changed significantly. The numbers of traditional rural groups, particularily lower agrarian workers, declined whilst the number of industrial workers, such as paper milll workers and glass work labourers, rose sharply. It is likely that the rapid overflow of low paid rural workers to better paid industrial jobs contributed to close the economic gap between different social groups. It I obvious that the changes in the social structure within in the landless population groups, particularly the share of low rural workers, was highly decisive for the fluctuations in inequality. The results from this study highlights the importance of regional and local studies for revealing important mechanisms affecting the development of standard of living and economic inequality in a historical perspective
Keywords: rural standard of living, wealth inequality, 19th century, Sweden, agrarian revolution, industrialization, probate inventories JEL Codes: N33
2 1. Introduction
Over half a century a lively debate regarding how the agrarian and industrial revolutions affected the living standards among common people in Britain has been going on between “optimists” and “pessimists”.1 The optimists claiming an improving living standard during thev early industrialisation period. This view has been questionned by the pessimist contending that material conditions for the working class did not start to improve significantly until the second half of the 19th century. The specific social consequences of the agricultural revolution and the enclosure reforms in England have also been disputed. The “pessimists” claiming that the labouring poor lost access to the commons and was also affected by falling employment opportunities, while the “optimists” or revisionists claim that the loss of the access to the commons was counteracted by an increase in more regular working opportunities.2 Studies analysing standard of living in a historical perspective have been based on various factors, such as mortality, food intake and body stature, GDP per capita, real wages, consumption data and estimates from probate inventories. Studies based on analyses of probate inventories appears often to indicate a higher standard of living than those based on real wage development and biological standard of living for example.3 According to Kuznets did the transition from an agrarian to a industrial economy initially lead to increasing income inequality as an effect of the overflow of people from agriculture to better-paid industrial works, until the majority of the workers had moved into the higher paying industrial sector.4 Regarding the social distribution of material resources, many studies, applying the Kuznets curve on historical wealth inequality, confirm the view, proposed by van Zanden 1995,5 that economic growth and rising wealth was positively correlated to increasing inequality during the industrial breakthrough as well as in the pre industrial period.6 There are however some studies suggesting that this not always has been
1 See the contributions in Taylor,A.J. (ed), The Standard of Living in Britain in the Industrial Revolution, 1975. See also the discussion in Griffin, E., “Diets, hunger and living standards during the British industrial revolution”, Past and Present, 239, 2018. 2 Dribe, M, Olsson, M. and Svensson, P., “The agricultural revolution and the conditions of the rural poor, southern Sweden, 1750-1860”, Economic History Review, 70, 2, 2017, 483-508. 3 Hallén, P., Överflöd eller livets nödtorft. Materiell levnadsstandard i Sverige 1750-1900 i jämförelse med Frankrike, Kanada och Storbritannien, 2009, p 60. 4 Kuznets, S., “Economic growth and income inequality”, American Economic Review, 45, pp1-28, 1955. 5 Van Zanden, J.L., “Tracing the beginning of the Kuznets curve: western Europe during the early modern period”, Economic History Review, XLVIII:4, pp 643-664, 1995. 6 See Bengtsson E., Missiaia, A, Olsson, M. and Svensson, P. “Wealth inequality in Sweden, 1750-1900”, Economic History Review, 71, 3, pp 772-794, 2018.
3 the case, and that variations in sectoral structure, migration, urbanisation degree, class structure etc, mean that the general relation between wealth growth and rising inequality did not hold on the regional level.7 It is important to keep in mind that the industrial breakthrough occured much later in Sweden than in Britain, and that Swedish economy was essentially based on agriculture during the first half of the 19th century. Most scholars do agree on the view that the production of vegetables increased more rapidly than the population growth,8 and that the standard of living in Sweden in general terms increased substantially during most of the nineteenth century, but it is less clear how material resources was socially distributed and the more precise timing of improvement in different social groups.9 Most previous analyses discussing the development and distribution of material resources and the social structuer in 19th century rural Sweden are mainly based on classifications dividing social groups between farmer peasants owning or disposing land (the most central mean of production in the agrarian society) at least sufficient to provide their households and the rapidly growing groups of people disposing less or no land at all and dependent on wage work or work in kind , such as crofters, cottagers, persons living-in and rural workers.10 Some studies on rural standard of living and inequality in Sweden have focused on the peasant farmer group in local contexts, excluding the proletarian groups as well as the relatively few very wealthy noble landlords.11 Several of those studies have found an increasing social differentation within the Swedish peasant farmer class in the 19th century as a consequence of the growing market economy.12 Many of the analyses stop around mid-19th century, at the beginning of or just before the industrial breakthrough.13
7 Pamner, M.,”Interregional and Intraregional Wealth Inequality in Nineteenth Century Austria” Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftgeschichte, pp 37-55, 2013. 8 Gadd, C-j., ”Agricultural revolution 1700-1870, in Myrdal, J. and Morell, M. (eds), : From 4000 BC to AD 2000, 2011. 9 Bengtsson, T. and Dribe M. “New Evidence on the Standard of Living in Sweden during the 18th and 19th Centuries: Long-term Development on the Demographic Response to Short-term Economic Stress among Landless in Western Scania”, Lund Papers in Economic History, no 82, 2002. 10 Winberg, C., Folkökning och proletarisering: Kring den sociala strukturomvandlingen på Sveriges landsbygd under den agrara revolutionen, 1975. Eriksson, I. and Rogers, J., Rural Labor and Population Change: Social and Demographic Development in East-central Sweden during the Nineteenth Century, 1978. Gadd, C.-J., Järn och potatis: Jordbruk, Teknik och social omvandling i Skaraborg län 1750-1860, 1983. 11 Bengtsson E., Missiaia, A, Olsson, M. and Svensson, P.,”Wealth inequality in Sweden, 1750-1900”, Economic History Review, 71, 3, pp 772-794, 2018. 12 Bengtsson, E. and Svensson, P., 2019; Winberg, C., 1975.Martinius, S., Peasant destinies. The history of 552 Swedes born 1810-1812, 1977. 13 Isacson, M. Ekonomisk tillväxt och social differentiering 1680-1860: Bondeklassen i By socken, Kopparbergs län, 1979; Morell M., “On the stratification of the Swedish peasant class”, Scandinavian Economic History Review , 28 (1), 1980, 15-32; Lindström, J., Distribution and Differences: Stratification and the System of
4 According to Carl-Johan Gadd did the severe crop failures in the early 1770s, followed by dramatically high deat rates, initiate a period of decling standard of living circa 1775-1810, followed by a period of rising agricultural production and falling food prices improving the material situation for the landless poor. After mid-1830s the economic situation worsened. In the 1850s the production rose again and the county governors reported about rising prosperity and consumption. In late 1860s the country suffered from severe crop failures in some regions. But thanks to the general improvement of food production in combination with storage of grain and better transportation possibilities from surplus to shortage areas did this or following years of bad harvests only have limited effects on peoples´wellbeing and mortality in comparison with previous periods.14 The Swedish GDP per capita trend estimates by Krantz and Schön is largely in consistent with Gadd´s description above, and show a sharp increase in early 1870s followed by a moderate growth in the 1880s and a substantial rise from 1890s and onwards.15 According to a study by Per Hallén, based on probate inventories, the farmers´material standard of living improved substantially in 19th century Sweden and the regional differences diminished.16 The development for lower rural groups are, however, less clear, but data suggest that the economic situation did not improve before mid-19th century. Tommy Bengtsson and Martin Dribe discusses the long-term development of standard of living among the landless population, based on analyses of mortality (and fertility) responses to grain prices and harvests short-term fluctuations in Western Scania in 18th and 19th century in an article from 2002.17 According to their results the mortality increased and fertility fell strongly in years of high grain prices (and bad harvests) during the agricultural transformation period (1815-65), while this effect was broken in the industrial period (1865- 1895), leading to the conclusion that a sustained improvement in standard of living for the landless did not take place before this last period. A study of Scandinavian workers share of growing GDP by Erik Bengtsson (2017) show that workers (including urban as well rural workers) wages lagged GDP growth from the 1840s to the 1860s, while a clear increase in wages and a growth about the same pace as GDP between the 1870s to 1910. According to Bengtsson the most important determinant for
Reproduction in a Swedish Peasant Community 1620-1820, 2008; Olausson, P., Rikedom, makt och status i bondesamhället: Social och ekonomisk skiktning i västra Värmland från 1600-talet till 1800-talets mitt, 2004. 14 Gadd, C-J., Den agrara revolutionen 1700-1870, 2000, pp 345. 15 Schön, L.& Krantz, O., “Swedish historical national accounts 1560-2010, Lund Papers in Economic History no 123, 2012 16 Hallén, P. 2009. 17 Bengtsson,T. and Dribe, M., 2002.
5 the changes in the relations between wages and GDP growth was the variations in labour supply linked to population growth and emigration.18 According to a study of Erik Bengtsson and Patrick Svensson, based on probate inventories of a national sample of rural labourers for the benchmark years 1750, 1800, 1850 and 1900, real wealth fell beween 1750-1800 and 1800-1850, but increased significantly from 1850 to 1900. They also found that the difference in average wealth estimates between the semi-proletarian (crofters) and proletarian groups (rural workers and servants) was very small, or that even the latter group was superior 1850 and 1900.19 The most (or only) comprehensive studies regarding historical wealth inequality on national level in Sweden are Roine and Waldenström (2009) and Erik Bengtsson et al (2018), covering all social groups.20 The former, based on estate tax data, begin in 1873, and do accordingly not cover the pre-industrial period. It did not find any substantial changes in inequality levels during the initial phase of industrialisation from 1870s to 1906-08, contrary to what might be expected from the Kuznets curve theory. Erik Bengtsson et al do study rural as well as urban wealth inequality during the whole 19th century, beginning in 1750 and ending in 1900. The analysis is based on wealth estimates, adjusted for age and social class, from a random sample of probate inventories for the years 1750, 1800, 1850 and 1900. According to the study there was an early pre industrial growth in inequality linked to the rise of the very poor landless proportion of the population, while an even sharper rise in late 19th century was connected to the industrialization process. This pattern was found for total population as well as within the farmers and the workers and lower middle class social groups.
2. Nineteenth Century Sweden
During the 19th century Sweden, as well as other western societies, witnessed dramatic social, economic and demographic changes. The first half of the 19th century was largely influenced by a dramatic population growth and proletarianisation process.21 The huge emigration wave
18 Bengtsson, E., “Inequality and the working class in Scandinavia 1800-1910: Workers´ share of growing incomes”, Economic History Research 13, 2017, 180-189. 19 Bengtsson, E. and Svensson, P., “The living standards of the labouring classes in Sweden, 1750-1900: evidence from rural probate inventories” Lund papers in economic history, 213, 2020. 20 Bengtsson E., Missiaia, A, Olsson, M. and Svensson, P., 2018; Roine, J. and Waldenström, W., “Wealth concentration over th e path of development: Sweden, 1873-2006, Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 111, pp 151-187, 2009. 21 Winberg, C., 1975.
6 did slow down the rapid population growth. More than one million Swedes migrated to the US in late 19th and early 20th century.22 Reforms in agricultural production, sometimes called the “agrarian revolution”, took place. Extensive land reforms aiming to consolidatie splitted farmland to more cohesive units, extensive land reclamations, introduction of new tools and crop rotation methods, the breakthrough of potatoes as an important food staple and field crop etc lead to improvements in production and productivity in agriculture.23. Sweden changed from importing grain to produce a surplus and being an export country. The land redistribution reforms and landclearings are believed to have led to a rising demand of labour.24 But still the margins for survival were small and periods of bad harvests or crop failures endangered the health and economic wellbeing amongst less affluent population groups well up to the latest famine in late 1860s, although the demographic responses on harvest fluctuations became much milder than was the case during the 18th century.25 A greater regularity of food supply in the following decades finally broke the calamities of periodic crop failures and famine related mortality.26 The period circa 1850-1890 is usually regarded as the beginning of the industrialisation process in Sweden, and in the following decades the definite industrial breakthrough took part.27 Swedish export production of timber, pulp, iron ore and engineering products expanded rapidly. At the same time the agrarian sector advanced. A dynamic process of mutual exchange took place.The industry delivered new machines and tools making agricultural production more efficient. The mechanisation process released labour from agriculture to be transferred to the industrial sector. The new railway system facilitated transportation of agricultural products and contributed to market integration. Farmers sold their products to certain industrial branches and to the growing amount of non- agrarian households. Rising incomes lead to a growing demand of industrial products etc. A steadily increasing proportion of the agrarian sector was integrated in the capitalisic market, but still many small family holdings remained more or less unafffected by market adjustment and commercialisation. Due to a large inflow of cheap trans-oceanic and Russian grain in combination with changing dietary habits of the domestic consumers many farmers moved towards a production more based on animal foodstuff, particularily dairy products, at the
22 Beijbom, U., Mot löftets land. Den svenska utvandringen, Stockholm, 1995. 23 Gadd, C.-J., 1983. 24 Gadd, C.-J., 2000. 25 Bengtsson,T. and Dribe,M., 2002. Nelson, M.C. Bitter Bread, the famine in Norrbotten 1867-1868, 1988. Schön, L., En modern svensk historia. Tillväxt och omvandling under två sekel, p 74, 2007. 26 Bengtsson,T. and Dribe,M., 2002. 27 Schön, L., 2007.
7 expense of cereal production.28 Still in 1900 around 80% of Swedes lived on the countryside and circa 50% were active in the agricultural sector.29 It is highly probable that these processes had substantial implcations for economic conditions and the development of material resources and how they were distributed between different social classes and occupational groups in the society. With regard for the population dependent on a wage to provide their living it is likely that the demand. and support on the labour market was central.
2.1. Study Design
In this article we will discuss how these structural processes might have affected the development of material wealth and how it was distributed in a local rural context in 19th century Sweden, and in what respects the development followed the national pattern.The study will focus on the standard of living conditions between and within the group of peasant farmers and the semi-landless or landless workers over time. Aspects regarding the process of the economic transformation from agricultural capital to industrial and financial capital will not be discussed here. The wealth analyses are based on circa 4,000 probate inventories of five rural parishes in southeastern Sweden 1780-1919.30 The study analysis all deceased persons fullfilling the criterions for inclusionin in the study, that is deceased in ages 20-59 years, being married or widowed living with at least one principal heir (spouse or children). Probate inventories became became mandatory in Sweden 1734. The probate inventories are filed in the rural district courts (häradsrätt) archive. The coverage might vary between different groups and over time. The coverage is often lower for unmarried or old persons and the poor, while for example married farmers usually were probated.31 Admittedly lower social classes are underrepresented in the probate inventories, but still previous studies consider that there are sufficiently numbers of inventories allowing to study working class groups as well.32 Since this study is analysing married individuals in working ages the number of missing individuals is strongly reduced. The farmers are almost entirely included while the
28 Morell, M. Det svenska jordbrukets historia: Jordbruket I industrisamhället 1870-1945, 2001. 29 BiSOS A. Befolkningsstatistik 1900: Part 1 and 3, SCB (Statistics Sweden). 30 Riksarkivet (State Archive): Konga and Uppvidinge häradsrätter 1780-1919. 31 Erikson, M., Krediter i lust och nöd: Skattebönder i Torstuna härad, Västmanlands län, 1770–1870, 2018, pp 47. 32 Bengtsson, E. and Svensson, P., 2020.
8 landless social group is covered by circa 75%, and a technique has been developed to some extent account for the problem with missing inventories. Swedish probate inventories are considered to be of a relatively high quality in an international perspective with regard to coverage and content, containing detailed accounts of real estate , animals and most other movables and claims and debts.33 Probate inventories have been used by researchers in studies regarding the devopment or distribution of agricultural tools, animal stocks, seeds and grain, clothes and debts and more recently for comprehensive analyses of living standard and wealth inequality.34 Analysing real wages of specific worker groups is probably the most influential methodology in historical studies on the living standard of the working class.35 One major shortcoming of the real wage approach is that it usually does not give information regarding the actual income, depending on working hours or days. Furthermore in kind payments are generally not included. Another problem is that data usually is gender biased, only giving information regarding male wages.36 A further shortcoming is the problem of getting information relevant for all different groups of workers.37 Analyses based on probate inventories offers a promising method to avoid these problems, giving a direct measure of material living standards on household level. In contrast to many previous studies this article analyses both pre-industrial conditions as well as the early industrial period of Sweden, covering the entire period 1780- 1919. The study discusses rural standard of living and wealth distribution, in general as well as decomposed by specific components, between different socio economic categories, and raises a discussion regarding methodological problems regarding the use of probate inventories for analyses of wealth inequality. This is probably the most comprehensive study done so far regarding wealth development of a local Swedish rural context, covering the entire 19th century, comparing and analysing the material standard of living for different socio economic groups related to the fundamental social changes taking part during the 19th century, such as the agrarian and industrial revolutions.
33 Bengtsson E., Missiaia, A, Olsson, M. and Svensson, P., 2018. 34 Herlitz, L., Jordegendom och ränta: omfördelningen av jordbrukets merprodukt i Skaraborgs län under frihetstiden, 1974. Gadd, C.-J., 1983. Ulväng, M., Klädekonomi och klädkultur: böndernas kläder i Härjedalen under 1800-talet, 2012. Bengtsson E., Missiaia, A, Olsson, M. and Svensson, P., 2018. 35 Bengtsson, E. and Svensson, P., 2020. 36 Humphries, J. and Weisdorf, J., “The Wages of Women in England, 1260–1850”, Journal of Economic History, 75 (2), 405–447, 2015. 37 See the discussion in Bengtsson, E. and Svensson, P., 2020.
9 The local study approach does of course not permit to generalise the outcomes beyond the study area, but the local design in combination with a relatively large dataset allows for more detailed analyses and controlling for more variables than is usually possible in studies on a higher geographical level. The local approach, taking into account the specific contextual factors, could help to reveal relevant mechanisms affecting the development and distribution of wealth that might be hidden in studies based on aggregate data on national level not considering regional variations.
2.2. Study Area
The study area consists of five surroundig rural parishes in the county Kronoberg in south eastern Sweden, largely covered by less fertile and stony moraine land and dominated by small scale farms,38 mostly owned and run by peasant farmers, engaged in mixed farming, often complemented with extra incomes from forestry.39 Particularily animal husbandry did generate extra incomes from trading with oxen and butter, while the conditions for commercial grain production was less favourable.40 The great majority of the population of Kronoberg was rural, and as late as in 1920 less than 6% were living in the single officially established town of the county.41 In late 19th century the eastern part of the region, including the study area, became a centre of the glass works industry in Sweden.42 However, generallly industrialization was quite modest, largely due to the low degree of urbanization.43 GDP per capita was quite low compared to most other Swedish counties 1780-1850. According to a study by Ernflo and Missiaia counties with a low proportion of industrial workers did generally also show a low GDP, and increasing productivity in agricultural production tended to be followed by increasing population figures in an Malthusian manner, while this was not
38 In 1862 72% of all farms in Kronoberg were classified as small scale farms, compared to circa 68% on national level, according to Martinius, S., 1 970. BiSOS (Swedish Official Statistics) H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län. 39 Gadd, C-J, 2000, p 205. Nordström, O., ”Skogen och skogsmarken som försörjningskälla”, in: Nordström, O., Larsson, L., J., Käll, K. and Larsson L-O., (eds.), Skogen och smålänningen. Kring skogsmarkens roll i förindustriell tid, 1989. 40 BiSOS (Swedish Official Statistics) H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län1832-1836, 1837-1841. 41 SOS, Folkmängden inom administrativa områden 1920, SCB (Statistics Sweden). 42 Nordström, O., Befolkningsutveckling och arbetskraftsproblem i östra Småland 1800-1955, 1957. 43 Folkräkningen den 31 december 1920. (Census 1920) IV, Yrkesräkningen I: Folkmängden, inkomsten och förmögenheten efter grupper av yrken inom varje härad och stad, SCB (Statistics Sweden): in 1920 circa 26% of the population of Kronoberg was dependent of incomes from industry, compared to 31% for all Sweden.
10 the case regarding rising industrial productivity.44 The proportion of poor pepole in Kronoberg appears to have been high compared to most other parts of the country.45 The five parishes (Algutsboda, Hovmantorp, Linneryd, Ljuder and Långasjö) were essentially traditional agrarian societies predominanted by mixed farming and husbandry activities. The great majority of the farmers were small-scale freeholders. Actually the proportion between freeholders and tenant farmers was constant over time. According to the censuses of 1810 and 1850 (Tabellverket) as well as 1900 (Folkräkningen), the relation was all the time 94%-6%. The parish of Hovmantorp differed somewhat by having a high proportion of professional workers already in the beginning of the study period, and more crofters and a relatively low proportion of farmers (see Appendices, Table A1 and A2). The reason for as much as a fourth of the households are classified as being non agricultural professional workers is largely due to the existence of the ironwork and paper mill, Lessebo bruk. According to a map and description of the parish of Hovmantorp by the surveyor A Liedberg in 1850 did extra incomes from the ironwork by transportations of iron and molding products, uptake of iron ore from lakes and production of charcoal contribute to the economic wellbeing among most peasant farmers.46 An analogous document from Ljuder in 1847 claims that farmers in normal years, besides satifying local needs, only produced a very small agrocultural surplus production for sale.47 It is likely that the situation was quite similar in the other parishes studied. In 1900 non-agraian workers comprised more than 50% within the total group of workers in the study area and 28% of the total male population (see Appendices Table A2). Besides paper mill workers it is also including new groups such as glass and railway workers. The parishes of Linneryd and Långasjö were less affected than the others by the expansion of industrial workers and could be classified as agricultural communities, while Algutsboda and Ljuder are classified as mixed and Hovmantorp as an industrial community.48
44 Enflo, K. and Missiaia, A., “Between Malthus and the industrial take-off: regional inequality in Sweden, 1571- 1850”, Lund Papers in Economic History No. 168, 2017. 45 Lundsjö, O., Fattigdomen på den svenska landsbygden under 1800-talet, 1975, p 134. 46 Beskrifning jemte statistisk tabell och karta öfver Hofmantorps socken 1850, Historiska kartor, Lantmäteriet. 47 Ljuder socken; Avmätning, 1847, Historiska kartor, Lantmäteriet. 48 The two tables are not fully comparable, due to the fact that classification criterions might have changed over time and because the first table is based on data regarding adult males in all ages while the second table only includes men in active ages. The group of ex farmers and the lowest social group are mostly represented in older ages and is thus most probably overrepresented in the early table for 1810 compared to the latter one.
11 2.3. Study Population
This study focus on the wealth development and distribution of the rural population in active working ages, and consists of all deceased married persons or widows/widowers (living with at least one other family member) in ages 20-59 years in five parishes in the county of Kronoberg in south-eastern Sweden during the period 1780-1919. The main reasons for excluding single-person, besides getting a more homogeneous study population, is that we want to reduce the proportion of deceased missing probate inventories due to lack of principal heirs (bröstarvingar) and to minimise the numbers of incomplete inventories not including full information regarding accessible movables in the households, which is common among non-married persons not heading an own household. Deceased women are normally given the social title of their (living or former) husbands, when no other title is given by the sources. In many cases, when not an explicite title is given the deceased person in the probate inventories or the death registers, the place of living being a farm (hemman) a croft (torp) or a cottage (backstuga) help to categorise the accurate social class. Our main focus will be on land holding and landleasing farmers respectively the group of landless or semi-landless workers. The population is categorised in the following socio-economic groups:
Farmers: including landowning (hemmansägare) and landleasing peasants (hemmansbrukare). In case a farmer has a side-line title such as soldier or artisan he is catogorised as a farmer.
Workers: This is a rather heterogeneous group. The workers were often landless but sometimes they owned or disposed over a small plot of land. Often it was not enough to support the family, so extra work was required, which made their socio-economic situation similarly to that of the landless.49 Most farmhand servants drängar, pigor) were not really an occupational group but did rather represent a phase in the life cycle between being a teenager and getting married. Some of the servants were future managers of farms, while others became landless and experienced downward social mobility. This makes it hard to categorize the servants as a socioeconomic group. Not being married the great majority of the servants are not included in the study. Subdivision of workers: Crofters (torpare): leasing smaller land holdings, also including the category house owners (lägenhetsägare) in late 19th century. The crofters often had to work extra for the landowners.The difference between crofters (torpare) and cottagers
49 Gadd, C.-J., 2000, pp 85-92.
12 (backstugusittare) is sometimes fluid in the sources.50 When unclear we define a person owning at least one cow as a torpare, while a person owing none or less animal is categorised as a lower rural workers. This view is supported by official statistics of that time claiming that holdings so small that they could not feed a cow should be classified as cottages (backstugor) not as crofts (torp).51 Soldiers (soldater): Essentially crofters with some military obligations. The military allotment system (indelningsverket) based on soldier crofters was successively phased out during late 19th century.
Lower rural workers: the lowest social category largely consisting of non- professional rural workers, often with insecure or irregular job opportunities, such as cottagers (backstuguhjon), agricultural laborers (jordbruksarbetare), person living-in (inhyses), ex workers etc. Even the category unspecified workers (arbetare) is included. Probably there is some overlapping with the category industrial worker as many from the rural proletariat also did work in industry as unqualified casual workers.52 Those having an additional title as specific workers or artisans are categorized in accordance with this title.
Professional rural workers: workers mainly rooted in the agrarian society, such as “potassium nitrate boilers” (saltpetersjudare), foremem (rättare) and bell ringers (klockare). This is a quite small and insignificant group in the analyses, but in order to isolate agrarian elements from the category of professional workers linked to the industrialisation process we have separated this two categories.
Non-agricultural professional workers and lower civil servants: artisans, industrial workers, railway workers, minor civil servants etc. We assume that most titles within this category to a large extent represent the industrialisation process, while some, such as tailors, shoe makers, smiths and carpenters, certainly overlap between the pre-industrial and the industrial periods.
Residual groups: Middle class: a hetereogeneous group consisting of manufacturer of smaller and medium- sized factories, higher and medium civil servants, officiers, parish priests, teachers, tradesmen etc. This is a small group but it contributed with a significant share of total wealth resources.The absolute economic elite (only represented by very few persons), such as the owners of the ironworks and paper mill at Lessebo bruk is not included in the analyses due to the lack of sufficient data.
Ex farmers: sometimes with contracts (undantagskontrakt) guaranteeing the right to retain a small dwelling of land or a land area for the remaining lifetime when receding from the farm holding. sometimes living as a lodger at her/his former farm.
50 See also Nordström, O., 1957, p 8 and 26. 51 BiSOS (Swedish Official Statistics) H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län1871-1875. 52 Berglund, B., Industriarbetarklassens formering. Arbete och teknisk förändring vid tre svenska fabriker under 1800-talet. Ekonomisk-historiska institutionen, Gothenburg university, 1982.
13 In previous literature discussing social classifications in rural Sweden during the 18th or 19th centuries most scholars have focused on the relations to the principal mean of production in the agrarian society, namely land, assuming that this had certain implications for the economic and social standing in the society, and to what extent different social classes were dependent on selling their labour (or not) for ensuring their subsistence.53 The peasant farmers are usually expected to having owned or disposed over land at least sufficient for their own subsistence, while the proletarian groups lower on the social ladder in varying degrees were dependent on wage earnings. Most studies do more or less explicitely divide the rural social categories (below higher and middle class groups) from a socio-economic hierarchical perspective based on the relation between land owning (or disposition) and wage earning dependence: farmer peasans being highest in the hierarchy, there after a semi-proletarian (or semi-landless) middle-ranged group consisting of categories such as crofters and soldiers (and maybe artisans), and finally the lowest group consisting of landless people almost totally dependent on wage earning or welfare relief such as cottagers and lodgers (including disabled and old people). In this study we have added the dimension of professional wage earners (also including artisans), supposed to having more specific professional skills than ordinary agricultural workers and usually having more regular and better-paid jobs than the latter category. The discussons in the literature have touched problems as how to accurately define and delimit social groups to avoid overlapping of some important dimensions, for example regarding the largeness of landholdings and the right to possess the land between peasant farmers and crofters. It is often problematic to get reliable information from the sources regarding the correct acreage of the holdings, but certainly some crofts were at least be as big as smaller farmholdings, and it could even be more tricky to get correct information about the regulation regarding land possession for comparisons between crofters and tenant farmers.54 Although the formal delimitation between peasant farmers and other types of owners or users of landholdings is very clear-cut in the sources, the categorisations for delimiting other constellations of social categories, such as crofters and cottagers, are not always unambiguous (see the previous discussion regarding the subdivision of workers).
53 Winberg, C., 1975. Söderberg, J., Agrar fattigdom i Sydsverige under 1800-talet, 1978. Jonsson, U., Jordmagnater, landbönder och torparen i sydöstra Södermanland 1800-1880, 1980. Bengtsson, E. and Svensson, P., 2019. 54 Jonsson, U., 1980.
14 But in spite of these problems obviously the social categorisation given by the principal historical sources (parish or taxation registers) usually are considered to give an approximate but satisfactory acceptable picture for fulfilling the analyses. Farmers did mostly have the largest families, while ex farmers had the smallest families. Generally the family size increased over time (Table 1). One important reason is declining child mortality counteracting the falling ferility rate. Regarding average age of the deceased persons ex farmers and the lowest social category (lower rural workers) were oldest, while soldiers were youngest (Table 2). Most farmers did not leave their holdings (moving to the category of ex farmers) before they got older, and as people got older and lost their working capability some experienced a downward social mobility to the lowest social category. The soldiers were mostly recruited in relatively young ages and were also dissmissed in quite early age, whereafter they usually either moved into the group of cottagers or became crofters. As we do not expect significant social differences in age specific mortality the age pattern of deceased persons probably reflects actual differences in the age composition between the social categories of the population.55
Table 1. Average family size of deceased person of different social groups 1780-1919 Farmers Crofters Soldiers Lower Prof.work Ex farmers 1780-1809 4.7 4.5 3.9 3.6 4.4 2.8 1810-1839 4.4 3.9 4.4 3.9 3.9 2.3 1840-1869 5.1 4.5 5.2 4.0 4.7 3.4 1870-1899 5.2 4.3 4.8 4.4 4.6 3.9 1900-1919 5.4 5.0 5.7 4.1 4.6 3.4 Sources: Riksarkivet (State Archive): Algutsboda, Hovmantorps, Linneryds, Ljuders and Långsjö kyrkoarkiv (church archives) 1780-1919.
Table 2. Average age of deceased persons of different social groups 1780-1919 Farmers Crofters Soldiers Lower Prof. work Ex farmers 1780-1809 43.7 47.3 36.3 47.8 40.3 53.6 1810-1839 42.1 45.6 40.0 46.9 42.7 54.0 1840-1869 41.0 44.0 40.8 47.0 41.5 53.5 1870-1899 43.2 46.6 39.2 46.8 43.2 54.4 1900-1919 45.3 47.9 40.8 51.3 43.5 52.4 Sources: See Table 1.
55 Bengtsson, T. and van Poppel, F., Socioeconomic inequalities in death from past to present: An introduction, Explorations in Economic History 48, pp 343-356, 2011.
15 2.4. Methodological Considerations
One potential methodological issue with analyses based on probate inventories is misrepresentationon by age, because the risk of dying is strongly related to age and wealth could be correlated to age.56 The more affluent groups might have accumulated more wealth when getting older, while poorer population segments on the other hand might face a situation of a worsening economic situation due to a reduced working capacity and lower incomes when getting older. As previously discussed the age composition varies between the social categories, but this is actually no problem as we are primarily interested to analyse whether social groups per se (irrespective of potential differences in the age composition) affected the wealth level and how it was distributed. And furthermore the effect of potential age biases are reduced by the study design concentrated to analyses in a restricted age interval, excluding the non-working elderly population. Another potential methodological problem is misrepresentation by social group, related to the well-known problem that deceased persons from poorer social categories often are underrepresented regarding probate inventories.57 Deceased farmers are almost 100% covered by probate inventories. In case the probate inventory is not found it is likely that the inventory for some reason has been lost. A spot check of 38 deceased persons missing probate inventories in the study area in the 1850s support this view; in all 19 had notes regarding “poverty” in the parish church registers (husförhörslängder). Of the rest 15 were cottagers or similar. Only two were crofters respectively farmers according to the church registers. Thus the great majority were clearly belonging to the poorest population segments. The few missing farmers or crofters are more or less negligible. The coverage rate regarding the proportion of the workers being probated rose in late 18th century and fluctuated between 75-85% until 1890s, whereafter it augmented to 95% in the 1910s (Figure 1).
56 Bengtsson E., Missiaia, A, Olsson, M. and Svensson, P. 2018. 57 Ibid.
16 Figure 1. Coverage of probate inventories among deceased workers 20-59 years with principal heirs (bröstarvingar) in the study area 1780s-1910s 100,00 90,00
80,00
70,00
60,00
50,00
40,00
30,00
20,00
10,00
0,00 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 Sources: Riksarkivet (State Archive): Konga and Uppvidinge häradsrätter (bouppteckningar) 1780-19199; Algutsboda, Hovmantorps, Linneryds, Ljuders and Långsjö kyrkoarkiv (church archives) 1780-1919.
Values for deceased not included by probate inventories has hypothetically been set to zero for net wealth and to the lowest value regarding movables found in the probate inventories for each decade, assuming that those not covered by probate inventories belonged to the poorest population segments owing very little or almost nothing. As a matter of fact a large part of net wealth estimates was close to zero, and even negative in circa 25% of all probate inventories, among rural workers in the study area as late as in 1890s. Usually debts were quite small as the possibilities to get larger loan appears to have been highly connected to personal creditworthiness.58 Including the missing population increases the inequality estimates, but our main concern is whether the changes over time is affected or not, not the exact Gini coefficient for each date. Both estimates regarding Gini coefficients only based on probate inventories respectively estimates including missing population are shown. Not considering the “missing” individuals in the estimates would probably lead to an underestimation of inequality and an overestimation of wealth levels among the lowest social group. It is likely that the “true” values would lie somewhere in between these estimates. There were few extremely affluent people living in the studied parishes and the likelihood that they should be represented in all death cohorts is quite small, and is even smaller due to the fact that our analyses is restricted to deceased in ages 20-59 years.The outmost richest person living in the area was the owner of the ironworks and paper mill of
58 Erikson, M., 2018, p 27.
17 Lessebo bruk, also earning several land holdings and mills outside the study area.59 There were also a small group of relatively wealthy (often noble) landlords (owners of totally 5-6 manors) living in the study area. As the Gini-coefficient is very sensitive to the wealth of individuals at the extreme of the distribution, those wealthy households could affect inequality estimates substantially.60 Our analyses surely underestimate the actual inequality level for the complete population. In total those wealthy households constituted less than 1% of the total population. In the late 19th century there was an increasing number, of smaller entrepreneurs, for example the owners of the glass works, in the area, that are largely missing in the probate inventories, probably due to the fact that they often were transferring the ownership before getting old and infirm. Consequently we cannot claim that our Gini estimates is fully representative for the whole population, including the most affluent categories, but it is probably essentially valid for the major part of the working population in active ages. The main focus of the study will be on the standard of living and the wealth distribution among the major social groups (including more than 95% of the total working population), peasant farmers respectively the landless and semi-landless workers categories, refering to the discussions raised by serveral previous studies.61
Table 3. Social structure in study area: total adult male population and deceased in ages 20-59 years (%) Population Deceased Population Deceased Population Deceased 1780-1810 1780-1809 1845-1855 1840-1869 1900 1900-1909 Farmers 62 60 43 39 43 45 Crofters 7 9 15 14 10 11 Soldiers 8 6 5 5 4 3 Lower 10 6 18 16 10 10 Professional work.3 1 8 7 28 23 Ex farmers 8 5 10 7 1 2 Middle class 2 2 1 2 3 3 Missing 11 11 4 Sources and comments: Sources for populations 1780-1810 respectively 1845-1855 are cenuses (Tabellverket) and include married men and widowers (1780-1810) and married men (1845-1855) in all ages. Source for population 1900 is the census of 1900 and include married men and widowers in ages 20-59 years. Deceased is based on death registers for the study area and includes married men and widowers in ages 20-59 years. The category ex farmers do also include ex crofters in the statistics of Tabellverket. The categories rural and non- agricultural professional workers are merged to a common group of professional workers.
59 According to the probate inventory of the then owner of Lessebo Bruk, Johan Lorens Aschan, dying in the age of 84 in 1856 the net wealth amounted to nearly 125,000 SEK (1800 value), exceeding the total sum of all probate inventories for the study population in the 1850s. 60 Hypothetically assuming that Johan Aschan (see previous footnote) belonged to the age span 20-59 years when he died in the 1850s would raise the Gini coefficient from 0.77 to 0.84. 61 See for example Herlitz, L., 1974; Söderberg, J., 1978 and Jonsson, U, 1980.
18 To control if the study population of deceased persons (married or widowed) is socially representative for the whole (or at least the great majority of the) population in active ages (20-59 years) we have checked the proportion belonging to different social groups for some years with census data (Table 3). We should not expect a total congruency due to the fact that we only have total population data for widowers or married men in all ages but not specified for active ages (20- 59 years) for the first two periods. Furthermore we cannot take it for granted that the principles for categorising social groups are exactly the same for the official statistics and the study population. Actually the criterioins for recording census data are largely unclear and should be treated with caution. Anyhow the different sources show a roughly similar pattern regarding the social composition for most groups. The differences regarding the category ex farmers is most probably affected by the fact they were more represented in ages over 59 years plus the fact that also retired crofters are included in this group with regard to the statistics from Tabellverket, while ex crofters has been refered to the lowest social group in this study. It is strongly probable that the population data based on the census 1900 is more accurate and better corresponding to the selection criterions for our study population compared with the earlier censuses.To conclude the census data indicate that study population of deceased persons approximately reflects the social composition of the whole population in active ages. The probate inventories analysed do present common shared material resources for whole households rather than resources for separate deceased individuals; real estae, furnitures, household utensils, tools cattle etc. The only exception being the clothes of the deceased person. Differences in the household composition regarding size and ages of household members might affect the material standard of living between different individuals, households and social groups. Gini coefficients have consequently been calculated and presented based on data considering number of household (or more correctly family) members and their age distribution, by using a simple weigthing system for measuring consumption units (CU) alongside calculations just based on raw data from the probate inventories in accordance with results presented in previous historical studies on wealth inequality.The following weigthing scale has been used: 1 CU for persons aged 15 years or older and 0.5 CU for younger persons. In accordance with different consumption unit systems used in official standard of living household surveys from late 19th and early 20th century we assume that
19 children generally require less material resources than adults.62 These equivalent consumption scales are seemingly mainly adapted to consumption of foodstuffs, while this study focus on material resources in general. Thus our scale should be regarded as highly tentative, and to be used as an indicator assessing whether the size and age structure of the studied household more fundamentally would affect the Gini coefficient and how it changes over time compared to calculations just using raw data from each probate inventory without any adjustments for household composition. The criterions for reporting cereals and potatoes are largely unclear and there are great variations in the percentage probate inventories having notes about grains or not over time. For example in the 1870s almost 1/3 of the farmers had no notes regarding grain or poattoes. Sometimes stored or growing grains are included, sometimes only seeds. Often, but not allways, it is explicitely noted that a reduction was made for the acute needs of the household, signalling that consumable goods was not expected to be included in the inventories.63
3. Wealth Levels
Real net wealth values for the farmers were rather stagnant 1780s-1810s (c 340-400 SEK). We can observe a rise from 1810s to 1820s, interrupted by a stagnation period 1830s-1840s, followed by distinct stepwise increases 1850s-1860s, 1870s-1880s and 1890s-1910s, resulting in a rise by more than 2.5 times 1850s-1910s (Figure 2a). The lower social classes show a stagnant or decreasing trend in net wealth from circa 42 SEK in 1800s to 26 SEK in the 1840s and then a gradual moderate rise to the1860s, and a significant increase from 1870s (temporarily interrupted in the1890s (Figure 2b)), resulting in a more than fivefold wealth level in the 1910s compared to the 1860s. In accordance with the Swedish GDP/capita estimates by Schön and Krantz there was a distinct breakpoint from stagnant to substantially increasing wealth levels around 1870.64 This is also in line with Robert Allens´ study of the British industrial revolution claiming that real wages of the working class stated to rise around
62 See for example Statistisk undersökning angående Levnadskostnaderna i Stockholm åren 1907-1908, Stockholms stads statistiska kontor , chapter IX. 63 The value of grains and potatoes covers between 1 and 6% of total net wealth valuations for farmers as well as for workers according to the decennial probate inventories estimates. 64 Schön,L.& Krantz, O., 2012.
20 1860/1870.65 In the early 19th century farmers´ average net wealth was 13 times bigger than workers´, while in 1910s the difference had diminished to circa 6 times.
Figure 2a. Average real net wealth (in 1800 SEK) of farmers and workers 1780s-1910s 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0
Farmers Workers (excl missing) Workers(incl missing)
Figure 2b. Average real net wealth (in 1800 SEK) of workers 1780s-1910s 350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Workers (excl missing) Workers(incl missing)
Sources: Riksarkivet (State Archive): Konga and Uppvidinge häradsrätter 1780-1919;Wealth in prices 1800 (SEK) according to Edvinsson, Rodney, and Söderberg, , 2011, A Consumer Price Index for Sweden 1290-2008, Review of Income and Wealth, vol. 57 (2), pp. 270-292.
Including the missing death population does not change the pattern significantly, although the average level naturally gets somewhat lowered. The increase for farmers in the 1860s might to some extent be an effect of administrative measures, due to an administrative reform 1861/62
65 Allen, R., “Engels’ pause: Technical change, capital accumulation, and inequality in the British industrial revolution”, Explorations in Economic History 46 (2009), pp. 418–435.
21 that more than doubled the fact taxable values of real estate, but do certainly also reflect actual rises in market prices.66
Figure 3a. Average value of movables (in 1800 SEK) of farmers and lower social groups 1780s-1910s 610
510
410
310
210
110
10 1780s 1790s 1800s 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s Farmers Workers(excl missing) Workers(incl missing) Figure 3b. Average value of movables (in 1800 SEK) of lower social groups 1780s-1910s 130
110
90
70
50
30
10 1780s 1790s 1800s 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s Workers(excl missing) Workers(incl missing)
Sources: See Figure 2.
Regarding daily standard of life, movables including household items, clothes, furniture, cattle etc. might be a better indicator than net wealth (largely affected by assessed values of real estate and debts and claims).
66 Bengtsson, E. and Svensson, P., 2019.
22 The development of movables for farmers as well as for the less affluent social groups were quite trendless or stagnating until mid-19th century (Figures 3a, 3b). Particularly the 1810s and the 1840s appears to have been especially problematic for the workers. In the 1860s/1870s the stagnating trend was broken and the averages started to increase continuously, from around 200 to 550 for farmers respectively from circa 50 to 110 among workers (1800 prices). The relative difference between farmers and workers is relatively constant over time; farmers in average having circa five times as much as the workers. The general result is roughly in line with previous literature discussing the standard of living of workers in 19th century Sweden, but also with regard to the “pessimists” in the British debate, such as Hobsbawm, and also Piketty discussing the historical case of France,67 although the exact timing of the turning point might vary a little. A deterioration or stagnation until the mid-19th century, including a particularly troublesome situation in the 1840s, and then a substantial improvement in the last half of the century. We will get back to the growing destitution in the 1840s later on.
Table 4. Net wealth average, social groups (1800 prices) 1780-1809 1810-1839 1840-1869 1870-1899 1900-1919 wealth 351 524 841 1250 1818 Farmers n 544 526 439 380 238 wealth 39 76 64 191 260 Crofters n 73 106 134 120 48 wealth 58 42 90 88 201 Soldiers n 56 50 42 30 10 wealth 15(5) 7(3) 6(4) 59(30) 99(69) Lower rural w. n 55(+99) 81(+105) 185(+124) 140(+133) 57(+25) wealth 68 52 111 118 196 Prof. rural w. n 5 4 6 4 2 Non-agricultural wealth 27 108 57 129 312 professional w. n 6 25 39 88 149 wealth 37 83 297 406 1586 Ex farmers n 49 52 75 49 14 wealth 1299 1746 840 4137 3241 Middle class n 17 11 22 22 22 Sources: See Figure 2. Comments: In parentheses estimated wealth average including missing probate inventories and numbers of missing inventories.
When looking more in detail at the periodical development including the specific social subgroups we can notice that farmers did continuously improve their economic situation for
67 Hobsbawm, E.J., “The British Standard of Living, 1790-1850”, Economic History Review, vol X, no 1, 1957; Piketty, T., Capital in the Twenty-First Century, 2013.
23 all 19th century, particularly during the two latest periods, while the first half of the 19th century appears to have been economically problematic for the less affluent group of lower rural workers (Table 4). From the 1870s all groups experienced a significant increase in wealth levels. Non-professional rural workers had substantially lower wealth estimates than other categories of workers, although, the gap was closing from the 1870s. The differences between other groups of workers were less accentuated. It is however, notable that professional workers clearly passed the level of crofters and other groups in the early 21st century. The small middle class group had a high level all the time. Ex farmers showed higher wealth estimates than workers from mid-19th century.
Table 5. Movables (averages) for social groups (1800 prices) 1780- 1810- 1900- 1809 1839 1840-1869 1870-1899 1919 Wealth 183 177 201 331 511 Farmers N 544 526 439 380 238 Wealth 55 68 51 89 133 Crofters N 73 106 134 120 48 Wealth 46 40 51 90 129 Soldiers N 56 50 42 30 10 Wealth 14 (6) 14 (7) 15 (10) 37 (21) 59 (43) N 55(+99) 81(+105) 185 140(+133) 57(+25) Lower rural w. (+124) Wealth 154 44 74 174 103 Prof. rural w. N 5 4 6 4 2 Non- Wealth 62 52 61 115 114 agricultural N 6 25 39 88 149 professional w. Wealth 46 52 68 106 242 Ex farmers N 49 52 75 49 14 Wealth 841 448 797 1044 1004 Middle class N 17 11 22 22 22 Sources: See Figure 2. Comments: See previous Figure.
Generally, the social differences were less accentuated regarding movables (Table 5). Similarly to the trend for net wealth, movables also showed a significant rise for all groups during the last two periods. The lowest social group consisting of unqualified rural workers, revealed a substantial increase in the possession of movables in relative terms, although they still lagged well behind other groups in absolute terms. The increase was on the other hand quite modest for non-agricultural or industrial workers, contrary to what might have been expected with respect to a rising demand for workers linked to the expanding industrial sector.
24 Figure 4. Real wages for day labourers in the province Kronoberg 1803-1914 (SEK 1800) 0,7
0,65
0,6
0,55
0,5
0,45
0,4
0,35
0,3
0,25
0,2
1807 1883 1895 1811 1815 1819 1823 1827 1831 1835 1839 1843 1847 1851 1855 1859 1863 1867 1871 1875 1879 1887 1891 1899 1903 1907 1911 1803 Note: Wages in prices 1800 (SEK) according to Edvinsson, Rodney, and Söderberg, , 2011, A Consumer Price Index for Sweden 1290-2008, Review of Income and Wealth, vol. 57 (2), sid. 270-292. Jörberg, L., A History of Prices in Sweden 1732–1914. Part II, 1972, p. 149.
The development of the real wages for day labourers in the province of Kronoberg (Figure 4) support the conclusion regarding stagnating wealth levels for the proletarian groups during the first half of the 19th century and a significant rise in wealth among non-professional workers from the 1870s. An uncertainty is of course that we lack knowledge regarding the extent of in kind payments, particularly having implications for standard of diets or the food intake. Furthermore the probate inventories usually appear to exclude consumables, such as vegetable foodstuff considered to cover the basic needs of the households. It is highly probable that a large part of the households grew cereals or potatoes to cover their own needs, without any information given in the probate inventories. The study area was affected by the same historical processes as the rest of Sweden, although it of course existed contextual variations between the regions that could affect the impact and timing of the effects. Anyway it could be interesting to make a comparison with national figures. The farmers’ wealth levels of the study area were generally somewhat lower than the national averages (Table 6). This is in line with the general opinion regarding the county of Kronoberg, dominated by small scale farming and being poorer than most other regions in 19th century Sweden (see previous discussion in Study area).
25 Table 6. Estimates of net wealth and movables for farmers in study area and Sweden (woodlands) 1800s, 1850s and 1900s Net wealth Movables Study area Sweden Study area Sweden 1800 395 476 189 150 1850 630 883 197 265 1900 1726 1621 430 546 Sources: Study area: see Figure 2. Swedish data have been calculated from Erik Bengtsson and Patrick Svensson, 2019, Table 3. Comments: National figures for 1800, 1850 and 1900 for all farmers in all ages. Figures for the study area are averages for decennial data (1790s and 1800s, 1840s and 1850s, respectively 1890s and 1900s) for deceased farmers in ages 20-59 years Negative net values have been given the value 0 in order to be comparable between the study area and the national figures. Adjustments for real estate values according to sales-to-taxable-value price ratio suggested by Bengtsson and Svensson (2019). SEK in 1800 prices.
3.1. Wealth Decomposition
Decomposing wealth estimates it becomes clear that real estate was a dominating factor among the farmers (Figure 5a). Real estate values were based on taxation, and thus administrative based changes of taxation could also affect net wealth assessments for farmers.68 The rise in real estate values in 1820s could at least to some part be attributed to the introduction of property taxation in 1810.69
Figure 5a. Wealth decomposition for farmers, 1780s-1910s 2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
-500
-1000 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 Net claims Real estate Animal Other movables Grain
Sources: See Figure 2.
68 Bengtsson, E. and Svensson, P., 2019. 69 Erikson, M., 2018, pp 130.
26 Figure 5b. Wealth decomposition for workers 1780s-1910s 350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
-50 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 Net claims Real estate Animal Other movables Grain
Sources: See Figure 2.
Compared with more wealthy rural districts the land price of the study area was not particularly low in the 1800s, rather the opposite. One hundred years, later the price was higher in the other districts except for Lagunda (Table 7). It is plausible that this is a reflection of a more accentuated marketization process, pressing up land prices in the more attractive areas, (more fertile and having more favourable positions with regard to potential markets for agricultural products) than in our study area.
Table 7. Mean land price per mantal and growth 1800-1900 1800(s) 1900(s) Growth (%) Four wealthy hundreds Lagunda 1326 7762 485 Sjuhundra 2537 9271 265 Kullings 782 13674 1649 Bara 3667 49630 1253 Study area 2068 9144 342 Sources: Study area: See Figure 2. Sweden: Bengtsson and Svensson (2019), Table 4. Commentary: Study area 1800-1809 respectively 1900-1909. SEK 1800.
Net claims (financial assets minus credits) had a significant effect on the net wealth level, particularly in the 1880s and 1890s. In fact did debts exceeded claims for the majority of farmers during the whole study period according to the probate inventories. The official reports from the governor of Kronoberg claimed that most farmers in the county were
27 overindebted in late 19th century), although the situation appeared to have improved in the very end.70Affluent farmers and higher social classes did often have much larger debts than less wealthy social groups71. The values of animals and other movables started to slowly increase around mid-19th century and were quite equal and of minor importance for the total wealth level.
Table 8. Debt ratio among farmers 1800(s), 1860(s) and 1900(s) (%) 1800(s) 1850(s) 1900(s) Study area 32 43 27 Kind hundred 57 82 53 Vånga parish x 70 48 Sources: Study area: see Figure 2; Kind hundred: Hallén, P., 2009, p 159; Vånga (1890s): Perlinge, A., 2005, pp 266-267.
The debt ratio of the study area was clearly lower compared to a few other local rural areas analysed (Table 8). In all areas the ratio appears to have peaked around mid-19th century. A reason could be that it was easier to borrow money during the economic boom in the 1850s.72 Another reason could be the 1830s-1860s was characterized by intense land reforms (laga skifte), demanding large inputs of capital among the farmers involved. There is anyway no clear correlation between increasing household resources and a rising debt ratio as proposed by Hallén.73 Among lower socioeconomic groups, except for crofters, real estate and animal played a rather insignificant or small role for the total wealth level until the later part of the 19th century, when it appears that buildings and the right to utilize leased land was more commonly priced in the inventories (Figure 5b). Contrary to the farmers, debts were less important (probably because their creditworthiness was very limited),74 and during the end of the period (particularly in the 1910s) financial assets contributed to rising wealth, largely through expanding bank savings and to a minor extent also through life insurances, while allowances from benefit societies were quite insignificant. Daniel Bäcklund and Kristina Lilja did find that bank savings, private claims and life insurances were dominant factors for financial assets in early 20th century in a study regarding working class savings in Sweden
70 BiSOS (Swedish Official Statistics) H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län1876-1880, 1881-1885, 1896-1900. 71 Erikson, M., 2018, 5.2, p 27. 72 Hallén, P., 2009. 73 Ibid., p 60. 74 Pfister, U., “Rural land and credit markets, the permanent income hypothesis and proto-industry: evidence from early modern Zurich”, Continuity and Change, 22(3), 498-518, 2007.
28 1870-1914. Even allowances from benefit societies played some role.75 According to the probate inventories of the study area in the 1910s average bank savings for the working class amounted to around 200 SEK (1800 prices), or 76% of total financial assets ,while life insurances and private claims took up 10 respectively 13%. About 30% of the deceased workers had some bank savings, 14% had private claims and 9% had life insurances. The smaller role played by life insurances and friendly societies compared to the study of Bäcklund and Lilja is because the latter is based on data from cities with a much larger proportion of urban industrial workers than in the rural study area.
4. A Detailed Study of Daily Standard of Life Components
To analyse more in detail the development regarding the possession of movable properties an in-depth study based on a sample of 10 inventories of each socioeconomic group (farmers, crofters, lower rural workers, non-agrarian workers) in 1840s respectively 1900-1909 has been carried out. The result is based on a limited number of inventories and should be interpreted cautiously, but do hopefully give a rougly accurate image. Among farmers and crofters animals cover around 50% of the total value. Excluding animals, agricultural equipment and grains clearly reduces th differences between farmers /crofters and professional workers, although farmers in general are showing the highest values (Tables 9a, 9b). The estimates of crofters and non-agrarian workers are quite close in the 1840s, while in 1900-1909 the latter exceeded the values of the crofters (excluding animals and agricultural equipment), and regarding furnitures they were even closer to the farmers. As expected lower rural workers show the lowest estimates in general, although the gap closes over time, and in early 20th century lies quite near the levels of the crofters. Major categories of movables (besides animals, grain and agricultural equipments) are furnitures, bed and linen clothing, clothes and other objects (mostly household utensils and tools). There is a significant increase in the value of most categories, except for precious metals and clothes, indicating a rising standard in most aspects of living for all social groups.
75 Bäcklund, D. and Lilja, K.,Variation och förnyelse: Arbetarsparande i Sverige 1870-1914”, Historisk Tidskrift, 134:4, 2014, Table 4.
29 Table 9a. Average values 1840-1849 in fixed prices (1800) Farmers Crofters Lower rural w. Non agrar. w. "Precious metals" 11.67 (10.24) 1.82 (0.15) 0 .0 (0.0) 4.44 (1.83) Furnitures 4.28 (4.79) 1.84 (1.50) 0.55 (0.39) 3.03 (1.86) Bed and linen clothing 9.59 (9.59) 2.70 (2.76) 1.49 (1.21) 4.17 (3.83) Clothes 12.94 (10.85) 7.20 (6.02) 4.51 (3.98) 8.20 (7.04) Agricultural equipment 8.45 (6.36) 0.67 (0.0) 0 .0 (0.0) 2.26 (0.0) Grain 12.95 (14.97) 0.0 (0.0) 0.78 (0.0) 0 .0 (0.0) Animals 90.72 (77.66) 19.35 (15.68) 0.13 (0.0) 4.67 (0.0) Other objects 19.43 (15.77) 8.15 (8.31) 3.42 (2.44) 10.79 (10.91)
Total 178.99 (153.31) 37.87 (24.99) 10.98 (8.02) 41.72 (34.42
Table 9b. Average values 1900-1909 in fixed prices (1800) Farmers Crofters Lower rural w. Non agrar. w. "Precious metals" 7.21 (6.66) 2.84 (2.53) 2.77 (2.42) 2.68 (0.86) Furnitures 33.33 (28.31) 13.55 (14.92) 12.26 (12.15) 30.01 (21.86) Bed and linen clothing 44.03 (33.98) 13.61 (6.62) 10.55 (11.32) 17.27 (12.14) Clothes 14.26 (13.74) 6.51 (6-94) 7.85 (7.26) 10.57 (10.35) Agricultural equipment 44.57 (33.82) 7.36 (3.48) 0.0 (0.0) 0.19 (0.0) Grain 18.07 (19.86) 3.47 (0.0) 0.96 (0.0) 0.23 (0.0) Animals 212.83 (159.18) 52.23 (49.28) 1.22 (0.0) 2.28 (0.0) Other objects 38.08 (32.87) 19.75 (15.57) 12.33 (14.46) 28.72 (16.91)
Total 412.38 (382.42) 119.62 (99.34) 47.94 (47.61) 81.95 (72.82) Sources:See Figure 2. Comments: Medians in brackets. “Precious metals”: objects in gold, silver, copper or pewter; Other objects: mainly tools and household utensils.
In the traditional agrarian society more or less luxury objects made by precious metals (such as silver, pewter and copper) appear to have been looked upon as valuable assets easy to convert to other resources when so needed, but also as important status symbols.76 Probably did these objects become less attractive as the possibilities to financial savings for example by bank savings expanded. However, did also the ban on homedistillation of spirits in mid-19th century contribute to the decline in the possession of copper objects among the farmers. In the first half of the century distillation apparatus were very common in farmers´ househols and the devices wered usually made of copper. A few entirely new objects emerged in the latter period, such as sewing machines and threshing machines, but primarily there was a significant increase in the number of some common domestic objects over time, such as tables and chairs, porcelain plates, bed sheets and towels (Tables 10a, 10b).
76 Gadd, C-J., 2000, p 64.
30 Table 10a. Average number per household of selected domestic objects in 1840s Farmers Crofters Rural w. Non-agrar w. Furnitures 8.0 7.4 3.7 8.0 Tables 1.2 1.3 0.5 1.5 Chairs 4.65 2.9 2.3 2.7 Sofas 0.0 0.5 0.0 1.0 Storage furnitures 1.0 1.3 1.0 1.7 Beds 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4
Household utensils Plates 7.4 5.0 4.1 9.2 Bed and linen clothing 22.3 15.3 10.2 13.8 Bed sheets 3.9 2.9 2.1 2.6 Blankets 7.2 4.7 3.0 3.7 Pillows 5.4 3.5 2.6 4.1 Towels 1.3 1.0 0.5 0.5 Personal clothes 39.7 33.4 21.8 30.8 Soucres: See Figure 1.
Table 10b. Average number per household of selected domestic objects in 1900s Farmers Crofters Rural w. Non-agrar. w. Furnitures 35 18.4 18.8 21.9 Tables 6.9 3.6 2.9 3.8 Chairs 15.3 6.0 6.8 6.1 Sofas 2.0 1.4 0.6 1.7 Storage furnitures 4.4 2.9 2.2 2.8 Beds 3.8 1.9 1.7 1.1
Household utensils Plates 39.7 17.0 17.2 26.4 Bed and linen clothing 110 51.3 42.3 63.3 Bed sheets 18.5 8.9 6.6 12.2 Blankets 12.4 5.0 5.1 7.1 Pillows 13.9 7.0 5.8 6.7 Towels 37.7 9.3 9.3 30.5
Soucres: See Figure 1.
Most movables, besides animals, consisted of household utensiles, furnitures, tools and clothes For example did the number of furnitures (such as tables, beds, chairs, sofas and storage furniturs), household utensils (for example plates) and bed and linen clothing ( bed
31 sheets, blankets, pillows and tablecloths) increase by at least 2-3 times among all social groups from 1840s to 1900s , while the number of towels registered in the probate inventories increased 20 times or more. Thus all social groups appear to have witnessed a significant improvement of living standards with regard to hygiene and comfort between 1840s and the early 20th century. The low number of beds in the early period was probably because beds often were built-in and not registered as movable assets in the inventories.77 In the early period household utensils, such as plates and bowls, often were made by tree or clay, while for example porcelain was much more common in the early 20th century. It is possible that simple objects made by cheap materials, such as tree or clay, were excluded from the probate inventories, but nevertheless it is most probable that there was a significant increase in the number of items possessed by most households in late 19th and early 20th century. Erik Bengtsson and Patrick Svensson found that crofters had fewer tools, kitchen utensils and animals but more consumer goods, such as glass, porcelain and furnitures, in 1900 compared to 1850.78 This result corresponds with our findings regarding the number (and value ) of consumer goods, but not with regard to the number of animals, which actually increased (at least regarding cattle) from mid 19th century to 1900 (Table 13). The crofters in the study area appear to have been better off than the national sample analysed by Bengtsson and Svensson in mid-19th century as well as around 1900, with regard to items held, such as personal clothes, linen and bedding, and furniture.79 Particularily with regard to the number of linen and bedding the difference in early 20th century is considerable, indicating a more favourable standard of living for crofters in the study area compared to the average national situation. With regard to total wealth equality, comparing the farmer/crofter wealth ratio, the development over time was more favourable for crofters in the study area.80 The number of personal clothes were quite equally distributed between the social groups in 1840s, although somewhat higher among the farmers group. But there was quite a bit of variation between different individuals. For example did the farmers wife Annicka Svensdotter, dying in1846, left 132 clothing objects, among other things 19 skirts, 16
77 Hallén, P., 2009, p 92. 78 Bengtsson, E. and Svensson, P., 2020. 79 The mean estimates regarding personal clothes, linen and beddings respectively furniture were 12.1, 6.8 respectively 8.1 in 1850, and 5.7, 8.5 respectively 11.4 in 1900 for the national sample (Bengtsson & Svensson, 2020, table 4, p 14). The corresponding figures for the study area was 33.4, 15.3 respectively 7.4 in 1840s and 51.3 for linen and beddings respectively 18.4 for furniture in 1900s (data for personal clothes are missing). 80 The farmer/crofter wealth ratio estimates on national level was 4.6 in 1800, 5.1 in 1850 and 10.9 in 1900 according to Bengtsson et al, 2018, while the corresponding figures for the study area was 9.0 in 1780-1809, 13.1 in 1840-1869 and 7.0 in 1900-1919.
32 sweaters, four bodices (livstycken), six pairs of gloves, three pairs of stockings, one pair of boots and one pair of shoes.81 At the other extreme did the cottager (backstugusittaren) Bengt Kallenberg, deceased 1842, only owned one hat, a sweater a vest and two old trousers according to the inventory.82 Usually did even more affluent hoseholds only own a relatively small number of stockings, bodices and shoes, while the numbers of skirts, sweaters and trousers could be substantial. Marie Ulvängs has analysed probate inventories regarding the possession of clothes among the rural population in 19th century parish of Lillhärdal , like the study area dominated by small-scale farms largely engaged in animal husbandry and forestry.83 In 1830s the number of clothing objects was somewhat higher among farmers as well as crofters of lillhärdal compared to the estimates of our study area. Regarding the value estimates the levels were, however, quite equal.84 In 1900s clothes are usually not specified in the probate inventories but we only get a total value estimate, making it tricky to analyse the development in detail. In accordance with our result Marie Ulvängs local study found that the number as well as the value of clothes did not change much, and claiming that the cheaper industrial mass production did not have any significant effect on the farmers´consumption patterns of clothes.85 Only for lower rural workers a certaint rise in the average value (in relative terms) of clothes could be noticed ín the study area (Tables 9a, 9b). Regarding standards of diet and food intake it is probable that farmers and crofters generally were better off than the landless population, having less possibilities producing food. Although growing potatoes appears to have been quite common among the rural population in general, the probate inventories often lack information regarding possession of grains and potatoes or other foodstuff. Many rural workers did also get payment in kind not included in real wage data. But nevertheless did less affluent population appear to have been sensitive to crop failures during the first half of the 19th century.86
81 Riksarkivet: Konga häradsrätt FII:35:551 (bouppteckningar) 82 Riksarkivet:Konga häradsrätt FII:33:477 (bouppteckningar) 83 Ulväng, M., 2012. 84The mean number of clothes in Lillhärdal in the 1830s was 67 for farmers respectively 46 among crofters, while the corresponding numbers for our study area was 40 respectively 33. The mean value (in 1800 prices) of clothes was 12 respectively 8 SEK for farmers respectively crofters of Lillhärdal, while the corresponding values for our study area was 13 respectively 7 SEK. Data from Lillhärdal in Ulväng, 2012, table I, p 274. Values converted to 1800 prices. 85 Ulväng, M., 2012, p 90. 86 Bengtsson, T. and Dribe M., 2002.
33 5. Wealth Inequality
Calculating the inequality estimates per household or per consumption units does not affect the change over time more dramatically (Figure 6), and in the following the estimates will be presented per household (irrespective of household structure), which is the common way of presenting in most previous studies, and thus makes comparison with other studies easier.
Figure 6. Gini coefficient for deceased (20-59 years) for household level and consumption units 1780-1919 (decennial) 0,85
0,8
0,75
0,7
0,65
0,6
0,55
0,5
0,45
0,4 1780s 1790s 1800s 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s
wealth (hh) wealth (cu) movables (hh) movables (cu)
Sources: See Figure 2.
The Gini coefficient follows approximately the same pattern over time whether including or excluding deaths not covered by probate inventories, although it is somewhat higher as expected in the first case (Figure 7). Wealth inequality grew in the first decades of the 19th century from approximately 0.65 in the 1810s to a maximum level around 0.80 (including deceased missing probate inventories) in the 1840s-1860s, and did thereafter fall to a level under 0.75 in the last three decades, finally followed by a sharp decline to circa 0.65 in the early 20th century. The fluctuations of the Gini coefficient are highly related to changes in the social structure of the population. The larger proportion of lower rural workers the higher inequality. The culmination of inequality levels in mid-19th century and the following decline until early 20th century is largely in line with the findings from Erik Bengtsson´s study regarding the workers
34 (including urban and rural workers ) share of the national GDPs in the Scandinavian countries 1800-1910.87 Rising indebtedness among farmers combined with increasing bank savings among workers did contribute to declining wealth inequality during the last decades of the 19th century and early 20th century. It is not likely that the widening wealth gap at this point of time could be an effect of outmigration, for example to the US, of farmers having stretched economic as very few farmers did migrate. During the period 1900-1909 in total circa 70 peasant farmers, or less than 6 per thousand, moved out, according to the parishes´ out migration records.88
Figure 7. Gini coefficient for deceased (20-59 years) including and excluding missing death population 1780-1919 (decennial). Total population 0,85
0,8
0,75
0,7
0,65
0,6
0,55
0,5
0,45
0,4 1780s 1790s 1800s 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1889s 1890s 1900s 1910s
Wealth (incl missing) Wealth (excl missing) Movables (incl missing) Movables(excl missing)
Sources: See Figure 2. Comments: Gini coefficients excluding missing population comprise only deceased covered by probate inventories. Values for deceased not included by probate inventories has been set to zero for wealth and to the lowest value regarding movables found in the probate inventories for each decade, assuming that those not covered by probate inventories belonged to the poorest population segments owing very little or almost nothing. Observations with negative net wealth are set equal to zero (see Bengtsson et al, 2019).Furthermore this also mean that we can avoid the troubles achieving Gini values >1 when including negative values ( Raffinetti, E, Siletti, E and Vernizzi, A. “On the Gini coefficient normalization when attributes with negative values are considered”, Statistical Methods & Applications, September 2015, Volume 24, Issue 3, pp 507–521).
The development of the top ten decile for net wealth to a large extent followed the trend of the Gini coefficient, fluctuating around 45% until 1830s, rising to over 60% in the 1840s to1860s, and then declining to around 50-55%, a bit higher than during the first decades (Figure 8).
87 Bengtsson, E., 2017, 180-189. 88 Utflyttningslängder (records of out migration) for the five parishes 1900-1909.
35 Figure 8. Top ten decile; % of net wealth according to probate inventories 1780s-1910s 65
60
55
50
% top ten decile ten top % 45
40
35
Sources: See Figure 2.
The Gini coefficient for movables follows roughly the same pattern of change over time, although the distribution is more even. Regarding the degree of overlapping in the distribution of movable estimations between farmers and crofters (including soldier crofters) our calculations show that 85% of the crofters and 12% of peasant farmers possessed movables valued to less than 65 SEK (in 1800 prices) according to the probate inventories in the 1800s.89 On the other hand did 88% of the farmers own more than did 85% of the crofters. In the 1900s did 85% of the crofters and 7% of the farmers own movables valued less than 200 SEK (in 1800 prices), or 93% of the farmers owned more than 85% of the crofters. So there was some overlapping, but the absolute majority of the farmers were certainly more wealthy with regard to movable assets than the crofters, and this appears not to have changed over time. Within the group of farmers the Gini coefficient regarding net wealth was circa 0.5 until the 1830s and then rising steeply to a maximum around 0.65 in the 1840s and then successively falling to circa 0.45 in early 20th century (Figure 9a). Among the more heterogeneous social groups of semi-landless or landless people inequality was significantly higher (Figure 9b).
89 Riksarkivet (State Archive): Konga and Uppvidinge häradsrätter: bouppteckningar 1780-1919.
36 Figure 9a. Gini coefficient for deceased (20-59 years) 1780-1919 (decennial). Farmers 0,9
0,8
0,7
0,6
0,5
0,4
0,3
0,2 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 Wealth Movables
Figure 9b. Gini coefficient for deceased (20-59 years) including and excluding missing death population 1780-1919 (decennial). Workers 1 0,9 0,8 0,7 0,6 0,5 0,4 0,3 0,2 1780s 1790s 1800s 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s Wealth (incl missing) Wealth (excl missing) Movables (incl missing) Movables (excl missing)
Sources: See Figure 2.
The Gini coefficient (including missing population) was peaking in the1830s and was thereafter successively falling from 0.90 to slightly less than 0.80, with a minimum of 0.69 in 1900s. If only looking for those covered by probate inventories the Gini estimates for late 18th century is clearly lower and increases steeply until the 1830s, remaining on a relatively high level until the 1860s where after it falls from 0.8 to circa 0.7 in the1870s. The greater discrepancies between the two curves in the beginning of the study period compared to the latter part is a consequence of the declining proportion of deceased persons uncovered by
37 probate inventories over time. It is likely that the actual Gini coefficient lies somewhere in between the two curves. But irrespective if we try to compensate for the missing probate inventories or not the general trend is roughly the same; wealth inequality culminates around mid-19th century and falls towards early 20th century for total population as well as within the farmers and workers groups. Comparing national data from Bengtsson and Svensson (2019) the study area regarding the Gini coefficient specified for farmers respectively workers and low middle class shows a lower inequality among the farmers of the study area, while this was not the case among workers (Table 11).90 A plausible explanation is the fact that the studied parishes were dominated by small scale farms and there were very few larger holdings and the integration in the market economy might have been less strong.
Table 11. Gini coefficients for farmers and workers in Sweden and the study area (excluding missing population) 1800, 1850 and 1900 1800 1850 1900 Sweden Study area Sweden Study area Sweden Study area Peasant farmers 0.58 0.50 0.67 0.56 0.73 0.44 Workers and low 0.63 0.80 0.70 0.78 0.73 0.70 middle class Sources: Study area: See Figure 2. Sweden: Bengtsson and Svensson (2018), Table 1.
What sticks out is that while inequality grew and reached a maximum level around the turn of the century 1900 in Sweden for farmers as well as for workers (Table 11), and also regarding the Gini coefficients for all social groups in rural Sweden,91 this was not the case for the study area. Wealth inequality culminated around the mid-19th century and reached its lowest level around 1900. This is also contrary to what would be expected according to the Kuznets curve theory, that economic differentials were growing during the transition from the agrarian to the industrial society and extended theories claiming a positive correlation between economic growth and inequality. A problem is of course that we do not have any information regarding the national development between the benchmarks years (1800, 1850 and 1900), making it difficult to make any definite conclusions regarding the exact timing of reverses in the trend and when the Gini coefficient reached its peak or nadir.
90 Bengtsson, E. and Svensson, P., 2019. 91 Bengtsson E., Missiaia, A, Olsson, M. and Svensson, P., 2018, Table 5.
38 Among farmers the Gini coefficient for movables was relatively stationary during the entire period, fluctuating between 0.26 and 0.36. Among workers the Gini coefficient was fluctuating around 0.60 until the 1860s and then successively fell to circa 0.40-0.45 in the early 20th century. To summarize: wealth inequality for the total population was culminating around the 1840s-1860s and clearly started to fall during the last decades of the century and even more in the beginning of the 20th century, irrespective if we calculate the estimates per household or consumption unit or including deceased missing probate inventories or not.
6. Contextual Factors
Assuming that the profitability in different sectors of the economy and the supply and demand of labour played a decisive role for the wealth development of the working population we will focus on these aspects when analyzing wealth inequality within the group of workers dependent on wage labour.
6.1. Population Growth, Proletarization and Emigration
Previous studies have claimed that increases in population growth tended to lead to rising land prices and number of landless people, resulting in increasing inequality.92 In fact the population share of the lowest social group, low rural workers, was extremely decisive for fluctuations in the Gini coefficient. Analysing the coefficient of variation for the probate inventory data 1780-1919 shows that the decennial variance of the proportion low rural workers explains the variance of the Gini coefficient by 89%. There was a continous and significant population growth in the study area until 1880, except for a sharp decline around 1870 largely due to dramatic migration losses in 1869 (Figure 10). This was to a large extent an effect of severe crop failures in the previous year, that strongly contributed to the onset of the large emigration wave to the USA from the study area as well as from Sweden as a whole during late 19th century and early 20th century. Average wealth among workers were slowly increasing until 1860s/1870s when the level rose rapidly in spite of a still rising proportion of potential workers in the population.
92 Lindert, P.H. and Williamson, J.G., Unequal Gain: American Growth and Inequality since 1700, 2016; Morrison, C, “Historical perspectives on income distribution: the case of Europe”. In Atkinson, A.B. and Bourguignon, F.(eds), Handbook of Income Distribution, I, pp 217-260, 2000; Söderberg, J., “Trends in inequality in Sweden 1700-1914”, Historical Social Research, 21, pp 58-78, 1987.
39 Figure 10. Population growth in the study area 18000 16000 14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000
0
1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 Sources: Algutsboda, Hovmantorp, Linneryd, Ljuder, Långasjö; 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850: Demografiska databasen, Umeå universitet (The Demographic Database, Umeå university), Tabellverket på nätet; 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910: Riksarkivet;(National Archive), Digitala forskarsalen, Församlingsutdrag.
Jonas Ljungberg has suggested that the great emigration affecting the supply of labour in combination with an increasing demand for workers was a major factor in the wage growth in late 19th century.93 The parishes studied were suffering big migration losses from the US emigration (plus a smaller out migration to Denmark and Germany), particularily from the the 1880s onwards (Figure 11). In all a little over 5,000 persons were lost through overseas net emigration between 1860-1919, or circa 85 per year. Until the late 1860s a relatively large proportion of the internal migration movements took part between the parishes included in the study area, although there was a slightly negative net outflow of migrants most years. Kronoberg actually had the largest number of total net outmigraion (internal and overseas) per capita (1.73%) of all counties in the 1880s In the study area all parishes except for Hovmantorp also had higher net overseas outmigration rates than then national average.94 A dominant part of the emigrants as well as outmigrants to other parts of Sweden, offering better incomes and more attarctive employment opportunities, were young unmarried men and women in able-bodied ages, according to the yearly local migration statistics,95 thus
93Ljungberg, J, “The impact of the great emigration on the Swedish economy”. Scandinavian Economic History Review 45:2. 159-189. 1997. 94 Sundbärg, G., Emigrationsutredningen. Bil. 5. Ekonomisk-statistisk beskrifning öfver Sveriges olika landsdelar, 1910. 95 Riksarkivet (National Archive), Summariska folkmängdsredogörelser för Algutsboda, Hovmantorp, Linneryd, Ljuder and Långasjö 1865-1919.
40 contributing to substantial work force losses within the area as well as declining birth rates. This view is partly supported by the report of the county governor 1881-1885 claiming hat the emigration contributed to economic distress by loss of labour force (and capital). It is likely that this contributed to press workers income upwards and led to a diminishing of wealth differences between workers and more affluent groups. Falling birth rates did also contribute to a decline of the potential labour supply. Regarding birth rates it is realistic to assume a lagged effect of 15-20 years before labour force is affected.
Figure 11. Net migration per 1,000 inhabitants in the study area 1820-1920
10,00 5,00 0,00 -5,00 -10,00 -15,00 -20,00 -25,00 -30,00
-35,00
1896 1912 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1900 1904 1908 1916 1920 Sources: Kyrkoarkivet: migration registers (in- och utflyttningslängder) of the studied parishes 1820-1920.
6.2. “The Agrarian Revolution”
The growth of the potential labour force supply is relatively easy to calculate, but it is more problematic to get a clear picture regarding the demand side. We will tentatively discuss the agricultural development based on the reports of the county governors of Kronoberg, assuming that this at least could give an approximate description of the conditions of the study area.
41 The weak and stony land of the region was considered to complicate improvements in agricultural production compared to other parts of the country more favourable for farming.96 According to the county governor did the farmers, in spite of unfavourable natural conditions for arable farming, in normal years produce enough for fulfilling the needs of the inhabitants. He also claimed that the production of cereals had increased by ¼ during the last 30 years (circa 1790-1820), and reported about a substantial growth in the production of potatoes.Selling products based on cattle farming, primarily oxen, butter and cheese, to other regions resulted in a considerable inflow of monetary incomes, according to the governor.97 Although production in agriculture progressed, poverty increased during the initial decades of 19th century among the growing proletarian population and the welllbeing among the poorer segments of the rural population was strongly affected by fluctiuating conditions in the agricultural sector. In years of crop failures (such as 1826,1845-46 and 1868) large groups were suffering severe hardship.98 From the 1840s the county governors reported about further improvements in agricultural production, with temporarily and short breaks in connection with the crop failures 1845-46 and in the late 1860s, causing great misery among the poor,99 and initiated the great emigration wave to the US in late 1860s. Just some short reflections regarding the biological wellbeing of the population. Several of the mortality peaks were probably not primarily related to fluctuations in material conditions, such as those in 1789 and 1809, but was rather affected by wars and military mobilisations, but it is likely that the clearly increasing death rates for example in early 1770s, mid-1840s and late 1860s were primarily effects of the severe crop failures causing shortage of food and starvation during these years (Figure 12). We can however notice that after 1810 the fluctuations gradually become less dramatic, except for the last more striking peak in 1869, and a clearly declining long term mortality trend from circa 1850. The improving biological wellbeing could probably be attributed to a growing and more even food production.100
96 H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län1817-1821. See also Gadd, C.-J. ( ) comparing local plainland areas with forest districts in Western Sweden in early 19th century. 97 H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län1817-1821. 98 BiSOS (Swedish Official Statistics) H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län1817-1821-1827-1831, 1837-1841, 1843-1847. 99 BiSOS (Swedish Official Statistics) H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län1. 1866-1870. 100 Bengtsson,T. and Dribe,M., 2002.
42 Figure 12. Weighted deaths/1,000 (including 9-year moving average) for males 20-59 years in the study area 1750-1900 30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1815 1840 1750 1755 1760 1765 1770 1775 1780 1785 1790 1795 1800 1805 1810 1820 1825 1830 1835 1845 1850 1855 1860 1865 1870 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 yearly moving average
Sources: Tabellverket 1750-1859, Deaths registers, husförhörslängder and censuses data 1860-1900.
According to previous studies improving agricultural productivity tended to follow a Malthusian pattern in population dynamics counteracting potential economic growth per capita on a regional level in pre-industrial Sweden. 101This view is supported by our wealth and demographic data until the great emigration wave broke the ongoing population growth curve in the 1870s. In early 1870s it is reported about high earnings and rich crops and prosperous economic conditions in general, and it is even claimed that they were the best in living memory. The vicar of Linneryd is quoted, claiming that the economic conditions for the working population now was better than ever before.102 According to the reports there was a certain downturn in the later part of the 1870s as well as in the following decade. 103 In the 1880s Swedish farmers were facing increasing competition from overseas producers of cereals According to the wealth estimations there was still a significant rise among the farmers in the 1880s. It is, however, reasonable to believe that short-run changes in economic conditions were not immediately materialized in wealth levels but cumulative long-term effects were probably of importance. Besides, cereal
101 Enflo, K. and Missiaia, A., 2017. 102 BiSOS (Swedish Official Statistics) H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län, 1871-1875. 103 BiSOS (Swedish Official Statistics) H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län,1876-1880, 1881-1885.
43 production played a minor role for the farmers of the study area. Fast rising real wages for day labourers in the county of Kronoberg as well as nationally from the 1870s indicates that the negative picture of the economy given by the official reports might be somewhat exaggerated. 104 Around the turn of the century the county governor reports about prosperous economic conditions in agriculture as well as in the industrial sector.105 Credits in the agrarian society have been characterized as either defensive or offensive. The former refers to credits intended to alleviate economic difficulties, such as falling prices for agricultural products or crop failures. The latter are intended for economic expansions and investments, for example in order to finance costs linked to the land reforms or to buy more land or more efficient machineries.106 These types of credits are considered to be positively correlated to an increasing market integration.107 The growing debt trend among farmers 1860s-1890s could partly be a manifestation of a general trend of increasing market adjustment in the late 19th century.108 Improvements in the agricultural economy and a growing tendency of expanding bank-savings, however, contributed to counteract the negative net claim figures in early 20th century, although debts still exceeded the financial assets for a majority of farmers.
6.2.1. Land Reforms
Previous studies has claimed that the land reforms and the introduction of new agricultural techniques in early 19th century resulted in an increasing demand of agricultural labour, engaged in removing stones from the fields, ditching and draining of swamps and lakes as well as land reclamations and reconstructions of buildings, exceeding the population growth.109 It is highly probable that this to some extent did counteract expected wage depressing effects of the population growth. But undoubtedly most data support the view of a economically troublesome situation for the growing group of proletarians in our area during the first half of the 19th century. Real wages for day labourers in the county of Kronoberg did stagnate during the same period and the county governor of Kronoberg reported about generally increasing poverty and rising misery among the poor in times of bad harvests and
104 See also Schön, L., 2007, p 192. 105 BiSOS (Swedish Official Statistics) H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län,1901-1905. 106 Eriksson, M., 2018. Schofield, P. and Lambrecht, T. (eds), Credits and the rural economy in North-western Europe,c. 1200-1850, 2009. 107 Eriksson, M., 2018. 108 Svensson, P., Agrara entreprenörer – böndernas roll i omvandlingen av jordbruket i Skåne 1800‒1870, 2001. 109 Gadd, C.-J., 2000.
44 crop failures.110 And according to our data average wealth among the workes did decline between 1810s and 1840s (except for a certain temporarily increase in the 1830s).
Figure 13. Land redistribution (storskifte and laga skifte) acts in the study area 1800-1899 (number of acts per decade) 60
50
40
30
20
10
0 1800s 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s laga skifte storskifte
Source: Lantmäterimyndighetens arkiv (archive of the Swedish mapping authority).
The storskifte land reform was considered to have been beneficial for field-cropping in the region.111 Extensive land reforms were introduced in early 19th century Sweden in order to promote agricultural production and productivity. Particularly the laga skifte reform, initiated in the 1820s aiming to amalgamate fragmented land holdings had a significant effect regarding dispersion of settlement and redistribution of land.112 In the study area the laga skifte culminated in the 1830s and 1840s (Figure 13). Doubtless this reform was relatively costly for the involved farmers,113 and it is likely that it contributed to the increasing wealth inequality, culminating during the 1840s-1850s, within the farmers group (as well as for all population). It might be expected that the farmers involved initially was indebted for covering the costs for realising the land reforms and that in the same time other farmers, providing these loans, were enriched from the interest rates charged. However the results from previous
110 BiSOS (Swedish Official Statistics) H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län1817-1821-1827-1831, 1837-1841, 1843-1847. 111 BiSOS (Swedish Official Statistics) H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län1822-1826. 112 Helmfrid. S: “The storskifte, enskifte and laga skifte in Sweden: General Features”, Geografiska annaler vol 43. no ½. pp 114-129, 1961. 113 Eriksson, M., 2018, pp 103.
45 studies are not unambiguous. Patrick Svensson and Mats Olsson did not find any evidence for a correlation between land reforms and rising indebts, based on a micro study from southern Sweden, while Marja Eriksson did found that several families were indebted in connection with the land reforms in the 1850s in her study of Torstuna härad.114Anyway it is probable that the land reforms in general had favourable effects for the economic performance and wealth of the farm holdings affected in the longer run. According to previous studies the number of crofters decreased significantly, paricularily in the plainlands, in conjunction wilth the laga skifte reform when their sites were taken over by moved farms, while the number of cottagers increased.115 This was not the case in the study area. It was rather a steady increasing long-term trend regarding the number of crofters (as well as cottagers) during the most intense period of land redistribution reforms (Figure 14). The onset of the downturn trend took part first in late 19th century.116
Figure 14. Number of crofters respectively cottagers in the study area 1810-1855 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 1810 1815 1820 1825 1830 1835 1840 1845 1850 1855 Crofters Cottagers
Sources: Tabellverket (censuses) 1810, 1815, 1820, 1825, 1830, 1835, 1840, 1845 1850 and 1855.
114 Olsson, M. and Svensson, P, Olsson,, “Production and credits. A micro level analysis of the agrarian economy in Västra Karaby parish, Sweden, 1786‒1846”, in Hillbom, Ellen & Svensson, Patrick (red.) Agricultural Transformation in a Global History Perspective, 2013. Eriksson, M., 2018, pp 103. 115 Bäck, K., Början till slutet. Laga skifte och torpbebyggelse i Östergötland 1827-65, 1992. Gadd, C-J., 2011. 116 According to the censuses 1880-1910 the number of crofters steady declined from circa 480 in 1880 to 175 in 1910.
46 6.2.2. Stock of Animals
Comparing the stock of animals among farmers of the study area with the results based on four wealthy hundreds studied by Bengtsson and Svensson (2019) reveals that cattle dominated the animal stock in early 19th century as well as 100 years later, according to both studies (Table 12).117 The number of animals decreased over time in all areas, except for pigs in the study area and cattle in the four hundreds, while the value of animals in fact increased quite substantially, probably as an effect of a growth in size and yield per animal (for example regarding the milk production per cow),118 but also due to increasing preferences for and demands of dairy and animal products reflecting a general improvement in standards of living.119 In fact the numbers of cows did increase in the study area, while the numbers of oxen and young cattle declined. We will not discuss in detail the reasons for the variations in the animal stock between the different areas but the relatively low number of horses in the study area is partly a consequence of a preference for using oxen as draught animals in the region.
Table 12. Stock of animals among farmers 1800, 1850 and 1900 Horses Cattle Sheep Pigs Goats Value all animal 1748-57 Sandhem 1.5 8.8 9.8 X X X 1800s Four hundreds 3.5 6.4 7.9 5.5 X X Study area 1.0 10.7 7.6 1.5 0.4 86 1850s Sandhem 0.7 6.8 6.8 X X X Study area 0.8 9.3 7.0 1.5 0.1 106 1900s Four hundreds 2.6 9.0 2.8 2.6 X X Study area 0.8 8.8 5.2 1.9 0.0 255 Sources: Study area: See Figure 2. Data of “four hundreds” have been calculated from Erik Bengtsson and Patrick Svensson, 2019, Table 5. Data for Sandhem (forest district in Western Sweden) from C.-J. Gadd (1983). Comments: Unweighted averages of four hundreds in 1800 and 1900 for all farmers in all ages. Figures for the study area are averages for decennial data (1800s, 1850s and 1900s) for deceased farmers in ages 20-59 years. Values in 1800 prices.
117 Bengtsson, E. and Svensson, P., 2019. 118 Morell, M., 2001, pp 89.. 119 Ibid., pp 259.
47 As expected crofters had fewer animals than the farmers, and previous studies report a decline in the number of animals owned by crofters (and farmers) during the first half of the 19th century (Table 13).120 Most crofters owned at least one cow and sometimes also a few sheep or a pig. Although the number of crofters did not decline in the study area during the land reforms the decreasing animal stock might have been a consequence of a reduction in common land available for feeding the animal in connection with the land reforms. The animal stock was somewhat lower in the study area than the national average according to the sample estimates presented in a study by Erik Bengtsson and Patrick Svensson 2020, but the differences diminished over time.121
Table 13. Stock of animals among crofters (incl. soldier crofters) in the study area and a national sample of 120 crofters1800s, 185s0 and 1900s (means) Horses Cattle Sheep Pigs Goats Value all animal 1800s 120 crofters 0.8 3.0 3.3 1.0 0.1 Study area 0.1 2.4 1.9 0.3 0.5 19 1850s 120 crofters 0.3 2.1 2.2 0.7 0.0 Study area 0.1 1.9 1.9 0.3 0.1 17 1900s 120 crofters 0.3 2.8 1.3 0.4 0.1 Study area 0.1 2.4 1.1 0.4 0.0 53 Sources: Study area: See Figure 2. Data regarding 120 crofters from Bengtsson, E. and Svensson, P., “The living standards of the labouring classes in Sweden, 1750-1900: evidence from rural probate inventories” Lund papers in economic history, 213, 2020, Table 4. Comments: Figures for the study area are averages for decennial data (1800s, 1850s and 1900s) for deceased crofters in ages 20-59 years. Values in 1800 prices.
It is notable that mean value of the animal stock did rise continuously among farmers, while it did not change substantially among crofters during the first half of the century, but it increased sharply between 1850s and 1900s for both groups. The stagnating estimates for crofters in the first period indicate a less prosperous development than was the case for the farmers. The general increase in prices for cattle during late 19th century did most probably contribute to the increasing value, but also the actual rise in the number of cattle among the crofters contributed.
120 Including Carl-Johan Gadd reporting a decline in the number of animals owned by crofters between 1783- 1790 and 1850s in his study from western Sweden. Gadd, C.-J., 1983, p118. 121 Bengtsson, E. and Svensson, P., 2020.
48 6.2.3. “The Hungry Forties”
Unfavourable conditions for the agrarian sector, characterised by recurring years of bad harvests and crop failures, did affect several parts of Western Europe, including Sweden, in the1840s. Particularily1845 (failure of the potato) and even more 1846 in Sweden (poor wheat and rye harvests) were extra difficult.122 This could explain why the labouring poor in Britain as well as in Sweden experienced increasing destitution in the 1840s.In Sweden particularily the region around Lake Mälaren was affected but even parts of Kronoberg.123 It is reasonable that the trough of wealth among the workers and the following rise in inequality in the 1840s was affected by the crop failures in mid-1840s. The fact that we can observe a certain excess mortality of adults in the study area 1845-47 further indicates that the area was hit by the crop failures.124 Furthermore does a protocol from the parish meeting (sockenstämma) in Algutsboda in December 1846 report that the parish had been hit by crop failures in 1845 and 1846 and shortages of grain in most households.125 According to Marja Eriksson many farmers in the county of Vastmanland were seriously hit by the crop failures and heavily indebted while other farmers were creditors, resulting in rising economic differences within the farmers group.126 We can notice a widening in the distribution of net claims (financial assets minus debts) among the farmers from the 1820s (Figure 5 a), initially coinciding with the culmination of the land redistribution reforms, 1820s-1860s, but no particularily effect from the 1840s crop failures, but an even accelerated increase in the late 19th century, also noted by the county governor.127
6.2.4. Comparing Regional Wealth Distribution
To scrutinize some possible effects on farmers wealth development with regard to different regional conditions we compared results from the study area and four wealthy hundreds
122 Gráda Ó, C, Paping, R. and Vanhaute, E. (eds), When the potato failed: causes and effects of the European subsistence crisis 1845-1850, 2007. 123 Eriksson, M., 2018. BiSOS (Swedish Official Statistics) H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län1843-1847. 124According to preliminary calculations from the church books of the studied parishes mortality for the age group 205-59 years exceeded the nine-year moving average by 33%, which was the third highest positive deviation from the trend during the 19th century, only exceeded around 1810 and by the last famine in late 1860s. 125 Church Archive for the parish of Algutsboda: Sockenstämmoprotokoll December 15, 1846. 126 Eriksson, M., 2018. 127 BiSOS (Swedish Official Statistics) H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län1876-1880, 1881-1885.
49 presented in a study by Erik Bengtsson and Patrick Svensson (Table 14).128 The latter were situated on the fertile plainlands or situated close to big cities in southern Sweden, giving access to important local markets for agricultural products or even international markets via out shipping harbours, We can notice that growth of wealth in general was more accentuated in these more fortunately located areas. The growing difference over time between the mean and the median strongly indicate an increasing stratification among the farmers in the wealthy hundreds, while this was not the case in our study area.
Table 14. Development of farmer wealth 1800-1900 in four wealth hundreds and the study area 1800(s) 1900(s) All farmers Freeholders All farmers Freeholders Mean Median Mean Mean Median Mean Four wealthy hundreds Lagunda 470 216 574 2458 950 2807 Sjuhundra 614 269 1273 3028 872 5612 Kullings 220 130 310 3022 1286 3564 Bara 477 218 875 4081 1680 5203 Study area 400 297 439 1981 1529 1939 Sources: Study area: See Figure 1. Sweden: Bengtsson and Svensson (2019), Table 4. Commentary: Study area 1800-1809 respectively 1900-1909. SEK 1800.
Important differences with regard to the composition, with implications for the distribution of wealth within the farmers class, are that while the study area was more homogeneous, dominated by small scale freeholder farmers the wealthy hundreds were characterized by a mixture of large noble land owners and smaller tenant farmers (with no real estates), leading to a higher level of stratification in the latter.129 The incentives for commercialization or marketization of the agricultural production, considered to stimulate increasing stratification within the farmer class, was probably lower in the study area due to unfavourable natural conditions for field cropping (stony and relatively unfertile soils) and the remote position with regard to larger markets for agricultural products. A very low mechanization rate of smaller holdings in Kronoberg compared to other regions of the country around 1900 do also strengthen the view of disadvantaged prerequisites or incentives for modernization and market
128 Bengtsson, E. and Svensson, P., 2019. 129 Noble land in the wealthy hundreds varied between 40-80% (1800), while the corresponding figure forn the study area was 23% (1770 and 1845). Rogberg, S., Historisk beskrifning om Småland i gemen: I synnerhet Kronobergs och Jönköpings lähner ifråm äldsta till närvarande tid…...., 1770; Wieselgren, P. Ny Smålands beskrifning inskränkt till Wexiö Stift, Beskrifning öfwer Kronobergs län, 1845.
50 adjustment within the agricultural sector.130 Around 9% in 1880 and over 24% in 1910 of all male peasant farmers in the study area were 60 years of age or older.131 In combination with a high outflow of farmers children of both sexes to the US as well as to other areas in Sweden this indicate a diminishing interest in the new generation to carry on farming activities in the home parishes. It is likely that the slow marketization process contributed to the relatively low wealth inequality within the farmers group compared to the national estimates presented in previous studies and the fact that inequality declined from the maximum in mid-19th century contrary to the national level where inequality culminated around 1900 (Table 8). A comparison regarding the distribution of the real estate values according to the probate inventories between early 19th and 20th century, however, indicates a certain increase regarding the stratifications of landholdings within the peasant farmer class over time. The Gini-coefficient for real estate values increased from 0.40 in 1810s to 0.51 in the 1910s. But obviously did this not affect the general trend of declining inequality among the peasant farmers. Comparing the study area with Sweden regarding wealth estimates for crofters during the 19th century shows more favourable levels for the study area, particularly at the end of the century (Table 15). The general trend is, anyway, quite similar; no significant change during the first half of the century, and then a rapid increase 1850-1900. The differences between the studies are most probably affected by different principles for the categorization of the sample populations, for example regarding selection of age categories and the definition of crofters, but the large divergence in 1900(s) do probably reflect real contextual differences linked to regional variations, that would require deeper analyses in order to find some plausible explanations. What is even more puzzling and unexpected is that the crofters showed lower wealth levels than the group of rural workers and servants in the Swedish sample 1850 respectively 1900,132 while the estimates of the latter were significantly lower in the study area.
130 In fact did Kronoberg, besides the neighbouring county of Jönköping, show the lowest rate regarding ownership of mowers among totally 24 counties around 1900; Morell, M., 2001, p. 300. 131 Censuses 1880 and 1910 for the parishes of the study area. The number of farmers in ages under 60 years declined by 22% between 1880 and 1910. 132 Bengtsson, E. and Svensson, P., 2020.
51 Table 15. Net wealth among crofters in Sweden respectively the study area 1800(s), 1850(s) and 1900(s) 1800(s) 1850(s) 1900(s) Sweden 66 56 132 Study area 72 77 271 Sources: Sweden: Bengtsson, E. and Svensson, P., “The living standards of the labouring classes in Sweden, 1750-1900: evidence from rural probate inventories” Lund papers in economic history, 213, 2020. Study area: see Table.
6.3. The Industrial Breakthrough
The changing occupational composition of the working population, moving from the agrarian to the industrial sector, could be used as an indicator of the industrialization process. If we compare the population share of deceased persons we can observe that the category non- agricultural workers increased substantially while the population engaged in traditional agrarian activities declined during the last decades of the 19th century and early 20th century. This development was to a large extent an effect of a transfer of unskilled labour from the traditional agricultural sector to more professional works and the industrial sector, and coincided with rising wealth and reduced inequality levels. A pre-requisite and an important pull factor was certainly the rising demand for workers from the expanding local industries. In the study area new employment opportunities were offered by the railway transportation sector, employing over 100 workers in 1900, and by more than ten glass works starting between 1859 and 1905, mostly in the parishes of Algutsboda and Hovmantorp, employing almost 200 workers (censuses 1855 and 1900).133 The vast majority of the glass workers were recruited from the neighbourhood area, and many crofters and cottagers did also start working as glass workers.134 The paper mill in Lessebo was also expanding. In mid-19th century around 10 workers were employed at the paper mill. Half a decade later the number had risen to around 75 according to the censuses. Regarding more traditional craftmanship, the numbers of shoemakers and carpenters were expanding, while the numbers of tailors and smiths were relatively unchanged or stagnating from mid-19th to early 20th century. This was probably a combined effect of increased local demand stimulated by general improving economic conditions and an increasing competition from the industrial sector suppressing artisanal production regarding clothing and metal production, while there still was space for expanding
133 Tabellverket 1855 and Folkräkningen 1900 (censuses). 134 80% of the workers came from an area within 30 km distance from the glassworks, according to Nordström, O., 1957.
52 local production in other sectors, such as shoemaking and carpentry. The overflow of workers from agriculture to industrial production probably contributed to rising incomes even in the agrarian sector. This view is supported by the report from the county governor claiming that the increasing wages for workers in the industrial sector made it more difficult for employers to recruit agrarian labour at “reasonable” rewards and that the demands from the working class for a higher standard of living were generally rising.135 Favourable economic conditions for agricultural products did probably also stimulate salary increases contributing to an evening of the income differences between agricultural and industrial workers.
Table 16. Mean net wealth value (W) and death populations (20-59 years) (P) for social groups 1830s-1910s (including deceased missing probate inventories in parentheses) Non- Farmers Ex farmers Crofters Soldiers Lower rural agricultural workers W P W P W P W P W P W P 3 28 1830s 590 158 44 16 58 35 56 18 109 25 (1) (73) -11 59 1840s 595 157 60 28 38 55 49 25 42 11 (-7) (97) 5 59 1850s 665 135 163 21 78 50 83 12 40 30 (3) (96) 15 56 1860s 909 146 548 28 66 47 64 16 84 29 (8) (104) 38 44 1870s 934 136 357 21 259 46 120 13 129 38 (18) (94) 42 42 1880s 1466 120 287 16 257 48 11 5 200 41 (16) (96) 62 47 1890s 1470 126 987 11 174 28 100 12 217 46 (41) (73) 77 29 1900s 1981 125 668 6 274 31 210 7 262 63 (44) (39) 117 33 1910s 1689 114 2294 8 252 16 202 3 343 85 (95) (41) Sources: See Figure 1. Comments: Middle class and Professional rural workers are too small and thus omitted.
According to our analyses did most social groups (except crofters and soldiers) experience a significant boost in wealth in the 1860s (Table 16). The wealth inequality within the workers group declined during the last decades of the study period. Looking more into details we can
135 BiSOS (Swedish Official Statistics) H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län1901-1905.
53 observe that this partly was an effect of a closing of the wealth gap between low paid lower rural workers and the better paid non rural workers from the 1870s. From 1890s the latter also surpassed the crofters average wealth level. The death population of non-agricultural workers also passed the number of traditional rural workers in early 20th century, and rural groups such as ex farmers, crofters and soldiers declined substantially. The significant decline in the numbers of soldiers was largely an effect of the phasing out of the military allotment system (indelningsverket) based on soldier crofters. Falling mortality did also press down the number of deceases. Looking at the total active population in ages 15-59 years (with independent social or professional titles, irrespective of marital status), according to the information given by the censuses we get a more detailed picture of the changes in the labour market during the initial phase of industrialization. The proportion of non-agricultural professional workers more than quintupled between 1870 and 1910, increasing particularly during the 1890s. In 1910 almost 50% of the working class population belonged to this category. Glassworkers and paper mill workers were the largest groups, but railway workers and artisans (also including traditional rural artisans such as shoemakers and tailors) were also significant. At the same time the lowest social group, consisting of non-professional rural workers, declined dramatically from over 40% in 1880 to 25% in 1910. Most certainly this illustrates the overflow of rural workers to industrial jobs within the region as well as the outflow to America or migration to other parts of the country. Many crofters and cottagers or farmhands were moving completely to industrial jobs in the expanding glass industry or in other cases took some extra casual jobs besides the work at the croft.136 In late 1890s and early 20th century the economic situation was improving substantially for agriculture and industrial activities. According to the county reports as well as our wealth decomposition estimates bank savings were rising substantially in the beginning of the 20th century. All data (county reports, real wages of day labourers and our wealth estimates) confirm that wages increased rapidly, which according to the county governor´s reports made it difficult to get agricultural workers to “reasonable” prices.137 The censuses clearly show a substantial growth of workers in the study area moving from agriculture to
136Nordström, O., 1957. 137 BiSOS (Swedish Official Statistics) H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län1901-1905.
54 industry and other sectors from 1890s (Figure 15). It is reasonable to believe that this overflow to higher paid industrial works also contributed to pressure the agrarian wages upwards.
Figure 15. Social distribution of active population in ages 15-59 years. According to censuses 1860-1910 (%) 45 45 45 45 Farmers Other rural Low rural Non agricultural 40 40 40 40 workers 35 35 35 35 30 30 30 30 25 25 25 25 20 20 20 20 15 15 15 15
10 10 10 10
5 5 5 5
0 0 0 0
Sources: Algutsboda, Hovmantorp, Linneryd, Ljuder and Långasjö, 1860, 1870. 1880. 1890. 1900 and 1910: Riksarkivet (National Archive), Digitala forskarsalen, Församlingsutdrag.
According to census data the proportion of the population active in agriculture was lower, while the share of the population engaged in industry was somewhat higher in the study area than in rural Sweden as a whole (Table 17). In 1900s a majority of workers was engaged in the industrial sector. But what is even more striking is the notable difference in the intra structural composition of industrial workers.
Table 17. Economic structure: all professionals (including owners and employees) in the study area and rural Sweden, 1910 (%) Agriculture Industry Commerce and Public service and Domestic transportation liberal professions works Study 57 32 6 2 3 area Rural 67 22 6 3 3 Sweden Sources: Algutsboda, Hovmantorp, Linneryd, Ljuder, Långasjö 1920: Riksarkivet (National Archive), Digitala forskarsalen, Folkräkningar; Rural Sweden: SCB, “Folkräkningen den 31 december, 1910 (Census 1910),III. Folkmängdens fördelning efter yrken”.
55 Table 18. The share of workers in selected sectors in % of all industrial workers in rural Sweden respectively the study area in 1920 Rural Sweden Study area Metal industry workers 23% 4% Glass mill workers 2% 31% Paper mill workers 3% 26% Sources: Study area: see figure 1. Rural Sweden: SCB (Statistics Sweden), “Folkräkningen den 31 december 1920. VI (Census 1920) ,, Yrkesräkningen II: Yrken, inkomst och förmögenhet kombinerade inbördes samt med kön, civilstånd och ålder”, Table 7.
The specific characteristics of the occupational structure among industrial workers might be one major factor contributing to the declining wealth inequality in the study area contrary to the general increase on national level. Data material from the census 1920 shows that more than 55% of all industrial workers were engaged either in the paper mill in Lessebo or in some of the many glass works. The corresponding figure for all rural Sweden was less than 5% (Table 18). Particularly glass workers (compromising almost one third of all industrial workers in the study area) appear to have exhibited low wealth levels according to the estimates presented in the census 1920. Workers in metal industry, having relatively high wealth levels, were on the other hand sparsely represented in the study area; less than 5% of all industrial workers compared to 23% nationally.
7. Concluding Discussion
The purpose of this article has been to analyse the levels and distribution of wealth among the active working rural population, based on analyses of probate inventories, in rural Sweden 1780-1919, in the context of the dramatic demographic, social and economic changes taking part in 19th century Sweden. The article has shown that the variations in the development of wealth levels and inequality in the studied local area roughly followed the national pattern of Sweden until the industrial breakthrough, as well as of England and France, according to the results presented by (some) previous studies in spite of very different stages of economic development Wealth of the working class stagnated during the first half of the 19th century, while the peasant farmers experienced a continuous stepwise growth, largely due to an increasing appreciation of real estates.
56 In the 1870s particularly the economic situation for lower social groups improved substantially. In the previous decades the general population growth and rising land prices had led to an increasing proportion of landless and a widening economic gap culminating around the middle of the century. Non-professional rural workers had substantially lower wealth estimates than other categories of workers, while the differences between other groups of workers was less accentuated. It is however, notable that professional workers clearly passed the level of crofters and other groups in the early 21st century. Contrary to an expected rise of inequality with the onset of the industrialization process and rapidly growing wealth levels around the turn of the century, inequality fell in the study area both for the total rural population studied as well as within the farmers and workers social groups. Analysing possible factors affecting wealth, from a labour supply and demand perspective, a plausible explanation for the declining inequality in late 19th century is the very high out migration (particularly the US migration) in the 1880s and 1890s, leading to a substantial outflow of potential labour from the area stimulating the growth of workers´ wages and thus reducing the economic gap vis-a-vis more wealthy groups. The changes in the social structure within in the landless population groups, particularly the share of low rural workers, was highly decisive for the fluctuations in inequality. Their number was culminating in mid- 19th century as did the Gini coefficient. The rapid and extensive overflow of labour from relatively low paid rural works to the better paid industrial sector in late 19th and early 20th century did certainly contribute to close the wealth gap generally as well as within the working class. The pace of labour overflow from agriculture to industry and other sectors could certainly affect regional variations in wealth levels and inequality. Other possible factors were differences in wage levels, migration and the intra sectoral composition of industrial workers. According to previous studies the marketization of the agricultural sector lead to increasing wealth inequality among farmers in the 19th century. The opposite development was found in the study area, whereas the Gini coefficient for farmers reached the lowest level in early 20th century. It is likely that the marketization process in agriculture and incentives for huge investments to expanding production was less accentuated in the region, all the time dominated by small scale freeholders, than in areas more favourable for arable farming. Regarding movables, which might be a better indicator of daily life living conditions than net wealth, the development roughly followed the same patterns over time as total
57 wealth, but social inequality was significantly lower, although still considerable, when real estate is removed from the estimates. The results from this study highlight the importance of regional or local studies analysing more in detail the relations between rising wealth/income and inequality, which could help to reveal important mechanisms affecting inequality fluctuations.
58 References
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62 Official publications
BiSOS (Swedish Official Statistics) H. Kungl. Majt:s Befallningshavandes femårsberättelse, Kronobergs län 1817-1821, 1822-1826, 1827-1831, 1837-1841, 1843-1847, 1866-1870, 1871-1875, 1881-1885,1901-1905. SCB (Statistics Sweden),Folkräkningen den 31 december 1910.III (Census 1910), Folkmängdens fördelning efter yrken. SCB (Statistics Sweden), Folkräkningen den 31 december 1920. V (/Census 1920), Yrkesräkningen II: Yrken, inkomst och förmögenhet kombinerade inbördes samt med kön, civilstånd och ålder. Stockholms stads statistiska kontor, Statistisk undersökning angående Levnadskostnaderna i Stockholm åren 1907-1908, 1910.
Archives https://historiskakartor.lantmateriet.se/
Lantmäterimyndighetens arkiv (archive of the Swedish mapping authority): storskifte and laga skifte 1780-1919: Algutsboda, Hovmantorp, Linneryd, Ljuder, Långasjö
Riksarkivet (National archive):
The probate inventories and church books have been digitalized and are available from Arkiv Digital, https://app.arkivdigital.se.
Summariska folkmängdsredogörelser have been digitalized and are available from Riksarkivet, https://sok.riksarkivet.se/digitala-forskarsalen
Församlingsutdrag 1860-1910; Algutsboda, Hovmantorp, Linneryd, Ljuder, Långasjö
Domstolsarkiv:
Bouppteckningar (probate inventories): Konga and Uppvidinge häradsrätter 1780-1919
Kyrkoarkiv (church archive):
Husförhörslängder/församlingsböcker, in- och utflyttningslängder, död- och begravningsböcker 1780-1919: Algutsboda, Hovmantorp, Linneryd, Ljuder, Långasjö.
Summariska folkmängdsredogörelser1865-1919: Algutsboda, Hovmantorp, Linneryd, Ljuder, Långasjö.
63 Databases
Riksarkivet, https://sok.riksarkivet.se/digitala-forskarsalen:
Folkräkningar (censuses) 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910: Algutsboda, Hovmantorp, Linneryd, Ljuder, Långasjö.
Umeå University Demographic Database https:/www.umu.se/enheten-for-demografi-och-aldrandeforskning/sokvertyg/tabellverket-pa- natet/
Tabellverket på nätet: Folkmängds- och mortalitetsformulär, 1780-1859: Algutsboda, Hovmantorp, Linneryd, Ljuder, Långasjö.
Appendices
Table A1. Social distribution in the parishes of the study population 1780-1919.
Parish Algutsboda Hovmantorp Linneryd Ljuder Långasjö Total
1780-1809 Farmers 206 35 127 85 91 544 Workers 74 27 41 33 21 196 Other 19 5 21 3 14 62 Missing 39 12 16 16 17 100 Sum 338 79 205 137 143 902 1800-1839 Farmers 198 30 139 73 99 539 Workers 121 34 46 43 37 281 Other 20 34 46 43 37 180 Missing 41 15 22 11 16 105 Sum 380 113 253 170 189 1105 1840-1869 Farmers 151 40 107 69 69 436 Workers 155 80 105 56 59 455 Other 34 6 25 5 30 100 Missing 52 12 19 13 27 123 Sum 392 138 256 143 185 1114 1870-1899 Farmers 125 30 87 73 67 382 Workers 136 100 91 48 43 418 Other 23 11 21 3 12 70 Missing 41 9 24 13 43 130
64 Sum 325 150 223 137 165 1000 1900-1919 Farmers 93 18 60 23 45 239 Workers 89 76 40 42 22 269 Other 7 8 5 4 10 34 Missing 4 2 3 6 3 18 Sum 193 104 108 75 80 560
1780-1919 1,628 584 1,045 662 762 4,681 Sources: See Figure 1. Commentary: Workers = crofters, soldiers. professional and lower rural workers and non-agricultural workers. Other= ex farmers and middle class.
Table A1 gives an approximate picture of the social household structure of the different parishes in1810. The information is based on information given by the parish priests in the church records. The criterions for the registration is not completely clear, but probably the information gives a roughly correct picture of the great lines.
Table A 2. Male households (%) and total population, 1810 Algutsboda Hovmanorp Linneryd Ljuder & Total Långasjö Farmers 57.5 41.8 64.9 74.0 61.6
Crofters 6.7 15.2 2.3 2.0 5.5
Soldiers 8.4 5.5 7.5 9.5 8.1
Lower 10.4 7.6 7.7 7.0 8.5
Prof. workers 2.7 24.9 5.0 1.0 5.7
Ex farmers 12.9 4.6 10.6 3.7 8.9
Middle class 1.5 0.4 2.0 2.7 1.8
Number 675 237 442 485 1839
Population 3083 973 1997 2613 8666 Sources: Census 1810 (Tabellverket på nätet). The categories rural and non-rural professional workers are merged into the group professional workers.
Table A2 is based on the 1900 census and gives an approximative picture regarding the social structure of the population or households in focus for our analyses; married and widowed men and women in active ages. The reason for not including women is simply that most women were only identified as wiwes or widows in the census data.
65 Table A 3. Widowers and married men 20-59 years (%) and total population, 1900 Algutsboda Hovmantorp Linneryd Ljuder Långasjö Total
Farmers 42.3 17.9 55.4 43.5 57.9 43.4
Crofters 10.7 13.4 12.0 5.5 7.7 10.2
Soldiers 3.5 2.1 5.5 3.1 6.3 4.0
Lower 9.7 8.5 10.8 9.0 11.6 9.9
Prof workers 30.3 53.5 12.3 33.1 13.3 28.4
Ex farmers 0.5 0.0 2.3 2.1 0.4 1.0
Middle class 3.0 4.6 1.8 3.8 2.8 3.0
Number 607 329 399 290 285 1910
Population 5030 2634 3300 2367 2424 15755
Source: Folkräkningen (census) 1900.
Table A 4. Means and coinfidence intervals of net wealth and movables among probated farmers of the study area 1780s-1910s (SEK in 1800 prices)
Net wealth Movables Mean 95% coinfidence Mean 95% coinfidence interval interval 1780s 339 (279-399) 174 (155-195)
1790s 389 (330-448) 203 (176-231)
1800s 400 (338-460) 174 (157-191)
1810s 400 (343-457) 155 (144-169)
1820s 647 (548-746) 194 (175-213)
1830s 594 (505-683) 183 (169-197)
1840s 595 (406-784) 182 (159-205)
1850s 665 (510-820) 211 (186-236)
1860s 913 (668-1159) 208 (189-227)
1870s 934 (765-1103) 273 (236-310)
1880s 1466 (1235-1697) 344 (309-379)
1890s 1470 (1190-1750) 381 (337-425)
1900s 1981 (1709-2253) 478 (437-519)
1910s 1689 (1395-1983) 547 (492-602)
66 Table A 5. Means and coinfidence intervals of net wealth and movables among probated workers of the study area 1780s-1910s (SEK in 1800 prices)
Net wealth Movables Mean 95% coinfidence Mean 95% coinfidence interval interval 1780s 36 (17-53) 44 (33-50) 1790s 43 (29-58) 44 (34-54) 1800s 42 (24-60) 46 (35-61) 1810s 31 (20-43) 31 (25-37) 1820s 29 (14-74) 36 (30-41) 1830s 36 (7-65) 38 (29-47) 1840s 26 (10-42) 31 (26-35) 1850s 44 (28-61) 38 (32-44) 1860s 60 (37-83) 50 (36-64) 1870s 102 (67-138) 68 (68-91) 1880s 162 (101-220) 78 (69-87) 1890s 148 (137-265) 88 (76-104) 1900s 227 (163-291) 105 (92-117) 1910s 431 (195-453) 122 (95-124) Sources: Riksarkivet (State Archive): Konga and Uppvidinge häradsrätter 1780-1919;Wealth in prices 1800 (SEK) according to Edvinsson, Rodney, and Söderberg, , 2011, A Consumer Price Index for Sweden 1290-2008, Review of Income and Wealth, vol. 57 (2), sid. 270-292. Comment: Grains and potatoes included.
67 Lund Papers in Economic History ISRN LUSADG-SAEH-P--21/219-SE+67
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