Women and Economic Freedom

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Family Wage

Idea that a male worker should earn enough money to support his entire family without his wife or kids needing to work. Reinforced traditional gender roles, kept women economically dependent.

Domestic Liberty

Concept used in debates about economic freedom arguing that a married woman needed freedom within the home, including protection from economic pressures that would cause her to work. Emphasized wives’ dependence on husbands.

Jane Addams

Progressing reformer, founded the Hull House in Chicago. Believed that government and society had a responsibility to address problems caused by urbanization and industrialization.

Settlement House

Neighborhood-based community centers run mostly by middle class women to help the urban poor, especially immigrants. Provided services like child care, health clinics, education, and cultural programs.

Florence Kelly

Major female reformer who worked at Hull House and later led the National Consumers’ League. She advocated for labor laws, especially on limiting women and children’s working hours.

National American Woman Suffrage Association

Leading women’s suffrage organization during the Progressive Era. It used mass membership, state campaigns to push for women’s voting rights, eventually contributing to the passage of the 19th Amendment.

Maternalist Reform

Progressive-era policies that claimed women (due to role as mother/caregiver) deserved special government protection and support.

Mothers’ Pensions

State welfare program that provided payments to poor single mothers so they could raise their children. Early form of government social insurance stemming from maternalist ideas.

Muller v. Oregon

Supreme Court case that upheld maximum working hour laws for women, arguing that women needed special state protection due to their maternal roles and physical differences.

Economic Citizenship

Progressive-era idea that to be a full member of society, individuals needed certain government protections and economic rights, like workplace safety laws, wages, social welfare.

19th Amendment

Constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote nationwide. Culmination of decades of suffrage activism and NAWSA’s progressive-era efforts.