Although historians suspect that life course and class are equally
important in influencing single women's need for employment, they have been unable
to prove the importance ofclass. By examining the relationship between class and those
variables that influence life course (a woman's age at marriage, her father's age at
marriage, her family size, and her father's age at death), this article demonstrates the
hidden relationships between class and life course and shows that a majority of
working-class women were likely to lose their fathers before marriage and were hence
more in need of employment.
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