Using an extensive inquiry into the family income of Ghent artisans and cotton, linen, and metal workers around 1900, the research reported in this article examines the level and the composition of family income at different phases of the life-cycle. In the Belgian textile center Ghent, which was characterized by a low male wage level, married women made a substantial contribution to the family income, especially in the years before children started to earn a living. The family income per person of textile workers approached or even exceeded the income of metal workers and artisans despite the fact that heads' wages were lower: the textile families' strategy, consisting of an increased work effort of women and children, was successful in bridging the income gap. On the other hand, the wives of metal workers and artisans came closer to the realization of the domestic ideal.
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