Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Good for girls or bad for boys? Schooling, social inequality and intrahousehold allocation in early twentieth century Finland

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Cliometrica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Apart from the commonly emphasized historical or cultural explanations, was there an economics behind the early, extensive schooling of girls in Europe’s Nordic periphery? This article analyses factors behind the emerging female majority in secondary schooling in early twentieth century Finland through resource allocation within households. We argue that a significant part of the female educational advantage can be explained with a classic unitary Beckerian schooling investment model. We apply an Engel specification widely used in development economics to a household budget dataset from the 1920s to estimate the effect of the age and gender of children on schooling investment across social groups. We find a pro-girl bias among households of low socio-economic status, explained primarily by the sizable penalty to boys caused by opportunity costs and expected returns. Worker boys could generate significant income from an early age, making their education initially expensive for cash-constrained families. Contrary to previous claims, the dropout rates of boys were also higher than those of girls. Together with a propensity to leave home earlier, this lowered the expected net returns to schooling. Meanwhile, the expansion of modern services created attractive job opportunities for secondary educated girls. We find no evidence of intrahousehold bargaining. The findings resemble certain cases in development economics and the economic history of advanced countries including the USA. Rather than matching with patterns of anti-girl discrimination in many developing countries, our results highlight the prehistory of the currently emerging pattern of female educational advantage—and male disadvantage—in OECD countries.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Exceptions include Rahikainen’s work (e.g., 1996) linking schooling and child labour markets in the early twentieth century, and the studies by Pekkarinen (2008), Pekkarinen et al. (2009) on the econometrics of the comprehensive school reform of the 1970s.

  2. Kansa means the (common) people in the Finnish language, while koulu means school.

  3. An estimate based on the occupations of “heads of households” has 11.8 % of the population classified as industrial in 1920 and 12.8 % in 1930; with construction and miscellaneous labour added, the figures are 17.2 and 20.3 %, respectively (Pitkänen 1982, p. 200; Computations from Tilastokeskus 1979, pp. 5–10). Both rates of growth are clearly below that for pupils from worker families in secondary schools in this period.

  4. State share of female students was 41 % in 1920–1921, slightly over 43 % in 1927–1928 and 44 % in 1937–1938.

  5. Available at http://www.barrolee.com/.

  6. Over 15 years.

  7. Compared with the cases in the “advanced countries” group of the Barro–Lee data, both men and women had less average years of schooling only in Portugal and Turkey. Finnish women were on average better educated than women in Greece, Italy and Spain, but Finnish men fared worse than their counterparts in these countries.

  8. Male dominance at the top was particularly clear looking at completed tertiary education, where the ratio of male to female percentages ranged from 1.34 (USA) to 4.75 (Germany). In Finland, the ratio was 2.6.

  9. Measured including all those who never started secondary education.

  10. Examples of similar data used in research literature include, e.g., a survey conducted by the US Bureau of Labour in various countries in 1889–1890 (Horrell and Oxley 1999, pp. 497–498, 2000, pp. 38–39), a cost of living survey by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics 1917–1919 (Moehling 2001, pp. 932–933; Emery 2010, p. 76) and the New Survey of London Life and Labour conducted in 1929–1930 (Baines and Johnson 1999a, pp. 950–952; b, pp. 696–697).

  11. The term, translated as “elite”, in fact literally means “civil servant”, but as this group included top-earner private sector employees as well, that translation would not be appropriate.

  12. This is essentially similar to the simple two-period model of returns to education presented by Becker (1964, pp. 59–61), with the addition of the parameters p.

  13. The same concern applies to a Tobit specification. The application of models separating enrolment and expenditure decisions, such as hurdle or Heckman, is precluded by the lack of separate information on enrolment in the source.

  14. The summary cards passed through analysts correcting errors in classification in the original weekly account books. Leakage between schooling expenditure and general expenditures on food, clothing and books has been explored econometrically. None of these variables reaches significance when entered on the right hand side of the schooling expenditure regressions, with the exception of writing equipment—a class of goods nearly identical to those consumed as school materials—where there is some evidence of correlation.

  15. The variables have been defined both allowing a state girl school to define the lowest fee and restricting the identification of lowest fee to the most inexpensive coeducational or all-male institution due to a sometimes notable difference. The findings are robust to this. Observation of Epanechnikov kernel density graphs for the underlying variables seems to indicate a break in the densities close to value 1, suggesting the cut-off for the dummies is appropriate. This was also done relating the expenditure per lowest fee separately to the number of boys or girls of relevant age in the households. While the densities by gender were predictably different, there appeared to be no difference in the position of the break, suggesting the results are not driven by, e.g., scholarships disproportionately targeting worker boys. The break appeared further below 1 for the group of workers than for the data as a whole for the per capita-based variables, indicating a higher possibility of errors of exclusion.

  16. In case of families with low socioeconomic status, this source of bias might have existed within localities where the most inexpensive institution was not open for girls. However, the cheapest option was typically a girl school.

  17. Using specifications with dummies based on schooling expenditure per capita for the relevant age group further diminishes the sample, as only 415 households both had children in this age and resided in localities where school fee data could be constructed. With such specifications, the pro-boy difference would disappear, but the pro-girl difference among workers is always highly significant (p < 0.001).

  18. This is robust to entry as sum rather than income share; as a dummy, the variable acquires marginal (p < 0.1) but negative significance in some specifications.

  19. Around 5 % of the industrial workers of Helsinki in mid-1920s were under 18 (Rahikainen 1996, p. 334).

  20. The presence and contributions of older male children were also influenced by mandatory military service, which lasted 12 months and was usually performed at around year 20. The children’s contribution Engel curves still indicate significant returns to households on the relevant male age category. The effect of the service on human capital formation is unclear, but selection to superior ranks tended to replicate attained civilian levels of education. In the late 1920s, around a third of conscripts were rejected, primarily on medical grounds, but to a highly disputed degree possibly also on grounds of perceived loyalty issues related to the legacy of the civil war of 1918. Both causes were likely to affect workers more than others (Ahlbäck 2010, pp. 77–78, 236–237; Ylikangas 2009).

  21. A gender difference in the propensity to postpone the start of secondary school also biases the Engel estimates slightly downwards for girls when standard age categories are applied, but this pattern was less pronounced in 1928.

  22. The direct connections between secondary schooling, social groups and gender also make it improbable that the household budget data results were driven by investment into other types of education, like vocational training.

  23. Logan (2007) has suggested seemingly egalitarian allocations might reflect parental uncertainty over future returns in absence of devices for making binding commitments, and argues similarly with Horrell and Oxley (1999) that children of the sex more likely to leave home early were treated preferentially to influence the decision.

  24. Measured including all those who never started secondary education.

References

  • Agarwal B (1999) Social security and the family. In: Ehtisam A, Drèze J, Hills J, Sen A (eds) Social security in developing countries, Indian edition. Oxford university press, New Delhi, pp 171–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahlbäck A (2010) Soldiering and the making of Finnish manhood: conscription and masculinity in interwar Finland, 1918–1939. Åbo Akademi, Turku

    Google Scholar 

  • Alapuro R (1985) Yhteiskuntaluokat ja sosiaaliset kerrostumat 1870-luvulta toiseen maailmansotaan. In: Valkonen T et al (eds) Suomalaiset: Yhteiskunnan rakenne teollistumisen aikana. WSOY, Porvoo, pp 36–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Albisetti J, Goodman J, Rogers R (2010) Girls’ secondary education in the Western World: a historical introduction. In: Albisetti J, Goodman J, Rogers R (eds) Girls’ secondary education in the Western World from the 18th to the 20th century. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, pp 1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson J (2011) From Finland: an intriguing school-reform model. The New York Times 12.12.2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/education/from-finland-an-intriguing-school-reform-model.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0. Accessed 25 Feb 2014

  • Angrist JD, Pischke J-S (2009) Mostly harmless econometrics: an empiricist’s companion. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Baines D, Johnson P (1999a) Did they jump or were they pushed? The exit of older men from the London labor market, 1929–1931. J Econ Hist 59:949–971

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baines D, Johnson P (1999b) In search of the ‘traditional’ working class: social mobility and occupational continuity in interwar London. Econ Hist Rev LII:692–713

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barro RJ, Lee JW (2013) A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950–2010. J Dev Econ 104:184–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker G (1964) Human capital: a theoretical and empirical analysis, with special reference to education, 3rd edn. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1993

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker G (1985) Human capital, effort, and the sexual division of labor. J Labor Econ 3:S33–S58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker SO, Cinnirella F, Woessmann L (2012) The effect of investment in children’s education on fertility in 1816 Prussia. Cliometrica 6:29–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brambor T, Clark WR, Golder M (2006) Understanding interaction models: improving empirical analyses. Polit Anal 14:63–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buchardt M, Markkola P, Valtonen H (2013) Education and the making of the Nordic welfare states. In: Buchardt M, Markkola P, Valtonen H (eds) Education, state and citizenship. NordWel studies in historical welfare state research 4. Nordic Centre of Excellence NordWel, Helsinki, pp 7–30

  • Buchmann C, DiPrete TA (2006) The growing female advantage in college completion: the role of family background and academic achievement. Am Sociol Rev 71:515–541

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burgess R, Zhuang J (2000) Modernisation and son preference. Development Economics discussion paper; DEDPS 29. London School of Economics and Political Science, London

  • Buyst E, Franaszek P (2010) Sectoral developments, 1914–1945. In: Broadberry S, O’Rourke K (eds) The Cambridge economic history of modern Europe: volume 2, 1870 to the present. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 209–231

    Google Scholar 

  • Coale AJ (1991) Excess female mortality and the balance of the sexes in the population: an estimate of the number of “missing females”. Popul Dev Rev 17:517–523

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deaton A (2000) The analysis of household surveys: a microeconometric approach to development policy. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  • Deolalikar A (1993) Gender differences in the returns to schooling and in school enrollment rates in Indonesia. J Hum Resour XXVIII(4):899–932

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Desrosières A (1991) The part in relation to the whole: how to generalise? The prehistory of representative sampling. In: Bulmer M, Bales K, Sklar KK (eds) The social survey in historical perspective 1880–1940. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 217–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Diebolt C, Perrin F (2013) From stagnation to sustained growth: the role of female empowerment. Am Econ Rev 103:545–549

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DiMatteo L (1998) Wealth accumulation and the life-cycle in economic history: implications of alternative approaches to data. Explor Econ Hist 35:296–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duflo E, Banerjee A (2011) Poor economics: a radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty. PublicAffairs, New York

  • Duraisamy P (2001) Changes in returns to education in India, 1983–1994: by gender, age-cohort and location. Econ Educ Rev 21:609–622

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edmonds EV (2004) Does illiquidity alter child labor and schooling decisions? Evidence from household responses to anticipated cash transfers in South Africa. NBER Working Paper 10265. http://www.nber.org/papers/w10265. Accessed 22 July 2012

  • Emery JCH (2010) “Un-American” or unnecessary? America’s rejection of compulsory government health insurance in the Progressive Era. Explor Econ Hist 47:68–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fellman S (1999) Kirjanpitäjästä controlleriksi, konttoripäälliköstä talousjohtajaksi. In: Parikka R (ed) Suomalaisen työn historiaa korvesta konttoriin. SKS, Helsinki, pp 127–163

    Google Scholar 

  • Fellman S (2001) The role of higher technical education. In: Larsen HK (ed) Convergence? Industrialisation of Denmark, Finland and Sweden 1870–1940. Suomen tiedeseura, Helsinki, pp 199–238

    Google Scholar 

  • Galor O (2011) Unified growth theory. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Ginsberg C, Swedlund A (1986) Sex-specific mortality and economic opportunities: Massachusetts, 1860–1899. Contin Chang 1:415–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldin C (1990) Understanding the gender gap: an economic history of American women. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldin C (1994) The U-shaped female labour force function in economic development and economic history. NBER Working Paper 4707. www.nber.org/papers/w4707. Accessed 22 July 2012

  • Goldin C (1998) America’s graduation from high school: the evolution and spread of secondary schooling in the twentieth century. J Econ Hist 58:345–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldin C, Katz LF, Kuziemko I (2006) The homecoming of American college women: the reversal of the college gender gap. NBER Working Paper 12139. http://www.nber.org/papers/w12139. Accessed 4 Oct 2013

  • Goldin C, Katz LF (2008) The race between education and technology. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Gormly A, Swinnerton KA (2004) The effect of adult returns to schooling on children’s school enrollment, theory and evidence from South Africa. US Department of Labor, Washington, DC

  • Guha-Khasnobis B, Hazarika G (2006) Women’s status and children’s food security in Pakistan. UNU/WIDER discussion paper No. 2006/03

  • Halbwachs M (1913) La classe ouvrière et les niveaux de vie: Recherches sur la hiérarchie des besoins dans les sociétes industrielles contemporaines. Livre II. F. Alcan

  • Hannikainen M (2008) Unemployment and labour market flexibility in the great depression: the case of construction workers in Helsinki. Scand J Hist 33:139–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heikkinen S, Hannikainen M (2006) The labour market, 1850–2000. In: Ojala J, Eloranta J, Jalava J (eds) The road to prosperity: an economic history of Finland. SKS, Jyväskylä, pp 165–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Heikkinen A, Leino-Kaukiainen P (eds) (2011) Valistus ja koulunpenkki. Kasvatus ja koulutus Suomessa 1860-luvulta 1960-luvulle. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Helsinki

  • Himaz R (2010) Intrahousehold allocation of education expenditure: the case of Sri Lanka. Econ Dev Cult Chang 58:231–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hjerppe R (1988) Suomen talous 1860–1985: Kasvu ja rakennemuutos. Valtion painatuskeskus, Helsinki

    Google Scholar 

  • Horrell S, Oxley D (1999) Crust or crumb? Intrahousehold resource allocation and male breadwinning in Late Victorian Britain. Econ Hist Rev LII:494–522

  • Horrell S, Oxley D (2000) Work and prudence: household responses to income variation in nineteenth century Britain. Eur Rev Econ Hist 4:27–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horrell S, Oxley D (2013) Bargaining for basics? Inferring decision making in nineteenth-century British households from expenditure, diet, stature, and death. Eur Rev Econ Hist 17:147–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horrell S, Meredith D, Oxley D (2009) Measuring misery: body mass, ageing and gender inequality in Victorian London. Explor Econ Hist 46:93–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaarninen M (1995) Nykyajan tytöt. Koulutus, luokka ja sukupuoli 1920-ja 1920-luvun Suomessa. Suomen Historiallinen Seura, Helsinki

  • Kaarninen M (2011) Oppikoulu yhteiskunnan rakentajana. In: Heikkinen A, Leino-Kaukiainen P (eds) Valistus ja koulunpenkki. Kasvatus ja koulutus Suomessa 1860-luvulta 1960-luvulle. SKS, Helsinki, pp 405–429

  • Kaihovaara A (2011) Kotitalouksien sisäinen resurssienjako, työmarkkinat ja sukupuolittuneet investoinnit lasten inhimilliseen pääomaan 1920-luvun Suomessa. Master’s thesis, University of Helsinki

  • Kaukiainen Y (1981) Taloudellinen kasvu ja yhteiskunnan muuttuminen teollistuvassa Suomessa. In: Kaukiainen Y et al (eds) Kun yhteiskunta muuttuu. SHS, Helsinki, pp 39–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingdon G (2005) Where has all the bias gone? Detecting gender bias in the household allocation of educational expenditure in India. Econ Dev Cult Chang 53:409–451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kingdon GK, Theopold N (2008) Do returns to education matter to schooling participation? Evidence from India. Educ Econ 16:329–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kivinen O (1988) Koulutuksen järjestelmäkehitys, Peruskoulutus ja valtiollinen kouludoktriini Suomessa 1800- ja 1900-luvulla. Turun yliopisto, Turku

    Google Scholar 

  • Klasen S (1998) Marriage, bargaining, and intrahousehold resource allocation: excess female mortality among adults during early German development, 1740–1860. J Econ Hist 58:432–467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kokkinen A (2012) On Finland’s economic growth and convergence with Sweden and the EUI5 in the 20th century. Tilastokeskus, Helsinki

    Google Scholar 

  • Kokkinen A, Jalava J, Hjerppe R, Hannikainen M (2007) Catching up in Europe: Finland’s convergence with Sweden and the EU15. Scand Econ Hist Rev 55:153–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koskinen S et al (2007) Suomen väestö. Gaudeamus, Helsinki

    Google Scholar 

  • Kruskal W, Mosteller F (1980) Representative sampling, IV: the history of the concept in statistics, 1895–1939. Int Stat Rev 48(2):169–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lagarde C (2013) Women and the World Economy. Project syndicate 24.09.2013. http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/how-to-increase-women-s-participation-in-the-workforce-by-christine-lagarde. Accessed 25 Feb 2014

  • Lähteenmäki M (1995) Mahdollisuuksien aika, Työläisnaiset ja yhteiskunnan muutos 1910–1930-luvun Suomessa. SHS, Saarijärvi

    Google Scholar 

  • Logan T (2007) On family allocation strategy in the late 19th century. Working paper. http://www.econ.ohio-state.edu/trevon/pdf/Gender_09-19-07.pdf. Accessed 25 Jan 2011

  • Lucas RE (2002) Lectures on economic growth. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Moehling CM (2001) Women’s work and men’s unemployment. J Econ Hist 61:926–949

    Google Scholar 

  • Moehling CM (2005) “She has suddenly become powerful”: youth employment and household decision making in the early twentieth century. J Econ Hist 65:414–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munshi K, Rosenzweig M (2006) Traditional institutions meet the modern world: caste, gender, and schooling choice in globalizing economy. Am Econ Rev 96:1225–1252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O´Rourke K, Williamsson J (1997) Around the European periphery 1870–1913: globalization, schooling and growth. Eur Rev Econ Hist 1:153–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parikka R (1994) 1930-luvun pula ja työttömän selviytyminen. In: Parikka R (ed) Työ ja työttömyys. Työväen historian ja perinteen tutkimuksen seura, Helsinki, pp 108–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Parramore L (2013) Why Scandinavian women make the rest of the world jealous. Reuters 31 October 2013. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/31/us-why-scandinavian-women-idUSBRE99U18W20131031. Accessed 25 Feb 2014

  • Pekkarinen T (2008) Gender differences in educational attainment: evidence on the role of tracking from a Finnish quasi-experiment. Scand J Econ 110:807–825

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pekkarinen T (2012) Gender differences in education. Nordic Econ Policy Rev 1(2012):165–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Pekkarinen T, Uusitalo R, Kerr S (2009) School tracking and intergenerational income mobility: evidence from the Finnish comprehensive school reform. J Public Econ 93:965–973

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peltola J (2008) Lama, pula ja työttömyys: Tamperelaisperheiden toimeentulo 1928–1938. 1930-luvun lama teollisuuskaupungissa II. Tampere University Press, Tampere

  • Pitkänen K (1982) Väestönkehitys. In: Ahvenainen J, Pihkala E, Rasila V (eds) Suomen taloushistoria 2: Teollistuva Suomi. Tammi, Helsinki, pp 192–203

    Google Scholar 

  • Prados de la Escosura L (2000) International comparisons of real product 1820–1990: an alternative data set. Explor Econ Hist 37:1–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qian N (2008) Missing women and the price of tea in China: the effect of sex-specific income on sex imbalance. Q J Econ 122:1251–1285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quisumbing AR, de la Brière B (2000) Women’s assets and intrahousehold allocation in rural Bangladesh: testing measures of bargaining power. FCND discussion paper No. 86. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington

  • Rahikainen M (1996) Arbete eller skola? Om minderårigas arbete i Finland under mellankrigstiden. Historisk Tidskrift för Finland 81:323–342

    Google Scholar 

  • Roushdy R (2004) Intrahousehold resource allocation in Egypt: does women’s empowerment lead to greater investments in children? Working paper, September 2004

  • Saaritsa S (2001) Selviytyminen ja muistitieto: Riskeiltä suojaavan vaihtoverkoston malli ja kellokoskelaisten epäviralliset taloudelliset suoritteet kriisiaikoina 1900–1950. Master’s thesis, University of Helsinki

  • Saaritsa S (2008a) Beneath moral economy: informal assistance in early 20th century Finland. Dissertation, European University Institute

  • Saaritsa S (2008b) Informal transfers, men, women and children: family economy and informal social security in early 20th century Finnish households. Hist Fam 13:315–331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saaritsa S (2011) The poverty of solidarity: the size and structure of informal income smoothing among worker households in Helsinki, 1928. Scand Econ Hist Rev 59:102–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schultz PT (2002) Why governments should invest more to educate girls. World Dev 30:207–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sen A (1984) Resources, values, and development. Basil Blackwell, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Siipi J (1967) Ryysyrannasta hyvinvointivaltioon. Tammi, Helsinki

    Google Scholar 

  • Son HL (2013) Human capital investment when sheepskin effects matter: evidence from income shocks in Indonesia. http://www.columbia.edu/~hs2549/jmp_nov.pdf. Accessed 25 Nov 2013

  • Statistiska Centralbyrån (SCB) (1977) Elever i icke-obligatoriska skolor 1864–1970. Promemorior från SCB nr 1977:11. Historisk statistik för Sverige. Statistiska centralbyrån, Stockholm

  • Strömberg J (2011) Oppikoulun laajentuminen ja yhtenäistyminen. In: Heikkinen A, Leino-Kaukiainen P (eds) Valistus ja koulunpenkki. Kasvatus ja koulutus Suomessa 1860-luvulta 1960-luvulle. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Helsinki, pp 120–139

  • Summers L (1992) Investing in all the people. policy research. Working papers WPS 905. World Bank, Washington, DC

  • Suoranta A (2001) Lama iski—naiset töihin! 1930-luvun lama ja naisten työmarkkina-asema. In: Rahikainen M, Räisänen T (eds) Työllä ei oo kukkaan rikastunna. Naisten töitä ja toimeentulokeinoja 1800- ja 1900-luvuilla. SKS, Helsinki, pp 146–160

  • Suoranta A (2009) Halvennettu työ: Pätkätyö ja sukupuoli sopimusyhteiskuntaa edeltävissä työmarkkinakäytännöissä. Vastapaino, Tampere

    Google Scholar 

  • SVT XXXII (1936) Sosialisia Erikoistutkimuksia, 14. Elinkustannustutkimus vuodelta 1928. A. Kaupunkien ja muiden asutuskeskuksien tilinpitoperheet. Helsinki

  • SVT IX Oppikoulut, 47–64 (1920-1921–1937-1938)

  • Tamkin E (2014) Will everyone shut up already about how the Nordic countries top every global ranking? Slate 29 August 2014.http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_world_/2014/08/29/will_everyone_shut_up_already_about_how_the_nordic_countries_top_every_global.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_top. Accessed 5 Sept 2014

  • Taylor A (2012) Why Finland’s unorthodox education system is the best in the world. Business Insider 27 November 2012. http://www.businessinsider.com/finlands-education-system-best-in-world-2012-11?op=1. Accessed 25 Feb 2014

  • Tilastokeskus (1979) Tilastollisia tiedonantoja No. 63, Väestön elinkeino: Väestö elinkeinon mukaan kunnittain vuosina 1880–1975. Tilastokeskus, Helsinki

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilastollinen päätoimisto (1930) Suomen tilastollinen vuosikirja 1930. Valtioneuvoston kirjapaino, Helsinki

  • Tuomaala S (2004) Työtätekevistä käsistä puhtaiksi ja kirjoittaviksi: Suomalaisen oppivelvollisuuskoulun ja maalaislasten kohtaaminen 1921–1939. SKS, Helsinki

  • Vattula K (1981) Palvelustytöstä konttoristiksi—naisten työhönosallistuminen 1880–1940. In: Kaukiainen Y et al (ed) Kun yhteiskunta muuttuu. SHS, Helsinki, pp 63–90

  • Wilson CP (1992) White collar fictions: class and social representation in American literature, 1885–1925. University of Georgia Press, Athens

  • Wooldridge JM (2003) Introductory econometrics: a modern approach. Thomson South-Western, Ohio

    Google Scholar 

  • Ylikangas H (2009) Yhden miehen jatkosota. WSOY, Helsinki

    Google Scholar 

  • Zahidi S (2013) What makes the Nordic countries gender equality winners? Huffington Post 24 October 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/saadia-zahidi/what-makes-the-nordic-cou_b_4159555.html. Accessed 25 Feb 2014

Download references

Acknowledgments

Funding from the Academy of Finland is acknowledged. The authors would like to thank the participants of the “Gary Becker Revisited” workshop at the EUI, Florence, March 25th 2011, particularly Susan Carter, the participants of the economic history seminar of the Paris School of Economics on November 7th, 2011, particularly Denis Cogneau, the participants of the session “Families and Daughters” at the Social Science History Association’s 36th annual conference in Boston, November 19th, 2011, particularly Stacey Jones, the participants of the Nordic Centre of Excellence NordWel symposium “Intervention and Deprivation: Long-Run Perspectives on Policy and Poverty”, Helsinki, June 8th–9th, 2011, particularly Juho Härkönen, the participants of the session “Global Crisis in the Periphery” at the Social Science History Association’s 39th annual conference in Toronto, November 7th, 2014, particularly Paul Sharp, as well as Tuomas Pekkarinen, Marjatta Rahikainen, Leonid Borodkin and anonymous referees for many useful comments and observations on early versions of the paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Economic and Social History, Department of Political and Economic Studies, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 54, Snellmaninkatu 14 A, Helsinki, 00014, Finland

    Sakari Saaritsa & Antti Kaihovaara

Authors
  1. Sakari Saaritsa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Antti Kaihovaara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sakari Saaritsa.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 460 kb)

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 11 and 12.

Table 11 The social background of secondary school students, 1920–1938
Full size table
Table 12 Retention and dropout rates of secondary school students by sex, 1922–1937
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Saaritsa, S., Kaihovaara, A. Good for girls or bad for boys? Schooling, social inequality and intrahousehold allocation in early twentieth century Finland. Cliometrica 10, 55–98 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11698-014-0123-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11698-014-0123-9

Keywords

JEL Classification

Search

Navigation