Fact Check: Do current Americans work four times as many days per year as medieval peasants?
No
The average American works 241 days yearly. Clark (2018) proposes that days employed in medieval England cannot have been much lower than the 250-day range for most centuries. Allen and Weisdorf (2010), meanwhile, find that male farmers would need to work at least 150 days per year during the late Middle Ages to afford subsistence for their families, given wages, and 300 days before the Black Death. A peasant’s workday lasted from sunup to sundown with breaks.
Peasants worked for a longer proportion of their lives. Life expectancy at birth in medieval England was 31 years, against 81 years in 2023. Landowners who survived to 25 were expected to die at 50. At ages 12-14, teens began adulthood and were sent away from home for work. The elderly would stop working when physically incapable, and the wealthy would donate to a monastery in return for lifelong care.
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Sources:
USA Today How many work hours in a year? We counted the days and crunched the numbers.
The Economic History Review Was there an ‘industrious revolution’ before the industrial revolution? An empirical exercise for England, c. 1300–1830
The Economic History Review Growth or stagnation? Farming in England, 1200–1800
University of South Carolina Old age isn’t a modern phenomenon – many people lived long enough to grow old in the olden days, too
World Bank Group Life expectancy at birth, total (years) – United Kingdom
Medievalists Back to School, Medieval Peasant Style
Representing Childhood Childhood in Medieval England, c.500-1500
Optimum Pensions Corrodies: A Medieval Precursor to Modern Annuities
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