Husholdningssagens betydning for den lille bys modernitet: kvinders uddannelse og erhverv inden for husholdning 1890-1940

Until the early 1900s, women in Denmark had only few educational opportunities. However, the societal changes that accompanied modernity also brought changes and education into the lives of women, who by then were predominantly working as homemakers. The movement of home economics emerged in the late 1800s as a multifaceted argument for making home economics an area of ​​knowledge and providing education for women, who did not until then have such opportunities, and provide better health for the population. From the early 1900s, several schools of home economics appeared all over the country, especially in rural areas and in areas of the smaller towns. The schools became very popular and ensured women an educational and an occupational pathway.

Several factors contributed to and influenced this development. Such factors included the nascent welfare state's ideas about education for all, changes of the labour market, the women's liberation movement and struggle for equality, and periods of scarcity of food and resources due to the wars of the time. Focusing on the period 1890 to 1940, we analyse how the home economics movement contributed to modernity in the smaller towns and consider its significance in a class and gender perspective.