Common law is a legal system that prevailed in Europe to this day and is essentially a body of law based largely on custom, practice, and folkways. Even when societies advanced, technology changed, or gender norms shifted, momentum was hard to build because the law was based on tradition. For women, traditional norms made economic progress difficult. Women had little right to own property or inherit money unless it was negotiated in advance of a marriage. Her dowry was her main security. A dowry is money that a woman takes with her in marriage. It functions as financial protection from her father or guardian if her husband is abusive or fails to provide. Dowries essentially disappeared from practice in the 19th century. In the absence of financial independence, jewelry has functioned as one of the few forms of property women could reliably own and control. Unable to invest in banks, women wore their wealth. Across many cultures, pieces such as gold ornaments or gemstone jewelry acted as a woman’s personal wealth, assets separate from her husband or family, and often passed from mother to daughter. As dowries, wedding gifts, or inheritances, jewelry provided women with a tangible resource they could draw upon in difficult times.

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Still, around the world, women worked and earned money. At times and in some places, the work was gendered, while in other contexts, men and women worked together in the same fields. Many women became masters of their trade and were notable for their business acumen. Women’s labor is nominally represented in the Silk Roads, after all, it was women who made the silk traded. In the Middle Ages, there were few jobs that women were excluded from when the work needed to be done. Women and their families worked in unison for the success of the family, but women’s work was undercompensated, with records showing them earning around three-quarters of what men earned.

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The majority lived in small rural farming societies. Peasant women had many domestic responsibilities, including caring for children, preparing food, and tending livestock. During the harvest, women worked in the fields too. Women labored in their communities, tending their children, their farms, their homes, and their family businesses. Working women were the fabric that held communities together, yet farm records only recorded the output of the farmer, ignoring the labor of his wife. Women also worked in vital cottage industries, brewing beer, baking, and weaving or manufacturing textiles.

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​Women were also active in urban professions like milling grain, midwifery, laundering, spinning, and prostitution. Estimates vary depending on the location, but between one third and almost half of merchants in European urban areas were female. Widows, in particular, continued their husband's businesses and used their wealth to support social projects, politics, and even wars. A “spinster” is a term used to describe an older, unmarried woman, but it was historically used to describe a woman who made a living, without a man, spinning, as spinning was a profitable business for women.

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At the same time, women's guilds were disappearing and even brothels were run mainly by male owners. In places like England, regulations outlawed women’s participation in lucrative fields, thus keeping wealth in the hands of men. For example, weaving had long been an occupation of women, but as larger looms and mills powered by animals or water made production more efficient and provided thicker cloth, men took over these profitable businesses. 

Women’s labor was often multifaceted, menial, and constant, while men’s work, by contrast, was deemed dangerous and exhausting. While men were singularly focused, women balanced many tasks. A traditional English couplet made this point plain, “For man’s work ends at setting sun, Yet woman’s work is never done.” Wherever they labored, and no matter how hard women worked, they were still paid less than men. For example, Cecelia Penifader, the subject of Judith Bennett’s A Medieval Life, was an unmarried English woman of the lower class at the turn of the 14th century whose family's prosperity allowed her to lead an independent life. Though independent, she earned one-third less than men doing unskilled labor.

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In colonial New England, women’s economic power expanded when they assumed the role of “deputy husband,” or a surrogate for him in business outside the home. Dr. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich coined the term in her paper Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750. She found that women took on typically male responsibilities such as bending quills for the loom or planting. Women, as a surrogate for her husband drove hard bargains, ran businesses, or handled the farm. Women in the middle class often assisted their husbands in taverns, trades, or business ventures. Even though life expectancy was low, around 46-47 years old, becoming a widowed head of household did not grant women the right to vote.

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Women were active participants in various cottage industries, such as textile production, pottery, candle making, and soap making. They often worked from home, utilizing their skills and creativity to produce goods that were essential for local consumption and trade. The operation and management of a household depended heavily on women’s work, and her work in the dairy, garden, kitchen, or spinning wheel was just as essential to the family’s wellbeing as what her husband or father did in the fields or on a shipyard. As the Industrial Revolution gained momentum, women continued to be crucial contributors to the expanding manufacturing sector. They worked in factories, mills, and textile industries, operating machinery and performing tasks such as spinning, weaving, and assembling products. Women's labor and expertise were pivotal in fueling the early stages of industrialization, shaping not only the economic landscape, but also paving the way for social and political advancements in the years to come. In fact, women and children were actually the most desirable workers in some of the first factories because they had fewer ties to the land and fewer obligations to agrarian farms. Plus, since women working out of the home – especially widows – were assumed to be in poverty and in economic desperation, they were a stable workforce whose labor could be purchased at a minimal cost.

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Beginning in 1839, some states passed Married Women’s Property Acts, laws that chipped away at the restrictive system of coverture inherited from English common law. Under coverture, a married woman’s legal identity was absorbed into her husband’s, leaving her unable to own property, keep her wages, sign contracts, sue, or exercise control over her children or bodily autonomy. Only unmarried women enjoyed independent legal rights. The new laws sought to change the economic aspects of this system by granting married women increasing control over their own property and earnings.

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In essence, the husband and wife are one person in law. When injured or wronged, women could not seek legal redress without her husband or father. Because husbands or fathers could be sued due to their wife or daughters’ behavior, they were allowed to give moderate correction. Violence was not acceptable, but women lacked the means to seek legal support if violence was used, so the loophole empowered abusers. Coverture, in its best light, was a protective system for women.

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It is important to note that enslaved women were also “covered” like wives and children as part of the husband’s household but were absolutely not granted the gendered privileges of labor. Enslaved women, like enslaved men, worked in fields, did demanding physical labor, and were not protected. One job specific to enslaved women was wet nursing where enslaved women were forced to provide sustenance to the offspring of their enslavers. Wealthy Englishwomen were accustomed to the practice of hiring a poor woman to breastfeed her babies. In the colonies, both poor white mothers and enslaved Black mothers were used for this purpose. But for enslaved women, this was forced upon them. Often separated from their own children who were weaned from breast milk far too young, Black mothers were exploited for their milk.

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The reform movement started slowly and unevenly. Mississippi passed the first statute in 1839 after a case involving a Chickasaw woman, Betsy Love Allen, established that the enslaved people she owned could not be seized to settle her husband’s debts. Other states followed with incremental reforms: Maine and Maryland granted rights in 1840, New Hampshire and Kentucky in the early 1840s, and Massachusetts expanded women’s independent economic rights soon after. These expansions were only in the case of abandonment to protect property from creditors. They were not really a recognition of women’s property rights but a protection of the husband’s property. Much like the concept of “deputy husbands” from the colonial era. The only real married women’s property rights were the 1839 case in Mississippi regarding the protections of enslaved people from unscrupulous husbands. New York’s 1848 Married Women’s Property Law became especially influential and served as a model for similar legislation across the country.

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These changes were gradual and often motivated less by a belief in gender equality than by a desire to protect families from financial disaster. Courts and lawmakers remained wary of granting women too much independence, fearing it might undermine marriage itself. Over time, however, states advanced through three general stages of reform, first allowing married women to own property, then to retain their wages, and eventually to conduct business on their own. As with women’s suffrage, western states tended to adopt these reforms more quickly, marking a slow but significant shift in women’s legal and economic status.

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Even after women earned the right to vote in 1920, the legal code was littered with discriminatory laws that kept women as second-class citizens. Women still faced gender bias in both law and bank policy in finance. In the 1960s, a bank could refuse to issue a credit card to an unmarried woman based on company policy. In cases where she was married, she was often required to have her husband cosign. Feminists of the midcentury changed this through legislation, empowering a generation of women to manage their own money. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 made it illegal to deny credit based on gender. The struggle for women to be financially independent of their husbands extended well into the 20th century.

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The women in leadership roles began pushing the government for action. In 1961, Esther Peterson, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Women's Affairs, suggested the creation of a President's Commission on the Status of Women. Established by President Kennedy by executive order, the bipartisan commission was chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt to examine discrimination against women and make recommendations on ways to eliminate it. The order stated, “prejudices and outmoded customs act as barriers to the full realization of women's basic rights which should be respected and fostered as part of our Nation's commitment to human dignity, freedom, and democracy.” The commission found that women faced barriers that limited their opportunities for employment and advancement. It recommended that women can compete for federal contracts, advocated changes to discriminatory state laws, and supported affordable daycare and equal access to education for women. The creation of the President's Women led to the establishment of similar commissions across the country. It helped to bring together women working for various women’s issues who had never met. Together, they created data that the women’s movement needed to challenge legislation at the federal and state level.

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The early 1960s saw the passage of important federal legislation to help women. One direct result of the President's Commission on the Status of Women was the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963. It prohibits employers from paying unequal wages to men and women working jobs that require “equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions.” This was one of the first pieces of federal legislation to address gender discrimination. It was followed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The legislation was a result of the hard work of the Civil Rights Movement and prohibited segregation in public places. It also banned employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin. Representative Howard Smith (VA) proposed an amendment to include sex as an employment discrimination category, a move that Smith hoped would kill the bill. Representative Martha Griffiths (MI) and the other female representatives lobbied in support of the provision, and it was included in the bill that passed the House. Senator Margaret Chase Smith (ME) championed the bill in the Senate, and it was signed into law by President Nixon in 1972. The law established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to help enforce the anti-discrimination provisions of the law.

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Access to higher education and elite training is a gateway into most industries, but women were barred from Ivy League schools into the midcentury. While Cornell admitted women in the 1870s, Yale and Princeton did not accept female students until 1969. Harvard and Brown both had sister schools, but they did not merge with them until 1971 and 1977, respectively. Dartmouth and Columbia did not admit students until 1972 and 1981, respectively.

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Congress member Patsy Mink was a strong advocate for gender equality and worked tirelessly to eliminate gender-based discrimination in education. Patsy Mink's personal experiences and her commitment to equal opportunity for women in education fueled her dedication to this cause. She advocated for the passage of an amendment to the education portion of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prevented gender discrimination in schools: Title IX. Title IX required schools treat boys and girls equally: sports teams needed to be funded equally. If the boys’ soccer team got X dollars, the girls’ team should get X dollars. This of course meant major changes in how schools budgeted for their sports teams and the mostly male coaches and administrators were not thrilled. Battles over Title IX erupted in schools and courts around the country. It is important to note that Title IX passed in 1972 preventing gender discrimination in schools, but private institutions were immune from some of the effects.

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Title IX, in its early years, had the largest impact on girls and women’s sports in high school and college, which had often been viewed as an afterthought. Girls’ teams were often given the boys hand-me-down uniforms and equipment and received little, if any funding. In one case, a girls basketball game was canceled mid game so the boys’ team could practice. To add insult to injury, at the University of Michigan, dogs were allowed in the stadium, but not girls sports fans, so the notion that girls might one day be the featured athletic talent was a distant dream.

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In 1976, 19 college athletes from Yale protested the unfair treatment of women in sports. The women's rowing team faced inequalities and lacked facilities, including locker rooms, bathrooms, and an equipment manager. The athletes stripped their uniforms to reveal "Title IX" written on their bodies, drawing attention to the landmark legislation. They wanted to address the violations of Title IX, as the university neglected their needs while providing better facilities for male athletes. The protest highlighted gender disparities and demanded equal treatment for women in sports.

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Sports may seem irrelevant to personal finance, but it is actually quite significant. Playing sports, pushing oneself, playing with a team develops all sorts of life skills. It helps young people overcome adversity, develop social skills, and evolve as leaders. Today, the overwhelming majority of women in C-Suite executive roles grew up playing sports, and over half played in college.[1] Title IX was a turning point for women’s educational and career trajectories. Nearly 70 percent of women earning over $100,000 annually played competitive sports as an adolescent. Over three-quarters of women executives of Fortune 500 companies played sports.

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Between 1970 and 2019, the percentage of women aged 25 to 64 in the workforce holding a college degree increased fourfold, whereas the percentage of men with a college degree only slightly more than doubled. Female enrollment in law, business, and medical schools met or exceeded the number of men who are preparing for these careers, and women were also among the generation of start-up entrepreneurs who have introduced new ideas and new technologies into our world.

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Another major change in the early 21st century was the number of women in top positions of economic power. Many women were named to head major corporations. A few have become self-made billionaires, the first being Martha Stewart in 2000. In 2013, Mary Barra made history by becoming the first woman to lead one of the Big Three automakers as CEO of General Motors. This marked a major milestone in an industry traditionally dominated by men. Just two years later, Cathy Engelbert became the CEO of Deloitte, while KPMG followed suit in 2015 by appointing Lynne Doughtie to the same role. With these appointments, women led half of the Big Four accounting firms, a notable shift in the corporate landscape.

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The rise of women in positions of power extends beyond the corporate world. In the realm of finance, President Obama’s nomination of Janet Yellen as chair of the Federal Reserve was confirmed by the Senate in 2014, making her the first woman to ever hold this top position in the US central bank’s century-long history. Yellen's appointment also broke new ground as she became the first Democrat to chair the Fed since Paul Volcker's tenure under President Jimmy Carter.

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In the world of entrepreneurship, Oprah Winfrey's achievements stand out as an exemplary case of women's increasing wealth and influence. She became the first African American female billionaire, with a diverse media empire that includes the OWN cable network and a ten percent stake in Weight Watchers. Oprah’s success has made her America’s highest-paid female celebrity, with a fortune estimated at $3 billion, underscoring the growing economic influence of women in various industries. Together, these milestones demonstrate the growing role of women in shaping the global economy.

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In the new century, it became more and more difficult for a family to maintain a middle-class lifestyle on only one salary, more women went to work to support their families. Although President Kennedy had signed the Equal Pay act into law in June of 1963, companies found ways to circumvent the intent of the law, which was to provide pay equity for women who do the same or equivalent jobs as men. The social norm of not openly discussing salaries was harmful to women, who accepted lower salaries without knowing their male peers made more. This happened to Lilly Ledbetter. Ledbetter, a former employee of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, who discovered after years of service that she was earning significantly less than her male colleagues doing the same job. Her lawsuit against the company went to the Supreme Court, which ruled against her, citing the statute of limitations. In 2009, the Obama Administration and Congress passed the Lilly Ledbetter Equal Pay Act. The act extends the time frame for filing pay discrimination claims. It resets the statute of limitations with each paycheck affected by the discriminatory action, allowing employees to bring forward a complaint within 180 days of receiving a discriminatory paycheck. Ledbetter was not personally helped by this law, but she was proud to have been its inspiration and advocate.

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[1] South Carolina Women in Leadership, “Women who Played Sports are more likely to be Business Leaders,” N.D. https://scwomenlead.net/women-who-played-sports-are-more-likely-to-be-business-leaders/.