Family economy

Family Economy is used to denote the basic structure of production and consumption in the preindustrial Europe. In the family economy there were regional variations, which were how different places were different in family economy.

In Western Europe the peasants owned their own land which they farmed on for profit and survival. In Eastern Europe however, the serfs worked for an owner and were controlled by them to produce food to sell to gain money for the owner, usually nobles.

Throughout Europe the household was a fundamental unit in production and consumption. The household consisted of the parents their children through early teen years, and servants; except the wealthy households were quite small. Each member had a different role as far as the family economy was concerned. By age seven, girls were contributing to the family economy. She might look after the chickens, water the animals, or carry food to the adult workers. The girls would remain at home as long as they could contribute to the family. Most of them however left the household between the ages of 12–14. They would migrate to other farms, cities or towns and become working servants. A young woman’s primary goal was to accumulate a dowry. This was a gift given to the new household at the time of marriage. A married woman was a function to her husband's occupation. She would do things from collecting grain to plowing fields to begging during an economic depression. The role of the children was slightly different. The child was at times an economic burden, although in some cases the more children you had the more workers you had, making a more efficient family economy.