The purpose of this study is to analyse changes in Swedish society during the industrial era that affected the large group of women employed in households in the Swedish capital city, Stockholm. Previous studies have put focus upon the social aspects of this occupation, as well as upon less successful efforts to establish a union. Historians have recendy begun to discuss the modernization and politicization of housework that took place after the turn of the century. This thesis emphasizes the importance of societal changes during this period as well, and it is an attempt to investigate the servant role from different perspectives, found to be complementary to each other, and necessary for the understanding of the period. The approach may be characterized as an ”individual-oriented gender perspective in a socio-structural context”. By following a group of individuals longitudinally over a period of almost 50 years, and by using a cross section of computerized census records, this study answers the questions of what role the occupation had in both the lives of individuals and in society. It is shown how these women gradually abandoned this occupation for marriage, migration or change of occupation, due to the limits of the patriarchal employment model, which failed to make the adjustments required for a modern labour market. It is concluded that even though it was a low status and low income occupation characterized by suppression and subordination, the women nevertheless had a great deal of influence over their own life course. This does not mean that service necessarily would lead to upward social mobility, for they normally would still marry within their own social group or choose other traditional working-class women’s occupations. However, they easily could escape subordination by the alternatives offered.

It is argued that a much discussed model, with its periodization of capitalism, is found to be useful as a starting point, but inadequate for the description of women’s working conditions in general, and the division between the private and the public labour market, in particular. Even with a modification of this model, which includes the gender division of labour, it lacks the ‘separate spheres’ dimension which is necessary for the understanding of this group.