Melanie Meng Xue: Women and Asylums
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Author: Melanie Meng Xue (LSE)
Abstract: During the nineteenth century, England experienced a rapid expansion of mental asylums: both the number of institutions and the patient population rose sharply. Drawing on the complete British population censuses, I document asylum residents’ characteristics and confirm that women were disproportionately represented. To explain this gender imbalance, I analyze more than 140,000 admission records and show that gender-specific social and economic factors heavily shaped commitments. Leveraging the Married Women’s Property Act of 1882 as a natural experiment, I further demonstrate that giving married women greater control over their assets reduced reported mental-health disabilities.
Host: Andrea Papadia (York)