ABSTRACT

Naples was founded by the Greeks, at a date which remains uncertain, given that the city shifted its location a number of times. However, the grid of one of these settlements still provides the outline to the shape of the old city. By the fifteenth century Naples was a large city, and in fact remained second only to Paris until the end of the seventeenth century, when it was superseded by London. Because of high levels of unemployment and underemployment and the precariousness of work, it is uncommon to find a household which can rely on the wages of the household head on a permanent and long-term basis. In most cases the household is an important pooling unit to which the various members contribute income and/or labour, often from a very early age. Households frequently carried out activities intended to reduce the costs of daily reproduction.