ABSTRACT
The accelerating increase in population which began in the mid-eighteenth century is one of the most striking, and important, changes of this period, with wide economic ramifications. To cause the increase, there must have been a fall in mortality, a rise in fertility, or both together. The Cambridge Group's assessment of the reasons for the very high growth rates of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries puts the emphasis on a rise in fertility, suggesting that it rose steadily from the mid-eighteenth century and sharply from the 1780s. The size of the agricultural labour force was dictated by the peak needs at harvest time, while for much of the rest of the year, if not actually idle, the agricultural worker was likely to be doing unproductive work. The concept of human capital is a useful one around which to organise a discussion of labour force quality.
