Clara Elizabeth Collet

Clara Elizabeth Collet (10 September 1860 – 3 August 1948) was a pioneering British economist, statistician, social reformer, and civil servant. She was one of the first women to graduate from University College London with an MA and played a significant role in the investigation of women's work, wages, and poverty in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Collet was a key collaborator with Charles Booth on his landmark survey, Life and Labour of the People in London , and later became a senior investigator for the Board of Trade, making substantial contributions to British social statistics and policy.

Clara Collet was born in London, the daughter of Collet Dobson Collet and Jane Collet (née Marshall). Her family was part of a radical, intellectual Unitarian circle; her father was a prominent activist for the repeal of newspaper stamp duties. She was educated at the North London Collegiate School, a pioneering institution for girls' education founded by Frances Buss.

In 1878, Collet enrolled at University College London (UCL), one of the first British universities to admit women on equal terms with men. She achieved a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1880 and was awarded the Joseph Hume Scholarship in Political Economy. She continued her studies, earning a Master of Arts (MA) in Moral and Political Philosophy (including Political Economy) in 1886, making her one of the earliest female MA graduates from UCL. During her time at UCL, she was taught by economists such as H.S. Foxwell and W. Stanley Jevons.

After graduating, Collet initially worked as an assistant mistress and schoolmistress (1885–1892), including a period at Wyggeston Girls' School in Leicester. However, her primary interest lay in social investigation and economics. In 1888, she began working with Charles Booth on his monumental survey, Life and Labour of the People in London . Collet was responsible for significant sections of the survey focusing on women's work, including studies of East End industries, tailoring, and the work of charwomen. Her meticulous research and statistical analysis provided crucial data on the conditions, hours, and earnings of working women, challenging prevailing assumptions and highlighting the economic realities they faced. Her contributions were published in several volumes of Booth's survey.

In 1893, Collet's expertise led to her appointment as one of the first female Labour Correspondents (later Senior Investigator) for the newly established Labour Department at the Board of Trade. This was a significant achievement, as few women held such senior positions in the civil service at the time. At the Board of Trade, she continued her investigations into women's and girls' employment, wages, and industrial conditions across various sectors. Her reports were influential and provided a statistical basis for policy discussions on issues such as:

• The "sweated trades" and the need for minimum wage legislation (which eventually led to the Trade Boards Act 1909).
• The effects of industrial legislation on women's employment.
• The economic position of married women and widows.
• The training and employment of girls.

She remained at the Board of Trade (later the Ministry of Labour) until her retirement in 1920, having risen to the position of Senior Investigator for Women's Industries.

1. Pioneering Investigator of Women's Work: Collet's primary contribution was her detailed, empirical investigation into the economic lives of working women. She used statistical methods to document their wages, hours, and conditions, moving beyond anecdotal evidence.
2. Challenging the "Pin Money" Fallacy: She actively challenged the widespread assumption that women worked merely for "pin money" (supplementary, non-essential income). Her research demonstrated that many women, including married women and widows, were primary breadwinners or made essential contributions to family income.
3. Advocacy for Better Training and Wages: Collet argued for better education, vocational training, and fair wages for women to improve their economic independence and social standing.
4. Statistical Rigour: Her work was characterized by its careful collection and analysis of statistical data, contributing to the professionalization of social investigation and government statistics.
5. Influence on Social Policy: While a civil servant and thus officially neutral, her reports provided crucial evidence that informed debates and legislation related to women's employment, minimum wages, and working conditions.
6. Economic Analysis of the Family: Collet also wrote on the economics of the family, considering the financial responsibilities and contributions of different family members.

Clara Collet never married and dedicated her life to her work and social reform. She maintained lifelong friendships with other prominent women and social reformers, including members of the Fabian Society, though she was not formally a member herself. She was a close friend of the novelist George Gissing, acting as an informal advisor and later as executor for his children after his death. She edited and saw through the publication of his posthumous novel Veranilda (1904) and The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft (1903).

Clara Collet was a trailblazer for women in economics, statistics, and the civil service. Her meticulous research provided invaluable data on the lives of working women at a critical period of social and industrial change. While sometimes overshadowed by male contemporaries, her work is increasingly recognized for its importance in the history of social science, labour economics, and feminist economics. She demonstrated the power of empirical investigation in understanding and addressing social problems.

• Contributions to Charles Booth's Life and Labour of the People in London (various volumes, 1889–1902), including:
  • "Women's Work" (in Volume IV of the Poverty Series, 1893)
  • Sections on women's trades in the Industry Series.
• 1891: "The Collection and Utilisation of Official Statistics bearing on the Extent and Effects of the Industrial Employment of Women" (Paper read to the Royal Statistical Society).
• 1892: Reports of the Royal Commission on Labour: The Employment of Women (Assistant Commissioner, contributed significantly).
• 1894: Report by Miss Collet on the Statistics of Employment of Women and Girls (Board of Trade, C. 7564).
• 1898: "The Expenditure of Middle Class Working Women" ( Economic Journal ).
• 1898: Report by Miss Collet on the Money Wages of Indoor Domestic Servants (Board of Trade, C. 9346).
• 1902: Educated Working Women: Essays on the Economic Position of Women Workers in the Middle Classes. (A collection of her previously published essays).
• 1908: "Women's Work and Wages" (with H.H. Smith and R.E.S. Mellersh, a chapter in Socialism and the National Minimum , edited by Beatrice Webb).
• Numerous official reports for the Board of Trade and Ministry of Labour on women's employment in specific industries, wages, and conditions (e.g., on laundries, dressmaking, tailoring).

• MacDonald, R. (1994). The Life and Work of Clara Collet . PhD Thesis, University of London.
• O'Day, R. & Englander, D. (1993). Mr. Charles Booth's Inquiry: Life and Labour of the People in London Reconsidered . Hambledon Press.
• Lewis, J. (1984). Women in England 1870-1950: Sexual Divisions and Social Change . Wheatsheaf Books.
• Dyhouse, C. (1995). No Distinction of Sex? Women in British Universities, 1870-1939 . UCL Press.