The economic history of caring labour: a case study of breastfeeding

Caring labour, whether paid or unpaid, creates value, supports economic activity, and generates positive externalities, yet suffers neglect in conventional economic metrics. Breastfeeding exemplifies this: despite its critical role in infant health and social reproduction, its value is often unrecognised. Using historical data on weaning practices between 1850 and 1970, this paper traces how infant feeding interacted with broader economic and public health developments. As its economic costs fell and its benefits were better understood, prolonged breastfeeding protected infants from weak public health infrastructure. Yet as scientific discoveries on milk composition spurred commercial substitutes and public health investment reduced the harms of early weaning, breastfeeding prevalence declined. The economic history of breastfeeding offers a study in how social and economic interventions yield unintended consequences. Our findings highlight the need for public policy that acknowledges care labour’s broader societal benefits, ensuring it is adequately supported rather than left to individual responsibility.