Wives Work 16 Hours a Day

Working-man enthusiastically: Ah, my dear, it's a grand way the Eight Hours' Movement is spreading in Foreign parts; our glorious principle will soon be recognised the world over!

Working-woman: Yes, and then perhaps you'll begin to do something for the wives who work sixteen hours a day!

- 'Where Do I Come in?' in Melbourne Punch, 1 May 1890

Women who could not afford to employ servants worked long, hard hours in the home. This cartoon illustrates the pride that the men of the Eight Hour Movement felt as pioneers of industrial reform, but also highlights the plight of those workers left behind by the reforms.