This chapter establishes the multiplicity of forms that women's economic activity has taken since the beginning of the 19th century. Knowledge about women's work is still scarce and incomplete, despite much study. Moreover, our understandings of the history of women's work are too often warped by stereotypes, the most persistent of which is probably the exaggeration of the importance of war for "putting women to work." "Women's work," in the sense of the tasks done in traditional cultures or tasks traditionally assigned to women, first drew the attention of women historians. This category may cover a number of issues. Historical investigation of the work of farm women focuses on defining women's tasks and the concrete motions involved in them. It draws much of its inspiration from anthropological studies as well as from the writings of specialists in folklore. The same proportion of women continued to work in industry before and after the war.