We use a unique source from the Swedish royaldemesnesto examine the work and relative wages of women insixteenth-century Sweden, an economic laggard in theearly modern period. The source pertains to workers hiredon yearly contracts, a type more representative of histori-cal labour markets than day labour on large constructionsites, and this allows us to observe directly the food con-sumed by workers. We speak to the debate on the ‘littledivergence’ within Europe, as women’s work and genderdifferentials in pay is a key indicator of women’s relativeautonomy and seen as a cause for the economic ascen-dency of the North Sea region during the period. Wefind small gender differentials among both unskilled andskilled workers, indicating that Sweden was a part of the‘golden age’ for women. We argue that despite superficialequality, women’s economic outlooks were restrained inmany other ways – including their access to higher-skilledwork and jobs in the expanding parts of the economy –adding important nuance to the discussion about the rela-tionship between women’s social position and economicgrowth in the early modern period