In the first half of the 19th century, a population growth, in combination with changes in society caused by the economic crisis of the Napoleonic Wars and the industrialization, resulted in a growing number of unmarried women, for which the traditional role to support themselves by marriage was not available.
Schools open to females normally offered a shallow education of accomplishments, focused on making their students ideal wives and mothers, and virtually the only profession open for an educated woman was that of a governess or a teacher in a private girls school.

By the 1840s, there was an ongoing debate as to how to provide women with an opportunity to support themselves as useful productive members of society should they fail to marry, without having to rely on the charity of relatives or resort to crime.
The customary shallow education was harshly criticized, and in 1842, girls were included in the compulsory primary education school system.
In parallel, under the pressure of the public debate, the old shallow private girl schools were gradually replaced by a new type of private secondary education schools for females, with the task to provide them with education useful for a professional life: in 1842, there were only five such schools in Sweden, but a rapid expansion from that point on resulted in the existence of such schools in most Swedish cities already in the 1870s.

The argument of the reformists in parliament, that more professions should be open for women to make it possible for unmarried women to support themselves, caused a row of reforms in women's rights: equal inheritance rights in 1845; equal rights within trade and commerce (1846) and the professions of teacher in the public school system (1853), Feldsher, organist and dentist (1861) and positions at the telegraph- and postal offices (1863).

Each of these reforms gave the reformists in parliament arguments for further reforms, arguing that it was the responsibility of the state, who had granted women these new rights, to provide them with the education and the juridical status necessary to handle them.
As a consequence, in 1858–63, unmarried women were granted legal majority, and after the recommendations made by the radical Girls' School Committee of 1866, the profession of a doctor and the right for women to attend university was finally introduced.

The 19th century signified the organization of women to participate in public life and social reform: initially, from the foundation of the Välgörande fruntimmerssällskapet in 1819 onward, women organized in civil charitable organizations, which became an acceptable way for a woman to play a public role and achieve social reform, and women became known public role models as social reformers, such as Emilie Petersen, Sophia Wilkens and Maria Cederschiöld (deaconess), which lay the foundation for women's participation in public life.

Women's organization, initially charitable, took a more radical form when the feminist movement was established.
In 1848, Sophie Sager aroused controversy when reporting a rape attempt and winning the case in court, after which she became the first woman in Sweden to tour and make public speeches in favor of feminism.
In 1855, women arguably organized for the first time to deal with an issue within women's rights, when Josefina Deland founded the Svenska lärarinnors pensionsförening (The Society for Retired Female Teachers) to provide for retired female teachers and governesses, and from 1856, the Tidskrift för hemmet became the first regular feminist spokes organ.
 During the second half of the century, the women's movement organized with the Married Woman's Property Rights Association (1873) and the Fredrika-Bremer-Förbundet (1884), and started to make demands of their own.

From the 1880s, women such as Emilie Rathou, Elma Danielsson, Alina Jägerstedt and Kata Dahlström engaged in the temperance movement, the working class movement, the trade unions and the political press and media.
In the first half of the 19th century, a population growth, in combination with changes in society caused by the economic crisis of the Napoleonic Wars and the industrialization, resulted in a growing number of unmarried women, for which the traditional role to support themselves by marriage was not available. Schools open to females normally offered a shallow education of accomplishments, focused on making their students ideal wives and mothers, and virtually the only profession open for an educated woman was that of a governess or a teacher in a private girls school.
By the 1840s, there was an ongoing debate as to how to provide women with an opportunity to support themselves as useful productive members of society should they fail to marry, without having to rely on the charity of relatives or resort to crime. The customary shallow education was harshly criticized, and in 1842, girls were included in the compulsory primary education school system. In parallel, under the pressure of the public debate, the old shallow private girl schools were gradually replaced by a new type of private secondary education schools for females, with the task to provide them with education useful for a professional life: in 1842, there were only five such schools in Sweden, but a rapid expansion from that point on resulted in the existence of such schools in most Swedish cities already in the 1870s.
The argument of the reformists in parliament, that more professions should be open for women to make it possible for unmarried women to support themselves, caused a row of reforms in women's rights: equal inheritance rights in 1845; equal rights within trade and commerce (1846) and the professions of teacher in the public school system (1853), Feldsher, organist and dentist (1861) and positions at the telegraph- and postal offices (1863). 
Each of these reforms gave the reformists in parliament arguments for further reforms, arguing that it was the responsibility of the state, who had granted women these new rights, to provide them with the education and the juridical status necessary to handle them. As a consequence, in 1858–63, unmarried women were granted legal majority, and after the recommendations made by the radical Girls' School Committee of 1866, the profession of a doctor and the right for women to attend university was finally introduced.
The 19th century signified the organization of women to participate in public life and social reform: initially, from the foundation of the Välgörande fruntimmerssällskapet in 1819 onward, women organized in civil charitable organizations, which became an acceptable way for a woman to play a public role and achieve social reform, and women became known public role models as social reformers, such as Emilie Petersen, Sophia Wilkens and Maria Cederschiöld (deaconess), which lay the foundation for women's participation in public life.
Women's organization, initially charitable, took a more radical form when the feminist movement was established. In 1848, Sophie Sager aroused controversy when reporting a rape attempt and winning the case in court, after which she became the first woman in Sweden to tour and make public speeches in favor of feminism. In 1855, women arguably organized for the first time to deal with an issue within women's rights, when Josefina Deland founded the Svenska lärarinnors pensionsförening (The Society for Retired Female Teachers) to provide for retired female teachers and governesses, and from 1856, the Tidskrift för hemmet became the first regular feminist spokes organ.  During the second half of the century, the women's movement organized with the Married Woman's Property Rights Association (1873) and the Fredrika-Bremer-Förbundet (1884), and started to make demands of their own.
From the 1880s, women such as Emilie Rathou, Elma Danielsson, Alina Jägerstedt and Kata Dahlström engaged in the temperance movement, the working class movement, the trade unions and the political press and media.
Women in Sweden