This novel is set in Regency England, a time when Prince George acted as Regent for his incapacited father, George III. During this time, England was a powerful nation, having defeated Napoleon. The English were strong not only militarily but also economically, with a growing middle class.
Women of any class, however, had very little power socially or economically. In the novel, the Bennett home is "entailed" to Mr. Collins. That means that when Mr. Bennett dies, his estate will go to Mr. Collins instead of to his own daughters because only males could inherit property (see the link to Themes below). Unless the Bennett girls married well, they would end up penniless.
There were jobs for women in lower economic classes, such as domestic service and factory work, but they paid very little. The only option for women in the middle and upper classes was marriage or being a governess:
The only viable alternative to marriage was to become a governess, commonly referred to as the "governess slave-trade" since "minimum wage and hour limitation for workers did not exist at the time." (from Jane Austen and the Female Condition, linked below)
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