Amish Work

Most Amish people make a living by farming and raising dairy cattle on their own farms. They make a living by selling these products. It is also common for Amish women to get their own stores after marriage and run their own family-run businesses. There are many different types of stores, including those that sell agricultural products, crafts, and processed foods. Even Amish families whose lives revolve around farming will often help out at nearby general businesses, repairing roofs, etc., during the off-season.

Amish people setting up playground equipment for children at a festival event

Besides farming, some Amish people make a living through other jobs. One of these jobs is famously the Amish furniture business. In Lancaster, there are many families who have small workshops and make furniture on a family basis. Some have large workshops and hire other Amish people to run large-scale businesses. The Amish furniture workshops we do business with are also well-regarded and successful in Lancaster, and have large workshops. Also, since the Amish value horizontal connections and cooperate with each other, it seems that the stores selling Amish furniture made in workshops are often run by Amish people. In these large workshops and shops, the Amish often hire non-Amish people to do sales and advertising.

Our shop does business with an Amish furniture workshop, which is run by Amish carpenters and made by Amish people, but employs non-Amish people to handle administrative tasks such as using computers. We communicate with them through their secretary.

Historically, up until the middle of the 20th century, most Amish were mainly engaged in agriculture and dairy farming, but gradually they expanded into other businesses. The background to this is that the price of agricultural products has fallen as agriculture has become larger-scale, making it difficult to make a profit. Another reason is that the demand for tobacco has decreased in recent years. Tobacco leaf farming is difficult to mechanize and relies on manpower, so it was a profitable business for the Amish, but now demand is less than before, and some Amish are being forced to go out of business.

References: Amish Studies the young center at Elizabethtown College