Throughout European history famines have generally been followed by periods of rising wages, because when a labor force is diminished, workers are more valuable in accordance with the law of supply and demand
The Irish potato famine of the 1840s is an exception; it resulted in the death or emigration of half of Ireland' s population, but there was no significant rise in the average wages in Ireland in the following decade
Eviction policies of the landowners in Ireland were designed to force emigration of the elderly and infirm, who could not work, and to retain a high percentage of able-bodied workers.