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t ■4 t r ■ *•*■<*; OOwWt' » * ) 4>,f £ * 4M*; »« l .4 4 «'It Un "5 2 58 I^RTMENT OF LABOR I Tobin, Secretary S BUREAU Frieda S. Miller, Director > BULLETIN NO. 238 ■ A ».3U y w#» m ■* * * Part-Time Jobs for Women — a study in 10 cities Women’s Bureau Bulletin No. 238 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OE LABOR MAURICE j. TOBIN, Secretary WOMEN’S BUREAU FRIEDA S. MILLER, Director WASHINGTON 1951 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON: 1951 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. C.—Price 25 cents LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL * United States Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, Washington, June 1, 1951. Sir: I have the honor to transmit a report on part-time jobs for women in selected fields of business and community services. The Women’s Bureau has received many requests from women’s organizations, placement services, job counselors, women’s magazines, and employed women for information about part-time job opportunities for women and the possibilities of increas ing the areas of usefulness of part-time work. The American Association of University Women, the American Nurses’ Association, college deans and placement officers, social agencies, State employment services, and other groups expressed special interest in having such a report. Part-time employment provides employers with a large labor force for jobs and services that lend themselves to less than full-time hours. Part-time em ployment of women permits employers to use the skills and training of experi enced women who are not able to work full time. And, more important now than at the time the study was planned, part-time schedules can help employ ers work out some of their employment problems in spite of the increasing manpower demands due to the national emergency. Part-time work is of special significance to married women and their fam ilies. There is available a large group of married women whose family respon sibilities do not make it advisable for them to work full time but who could work shorter schedules. Their home duties take some but not all of their time. They have limited amounts of time they would like to use for financial gain, for applying skills and training that they have acquired through education and work, for the personal satisfaction and associations with work and workers outside of the home. The study presents the part-time work experiences of management and employees from a wide range of industries and occupations where women are at work part time. It has brought together the considered judgments of these informed persons concerning the possibilities and limitations of part-time work. Special recognition is due the American Association of University Women for its collaboration in securing in the field some of the detailed information from college graduates now working part time. The report was written by Opal Gooden under the direction of Mary N. Hilton, Chief of the Research Division. The field work was supervised by Ethel Erickson, and all statistical compilations were under the direction of Isadora Spring. Respectfully submitted. Frieda S. Miller, Director. Hon. Maurice J. Tobin, Secretary of Labor. iii *1 I 1 CONTENTS Page Letter of transmittal................................................................................................................... iii Introduction •................................................................................................................................ 1 Summary .................................................................................................................................... 4 Place of part-time work in business and community services............................................. 11 Why part-time?................................................................................................................. 11 Who hires part-time workers?....................................................................................... 15 Part-time jobs and job requirements....................................................................................... Work skills . .. ................................................................................................................. Education and training...................................................................................................... Work experience............................................................................................................... Maturity an asset.............................................................................................................. Marriage no barrier.......................................................................................................... 17 17 18 19 19 21 Women who work part time.................................................................................................... 26 Finding part-time workers and part-time jobs...................................................................... Employers’ recruiting methods....................................................................................... Employees’ job hunting.................................................................................................... Placement agencies and part-time................................................................................... 31 31 32 34 Hours, earnings, and fringe benefits....................................................................................... Hours.................................................................................................................................. Earnings.............................................................................................................................. Fringe benefits................................................................................................................... 36 36 38 40 Advantages and disadvantages of part-time work.............................................................. Employer advantages........................................................................................................ Employer disadvantages .................................................................................................. Employee advantages ...................................................................................................... Employee disadvantages .................................................................................................. Community advantages .................................................................................................... 43 43 44 48 49 50 Suggestions for women seeking part-time jobs...................................................................... Why a part-time job?........................................................................................................ What can you do?............................................................................................................. When can you work?........................................................................................................ How does your household go?.......................................................................................... How find a part-time job?................................................................................................ How much will the job cost?......................................................................................... 52 52 53 54 54 55 55 Suggestions for employers of part-time workers.................................................................. How decide a job is part time?....................................................................................... How select a part-time worker?..................................................................................... How increase part-time workers’ efficiency?.................................................................. 56 57 58 58 References .................................................................................................................................. 60 v Page Appendix A, Coverage of the survey..................................................................................... 61 Appendix B, Tables................................................................................................................... 63 Establishments report: 1. Part-time employment of women by industry.............................................................. 63 2. Occupation by industry of women part-time workers...........................................64-67 3. Reasons for hiring women part-time workers............................................................ 68 4. Methods of recruitment................................................................................................ 68 5. Whether part-time work an advantage or disadvantage........................................ 69 6. Why part-time work an advantage............................................................................... 70 7. Why part-time work a disadvantage........................................................................... 71 Women report: 8. Why they work part time instead of full time, by occupation........................... 9. Why they work part time instead of full time, by age............................................ 10. Why they work part time instead of full time, by maritalstatus......................... 11. How they found their jobs, by occupation............................................................. 12. Most important reasons for working part time, by occupation.............................. 13. Age, by occupation........................................................................................................ 14. Marital status, by occupation....................................................................................... 15. Education, by occupation................................................................................................ 16. Years worked in present job, by occupation.............................................................. 17. Years worked in full-time jobs................................................................................... i >, 71 72 72 73 73 74 74 a 74 75 75 Appendix C, Schedule Forms.................................................................................................. 76 1 * ) VI PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN INTRODUCTION More women than men regularly prefer or cannot accept other than part-time employment. About three in every five regular part-time workers are women, according to nine Bureau of the Census studies for 1947-50. Women part-time workers constitute almost a fifth of the total number of employed women, and the majority are married. Most part-time workers are found in four main industry groups: Agriculture, domestic service, wholesale and retail trade, and service industries exclusive of domestic service. The Bureau of the Census studies show that agriculture employs about one-fourth of all workers preferring part time and the non agricultural industries about threefourths. Of the workers preferring part-time work in the nonagricultural industries, only a small proportion are in manufacturing, less than a fourth are domestic workers, and considerably over half are about equally divided between wholesale and retail trade and the service industries (other than domestic). Since these industries em ploy large numbers of women, it may be assumed that most of their part-time workers are women. As the labor market tightens, women part-time workers may be one of the important sources of labor supply, particularly for non manufacturing industries, educational institutions, and community services. The Nation faces its present emergency with no substantial backlogs of employable persons urgently searching for full-time jobs. Many women who are willing and able to take paid jobs cannot work full time because of family and household responsibilities; most of those who want to work full time are already employed. There is also the special matter of the highly trained woman, usually with profes sional or technical experience, who cannot now work full time be cause of family responsibilities but whose skills are under-used at home and are probably needed in the community. 1 2 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Clearly there is a need to know the present experience with part time jobs for women from employers’ and employees’ points of view: Who hires part-time workers and why; what are the jobs and what are the requirements; who works part time, why, and what family adjustments are necessary; what do women part-time workers have to olfer employers, and how can their skills be utilized to the advan tage of all concerned; what are the usual hours of work, rates of pay, and other conditions of work; and, what are the advantages and disadvantages of part time? This report indicates answers to these questions as given to repre sentatives of the Women's Bureau by more than 1,000 establishments having women part-time workers and by more than 1,800 women employed on part-time jobs. The field studies were made in 10 cities selected from several geographic areas: Syracuse, N. Y., New York City (selected industries only), Worcester, Mass.; Providence, R. 1.; Richmond, Va.; Dallas, Tex.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Des Moines, Iowa; San Francisco, Calif.; Denver, Colo. (Fig. 1.) " ' * » Figure I. GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF CITIES IN PART-TIME STUDY SYRACUSE MILWAUKEE \ Cg WORCESTER yrjF providence DES MOINES NEW YORK SAN FRANCISCO DENVER RICHMOND DALLAS The Women’s Bureau study of part-time jobs included those indus tries which normally employ the largest numbers of women on a part time basis, except agriculture and domestic service. Manufacturing i is not a large part-time employment field and, for this and special k* 3 INTRODUCTION reasons, was excluded; self-employed women were excluded for simi lar reasons. Part-time work, by definition, was considered to be work substan tially less than the scheduled hours of the establishment and/or not more than 36 hours a week. The study was directed toward regular, not temporary, part-time jobs. Occasional or temporary jobs, such as Christmas "extra work” or seasonal employment, were not included. Neither was student employment, since student part-time jobs inter ject other factors not common to regular part-time work. The special significance to women of part-time jobs has been widely recognized and discussed. The significance of part-time work to em ’ ployers, to the community, and to the economy as a whole deserves more careful analysis and appraisal. This report is intended to add some factual framework to the speculations and opinions concerning part-time jobs for women. Detailed tables are given in Appendix B. » * ' .» l ^ * _ —.ujilirq sbivoiq oT T .enoitulilzni Icnobfiouba ni ...vjiunBrb .zabnagn Isboz ,23'jiflo 'aleilmb bri£ ; (enobissin-sgio qirla eiuori babnajx^ gniJBiaqo ejn'jmrkild-fUej io ysb aril to li£q iovoo oT .? ; (elfiliqzorf ,2i3:torb ni <.g .3) ,e3bnsgfi kboe ni ,.g .a) zlzoo ojuboi ol io etagbud balimil laorn oT .6 ; (?.noil£sin£gro qirkrodrram io ,?uoigibi ^Idfilhfida SUMMARY Most part-time jobs are filled by married women, very likely over 35 years of age with at least a high-school education, who have had full-time work experience. Few have young children. In most cases, part-time workers do the same kinds of work on shorter schedules that they did as full-time employees. >• Working schedules substantially less than the regular workweek distinguish part-time jobs from other regular employment. Though part-time work is a long-established practice in many business firms and community agencies, it has an element of newness as long as new persons continue to discover for themselves its possibilities. Part- v time work resulted from the normal needs of management and is not merely a byproduct of full employment, wartime labor shortages, or the depression years. Why part-time? Employers set up part-time jobs for a variety of reasons, all closely related to their operational requirements. According to the 1,071 * employers in 10 cities who cooperated with the Women’s Bureau part-time study, most of the reasons can be classified in one or more of nine categories: 1. To cover busy periods or peak loads (e. g., in stores, beauty shops, restaurants, banks); 2. To cover relief schedules of full-time workers (e. g., in hospitals, stores, theaters); 3. To provide for establishments operating short workweeks (e. g., in educational institutions, insurance and real estate offices, doctors’ and dentists’ offices); 4. To provide particular services or activities operating part time (e. g., in educational institutions, banks and other financial firms, doctors' and dentists’ offices, social agencies, charitable, religious or member ship organizations); 5. To cover part of the day of establishments operating extended hours (e. g., in theaters, hospitals); 6. To meet limited budgets or to reduce costs (e. g., in social agencies, charitable, religious, or membership organizations); 4 m ' 4 , v SUMMARY » >> 5 7. To accommodate "special cases” where experienced workers want only part time (e. g., in insurance and real estate offices, publishing houses, banks and other financial firms, beauty shops); 8. To relieve the shortage of professional workers (e. g., in hospitals); 9. To fill jobs that do not require full-time services (e. g., in charitable, religious, or membership organizations, publishing houses, doctors’ and dentists’ offices, banks and other financial firms). Women work part time because family and household responsi bilities prevent them from working full time, or because they prefer ( a short schedule for other reasons. Of the more than 1,800 women part-time workers who gave detailed information to Women’s Bureau * representatives, it was found that they worked part time for one or more of three reasons: To supplement or increase income; to have outside interests and contacts; or to use their skills and abilities. Some gave physical disability, age, or difficulty in finding full-time ' jobs, especially jobs in line with their special training or skills, as 1 ' - r * ‘ m other reasons for taking part-time jobs. Rarely do part-time workers depend solely on their earnings for a living, but the need or desire to supplement their established in comes was a most important reason for working part time. Earnings of women part-time workers have helped to pay for the college expenses of older children or the annual family vacation, to buy a new house or car, or to narrow the gap between the cost of living and the fixed income of an annuity, a pension, or a husband’s salary. The women who most keenly felt the need for interests and con tacts outside their homes and families were those whose children were grown or nearly so, or who had no children. They considered this need a compelling reason for working part time. Some said it had become more important than the money they earned. Professionally or technically trained women, such as nurses, social workers, laboratory technicians, and teachers, frequently said that part-time work in their fields gave them opportunities to use their skills and abilities although they were not then available for full time jobs. Some expected later to resume their profession full time, by choice or necessity, and felt that part-time work would keep them qualified and "off the shelf.” Many also had a sense of social obligation to use their training, especially if their fields were handicapped by shortages of trained personnel. 6 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Part-time jobs and job requirements Part-time jobs require skilled, experienced workers. There is usu ally little room within a part-time work plan for unskilled or inex perienced persons, but less all-round skill may be expected of a parttime than a full-time employee. Employers expect part-time workers apply what they already know to the immediate demands of the part-time job; they cannot afford the time or expense of long training periods for part-timers. The kinds of work skills women use on part-time jobs are the same as on full-time: Clerical, sales, personal service, technical and pro fessional. Part-time work, however, sometimes permits a "pin-point” specialization in work skills which could not be justified for most full-time employment; this is especially true for adult education classes, arts and crafts, and publishing houses. Hobby skills or special interests many times have been turned into part-time work skills. The variety of skills used by the more than 9,000 women part-time workers covered by the Women’s Bureau survey was impressive for versatility and adaptability. Despite the range of skills, the majority of the women part-time workers studied were in the important woman-employing occupa tions of sales, food service, and clerical work. Teaching, nursing, and social work were the principal professions represented. Except for shorter schedules, jobs for women part-time workers differ little from full-time with respect to what and where they are. The other qualifications for part-time jobs, besides work skills and experience, are relatively unimportant. Mature age, 35 years and over, may be more of an asset than a liability to the part-time worker. On the whole, employers interviewed by the Women’s Bureau did not report age as an important or determining factor in hiring women for part time. Most of the women included in the survey were be tween 35 and 55 years of age. As for marital status, employers assume that anyone seeking part-time work is either married, widowed, or a retired single person. * ] , * ^ H > ^ ' * Finding part-time workers and part-time jobs Employers recruited their part-time workers in the same ways that they did their other employees. The one difference was that former ' * SUMMARY 7 *■ full-time employees often were "called back” for part-time jobs. The recruiting practices normally used by a particular business or agency— receiving direct applications from job hunters who were "making the rounds,” telling friends or other employees that there was a job openi ing, checking with professional or other special groups, advertising * in the "help wanted” section of the newspapers, listing the job with public or private employment agencies—were used to find part-time workers. The women said that friends, relatives, and former employers were ■ their best help in finding part-time jobs. Some got their job leads through their connections with educational institutions, professional organizations, or church groups. Neither public nor private employ ment agencies played an important role in part-time job placements, and very little job counseling service was available to women seeking part-time jobs. * Hours, earnings, and fringe benefits The distinctive feature of part-time work, a short regular hours schedule, proved as variable as the jobs. Twenty hours a week, spread over five days of four hours each, was the most common schedule. t Part-time workers covered by the study worked as little as two hours a week as adult education teachers and as much as 30 hours as wait resses. Another frequent schedule was three full days a week equal ing 24 hours. The rates of pay depended entirely on the going rate for similar full-time jobs. Part-time earnings were worked out on an hourly basis. Teachers received higher hourly pay than most part-time workw ers, and business-machine operators generally were the highest paid clerical workers. Some part-time salespersons received commissions, but many did not. Part-time waitresses were paid the lowest hourly rates but, in addition, usually received at least one meal and tips. The real v/ages of part-time workers increased as employers made * available to them some of the so-called "fringe benefits”—particu larly paid vacations and sick leave—which full-time workers have. The Women’s Bureau survey found that the firms which had estab lished such benefits for full-time employees, more often than not, extended them to part-time employees with reasonable modifications. » Some employers have developed policies and practices with respect 8 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN to fringe benefits for part-time workers which have the effect of recognizing the permanency and stability of part-time jobs. •* Advantages and disadvantages of part-time work The test of the reasonableness of part-time work is whether ad vantages outweigh disadvantages for employers, employees, and the community. All of the employers interviewed by the Women’s Bureau had actual experience with part-time workers; some had used part timers for many years. As experienced employers they knew the haz ards and rewards of part-time arrangements. This also was true, of course, for the employees covered by the survey. Almost all of the employers said that there were advantages to them in having part-time workers, and over two-thirds said that they found "no disadvantages.” Almost a third considered part-time work a mixed blessing, with the advantages dominating. Had not advan tages outweighed disadvantages, they would have stopped hiring part- * time workers. The advantages to employers almost paralleled their reasons for having part-time workers. Part-time workers helped them to: Cover peak loads or busy periods; Provide relief workers for full-time employees; e < Have competent assistance on jobs not requiring full time; Provide a variety of special services or activities operating part time; Stay within limited budgets; Use the skills of persons available only on short schedules; or, Provide some trained staff despite shortages of professional workers. , j h Wj When part-time workers fulfilled the purpose for which they were hired, most employers considered part-time work an advantage. Those employers who did have complaints brought out serious shortcomings of part-time work, some of which could and should be 1 corrected. Although less than a third of the employers named dis- 4 advantages, they were nonetheless vocal and specific. The chief em ployer complaint was "undependability” of women part-time workers. Behind that difficulty stand home responsibilities. Closely related were "high turn-over,” "expect too frequent adjustments in schedule,” "lack ; of continuity,” or "unwilling or unable to work particular hours , « SUMMARY 9 - ,y needed.” Hospitals, social agencies, some stores and offices, and educa tional institutions were most outspoken with these complaints. Other disadvantages of part-time work which some employers had experienced include: i f, L * "Split job responsibility”—part-time workers cannot follow through with a social work case or a hospital patient; Extra operating costs—part-time employees require as much payroll bookkeeping as full-time, some need as much "wind-up and clean-up time” to begin and end their short shifts as full-time; Lack of understanding of over-all operations or program—part-time employees are not available for staff conferences or training meetings, difficult to integrate them with full-time staff; Not familiar with stock—in stores, part-time employees do not know the merchandise thoroughly, they are not responsible for the unpleasant chores connected with stock work, arranging merchandise and putting it away at the opening and closing hours; as a result, friction sometimes develops between full-time and part-time employees. The women who were interviewed liked part-time work, saw no disadvantages, and considered their work "worthwhile.” They ap proved the system because it met their needs for supplemental in come, outside interests, and opportunities to use their skills and abilities. Part-time work fitted the home-life design of the married women and often, they said, contributed to its enrichment. Some of the incidental benefits of part-time work were, according to the women interviewed, of special value because they improved family life and increased the individual’s sense of worth. Some said they "felt better physically and mentally,” that a part-time job was a "morale builder for any housewife,” and that they "liked outside ' activity” after years of full-time housework. The women whose chil» dren were grown no longer felt "useless” after they began working part time. At least two employee disadvantages of part-time work, though not mentioned by the women, deserve consideration.' Some part-time ' jobs cost the worker as much in carfare, clothes, and commuting time ^ as a full-time job, but the earnings are less. And, most part-time jobs are "dead-end” jobs, without promotion or upgrading possibilities, where even highly trained women are likely to be expected to work below their best skills. The women interviewed accepted these ciri cumstances as necessary to the main advantage to them of securing _ paid work on a limited schedule. 10 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN The community gains much from part-time work. The hundreds of leisure-time educational and recreational activities which com munities now promote for all age groups, and which are essential to the democratic growth of the people, would be impossible without part-time instructors and leaders. Social welfare and church groups also have numerous projects which need paid personnel but not on a full-time basis. For many women who have the skill, time, and in clination "to do something” in the community, volunteer service is either too expensive or too casual. Paid jobs on part-time schedules in community agencies give competent women regular assignments and enough earnings to save family budgets from further strain. The community also gains from part-time work that brings trained teachers back to active duty. Married women are preferred for part time teaching jobs. Most of the part-time teachers are in nursery schools, kindergartens, and adult education programs, but any scheme which improves the teaching situation is beneficial to the school system as a whole and to the children and their parents, in particular. Part-time workers who ease the rush hour delays for customers in restaurants, stores, beauty shops, and similar business places make their communities a more satisfactory place in which to live. Main taining essential customer services on a reasonable basis may depend more heavily on part-time workers as the emergency manpower situation tightens. And by no means the least important, from the viewpoint of the community and the national economy, is that part-time work "un freezes” skills which are needed and which women have but do not use at h,ome. Employers have little more than sampled the wide range of job skills and work experience that thousands of housewives and retired persons could use on a part-time basis. Most of these women are not available for full-time employment. The release of those skills into the labor market, even within the limitations of part-time jobs, adds to the total productivity and services of the community. In emergency situations this becomes very important, since it means that full-time workers with possibly higher skills can be drawn into more essential or demanding jobs without completely disrupting the many services a highly geared modern community expects. * . * ' » > * ^ ( PLACE OF PART-TIME WORK IN BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES > Why part-time? k w w ** ^ * 1 Employers say— Part-time work has long had a place in the business world and was not born of wartime labor shortages. Nor did it result from the de pression idea of "spread the work.” World War II experiences, how ever, demonstrated to a new group of employers that they could or could not use part-time workers efficiently. Some found the answer was "yes,” others "no,” still others "if necessary. Stores, restaurants, beauty shops, banks—businesses with customer "peak load” periods—regularly supplement their full-time working force with part-time workers to meet rush-hour demands. Some also depend on an additional staff of part-time employees as "relief workers” for days off of regular full-time workers and to cover long over-all hours beyond the normal workweek. A corps of part-time employees, working regular short schedules, is a recognized operating practice for these businesses. Small commercial and office establishments which do not need and cannot afford full-time stenographic or bookkeeping services use part time workers. They may need such services a few hours a day or sev eral full working days near the end of the month. The work time is adjusted to meet the requirements of the business. Social agencies, hospitals, educational or membership organiza tions, and private schools employ part-time workers for a variety of reasons, some similar to those of business, others unique. In some communities there is a shortage of trained specialists available for full-time work and the hospitals and social agencies must get along on "half-a-loaf” or none. Too often, limited budgets restrict some jobs to part time though full time would be more satisfactory. On the other hand, part-time schedules are satisfactory and practical for paid leaders of group activities such as community recreation or adult education; the administrative and supervisory jobs usually need full * time staff. 11 12 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Employers interviewed by Women’s Bureau representatives in the, 10 cities where information was gathered, mentioned at least two other reasons for having part-time workers which do not fall within any of the above categories. One was the frequent case—always con sidered special”—of the former full-time employee, now married, < who does not want full-time work but who is more efficient than an inexperienced full-time recruit. One employer summed up his reasons by saying he "would not be using this person as a part-timer except that she prefers it and has been with the company for some time.” Another explained that he had reemployed a former worker who had left full-time employment in June, that he "could really use someone on a full-time basis but haven t located anyone, so I arranged an irregular schedule to accommodate her.” A slightly different emphasis was given by the employer who decided "to utilize the skills and experience of a full-time worker available only for a part-time job.” Monotony of the operation, another "special” reason for using part-time workers, also does not come within the categories already * mentioned. A commercial letter writing concern, which used 12 part time typists on what the manager called "monotonous material,” found it "could not get a good full-time worker to take the job, but could get superior workers for part-time jobs.” J Women say— Most women who work part time do so for one or more of three reasons. Besides taking care of their home responsibilities, they want: ... to supplement or increase income, ... to have outside interests and contacts, or ... to use their skills and abilities. Physical disability, age, or difficulty in finding full-time jobs, espe cially jobs in line with their special training or skills, are less frequent reasons for taking part-time work. Few part-time workers depend solely on their earnings for a liv ing but the need or desire to supplement their established incomes is a dominant motive for working. The majority of the women part time employees interviewed by the Women’s Bureau did not hesitate to say they were working to increase their own or the family’s in come. Usually home responsibilities prevented them from working full time. i , * ' PLACE IN BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES 13 Their explanations as to why they wanted the money or what they used it for varied almost as much as their jobs. If the women inter viewed in the different cities are at all representative, it would seem that part-time work is helping to pay for more than one college edu cation, new house, car, annual family vacation, or is filling the gap between an annuity or pension and the cost of living. Sometimes a ' wife’s part-time earnings provided support of an aged parent, as in the case of the saleswoman in a shoe store who said she worked "to balance the budget and to help with the expenses of mother who * ** 1 m t „ f i is 83.” Another saleswoman explained that, with a son in college and a "white collar husband whose salary had not increased to the extent necessary,” her earnings for 2 days a week in a luggage store pro vided the margin the family needed to hold on to what she considered the "usual living standard.” Teaching a cooking class 1 night a week in the adult-education program of the public schools, a home eco nomics graduate with a husband and three children felt that "every little bit helps” toward the expenses of the eldest daughter then in college. "Though not entirely dependent” on what she can earn, a retired bookkeeper and accountant said that she "needs the financial assistance and with the part-time salary can manage.” In her late forties, a wife and mother with extensive clerical experience used her part-time earnings to ease the "strain on the family income” so that the amount contributed to her husband’s mother and sister was not too serious a problem. Women with home responsibilities who worked part time for additional income, when interviewed, frequently emphasized their desire for interests and contacts outside of their homes. Widows sometimes made more point of using part-time work to overcome loneliness even though added income was important. Those women with previ ous professional training, particularly nurses, social workers, teachers, and technicians, often valued part-time opportunities to use their skills and "keep-up-to-date” even more than the money they earned. "Now that the children are grown, I feel the need for outside interests” was said many times in many ways by the women part-time workers interviewed. Doing their own housework as a full-time occupation had a low rating with these women and with those who had no children. Not all were as blunt as the doctor’s part-time reception- 14 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN ist who said she "wanted to get out of the house”; in her early fifties, with four grown children, only she and her husband were at home. A married woman with no children, a waitress for some 20 years, had worked part time the last 4 years since marriage because she "couldn’t stand to be just around the house all day.” The mixing of generations in the household at times compounded psychological and financial reasons for wanting to work part time. f A beauty operator, whose household included her husband, motherin-law, and semi-invalid uncle, worked 3 days a week for the money and because she "enjoyed the working contacts and having something outside of home to do.” Three generations crowding one house was the reason a young wife and mother of a 3-year-old child “* worked part time. The husband’s job had brought them to Milwaukee but until they found a house they were living with his parents. To give the child and the grandparents more freedom, the child was enrolled in nursery school and the child’s mother worked part time to pay the fees; it was evident that she thought it better for her, too, * to be away from the house part of the day. Professionally trained women often expressed a sense of obligation to use their skills on a paid basis although they could not work full time; too, they liked the idea of keeping current with professional trends. A trained social worker with 12 years’ experience was glad to have a part-time teaching position in a school of social work, but >, she had not been able to accept the original offer of a full-time post. She told the interviewer that she had "spent so many years in social work, all my friends are in that field, and I am interested in keeping up with new developments. Social work is a more important activity than many that women take up—it happens to be the field I know.” „ After 42 years in the public schools, a retired teacher still enjoyed teaching Latin in a private school for girls 20 hours a week. A re search librarian with 20 years’ specialized training and experience, ‘married but, not fond of full-time housework, said she wanted "to ' keep up with professional interests and publications without neglect ing my home.” On her own, she had written for publication in order "to keep up”; her part-time job gave her access to new books without cost and reduced rates on books purchased. Only 21 hours a week working with a clinic has enabled a trained 3 nutritionist to "keep in touch with new methods, trends, and retain PLACE IN BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES 15 skills,” an achievement she considers as important as the $1,800 a year she contributes to the family income. Married, in her late thirties, her three children were in school, but she could not yet take a full time job. , Part-time nurses interviewed seemed conscious of the public need for their services and, despite marriage and family obligations, liked * "to keep in touch with new methods in the nursing field,” or as one said, "with new drugs and medicines.” One of the most highly trained part-time workers interviewed during the Women’s Bureau study had behind her a distinguished full-time professional career extending over about 30 years. "I am * getting lazy now and feel this one part-time job is enough,” she told the interviewer after saying that she worked to use her skills and abilities. She had a Ph.D. in psychology and was supervisor of coun selor’s training as well as consulting psychologist for a vocational counseling agency. Both her sons were in college studying to be psy* chologists, and she returned to the university now and then—to teach a course. Who hires part-time workers? The wide range of business firms, agencies, and institutions using part-time workers has been indicated in the reasons for part-time m work. While the Women’s Bureau field study did not try to include all employers of part-time workers in the 10 cities, the 1,071 estab lishments from which extensive part-time information was obtained represent the industries that are likely to employ women part time, t exclusive of manufacturing, domestic service, and farm work. > The largest number of part-time jobs were, naturally, in the kinds of workplaces—such as stores and restaurants—which every town and city has. Of the establishments surveyed, about three-fourths of the department stores, limited-price stores, and motion-picture thear ters regularly employed women on a part-time basis. For women’s apparel and accessory stores the figure was slightly less than half; for hotels and restaurants more than half, and for the beauty shops, less than one-fourth. Four-fifths of the hospitals, sanitariums, and clinics had some ( women part-time employees, but only a little more than one-tenth of the doctors’ and dentists’ offices had them. ^ 16 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN A quick look at the employers reporting the use of part-time workers reads like a typical business, professional, and educational directory of the "average” city: Advertising agencies Art galleries Banks Beauty shops Business services, miscellaneous Churches Clinics Dentists’ offices Doctors’ offices Dry cleaning depots Hospitals Hotels Insurance companies Laboratories, medical Laundries, self service Lawyers' offices Libraries Membership organizations Motion-picture theaters Museums Placement agencies Photographic studios Publishing houses Radio stations Research organizations Real estate offices Restaurants Retail stores Sales promotion firms Sanitariums Schools, adult, preschool, private ele mentary and secondary, special Social agencies Universities and colleges Wholesale firms ■ In all the adult education services and a majority of the other edu cational institutions visited, women were used as part-time staff. This was also the practice with over half of the social agencies and almost half of the libraries. More than one-fourth of the radio broadcasting stations had women working part time. Only a very small percentage of banks, insurance, real estate, advertising, publishing, and law » offices were employers of part-time workers. The workplaces employing women part time were similar in most of the cities studied. Local conditions accounted for some variations, such as the concentration of publishing houses and advertising agen cies in New York. But, as for what kinds of firms most frequently employed women, Denver was not very different from Providence, San Francisco from Richmond.1 1 > PART-TIME JOBS AND JOB REQUIREMENTS Work skills, learned through special training, experience, or both, are essential for part-time employment. Relatively few part-time jobs require no skill, aptitude, training, or experience. Employers find it too expensive to hire part-time employees who need long periods of on-the-job training; they expect them to adapt what they already know to the immediate requirements of the part-time assignments with a minimum of waste of their limited work schedules. Work skills From attendants for checkrooms to X-ray technicians in hospitals, the skills and occupations which women have been able to use in part-time jobs are not too different from the skills and occupations of women on full-time jobs in business and professions. Less all round skill may be required of part-time workers than of full-time. The kinds of firms employing part-time workers, as found by the Women’s Bureau study, do not always give clues as to the types of part-time jobs on which women were employed. Insurance companies, for example, used more part-time food-service employees than part time clerical workers, and hospitals used more part-time kitchen em ployees (dietary helpers and tray girls) than part-time technicians. Clerical workers, including bookkeepers and stenographers, were found working part time in all kinds of places: Professional and business offices; charitable, religious, and membership organizations; hospitals; social agencies; radio stations; retail stores; schools; mu seums; hotels and restaurants. Saleswomen worked not only in de partment stores, women’s apparel shops, and limited-price stores, but also sold popcorn and candy in movie theaters. In one place or another, most of the recognized basic work skills of women, profes sional and nonprofessional, have been used on a part-time basis (see list of part-time jobs held by women, p. 20). The variety of skills being used by the more than 9,000 women employed part time by the 1,071 firms included in the survey was impressive. More significant, however, was the fact that the major ity of these part-time workers were concentrated in the important 17 18 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN woman-employing occupations such as sales, food service, and clerical. The largest part-time professional groups in the survey were adult- * education teachers, registered nurses, and social workers. Education and training Employers expected the same educational qualifications of part time workers as they did of full-time. The hiring qualifications as to *■ schooling and special training were usually no different, but de pended on the nature of the job. College degrees with specialization in the particular field were usually "musts” for part-time professional workers. The require ments for social workers were the highest; most agencies required all of their professional staff members to have specialized graduate training in addition to basic college work. Teachers were found in such a variety of popular and academic fields that the educational requirements for part-time teachers in cluded a wide range of skills and knowledge. In the different types of schools and educational programs they taught everything from flower arrangement, bridge, personal charm, social dancing, brides’ courses, swimming, and "the woman’s point of view” to subjects such as Latin, calculus, labor legislation, and comparative literature. Always, of course, there were play-school and kindergarten subjects. In general, the educational requirements were college degrees for A academic subjects, commercial-school training for business courses, and a thorough knowledge of the subject, without necessarily having academic background, for special crafts and skills. Only "registered nurses’ training” was usually mentioned as qual ifying education for part-time registered nurses. However, public * health, psychiatric, obstetric, and other specialized nurses usually were also expected to have training in their special fields. High school or the equivalent was generally required of clerical workers on part time. Jobs dependent on knowledge of business machines, stenography, bookkeeping, and so forth, called for special training the same as if they were full time. Most of the stores either required or preferred high-school grad uates for salespersons but there seemed no hard and fast rule for this group of workers. Employers commented that many of their best JOB REQUIREMENTS 19 saleswomen, particularly the older ones, were not high-school grad uates. Appearance and ability to meet the public were more impor tant than formal education. "Neat, attractive, and well mannered” were the qualifications stressed by motion-picture theaters for ticket sellers, ushers, and candy salesgirls; educational requirements were secondary. Restaurant em ployers considered educational background unimportant for wait resses. A waitress might be a high-school graduate or not but, they emphasized, she had to be neat, pleasant, and know how to handle the public. * Work experience Work experience, even more than education, is a requirement for many part-time jobs. Few employers can or will spend time and money to train employees for less than full-time work. Inexperienced per„ sons are hired only on jobs that can be quickly and readily learned. For this reason, only thoroughly experienced persons were employed for part-time professional jobs and their previous work record was often the basis for selection. Experience was a usual requirement for specialized clerical jobs, j but employers were often willing to hire inexperienced part-time general office workers and receptionists. Many of the stores did not *' require experienced part-time saleswomen, due perhaps to the fact that large stores customarily have their own training programs. Others said they preferred but did not require experience and, in general, experience was not the determining factor in selecting sales1 women. * Restaurants usually made "no specific requirements” as to experi ence, but some employers did add that they preferred experienced workers. Maturity an asset p _ .... Mature age, 35 years and over, is no barrier in itself and may be an advantage to a woman looking for certain kinds of part-time work. The job determines the age preference in most cases but teenagers and young women in their early twenties do not dominate the part time scene. 20 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN On the whole, the employers interviewed by the Women’s Bureau did not report age as an important or determining factor in hiring women part-time workers. The maximum hiring age for stores varied from 35 to 65 years, with 50 prevailing. Apparel and department stores more often hired older women (up to 50 and 55) than did limited-price stores; the latter have always tended to hire young and inexperienced workers. A In restaurants, too, there was a wide range (30 to 65 years) in the maximum hiring age of waitresses, but the most common top limits were 40 and 45 years. Very few firms had age hiring specifi cations for kitchen workers or occupations other than waitresses. No maximum age limit was found for the majority of the part- * time professional occupations but, when reported, the top limits were generally from 50 to 65 years of age. Not many hospitals gave age specifications for nurses, and most educational institutions had no maximum hiring age. In motion-picture theaters, younger women from 18 to 30 were 1 hired as part-time usherettes and candy girls. Age limits for cashiers and ticket sellers were higher; almost half of the theaters reported no maximum age for these jobs, the others reported a maximum rang ing from 30 to 45 years. On age limits for part-time workers, employers comment: Department Stores Sales, cashier, typist ... no definite maximum but seldom over 45 or 50; minimum 16. Dallas Prefer older women, more dependable. Milwaukee Prefer older women on most jobs. No specification except 16-year minimum j for sales. Syracuse Generally over 30. Syracuse 4 Prefer age 18 to 35, but no definite specifications. Worcester, Mass. Need mature appearance in children’s department. Milwaukee Apparel Stores Prefer 30 up rather than 30 down. Milwaukee Prefer 35 to 45 in sales and women 40 or over in better garments. Syracuse Prefer older women in coat department and younger women in sportswear and dresses. Syracuse Other Stores Sales and general help . . . prefer young women who will not object to mis cellaneous tasks. San Francisco Sales ... in the thirties. Dallas J 4 , JOB REQUIREMENTS ► * * [ *• [ * * 21 Restaurants Prefer older women on all jobs. San Francisco No specifications. Waitresses, much prefer 30 to 40 and those not having young children. Milwaukee Hospitals No specifications . . . usually older women for information work. Richmond Nurses ... no age specifications . . . almost all hospitals in all 10 cities. Prefer older women for receptionists, dishwashers, and maintenance workers. Milwaukee Educational Institutions, Social Agencies, Charitable, Religious, and Membership Organizations Teacher, mature woman. Providence Teacher, hobby interest . . . prefer over 25 and under 65. Syracuse Prefer younger woman for nursery school. Providence Must be young enough to do playground work with very active children. San Francisco Executive secretary . . . prefer older woman. Dallas Clerical and case worker ... no specifications . . . mature person. Des Moines Playtime director and club director ... no specifications . . . prefer younger women because of type of job. Milwaukee Membership secretary ... no specifications . . . prefer older woman . . . couldn't have a young girl in this club for boys. Syracuse Swimming instructor usually under 40. Denver Professional staff 21 to 50, clerical ... 18 minimum but no maximum . . . present hostess is elderly retired woman . . . cook, no specifications but prefer middle-aged. Syracuse Radio, Advertising, Publishing Receptionist and PBX operator . . . fairly young with pleasing voice and per sonality. San Francisco Advertising ... no specifications, except for messenger . . . prefer older women. New York Assistant editor in Job Futures Department . . . prefer young woman. Travel editor . . . prefer mature woman. Fashion copy writer . . . prefer under 35. New York The information volunteered by the women who cooperated with the survey tends to confirm what employers said about age qualifi cations or preferences for part-time workers, with the women over 35 having a decided edge over younger women. Marriage no barrier Applicants for part-time work can be married, widowed, divorced or forever single so far as the question concerned most employers 22 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN interviewed for the Women’s Bureau study. Over nine-tenths of the employers said they had no hiring specification or preference in regard to marital status. The main interest was whether or not the applicant could work a regular schedule without interference from home duties. Preference was for women without responsibility for small children. According to the information provided by the women workers, the vast majority were married. This reflects the fact that part-time work is primarily a married woman’s field since most other women cannot afford to work part time. " * Part-time Jobs Held by Women in 1,071 Firms in 10 Cities Amusement and Recreation Services Motion-picture and other theaters Ticket sellers and cashiers Managers and assistants Ushers Saleswomen (candy and popcorn Clerical workers, other concessions) Matrons Finance, Insurance, Banking and other finance Board markers (stock brokerage) Tellers Business-machine operators Clerical employees, other Food-service employees Personal-service employees, other and « Real Estate Insurance Artists Clerical employees Food-service employees Chauffeurs Real estate Clerical employees >< Personal Services Beauty shops Cashiers—food Beauty operators Cashiers—liquor stores Masseuses Hostesses Clerical employees Dining-room employees, other Eating places Kitchen employees Dietitians, assistant managers, as Maids and housekeepers sistant caterers Elevator operators Cashiers Clerical employees, other Hostesses Self-service laundries and dry-cleaning Dining-room employees, other depots Kitchen employees Laundry attendants General help in school lunchrooms Retail receiving clerks Clerical employees, other Saleswomen Miscellaneous personal services Hotels (photography) Front desk—clerks and cashiers Bookkeeping-machine operators * ^ t JOB REQUIREMENTS 23 Trade * Retail stores Limited-price variety stores Apparel and accessories stores, Saleswomen women’s Clerical employees Saleswomen Food-service employees Clerical employees Other employees, such as mark Food-service employees ers and stock girls Other employees, such as alter Miscellaneous retail stores * ation women, elevator oper Saleswomen ators, manicurists, pressers Clerical employees and stock girls Food-service employees Department stores Other employees, such as cor Saleswomen , Clerical employees sage makers in florist shops, Food service employees designers of novelties in ► Other employees, such as alter novelty shops, elevator oper ation women, artists, art and ators, meat wrappers in food needlework instructors, com stores, sewing teachers in parison and personal shop sewing-machine companies, pers, detectives, elevator and wrappers operators, markers, milliners, models, nurses, stock girls, Wholesale trade Clerical employees ■> wrappers and packers ; ' t , Professional and Charitable, religious, and membership organizations Social agencies Accompanists (piano) Attendants—gymnasium, swimming pool Consultants and counselors— psychology, speech, physical and occupational therapy Dance-hall supervisors Directors (program, publicity) and administrative assistants Group leaders and workers—recreation House mothers and practical nurses Lecturers Librarians (professional) Nurses, registered Social workers—case workers Teachers—adult classes Teachers and aides — nursery schools Related Services Clerical employees Dining-room employees Kitchen employees Maids, general Other organizations Church and religious workers Sunday school teachers Clerical employees Church and religious em ployees, other Directors and executive secre taries Group workers Library aides Nursery attendants Teachers Clerical employees, other Cashiers Hostesses Dining-room employees, other Kitchen employees Housekeepers and maids Attendants—check room Elevator operators 24 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Professional and Related Services—Continued Educational services Other special schools Schools Child-care aides Adult education Directors, education Accompanists (piano) Directors, nursery schools Directors and supervisors, Publicity workers Teachers program Teachers, consultants, lec Office managers Clerical employees, other ^ turers Clerical employees Dining-room employees Dining-room employees Kitchen employees Kitchen employees Libraries Attendants (gymnasium) Catalogers Preschools (nurseries) Librarians (professional) House mothers Library aides Nurses, registered Office managers Nursery-school attendants Clerical employees, other . Teachers Museums and art galleries Clerical employees Copyists and colorists Dining-room employees Curators and assistants Kitchen employees Directors, assistant Maids Directors, public relations Private schools, primary and Guides and/or lecturers * secondary Research assistants Accompanists (piano) School-service specialists Consultants Staff assistants Kindergarten and nursery Teachers aides Clerical employees Librarians and assistants Medical and other health services Nurses, practical Hospitals, sanitariums, clinics Nurses, registered Anesthetists (professional) Teachers Dental aides Clerical employees Dietitians Managers of lunchrooms Directors of religious work, so Dining-room employees cial services, volunteer aides Kitchen employees Instructors of practical nurses Personal service employees, and student nurses other Laboratory technicians Bus drivers Laboratory technician aides * Universities and colleges Librarians (professional) Hostesses in student union Library aides Librarians and assistants Nurses’ aides (professional) Nurses, practical Library aides Nurses, registered ’ Teachers Orthopedic technicians | Test scorers Pharmacists, registered % Clerical employees, other Social workers (professional) Cashiers, restaurant Therapists Dining-room employees, Therapists’ aides other X-ray technicians Kitchen employees Clerical employees ; Nurses, registered Managers, dining-room Saleswomen (bookstore) Dining-room employees, other I 25 JOB REQUIREMENTS Professional and Related Services—Continued Bookkeepers Medical—Continued Hospitals—Continued Professional offices Doctors' and dentists’ offices Kitchen employees, dietary Dental hygienists helpers, and tray girls Nurses, registered Personal service employees, Technicians other Glee-club instructors of student Other assistants Clerical employees nurses Lawyers’ offices Medical and clinical laboratories Clerical employees Laboratory technicians , \ Communication Radio broadcasting stations Announcers Continuity writers Directors of personnel and promotional work Clerical employees Miscellaneous Industries and Services Advertising, letter service, and sales Copywriters Editors and assistants promotion Artists Proofreaders Copy writers Research assistants Clerical employees Clerical employees, other Experimental-kitchen employees Food-service employees Opinion polls and market research Miscellaneous business services Interviewers Promotional and advertising man Placement agencies agers Clerical employees Hostesses (Welcome Wagon and Publishing houses Newcomer's Service) Colorists Clerical employees Copyreaders WOMEN WHO WORK PART TIME The ' typical” woman part-time worker is married, lives in a family household of two or three persons with two members em ployed, and does all her own housework, except possibly the laundry. She is somewhere between 35 and 45 years of age, at least a high- *■ school graduate, with some previous full-time work experience. Her children, if she has any, are probably in their teens or older. She ex pects to continue working. This composite picture drawn from a representative portion of the part-time workers covered by the survey does not, of course, accurately describe each individual. * In the 10 cities, 1,853 women working part time gave information as to their age, education, marital status, and work history and rea sons for doing part-time work. The occupational grouping of the 1,853 women was as follows: Nurses, registered .................................................................................... 154 Social workers ........................................................................................... 55 Teachers ............................................. 250 Clerical and related workers.......................................................................356 Sales and related workers........................................................................... 342 Service workers in hotels and restaurants................................................. 422 Other workers ............................................................................................274 Included in the above were 618 women part-time workers who were interviewed by Woman’s Bureau representatives for more detailed information on their family responsibilities as they related to their jobs. Nearly three-fourths of all the women covered by the part-time study were married, one-tenth were widowed; over one-tenth were single (frequently retired); the small remaining numbers were either separated or divorced (Fig. 2). Over nine-tenths of those interviewed lived in family households and most of the others "kept house,” though not as part of a family. Over three-fourths lived in small families of from two to four persons. Almost half of these did their housework without any outside assistance. Another group, which accounted for about one-fourth of the total, had regular help with the housework from members of the family and/or sent the laundry out. Less than one-fourth had maids and most of those were part time. The part-time worker with a full-time maid was a rarity. 26 , * < 4 CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN PART-TIME WORKERS, WOMEN’S BUREAU STUDY IN 10 CITIES Figure 3 AGE GROUPS Figure 2 MARITAL STATUS Under 25 25-34 Married 35-44 Widowed 45-54 Separated or divorced 55 and over 0 Percent 10 20 Percent Figure 4. EDUCATIONAL LEVEL, BY OCCUPATION Social workers 1* ■*** Teachers Nurses Clerical workers Saleswomen Food service workers Percent High school ,......or less 1 to 4 years of college 27 More than 4 teiitssla years of college 30 28 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Nearly one-third of the women part-time workers were at least 35 but under 45 years, over one-third were 45 or over (the majority were between 45 and 55) (Fig. 3). The part-time worker aged 35 or over predominated among social workers, adult education teachers, clerical workers, saleswomen, and food-service workers. Over two-thirds of the total group had at least completed high school. One-third had gone to college for one or more years. One- ^ fifth were college graduates, and almost half of these had taken graduate work. About half had had some kind of professional or formal vocational training. (See Fig. 4 for educational level in se lected occupations.) Previous full-time work experience was an asset of over four-fifths " of the women participating in the survey. Almost half had worked full time for at least 5 years, over one-fourth had more than 10 years full-time experience. For about three-fourths of the women who had had full-time jobs, their part-time jobs were in the same general field as their full-time work experience. 1 Slightly more than half of the women interviewed had no chil dren or their children were over 18 years of age. The next largest group, about one-fifth, had one child under 18 years; over one-tenth had two children under 18 years. Very few had three or more young children. Few mothers find part-time jobs worthwhile if expensive or com- n plicated child-care arrangements are necessary during their working hours. One of the big advantages of part-time over full-time work, from the point of view of mothers, is that older children usually can be in school during all or most of the shorter working day. Not until the children are in school do most women who want to work part « time begin looking for a job. Though women part-time workers with children under 6 years of age were a minority of the total group of women interviewed, they supplied detailed information of special interest on what child-care arrangements they had made. About two-fifths of the children under J 6 years of age whose mothers worked part time were in day nurseries or kindergartens, over one-fourth were cared for by relatives; alto gether, two-thirds of the small children were cared for in day nurs eries or kindergartens or by relatives while their mothers worked 1 part time. Maids cared for less than one-fifth of the small children. WOMEN WHO WORK PART TIME 29 The older children who were 6 but under 12 years of age were in school, but after school about one-third were cared for by relatives and over two-fifths took care of themselves. For about one-fifth, either their mothers were at home after school hours or friends, neighbors, or relatives looked after them. Maids were depended on even less for this age group. Teen-agers largely took care of themselves after school. Relatives were responsible for over a tenth, and for almost another tenth, the mothers were at home after school. Most of the part-time workers interviewed, including those with children, said they planned to continue working part-time. A small group indicated they expected to shift to full-time jobs; most of these were women without children or whose children were grown. As will be seen from the following notes on a few individual inter views, the work records of many of the women closely parallel in creases and decreases in their household and family responsibilities. Married, between 45 and 55 years of age . . . high-school graduate ... 10 years’ full-time experience as stenographer, 2 years’ part-time . . . family household ... no outside assistance with household duties . . . JOB: clerk-typist, business service, 29 V2 hours a week. Married, between 45 and 55 years of age . . . college graduate, home economics . . . three children, two under 18 years . . . worked a year before marriage, out of labor market for 20 years . . . almost 2 years’ part-time on present job ... no outside household assistance . . . oldest daughter or husband care for younger children the one evening she is away . . . JOB: cooking teacher, adult education evening classes, 2 hours a week. Widow, over 55i years of age . . . high-school graduate, no special train ing .. . had not worked before 1948 . . . four children, three grown and away from home, youngest in high school . . . family household includes mother and 15-year-old son . . . no outside household assist ance . . . JOB: saleswoman in retail store, 19'/2 hours. Married, between 35 and 45 years of age . . . high-school graduate ... no children . . . over 16 years’ full-time experience, over 3 years’ part-time . . . trained beautician . . . family household of two adults ... no outside assistance with household duties . . . JOB: beauty operator 27 hours a week. Widow, between 45 and 55 years of age . . . high-school graduate . . . two grown daughters . . . did not work for 10 years . . . 11 years’full time experience, 4 years’ part-time . . . family household of three em ployed adults ... no outside assistance with household duties . . . JOB: receptionist and general office worker, social agency, 16 hours a week. 30 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Single, over 55 years of age . . . college graduate ... 42 years as public school teacher, retired . . . part-time over 2 years . . . house hold with two women friends, full-time housekeeper . . . JOB: Latin teacher, private school, 20 hours a week. Married, between 35 and 45 years of age . . . college graduate . . . three children, ages 7, 9, 14 . . . teacher 2 years before marriage, 16 years out of labor market . . . almost 2 years’ part-time . . . family household . . . has maid twice a week . . . schedule permits being home when children are out of school . . . JOB: director of church (Sunday) school, 20 hours a week. Married, between 40 and 45 years . . . high-school graduate and nurse's training . . . two children, ages 7 and 11 . . . husband cares for chil dren . . . JOB: hospital general duty nurse, 20 hours a week (Sundays 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Monday-Wednesday 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.). Married, between 45 and 50 years of age ... 3 years’ college and nurse’s training . . . three children, ages 17 to 21 . . . JOB: nurse in pediatrician’s office, 27l/> hours a week. Married, between 35 and 45 years of age . . . college graduate, jour nalism . . . 15-year-old son . . . worked most of married life on tem porary or free-lance assignments, over 3 years’ part-time . . . family household . . . sends laundry out and has cleaning woman 2 days a week . . . JOB: publicity and research, adult education council, 30 hours a week. Married, between 35 and 45 years of age . . . college graduate, training in speech and dramatics . . . three children under 18 years . . . highschool teacher 4 years before marriage ... 5 years’ part-time on present job . . . family household three adults, two children . . . full-time maid . . . JOB: radio coordinator, community chest agencies. FINDING PART-TIME WORKERS AND PART-TIME JOBS Employers’ recruiting methods Every recruitment method ordinarily used by business firms and community agencies to find full-time workers has been used by em ployers to fill part-time vacancies, from "passing the word along” to listing the job with an employment agency, union, or professional association. There was no general agreement among the firms inter viewed by the Women’s Bureau as to which method was best. The type of job and the kind of part-time worker sought had much to do with what recruitment methods employers considered most satis factory. Stores, eating places, and motion-picture theaters leaned heavily on what they called "direct application” for finding the part-time workers they wanted. They received applications from persons whose job hunting took them from one likely place to another or who had "heard from a friend” that there might be an opening. A represen tative of the personnel office or the manager, depending on the size of the establishment, interviewed the applicants. These firms also recruited part-time workers through newspaper advertisements, other employees, by calling back former full-time employees, and, less fre quently, through employment agencies. Unions as a source for recruiting part-time workers were signifi cant only in areas where hotels, restaurants, hospitals (food and maintenance workers), and stores are strongly organized. In a city such as San Francisco, an employer could expect the appropriate union to help him find part-time workers from among its member ship. Nearly two-thirds of the banks, insurance, and real estate offices reported that they found their part-time workers among former em ployees or through their other employees. Doctors and dentists often said they recruited their part-time assistants through friends and pro fessional contacts. Community organizations, hospitals, educational institutions, and social agencies often had quite different recruiting methods for differ ent jobs. Direct applications, newspaper advertisement, or an employ ment agency might be used for part-time clerical or food-service 31 32 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN workers. Professional staff, however, often was sought through pro fessional associations (nurses’ registries, organizations of social work ers, and so forth), or from among the professional acquaintances of the regular staff. Former full-time employees were called back for part-time work, and also volunteers were sometimes taken on as part time paid workers. Direct application and other employees’ suggestions were the most common methods used by libraries. Museums and art galleries had much the same recruitment practices as libraries, though they looked more to schools and colleges for part-time personnel suggestions. Almost no firms said they answered "position wanted” newspaper advertisements when looking for part-time workers. Limited-price stores and restaurants sometimes used the "part-time help wanted” sign in the window. Now and then an employer mentioned less usual methods of re cruiting part-time workers: A broadcasting station advertised over the radio, a tuberculosis hospital used former patients who were arrested cases. Churches and religious organizations almost always canvassed their members, and a social agency working with handi capped persons felt obligated to use its clients when possible. Mothers of pupils were the source for teachers’ helpers in a private nursery and elementary school. Neighborhood mothers not otherwise employed were sought as part-time assistants at a community day care center for children whose mothers worked full time. A university did its recruiting for part-time catalogers, library aides, and stenog raphers among the faculty wives and wives of GI students. Employees’ job hunting Friends, relatives, and former employers helped a majority of the women interviewed by the Women’s Bureau to find their part-time jobs. "A friend told me about the job, I applied and got it,” was a frequent answer to the question, "How did you get your part-time work?” Of those interviewed, about two-fifths of the clerical, sales, and service workers got their jobs through leads from friends or relatives. Former employers were responsible for almost one-third of the sales women and about one-fifth of the clerical and service workers find ing their part-time jobs. Smaller proportions located their jobs by FINDING WORKERS AND JOBS 33 answering newspaper "help wanted’’ advertisements or by going from one likely place to another making direct application. In those professions with the most part-time workers—nursing, social work, and teaching-—friends and relatives were not as impor tant for finding jobs as they were in nonprofessional occupations. The same percentage of nurses reported success in finding part-time jobs k through former employers and direct application as through friends or relatives. Almost half of the social workers gave the credit to former employers and almost one-fifth to other social agency con tacts. Teachers found direct application and friends about equally effective, with university placement agencies and former employers k next. Some of the women interviewed insisted that their part-time jobs had found them without much effort on their own part. Most of these were teachers, stenographers, or bookkeepers. To what extent these women had been recommended by friends or were former em , ployees "called back” was not possible to determine. Public and private employment agencies, including school place ment bureaus, successfully directed to their part-time jobs less than a tenth of the women interviewed. The women reported slightly more successes with the public employment service than private agencies. I The part-time jobs that were found through any of these agencies were largely clerical, nursing, sales, or food service. Comments of the women in reply to the question, "How did you get your job?” include the following: ► , k ^ Head of the Foundation was a friend of my late husband. (University library) Director of the school where I got my master’s degree asked me to work full time but I wish to work only part time. (Instructor in school of social work) Through professional contacts. Library officials offered me the job be cause of my interest in and knowledge of western history. (Cataloger of western history collection, public library) Through friends who suggested me to the local health authority. (Pedia trician, well-baby clinic) Substituted on a temporary basis, and when part-time job was available asked for it. (Public library) Recommended for job of editing and writing by a member organization. (Publicity, adult education council) Through friends. (Secretary, membership organization) Was a former patient. (Bookkeeper, doctor's office) 34 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Since I was an experienced former full-time employee, I was asked by the company to work part time. (Bookkeeper, insurance company) , Part-time job thrust on me by former employer. Had been a full-time employee for 5 years during the war and resigned. (Bookkeeper, hotel) I did volunteer work for the clinic for 2 years before taking the paid job. Just worked into it when the clinic program changed from volunteer basis to one of paid employees. (Receptionist, social agency) Took the job first as a temporary full-time worker but did not want to continue on full time so present schedule was arranged. (Typist and ^ receptionist, social agency) Through former employer. (Clerk-typist, neighborhood business service) Answered ad. The ad sounded attractive so I applied for the job. (Cus tomer hostess, downtown bank) Answered ad. (Sales, limited-price store) Direct application. (Sales, limited-price store) ^ Knew owner through club activities. Was not looking for a job but took this because it sounded interesting and was assured I could have short hours. (Sales and record keeping, small exclusive modern furni ture store) I knew the manager of this shop. (Beauty operator) Direct application. (Waitress, downtown restaurant) Placement agencies and part-time As already indicated, few of the women included in the study found their part-time jobs through employment agencies. To get a more complete idea of the role of the placement agencies in the part-time field, the Women’s Bureau interviewers visited the State employment services in each of the 10 cities except New York City, and visited a selected group of 18 private placement agencies. They asked for information about the orders received from employers for part-time workers and the registrations from women seeking part time jobs. Domestic workers were excluded since they were also ex cluded from the main part of the study. The information gathered from placement agencies confirmed what employers and employees had said about them as a channel for part time placement—the agencies played a minor role in placing part time workers. Only 3 percent of the 20,000 women applicants regis tered in the active files of the State agencies and 5 percent of the over 4,000 registrants in the private agencies had applied for part time jobs. Less than 100 employer orders for part-time workers were currently on file in the agencies; the orders usually were for one part-time worker—a stenographer, waitress, or chambermaid. ^ * FINDING WORKERS AND JOBS 35 The State employment services studied handled all types of job placements and did not specialize in particular occupations or indus tries. The private agencies visited specialized for the most part in office placements. Although none of the agencies encouraged part time registrations, two public agencies had assigned interviewers to handle only part-time applicants and orders. The slight employer demand on the State agencies for part-time workers made it inadvis able to direct their services in any marked degree to part-time place ments. Private agencies, since they charge fees based on the earnings of the applicants placed, found part-time placements unprofitable; a part-time worker takes as much time and paper work as a full-time worker. Both public and private agencies often suggested that appli cants go directly to stores or restaurants without registering at the agency. "Women who apply for regular part-time work are rela tively few. They are usually married women 35 to 45 years old with out any special skills or work experience,” was a typical employment agency comment. The majority of the part-time applications on file in these agencies at the time of the study were from women who wanted nonprofessional "white collar” jobs such as sales or clerical work. About two-fifths had completed high school, one-fifth had only grade-school education, and less than one-fifth had attended college, few of the college women had specialized in a particular field. Over half of all the applicants had no vocational or specialized training. The women who looked for part-time jobs through the employment agencies were vague and indefinite about the number of weekly hours they wished to work. According to the agencies, the most common answers covered a spread of from 20 to 25 hours. About evenly divided were the numbers of women who reported they could work "evening hours from 5 or 6 p. m. to 9, 10, or 11 p. m. and mornings and up to 2, 3, or 3:30 p. m.” These periods seem to cover the hours husbands were home to care for children or the hours their children were in school. HOURS, EARNINGS, AND FRINGE BENEFITS Hours Regular hours schedules less than full time, the distinguishing characteristic of part-time jobs, had many variations which are diffi cult to analyze. As defined in this study, a part-time job is one on ' which the employee works substantially less than the scheduled hours of the establishment, and in no case more than 36 hours a week. Within these limitations almost any kind of schedule is possible, keeping in mind always that temporary workers are not included The most common part-time schedules of hours, as reported by M employers to the Women’s Bureau for the survey, varied from as little as 2 hours a week for some adult education teachers to as much as 30 hours a week for waitresses and saleswomen. Twenty hours a week, which usually meant 4 hours for 5 days, was the most com mon schedule for a wide range of occupations. Hospitals, however, 1 preferred 3 full 8-hour days; some retail stores followed the same plan. Of the women whose part-time work records were covered by the survey, over half worked 15 to 30 hours a week (over a fourth worked 20 hours but less than 25 hours a week). In the selected occupations from the 10 cities studied, the informa tion on daily and weekly hours, as tabulated here, represents approxi, matdy the range of the middle 50 percent of the hours in each of the cities. Therefore, the exceptions and special cases which did not fit into these "most common" classifications are not shown here. The reasons for employing part-time workers are naturally related to the work schedules. Five main factors were reported by the estab4 lishments surveyed for determining part-time hours: 1. Peak business load (over two-fifths) 2. Nature of the job (over one-third) 3- Needs of individual women workers (less than one-third) 4. Regular relief for full-time workers (less than one-fourth) 5. Additional help as needed to supplement full-time employees for long over-all hours or heavy load of work (about one-sixth) Some firms had special situations, including customer appointments in beauty shops and arrangements to utilize space and equipment for longer hours. 36 37 HOURS, EARNINGS, AND FRINGE BENEFITS Most Common Hours for Part-time Workers in Selected Occupations Women’s Bureau survey in 10 cities Occupation Professional and semiprofessional: Directors, assistant (museums)......................... Directors (social agencies).................................. Editors (publishing houses).............................. Group leaders (social agencies)....................... Interviewers (opinion polls).............................. Laboratory technicians (hospitals)................... Librarians (libraries)............................................ Nurses (hospitals)................................................. Research assistants (publishing houses).......... Social workers (social agencies)....................... Teachers (membership organizations)............ Teachers (school) in— Adult education.......................................... Universities and colleges........................... Private, primary and secondary schools— Arts and crafts teachers..................... Grade teachers.................................... Kindergarten and nursery teachers. . Preschool teachers.............................. Teachers (social agencies)................................ Therapists (hospitals)........................................ Clerical: Business-machine operators (banks)................. Miscellaneous clerical in— Banks ........................................................... Retail stores................................................. Doctors’ and dentists' offices................... Hospitals ..................................................... Insurance companies.................................. Printing and publishing companies........ Saleswomen (retail stores): Department stores................................................. Limited-price stores .......................................... Waitresses in eating places...................................... Daily hours 3 to 4 4 4 and 6 2 to 4 Irreg. 3 and 5 4 Weekly hours 15 to 20 20 20 2 to 5 20 20 to 24 20 8 24 Irreg. 7 to 8 1 to 3 20 2 2 to 4 2 to 10 2 to 6 2 to 3 31/2 and 41/2 3 and 3 V2 3 2 to 3 3 to 41/2 5 to 10 Varied 15 to 20 15 2 to 5 18 to 24 <5 30 4 and 5 4 to 8 4 and 41/2 4 to 5 4 to 6 5 20 to 25 24 to 30 20 to 25 20 to 24 20 to 24 25 4 and 5 4 and 5 4 to 51/2 24 to 30 24 to 30 20 to 25 2 to 6 20 to 30 The period of the day during which a part-time worker is on the job usually depends on the same factors that determine the number of hours worked. While most married women seem to think of part time work largely in terms of the hours their husbands are at work —or children in school—not all part-time jobs conveniently fall into that time span. But, as has been indicated, some part-time jobs are for 2 or 3 8-hour days a week, some are for a few hours at night, some are for week ends. Unusual though it was, 6 a. m. was the starting time in San Francisco brokerage offices because of the time zone differences between New York and San Francisco, and the part time "boardmarkers” had to be there at that hour. 38 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN The majority of professional and semiprofessional part-time em ployees worked less than 25 hours a week but the nature of the job usually determined whether the schedule was for short days four or five times a week or for full days two or three times a week. For example, part-time jobs for librarians, editors, group leaders, and teachers usually fitted into short workdays; for social workers and nurses, several full days a week had been found more practical. Clerical workers, for the most part, were employed a few hours 5 or 6 days a week. The part-time saleswomen and food-service workers were employed part days to cover peak loads—in stores for busy shopping hours, in restaurants for mealtimes. Earnings How much part-time workers are paid varies with the kinds of jobs and the hours worked. Part-time registered nurses, for example, usually receive the same hourly rate as full-time nurses; the same is usually true for food-service workers. Where the establishment is unionized, the union scale is the basis for determining part-time wages. Salespersons may or may not receive commissions. Teachers may be paid by the hour, the month, or the session, but the rate rarely covers time required in preparation for classes. Rates of pay for all kinds of professional jobs are more or less in proportion to the full-time jobs requiring comparable training, experience, and responsibility. The rates for comparable jobs differed widely both among firms in the same city and from city to city, the survey showed. In general, San Francisco consistently paid the highest rates in all occupations, the southern cities tended to pay the lowest, while the New England and midwestern cities came somewhere between the extremes. Among the large group of part-time professional workers, special teachers and social workers were generally the best paid, perhaps because the jobs had higher educational requirements than most of the others. In the clerical field, business-machine operators and others with special training usually received higher pay than general office clerks. Banks, insurance, printing and publishing houses—industries requiring technical knowledge of their procedures—usually paid higher rates than stores or small professional offices. * " 1 p < 4 39 HOURS, EARNINGS, AND FRINGE BENEFITS Saleswomen in retail stores sometimes had their hourly earnings supplemented by commissions on sales above a fixed amount. This depended on the departments in which they worked and the policy of the store. Some stores also gave regular part-time workers discount privileges on merchandise purchased. Rates of pay for part-time waitresses probably differed more widely than any other occupation included in the survey. They were the lowest reported in the study but these rates did not represent actual earnings, since waitresses customarily received tips and at least one meal. Most Common Hourly Rates and Methods of Pay for Part time Workers in Selected Occupations Women’s Bureau survey in 10 cities Hourly rates Occupation Professional and semiprofessional: $1.50 to $2.00 Directors, assistant (museums)..................... $1.25 to $1.50 Directors (social agencies)............................ $2.50 $1.00 to $1.25 $1.00 to $1.25 $1.25 to $1.50 Librarians $1.00 to $1.50 Nurses (h $1.00 to $1.25 $1.50 $1.25 to $1.75 $2.00 to $2.50 Teachers (schools) in$2.50 to $3.00 $4.00 to $6.00 Private, primary and secondary schools—$1.50 to $2.50 $2.00 to $2.50 Therapists (hospitals) . .. Clerical: Business-machine operators Miscellaneous clerical in— Banks .......................... Method of pay Varied. Monthly. Weekly. Varied. Weekly. Hourly. Monthly. Hourly. Monthly. Hourly. •• $1.25 to $1.50 $1.50 to $2.00 $1.50 to $2.00 $1.00 to $1.25 Monthly. Monthly and yearly. Monthly. '« Session. Hourly. $1.05 to $1.35 Monthly. $1.00 to $1.10 Hourly and monthly. Hourly. Monthly. Hourly. $0.65 to $0.85 $0.65 to $0.85 $0.75 to $1.00 $1.00 to $1.25 $1.00 to $1.25 Saleswomen (retail stores): Department stores ................................................... $0.65 to $0.75 Limited-price stores ................................................. $0.60 to $0.65 Waitresses in eating places............................................ $0.40 to $0.50 1 1 In most cases, waitresses received meals and tips. " >• " *' The same occupations in the 10 cities for which the most common daily and weekly hours schedules were given, were summarized to 40 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN find the most common hourly rates and methods of pay. Again it must be remembered that the pay scales in the preceding table represent only the range of the middle 50 percent of the rates in each city and do not show the earnings of all workers. On about one-half of the jobs workers were paid by the hour; one-third were paid by the month, a few by the week, and some teachers by the session. Fringe benefits Paid vacations and sick leave—so-called fringe benefits—form def inite parts of workers’ real wages. Some employers have developed policies and practices with respect to fringe benefits for part-time workers which have the effect of recognizing the permanency and sta bility7 of part-time jobs. In the Women’s Bureau study of part-time jobs, it was found that the firms which had established such benefits for full-time employees, more often than not, extended them to part time employees with reasonable modifications. Almost all the firms covered by the Women’s Bureau survey had policies of paid vacations for full-time employees; not quite half re ported that part-time workers were also eligible for paid vacations prorated on the same basis as full time. Within certain groups of industries studied, the proportion of firms giving part-time as well as full-time workers paid vacations was much higher than the over-all average: Limited-price stores—About nine-tenths. Department stores—About two-thirds. Finance, insurance, and real estate—About two-thirds. Hotels—Three-fifths. For the other main groups of employers, the giving of paid vaca tions to both full-time and part-time employees was a practice not yet so firmly established: Restaurants—About half. Social agencies—About half. Hospitals, sanitariums, clinics—About half. Apparel and accessory stores—About half. Motion-picture and other theaters—About half. Other stores—About two-fifths. Charitable, religious, and membership organizations—Two-fifths. Educational institutions—About one-fourth. HOURS, EARNINGS, AND FRINGE BENEFITS 41 Sick leave with pay was a much less common practice among the employers than was vacation with pay. Only two-thirds reported def inite paid sick-leave policies for all full-time workers, and less than a fourth for all part-time workers. The amount of sick leave granted was usually the same as for full-time workers on a prorated basis. Several of the same employer groups that led with paid vacation policies were leaders with paid sick leave for both full- and part-time workers: Finance, insurance, and real estate—Over two-fifths. Limited-price stores—Over two-fifths. Department stores—Over a third. Social agencies—Over a third. Hospitals, sanitariums, clinics—Over a fourth. Educational institutions—Almost a fourth. Charitable, religious, and membership organizations—Almost a fifth. Motion-picture and other theaters—Almost a fifth. Restaurants—Over a tenth. Other stores—Over a tenth. Apparel and accessory stores—Less than a tenth. Three-fifths of the hotels and half of the restaurants did not have paid sick leave for any of their employees, either part-time or full time. The same was true for well over one-third of the motionpicture theaters and the apparel and accessory stores, and for onefourth of the department stores. A higher percentage of social agencies had some kind of sick-leave policy than any other group of employers covered by the survey, though it was not always extended to part-time workers. The extension of paid vacations and sick leave to more part-time workers will doubtless come gradually as employers and employees increase their experience with part-time work. Fringe benefits are the mark of stability and continuity in employment. Examples of Vacation and Sick-Leave Policies for Part-time Workers From Employer Interviews If a part-time employee works 60 percent of full time, she receives all the benefits. (Limited-price store.) All part-time workers who are scheduled to work 27 hours or more a week receive the same benefits (sick leave and vacation) as full-time. Benefits are prorated to salary and time. (Department store.) 42 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Same benefits applicable to part-time as full-time, if part-time are em ployed 22 hours or more per week. (Drug store.) Both full- and part-time workers get regular paid vacation (prorated for part-time) but sick leave is granted to all employees at manager’s dis cretion. (Department store.) Prorated according to time worked—-part-time employees receive propor tionate share of all benefits. (Hospital.) No fringe benefits for workers on hourly rates. Full-time employees are paid on a salary basis and are granted both sick leave and vacations. (Insurance company.) Full-time get both sick leave and vacation but part-time ' 'work strictly on commission” with no fringe benefits. (Beauty shop.) Part-time employees are paid only for the time worked and are not eli gible for any fringe benefits. Full-time employees get both sick leave and vacation. (City recreation commission.) Depends on individual case, for both full-time and part-time, in granting sick leave and vacation. (Community center.) Arrangements for sick leave and vacations are all informal, for both full time and part-time employees. (Children’s home.) All part-time jobs are paid on session basis with no fringe benefits. (Adult education.) ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF PART-TIME WORK Employer advantages More employers cited advantages to them o£ part-time work than pointed to disadvantages. Their experiences had been, for the most part, satisfactory or at least a mixture of advantage and disadvantage. Over two-thirds of the employers reported "no disadvantages” of part-time work. The advantages to an employer of having part-time workers are closely related to the conditions which led to setting up the jobs in the first place. In a business with "peak load periods,” part-time workers can provide customer service at the special times the service is most needed; operating costs are thus kept down by limiting the full-time pay roll to the "non-peak” or basic requirements. Approx imately all the department, limited-price, and women’s apparel stores reported the "peak load” advantage of part-time work. Three-fourths of the beauty shops and restaurants and three-fifths of the hotels were of the same opinion. A part-time plan was to the employer’s advantage where the busi ness day of more than 8 hours or the workweek of more than 40 hours required relief workers to supplement full-time employees. Motion-picture theaters, eating places, hotels, stores, and hospitals reported, in many cases, the value of part-time work to cover these situations. In other cases, the work to be done did not justify a full-time employee and, therefore, a part-time schedule was better. Nearly all of the educational institutions and three-fourths of the doctors and dentists named this advantage of having part-time workers. At least two-thirds of the finance, insurance, and real estate offices, the social agencies, and the private organizations had the same experience. Less an advantage than an accommodation to necessity were those circumstances where employers accepted part-time workers as a "solution” to budget limitations or to shortages in trained personnel for the field. As might be expected, social agencies, educational insti tutions, and community organizations more frequently than others referred to these advantages. 43 44 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Part-time workers can supply a wide variety of specialists’ skills as they are needed in adult education classes, private schools, community organizations, and social agencies. These were the main groups em phasizing this value of part-time employees. Closely related was the opinion from these same groups that they could "get a better type of worker” if they used part-time workers on certain jobs. Not the least advantage mentioned by employers, especially in busi ness, was that of being able to utilize "special cases” by arranging part-time work schedules. Doubtless many of these "cases” were efficient former full-time employees who were available only for part time work after marriage. Employer disadvantages The employers interviewed very seldom made unqualified state ments about the disadvantages of part-time work. Most of their reports on the disadvantages were joined with advantages which fre quently outweighed the unsatisfactory aspects of having part-time employees. Had this not been true, these experienced employers would probably have abandoned part-time arrangements long before the survey was made. Those who did point out disadvantages, however, made some rather serious complaints, the chief one being th^t part-time workers were "undependable.” Some of the other unsatisfactory experiences which they reported also are closely related to dependability—"high turn-over,” "expect too frequent adjustments in schedule,” "lack of continuity of work,” or "unwilling or unable to work particular hours needed.” These complaints were not confined to any one group of employers, but hospitals, social agencies, miscellaneous stores, educa tional institutions, and some of the business offices were the most outspoken. "Split job responsibility” was another persistent disadvantage of part-time work. It was, in fact, one of the chief part-time employment problems of hospitals and social agencies. The part-time worker, too often, could not follow through on a case, which meant confusion or inconvenience for the patient or client; it frequently meant extra work for the full-time employees. Also there often was an opinion expressed that part-time workers were apt to shift responsibilities to full-time workers and did not carry their share of the work load. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES 45 Where some employers found that part-time workers reduced oper ating costs, others had the opposite experience. The extra burden of record keeping was an expense and something of a nuisance; two part-time workers require twice as much payroll, social security and withholding tax bookkeeping as one full-time employee. Actual rates of pay for part-time workers, in some cases, had to be higher than for full-time. A few employers were conscious of an undue pro portion of time being lost at the beginning and end of each part time shift—as much "wind-up and clean-up” time as a full-time worker needed. Employers who depend on staff conferences for informing em ployees of policies and developments, for training purposes, and for building "teamwork spirit” expressed themselves vigorously on the complications raised by part-time schedules. Adult education pro grams, private schools, and social agencies had difficulties on this score. Managers of several stores, which regularly held employees’ meetings for training purposes, also considered it a handicap that part-time workers were not available for the training and morale building periods. Social agencies and educational institutions, in particular, added that they found it difficult to integrate part-time workers with the full-time staff. The directors saw a definite connection between this difficulty of developing a "staff team” and the absence of part-time workers from staff conferences. Whether for professional or non professional jobs, there were strong opinions that the part-time worker had less all-round understanding of her work and interest in the total objectives of the organization or business than the full-time employee; as a consequence, there was less sense of responsibility for doing anything beyond the immediate assignment. In situations where part-time workers present special problems of training and supervision, part-time work is not entirely satisfactory to employers. Most employers referring to this disadvantage were of the same general groups of employers that had favored staff confer ences and employee-training meetings. Stores listed some disadvantages of having part-time workers which are peculiar to sales work. Since part-time workers are usually not available for stockwork, they are not as familiar with the merchan dise as the full-time workers and this situation may result in reduced 46 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN sales and in customer complaints; also, they are not on hand to arrange and put away merchandise at the opening and closing hours. ' Unquestionably friction developed now and then between full-time and part-time employees over these duties. Regular salespeople com plained that the part-time employees had none of the unpleasant chores connected with sales work since they were on duty only during peak customer hours. i -Comments of employers about the good and bad of part-time work, as recorded by the Women’s Bureau interviewers, revealed all possible reactions. Some of the most thoughtful replies indicated the convic tion that part-time work, even at its best, was a mixed blessing. One of the outstanding reasons women want part-time jobs—because home . responsibilities make full-time work impractical—is the cause of the most serious charge against part-time workers, the charge of undepend ability. Some firms had profited from unsatisfactory experiences and * by improving selection methods had minimized the disadvantages. Selected comments from the 1,071 firms interviewed by the Women’s , Bureau in 10 cities show that part-time work has these advantages and disadvantages: Motion-picture theater . . . manager says part-time workers necessary for relief—less reliable as a group because of home responsibilities. Bank . . . utilize experienced former employees. Insurance company ... no disadvantages if personnel director can make age and experience restrictions . . . younger, less experienced persons need extra training and supervision. Cafeteria ... no disadvantages now because basis of selection has been changed . . . through experience found that mothers with young chil dren tended to be somewhat irregular. Hospital . . . needed for relief of full-time nurses . . . not as well acquainted with the patients ... on the whole satisfactory . . . couldn’t very well get along without them . . . but part-time nurses not as inter ested in the patient . . . more likely to stay home if they feel like it . . . most of them have husbands so they aren’t entirely dependent on their earnings . . . older part-time nurses more dependable. Medical clinic . . . unwilling to work hours needed . . . part-time workers can be used effectively if they are willing to work their share of Sundays and holidays . . . will not hire them now unless they will work some of the week ends. Social agency . . . very satisfactory because they are doing jobs which do not require full-time . . . opposed to using part-time social workers . . . too expensive, interest divided. * / * \ * 4 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES 47 Social agency . . . utilize trained social workers who are married and cannot work full time . . . but, we don’t get as much for our money on a part-time social worker . . . absent many times when emergency arises . . . can’t participate in all activities of agency . . . constant requests for changes in work schedule due to family conditions. Community center . . . couldn’t very well get along without part-time workers . . . limited budget makes it necessary to economize . . . also, the varieties of activities require more persons for a shorter period of time. Membership organization . . . less expensive . . . can use a part-time for routine typing, filing, etc. . . . experience with part-time not too good so far . . . can’t be depended on to show up regularly . . . if home duties present any sort of emergency—even minor—they tend to stay home. Private club . . . experience shows we can get a better worker in the older woman but she can’t always stand full-time hours ... no dis advantages. Church . . . not necessary to have a full-time secretary. Adult education . . . with part time get experts in their fields . . . some teach because of their community interest as much as for money paid. Private school . . . many of the teaching jobs are short hours and do not require full-time teachers . . . however, part-time workers must be better than average in order to make the arrangement work . . . otherwise too expensive for employer. Nursery school . . . part-time teachers more satisfactory because of long hours that nursery school is open . . . many of the children stay until 6 p.m. University ... use part-time teachers in some cases as an overload serv ice when enrollment is heavy . . . more flexible ... less expensive ... do not feel same responsibility in attending meetings . . . not on hand for conferences with students to the same extent as full-time. Law office . . . prefer to employ experienced legal stenographer on part time basis at higher wages to an inexperienced full-time employee. Women’s apparel store . . . less costly to operate with some part-time workers—don’t pay them for hours not worked . . . couldn’t very well get along without part-time ... no definite disadvantages. Shoe store . . . disadvantages eliminated by selection of proper employee. Apparel store . . . part-time workers reduce the cost of operation . . . but they are not present to get out merchandise or put it away at night . . . full-time employees resent this and say part-time workers are in for best hours of the day . . . some of the best saleswomen are those on part-time basis. Department store ... all part-time workers are on hourly rate, full time on commission basis ... no antagonism. 48 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Employee advantages Almost all of the more than 600 women interviewed liked part time work, saw no disadvantages, and said they thought their part time work worthwhile.’ Their answers were colored by their motives in seeking part-time jobs—more income, household responsibilities preventing full-time employment, outside contacts, and use of their skills and abilities—but many had come to value some of the accrued benefits which they had not anticipated when they began working part-time. As experienced part-time workers, they approved the system. Part-time work generally fitted into the home life design of the married women and often, they said, contributed to its enrichment. About half of all the women interviewed coupled other benefits with that of extra income; less than a fifth of them gave "supplemental income” (for general or special purposes) as the sole advantage to them of part-time work. Some of the accrued or incidental benefits are of special interest because of their effect on family life and the individual’s sense of worth. A laboratory technician said that her part-time job in a small hospital provided her a needed "outlet and outside interests.” A 37-year-old housewife told the interviewer that the sewing class she taught 2 nights a week in the community adult education program had helped her to develop confidence in her own ability, adding that she considered "a part-time job a morale builder for any housewife.” Another adult education teacher was glad to earn the money but insisted that "the greatest gain is in outside interest and contacts”; she was in her late forties, married, and the eldest of her three chil dren was 20 years of age. A stenographer who had worked 8 years before marriage, then "stayed home 15 years after marriage,” was of the opinion that the real gain to her and her family was that she "feels better, is happier” because she "likes the activity of having an outside job” and it "peps” her up to work. She had been working part-time more than 5 years when she was interviewed; her schedule of 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. was well adjusted to the needs of her two boys now in school. She reported that she did all of her own housework, with some help from her husband and the boys. The supplementary income for the family * , “ , " . v ' „ ' * ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES 49 was still welcome but, she felt, no longer the only advantage. Another part-time worker, for more than 2 years a saleswoman 2 days a week, believed her "mental and physical health better” because of her job; she had been a full-time housewife for 22 years. A widow, whose married daughter and family lived with her, had found "independence” through her part-time clerical work in a re ligious organization. She considered this important. For 8 years before marriage she had been a telephone switchboard operator but had been out of the labor market over 25 years when she began working part time. Employee disadvantages Only 10 of the women interviewed concerning part-time work dis sented from the "worthwhile” verdict. Some of the doubters wanted full-time rather than part-time jobs; one "enjoyed the working and the contacts” but not the particular job, one disliked the fact that she "had to give up outside activities,” and one thought the work load demanded a full-time schedule. Except for this last factor, none of the employers’ troubles with part-time work entered the employees’ comments. None of the women attached special significance to situations which an observer would consider a disadvantage of part-time work, particularly compared with full-time. For those who worked 5 half days a week, for example, bus or streetcar fares cost the same as for full-time workers though the earnings were less; commuting time also was the same. The round-trip commuting time for some of the women was more than 2 hours a day. Neighborhood part-time workers or those whose schedules called for 2 or 3 full days a week frequently came off better with respect to their net earnings. Though some kind of training or work experience is essential to securing a satisfactory part-time job, the professionally or technically trained woman may discover that she must adjust herself to a job below her best skills if she wants to work part time. This is not always true, but frequently it is for that relatively small group of women with highly developed specialists’ skills. A university-trained librarian may get no closer to the center of her field than a supervised routine job in the cataloging division, or a former private secretary may turn herself into a part-time clerk-typist; a highly trained hat 50 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN designer and copyist, with years of experience in the trade, may teach housewives how to trim their hats in a twice-a-week adult education class. Where they were employed below their best work skills, the women who were interviewed did not consider the circumstance a serious disadvantage of part-time work; they accepted it as necessary to the main advantage to them of securing paid work on a limited schedule. Community advantages Community and religious organizations, so essential to the develop ment and expression of democracy in towns and cities, decidedly profit from the use of trained part-time workers. It would be uneconomic, even if money and qualified personnel were available, to attempt to supply on a full-time basis all the skills and activities communities want for themselves—bridge lessons, language classes, supervised playgrounds, membership bulletins, dramatics groups, USO dances, cooking and sewing classes, hobby crafts, special services to crippled children, and so on. Part-time workers answer many of the needs for program specialists to the satisfaction of the participants and the community as a whole, at a cost that is reasonable; in small organiza tions, part-time workers adequately handle the clerical work that should be done to keep the group going efficiently. This supplement ing of full-time staff and volunteers with part-time workers extends the effectiveness of organized community groups at a minimum cost. The community is richer for having their skills and services. Volunteer service with community agencies, charitable or religious organizations is not too satisfying for some women who have held responsible full-time jobs. They may have the time, the energy and the urge to do something” in the community but volunteer assign ments may seem to them more like "busy work” than significant service. More than one of the women interviewed seemed to agree, in substance, with a former volunteer who had become a paid part time worker with the same agency, and who felt that there was "more satisfaction out of being a regular staff member than being a volun teer.” More than personal satisfaction, however, is the economic fact that there are capable, well-trained women who cannot afford the expense of extensive regular part-time volunteer service, but whose skills the ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES 51 agencies need. As volunteers they may be out of their homes as much as if they had jobs, yet the costs of carfare, lunches, clothes, and pos sibly extra household assistance, must come from already limited family budgets. With all the good will in the world, some family budgets cannot stretch to cover the "luxuries” of community activi ties. A part-time worker’s earnings may do little more than cover these extra expenses but she can feel justified in the use of her time without further straining the family finances. The agencies and the people they serve gain the special skills and active interest of women who might not otherwise find it possible to devote so much time to community service. The public school system does not usually extend through the nursery-school age and often does not include kindergarten. Yet parents increasingly are finding such preschool training valuable and are enrolling young children in private nursery schools or kinder gartens where public facilities are not available. These schools are largely staffed by married women, professionally trained teachers, who are available only part time. The children and their parents are the immediate beneficiaries of any scheme which succeeds in recruiting qualified teachers to active duty and helps to relieve the teaching shortage which affects the entire Nation. Part-time workers who ease the rush-hour delays for customers in restaurants, stores, beauty shops, and similar business places make their communities a more satisfactory place in which to live. As the emergency manpower situation tightens, the possibility of maintain ing all kinds of customer services may depend on the use of part time workers to an even greater extent. Another advantage of part-time work of women, which cannot be overlooked, is the "unfreezing” of skills which business firms and community groups need and which some married women have but do not use at home. The release of those skills into the labor market, even within the limitations of part-time schedules, adds to the total productivity and services of the economy. In emergency situations this becomes very important, since it means that full-time workers with possibly higher skills can be drawn into more essential or de manding jobs without completely disrupting the many services a highly geared community should have. SUGGESTIONS FOR WOMEN SEEKING PART-TIME JOBS A Check List The reluctance of some employers to hire women for part-time jobs is due largely to unsatisfactory experiences they have had or have heard about. When you accept a job you enter into a business contract; in return for money you agree to perform certain duties according to an agreed schedule. A part-time job carries with it the same fundamental employer-employee obligations as a full-time job. Failure to go to work as and when agreed is bad faith; unavoidable circumstances may be taken into account now and then—if the em ployer is notified—but not too frequently or the work will be thrown into confusion. Employers and fellow employees must be able to depend on regular attendance by part-time workers. Only by regular performance on the job can part-time workers remove the reputation for "undependability” and open more doors to satisfactory part-time employment. Those who direct a business or community agency consider the work important and they expect their employees to share at least a part of that attitude. Employers do not appreciate the low rating some part-time workers give to their jobs. A job worth being paid for, in their opinion, is worth first attention during duty hours. There are some fundamental questions about part-time work which should be thought through before you start job hunting. After you have answered them to your satisfaction you will know better where and how to look for a part-time job, or whether to look for one at all. Why a part-time job? Why do you want to work—to have more income, to use your skills, to have outside interests? Perhaps a full-time job would be more satisfactory on all counts. A 40-hour, 5-day week would put you in the main stream of the business or community activity where you worked; you would probably have opportunities for promotion and growth. 52 SUGGESTIONS FOR WOMEN SEEKING JOBS 53 If, however, your household and family responsibilities do not leave you enough time for a full-time job, or, if you are retired, then you should look for part-time rather than full-time work. What can you do? An employer must get value received to justify putting you on the payroll. What skill, experience, or special ability do you have that will make his business or organization more profitable, efficient, or of greater service to the community? What did you do on your last full-time job? How long ago? You may need to "brush-up” before making the rounds to find the job you want. Stenography and bookkeeping refresher courses are avail able in all cities, often in the public schools and always at private business schools. Beauty operators can also go back to school for a short time to learn the latest techniques. In professional fields, such as teaching, social work, nursing, or other technical work, the pres ence of a college or university near where you live may determine the amount of formal additional training you can get. The least you can do is bring yourself up to date by a planned course of reading in your special field; friends active in your profession will probably be glad to make suggestions of what to read and where to find it. A reminder: If your specialization is in a trade or profession which requires a license or certificate, be sure to do whatever is necessary to qualify for current employment. This may be no more than paying an annual fee to renew the license; it may require passing an exam ination which is given on an announced date. You may never have held a full-time job, or you may have been out of the labor market for more years than you care to mention. If so, your problem requires more planning. Examine your hobbies, including your volunteer community or church activities, to see what you have that is marketable. Do you have enough technical com petence in one or more particular activities to make your work com pare favorably to that done by paid persons in the same field? Or, do you need a period of training to sharpen your talents into skills? When you get paid for your work, you lose your amateur standing and must expect your performance to be measured by professional standards. Smatterings of know-how or undisciplined work habits, 54 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN even when coupled with enthusiasm and good intentions, are liabili ties from an employer’s point of view. Consult persons already working in the field about where and how to get the training you need; the adult education program in your town may offer courses that will help you, or the directors may be able to advise you. Take care not to involve yourself in fly-by-night commercial training schemes which trade on the gullibility of un suspecting students, and which have no standing with employers or with educators. When can you work? Know, before you begin looking for a part-time job, what hours of the day and how many hours a week you can work regularly on a paid job. Analyze your potential work time: How early in the day can you begin? When must you return home? Can you work 2 or 3 full days, or should you try for 3 to 5 hours each day? Can you work week ends? Regularly or occasionally? Can you work at night? How early, how late, how often? Can you arrange your hours so that your employer can depend on you when he needs you? After you know what hours and how many you can work, study the kinds of part-time work usually scheduled for the hours you have free. Narrow or enlarge your possibilities as you match hours and skills with the part-time occupations found in the different industries. How does your household go? Remember that the major employer complaint against women part time workers was undependability, a complaint directly related to family and household responsibilities of the married women who work part time. It is a most unflattering criticism. A part-time job may call for some adjustments in household man agement and family relationships which should be considered care fully. If they cannot be worked out, you should dismiss the idea of a part-time job. You may see your day divided into two or three parts, one section devoted to your paid job and the others to household and family duties, but how does your family see it? Is your husband pre pared to have you unavailable at regular times for household and SUGGESTIONS FOR WOMEN SEEKING JOBS 5? social activities? Are your children, if you have them, ready to accept arrangements which may be less convenient to them? In other words, how much is your family willing to help you make a success of your ' , part-time job? Will you continue to do your housework as you do it now, or will you need more assistance after you begin your job? Will this cost you more than you earn? If you need paid household assistance, are domestic workers available for the hours you need and the wages > you can pay? A further word if you have children at home. What assurance have you that the schedule and arrangements you plan for their care when you are not at home will be adequate? "Adequate” means for ^ *■ emergencies, too. ‘ > * >. * , How find a part-time job? Study your community, using as a basis the lists of industries and occupations that made up the Women s Bureau survey of part-time jobs for women. After you have decided what skills you have to sell, select the types of firms or agencies that use your kind of work on part-time schedules. Then begin to fit local employers into your list. For professional jobs it is often useful to write out a brief digest of your essential experience, limited to one typewritten page. Work ing out such a statement clarifies your approach and it is frequently a good idea to leave something in writing about yourself (other than a formal application) after an interview. Re-read the section on "Finding Part-Time Workers and Part-Time Jobs.” Decide which job-hunting techniques fit your situation and use them; in any case, tell your friends you are in the market and follow up all leads. How much will the job cost? A job, full or part time, carries with it legitimate expenses, but the part-time worker especially should take care to keep these costs within reasonable bounds or her net earnings will be reduced. Car fare, lunch, and clothes are the main items which everyone must take - into account. Those women who find part-time jobs in their neighborhoods within walking distance from their homes add to their net earnings. 56 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Carfare or other transportation costs are as much for 5 half-days a week as for a full-time job; also it takes as much time. Find out how much it will cost you in time and money to commute to and from your job. If the costs are out of proportion to what you will earn, the job would be uneconomic. Many jobs require more good clothes than a housewife needs for her home-social activities; they often must take harder wear as well. Again, if the job demands expenditures for "work-clothes” out of proportion to the part-time earnings, the job would be uneconomic. Household assistance has already been mentioned but not in con nection with job expenses. Such assistance may mean sending the laundry out instead of doing it at home, having a cleaning woman occasionally or regularly, a part-time or full-time maid, or special arrangements for care of the children. Some women add nothing to household costs by working outside of their homes, but should you add to them primarily because you take a part-time job, look at your pay check and see how much you must pass along for household services. Your reasons for wanting a part-time job will answer for you whether or not these extra expenses are worthwhile. , ' ‘ < SUGGESTIONS FOR EMPLOYERS OF PART-TIME WORKERS Women who can work part time but not full time represent a labor source which will become increasingly important on the man power scene. As yet employers have little more than sampled the wide range of job skills and work experience that thousands of house wives and retired persons could use on a part-time basis. Many busi ness and community services will be inadequately staffed in the de fense economy unless serious thought is given to efficient utilization of part-time workers. Analyses of operations and services adaptable to part-time sched ules, careful recruiting and selection of applicants, and reasonable *- „ SUGGESTIONS FOR EMPLOYERS 57 supervision will go a long way toward making part-time work mutu ally profitable and satisfactory. If part-time workers are essential to your kind of business or community service, you have probably already learned by trial and error the best ways to select and use part-timers. You may still want to borrow from the experiences of others if it means improving the job performance of your part-time employees. Or, you may be one of those who has had little or no experience with part-time workers and, in that case, prefer to do some management planning in advance to determine where and in what ways part-time workers can, or cannot, solve some of your manpower problems. Several fundamental questions about part-time work should be answered individually by management, questions which are as fundamental as those suggested to employees. How decide a job is part time? A part-time job is a regular assignment at a schedule substantially less than full time with duties that can be discharged within the agreed time schedule. It is not a full-time job squeezed into a short week, an "extra” or a temporary job. It should have a place in your over-all planning and scheduling of work. When you analyze your operations to see what work can be done on a part-time basis, here are some useful yardsticks: Do you have "peak load” periods that occur with recognizable regularity? Could certain duties be assigned to qualified part-time workers which would ease the rush, improve service, and keep your labor costs in bal ance with sales or services? Are your professional or highly skilled workers spending an undue amount of time on routine or unskilled duties that could be performed by part-time workers? Would the use of one or more part-time workers increase the efficiency of your full-time employees, giving them time for more responsible work? Do you have enough budget to pay a full-time salary? If not, do you expect full-time coverage of the job for part-time pay? Can you set up the job so that the pay is commensurate with the part-time responsibilities? Is there a shortage of the highly trained specialists you want? If they are not available for full time, could you use qualified persons for part time? Are there women in your community with the requisite training and experience who could work short schedules, if they rearranged their household responsibilities? Is it better to have a trained person on a limited schedule or no one? 58 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN How select a part-time worker? Employers who know what work is adaptable to part time and how much can reasonably be expected on a short schedule, also find it advisable to take time to select applicants who meet the special requirements of the job. From experience, some employers have been able to increase the advantages of part-time work by careful selection of part-time employees. They have found it is easier and more prac tical to have specific requirements before a person is hired than to be vague and invite regrets. The questions below are not unique, but they take on peculiar importance with reference to part-time workers: Can you describe accurately what you expect a part-time worker to do on the job? Do you know how much skill, experience, and training an applicant needs to meet your standards? Can you tell an applicant, when you interview her, the exact hours schedule of the job? Does she know why those hours are important? Is the schedule acceptable to her? Are her arrangements for household duties adequate to meet emergency situations that may come up in the family? If the applicant is married (and she probably is), does she have children and how old are they? If she has young children, can you, she, and the job survive the children’s illnesses and similar crises without too much damage? Would you prefer a mature woman whose household and family commitments are less demanding? Do you select a part-time worker because she is a friend of a friend? Because she was a former employee and you knew her qualifications and experience? Because an employment service thought she met your specifications? In short, what do you do in advance to eliminate, insofar as possible, "undependable” part-time workers? How increase part-time workers’ efficiency? The efficiency of a part-time worker, no less than a full-time worker, depends on how well she understands her job and how good an opinion she has of its usefulness. Her attendance and interest are more apt to be satisfactory when she has some understanding of the significance of her job in relation to your total business operation or to community activity. On some jobs this may mean that part-time workers need a little more supervision and interpretation to fill in the gaps. SUGGESTIONS FOR EMPLOYERS 59 Employers have not fully capitalized on the fact that money is not the only force motivating women to work part time. It is worth remembering that boredom with housework, a desire to use their skills in business or the community, and a feeling of need for out side interests were reasons the women gave again and again for work ing part time. Many of the women who work part time have lost some of their sense of importance at home because their families do not require full-time attention. When they work outside of their homes, they want to feel essential. If they achieve this on the job, very likely they will be dependable, interested, and efficient employees. Do you permit part-time workers to shift their work schedules to suit their convenience? If so, why? What kind of understanding did you have about this when you hired the part-time worker? If you do permit changes, do they inconvenience you or your other employees, or hinder the efficient use of the employee’s work time? If any of these results occur, why permit schedule changes? Have you any special ways of integrating your part-time employees with the full-time staff? Is it desirable to try to do so? How does a part-timer learn more about your operations or program beyond the bounds of her immediate job? Do you do anything to stimulate her interest in how her job fits in with the others? Do you have policy on fringe benefits related to standard practices for full-time employees? What are your policies for part-time workers with respect to sick leave, holidays, and paid vacation? Is there any way a part-time worker can be upgraded without becoming a full-time employee? Employers are justified in seeking superior employees for part time jobs, and employees are justified in expecting some imagination on the part of management in the utilization of blocks of time many capable women have for work outside of their homes. The wealth of skills and experience available to business and community agencies on a part-time, but not a full-time, basis is impressive. If the work standards are high enough, part-time work can be profitable for employers, employees, and the community. In the future, it is pos sible that part-time work will become a more widely accepted practice for many enterprises which, so far, have hesitated to use it extensively. REFERENCES Reports and studies U. S. Department of Labor, Washington, D. C. Bureau of Employment Security: America’s part-time pool. Manpower Review, December 1943. The pattern of part-time work. U. S. Employment Service, Labor Market, June 1947. Victory workers help solve labor shortages. Manpower Review, June 1943. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Part-time employment of women in Great Britain. Monthly Labor Review, May 1942. Women’s Bureau: British policies and methods in employing women in wartime. Bull. 200. 1944. (See especially part-time work, pp. 4-6.) Part-time employment of women in wartime. Special bull. 13. June 1943. Social patterns for women, by Ordway Tead. In Women’s Bureau Conference, 1948. Bull. 224. 1948. Pp. 69-77. *******M!ii!!|!*HC****** Note.—The following cannot be obtained from the U. S. Department of Labor. Write to the publisher as shown. U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Current population reports: Labor Force, Series P-50, releases on full-time and part-time workers. (#3, 7, 12, 17, 18, 21, 25, 26, 28.) Canada, Department of Labor, Ottawa. Planning for part-time workers in Canada. November 1943. Great Britain, Ministry of Labor and National Service, London: Mobilization of womanpower; planning for part-time work. July 1942. 12 pp. Report for the years 1939-46. September 1947. 394 pp. (See especially pp. 64-65, 68, 80-81, 106, 107, 180.) Hansl, Eva vB. Trends in part-time employment of college-trained women. Woman’s Press, New York. 1949. International Labor Office, Washington Branch, 1825 Jefferson Place, NW., Washington 6, D. C. The war and women’s employment; the experience of the United King dom and the United States. Studies and reports, new series, No. 1. 1946. Princeton University, Princeton, N. J. The use of part-time workers in the war effort, by Helen Baker and Rita B. Friedman. Department of Eco nomics and Social Institutions. June 1943. Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Mass. Some aspects of the problem of part time work by college women. Radcliffe College Alumnae Association, Graduate Chapter. 1950. 60 61 APPENDIX—COVERAGE Articles in periodicals Casselman, Paul Hubert. Importance of part-time employment. American journal of Economics and Sociology, April 1950. Schuman, Sylvia. Part-time jobs. Today’s Woman, October 1950. Stern, Edith M. Help wanted, part-time jobs. Woman’s Home Companion, December 1948. Watson, N. Part-time worker. Industrial Welfare and Personnel Manage ment, May—June 1948. Finding nurses to work part-time. American Journal of Nursingf October 1943. _ . Part-time employment for college-trained women. Journal of the American Association of University Women, January 1950. Part-time nurses in civilian hospitals. American Journal of Nursing, 1945. APPENDIX A—COVERAGE OF THE SURVEY The present report is based on a survey made during the period from June 1949 to June 30, 1950. The information was collected by Women’s Bureau representatives directly from establishments and from women part-time work ers. The cities covered represent the four broad geographic regions: North east—Syracuse and New York, N. Y., Worcester, Mass., and Providence, R. I.; South—Richmond, Va., and Dallas, Tex.; North Central—Milwaukee, Wis.’ and Des Moines, Iowa; West—Denver, Colo., and San Francisco, Calif. Part-time work as defined in this study is regular weekly employment on a work schedule substantially less than the normal scheduled hours of the estab lishment and/or not more than 36 hours a week. The industries and services included in the survey cover a wide range of services and occupations, from those requiring little or no training to those of a professional nature. The majority of woman-employing industries were included in the study, with the following exceptions: Agriculture; manufac turing; some service industries, such as household employment and main tenance work (office cleaning); government service; and self-employed per sons. Also, the following selected occupations were excluded: Public school teachers, temporary and seasonal workers, canvassers and door-to-door sales women,’ insurance agents, real estate saleswomen, theatrical and professional entertainers. Part-time work by students was not included.1 (See table 1 for industries covered in the report. In New York City, the study was limited to three industries—museums and art galleries, advertising agencies, and pub lishing houses.) In the 10 cities, 3,385 establishments were visited; of these establishments, 1,071 employed one or more women on a part-time schedule. From the l Over half of the motion-picture theaters, the hospitals, the libraries, the department and limited-price stores employed students on a regular part-time workweek, in addition to the part-time women who were not students. 62 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN latter firms, information was obtained to indicate answers to such questions as—How many part-time workers are employed by you? What are the jobs, usual hours of work and rates of pay? What factors determine the hours of work? What are the hiring specifications in regard to age, marital status, edu cation, and experience? What, from your experience, do you consider the advantages and disadvantages of part-time employment? How do the fringe benefits of part-time employees compare with those of full-time workers? Of the 9,000 women employed part time in these firms, 1,853 filled out questionnaires providing information as to their age, marital status, education, work experience, and their reasons for working part time. One-third of these women were interviewed by Women’s Bureau representatives to obtain supple mentary information on home responsibilities and adjustment to part-time work. In all the cities except New York, the local State employment services and selected private agencies gave information about the number of employers' orders on file for part-time women workers and the number of women appli cants (both total and those applying for part-time employment), registered in the active files. Also, questions were asked about the general activities of the agencies for women applicants and special policies applying to part-time registrants. Of the women applying for part-time work in these agencies, 228 supplied information on the kinds of jobs for which they were applying, hours of work preferred, reasons for working part-time, work history, and personal char acteristics. The establishments were selected in such a way that the findings are gen erally representative of the particular industries covered in the study but are not necessarily representative of the total part-time employment in the various cities. The objective in the selection of the establishments used in the study was to secure as wide as possible a representation of part-time jobs and con ditions surrounding the jobs rather than a precise numerical measurement of the extent of part-time work. It must be emphasized that this was an explor atory study and presents information based on factual data which suggests answers to many questions that have arisen from numerous and various sources in regard to part-time work for women. APPENDIX B.—TABLES: STUDY IN 10 CITIES Table i.—Establishments report: Part-time employment of women, by industry Establishments regularly employing women part time Industry Number of estab lishments Number employ of ing establish women ments Total number of em ployees Total number women em ployees Number1 1,071 119,753 79,843 9,014 11 41 1,883 562 189 34 11 All industries. Amusement and recreation services: Motion pictures and other theaters Bowling alleys----------------— Communication and other public utilities: Electric light and power companies Gas companies---------------------Radio broadcasting stations-----Finance, insurance, and real estate: Banking and other finance-------Insurance-------- ------- ------------Real estate---------------------------Personal services: Beauty shops------------------------Eating and drinking places------Hotels___________ Self-service laundries and dry cleaning depots----------- ------Miscellaneous personal services - Professional and related services: Charitable, religious, and mem bership organizations: Social agencies3----------------Other organizations4---------Educational services: Schools: Adult education. __-----Preschools (nurseries) __ Private schools, primary and secondary---------Universities and colleges Other special schools— Libraries_____________ Museums and art galleries. Medical and other health services: Hospitals, sanitariums, clinics Medical and dental laboratories-------------------Professional offices: Architects’ offices--------------Contractors’ offices------------Doctors’ and dentists’ offices. Lawyers’ offices----------------Trade: Retail stores: . Apparel and accessories stores, women’s-------------Department stores----------Limited-price variety stores._ Miscellaneous retail stores— Wholesale trade___________ Miscellaneous industries and services: Advertising, letter service, and sales promotion---------------Opinion polls and market research Placement agencies-----------------Publishing houses. -----------------Other business services------------- 3,385 6 6 Women part-time employees Percent of total women 14 786 187 20 129 149 69 22 26 7 6,883 6,886 44 3,391 4,646 18 97 104 8 140 169 62 31 88 32 174 3,289 7,789 155 2,341 3,541 40 729 183 21 43 3 1 6 130 5 100 4 1 257 136 140 71 3, 483 2,784 2,279 1,657 585 428 26 26 15 15 18 2,549 330 1, 149 320 822 83 72 26 26 19 19 16 14 9 12 607 2, 520 855 1,228 922 509 1,002 466 1,016 357 128 136 90 54 39 25 14 19 5 11 69 20, 836 15, 572 865 2 4 2 2 (a) 40 14 80 42 74 32 47 19 (2> 66 39 160 1 5,514 31,170 4,768 5,244 2 4,677 22,675 4,236 3,001 1 344 3,015 464 368 1 16 1 2 27 3 3,531 150 8 5,236 20 2,291 113 8 3,448 12 67 7 4 64 7 49 22 21 19 42 (a) 3 2 26 31 5 (!> 1 6 (a) (2) (2) 64 7 13 11 12 3 6 2 1 The number of part-time workers in the firms studied does not include part-time students. Of the 1, 071 firms reporting part-time workers about one-third also employed regular part-time women students. a Base too small to justify percent. . . , „ , „ ., _, _ 3 Includes such associations and agencies as American National Red Cross, community and recreation centers, guidance and medical clinics, child and family welfare agencies, Salvation Army, social and welfare agencies, Travelers Aid Society. a /-,» vwrA 4 Includes such organizations as Campfire Girls, church groups, Girl Scouts, YMUA, i wo a. 63 64 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Table 2.—Establishments report: Occupation Finance, insurance, and real estate Pers9nal services Occupation -o © S'® ^8.9fco 'El Accompanists, piano . Anesthetists Announcers _ _ Artists__ _ _ _ Attendants, check room.. Beauty operators _ ___ Board markers (stock brokerage) Bus drivers. _ _______ Catalogers. __ __ _ Chauffeurs _ _ _ Church and other religious workers Child-care aides _ _ . Clerical workers: Bookkeepers__ Bookkeeping-machine operators Cashiers. _ _____ Other clerical Consultants (psychiatric and child-care) _ _ Continuity writers _ _ _ Copyists and colorists____ Copy readers _ _ Copy writers _ ____ _ Curators and assistants. Dance-hall supervisors _ Dental aide attendants. _ Dental hygienists _ Dietitians__ _______ Directors or executive secretaries and assistants1 Doctors’ and dentists’ attendants _ Editors and assistants . Food-service workers: Cashiers __ ____ _ Hostesses. _ _ _ _ ...... _ Managers and assistants. __ _ Other _________ Front clerks __ _ Glee-club instructor of student nurses. Group leaders, workers-recreation, etc. Guides and lecturers _ Hospital instructors of practical and student nurses House mothers _ _ _ Hostesses ___ _ Interviewers __ Kindergarten and nursery-school attendants Laboratory technician aides 1 | X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X — X X X X X X — X X X X X X X X . 1 DireotorB of club, educational, and program work, and of employment. X X X — X X —- w A fr- ^ V • ~x X X X X X X X X x x X X x X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X x x X X X X 1 Schools X X X x X X X X X X X XX X X X X X 1 ______ X X X X X X X X X X 1 Publishing houses Trade Placement agencies Limited-price variety stores Wholesale trade Advertising, letter service, and sales promotion Opinion polls and market research Professional and related services Department stores Lawyers ’ offices Apparel and accessories stores, women ’s Doctors’ and dentists ’ offices Medical and dental laboratories Hospitals, sanitariums, clinics Museums and art galleries Libraries Other special schools colleges Private schools, primary and secondary Universities and Preschools (nurseries) Adult education Charitable, religious, and membership organiza tions, n.e.c. Social agencies f APPENDIX—TABLES 65 by industry of women part-time workers Mis cellarleous in dustr ies an i senrices Retail X X X X X X X X X X X X X 66 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Table 2.—Establishments report: Occupation Finance, insurance, and real estate Personal services c Occupation W-l Lecturers__________________________ Librarians (prof.)___________________ Library aides_______________________ Laundry attendants_________________ Managers and assistants_____________ Managers, office____________________ Masseuses____________________ _____ Non-selling retail trade workers, n.e.c._. Nurses’ aides______________________ Nurses, practical___________________ Nurses, registered___________________ Orthopedic technicians________ ______ Personal service workers, n.e.c.*6______ Pharmacists, registered______________ Proofreaders_______________________ Promotional workers________________ Psychologists_______________________ Publicity and public-relation workers __ Receiving clerks____________________ Religious work, ass't. directors of_____ Research assistants_________________ Saleswomen________________________ School-service specialists_____________ School, lunchroom—general help_____ Service workers in hospitals and schools. 4 Social services, directors of___________ ‘ Social service workers (prof.)_________ Staff assistants_____________________ Teachers___________________________ Technicians, medical________________ Tellers____________________________ Test scorers________________________ Therapists_________________________ Therapists’ aides____________________ Ticket sellers_______________________ Ushers_____________________________ Volunteer aides, directors of__________ X-ray technicians___________________ n PQ3 X X X X® X X 2 Includes such occupations as alteration women, manicurists, pressers, and stock girls. 3 Includes such occupations as alteration women, art and needle work instructors, comparison and personal shoppers, detectives, markers, milliners, models, nurses, stock girls, wrappers and packers. 4 Includes such occupations as markers, stock girls. 6 Includes such occupations as elevator operators, housekeepers, maids and matrons. 6 Public school lunchrooms. ( 67 APPENDIX—TABLES by industry of women part-time workers—Continued Professional and related services Schools Trade Retail Miscellaneous industries and services 68 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Table 3.—Establishments report: Reasons for hiring women part-time workers Percentage distribution of establishments To Total cover estab busy lish periods ments1 or peak Industry loads Motion pictures and other theaters_____ Banking and other finance____________ Insurance and real estate_____________ Beauty shops________ Eating places________ Social agencies_______ Charitable, religious, and membership organizations, n.e.c._ Educational institu tions______________ Hospitals, sanitariums, clinics____________ Doctors’ and dentists' offices_____________ Publishing houses____ Department stores and limited-price stores-.I 100 7 100 45 100 100 100 100 24 71 100 20 100 5 100 100 100 22 100 95 To cover relief periods of full time workers To pro vide for short work weeks To pro To vide To To .fin for To meet To relieve jobs activ cover limited accom shortage not re ities of ex budgets modate quiring oper tended or to “special profes full ating hours reduce cases” sional time part costs workers serv time ices 5 7 61 5 45 23 21 6 33 6 9 3 1 30 39 23 3 14 15 25 6 25 10 23 72 5 7 9 7 16 19 4 7 20 11 35 15 7 18 30 68 2 13 9 21 4 20 67 10 13 40 4 12 9 13 18 1 29 10 2! 1 1 -......... 1 Details aggregate more than totals in most industries because some establishments reported han one reason for employing part-time workers. w Table 4.—Establishments report: Methods of recruitment Percentage distribution of establishments Industry Motion pictures and other theaters Finance, insurance, and real estate Beauty shops Eating places Social agencies Charitable, religious, and membership organizations, n.e.e._ Educational institu tions Hospitals, sanitariums, clinics Professional offices Publishing houses Department stores Limited-price stores__ Through News Profes Former Former employ Total Through Employ paper sional employ ers’ estab Direct volun other ment adver associ friends lish appli ees ations Unions teer employ called workers ments1 cation agencies tise or or ments agencies back ees asso ciates 100 56 17 32 7 7 10 100 100 100 100 27 35 38 31 13 3 23 9 16 29 28 8 7 10 2 26 6 36 39 16 14 9 8 100 14 17 13 15 1 14 100 60 10 11 28 1 21 100 100 100 100 100 68 2 22 73 79 20 19 15 23 23 20 20 7 35 23 12 9 4 8 3 6 33 17 22 31 5 4 2 3 1 7 44 11 37 35 19 42 27 34 37 7 37 28 26 38 8 1 Details aggregate more than totals in most industries because some establishments reported more than one method of recruitment. 69 APPENDIX—TABLES Table 5.—Establishments report: Whether part-time work an advantage or disadvantage Industry All industriesAmusement and recreation services: Motion pic tures and other theaters-------;----- -- r — - - - - Communication and other public utilities: Radio broadcasting stations----------------------------------Finance, insurance, and real estate: Banking and other finance-----------------------Insurance----------------------------------------------Real estate--------------------------------------------Personal services: Beauty shops-----------------------------------------Eating places----- -----------------------------------Hotels---------------------- --■-----,— - — -— Self-service laundries and dry-cleaning depots. _ Miscellaneous personal services------------------Professional and related services: . Charitable, religious, and membership organi zations : t Social agencies.--------------------------------Other organizations---------------------------Educational services: Schools--------------------------------------------Libraries-------------- ---------------------------Museums and art galleries------------------Medical and other health services: Hospitals, sanitariums, clinics.------------Medical and dental laboratories---------Professional offices: Doctors’ and dentists offices--------------Lawyers’ offices-------------------------------Trade: Retail stores: . , Apparel and accessories stores, women s_ Department stores----------------------------Limited-price variety stores----------------Miscellaneous retail stores------------------Wholesale trade-------------------------------------Miscellaneous industries and services: Advertising, letter service, and sales promotion Opinion polls and market research---------Placement agencies------------------------------Publishing houses----------- -------------------Miscellaneous business services--------------- Both advantages All No and dis advantages advantages advantages Total establish ments 1,071 736 330 41 32 9 14 11 3 5 22 26 7 12 31 8 1 18 15 88 32 3 1 140 71 80 56 59 15 82 9 60 21 12 10 2 69 26 43 2 2 40 14 31 66 53 27 34 124 52 39 160 1 2 7 10 13 25 5 36 1 16 1 2 27 3 1 1 11 70 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Table 6.—Establishments report: Why part-time work an advantage Percentage distribution of establishments Advantages Industry Motion pictures and other theaters- _. Banking and other finance_______ . Insurance and real estate- __ Beauty shops __ _ Eating places.-__ Social agencies. . . Charitable, religious. and membership organizations, n.e.c. Educational institutions__ __ . Hospitals, sanitariums, Professional offices__ Publishing houses__ Department stores__ Limited-price stores__ Pro Total No vides estab advan workers lish jobs ments1 tages for not re quiring full-time services Pro Pro vides Pro Helps Pro vides staff vides adjust vides a Helps service for for the to greater relieve for relief long limited variety short Utilizes age of “special busy periods spread budgets of cases" periods of full of and special profes sional or peak time daily reduce ists’ workers loads hours skills costs em ployees 100 17 10 34 100 73 23 18 100 100 100 100 1 64 13 20 70 9 77 74 5 3 10 28 9 16 16 6 8 48 79 30 21 7 37 4 14 100 1 94 11 1 4 30 10 15 100 100 100 100 100 2 7 45 74 56 19 5 7 11 100 97 13 100 31 46 68 10 23 6 23 7 33 30 4 42 10 1 Details aggregate more than totals in most industries because than one advantage of part-time work. 15 3 4 some establishments____ reported 20 3 more 71 APPENDIX—TABLES Table 7.—Establishments report: Why part-time work a disadvantage Percentage distribution of establishments Disadvantages Un Higher avail Too turn Total Un able frequent Extra Lack No dis estab over avail of rate train Extra requests for lish advan Un Split able for for ing record or un confer ments1 tages relia job conti than nuity among and keep changes willing ences, bility respon in to full super ing sibility of emer sched work gencies work time vision hours ule em needed ployees Industry Motion pictures and Insurance and 78 100 Banking and other real Beauty shops____ ___ Eating places____ Social agencies- ____ Charitable, religious, and membership organizations, n.e.c._ Educational instituHospitals, sanitariums, clinics ----Professional offices Publishing houses. Department stores___ Limited-price stores__ 20 2 100 77 9 5 14 5 9 100 100 100 100 61 74 80 57 12 11 11 9 12 3 2 15 9 3 3 25 15 3 1 8 18 3 100 79 7 4 6 10 4 100 73 10 9 13 4 11 2 100 100 100 100 100 38 76 52 52 87 28 6 15 15 5 49 6 19 8 3 26 4 11 10 5 1 17 4 7 15 5 4 3 _________ 3 —--------- -------- - 1 — 3 13 28 — --------- 22 8 — 1 Details aggregate more than totals in most industries because some establishments reported more than one disadvantage of part-time work. Table 8.—Women report: Why they work part time instead of full time, by occupation Percentage distribution of women part-time workers Too Unable 111 Home Allows to find health old respon Profes suit to sibilities Nature time pre sional for vents find Total prevent of the other interest able full full full job activi in job1 full time time time time ties job work work work Occupation and occupational group Total part-time workers __ 100 75 3 2 100 Social workers. _ — - - 100 Teachers. . .. ......... 100 Clerical and related workers. 100 Sales and related workers. _ 100 Service workers in hotels 80 76 70 78 80 1 4 4 1 3 1 2 S 2 1 74 67 4 1 4 Other workers__ ___ - 100 (a) 2 2 ____ 1 7 5 2 1 7 10 5 7 4 1 7 6 2 5 1 (2; 12 6 5 6 3 Supple ments income and affords Other outside reasons activi ties for retired workers i For the most part, older workers of outstanding achievement in their particular fields, 3 Less than 0.5 percent. (i2) 6 1 10 2 12 72 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Table 9.—Women report: Why they work part time instead of full time, by age Percentage distribution of women part-time workers Age Total part-time workers Under 25 years___ _______ 25, under 35 years_ _ 35, under 45 years. ___ 45, under 55 years. _ ____ 55 years and over___ __ Supple ments income and affords Other outside reasons activi ties for retired workers Home Unable 111 Too Allows to find health old respon sibilities Nature time suit to pre for Profes able Total prevent of the vents find other sional job activi full full full » full interest time time time ties in job1 time work job work work 100 75 3 2 (12) 7 5 2 <2) 100 100 100 100 100 51 83 87 74 53 5 2 2 2 4 2 2 1 1 1 (2) 21 4 5 8 8 4 3 3 6 12 2 13 (2) 1 1 6 3 6 5 1 For the most part, older workers of outstanding achievement in their particular fields. 2 Less than 0.5 percent. Table 10.—Women report: Why they work part time instead of full time, by marital status Percentage distribution of women part-time workers Marital status Total part-time workers______ Single ___ ___________ Married __ Vi/ idowed _. Separated or divorced Home Unable 111 Too Allows to find health old respon sibilities Nature time Profes suit to pre for sional Total prevent of the vents find other interest able full job activi full full full in job1 time time time time ties work job work work 100 75 3 2 (2> 100 100 100 100 27 87 53 61 6 1 4 5 6 1 1 3 (2) 1 Supple ments income and affords Other outside reasons activi ties for retired workers 7 5 2 <!) 16 4 14 3 5 1 (2) 17 6 3 1 For the most part, older workers of outstanding achievement in their particular fields. 2 Less than 0.5 percent. 6 3 22 3 5 73 APPENDIX—TABLES Table 11.—Women report: How they found their jobs, by occupation Percentage distribution of women part-time workers Occupation and occupational group Placement agencies Educa tional, News Job Friends Former Direct profes appli sional, paper offered Total or rela em Uni Other or ployers cation church ads worker Pub Pri ver tives lic vate sity connec tions Total part-time workers 100 32 24 14 10 8 12 26 25 48 13 25 17 25 8 21 18 9 100 Teachers _ _ _ ------- 100 Clerical and related workers----- _ 100 Sales and related workers. 100 Service workers in hotels too Other workers . 100 3 5 3 2 11 1 2 1 1 8 1 37 45 21 29 6 10 6 2 15 9 3 2 7 3 4 41 29 19 30 15 13 14 15 2 2 8 4 2 1 1 1 1 0) 2 3 1 Less than 0.5 percent. Table 12.—Women report: Most important reasons for working part time, by occupation Percentage distribution of women part-time workers Total1 100 82 41 27 1 58 82 63 18 10 2 1 2 5 32 SO 60 too 100 100 70 83 87 44 56 55 54 35 100 100 91 78 23 47 Nurses, registeredSocial workers-----Teachers________ 100 100 Sales and related workers Service workers in hotels and restaurants Other workers (s) 2 ^v Total part-time workers _ To help To have educate Interest outside To use For in children interests skills, special or for particular and training, job or other contacts pur or field of particular other experience pose work family than social expenses To supple ment income to Occupation and occupational group (12) 1 Details aggregate more than totals in all occupations because some women reported more than one reason for working. 2 Less than 0.5 percent. 74 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN Table 13.—Women report: Age, by occupation Percentage distribution of women part-time workers Occupation and occupational group Total 25, under 35 years 35, under 45 years 45, under 55 years 25 30 21 Total part-time workers. oo Under 25 years 9 Nurses, registered Social workers Teachers________ _ __________ Clerical and related workers__ Sales and related workers_____ Service workers in hotels and restaurants Other workers 100 100 100 100 100 14 5 7 11 12 37 35 18 30 23 29 38 34 27 34 14 11 23 21 21 100 100 4 8 21 26 31 25 24 20 5o years and over 6 11 18 11 10 20 21 Table 14.—Women report: Marital status, by occupation Percentage distribution of women part-time workers Occupation and occupational group T otal Single Married Widowed Separated Divorced Total part-time workers. _ 100 13 72 10 1 4 Nurses, registered _ Social workers _ Teachers ___ Clerical and related workers Sales and related workers Service workers in hotels and restaurants__ Other workers . . 100 100 100 100 100 14 13 10 15 12 79 83 78 69 78 8 2 1 1 2 3 2 100 100 9 20 67 62 1 12 7 7 —------------------------------------------------------------------------ Table 15.—Women report: Education,1 by occupation Percentage distribution of women part-time workers Grammar school Occupation and occupational group Total Less Total than 8 Nurses, registered Social workers Teachers________________ Clerical and related workers. Sales and related workers. _ Service workers in hotels restaurants . and _ ---------------------------------Other workers 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 1 Years of school completed. 2 Less than 0.5 percent. 14 11 (12) 2 10 2 College Less More 4 3 4 than Total than Total 4 2 years 4 years years years years years years Total part-time workers High school 18 14 67 70 59 42 34 39 16 12 8 84 29 14 20 2 6 14 3 3 1 14 25 39 9 4 100 5 49 2 8 11 201 3 71 19 3 1 14 75 APPENDIX—TABLES Table 16.—Women report: Years worked in present job, by occupation Percentage distribution of women part-time workers Total part-time workers---Nurses, registered - -------— Clerical and related workers---- — Sales and related workers .. -- — Service workers in hotels and restaurants-Other workers _ ......... — -------- 10 years and over Total Less than 1 year 1, under 2 years 2, under 3 years 3, under 5 years 5, under 10 years 100 37 16 13 16 12 6 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 52 46 26 42 43 30 31 16 24 15 19 16 14 17 9 7 19 13 12 13 15 13 9 1 17 14 15 20 20 14 9 Occupation and occupational group 15 6> Table 17.—Women report: Years worked in full-time jobs Years worked in full-time jobs Total percentage distribution of women part-time workers 100 Full-time work: 15 So 2 5 9 7 7 21 27 7 APPENDIX G—SCHEDULE FORMS (1) Employer interview. PART TIME STUDY CONFIDENTIAL Budget Bureau No. 44-4906. Approval expires 7/1/50. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WOMEN'S BUREAU 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. EMPLOYER INTERVIEW Name of firm................................................. Address. Kind of business....................................................................................................... Person interviewed........................................................................... Position...... Number employed Totai Men Women Total ................................................................. Total full-time ............... ............... ............... Total part-time ................................................................ Students Regular part-time ................................................................. Saturday extra ........................................ Other Regular part-time ................................................................. Saturday extra ............... ............... Is it a new practice to employ part-time workers? Yes...........No............ If yes' comment 6. Why are part-time workers employed? (Chief reason)...................................... ."."I”.".".'.".'!." 7. Occupations, Hours of Work and Rates of Pay for Part-Time Women Employees OCCU PATION USUAL PART-TIME HOURS RATES OF PAY No. of Days Women Daily Wkly IRREGULAR a Wk (comment) Hourly Daily Wkly Other 8. Part-Time Daily Work Schedule—Illustrations of general hour-work patterns for part time jobs for a typical week. JOB Day of Week Sunday....... Monday..... Tuesday..... Wednesday. Thursday.... Friday........ Saturday. 76 77 APPENDIX—SCHEDULE FORMS P 1 9. What factors do you consider in determining your part-time schedules? Peak business loads (indicate period of peak).................................................... Individual needs of women....................................................................................... Other (specify)......................................................................................................... Comments: ................................................................................................................. 10. How are part-time workers recruited? Check most frequently used. Newspaper ad........... Empl. agencies........... Former employees called back. Other employees........... Direct application........... Other (specify)................ 11. Specifications or qualifications for part-time workers: Occupation Age Max. Min. Marital Status Education Experience 12. What are the advantages and disadvantages of employing part-time workers in your business? Check any of the listed that are pertinent and enter others in blank spaces. DISADVANTAGES ADVANTAGES Unreliability of P-T workers....... Extra training and supervision..... Difficulty of integrating with F-T Special cases (explain below)......... Other (specify)................................. Other (specify)............................. Comments: 13. Comparison of fringe benefits for Part-Time and Full-Time workers. Enter "Yes” or "No" as appropriate in relation to the following specified benefits: Benefit F-T P-T Basis on which benefits are provided for part-time workers 14. Collective bargaining in relation to part-time wmrkers. Do you have a union contract?........... If yes, name of organization......................... Are part-time workers affiliated with organization?................................................... Are there any contract provisions or other collective bargaining agreements per taining to regular part-time workers? If yes, explain............................................... Comments: Agent. .....Date. 78 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN (2) Employee questionnaire. PART-TIME STUDY CONFIDENTIAL Budget Bureau No. 44-4906. Approval expires 7/1/50. u. s. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WOMEN'S BUREAU Firm.......................................... ............................City....................................................................... Many requests have been received by the Women's Bureau for information about women’s opportunities for part-time employment and the reasons why women seek part-time work. In order to obtain information about women who have part-time jobs, we are asking you to help by answering the following questions. All information will be treated as confi dential and used only by the Women’s Bureau. 1. Your name........................................................................... Address................................................................................................................................ 2. What is your present part-time job?........................................................................................ 3. How many hours per week are you employed?................................................................... 4. How long have you been employed on your present part-time job? Years............................... Months............................... 5. Have you ever worked full-time? Yes.......No.......... If yes, how many years?................... What kind of work did you usually do?............................................................................... <5. Why do you work part-time instead of full-time? a. Home responsibilities prevent full-time ............... b. Unable to find a full-time job ............... c. Other: (specify)...................................... ............................................................. 7. Check most important reasons to you for doing part-time work: a. To supplement or increase your income ............... b. To use your skills and abilities ............... c. To have outside interests and contacts ............... d. Other: (specify).................................................................................................. 8. Are you Single?........... Married?........... Sep?........... Wid?........... Div?.... 9. Your age (last birthday) Under 25........... 25 under 35........... 35 under 45.... 45 under 55........... 55 and over............ 10. Circle last school grade completed: 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 College (yrs.) 1 2 3 4 5 or more 11. Have you had any professional or vocational training? Yes...........No............ If yes, in what field?............................................................. (3) Employee interview. PART-TIME STUDY CONFIDENTIAL Budget Bureau No. 44-4906. Approval expires 7/1/50. u. s. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WOMEN'S BUREAU EMPLOYEE INTERVIEW Firm.................................................................. Name or identification.......................................................Address.................................. Marital status: Single........... Married........... Wid............ Sep............ Div....... Age: Under 25....... 25 und. 35....... 35 und. 45....... 45 und. 55 ...... 55 and over. . Education: Last grade completed: Grammar..... High.....College....... College major. Professional or vocational training.................... 5. WORK EXPERIENCE PREVIOUS TO PRESENT JOB a. Time employed before present job: Total....... Full-time....... Part-time... b. Usual occupation.................................................................................................... c. Have you had any breaks in your work history of more than one year? Yes....... No....... If yes, explain duration and reason for break. 1. 2. 3. 4. APPENDIX—SCHEDULE FORMS 79 <5. WORK EXPERIENCE ON PRESENT JOB a. Time on the job .................................. b. Present Job—Occupation.................... 7. HOURS OF WORK—Usual Part-Time hours on Present Job Sun. Mon. Tue. Wed. Thur. Fri. Sat. * Begin .................................................................................. End .................................................................................. Total: No. Days....... Hours Comments on variations (if any) in work schedule:......................................................... 8. RATES OF PAY AND EARNINGS a. What is your rate of pay? (Enter amount in appropriate space) Per hr. $........... Per day $.......... Per wk. $........... Per month $........... Per year $........... Other, specify........................................................................................................ b. What are your usual earnings per pay period $................................................... Length of pay period........................................................................................... 9. TRANSPORTATION TO AND FROM WORK What means of transportation do you use? Walk........... Pub. Convey............ Priv. Car........... How much time do you spend daily in transportation to and from your job? How much does transportation cost daily if public conveyance is used? $..... » 10. How did you get your part-time work? Answer ad....... Agency, Pub........ Priv. Thru friends.......Direct application.........Thru former employer........ Other, explain.................... ....................................................................................... 11. What difficulties, if any, did you have in finding a part-time job?. 12. Does your part-time work fit in with your education and experience? Yes.....No, Comments:........................................................................................................................... 13. Why do you work part-time instead of full-time? a. Home responsibilities prevent full-time b. Unable to find a full-time job c. Other (specify)............................................ 14. Check most important reasons to you for doing part-time work: a. To supplement or increase your income ft b. To use your skills and abilities c. To have outside interests and contacts d. Other (specify).................................................................... 15. N i b a. Do you feel part-time work is worthwhile for you? b. What do you gain by it?............................................. c. Do you plan to continue working? Yes......No.........If yes, as part-time worker. or as full-time worker?....... 16. Do you live in a family household?........... Apart: explain*11........... If in a family household, how many including yourself in your household?............ How many regularly employed including yourself?.................................................... How many adults not employed?.................................................................................... What is their relation to the person interviewed?........................................................ Number of children? Under 6........... 6 and under 12.......... 12 and under 18.... Relation of worker to children........................................................................................ 17. Care of children, if person interviewed is responsible for their care: Who looks after children while you are at work? Day nursery...... In school. Relatives......... Maid......... Other, explain.................................................... PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN 80 18. Household duties if responsible for care of a household group: Regular assistants in household duties: For laundry—Yes........... No............ If yes, what........................................................... For cleaning—Yes...........No............. If yes, what........................................................ For preparing meals—Yes...........No.............If yes, what............................................. Other, explain.................................................................................................................... 19. Do you have any additional help in your household duties because you are employed? Yes........... No.............If yes, explain............................................................................... (4) Double postcard sent AAUW members in individual cities. PART-TIME STUDY ^ _ .. _ _ . . WOMEN S BUREAU vv Budget Bureau No. 44-4906. Approval expires 7/1/50. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Many requests are coming to the Women’s Bureau from women’s organizations, college associations, placement offices, and others for information about women's oppor tunities for part-time work. To answer such questions, the Women’s Bureau is making a study of women’s part-time employment. In order to reach women with college training, we are sending the attached ques tionnaire to a list of college alumnae. WILL YOU COOPERATE WITH US BY FILL ING OUT THE ATTACHED CARD AND RETURNING IT PROMPTLY? Your name and address need not be given. However, if you are holding a part-time position, we would like your name and address in case we want further information about your part time work experience. All information will be treated as confidential and used only by the Women’s Bureau. Frieda S. Miller, Director. No postage is required for the return card. ............................................................................................................................... Are you employed? Yes................... No................... If yes, do you have a PART-TIME JOB? Yes...........No............ If yes, what job?......................................................................... ............................................................... In what kind of business?........................................ If part-time, number of hours usually worked per week..................................................... How long have you worked part-time? Years....................... , Months........................ Are you looking for a part-time job? Yes........... No........... Do you know any women engaged in part-time work?1 Yes................... No................... ** If yes, please give their names and addresses and if possible indicate kinds of jobs held. Name Address Job Your name. 1 Not household employees. ......... Address......... Telephone number A 81 APPENDIX—SCHEDULE FORMS (5) Placement agency interview. PART-TIME STUDY Budget Bureau No. 44-4906. Approval expires 7/1/50. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WOMEN'S BUREAU I AGENCY INTERVIEW Agency......................................................... Address. Persons interviewed: ............................................................. Position. * r tote : The following information on applications and orders should not include house hold employment and manufacturing. It should be for the last monthly report N unless for some reason this is not typical. 1. Demand for Part-Time Employment—IVomen Applicants—Dates covered:..................... a. How many women applicants registered in active files?........................................... b. How many of the above are applying for part-time work?....................................... r 2. Demand for Part-Time Women Workers—Employer’s Orders—Dates covered:............... a. How many orders during report period for part-time women workers?............... b. How many orders on hand currently for part-time women workers?..................... c. How many women placed on part-time jobs during last report period? (If placements are not available, referrals should be reported and so indicated.) R If possible, show placements (or referrals) by job, industry and number of women.......................................................................................................................... 3. Comments on general activities of agency for women applicants and special policies applying to part-time registration. a. Does this agency specialize by occupations or industries in placement? Yes......... No......... Comments:.................................................................... b. Are part-time registrations restricted or discouraged? Yes............. No. Comments:................................................................................. ...... ► c. Is there any counselling of part-time workers or promotion of part-time work opportunities? Comments:.................................................................................................... r T 4. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Comments on the general characteristics of women part-time applicants as to age, marital status, experience, etc. Also, to what extent are women applicants students? About what proportion of total applicants for part-time are women? 3. Suggestions of leads for part-time explorations in the community: (Employers, trade associations, community organzations, etc. that may be possible sources of information.) 82 PART-TIME JOBS FOR WOMEN (6) Placement agency applicant questionnaire. PART TIME STUDY CONFIDENTIAL Budget Bureau No. 44-4906. Approval expires 7/1/50. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WOMEN'S BUREAU Agency................................................................... City.................................................................... Many requests have been received by the Women's Bureau for information about women’s opportunities for part-time employment and the reasons why women seek part-time work. In order to obtain information about women who are applying for part-time work, we are asking you to help by answering the following questions. All information will be treated as confidential and used only by the Women's Bureau. 1. Your name.................................................................................................................................. 2. What kind of part-time work are you applying for?........................................................... 3. How many hours a week do you prefer to work?........................................ 4. Have you had any part-time jobs in the last 3 years? Yes...........No.............If yes, what kind of work did you usually do?. 5. Have you ever worked full-time? Yes......... No........... If yes, how many years?. What kind of work did you usually do?............................................................ 6. Why do you want part-time instead of full-time work? a. Home responsibilities prevent full-time ............ b. Unable to find a full-time job ............ c. Other: (specify)............................................................................................... 7. Check most important reasons to you for wanting part-time work: a. To supplement or increase your income ........... b. To use your skills and abilities ........... c. To have outside interests and contacts ........... d. Other: (specify)............................................................................................. 8. Are you Single?............. Married?............. Sep?............. Wid?............. Div?.. 9. Your age (last birthday) Under 25........... 25 under 35........... 35 under 45 45 under 55........... 55 and over............ 10. Circle last school grade completed: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 College (yrs.) 1 2 3 4 5 or more 11. Have you had any professional or vocational training? Yes........... No........... If yes, in what field?...................................................... ☆ U- S- GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1951—S4912: I