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UNITED STATES- DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 'W . N , DOAK, Secretary C H I L D R E N BUREAU G RAC E ABBOTT, Chief . H f l i D |* CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS IN PHILADELPHIA Part 1. THE WORKING MOTHERS By CLARA MORTENSON BEYER Bureau Publication No. 204 S l e 2 .,J IL 5 9 ci f f z bAr U NITED STATES GOVERNM ENT PR IN TIN G OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1931 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D . C. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Price 10 cents https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis CONTENTS Page Letter of tran sm itta l--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In tr o d u c tio n .. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Purpose and m ethod of s tu d y --------------------------------- ------------------------------------D istricts selected for s tu d y __________________________________________________ Part 1.— T h e working m others--------------- -------------------------------------------------------------E x te n t of em ploym ent of m others------------ . . ----------------------------------------------R ace and nation ality of m o th ers--------------------------------------------------------A g e ________________________________________________________________________ N u m b er of years m a rried . -------------M arital sta tu s_______________________________________________________________ N u m ber and age of children---------------------------------------------------------------------N atu re of em p loym en t of m others in six m onths preceding in q u iry . _ M oth e r’s status as breadwinner and m arital sta tu s-----------------------D u ration and regularity of w ork ------------------------------------------E m p lo ym e n t a t hom e or aw ay from h o m e -------------------------------------------O ccupations______________________________________________________________ N a tio n ality and race_________________________________________________ R egularity of em p lo ym e n t----------------------------------------------------------------M oth e r’s status as breadw inner--------------------------------------C onclusions_________________________________________________________ 7 -------------A ppendix A .— E m p lo y m e n t of m others in th e different districts--------A ppendix B .— T ab les showing em p loym en t of m others in the different districts------------------------------------------------------------------- m https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis IV 1 1 2 5 5 6 9 9 12 13 18 18 20 21 23 24 25 27 29 30 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL U n it e d S t a t e s D of L abo r , C h il d r e n ’s B u r e a u , epartm ent Washington, January 10, 1931. This report on working mothers in Philadelphia is the first part of a study of the relationship between child welfare and the employment of mothers undertaken at the request of the Child Health Society of Philadelphia. The second part will contain the findings about the children of these working mothers. This study was made under the general supervision of Ellen Nathalie Matthews, director of the industrial division of the Children’s Bureau. Mary Skinner was in charge of the field work, and the report was written by Clara M. Beyer. The social agencies and school officials of Philadelphia gave the Children’s Bureau valuable assistance in obtaining the material for the report. Respectfully submitted. G r a c e A b b o t t , Chief. H o n . W. N. D o a k , Secretary of Labor. Sir : https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS IN PHILADELPHIA INTRODUCTION PURPOSE AND METHOD OF STUDY The employment of married women has increased greatly since 1890. The number of married women employed in industries, other than agriculture, increased 50 per cent between 1890 and 1900, 121 per cent between 1900 and 1910, and 29 per cent between 1910 and 1920.1 In 1890 approximately 1 in 30 married women 16 years of age and over was gainfully employed in nonagricultural occupations; in 1920, 1 in 14 was so employed. Of late years the growing recognition of the importance of home life and of adequate care and supervision in the rearing of children has aroused interest in the relation between the employment of mothers and child welfare. The desire for facts as to this relation has given rise to this study in Philadelphia, which was undertaken by the Chil dren’s Bureau of the United States Department of Labor at the request of the Child Health Society of Philadelphia. The principal object of the inquiry was to ascertain the relationship between the employment of mothers and the welfare of their children. At the same time it was hoped that the information obtained would throw light upon the extent to which mothers of young children in a modern industrial community are gainfully employed, either at home or away from home, the trends and causes of such employment, and the relation between the mother’s employment and the father’s occupation, earnings, and contribution to the family support. The field survey was made between January and September, 1928. It consisted first of a house-to-house canvass of all families living in 11 selected districts. The number of families visited totaled 20,366. Twenty-one families were away for the summer at the time their homes were visited, and 21 others were unwilling to furnish representatives of the bureau the desired information. In 7,976 families there was either no mother or no children under 16 living in the home, and in 121 families there were foster children only. In the remaining 12,227 families the mother was living at home with one or more of her own children or stepchildren under 16 years of age. For these families information was sought as to employment of the mothers after mar riage, the number of years they had been employed, their race and nationality, age, number of years married, marital status at the time of interview, and the number and ages of their children. If the mothers had worked in the six months preceding the inquiry, infor mation was sought also as to the regularity of their work in that period, the nature of their occupations, and related facts. 1 Women in Gainful Occupations 1870 to 1920, pp. 76-77. U. S. Bureau of the Census Monograph 9. Washington, 1929. 1 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 2 CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS IN PHILADELPHIA Second, for approximately 1,000 families visited in the house-tohouse canvass in which the mothers had been employed for at least three days a week for five of the preceding six months detailed infor mation was obtained relating to the economic status of the family, the nature and duration of the mother’s work, the reasons for her employment, her household activities, and the health, education, conduct, and general welfare of her children. To have comparative material as to the general standards of child care in families of the same economic status and of the same nationalities in which the mothers had not been employed after marriage, this information was also obtained for an equal number of nonworking mothers living in the same neighborhoods. In addition to interviewing the mother, representatives of the bureau consulted social-agency records, court records, and, for children of school age, school records for children of both working and nonworking mothers. To study the effect upon the children of the employment of the mother within as well as outside the home, similar detailed informa tion was obtained for approximately 500 mothers who had been doing industrial work in their homes regularly for at least 15 hours a week in five of the six months preceding the study and for an equal number of the neighbors of these women who had not been so employed. These mothers lived both in the districts in which the study of women employed outside the home was made and in other parts of the city in which industrial home work was common. Part 1 of this report consists of an analysis of the information obtained through the canvass for the 12,227 families in which the mother was living at home and had one or more children under 16 living with her. Part 2, to be published later, will contain a discussion of the more extensive information obtained for approximately 1,500 families in which the mother had worked steadily in the six months preceding the study and for an equal number of families in which the mother had not been employed since marriage who were included in the study as a control group. In this section of the report special attention will be given to the relation of the mothers’ employment to the wel fare of their children. DISTRICTS SELECTED FOR STUDY Eleven districts in different parts of Philadelphia were selected for study as samples of the various types of wage-earning neighborhoods of the city. The districts were chosen to represent families of differ ent races and nationalities and of different economic levels. Resi dential districts of varying degrees of prosperity were selected. One was essentially an industrial district, and others had an occasional factory and frequent neighborhood stores. An attempt was also made to select districts in which women were employed in different kinds of industries. Such social resources of the districts as the facilities offered for the care of children while the mother was working were also considered in the selection of the districts. In Philadelphia, as in other large cities, people of the same race and nationality tend to settle in the same sections of the city. Nine of the districts were predominantly white and two predominantly negro. In four of the white districts native-born families predomi https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis INTRODUCTION 3 nated, and in the other five foreign-born families were in the majority. In three of the five districts in which the population was mainly foreign born Poles predominated; in one, Russians and Jews; in one, Italians. In three of the four districts in which the great majority were native born, English-speaking immigrants were the largest element among the foreign born— the English, Scotch, and Welsh in one, the Irish in two ; in the other, Italians and Poles were more largely represented. The native-born mothers in these districts were in many instances of the second generation of the nationality that predominated among the foreign born. A comparison of the race and nativity of the mothers interviewed in the 11 districts with those of the city as a whole indicates that they were fairly representative, in these respects, of the city’s wage-earning population. The proportions of negro women and foreign-born white women were somewhat greater than those for the city as a whole at the census of 1920.2 Eighty-four per cent of the mothers were white and 16 per cent were negro. Of the white mothers almost equal proportions were of native and foreign birth— 53 per cent as compared with 47 per cent. The principal nationalities and racial groups repre sented among the foreign-born women were those that are most important among Philadelphia’s adult foreign-born population— Poles, Russians, and other Slavs, Italians, Irish, Germans, English, Scotch, and Welsh.3 For detailed descriptions of the districts surveyed see Appendix A, pages 30 to 35. s Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920, vol. 3, Population, p. 867. United States Bureau of the Census. Washington, 1922. 8 Ibid., p. $53. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis PART 1 — THE WORKING MOTHERS EXTENT OF EMPLOYMENT OF MOTHERS Among wage earners in the districts visited in Philadelphia the employment of the wife after marriage was not exceptional. In the 12,227 families visited in the house-to-house canvass in which the mother was at home and had at least one child under 16 years of age, 6,070 mothers (50 per cent) had been employed after marriage; 1,999 (16 per cent) had been employed at least 10 months in the year before the study; and 2,711 (22 per cent) at least six months, not always the six months immediately before the interview. On the whole the mothers had been employed during recent years. Of those who had terminated their employment or were tempo rarily out of work at the time of the inquiry, 60 per cent had worked at some time since January 1, 1925. Most of the mothers who had worked after marriage had been employed prior to, as well as during, the year of the survey. Many had worked for a considerable part of their married lives. More than two-fifths of those reporting employment after marriage had worked at least 30 per cent and one-fourth at least 50 per cent of the time. (See Table 2.) A small proportion had worked almost all of their married lives. The survey revealed no evidence that the depression in the textile and other industries resulting in unemployment among the men wage workers in Philadelphia in the year of the survey had resulted in a great increase in the number of women workers. Fairly comparable data are available with reference to the em ployment of white mothers a decade earlier. In a study made by Gwendolyn S. Hughes in 1918—19 information was obtained as to the employment status of 7,359 white mothers with husbands and one or more children 16 years of age or under living at home in six industrial sections of Philadelphia.1 The neighborhoods included in this survey were of much the same character as those canvassed in the Children’s Bureau study. At the close of the war, during which many married women went into industry for the first time, the Hughes study showed that 14 per cent of the married women with children 16 years of age or under in the six districts had worked within the year preceding the inter view.2 Nine or ten years later 21 per cent of a corresponding group of mothers included in the Children’s Bureau study had been em ployed during the year. In other words, where 1 in 7 of the married women with husbands and 1 or more young children at home were employed in the period immediately following the war, less than a decade later under peace conditions more than 1 in 5 were employed, an increase of approximately 7 per cent. 1Hughes, Gwendolyn S.: Mothers in Industry, p. 25. New Republic (Inc.), New York, 1925. The Children’s Bureau canvassed only families in which there were 1 or more children under 16 years of age. Doctor Hughes’s study included a few mothers with a 16-year-old child, but probably not enough of these were included to affect the findings materially. » Ibid., p. 25. 5 1 8 9 2 3 °— 31------ 2 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 6 CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS IN PHILADELPHIA The discussion that follows shows race and nationality, age, number of years married, marital status, and number and age of children for the total number of mothers employed after marriage and for those employed in the six months preceding the interview. Additional information for the latter group is contained in the section on the nature of the employment of mothers in the six months preceding the interview (see p. 18). R A C E A N D N A T I O N A L IT Y O F M O T H E R S Of the 6,070 employed mothers, 4,486 (74 per cent) were white and 1,569 (26 per cent) were negro. (Table 1.) Two thousand three hundred and eighty-four (23 per cent) of the white and 1,115 (57 per cent) of the negro mothers had been employed in the six months pre ceding the inquiry. Employment was more usual among the negro than among the white mothers. Of the 12,227 families included in the study, 1,960 (19 per cent) of all the white and 861 (44 per cent) of all the negro mothers were employed when visited. The white mothers had been employed for considerably shorter periods than the negro; one-fifth of the employed white mothers, compared with nearly one-half of the employed negro mothers, had been employed at least 50 per cent of their married fife. A somewhat smaller pro portion of the white than of the negro mothers (54 per cent com pared with 78 per cent) who were not employed at the time of the interview had worked at some time since January 1, 1925. Differences in nationality carrying with them different standards of living and different attitudes and customs also markedly affected the extent of employment among mothers. Among the native-born white mothers 41 per cent, and among the foreign-born white mothers 47 per cent, had been employed after marriage. The proportion varied from 31 per cent of the Irish and 35 per cent of the Italian to 60 per cent of the Polish, Russian (other than Jewish), and Lithu anian mothers included in the inquiry. Current employment among the foreign born showed a similar variation. Less than a fifth of all the Irish and Italian mothers can vassed had worked within the six months preceding the interview, as compared with about one-third of the Poles and more than one-third of the Russians (other than Jews) and Lithuanians. Of the foreignborn group as a whole 27 per cent had been working in the six months before they were interviewed. The percentage of time employed after marriage was slightly less for the native-born white mothers than for the foreign-born mothers, 18 per cent of the former compared with 21 per cent of the latter having worked 50 per cent or more of the time since their marriage. (Table 2.) However, the amount of time that the mothers of the different nationalities had worked varied greatly. The English, Scotch, and Welsh and Italian mothers had been employed about the same proportions of their married fives as the native-born white mothers. Among the other mothers the percentage who had been employed at least half the time after marriage ranged from 45 per cent of the Jewish to 14 per cent of the Irish. Forty-six per cent of the negro mothers had been employed at least half the time. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis T a b l e 1.— Race, nationality, and em ploym ent history o f mothers having children under 16 years o f age in 11 districts of Philadelphia Mothers having children under 16 years of age Employed since marriage Race and nationality of mother Total since Not employed in 6 Not report Not employed marriage months immedi ed whether ately preceding employed date of interview in 6 months immediate ly preceding date of in Number Per cent1 Number Per cent1 Number Per cent1 terview Number Percent1 Employed in 6 months immedi ately preceding date of interview Total 12,227 6,070 50 3,509 29 2,555 21 6 6,157 50 12,212 6,058 50 3,501 29 2,551 21 6 6,154 50 White............................ .......................................................................... 10,243 4,486 44 2,384 23 2,098 20 4 5,757 56 Native......................... ............... 1................................................„ Foreign born__________ ______ ______________________________ Polish_______________________ _______________ ____ ______ Italian____________________________ ____ ___________ ____ Irish......... .............. ............... ................................................... 5,427 4,801 1,190 704 682 881 426 455 2,209 2,270 716 246 210 444 169 275 41 47 60 35 31 50 40 60 1,082 1,300 376 131 123 299 129 170 20 27 32 19 18 34 30 37 1,125 968 339 115 88 145 40 105 20 20 28 16 13 16 9 23 2 2 1 1 1 3,218 2,531 474 458 472 437 257 180 59 53 40 65 69 50 60 40 English, Scotch, and Welsh_____________________________ German............................ .............................. ......................... Lithuanian__________________________ __________________ Other__________ ____ ___________ _____ ______ ___________ Nationality not reported________________________ ______ _ Jewish*._____ T_______________________________ _______ Other______________ ________________ _____ __________ 284 284 187 351 238 136 102 134 143 113 157 107 52 55 47 50 60 45 45 38 54 68 78 67 78 80 38 42 24 27 36 22 34 28 41 66 65 46 79 27 14 13 23 23 25 23 11 10 13 150 141 74 194 131 84 47 53 50 40 55 55 62 46 80 1,115 2 57 452 1 Nativity not reported_______________________________________ 15 7 Negro...................................................................................................... Chinese.................................................................... .............................. 1,966 3 1,569 3 Race not reported_____________________________ _____ ______________ 15 12 1Per cent not shown where number of mothers is less than 50. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 2 8 5 4 8 23 2 397 3 20 THE WORKING MOTHERS Total............................................................... ........................... ........ Race reported...................... .......................................................................... T a b l e 2 .— Race, nationality, and ■percentage o f time employed since marriage o f employed mothers having children under 16 years of age in 11 districts o f Philadelphia 00 Mothers employed since marriage Less than 10 Total Total reported Number 10, less than 30 Per cent1 Number 30, less than 50 Per cent1 Number 50, less than 70 Per cent1 Number 70 or more Per cent1 Number Per cent1 Not re ported Total................................................................... - 6,070 4,817 1,250 26 1,519 32 840 17 542 11 666 14 1,253 Race reported............................ ............................... 6,058 4,813 1,250 26 1,517 32 838 17 542 11 666 14 1,245 White...................................................................... 4,486 3,811 1,105 29 1,289 34 669 18 367 10 381 10 675 N ative......................................... . .................. Foreign born.................................................... Polish_________________________ ______ Russian______________________________ Jewish___________________________ O th er................................................. 2,209 2,270 716 444 169 275 1,862 1,945 639 376 136 240 632 471 140 75 21 54 34 24 22 20 15 23 599 689 290 104 27 77 32 35 45 28 20 32 299 370 113 76 26 50 16 19 18 20 19 21 186 180 49 41 13 28 10 9 8 11 10 12 146 235 47 80 49 31 8 12 7 21 36 13 347 325 77 68 33 35 Italian_______________________________ Irish_______________ ____ ____________ German_______________________ ______ English, Scotch, and Welsh____________ Lithuanian........... ................................... O th er.............. ......................................... Nationality not reported______________ 246 210 143 134 113 157 107 52 55 204 181 122 105 101 137 80 42 38 72 57 29 38 12 35 13 6 7 35 31 24 36 12 26 16 68 62 32 31 38 48 16 9 7 33 34 26 30 38 35 20 31 37 20 17 31 25 20 9 11 15 20 16 16 31 18 25 19 14 14 10 8 12 12 6 6 9 8 12 10 8 9 15 14 11 26 9 12 17 19 12 7 7 6 21 9 12 12 24 42 29 21 29 12 20 27 10 17 7 4 2 N e g ro .................................................................. . 1,569 3 1,001 1 145 14 227 1 23 169 17 175 17 285 28 568 2 12 4 1 Per cent not shown where number of mothers is less than 50. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 1 2 1 2 3 8 CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS IN PHILADELPHIA Percentage of time employed Pace and nationality of mother THE WORKING MOTHERS 9 AGE As a group the mothers included in the study were young. Almost a third were under 30 years of age, and three-fourths were under 40. (Table 3.) The negro mothers were the youngest, the native-born white mothers were a little more mature, and the foreign born were considerably older. Forty-nine per cent of the negro mothers were under 30 years of age, compared with 38 per cent of the native-born white mothers and 17 per cent of the foreign-born mothers, whereas 15 per cent of the negro, compared with 21 per cent of the nativeborn white and 35 per cent of the foreign-born, were over 40 years of age. The marked difference in age between the native and foreign born white mothers is undoubtedly attributable to the cutting down of immigration in recent years. The immigrant group was made up largely of the women who came to this country as adults before the war and the daughters they brought with them who have since grown up and married. The negro population of Philadelphia has a much larger proportion of persons in the age period 15 to 45 years than the white population. In this Philadelphia is similar to most Northern cities.3 Migration from the South appeals to the younger and more venturesome negroes; they move northward, leaving the children and the older members of the family behind.4 The result has been, as is usually the case among newer immigrant groups, a disproportionate number of persons in the intermediate age groups. Among the native white mothers included in the preliminary survey who had not been employed, the age variation was about the same as in the group of working mothers; 37 per cent of the former and 38 per cent of the latter were under 30 years of age. Of the foreign-born mothers who had worked after marriage, however, 14 per cent were under 38 years of age, as compared with 21 per cent of those who had never been gainfully employed during their married lives. More than two-thirds of the negro mothers who had not worked after marriage were under 30 years of age, but less than half of those who had been at work were in this younger group. Probably one reason so many of the young negro mothers did not work is because most of them— relatively more than of the white mothers— had young children. (See p. 14.) N U M B E R O F Y E A R S M A R R IE D The majority of the mothers included in the study had been mar ried 10 years or more. No doubt on account of the fact that they were older (see above) the white mothers had been married longer than the negro mothers, 68 per cent of the white and 54 per cent of the negro having been married 10 years or more and 23 per cent of the white and 15 per cent of the negro 20 years or more. The foreignborn mothers had been married somewhat longer than the nativeborn white mothers. (Table 4.) 3 Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920, voi. 2, Population, pp. 170-183,301, U. S. Bureau of the Census, Washington, 1922. x Qmal Depopulation in Certain Tidewater and Piedmont Areas of Virginia, by Wilson Gee and •“ JJ P P i » 67-68 (Institute of Research in the Social Sciences, University of Virginia, 1929) and The Recent Northward Migration of Negroes, by Joseph A. Hill, pp. 34-46, in Publications of the American Sociological Society, voi. 18. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis T able 3.— Race, nativity, age, and em ploym ent history o f mothers having children under 16 years o f age in 11 districts o f Philadelphia O Mothers having children under 16 years of age Employment history and age of mother Foreign bom Native Total Per cent Nativity re Number distribu Number distribu Per cent not Per cent Per cent tion ported tion Number distribu Number distribu Number distribu tion tion tion Age reported................................................... Under 25 years _____________________ 30 years', under 35_____________ ________ 35 years, under 40_____________________ 40 years, under 45_____________________ 45 years and over_____________________ 11,795 100 9,962 100 5,286 100 4,663 1,427 2,316 2,701 2,350 1,486 1,515 432 12 20 23 20 13 13 1,034 1,814 2,324 2,059 1,342 1,389 281 10 18 23 21 13 14 829 1,201 1,272 896 542 546 141 16 23 24 17 10 10 203 611 1,049 1,160 799 841 138 Employed since marriage.------ ----------Age reported.............................................. >— 5,779 100 4,330 Under 25 years........................................... 25 years, under 30.............................. — . 628 1,108 1,375 1,264 717 687 291 11 19 24 22 12 12 382 721 1,065 1,007 584 571 156 Not employed since marriage________ Age reported........... ......................................... Under 25 years........................................... 30 years! under 35_____________________ 35 years, under 40...................................... 40 years, under. 45_____________________ 45 years and over_____________________ Not reported_____________________________ https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 6,157 6,016 799 1,208 1,326 1,086 769 828 141 100 13 20 22 18 13 14 5,757 5,632 652 1,093 1,259 1,052 758 818 125 100 2,138 100 2,187 1Ö 22 24 19 10 10 65 17 25 23 13 13 316 474 522 401 212 213 71 100 12 19 22 19 13 15 3,218 3,148 513 727 750 495 330 333 70 100 13 22 25 18 2,270 2,209 4,486 6,070 35 years) under 40__________________ __ 40 years, under 45_____________________ 45 years and over...................................... 4,801 5,427 10,243 12,227 1_ 100 16 23 24 16 10 11 542 605 371 357 83 2,531 2,476 138 364 507 555 428 55 100 11 25 28 17 16 15 1,966 3 15 13~ 1,825 100 1 7 393 499 22 27 21 16 ------ 3 3 1 2 143 125 143 7 1,569 5 1,442 246 384 310 1 2 100 8 g 15 20 2 17 not Chinese Pace reported 115 127 397 383 147 115 100 1 2 8 3 12 1 6 17 27 21 18 ------- 1 2 3 6 3 1 100 38 30 17 1 34 11 10 14 2 1 CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS IN PHILADELPHIA Negro White Total T a b l e 4 — Race, nativity, number o f years married, and employment history 1 o / mothers having children under 16 years o f age in 11 districts o f Philadelphia Mothers having children under 16 years of age Total Employment history and number of years married White Total Native Race not Per cent Nativity Per cent Chinese reported Number distribu Per cent Per cent Per cent not re Number distribu Number distribu Number distribu Number distribu ported tion tion tion tion tion 12,227 11,802 1,362 2,666 %946 2,246 1,434 1,148 375 50 6,070 5,771 607 1,171 L 575 1,242 732 544 258 41 Not employed since marriage.. Number of years married reported _. Less than 5____ ______________ ___ ____ 5, less than 10............................................. 10, less than 15_______ __ 15, less than 20 . _ 20, less than 25 . ___ 25 or more.. . . ......... Not reported.................................. ................. Never married _ ___ 6,157 6,031 855 1,495 li 371 1,004 702 604 117 9 100 12 23 25 19 12 10 100 9 20 27 22 13 9 100 14 25 23 17 12 10 10,243 10,004 1,079 2,130 2,524 li 964 1,300 1,007 229 10 4,486 4,353 355 774 1,218 '983 609 414 • 126 7 5,757 5,651 724 1,356 li 306 981 691 593 103 3 100 11 21 25 20 13 10 100 8 18 28 23 14 10 100 13 24 23 17 12 10 5,427 5,288 773 1,380 li 319 '876 524 416 131 8 2,209 2,137 267 514 563 407 220 166 66 6 • 3,218 3,151 506 858 756 469 304 250 65 2 1 For mothers never married the employment history is for the period since birth of first child. 100 15 26 25 17 10 8 12 24 26 19 10 8 100 16 24 15 10 8 4,801 4,704 303 747 1,203 1,086 776 580 96 1 2,270 2,211 87 260 655 574 389 246 58 1 2,531 2,493 216 548 512 387 343 38 100 6 16 23 16 13 100 4 30 26 18 15 12 3 1,966 1,791 283 100 3 1 2 280 16 1 15 6 8 7 5 1 1,569 1,412 152 100 11 2 257 18 3 1 12 5 1 1 9 h 2 100 9 22 21 16 14 8 7 2 397 379 3 1 1 2 23 11 i 100 6 THE WORKING MOTHERS Total______________________________ ........... Number of years married reported Less than 5____ __________________ 5, less than 10_______________ 10, less than IS_____ ____ ________ 15, less than 20________________ 20, less than 25___________________ 25 or more___________________ Not reported_____________________ Never married 1................... ................... Emuloved since marriage______ Number of vears married reported Loss Ilian 5, less than 10______________ 10, less than 15___________________ 15, less than 20.. 20, less than 25__________________ 25 or more_____________________ Not reported.............. ...... ............................... Never married1______________________ https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Negro Foreign bom 12 CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS IN PHILADELPHIA The mothers who had not worked after marriage had not been mar ried so long as the mothers who had worked. Thirty-seven per cent of the white mothers who had not been employed had been married less than 10 years compared with 26 per cent of the mothers who had been employed; 71 per cent of the negro mothers who had not worked and 39 per cent of those who had worked had been married less than 10 years. Forty-four per cent of the native white and 28 per cent of the foreign-born mothers who had not worked had been married less than 10 years, as contrasted with 36 per cent of the native white and 16 per cent of the foreign born who had been employed and had been married less than 10 years. Only 6 per cent of the negro mothers who had not worked, compared with 18 per cent of those who had, had been married 20 years. M A R IT A L S T A T U S The composition of the 12,227 families in the 11 districts throws light on the extent of the mother’s employment as related to the presence or absence of the father as breadwinner and to the number of children. In nine-tenths of the homes visited (91 per cent of the white and 83 per cent of the negro) the father, mother, and children were living together at the time of the inquiry. (Table 5.) In 5 per cent of the white and in 6 per cent of the negro families the father was dead; in the remaining families the father was absent from home for some other reason. The proportion of fathers who had deserted their families or who were divorced or separated was not learned for the whole group of families who were visited during the house-to-house canvass.6 T able 5.— Whereabouts of husband and race and em ploym ent history in six months immediately preceding date of interview o f mothers having children under 16 years o f age in 11 districts o f Philadelphia Mothers having children under 16 years of age Employed in 6 Not employed in Not months immedi 6 months imme reported ately preceding diately preceding whether date of interview date of interview employed in 6 months immedi ately Per cent Per cent Per cent Number distri Number distri Number distri preceding bution date of bution bution interview Total Race of mother and whereabouts of husband White ................................................. Whereabouts of husband reported. Whereabouts of husband reported. Race not reported------ -------------------- 10,243 10,109 9,212 405 492 124 10 1,966 1,869 1,555 203 111 58 39 3 15 100 91 4 5 m 83 11 6 2,384 100 2,330 1,764 76 13 297 12 269 47 7 1,115 ÏTÔ52" ~ ^ 1 0 0 75 787 16 167 9 98 36 27 2 8 7,855 7,775 7,444 108 223 77 3 849 815 767 35 13 22 12 1 7 100 96 1 3 100 94 4 2 4 4 4 ________2 2 1 1 «In 232 of the 2,190 families for whom more detailed information was obtained the fathers were away from home Of the 232 fathers 38 per cent had deserted; 40 per cent were divorced, legally separated, or hying apart without court action; and the remainder were away for miscellaneous reasons, some of them being in hospitals or penal institutions. (See Part 2.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis THE WORKING MOTHERS 13 Among the white families visited in the house-to-house canvass, 19 per cent of the mothers whose husbands were at home and 63 per cent of the mothers whose husbands were away or dead had been working in the six months preceding the canvass. The removal of the father from the family group by death, desertion, or other reason appeared to have precipitated many of these mothers into wage-earning. Although in Pennsylvania the mothers’ pension and workmen’s com pensation laws in many cases partly relieve widows of the burden of the support of the family, nevertheless 55 per cent of the white widows included in the study were working in the six months preceding the date of the interview, more than half of this group as the only wage earner in the family. An even larger proportion of the white working mothers whose husbands were living away from home (60 per cent) were the only wage earners in the family. This is not surprising, however, as many of the husbands had probably deserted, and women whose husbands have deserted are not eligible for mothers’ aid under the Pennsylvania law.6 The need for supplementing the husband’s earnings was apparently more pressing among the negro women than among the white. In more than half the negro families in which the husband was at home, and in more than four-fifths of the homes in which he was away from home, the wife was working— larger proportions for both groups than were found among the white. Negro widows seemed to receive less benefit from relief agencies, State or private, than did the white, for 88 per cent were working— a larger percentage even than of the negro mothers whose husbands had deserted or were divorced or were away from home for some other reason, 82 per cent of whom were working. N U M B E R A N D A G E O F C H IL D R E N The typical family in the districts canvassed had one or two children under 16 years of age; 40 per cent had three or more. Seventy-one famihes had eight or more children of school or preschool age. The negro families were appreciably smaller than the white; only 34 per cent of the former, compared with 41 per cent of the latter, had more than two children under 16 years of age. (Table 6.) This difference is partly accounted for by the fact that the negro mothers were younger than the white mothers and had been married for shorter periods. Another factor is the high death rate among negro babies in Philadelphia over a period of years. Although the negro birth rate is consistently higher than the white, the death rate for infants 7 and for the negro population as a whole is almost double that for the white population.8 Apparently, then, many negro families are small because of the excessively high death rates rather than because of low birth rates. •Pa., Stat. 1920, sec. 16,722. _ „ „ ^ „ 7 Birth, Stillbirth, and Infant Mortality Statistics, 1926, part 1, p. 21. U. S. Bureau of the Census. Washington, 1929. „ „ „ , _ _ .. . * Mortality Statistics, 1926, part 1, p. 7. U. S. Bureau of the Census. Washington, 1929. 1 8 9 2 3 °— 31------ 3 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 14 CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS IN PHILADELPHIA T a b l e 6.— Race of mother, number o f children under 16 years of age, and em ploy ment history of mothers having children under 16 years o f age in 11 districts of Philadelphia Mothers having children under 16 years of age Race of mother and number of children under 16 years of age Employed since marriage Not employed since marriage Total Number Per cent1 Number Per eent1 White.............................. — ............................- ..........- Negro........................ - ....................................—........... 4,486 44 5,757 56 3,228 2,805 1,931 1,133 1,136 10 1,534 1,217 801 481 445 8 48 43 41 42 39 1,694 1,588 1,130 652 691 2 52 57 59 58 61 1,966 1,569 80 397 20 811 486 271 204 192 2 665 394 208 156 144 2 82 81 77 77 75 146 92 63 48 48 18 19 23 24 25 3 15 3 12 10,243 3 [ 1Per cent not shown where number of mothers is less than 50. The size of the family varied with nationality as well as with race. Native-born white mothers averaged fewer children than did the foreign born. Among the latter group the Italian mothers had the largest families, closely followed by the Polish, Russian (other than Jewish), and Irish; those having the smallest number of children were the German, Lithuanian, and Jewish families. The majority of both white and negro mothers (58 per cent and 62 per cent, re spectively) who were visited during the house-to-house canvass had children under school age. The size of the family and the age of the children seemed to have a direct bearing on whether or not the mother was employed after marriage. Mothers who had been employed after marriage had not only fewer but also older children then mothers who had not been employed. Fifty per cent of the white mothers and 44 per cent of the negro mothers who had worked after marriage had no children under 6 years of age. The corresponding percentages among the mothers who did not work were 37 for the white and 15 for the negro. Appar ently the tendency is for the mother with a number of children, particularly if the children are of preschool age, to stay at home and care for them. . . . . , This conclusion is further justified by the relationship shown between the number of children and the percentage of time worked after marriage. The mothers with only one child under 16 years of age had worked more steadily than the mothers with two or more children; the mothers with two children had worked more steadily than those with three or more, and so on up the scale. This progres sion held for mothers of both races. (Table 7.) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis T able 7. Race o f mother, number o f children under 16 years o f age, and percentage o f time em ployed since marriage of mothers having children under 16 years o f age in 11 districts o f Philadelphia Mothers having children under 16 years of age Number of children under 16 Race and percentage of time employed since marriage 1 Total Total reported Number r-'' Per cent Number 0) 3 Per cent Number («) 4 Per cent Number 0) 5 or more Per cent Number 0) Not Per cent reported 0 10,243 10.233 3,228 32 2,805 27 1,931 19 1,133 11 1,136 11 10 Employed since marriage______ _____ 4,486 4,478 1,534 34 1,217 27 801 18 481 11 445 10 8 Percentage of time employed: Less than 10 per cent_____ 10 per cent, less than 20______ 20 per cent, less than 30______ 30 per cent, less than 40___ 40 per cent, less than 50______ 50 per cent or more__________ Not reported...... ........... . . 1,105 689 600 362 307 748 675 1,104 687 600 361 307 747 672 303 215 177 135 128 347 229 27 31 30 37 42 46 34 304 175 164 109 81 204 180 28 25 27 30 26 27 27 213 141 112 57 51 112 115 19 21 19 16 17 15 17 142 90 81 32 27 41 68 13 13 14 9 9 5 10 142 66 66 28 20 43 80 13 10 11 8 7 6 12 1 2 Not employed since marriage________ 5,757. 5.755 1,694 29 1,588 28 1,130 20 652 11 691 12 2 1,966 1,964 811 41 486 25 271 14 204 10 192 10 2 ■ Employed since marriage____________ 1,569 1,567 665 42 394 25 209 13 157 10 144 9 2 Percentage of time employed: Less than 10 per cent________ 10 per cent, less than 20........... 20 per cent, less than 30______ 30 per cent, less than 40_______ 40 per cent, less than 50______ 50 per cent or more__________ Not reported______ ______ 145 107 120 72 97 460 568 145 106 120 72 97 460 567 48 47 36 31 35 213 255 33 44 30 43 36 46 45 40 22 36 19 25 123 129 28 21 30 26 26 27 23 25 10 23 8 19 55 68 17 9 19 11 20 12 12 15 15 14 6 12 27 57 10 14 12 8 12 8 10 17 12 H 8 6 32 58 12 6 7 10 397 397 146 37 92 23 63 16 48 12 48 12 3 15 3 15 8 Negro.................._............................. Not employed since marriage.. . . Chinese. ________ _________ Race not reported-............ ............... 1 Per cent not shown where number of mothers is less than 60. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 1 5 1 x 1 1 1 .... 3 1 THE WORKING MOTHERS W hite_________ _ _ 2 16 CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS IN PHILADELPHIA Similarly the extent of the employment of the mothers in the six months prior to the inquiry varied directly with the size of the family; the smaller the family the larger the percentage of mothers who were employed. (Table 8.) This was true for all groups— native and foreign born, white and negro— but the decrease in employment with increase in the number of children varied from group to group. Whereas 27 per cent of the white mothers— 24 per cent of the native born and 32 per cent of the foreign born— with one child under 16 were working, the trend of employment of white mothers with two, three, or four children was downward, reaching 18 per cent— 14 per cent of the native born and 20 per cent of the foreign born— of those with five or more children. The proportion of negro mothers who were working ranged from 63 per cent of those with one child to 46 per cent of those with five or more children. T a b l e 8 .— Race o f mother, number o f children under 16 years o f age, and em p lo yment history in six months immediately preceding date o f interview o f mothers having children under 16 years o f age in 11 districts of Philadelphia Mothers having children under 16 years of age Employment history in 6 months immediately preceding date of interview Race of mother and number of children under 16 years of age Total White............................................. Negro.............................................. 10,243 Not employed Employed reported 10,239 Not reported Number Per cent1 Number Pèr cent1 2,384 23 7,855 77 4 2,353 2,148 1,525 885 935 9 73 77 79 78 82 2 1 1 2 3,228 2,805 1,931 1,133 1 136 ÌÒ 3,226 2,804 1,930 1,133 1,136 10 873 656 405 248 201 1 27 23 21 22 18 1,966 1,964 1,115 57 849 43 811 486 271 204 192 2 811 486 271 203 192 1 508 276 143 99 88 1 63 57 53 49 46 303 210 128 104 104 37 43 47 51 54 3 15 3 15 2 8 1 1 1 7 1 Per cent not shown where number of mothers is less than 50. Still more striking are the indications of the influence that the presence of children of preschool age exerts in keeping mothers from gainful employment. Twenty per cent of the white mothers with one child under 6, 13 per cent of* those with two children, and 9 per cent of those with three or more children were employed in the six months preceding the interview. (Table 9.) Although the native-born white mothers with one or more small children more jxequently stayed at home than the foreign-born mothers, the contrast between these two groups was not so marked as between foreign-born mothers of different nationalities. For instance, 48 per cent of the Russian mothers (other than Jewish) with no children under 6 were working in the six months https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 17 THE WORKING MOTHERS preceding the inquiry. This percentage dropped to 30 for the mothers with one child under 6, and to 17 for those with three or more children. Among the Polish mothers, 42 per cent of those with no children under 6 were working. The percentages employed decreased to 27 per cent of those with one child, 17 per cent of those with two, and 11 per cent of those with three or more under the age of 6. On the other hand, only one-fourth of the Irish and Italian mothers who had no children under 6 were employed, and as one or more children of preschool age were added to the family group, the proportion of mothers employed dropped rapidly to 5 per cent of the Irish and 11 per cent of the Italian mothers with three or more children in this age group. Among the negro mothers, decrease in employment with an increase in the number of preschool children was quite pronounced; 73 per cent of the negro mothers with no children under 6 years of age, 56 per cent of those with one child, 40 per cent of those with two, and 28 per cent of those with three or more were working within the six months preceding the interview. T able 9.— Race o f mother, employment history in six months imm ediately preceding date o f interview, and number o f children under 6 years o f age o f mothers having children under 6 years o f age in 11 districts o f Philadelphia Mothers having children under 6 years of age Employment history in 6 months immediately preceding date of interview Race of mother and number of children under 6 years of age Total Employed Not employed Total reported Number Per cent1 Number Per cent1 White. 1 child.......... . . ........... 2 children___________ 3 or more children___ Number not reported. Negro. 1 child______________ 2 children___________ 3 or more children___ Number not reported. C hinese...______ Race not reported. 5,914 6,913 3,382 1,794 712 26 3,381 1,794 712 26 1,223 1,221 568. 645 364 204 644 364 204 9 360 146 57 5 3 9 2 10 4,925 675 238 65 10 5 Not re ported 83 2,706 1,556 647 16 47 653 284 218 147 4 1 4 1Per cent not shown where number of mothers is less than 50. The facts available seem to indicate clearly that mothers of large families and mothers of small children tend to devote themselves to the care of their homes and children rather than seek gainful employ ment. However, 2,122 (61 per cent) of the 3,509 mothers had more than one child, and 639 (18 per cent) had four or more. These children were often at the age when they required constant care and supervision. Many mothers who were gainfully employed had children under 6 years of age— 1,040 had one child, 386 had two, 101 had three, 20 had four, and 1 even had five children not old enough to go to school. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis NATURE OF EMPLOYMENT OF MOTHERS IN SIX MONTHS PRECEDING INQUIRY Of the 12,227 mothers interviewed in the study 3,509 (29 per cent) reported employment in the six months preceding the interview; 23 per cent of the white mothers and 57 per cent of the negro mothers were in this group. For this group of mothers somewhat more extensive information was obtained than for the total number inter viewed as to their status as breadwinners and as to duration, regularity, and kind of work in the 6-month period. The information that fol lows relates to this group of 3,509. M O T H E R ’S S T A T U S AS B R E A D W IN N E R A N D M A R IT A L S T A T U S Such facts as were obtained for the working mothers visited in the house-to-house canvass concerning the father’s presence or absence from the home and the status of the mother as chief wage earner indicate that the economic situation was a contributing factor in the decision of the mother to carry the triple burden of mother, house keeper, and wage earner. Five hundred and eighty-one (18 per cent) of the mothers who had been employed in the six months prior to the inquiry were the sole support of their families, and 297 (9 per cent) were the chief but not the sole support. (See Table 10.) The remain ing 2,373 (73 per cent) reporting were not the chief bread winners in their families, but doubtless many of them found it almost as essential to work as did the mothers who had no other means of support.1 A slightly smaller proportion of white than of negro mothers (17 and 21 per cent, respectively) were the sole support of their families. Three-fourths of the white mothers and an equal proportion of the negro mothers who had been employed in the six months preceding the inquiry had husbands at home. The extent to which the where abouts of the husband was a factor in the mother’s employment varied considerably among the different nationalities. For the white mothers the percentage who had husbands at home was 69 for the native born and 81 for the foreign born. The English-speaking foreign born had the smallest percentages (60 for the Irish and 65 for the English, Scotch, and Welsh), and the Italians had the highest (91 per cent). These differences are probably due in part to the differences in the age of the mothers of the various nationalities. The English, Scotch, and Welsh, and the Irish mothers who were working were much older than the Italian mothers. More than half of the English-speaking foreign born were over 40 years of age as compared with a third of the Italians. In the older groups of working mothers it is reasonable to expect a larger percentage of widows and of women forced to work because of the incapacity of their husbands 1The occupational distribution of the fathers was obtained for the smaller group of families included in the intensive study (Part 2 of this report). Twenty-two per cent of the husbands of 624 white working mothers were employed as laborers, 23 per cent as semiskilled factory operatives, and 27 per cent in skilled trades in manufacturing industries. Six per cent were employed in clerical occupations, 4 per cent were proprietors or managers of stores, and 1per cent were employed in professional occupations. Theremainder were in miscellaneous occupations, a number being employed as drivers, chauffeurs, and teamsters. The majority of the husbands in the negro families were laborers or semiskilled operatives in factories or were employed in domestic and personal service. Evidently most of the fathers, both white and negro, were in occupations of a low wage level. 18 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 19 THE WORKING MOTHERS than in a group of younger married women. Then, too, the fact that more of the Italian, Polish, and Russian (other than Jewish) than of the native-born and English-speaking foreign-born mothers who were working had husbands at home may indicate that the husbands of English-speaking mothers, presumably in most cases not handicapped by language difficulties, were better able to support their families than were immigrants from non-English-speaking countries; or it may mean that work among married women was more customary among the newer immigrant groups. Probably all three reasons applied. In 410 of the 878 families in which the mother was the sole or chief support the father was living but was away from home; in 307 families he was dead; and in 126 he was at home but contributed little or noth ing to the family. (Table 10.) Among all the native white mothers the absence of the husband was more common than among the foreignbom mothers. (Table 11.) Among the latter the absence of the father was usually due to death, except for the English, Scotch, and Welsh, and Russians (other than Jews). The reverse was true for the native-born mothers; for every two native white women whose husbands were dead, three had husbands who had deserted, were divorced, or were away for other reasons. The proportion of negro mothers whose husbands were living but were away from home was still larger. T able 10.— Whereabouts of husband and race and status as chief breadwinner o f mothers employed in six months imm ediately preceding date o f interview; mothers having children under 16 years of age in 11 districts o f Philadelphia Mothers employed in 6 months immediately preceding date of interview Status as chief breadwinner Race of mother and whereabouts of husband Total Total re ported Total________ __________ Husband at home_____________ Husband away.............. Husband dead____________ Whereabouts not reported_____ Never married______ _ White_____________ Husband at home_______ Husband away....... ......... Husband dead______________ Whereabouts not reported... Never married___________ Negro_________ _______ Husband at home__________ Husband away.............. Husband dead_____________ Whereabouts not reported____ Never married........ ...... Chinese _____ Race not reported2______ Chief and only Chief but not only Not chief Not re Num Per Num Per Num Per ported ber cent1 ber cent1 ber cent1 3,509 3,251 581 18 297 9 2,373 73 258 2, 554 465 367 88 35 2,393 448 348 27 35 65 293 196 1 26 3 65 56 61 117 111 3 5 3 26 32 2,267 38 41 23 4 95 8 12 161 17 2,384 2,209 367 17 232 11 1,610 73 175 1,764 297 269 47 7 1,642 285 256 19 7 51 172 137 1 6 3 60 54 49 90 90 2 1 3 32 35 1,542 23 29 16 94 s 11 122 1,115 1,036 213 21 65 6 758 73 79 ; 787 167 98 36 27 748 162 92 7 27 14 121 59 2 75 64 12 27 21 1 4 2 17 23 722 14 12 97 9 13 39 2 8 1 5 19 61 28 29 1 ? Per cent not shown where number of mothers is less than 50. ported ami l^ii^ve^rnarrted ^lus^,anc* ^ome> 1 with husband dead, 4 whereabouts of husband not re- https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 20 CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS IN PHILADELPHIA T a b l e 1 1 .— Whereabouts o f husband and race and nationality of mothers employed in six months imm ediately preceding date o f interview; mothers having children under 16 years o f age in 11 districts o f Philadelphia Mothers employed in 6 months immediately preceding date of interview Whereabouts of husband Race and nationality of mother Total. White. Native.............. Foreign b o m ... Polish____ Russian___ Jewish. Other.. Italian__________ _____ Irish......... ...... ................ German............... .......... English, Scotch, and WelshLithuanian___________ Other._______________ Nationality not reported. Jewish................. . — Other______________ Mother Dead Away At home never Total Total Not married re reported^Num- Per Num Per Num Per ported ber cent1 ber cent1 ber cent1 3,386 2,554 2,384 2,330 1,764 297 1,082 1,300 376 •299 129 170 724 1,054 1,275 1,039 314 366 252 298 106 128 146 170 200 118 73 63 41 50 63 4 13 131 123 78 68 67 78 129 121 78 63 75 47 130 139 27 27 17 97 25 19 5 14 10 7 35 9 9 8 9 6 13 7 6 4 65 34 31 80 38 42 367 465 3,509 1 3 Nativity not reported _ 1,115 Negro___________ Chinese................. Race not reported. 2 8 1,052 787 3 2 1 1 167 75 ” 16 ’ i * Per cent not shown where number of mothers is less than 50. Desertion or divorce was primarily a problem of the younger work ing mothers. Although less than half the employed white mothers were under 35 years of age, two-thirds of those whose husbands were living but away from home were under that age. On the other hand, absence of the husband from the homes of the women 35 years of age and over was in most instances due to death; three-fourths of the white widows who were employed were at least 35 years old. In general the same situation was found among the negro women. Working mothers under 35 years of age without husbands were usually divorced or deserted, or the husband was away from home for some other reason; those over 35 were more often widowed. D U R A T I O N A N D R E G U L A R IT Y O F W O R K Considering their triple functions of mother, home maker, and wage earner, it is significant that more than three-fourths of the mothers employed away from home in the six months preceding the study had had full-time employment; two-thirds of this group had been employed at least five of the six months. The proportion who had worked steadily would have been larger if employment had been available. For instance, about one-fourth of the mothers who were textile operatives had been working irregularly, owing to the general depression in the textile industry. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 21 THE WORKING MOTHERS The working week varied from one to seven days and the working day from one to seven or more hours. The majority of white mothers employed away from home were regular full-time workers; that is, they worked five and a half or six days a week and a full working day of at least seven or eight hours. (Table 12.) The majority of the negro mothers worked less than a full week, but as a rule full time on the days they did work. Seventy-one per cent of the white mothers and 46 per cent of the negro usually worked a 5}i or 6 day week. The remainder of the white mothers (29 per cent) and the majority of the negro mothers (54 per cent) were customarily employed only irregularly or on certain days, ordinarily not exceeding three days each week. T a b l e 1 2 .— Custom ary regularity of work and race o f mothers em ployed away fro m home in six months immediately preceding date o f interview; mothers having children under 16 years o f age in 11 districts o f Philadelphia Mothers employed away from home in 6 months immediately preceding date of interview Customary regularity of work Total White Negro Race Chi not cent Num Per cent Per cent nese re Num Per Num distribu distribu distribu ported ber ber ber tion tion tion Total______________________ 2,749 Total reported....... .......................... 2,624 100 1,639 100 980 100 1 4 Full week.......... .............. . _ 7 or more hours a day........... Less than 7 hours a day....... Hours not reported............. Ì; 618 1,315 298 5 62 50 11 1,168 932 234 2 71 57 14 447 380 64 3 46 39 7 1 1 2 2 Part week__________________ 7 or more hours a day....... _. Less than 7 hours a d a y ... Hours not reported.......... . 1,006 '735 243 28 38 28 9 1 471 320 142 9 29 20 9 1 533 413 101 19 Not reported_________________ 7 or more hours a day....... ........ Less than 7 hours a day_____ Hours not reported..................... 1,731 fi 1,012 (1) 125 92 32 12 4 109 5 3 84 7 1 24 1 (l) 42 10 2 1 Less than 1 per cent. Part-time work has sometimes been proposed as a solution of the problem of the mother who must support and at the same time care for her family. It is interesting to note, therefore, the extent to which mothers in Philadelphia had resorted to this method of com bining their functions as wage earner and home maker. Although the majority of both white and negro mothers worked full time (that is, at least seven hours a day), 23 per cent of the white mothers and 17 per cent of the negro mothers employed away from home who reported on this point were working part time— most of them working at least four hours a day for six days a week. E M PLO YM EN T AT H O M E OR AW AY FR O M HOME Mothers in Philadelphia who must earn or supplement the family income are apparently finding fewer and fewer opportunities to do sufficiently remunerative work in their homes. They have gone more and more into outside work. This exodus is shown by a comparison https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 22 CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS IN PHILADELPHIA of the findings of the study made in 1918-19 and those of the Children’s Bureau in 1928. In the earlier period 14 per cent of the white married women worked away from home, compared with 7 per cent who worked at home.2 Nine years later 17 per cent of the mothers of young children worked away from home and 6 per cent worked at home or in a family business closely associated with the home. If married women without children had been included in the Children’s Bureau study, the percentage working away from home would un doubtedly have been still larger, as these women do not have to provide care for children during working hours, and the better-paid work is outside the home. Table 13 shows the place of employment of the mothers employed in the six months preceding the inquiry. T a b l e 13.— Race, nativity, and place o f em ploym ent o f mothers employed in six months imm ediately preceding date of interview; mothers having children under 16 years o f age in 11 districts o f Philadelphia Mothers employed in 6 months immediately preceding date of interview Place of employment Race and nativity Total Away from home At home Total reported Num- Per Numher cent2 her Close by or connected with hom e1 Per Numcent2 her Not reported Per cent2 T otal........... ........... 3,509 3,434 260 8 2,749 80 425 12 75 White_______________. . . 2,384 2,331 185 8 1,731 74 415 18 53 Native__________ . . . Foreign born________ Nativity not reported 1,082 1,300 2 1,045 1,285 1 52 133 5 10 900 831 86 65 93 321 1 9 25 37 15 1 Negro._________________ Chinese________________ Race not reported_______ 1,115 2 8 1,094 2 7 73 7 1,012 1 5 93 9 1 1 21 2 1 1Includes 416 mothers working in own or relative’s store, shop, or business in or very near dwelling, and 9 mothers in domestic and personal service close by or connected with home. 2 Per cent not shown where number of mothers is less than 50. Neither the size of the family nor the age of the children seems to have any effect in determining whether the mother works at home or away from home. The only factor apparently exerting a real influ ence in keeping the wage-earning mother at home is custom. Eightyone per cent of the Jewish mothers, 66 per cent of the Italian mothers, and 43 per cent of the German mothers who were gainfully employed within the six months preceding the interview worked in the home or in a family business closely connected with the home. In contrast, only 8 per cent of the Negro mothers, 9 per cent of the English, Scotch, and Welsh mothers, 14 per cent of the Irish, 14 per cent of the nativeborn white mothers, and 18 per cent of the Polish mothers who were employed worked at home or near-by. 2 Mothers in Industry, pp. 33-34. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis THE WORKING MOTHERS 23 O C C U P A T IO N S The 3,509 mothers working in the six months preceding the inter view were gaining a livelihood in many different industries and in many different occupations. Forty-seven per cent were in domestic and personal service, 33 per cent were in manufacturing and mechani cal industries, 15 per cent were in trade, 2 per cent were clerical work ers, 1 per cent were in transportation, and 1 per cent were in profes sional service. Their occupational distribution was strikingly like that of all married women in Philadelphia in 1920. The census of that year showed that 43 per cent of all employed married women 15 years of age and over were in domestic and personal service, 34 per cent were in manufacturing and mechanical industries, 11 per cent were in trade, 8 per cent were clerical workers, 4 per cent were in pro fessional service, and 1 per cent were in transportation.3 The differ ences in the census figures for 1920 and the figures for 1928 obtained in the present study may be due more to the fact that in the census enumeration married women include only those who are living with their husbands, widowed and divorced women being grouped with the single, and to a difference between mothers and married women who are childless than to a real change in the occupational grouping, and as such throw light upon the occupations of mothers as opposed to those of married women without children. The census figures were for all employed married women, whereas the present study was con fined to mothers of children under 16 years of age, including widows and women living apart from their husbands. Married women who are childless, particularly the younger ones, may be expected to do much the same type of work as single women. According to the 1920 census, 24 per cent of the employed single women in Philadelphia, as compared with 8 per cent of the married women, were clerical workers; 9 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively, were in professional occupations.4 Factory work and domestic service were the principal occupations o f mothers who worked away from home. (Table 14.) Shopkeeping (that is, work in the family store), industrial home work, and launder ing were the leading occupations of women working in or in connection with their homes. * Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920, vol. 4, Population, Occupations, pp. 851-852. United States Bureau of the Census. Washington, 1923. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 24 CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS IN PHILADELPHIA T a b l e 1 4 .— Indu stry and occupation, race, and nativity of mothers em ployed away from home in six months imm ediately preceding date o f interview; mothers having children under 16 years of age in 11 districts o f Philadelphia Mothers employed away from home in 6 months immediately preceding date of interview Negro White Total Foreign born Native Industry and occupation Per Per Per Num cent Num cent Num cent dis dis dis ber ber ber tribu tribu tribu tion tion tion 900 2,749 Industry and occupation reported.. 2,724 i it Manufacturing and mechanical. Cigar and tobacco facMetal industries and electrical supplies.».. Dressmaking and tailoring.. 100 (iy 35 444 916 434 ' 172 34 16 6 86 44 0) 50 (0 U 383 176 62 46 21 7 102 4 73 10 gì 7 2 3 57 15 7 2 12 1 2 8 16 2 7 1 10 2 429 252 37 49 29 4 3 17 29 1 5 22 71 1 (!) 2 13 2 0 1 4 1 56 17 81 23 258 2 9 3 29 2 19 2 381 226 112 8 4 84 25 10 3 863 268 46 2 32 10 2 57 76 16 3 61 (l) 46 4 (!) 76 25 ' ■■--:==• 100 3 109 50 39 136 6 1,012 ■ 100 1,007 831 ■ ; r—, - 1 100 827 4 411 23 104 32 Domestic and personal service.. 1,517 Employees in restaurants, hotels, and institutions.. . Laundry operatives............ Cleaners and other workers in private families------ 884 7 966 Race not Per Chi re nese cent port dum dis ed ber tribu tion 1 2 (i) 27 1 0) (■) Z 2. 2 ___ 1 (') 4 4 7 874 78 39 9 5 63 48 6 5 6 9 2 84 171 8 .1 10 21 1 (l) 721 20 21 1 72 2 2 (») 7 8 1 6 1 16 5- 1 2 (>) 46 m 5- 1 (*) 6 3 1 0) 0) (*) 1 87 1 3 1 1 5 4 1 ■ •Less than 1 per cent. NATIONALITY AND RACE National customs appeared to be a determining factor in the type of work that the mothers performed. For example, shopkeeping, as owner, partner, or assistant, was the occupation of three-fourths of the Jewish, one-third of the Russian (other than Jewish), and one-fourth of the German and Italian mothers, but of few of the native-born women or of the English-speaking immigrants. Industrial home work was performed largely by Italians; 39 per cent reported this occupation. The only others showing a significant proportion of moth ers in this work were Germans (12 per cent) and Jews and Lithuanians(5 per cent). Laundry work at home was confined almost exclusively to Germans and Irish. Similarly, native background influenced to a certain extent the kind of work that the mothers performed away from home. Factory work https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis T H E W O R K IN G M O T H E R S 25 furnished employment to foreign born and native born alike, almost half of each group being engaged in some process of manufacturing, but here the resemblance ceased. Almost all the foreign-born mothers who were not in factories were in personal and domestic service, but fewer native-born white mothers were engaged in this employment. Trade, transportation, clerical, and professional work was limited almost entirely to the native-born whites. (Table 14.) Further differentiations in occupation according to nationality were found within the foreign-born group. The majority of the English, Scotch, and Welsh, Poles, Jews, and Italians worked in factories. Irish, Russians (other than Jews), Germans, and Lith uanians were more often in domestic and personal service, than in any other type of work— the Irish and Russians as cleaners in offices, stores, and other buildings; the Germans as day workers in private families; and the Lithuanians as hotel and restaurant employees. Race even more than nationality was a determining factor in place and kind of employment. Ninety-three per cent of the negro mothers who had been employed in the six months preceding the interview worked away from home. Seventy-eight per cent were in personal and domestic service, 65 per cent as cleaners or other day workers in private families. Only 9 per cent worked as operatives in manu facturing and mechanical industries, and the number in trade, transportation, clerical, and professional service was negligible. REGULARITY OF EM PLOYMENT The fact that white mothers worked much more regularly than negro mothers (see p. 21) is attributable in large measure to the type of work performed. Work in factories, hotels, restaurants, and laundries, the cleaning of offices and stores, and selling, clerical, and professional work is usually regular,5 and the women who work in these occupations must adjust themselves to the demands of the occupation. These industries and occupations furnished employ ment to a large proportion of white mothers, and these women have had to accept regular hours in order to obtain employment. On the other hand, negro mothers found employment in cleaning, laundering, and doing other work for private families only on certain days of the week. As a consequence, less than a third of the negro mothers engaged in this work were regularly employed for five or more days a week. That occupation rather than race was the largest determin ing factor in the irregularity of employment is further evidenced by the fact that the negro mothers who had succeeded in obtaining em ployment in factories, hotels, restaurants, and laundries apparently worked as regularly as white mothers in these occupations. The occupations of the mothers who worked only part time (that is, less than seven hours a day) differed somewhat from the occupa tions of those who worked fuff time. (Table 15.) Of the 379 white women who did part-time work, 33 were in manufacturing and me chanical industries, 295 in domestic and personal service— 49 as waitresses and other hotel and restaurant workers, 39 as workers in private families, and 191 of the remainder as cleaners in offices, stores, and other buildings— 23 in stores, 15 in offices, and 9 in the professions. Of the 166 negro part-time workers 155 were in domestic 8For definition of regular work see p. 21. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 26 C H IL D R E N O F W O R K IN G M O T H E R S I N P H IL A D E L P H IA service— 123 as laundresses, cleaners, or general houseworkers in private families. T a b l e 15.— Race, and industry and occupation o f mothers em ployed away from home for fu ll or part day in six months immediately preceding date o f interview; mothers having children under 16 years of age in 11 districts o f Philadelphia Mothers employed away from home in 6 months immedi ately preceding date of interview Industry and occupation, and race of mother Total Full day Part day Not re Num Per cent Num Per cent Num Per cent ported distribu distribu distribu ber ber ber tion tion tion White.................................................. ......... 1,731 Industry and occupation reported____ 1,711 100 1,245 10O 376 100 90 Manufacturing and mechanical___ Domestic and personal service____ Employees in restaurants, hotels, and institutions_____ Cleaners and other workers in private families...................... Cleaners in buildings________ Other............................ L........... Not reported________________ 855 639 50 37 771 316 62 25 33 295 9 78 51 28 162 9 103 8 49 13 10 141 247 88 1 8 14 5 97 47 69 8 4 6 39 191 15 1 10 51 4 5 9 4 Other___ __________ ___________ 217 20 13 158 13 48 13 11 1,257 (1) Not reported____ ___________________ Negro_________________________________ 1,012 379 95 (l) 12 3 5 800 166 46 Industry and occupation reported...,. 1,007 100 796 100 166 100 45 Manufacturing and mechanical___ Domestic and personal service____ Employees in restaurants, hotels, and institutions_____ Cleaners and other workers in private families____________ Cleaners in buildings------------Other__ _________ __________ Not reported . 109 874 11 87 101 680 13 85 3 155 2 93 5 39 Other................................ .............. 24 Not reported_______________________ 5 4 1 5 1 4 Chinese________________________________ Race not reported______________________ 63 6 45 6 13 8 5 721 20 69 1 72 2 7 568 7 59 1 71 1 7 123 12 7 74 7 4 30 1 3 2 15 2 8 5 1 (*) 0 (t) 1 0 1 1Less than 1 per cent. Manufacturing and mechanical industries offered relatively few opportunities for part-time employment; 62 per cent of the white mothers who worked full time, as compared with 9 per cent of the part-time white workers, were in factory work. Stores, offices, and professional service 6 gave employment to practically the same per centage of part-time as to full-time working mothers, but* the total number employed in these occupations was small. The only occupa tions that met the needs of an appreciable number of mothers for employment at hours which interfered the least with their home duties were the heavy, unskilled, low-paid jobs of scrubbing, washing, and cleaning. Little more than one-tenth of the white mothers who did full-time work, but almost two-thirds of the white mothers who did •Professional service includes ushers and cashiers in theaters, school and music teachers, social workers, nurses, and similar workers.^ ------------------ —- ------ https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis T H E W O R K IN G M O T H E R S 27 part-time work, did these types of domestic service. Practically all the negro women who did part-time work were day workers in private families or office cleaners. That women considered this kind of do mestic work undesirable is evidenced by the small proportion of women whose family circumstances allowed them choice in the matter of working hours who were doing it. Many women, however, under took the physically hazardous task of combining housework and care of the children during the day with four or five hours of scrub bing or cleaning at night. M OTHER’S STATUS AS BREADWINNER The mothers who were the sole support of their families had a somewhat different occupational distribution from that of other working mothers. Almost all were employed away from home because necessity forced them to seek out the better-paying jobs. Half the white mothers who were the sole support of their families worked in factories, one-third in domestic and personal service, 7 per cent in trade and transportation, and 6 per cent in clerical work. Many of these women represented a different occupational level from that of the mothers who were the chief breadwinners, but not the sole support, of their families. The latter were more often found in domestic and personal service, particularly as night cleaners in stores, offices, and other buildings, and less frequently in trade, transporta tion, or clerical work. Contrasted with these mothers who bore the brunt of family sup port were the great majority (72 per cent) who were not the chief breadwinners but who for one reason or another were at work to supplement their husbands’ earnings. These women were more often employed at home or in connection with the home business than were the chief breadwinners; one-third found it possible to carry on work that did not necessitate leaving their children for any length of time. They did not accept full-time employment so frequently, nor did they work so many days a week, as the women who were the sole support of their families. Less variation appeared in the occupational grouping of the white mothers who were not the main support of the family and yet worked away from home than in that of the chief breadwinners. Almost the same proportions were in factories, but textiles absorbed a larger percentage of the mothers who were not the chief breadwinners than of the more necessitous mothers. Trade and professional service gave employment in equal proportions to the two groups. About the same percentages worked in domestic and personal service, but there was a marked contrast in the type of work which they performed. About half the women who were not chief breadwinners were cleaners in stores, offices, and other buildings, as compared with a fifth of the mothers who were the sole support of the family and a third of those wLo had some assistance. The fact that this work could be done at night when the father could stay with the children made it appeal to mothers who needed to supplement the family earnings; but, on the other hand, the low wages paid made it undesirable for the woman who had no other means of support for herself and family. Employment of negro mothers followed the same general trends as did employment of white mothers except that the differences were https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 28 C H IL D R E N OF W O R K IN G M O T H E R S I N P H IL A D E L P H IA less pronounced. The mothers who were not the chief breadwinners showed only a slight tendency to work at home rather than away, but they worked less regularly and for shorter periods of time. The chief breadwinners were more often factory operatives than the other mothers, but few among them were so employed. Almost 80 per cent of both groups of wage-earning negro mothers were in domestic and personal service. The mothers without aid in family support were more often in hotels and restaurants than were the others, but the vast majority were day workers. Differences in other occupational groups were negligible. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis CONCLUSIONS This inquiry indicates a growing tendency in Philadelphia for mothers to be gainfully employed outside the home. In the selected areas of the city included in this study 21 per cent of the white mothers with husbands and one or more children under 16 years of age living at home were employed in 1928, compared with 14 per cent for a similar group of mothers who lived in wage-earning neighborhoods of similar character who were employed in 1918-19. (See p. 5.) In the earlier period 14 per cent of the white married mothers worked away from home compared with 7 per cent who worked at home, whereas in 1928, 17 per cent of the mothers with children under 16 years of age worked away from home compared with 6 per cent who worked at home. This difference would undoubt edly have been even greater had married women without children been included in the later, as they were in the earlier, group, for these women are logically the first to be employed away from home. The employment of mothers is affected by various factors, among the most important of which are race, nativity, nationality, and age and number of children. Of the 6,070 mothers interviewed who had one or more children under 16 years of age and had worked after marriage, 4,486 (74 per cent) were white and 1,569 (26 per cent) were negro; 51 per cent of the white mothers were foreign bom. Work was less frequent among the native-born white mothers than among the foreign born and negro. However, some of the foreign-born groups— notably the Irish, Italians, and Jews— showed a marked disposition for the mother to stay at home with her children. When it became essential that she earn or supplement the family income, she ordinarily took up work that she could do at home or in close proximity to her home, such as industrial home work or neighborhood storekeeping. As a group, the foreign-born mothers were more often employed and worked for longer periods of time than the native-born white women. Work of negro mothers was general; as a rule the only ones who were not employed were those with a number of young children requiring constant care. Apart from economic necessity, apparently the outstanding con sideration in determining whether or not a mother went to work was the age and number of her children. The proportion of mothers employed varied directly with the number of children and with the presence of children of preschool age. The indications are that mothers of children who require constant supervision and mothers of large families do not go to work except as a last resort. Then they try to obtain work at night or at hours that interfere the least with their duties as mothers. Mothers who must earn to keep the family together, however, will work even if the children are neglected. It is a choice between food and clothing for the children and their adequate supervision. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis APPENDIX A.— EMPLOYMENT OF MOTHERS IN THE DIF FERENT DISTRICTS T h e follow ing section contains a description o f the districts surveyed and a discussion of m others’ em p loym en t b y districts. N in e of the 11 districts were predom inantly w hite and 2 pred om in an tly negro. T o clarify the picture, w hite m others on ly will be considered in th e 9 districts predom inantly white^ and negro m others on ly in th e 2 rem aining districts. T h e boundaries of the districts are inserted in footnotes for th e inform ation of interested persons in Philadelphia. T ables I to I V , pages 36 to 3 9, sum m arize th e facts relating to m others em p lo ym en t b y districts. District 1 (.Kensington ) 1 K en sin gton is an old, highly industrialized section of Philadelphia w ith fa cto n es scattered am on g th e residences. T h e E nglish, Scotch, and W elsh settled here originally to be near th e m ills in w hich th ey worked. T heir descendants, together w ith recent im m igrants from their hom eland, m ade up the greater p art of those interviewed in this stu d y. M oth ers in this district have worked in th e m ills from generation to generation. Girls brought up in the sam e tradition h ave continued their factory w ork after marriage and while their children were grow ing u p . M o s t of th e m others in K ensington who were em p loyed w orked in factories, chiefly in th e hosiery, woolen, carpet, and other textile m ills. , , % . fi . ,, T h e largest proportion of w hite m others em ployed after m arriage and also the largest proportion em p loyed in the six m on th s preceding the interview were fou n d in this district, in w hich m o st of th e m others were native born, (bee T a b le I I , p. 3 7.) F ifty -sev en per cent of the m others interview ed had been em ployed after m arriage, 29 per cent in the six m o n th s preceding the interview . T h e prevalence of em p lo ym en t am on g m others in this district no d ou bt was partly due to real necessity, in addition to custom . A relatively large proportion (29 per cent) of th e w orking m others were w idow ed, divorced, or deserted, so th a t it was p robably essential th a t th e y support their families. E ig h ty -o n e per cent of th e w orking m others were em ployed aw ay from hom e. S ixty-eigh t per cent of these were em p loyed in factories— 56 per cent in textiles, and a few in clothing, food, m eta l, and leather m anufacturing. T w e n ty -o n e per cent were in dom estic and personal service, m o stly as day workers m private fam ilies. A lth ou gh th e percentage of factory workers in this industrial district was ab ove th e average for all sections, th e p roxim ity of industry did not appear to be an im portant factor in d eterm ining th e extent of the em p loym ent of m others. T w o other im p ortan t industrial sections had appreciably higher proportions of factory workers in general and even of ^textile workers. T h e indications are th a t in itself th e presence of a factory w ithin a block exerted no pull upon the m others unless th e fam ily situ ation was such th a t their w ork was m ore or less essential. I f th e y were accustom ed to w ork or needed to w ork, th ey found em p loym en t w herever available, preferably near h om e. ,.. W ork in g m others in K en sin gton , in com m on w ith other n ative-b orn m others, did n ot m ake a practice of working regularly after m arriage. T h ose w ho had husbands a t hom e w orked periodically according to fam ily needs. O f the m others w ho had worked after marriage one-third had been em p loyed less than a y®ar and ab ou t one-half less th a n tw o years. M ore th an one-fourth had worked fave years or m ore, m a n y of these being dependent upon their earnings and having no choice b u t to work regularly. ± . . . . ,• T h e tendency in this district, as in the other districts m w hich n ativeborn m others predom inated, was for th e m others to go to w ork only after their children had reached school age. M ore th an h alf of these m others w ho had i This district consists of two sections, one north and the other south of Lehigh Avenue. The boimdary line of the northern section began at the intersection of Kensington Avenue and Indiana Street, oorranued southwest on Kensington Avenue to Lehigh Avenue, west to Front Street, and northto Clearfield Street. The northern boundary line was irregular, going east on Clearfield Street as far r* ^hp-ncp to Cambria and east to D Street, where it turned north again and continued to !ndiana Avenue. thence east to Kensington Avenue. All this territory was in ward 33. The southern section of thedistrict lay in ward 19, and included the territory bounded by Kensington Avenue on the east between Huntingdon and York Streets, York on the south, Palethorp Street on the west, and Lehigh Avenue on the north as far as Front Street, then south and west on Huntingdon Street around the hospital grounds to Kensington Avenue. 30 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis T H E W O R K IN G M O T H E R S 31 worked after m arriage had no children under 6 , and one-third had only one child under 6. On th e other hand, tw o-fifth s of th e m others w ho had not w orked after marriage had no children under 6 and one-third had only one child of this age. , T h e average fam ily am on g the working m others contained 2 children under 16 years of age as_ com pared w ith 2 .4 am on g th e m others w ho did n ot w ork. T h is difference in size of fam ily, w hich was found in the other districts in w hich n ative-born m others predom inated, as well as in K en sington, is und oub tedly due in part to the greater proportion of broken hom es am ong the w orking m others and in p art to th e tendency for the m others w ith larger fam ilies and younger children to go to w ork only as a last resort. District 2 (West Philadelphia) 2 A lth ou gh 4 4 per cent of the w hite m others in all districts had been em ployed after marriage, in W e s t Philadelphia, where alm ost all the m others were native born, on ly one-third had w orked after marriage. Seventeen per cent were em p lo yed at the tim e of the interview , three-fourths of them aw ay from hom e. M oth ers w ho w orked in this district were m ore often saleswom en, telephone and telegraph operators, and clerical and professional workers than were those w ork ing in other districts. Practically one-third of the outside workers were doing work of one kind or another th a t is generally considered m ore socially desirable than factory em p loym en t or personal and dom estic service. R ela tiv ely fewer factory workers (21 per cent) were found in this district than in other sections, and th e percentage (43) of dom estic workers was lower than the average for all districts. T h is district was ty pical of the sections in w hich n ative-born m others pre dom inated in the percentage of working m others w ho were not living w ith their husbands (including those whose husbands were dead)-— 28 per cent as contrasted w ith 14 per cent in the sections in which the foreign born predom inated. I t was also typical of the size of families in the form er as opposed to the latter districts; working m others averaged 2.1 children per fam ily and nonworking m others 2 .4 , whereas the average for working m others for districts in w hich the foreign born predom inated ranged from 2 .4 to 2 .7 and for nonworking m others from 2 .4 to 3 children per fam ily. District 8 (Southwest Philadelphia) 3 T h e district covered in Southw est Philadelphia is a residential section in the extrem e southwestern p art and was selected as characteristic of another ty p e of neighborhood whose inhabitants were chiefly native born. In econom ic level it m ore nearly approached W e s t Philadelphia th an an y other section, and it was also m u ch like it and South Philadelphia in the nationalities of its foreign-born population. T h e chief difference was th a t Italians and Poles were m ore largely represented and E nglish-speaking im m igrants less. One-third of the m others canvassed in this district had been em ployed after marriage, and less th an one-fifth (17 per cent) in the six m onths preceding the interview, the proportions being practically the sam e as those in W e s t Philadel phia. N a tiv e-b orn m others predom inated, b u t som e Italians and Poles were also found. A larger percentage of m others in Southw est Philadelphia than in W e st Philadelphia were em ployed in factories and a sm aller percentage in trade, clerical w ork, and the professions, a difference th a t m a y be attributed to the presence of the newer im m igrant groups. T h e size of the fam ilies in the tw o districts was m u ch the sam e. T h e propor tion of broken hom es showed little variation. T h e striking similarities found in 2 Two separate districts in West Philadelphia north of Market Street were included in the study. The smaller section was in ward 24, just across the Schuylkill River north of Haverford Avenue, the eastern boundary line being formed by the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks, which curve northeast to Thirty-fourth Street. Here the line ran south to Fairmount Avenue, west to Thirty-eighth Street, and south again to meet Haverford Avenue. The larger section occupied part of two wards, 24 and 44. It extended from Fortieth to Fifty-second Street and consisted for the most part of a strip two blocks wide between Brown Street and Westminster Avenue. In the northwest corner the boundary line extended one block north to Cathedral Cemetery and two blocks east to Fiftieth Street. In the southeast corner the line ran south from Brown Street on Forty-second Street, east to Lancaster Avenue, then southeast on the avenue to Fortieth Street, where, turning northward, it formed a straight eastern boundary as far as Westminster. 3Two separate sections in ward 40 were included in the study, the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks passing through the centers of both. The boundary line of the larger area ran along Sixtieth Street from Eastwick to Kingressing, then turned south to Sixty-fourth Street, thence east to Woodland Avenue, north to Sixtysecond Street, east to Eastwick, and north to Sixtieth. The boundary of the southern and smaller area followed Sixty-eighth Street from Dicks to Woodland Avenue, then south to Seventieth, east to Elmwood, again east on Seventieth Street to Dicks, then north to Sixty-eighth Street. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 32 C H IL D R E N OF W O R K IN G M O T H E R S I N P H IL A D E L P H IA these districts— one an old section near the center of the city and close to indus tries of all kinds and the other quite far rem oved in opportunities for em ploy m ent— indicate th a t the determ ining factor in m others’ em p loym en t is n o t the proxim ity of industry. District 4 (South Philadelphia) 4 T h e section of South Philadelphia chosen for stu d y is an old residential district peopled largely b y native Am ericans of Irish stock and b y Irish im m igrants. T h e neighborhood appeared to be less prosperous than either W e st or Southw est Philadelphia. In n ationality representation it was alm ost an exact counterpart of W e s t Philadelphia, having in general the sam e proportion of native-born w hites, the sam e proportion of Irish and other E nglish-speaking im m igrants, and in general the sam e m ixture of other foreign born. I t is possible, therefore, to contrast the em p loym en t of m others of th e sam e nationalities under different econom ic circumstances. T h e extent of em p loym en t of married w om en w ith young children was greater in South Philadelphia than in W e s t and Southw est Philadelphia, b u t less than in the other districts studied. O f the w hite m others canvassed, 38 per cent had been em ployed after marriage, 20 per cent w ithin the six m onths preceding the interview. T w o hundred and fo rty-fo u r worked aw ay from hom e. T h e lower econom ic level of the m others in South Philadelphia, as contrasted w ith those in W e s t Philadelphia, is reflected in the occupations of these m others em ployed outside their hom es. F orty -fo u r per cent were in m anufacturing and mechanical industries, the largest num bers in textiles, b u t an appreciable num ber in cigar and tobacco, clothing, food, leather, and other factories. A nother 44 per cent were in dom estic and personal service, m ore than half as charw om en. O nly 9 per cent were in trade, clerical, or professional work. O n the other hand, in W e st Philadelphia only 21 per cent of the m others were in factories, and an unusually large proportion (34 per cent) were in the so-called “ w hite-collar” jobs. Econom ic distress was evidenced in this district b y the absence of a larger proportion of fathers (30 per cent) from the hom es of m others w ho were em ployed when interviewed. T h e average num ber of children am ong m others w ho had worked in the six m onths preceding the interview was 2 .4 and am ong those who were n ot em ployed 2 .8 . T h e fam ilies in this district also contained m ore than the average num ber of children under 6 years of age. T h e presence of these sm all children m a y have dictated to som e extent the hours of the m others’ work and accounted, at least in part, for the high percentage w ho were em ployed as charwomen, work in which hours are m ore easily adjusted to fam ily needs. District 5 (Nicetovm) 6 N icetow n is a relatively new residential district typical of the sections occupied b y industrial workers. T h e foreign-born nationalities of this district were varied. Poles were the largest single group am ong the foreign born, b u t they were not so numerous as to affect the exten t and nature of m o th ers’ em ploym ent, as in R ich m on d and Frankford. T hree-fifths of the working m others were foreign born. A lthough half the m others h ad been em ployed after marriage— m ore than one-fourth in the six m onths preceding the interview — th e y had n ot w orked so long as in the other sections in which the foreign born were in the m a jo rity b u t in duration of em p loy m en t approached m ore nearly the districts occupied chiefly b y the native born. T h e m others who worked aw ay from hom e— three-fourths of them were in this group— were m o stly in dom estic and personal service— day workers in private * This section was situated south of Grays Ferry Avenue in the central part of ward 36. It comprised about 30 city blocks. The northern boundary line was Grays Ferry Avenue from Napa Street to Twentyeighth, where it crossed the railroad tracks and continued along Federal to Twenty-fourth Street. The eastern boundary line followed Twenty-fourth Street to the south side of Wharton Square, there swinging eastward and surrounding the two city blocks between Reed and Dickinson Streets and Twenty-fourth and Twenty-second Streets. This made a small, practically separate area west of Twenty-fourth Street and contiguous to the larger area only at the junction of Twenty-fourth and Reed Streets. The boundary of the larger area continued from this junction point west on Reed Street to Twenty-sixth Street, then south to Tasker, west on Thirtieth, north to Wharton, west to Napa, and north to Grays Ferry Avenue. 8The territory covered in Nicetown was roughly triangular in shape, the lower point of the triangle fall ing at the intersection of Hunting Park Avenue and Clarissa Street. One side of the triangle ran northeast along Hunting Park Avenue to Broad and then up Broad to Cayuga Street, and another side ran northwest along Clarissa Street, then up Pulaski and Wayne Avenues to Wayne Junction Station. The northern border of the Nicetown district followed an irregular line down Germantown Avenue to Eighteenth Street, then northward to Cayuga, and east to Broad Street. The section east of Germantown Avenue lay in the northwestern part of ward 43, and the section on the west side in ward 38, except for a very small area near Wayne Junction that lay in ward 22. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis THE WORKING MOTHERS 33 fam ilies, laundry workers, and charw om en. H a lf the factory workers were in textile m ills, and the next largest group were workers in m e ta l'a n d electrical supplies. T h e reasons for m o th ers’ em p loym en t in N icetow n were not so obvious as in som e of the other sections. One-fifth of those who h ad w orked w ithin six m onths preceding the inquiry had lost their husbands through death or desertion and so had assum ed the burden of fa m ily support. O f the remainder, it is likely, to judge from the general appearance of the neighborhood, th a t a significant proportion found their earnings necessary for the upkeep of the fam ily. T h e size of the fam ily was abou t the average for foreign-born working and non working m others, falling approxim ately half w ay betw een those in Frankford and in R ich m on d . M ore th an half the m others who h ad w orked after marriage had children of preschool age. T h e m others who had n ot com bined gainful em p loy m ent w ith household duties h ad more you n g children than the working mothers. District 6 (.Northern Liberties) 6 Northern Liberties, a congested area near the center of the city in which the families were crowded into three and four story tenem ents, presents a picture of the em p loym en t of m others am ong the poorer Jews and Russians. M a n y of the native born were of Jewish or R ussian extraction, so th a t the custom s of these tw o peoples were reflected in the em p loym en t of m others in the district as a whole. Four d ay nurseries within the area selected for canvass were provided to care for children of working m others. T w o-th ird s of the m others included in the hou se-to-house canvass were foreign born— one-third Jews, one-fifth. Russians (other th an Jews), one-seventh Poles, and a scattering of other peoples, m o stly Slavic. A lthough the e m p loym en t of married w om en was less general th an in m ost of the other districts in w hich the foreign born predom inated, nearly half the m others who had children under 16 had worked after m arriage; more than one-fourth had been em ployed in the six m on th s preceding the interview. These m others as a group had worked m ore regularly after marriage than the other w hite m others included in the stu d y ; 4 4 per cent, as contrasted w ith 30 per cent of all white m others, had worked five or m ore years after marriage, and 19 per cent had worked at least 10 years. In spite of the fact th a t the population was m ade up largely of Jews and Russians, am ong w hom the w om en tend to w ork at hom e or in business in con nection w ith their hom es, 73 per cent of the m others in this district were em ployed aw ay from hom e. F orty-seven per cent of the outside workers were in factories— m o stly clothing or cigar and tobacco factories. A few were in textile, food, leather, and paper-box factories. F orty -fo u r per cent were in dom estic and personal service, chiefly as cleaners in offices, stores, and other buildings, and as hotel and restaurant workers. Nineteen, per cent of the w orking m others were proprietors of stores or were assistants or partners in stores, w ork shops, or other business enterprises m aintained b y their relatives. T h is was the only district in which the m others who were em ployed averaged as m a n y children per fam ily (2.4) as did th e m others who were occupied chiefly w ith household duties. M a n y of these families had one or m ore children under 6 years of age. For a foreign-born group the percentage of hom es in which the father or a stepfather was not present (27 per cent) was unusually large and probably accounted for th e degree to w hich m others of nationalities not ordi narily found a t w ork outside their hom es were forced into the industrial field. I t was no d ou bt p ov erty here, as in R ichm ond and South Philadelphia, th a t necessitated the w ork of m others of relatively large fam ilies, irrespective of national custom and th e needs of the children for a m other’s care. District 7 {Richmond)7 T h e part of R ichm ond chosen for survey is a th ickly populated residential section of th e poorer class of Poles. T h e streets are narrow and dirty, and the 6This district covered sections of wards 12,13, and 16. The boundaries were long and irregular. With Eighth and Poplar Streets as the northwest corner, the bounday line may be described as following a course south on Eighth Street to Noble, east to Sixth, north to Buttonwood, east to Fourth, north to Green, then making a little jutty eastward to Galloway, north to Fairmont Avenue, and back to Fourth Street, continu ing thence northward to Poplar, southeast on Poplar to Second Street, north to Girard Avenue, west to Randolph, south to Poplar, and west again to Eighth Street. 7 This district consisted of about 14 city blocks in the southern part of ward 45. The ward line, Allegheny Avenue from Richmond to Almond Street, formed a part of the boundary line, which then turned northeast on Almond Street, continued to Tioga, thence southeast to Edgemont Street, southwest to Westmoreland, following the railroad tracks there to Richmond Street, where a right-hand turn brought it back to Alle gheny Avenue. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 34 CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS IN PHILADELPHIA houses are sm all and often in a bad state of repair. T h e general atm osphere was th a t of neglect and p overty. M oth ers for the m ost part found em p loym en t in factories. ' E m p lo ym en t of m others am on g the Poles is illustrated b y the findings in Richm ond and Frankford and to a lesser extent in N icetow n. F ifty -fo u r per cent of th e m others living in th e R ichm ond district were Polish. M ore th an half the m others living in this section had w orked after m arriage, and m ore th an one-fifth had been em ployed in the six m onths preceding the interview. T h e y found em p loym en t aw ay from hom e for the m ost part (78 per cent) in factories— in the near-by m ills of K en sington and in cigar, tobacco, and other factories throughout th e city. G ainful em p loym en t was not a new experience to these w om en. M a n y of th em had w orked ever since th e y were married. Large fam ilies were the rule in this district. In fact there were m ore children per fam ily (2.7) am on g these working m others than in an y other, and m ore even than am ong nonworking m others in m o st districts. T hree children were m ore com m on th an either one or tw o, and 14 per cent of the working m others had five or m ore children under 16. D e ath or desertion of the father was n ot an im p ortant factor in forcing these m others of large fam ilies to go to work. O n th e contrary, the husbands were living a t hom e m ore often than in any of the other districts except Passayunk. I t was no d ou b t their low earnings, w hich did not m eet the necessities of fife, th a t led the m other to find som e w ay to supplem ent the fam ily income. District 8 (Frankford) 8 T h e Frankford district is predom inantly a Polish district, w hich m akes possible com parison of the em p loym en t of m others in this section and the R ichm ond section. Frankford is industrial to a great extent, ranking in this respect next to K ensington am ong th e sections studied. I t has a num ber of large textile m ills, a chocolate factory, a leather w orks, and som e m etal industries, all of which em ploy w om en. In Frankford, as in R ich m on d , the em ploym en t of married w om en was the rule rather th an the exception, m ore th an half the m others having been em ployed after marriage and m ore than one-fourth in the six m onths preceding the inter view. M o s t of th em w orked aw ay from hom e. E ig h ty -tw o per cent of the m others who worked outside their hom es were factory workers, as com pared w ith 78 per cent in R icnm ond, the largest percentages of factory workers found in the districts canvassed. A lth ou gh th e am ou n t and kind of em p loym ent were m uch th e sam e as in R ich m on d, there were indications th a t the econom ic pressure was n ot so great in Frankford. T h e m others did n ot w ork so regularly nor had th ey worked for as m a n y years as those of R ich m ond. W ork in g m others and m others w ho did n ot w ork had fewer children (2 .4 and 2 .6 per cent, respectively) than did th e corresponding groups in R ich m on d. Furtherm ore, the children of the em ployed m oth er were less often under 6 years of age. A pp arently m others of large fam ilies and m others of sm all children were financially better able to sta y a t hom e and care for th em in this district th an were the m others of the sam e nationality in R ichm ond. District 9 (.Passayunk) 9 T h e m others in th e P assayunk district were em ployed to m uch the sam e extent (45 per cent) as were m others in other districts. Sixty-six per cent were born in Ita ly , an d m a n y of th e others were of Italian parentage. In contrast to the m others in th e other districts on ly 2 9 per cent w orked aw ay from hom e, and these were usually em ployed in m anufacturing and mechanical industries. M ore than half th e m others were industrial hom e workers, and alm ost one-fifth were sm all shopkeepers. T heir work in either case enabled th em to keep in touch w ith their children, of w hom there were often five or more, th e average per fam ily for working » The boundary line of this district from its southwest corner at Frankford Creek and Church Street followed the creek to Orthodox Street, then turned north to Stiles Street, east to Tucker, south to the creek, again following the water to the United States Arsenal on Bridge Street. Here a straight turn north was made to Torresdale Street, then west to Orthodox, south to the first line of the railroad tracks, then west along the tracks to Church Street, and south to the creek. Within this territory Melrose and Millnor Streets between Church and Orthodox and Duncan Street between Melrose and Bermuda were omitted from the canvass, but Stiles Street between Orthodox and Tucker Streets, which formed a part of the boundary line, was included. . , ' ,,, ' . •This district in southeast Philadelphia consisted of four blocks between Eighth and Tenth Streets and Morris and Mifflin in the heart of the Italian settlement. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis THE WORKING MOTHERS 35 m others being 2 .6 and for th e nonworking 3. Italian m others were rarely the chief breadw inners; m ore than 90 per cent of th e m others in this district had husbands at hom e. District 10 (Girard College District) 10 A district in the neighborhood of Girard College was chosen for stu d y. Here the population was predom inately negro an d represented relatively poor negro families. v > O f th e 7 6 7 m others interviewed w ho h ad children under 16 years of age, 83 per cent h ad been em ployed after marriage, and 62 per cent had been em ployed in the six m onths preceding the interview. Practically all were em ployed aw ay from hom e. T e n per cent of the outside workers were in factories, m o stly clothing factories. E igh ty-eigh t per cent were in dom estic and personal service— a few in hotels, restaurants, and laundries, b u t the v a st m a jority doing cleaning and other day work in private fam ilies. . • These negro m others apparently had worked regularly after marriage. O nehalf had w orked 5 years or m ore, and one-fourth 10 years or more, of their married lives. W ork in g m others in th e district averaged 2.1 children, whereas those who were n ot em ployed averaged 2 .4 per fam ily. T h e negro m others w ho had not been em ployed after marriage h ad w ith few exceptions one or m ore sm all children w ho required their constant care; m ore than half of th em had tw o or m ore chil dren under 6 years of age. M o s t of these also h ad husbands a t hom e. District 11 (West Philadelphia) 11 T h e negro district in W e s t Philadelphia represented negro families who were, on the whole, on a com paratively higher econom ic level than those in the Girard College district. I t is possible, therefore, to stu d y the part th a t economic conditions p la y in the em p loym en t of negro m others b y com paring the findings in the Girard College and the W e s t Philadelphia district. In W e s t Philadelphia less th an three-fourths of th e m others had worked after marriage, a little m ore th an half working in the six m onths preceding the inter view. T h e Girard College district showed 10 per cent m ore em ployed in each group. M o s t of the 2 77 negro m others in the W e s t Philadelphia district w ho were em ployed in th e 6-m o n th period w orked aw ay from hom e. T h e occupational distribution was m uch th e sam e in th e tw o districts. D om estic and personal service absorbed th e great m a jority of m others in b oth. W e s t Philadelphia had a few m ore dressmakers an d professional workers than the poorer negro section, b u t these workers form ed such a sm all part of th e whole group th a t th ey have no particular significance. ' . In addition to the smaller percentages em ployed, the higher economic standards in W e s t Philadelphia are further' indicated b y th e shorter periods of tim e after marriage th a t the m others had w orked; 38 per cent had w orked less than tw o years and 63 per cent less th an five, as contrasted w ith 2 8 and 51 per cent, respectively, in th e vicinity of Girard College. T h en , too, m others w ho had w orked in this section h ad smaller fam ilies. H a lf had only one child, the average fam ily for the district being tw o children. T h e smaller fam ily is reflected in the num ber of children of preschool age. Slightly less th an half th e working m others in each district had no children under 6, b u t 8 4 per cent of those in W e s t Philadel phia had no m ore than one child in this age group, as com pared w ith 75 per cent in th e Girard College section. A lth ou gh the great m ass of negro w om en are accustom ed to gainful em p loym en t from childhood, in both W e s t Philadelphia and the Girard College district evidence of a tendency to give up such work when their children are sm all or as soon as fam ily circumstances perm it was found in this stu d y. io This district lay just north of Girard College grounds. The northern boundary was Montgomery Street between Twenty-fourth and Twentieth Streets; the eastern, along Twentieth Street to JefTereon Street; and the southern, along Jefferson from Twentieth to Twenty-six Street. The western boundary line ran north on Twenty-six Street to Columbia Street, then east to Twenty-fourth Street, and north again to join the starting point at Montgomery and Twenty-fourth Streets. The northeastern and northwestern sections of wards 29 and 47, respectively, were thus represented. .. .. .. , ft This district of West Philadelphia, occupied chiefly by negro families, included two small areas north or Market Street, principally within ward 34. The smaller one extended into ward 44, being bounded on the east by Lindenwood Street, on the north by Race, on the west by Vodges, and on the south by Market. The second area was farther west, the southern boundary being still on Market Street, the eastern on Fifty-seventh Street, and the western on Sixtieth. Vine Street constituted the northern boundary from Fifty-seventh Street to Fifty-eighth Street, then the line ran south one block and continued on Race Street wast to Sixtieth. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis APPENDIX B.— TABLES SHOWING EMPLOYMENT OF MOTHERS IN THE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS g T a b l e I .— Race and nationality o f mothers having children under 16 years of age in specified districts o f Philadelphia Race reported................................................................................... 12, 212 100 White _____________________ _______ ______________________ 10,243 84 6,427 4,801 1,190 704 682 881 426 455 284 284 187 351 238 136 102 15 1,966 3 15 44 39 10 Irish_________________________________________ Russian______________________ Other............... ........... ......... German........................................ Nationality not reported_______ Other____________________ 1Less than 1 per cent. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis fi 6 7 3 4 2 2 2 3 2 1 1 0) 16 0) _____ 1,776 __ 385 Ut © a3 _____ (-1 © a3 A 354 _____ © a3 A 1,848 _____ <E > a £ 891 _____ Ut © x> a3 A 1,084 1,280 100 1,239 100 1,788 100 1,774 100 384 100 354 100 1,847 100 890 100 1,260 1,237 100 1,662 93 1,547 384 100 354 100 1,620 88 882 1,027 1,140 519 12 145 231 32 21 11 38 20 8 21 12 4 8 3 126 64 29 1 8 13 2 1 1 2 1 (l) 1 1 1,043 59 93 24 500 28 291 76 209 54 3 0 2 1 20 1 4 1 234 13 1 111 6 5 58 3 1 53 3 5 52 3 22 1 6 2 1 20 61 16 1 23 1 2 1 1 2 15 7 0 1 8 0 2 4 (>) 227 13 107 246 409 1,207 176 11 9 507 281 226 24 117 48 185 130 97 33 4 227 22 65 10 1 0 27 15 12 1 6 3 10 7 5 2 0 12 308 35 574 64 396 44 44 5 1 10 42 5 1 0 41 5 11 1 23 3 4 36 1 8 4 0 3 0 1 0 944 74 313 24 43 3 1 10 58 5 27 2 19 1 8 1 97 8 38 3 1 (l) 1 16 23 2 1 7 1 16 3 0 18 2 2 0 6 833 404 63 145 64 29 11 18 33 13 12 32 13 7 6 2 1 67 33 5 12 5 2 1 1 3 1 1 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 7 2 87 1 30 69 233 66 1 0 1 4 1 (!) 3 1 2 6 1 2 2 6 1 0 1 8 1 99 1 a3 ¡Z¡ 616 — 1,084 100 98 t-i X CD a3 A 958 — 616 100 Per cent dis tribution 1,789 A a3 I Per cent dis1 tribution __ A Ut S pO West Girard Nicetown Philadel phia College (negro) I Per cent dis1 tribution 1,240 A a3 Frankford 1 tribution ¡z¡ t-4 < D Northern Liberties I Per cent dis- a Passayunk I Per cent dis1 tribution <5 M Rich mond I Per cent dis1 tribution A 1,286 Total....................................................... 12, 227 Foreign born______ ___________ __________ a3 1 Per cent dis1 tribution % © Per cent dis tribution a3 Ut £ Per cent dis tribution Ut 3 rO Per cent dis tribution Bace and nationality of mother West Philadel phia (white) I Per cent dis1 tribution South Southwest Philadel Philadel phia phia Per cent dis trib u tio n ! Kensing ton Tota — 956 100 95 82 13 188 20 389 36 638 59 286 26 88 8 60 6 80 7 8 1 72 7 24 2 37 3 1 0 51 5 11 1 43 39 7 6 118 70 2 6 4 10 7 3 3 1 1 1 12 7 0 1 0 0 0 7 34 19 15 2 5 1 4 2 2 2 1 0 0 3 17 8 9 87 767 1 2 11 1 10 5 3 2 57 5 534 0 0 1 2 1 1 80 0 C H IL D R E N OF W O R K IN G M O T H E R S I N P H IL A D E L P H IA Mothers having children under 16 years of age 37 T H E W O R K IN G M O T H E R S T a b l e . I I .— Race and employment history o f mothers having children under 16 years o f age in certain specified districts o f Philadelphia Mothers having children under 10 years of age Employment since marriage Race of mother and district of residence Total White. Kensington____________ Southwest Philadelphia. South Philadelphia........ West Philadelphia_____ Richmond_____________ Passayunk____________ Northern Liberties_____ Frankford_____________ Nicetown_____________ Other districts_____ _ Negro_____________ West Philadelphia. Girard College____ Other districts._ Chinese_________ Race not reported. Employed Not employ Not re in 6 ed in 6 Not ported months im months im whether employed Total mediately mediately employ employed preceding preceding ed in 6 date of date of months interview interview immedi ately pre ceding Num Per Num Per Num Per date of Num Per ber cent1 ber cent1 ber cent1 interview ber cent1 10,243 4,486 44 2,384 23 2,098 20 1,260 1,237 1,662 1,547 384 354 1,620 882 1,027 270 716 415 632 617 196 159 746 468 509 128 57 34 38 33 51 45 46 53 50 47 370 209 333 264 83 82 436 241 277 89 29 17 20 17 22 23 27 27 27 33 346 205 298 252 113 77 310 227 231 39 27 17 18 16 29 22 19 26 22 14 1,966 1,569 80 1,115 57 452 23 534 767 665 391 638 540 73 83 81 277 473 365 52 62 55 114 163 175 21 21 26 3 15 3 12 2 8 4 1 1 1 1 5,757 56 544 822 1,030 li 030 188 195 874 414 518 142 43 66 62 67 49 55 54 47 50 53 2 397 20 2 143 129 125 27 17 19 1 4 1Per cent not shown where number of mothers is less than 50. T a b l e I I I .— Whereabouts o f husband and race o f mothers em ployed in six months immediately preceding date o f interview; mothers having children under 16 years o f age in specified districts o f Philadelphia Mothers employed in 6 months immediately preceding date of interview Whereabouts of husband Race of mother and district of residence Total At home Away Dead Not Total re Mother re never ported Num Per Num Per Num Per port married ber cent1 ber cent1 ber cent1 ed White. 2,384 2,330 1,764 76 297 13 269 12 47 Kensington_____ ____ _ Southwest Philadelphia. South Philadelphia____ West Philadelphia_____ Richmond.:____________ Passayunk____________ Northern Liberties_____ Frankford_____________ Nicetown........................ Other districts_______ Negro___________________ 370 349 209 205 333 330 264 260 83 80 82 79 436 433 241 236 277 271 89 ' 87 1,115 1,052 247 151 232 187 71 72 314 205 214 71 787 71 74 70 72 89 91 73 87 79 82 75 65 26 48 43 1 3 65 16 23 7 167 19 13 15 17 1 4 15 7 8 8 16 37 28 50 30 8 4 54 15 34 9 98 11 14 15 12 10 5 12 6 13 10 9 20 3 3 1 3 3 2 4 6 2 36 210 309 268 1 2 78 71 77 36 79 52 13 18 15 22 46 30 8 11 9 3 29 4 1 4 West Philadelphia______ Girard College_________ Other districts________ Chinese____ ______ ______ Race not reported_____ ___ 277 473 365 2 8 268 434 350 1 3 1Per cent not shown where number of mothers is less than 50. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 1 if 7 1 1 3 1 i 27 6 10 11 1 T able IV . — Place o f work, industry and occupation, and race o f mothers employed in six months imm ediately preceding date o f interview; 00 mothers having children under 16 years o f age in certain specified districts o f Philadelphia District of residence Negro mothers White mothers North Frankern Liber ford ties 264 81 160 7 966 198 55 41 1 0) 5 23 Transportation_____________________ 104 16 4 14 Trade______________ _______________ 4 1 3 32 Professional service--------- ------ - ........... 1,517 61 17 83 Employees in restaurants, hotels, 226 15 4 27 Cleaners and other workers in pri5 8 863 27 3 39 268 11 2 12 158 8 Clerical----------- ------------------------------Not renortine occurtation____________ https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 75 25 7 4 2 1 10 3 81 244 21 108 3 4 7 11 2 3 42 107 14 3 20 6 5 2 23 17 60 7 9 2 77 203 77 I T 34 42 16 3 1 9 3 29 11 1 11 4 34 7 33 7 5 19 2 3 1 24 28 22 13 20 5 82 " 9 11 8 5 8 2 61 I7 z z __ 89 ___ 277 —— 4 7 3 — 436 . . . . 241 . . . . 277 95 24 30 312 73 184 77 205 74 1 1 17 21 146 3 34 151 1 63 78 4 0) 32 (it 21 4 Iß 2 2 1 137 24 1 3 4 50 12 3 10 4 23 59 5 5 14 1 6 8 4 12 1 1 1 2 0 a ë ¿2 a k © rQ a z 74 31 35 242 89 433 16 6 1 0 1 2 1 4 11 217 79 13 15 2 4 4 10 112 41 iö 3 11 4 3 3 16 6 29 3 3 29 36 35 11 13 13 3 1 3 3 173 1 7 3 21 63 309 3 11 8 29 4 4 4 2 1 0 6 3 366 — 93 338 6 2 1 2 4 18 66 239 2 2 6 19 0 2 1 z 2 1 0 9 51 42 2 1 0 2 0 1 2 0 378 81 279 28 2 © 89 100 27Ì” 100 466 100 356 100 6 1 9 2 © U Per cent dis tribution ¡1 a I Per cent distribution ê a © rO U 0 a 1 A O *0 © Pi 8 4* 0 a 8 as « 1 a © «¿2 Per cent dis tribution ¿2 6 1 g © 100 81 100 429 100 238 100 276 100 2 1 West Girard Other Other Phila College districts districts delphia Per cent dis tribution z 82 83 Place of work reported.............. ................................. 3,434 358 100 197 100 318 100 263 100 Away from home____________________________ 2,749 290 ê a S-4 © I Per cent dis1 tribution ê B © ¿2 1 Per cent dis1 tribution a ¡5 & 1Per cent dis1 tribution Ü 333 209 Total----------------- ----- ------------------------- 3,509 370 a h © rO Per cent distribution ¡1 © 1 a U Per cent dis tribution U © rO Per cent dis tribution ¡25 Per cent dis tribution *3 o ë -a a U Nicetown Per cent dis tribution Passayunk I Per cent distribution Rich mond 1 South South West west Phila Phila Phila delphia delphia delphia 1 Ken sington 1 P lace of work and industry and occupation 0 1 2 8 2 7 95 — 5 1 14 — 1 0 79 2 1 3 67 . . . . 1 — 5 1 1 1 5 1 0 1 2 1 0 1 — C H IL D R E N OF W O R K IN G M O T H E R S I N P H IL A D E L P H IA Mothers employed in 6 months immediately preceding date of interview At home__________ ________________ I ___ Close by or connected with home’ _______ 260 20 6 14 7 19 6 13 5 2 2 165 87 8 12 8 3 2 11 3 6 2 15 4 5 1 3 10 1 4 2 2 425 48 13 23 12 55 17 47 18 2 2 75 12 12 15 1 1 11 28 6 15 4 10 4 19 7 1 (!) 7 15 6 2 3 1 5 10 1 3 1 0) 6 1 2 1 4 7 53 35 8 9 4 27 10 3 3 30 43 53 6 25 9 2 1 (!) 7 2 3 24 1 3 9 1 1 2 1 2 14 17 82 44 16 55 62 43 1 7 19 45 3 19 1 10 .... 2 2 1 ____ 1 1Less than 1 per cent. ’ Includes 416 mothers working in own or relative’s store, shop or business in or very near dwelling, and 9 mothers in domestic and personal service close by or connected with home. o THE WORKING MOTHERS CO 50 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis