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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BULLETIN
OF
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THE
WOMEN'S
BUREAU,
NO.
lZO
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
FRANCES PERKINS, Secretary
WOMEN'S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Director
BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN'S
BUREAU, NO. 120
THE EMPLOYMENT OF
WOMEN IN OFFICES
BY
ETHEL ERICKSON
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON 11934
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CONTENTS
Page
Letter of transmittaL _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ _ __ ____ _ ___ _ __ __ _ ___ ___
Part !.- Introduction and summary __ _________ ____________ __________
Scope of Women's Bureau study_ _______ ________ _______________ _
Sum mary ____ ______________ __ _________ ______________ ___ ___ ___
Data from office records_ __ ___________ ________________ _________
Median salary by t ype of office _ _ _ __ _ __ __ ___ __ ___ __ __ __ _ __ __
Salary and occupation ___________ _______ ____ ______ ______ __ _
Usual salary range and occupation __ ____ ___________ ______ ___
Age __ _________ __________________________________________
Length of service with present firm_ __________ _______________
General schooling _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ __ _ __ _ _ ____ __ __ __ _ __ _ __ __ __ _
Marital status_ _________________ _____ _____ ________ __ ____ __
Scheduled working hours __ ____ ____________________ ___ ____ __
General employment policies__ ____ ___ ___________ ____________ ___
Overtime___________ ___ __ ____ ___ _ __ __ __ ___ __ _ ___ _ __ _ _ __ ___
Vacations_____________ ________ __________________ ___ ___ ___
Mechanization____ ____ ____ ____ ____________ ________ _________ __ _
Dictating machines __ ______ __________ ____________ __________
Bookkeeping machines ___ ___ _____ "'"_ __ __ ___ _ ___ __ _ __ __ _ __ _ __
Other machines ___ _ __ __ __ _ _ ___ __ _ __ _ __ ___ __ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ __ _ __
Part IL- Office workers in New York ______ _______________ ________ __
Introduction___ _____ __ ___ ___ ______ __ __ ____________________ ____
Scope of survey___ _____ _____ ____ ______ ___ ______ ________ ___
Summary_ ______ ______ ____ ___ __ ___ ______ _____ __ __ ______ __
Data from office records _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ ____ _ _ _ ___ __ __ _ __ _ ___
T ype of office and monthly salary rate ___ __ __________________
Occupation____ ______ _____ ___ ____ ___ __ ___ _________ _______ _
Occupation and monthly salary ___ ________ __ ______________ __
Schooling _________ ______ ___ __________ _____ ______________ _
Schooling and median salary rate__ _________ __ ____________
Schooling, experience, and median rate_~_ ___ ___ ______ ________
Business school supplementing general schooling ___ ________ ·__ _
Advanced schooling and median rate ____ _______ ____ __ _______
Age ___ _____ __ ____ _____ _____ ______ ______ __ _____ ___ ______ _
Age and median rate_____ _______ ________ ___ ______________ _
Experience ___ _______ ___ ___ ___ ____ _________ ______________ _
Reason for leaving last job_ __________________ ______ ___ ____ _
Marital status _ _ __ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ _ ___ _ _ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ _ __ ___ _
Scheduled hours_ ____________ _______________________ ______
Personnel policies__ ______ __ ____ ______ ___ ______________ ________
Employment methods ___ __________ _______ ____ ___ "'______ __ _
Overtime___ ______ __ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ __ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ ___ ___ _ __ _ __ __
Rest periods______ ___ ____________________________________ _
Vacations_____ ________ ____ __________ __________ ___________
Payment during illness__ ____ _________ _______ ______________ _
Salary increases and promotions ___ __ ______________________ _
Bonus and other methods of payment_ ___ ___________ _____ __ _
Free lunches___ _______ ____________________________________
Pensions__ __ ___ ______ _______ __ ___________________________
Group insurance _______ ____________ __ ___ ___ _______________
Other welfare activities_ _ __ _ __ __ __ _ __ _ __ __ __ _ ___ __ __ _ __ _ __ _
Mechanization_________ ___ ____ __ ___ _____ __________ ________ ____
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CONTENTS
Page
Pa.rt III.-Office workers in Philadelphia _____ __ _________ __ ______ _____
Introduction ________________________________________________ _
Scope of the survey_ _ _ _ __ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ _
Summary___ ________ _______________ ____ __________________
Data from office records_ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ __ __ __ __ _ _ __ __ _ __
Salary rate and t ype of office ______________________________ _
Occupation ______________________________________________ _
Age and its relation to salary_____________________________ __
Schooling __ ____________________________________________ __
Bu~ness schooling___ ______________________ ____ _________ __
Schooling and occupation ________________________________ __
Experience ------- -- ------------------------~------------Promotions and salary increases______ _____________________ _
Time with present firm ___________ .._ _______________________ _
E xperience, education, and median salary___________________ _
Reason for separation from last job ________________________ _
Marital status _ __ _ _ ___ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _
Working hours______________________ _____ _________________
Personnel policies_________________________________ _____ _______
Vacations____ ______ ______________________________________
Salary during illness _____ ___ _______________ "" _ _ _ _ __ __ __ _ _ __ _
Overtime _____________ ___ __ ____ ___ ______ _________________
Supplements to monthly rates and special methods of payment_
Free lunches_ _______________________ _________ __ ___________
Promotions __________________________________________ ____ _
Group insurance _________________________________________ _
Pensions _______________________________________________ __
Other benefits _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _
Mechanization ________________________________________________
Dictating machines____ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ __ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ _
Bookkeeping machines____ ________ __ ____________________ ___
Other machines ___________________________________________
Pa.rt IV.-Office workers in Atlanta _____________________ ___ __ _______
Introduction ___________ ______________________________________
Scope of survey __ ___________ ___ ____ _______________________
Summary_ ______________________________________________ _
Data from office records_______________________________________
Type of office and salary rate __ ______ __________ ____ __ _______
Occupation and salary rate _________ ;_______________________ _
Schooling and salary rate _ _ _ _ _ __ __ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ __ _
Age _____________________________________ ________________
Age and salary rate _ _ _ _ __ __ ___ _ __ __ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ __ _ __ __ _
Age, schooling, and salary rate ___ _______ __ _________________
General schooling and occupation___________________________
Business-school training____ _______________ ___ ______________
Experience_____ __________________________ __ ______________
Median salary rate and time with the firm _______________ ___ _
Schooling, time with the firm, and median salary rate __________
Reason for leaving last job ____ ______ __ ______ ___ ___________ _
Marital status ____ ___ _____________ ""_______________________
Scheduled hours_______ ___________________________________
Personnel policies_ _ _ __ __ ___ __ _ _ __ __ __ __ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ __ _ ___ _
Employment methods ________ ___ ________ __ _______________ _
Bonuses and supplements to salaries_ ______ _____ ___ __________
Promotions and increases in salary_ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ __ __ _ ___ _
Free lunches____________________ ___ _______________________
Vacat ions _______ ___ ____________________ __________________
Payment during illness__________ ________________ _______ ___ _
Overtime_________________________________________________
Pensions _________________________________________________
Group insurance ---------------- ~------------------------ Other welfare activities_ ___ ________ ______________ _____ ___ __
Mechanization___________________ ____ _____________________ ____
Dictating machines_________________ _________ ____ __________
Bookkeeping and billing machines___________________________
Other machines ____________________________ -·-_____________
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CONTENTS
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Page
Part V.-Office workers in Chicago___ ____ _______ ____________________
Introduction______ ____ _______ ______ _____ __ _________ ______ _____
Scope of surveY--------------- -- - ---------------~--- -----Summary______ ___ _________________ ______________________
Ds.ta from office records__________________ _____________ ________
Salaries of women, by type of office____ ___________________ __
Salaries of men, by type of office___ ___ __________________ ____
Occupations and salaries of women ______ __ __ ____________ ____
Occupations and salaries of men ____ .:.__ _____________________
Age and salary_ ______ __ _ _ __ __ _ ___ _ _ __ _ __ _ ___ __ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _
Years in office work_ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ ___ __ __ _ __ _ __ __ _
Time with present firm.------ ---- ----~ ---------- ----- ---- -Salary increases and promotion policies______ __________ ____ __
Reason for leaving last job_____ ___ ____ __________________ ___
Schooling __ _________ ____ ______ _________ _________________ _
General schooling and salary_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ ___ ___ _ __ __ _ _ __ __ _
Business-school training ____________ __ _____________________ _
Marital status _ __ __ __ _ ___ __ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ ____ __ _ __ _ __ _ __ __ __
Hours of work ______ ________ __________ __ ____ ___ ________ ___
Personnel policies_ _ __ ___ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ __ _ _ __ _ ___ __ ___ _ __ _ __ _ __ __ _
Bonuses and other supplements to salaries____________________
Free noon lunches __ ___________ ___________________ ____·_____
Promotions___________________ __________________ ___ ____ ___
Overtime___________ _______ __ __ ____ ___ ____ ______ ________ __
Vacation______________________ ______________ _____________
Payment during illness_________ ______ ______ ________________
Pensions or retirement__ ___ ____ __________________ __________
Group insurance___ _____ __ _____________ ___________________
Other personnel activities_ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ __ __ ___ __ _ __ _ __ __ _ _ __ _
Mechanization____ _________ ____ ___ ____________ __ ___ _____ ______
Dictating machines ____ ____ ____ ____________________________
Bookkeeping machines ___ _ _ _ _ __ __ __ _ _ __ _ __ ___ __ _ __ __ __ _ __ _ _
Other machines _____ __ _____ _______ ________________________
Negro women in Chicago and Atlanta_______ ____________________
Part VI.-Office workers in St. Louis__ ___ ___ _________ _______________
Introduction________ ____ _______________________ __ _____________
Scope of survey__________ _________________________________
Summary_ ________ __ ___ _________ _____ ______ _____ _____ ____
Data from office records_ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ __ __ __ _ ___ _ _ _ _ __ _ _
Salary and type of office_ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ ___ __ __ __ _ _ _ _ __ __
Salary and occupational distribution_ ________ __ _____ _______ __
Salary and age _______ _______ _____ _________ __ _______ _______
Length of time in office work_ ___ ____ _______________________
Number of jobs held__ ___ ___________ _____ _______ ___ _____ ___
Time with present firm_________ ____ _________________ ______
Reaso11 for changing job_____ ____ __ _________________ _______
Salary increases___ ___ ___ ___ ____ _____ ____ _______________ ___
Schooling __ ____ ____ ____ ___ ___________________ ____ ______ __
Schooling and salary rates_____ ________ ______ ___________ ___ _
Business-school training __ __ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ _ __ __ ___ _ __ __ _ _ __ __ __
Mari tal stat us_ _ ___ _ _ __ _ _ _ ___ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ __ _ ___ ___ _ __ __ _ ___ _
Hours of work_________ _____________________________ ______
Overtime_______ _____________ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ __ __ __ _ __ __ _ __ _ ___
Personnel policies_ _ _ __ _ ___ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ __ _ __ __ _ __ _ _ ___ _
Employmeot methods___ ________________________________ __
Promotions_____________ ___ __________ __________________ ___
Payment during illness____________________________________ _
Vacations_________ ____________________________________ ___
R etirement________ ________ __ _____________________________
Group insurance_ __________ __ ___________________________ __
Bonuses supplementing rates __ _____________________________
Education for employees___________ ___ ________ ___________ __
Mechanization_______________ ______ _______________ ___ _______ __
Dictating machines ____ _________ _____ ___________ __ ____ _____
Bookkeeping machines_____________________________________
Other machines___________________________________________
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CONTENTS
Page
Part VIL- Insurance offices in Hart ford and Des Moines___ ___ _______ _
Introduction ____________ _______ ___ ____________________ _____ ___
Scope of study __ __ .., _____ ________ ________ ____________ _____ _
Summary_______________ _____ ________ ___ _______ _________ _
Data from office records_____ _________ _______________ __ ________
Median and distribut ion of salaries__ ___ __ ___ ______ _____ _____
Occupational dist ribut ion ______________________________ ____
Median and distribution of salaries, by occupation __________ __
Salary and age ____ ___ _~--- - -- ------------- - - --- ---------- General schooling _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ __ _ __ _ __ _ __ _
Schooling and occupat ion _____________________ _____________
Special business training _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ __ __ _ __ _ ___ _ ___ _ _ __ _ __ _
Reasons for leaving jobs__________________ __________________
Experience and length of service wit h fi rm___ _________ ____ ___
Promotions and salary increases_________ __ ________ ________ __
Marital status_ __ _______________________ ______ ___ _____ ____
Working hours___ __________ ____ ____________________ _______
Personnel policies _ _ _ __ _ __ __ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ __ _ __ _ __ _ __
E mployment m ethods___ _____ ___ _______ ____ ___ ___________ _
P ensions and insurance_ _ _ __ _ __ _ __ ____ __ _ __ __ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ __ __
Educational and recreation al activities________________ __ ___ __
Promotions___ ___ ______ ________________ __ _________ _______ _
Overtime ______ ___ _______________________ ____ ___________ _·
Vacations _________ __________________________ ____________ _
Payment during illness ____________________________________ _
Bonuses and other supplem ent s__________ __________________ _
Free lunches___ __ ___ __ __ _______________ __ ________________ _
Mechanization______ ______ _______ __________ __________________ _
Tabulating machines_ ____________ _______ _________________ _
Dictating machines_ __ ______________ ____ ________________ ___
Bookkeeping machines___ __________________________________
Other machines __ __ ___ ________________ _______ ______ ______ _
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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR,
WOMEN'S BUREAU,
Washington, Jidy 6, 1934.
I have the honor to transmit a report on the emplovment
of women in offices, prepared because of the great numbers of women
so occupied (practically 2,000,000 in 1930, and outranked only by
domestic and personal service) and the importance of such information as salaries and rates of advancement to girls choosing their
vocations.
The survey was directed and the report has been written by Ethel
Erickson, industrial supervisor in the Women's Bureau.
Respectfully submitted.
MARY ANDERSON, Director.
Hon. FRANCES PERKINS,
Secretary of Labor.
MADAM:
VII
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THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN
OFFICES
Part 1.-INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY
For several decades office work has been looked upon by large numbers of girls as the most desirable field in which to seek employment.
It has been considered more desirable than the domestic, industrial,
and commercial job opportunities because of less physical effort
involved, shorter hours, income that normally is more regular and
tenure that is more secure, combined with more specious advantages
such as better working conditions, generally more central and desirable working locations, and the prestige of being in the white-collar
group. When a simple record of financial transactions or plain doubleentry bookkeeping was the extent of the requirements, with perhaps
a limited number of letters daily, the office was relatively insignificant.
The growth of large-scale enterprises, the close attention to costs,
the development of a vast technique in corralling markets and
expanding trade have evolved a great variety of business services,
research projects, elaborate cost and other records that have padded
the office framework and entailed a huge army of office workers.
As industrial units grew in size and capital was being amassed in these,
a large number of the auxiliary commercial services such as banking,
investment managing, insurance, advertising, and publishing increased
in importance and in activities and required more clerks.
The demand for clerical workers has far outstripped that for
industrial workers, and the increase in the demand for women has
been greater in offices than in other fields. In 1870 the United
States census reported fewer than 100,000 office workers, 1 most of
whom were men. By 1930 the number was approximately 4,000,000
and for the first time women outnumbered men, constituting 51.5
percent of the total. In 1880 the census recorded 7,019 women in
offices; 50 years later their number was 1,973,353, or 281 times as
many. In 1930, women in office work exceeded those in manufacturing and ranked second in the general divisions of employment,
domestic and personal service topping the list.
Scope of Women's Bureau study
Because of the large number of women in clerical work and requests
for information dealing with their employment, the Women's Bureau
during 1931 and the first 3 months of 1932 made a survey of women
office workers in seven cities. Records were transcribed for almost
43,000 women employed in 314 offices. In the large establishments
records for the entire force were not always taken, but instead a
representative sample of all occupations was selected. The cities
covered were New York, Hartford, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago,
1 The census figures used here as office workers represent the 1930 classification of clerical workers, exclusive only of agents, collectors, and credit men. Figures as nearly comparable as pos&ble were assombled
rrom earlier censuses by the Women's Bureau.
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EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Des Moines, and St. Louis. While the study was limited to certain
types of offices, there was some variation in the kinds covered in the
different cities, but primarily they were offices classed as advertising,
banking, insurance, investment, mail order, publishing, and public
utilities. In Hartford and Des Moines only insurance offices were
surveyed, and in Atlanta, by special request, the scope of the study
was extended to include mercantile, manufacturing and distributing,
credit-rating, and oil-company offices. These data for Atlanta are
included in the totals for all offices in the seven cities but are not
shown by type of office.
The data collected came primarily from three sources:
1. Personnel records showing occupation, experience, education,
age, and marital status of women workers.
2. Salary records.
3. General interviews with the management on numbers of men
and women employed, policies and practices as to hours of work,
overtime, vacations, promotions, and welfare activities, restrictions
based on age or marital status, kinds of office machines used, and effect
of mechanization on employment in the preceding 5-year period.
The number of offices covered and the number of women's salary
records taken were as follows:
City
All cities__ ________ _
New York ____ _______ __
Hartford ____ _____ ____ __
Philadelphia__ _____ ____
Atlanta____ _____ _______
Chicago__ ______ __ ___ __ _
Des Moines________ ____
St. Louis____ ___ __ _____ _
1
2
Offices
visited
314
52
14
45
59
81
13
50
Women whose
records were
secured
42,897
14,025
4,612
6,875
- -1- - - - - - 1
13,712
'9, 575
1, 135
2, 963
2 offices employing 57 Negro women are included in this number.
6 offices employing 101 Negro women are included in this number.
The numbers of men and women employed and the detail by type
of office are given in the report on each separate city.
SUMMARY
Date of survey
1931 and January to March 1932.
Scope
7 cities, 314 establishments, and 42,897 women. In Chicago men's salaries as
well as women's were recorded. Types of offices surveyed in four cities included
banking, insurance, investment, publishing, and public utilities. In Hartford
and Des Moines only insurance offices were covered; in Atlanta a variety of
industries.
·
Monthly salaries
The medians (half the women receiving more and half receiving less) .ranged
from $87 in St. Louis to $109 in New York. Of the large groups, investment
houses ($125) and banks ($111) paid the highest rates, mail-order houses ($72)
and publishers ($87) the lowest.
The best-paying occupations were secretary and supervisor, with medians of
$156 and $153 respectively; those paying the least were file clerk ($81), general
clerk ($90), typist ($93), and certain machine operators ($89 to $94).
Hours of work
Daily hours usually were 7 or 7½; weekly hours ranged from 39 or less, depending on Saturday morning, to 42.
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INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY
Personal information
Most of the women were young (half of them below 25) and single. More than
three-eighths had been 5 or more years with the present firm.
Mechanization
The use of machines was so general and had been a practice for so many years
that exact records as to labor saving were not available. Some displacement was
cited, but transfer to other duties appeared to be the more frequent practice.
DATA FROM OFFICE RECORDS
Median salary by type of office
Throughout this report all statements of earnings are in terms of
monthly salary rates. Where weekly rates were recorded they have
been converted to their monthly equivalents. As the office workers
in this survey rarely suffered deductions for lost time or short absences
due to illness or unavoidable emergency needs, salary rates have been
considered as representative of earnings for the vast majority of the
women. Annual and production bonuses are discussed in the
sections devoted to the various cities.
The median of the monthly salaries for the entire group of over
42,000 women was $99. By cities, the medians had a range from
$87 for St. Louis to $109 for New York. Size of city, section of country, and time at which the survey was made may account for some of
the variations, and other factors undoubtedly have an influence.
Hartford and Des Moines are insurance centers, one in the industrial
East and the other in the heart of the agricultural Midwest; further ,
the Hartford survey was made in March of 1931 and the Des Moines
survey in February of 1932, when the depression had continued another
year; yet the median was $89 for Hartford and $90 for Des Moines.
Since the types of offices varied between cities, instead of comparing the medians for the cities as a whole a comparison of the variations
in the same type of office in the different cities will be made. Banks,
insurance, and public utilities are common to all the cities in numbers
large enough to be representative. The following table shows the
median salary rates found in the various cities for all types and for
five specified types of office:
M edian mon thly salary rate
City
All types
of oflice 1
All cit ies ___ ___ _____ _____ _____ _
.
Banks
$111
$99
109
115
89 --- -- - --- -95
101
89
104
99
114
90 ------- --- 87
96
Insurance
companies
Investment
houses
Public
utilities
Publishers
$125
$93
$105
$87
1--102
126
109
81
89 -- ----- -- -- - - -- --- ---- ---- - -- - --93
112
111
81
90 -- - - - - - ---105
101
93
127
100
106
90 - - - --- ----- ---- - -- -- -- -- - - - -----85
99
90
86
1 - -- - - f - - - - - l - - - -·1- - -- 1 - - - --
New York __-~---- ---- --- --- ---- -- -H artford ____ -- -- ____ ___ _-- -- ---- ---Philadelphia __--- __-- _-- -- -- --- -- -- Atlanta_- -- -- ----- -- --- ----- --- - ---Chicago
___--____
--- --- ------____
-- --Des M oines
___--____
__ --______
__
St. Louis ____ __ ___ ___ __ ____-- -- ------
1 Includes 4 types of office surveyed in Atlanta only, and advertising and mail-order offices surveyed in
3 and 4 cities, respectively, not sho wn separately.
Factors of size of office and policies of management have a direct
bearing on salary schedules. In small offices ~pecialization a~d
division of work are not so great and the proportions of secretanes
and stenographers are relatively high, with fewer routine clerks,
which condition tends t.o raise the median. For example, the largest
publishers, with the greatest proportion of clerks on routine jobs,
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EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
were in New York and Philadelphia, and the median for this type of
office in these cities-$81 in both cases-was the lowest in any city
for any type of office except m ail-order houses. In Chicago a significant proportion of the publishers included were branch offices of
eastern publishing houses, and with smaller offices and much of their
activity of a sales-correspondence nature, salaries were much better
than those paid in the home offices. The same was true of publishers in Atlanta. In much the same way home offices in insurance
paid less than branch offices, and in this survey home offices predominated. Only home offices were covered in Hartford, and they
predominated in Des Moines, New York, Philadelphia, and St. Louis.
Managerial policies and practices undoubtedly would explain
variations in salaries in public utilities. More had been done in job
standardization and definition of lines of promotion in this type than
in any other. Investment offices had high medians that can be attributed chiefly to the smaller size of these offices, with a larger proportion
of secretaries and specially trained and experienced workers. Banks
generally ranked next to investment houses in size of medians, but in
two cities- Philadelphia and Atlanta- the median salary for public
utilities was higher. The median for insurance companies was below
the hundred-dollar mark in all cities but N ew York, and it was only
$102 there. For the large routine office, insurance undoubtedly paid
slightly better than publishing offices of similar size. Advertising
agencies in New York, with a median of $132, paid better than any
other type of office in any city, but opportunities for employment in
this type of ofilce outside of New York were limited. The mail-order
group, with a median of $72 for employees in the four cities covered,
was consistently at the bottom in the median of salaries.
In a distribution of salaries at $25 intervals, about one-fifth of the
women (19.4 percent) are found t o have earned less than $75 a month.
In advertising and investment there were fewer than 2½ percent
with salaries so low as this, but in mail-order houses more than onehalf (54.7 percent) were massed here.
Of the total number, about 57 percent had salaries ranging from
$75 to $124 . Not quite one-fourth earned $125 or more. In advertising and investment approximately one-half, in banks slightly more
than one-third, in public utilities slightly more than one-fourth, in
insurance and publishing about one-sixth, and in the mail-order
offices only about one-sixteenth were being paid $125 or more. In
the group last mentioned only about 14 percent were paid as much as
$100. The accompanying table gives a summary of distribution of
earnings by type of office.
Type of office
All types
t ___ _____ __ ___ __ ___ __ _
Advert isin g agencies ______ _____ ____ _
B anks _____ ___ ________ ___ ____ __ ____ __
Insurance companies ______ _____ ___ __
Investment h ouses __ _______ ______ ___
M a il-order houses 2_____ _____________
Public utilities _______ ___ ____ ____ ____
Publishers ____ __ ______ ______ ____ ____
Number
of women Less t h an
$75
42, 180
942
7,812
15,323
2, 879
4, 293
5,889
4, 188
19. 4
2. 4
4. 3
20. 4
1.6
54. 7
12. 2
33. 4
Percent of women
$75, less
t han $100
$100, less
than $125
$125, less
than $150
31. 6
17. 3
25. 9
38. 6
13. 8
31.1
30. 2
32. 9
25. 4
28. 7
36. 3
23.4
35.1
8. 4
30. 8
16. 0
13. 4
22. 5
19.5
10. 6
27.0
3. 3
15. 8
8. 7
1 Includes 4 typ~ of office surveyed in Atlanta only, not shown separately.
' Includes a !ew chain stores.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
$150 and
m ore
10. 2
29.1
14. 1
7. 0
22.5
2. 5
11.0
9. 0
INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY
5
Salary and occupation
Going back only three or four decades the office function was
primarily that of keeping books and handling a limited amount of
rather stilted correspondence. In today's office with 50 or more
clerical workers the bookkeeping and letter-writing activities frequently are overshadowed in the number ~mployed by those engaged
on the details of handling advertising, sales campaigns, market and
credit analysis and collections, involved statistical and financial
reports of costs, and a variety of other recording activities. The
extent of these new office activities and the policies and practices
naturally vary markedly and are quite unstandardized, so it is .only
to be expected that job terminology for occupations is indefinite and
not comparable from office to office. The duties of secretaries,
stenographers, typists, and machine operators vary considerably,
and when an attempt is made to classify the work of most of the
other office employees for analysis the variations seem to be legion.
General clerical duties vary with the nature of the business. In banks
much of the general clerical work is concerned with the computation of interest, the counting and checking of money and securities,
and the routine en tries and check of customers' accounts. In insurance
checking of rates, risks, elaborate records of policies, expiration
dates, and sending out of notices require many clerks. In public
utilities furnishing light and fuel much of the work is concerned with
meter records and customers' bills. Each type has its own peculiarities and specialties, and voucher, code, ticket, and credit clerks may
be quite differently defined.
The largest single occupational class in this survey has been termed
general clerks because of the impracticability of dividing it into comparable groups. Interpretations of the duties of junior and senior
clerks in different offices varied so that it did not seem feasible to
even use these as classes. Order clerks, pay-roll clerks, mail clerks,
record clerks, checkers, route clerks, and so forth, are all included in
the group of general clerks. When the duties of an employee were
varied, the practice was to classify by the major job. For example,
a girl who occasionally operated a calculating machine but spent
most of her time on manual records was classed as a clerk, but if the
time balance of her duties was reversed she was considered a calculating-machine operator. A stenographer-clerk has been classed as
a stenographer, as few stenographers are concerned only with
dictation.
It was difficult to keep the classification of stenographers uniform.
For some who are rated as stenographers, undoubtedly shorthand
transcription of dictation was only a minor part of their· duties, but
ability to do it was a requisite to their employment. In·small offices
there was a tendency to class all the women as stenographers even
though they did almost everything but stenography. The group
reported as typist-clerk is small and not of much significance. Dictating-machine transcribers are a small proportion--only about 2
percent of all occupations. More than this proportion use dictating
machines, however, as some stenographers and secretaries use them
in the course of their duties, but such transcription is only an incidental rather than a major part of their job specification.
The accompanyin~ table gives the distribution of salaries by
occupation and distnbution of occupations by type of office.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
6
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Percent of women
Median 1------------Number :::::onthly
$75,
$100, $125,
of
salary
Less
$150
less
less
less
women
rate
than
and
than
than than more
$75
$125
$150
$100
,
_,_
_,
- - - --- - -
Occupation
___________________,____ ___ __ ___
All occupations__ _________ ____ __ _________ __
42, 127
19.4
25. 5
13. 4
10. 1
156
114
93
95
103
90
105
81
111
123
90
98
104
94
89
94
93
102
109
55
153
166
0. 3
6. ()
19. 4
13. 6
8. 4
22. 3
14.8
36. 5
7. 6
7.9
27. 3
14.1
8. 9
11. 9
22. 9
23. 5
23. 6
18.8
5. ()
94. 1
2. 1
2. 2
4. 2
26.1
41. 3
44. 2
35. 5
42. 0
30. 7
39. 9
23. 6
18. 9
34.9
38. 2
30.8
47.8
46.4
34. 3
39. 6
26.1
26. 1
5. 4
6. 8
6. 5
12. 5
31. 3
29. 3
28. 3
35. 9
28. 2
21. 1
18. 5
31. 3
26.1
22. 2
35. 0
41.1
31.4
26. 3
33. 0
24. 2
43. 5
42. 0
.5
14. 5
11. 6
24. 9
24. 3
8. 4
10. 5
18. 0
6. 3
16. 6
3. 9
24. 1
21. 4
10. 2
10.8
16. 9
6. 5
3. 8
7. 6
11. 5
8. 7
20. 3
58. 0
12. 4
61
83.8
12. 1
1. 9
$99
31.6
1 - - - - - 1 -- - --1-- - 1 - - - - 1
Secretary __- - - - - -------- - ------ ----- --- ------ - - -1, 893
Stenographer_ --- - - - -- -- -- -- --------- - -- ---- - ---6, 146
Typist_ _____ _______ ____ - - ---- ----- ---- -- ---- -- -6, 453.
Clerk-typist_ ________ -- -- -- ---- - ----- - -- - - --674
Dictating-machine transcriber_ _______ __ _____
924
Other _____________ ___ _-- - - - -- --- - - -- ------ -4, 855
Correspondent_ ____ ------ - - - - ---- --- -- - --- --- - - 398
File clerk ______ ___ ____ -- -- - - - - -- - ----- - - -- -- - - - - 2, 569
Hand boekkeeper___ ___ ______________ __ ____ ______
983
Cashier; teller __ -- ----- - ----- - - - - - -- -- - --- --- --- 444
General clerk__ __ ___ _____ ______ ___________ _____ __ 14,614
Machine operator_ ___ - ---- ---- ---- -- - ---------- 5, 166
Bookkeeping or billing __ ___ - - - - - - - - --- - - -- - 2, 110
Calculating _____ ____ _______ ___ __ _-- - ------- -1, 440
Tabulating or key punch_ __ __ ___ __ ___ _____ __
687
, Addressing __ ____ ________ __-- --- - - --- - - - --- -609
Duplicating _____________ -- ------- - - - - - - - - - -182
Other ____ ____ ____________ - - -- - - -- - ---- -- - - - -138
Telephone opera1,or__________ ___ _______ ___ ______ _
907
Messenger ___ _---- - --------- --- -- - - - - - - --- -- - -- - 372
Supervisor ___________ _____ -- - - - - - -- -- . - - - . - - - - - __ 1, 543
Other 1 ____ -- -- ----- - -- - --- - - - - ---- ------ - ---- - -275
Merchandising (mail order) - - - - - - - --- -- --- -- -- --
364
l.Fi
3. a
2. 2
1. 2
16. 8
1. 2
13. 3
25. 7
5. 4
2. ()
2. 3
2.4
.6
1. 6
1. 1
2.Q
6. 6
------------23. 0
53. 6
17. 1
62. 5
.8
1.4
Percent of women
Occupation
All
types
of
office'
Advertising
agencies
Banks
Insur- InvestMail- Public Pubance
ment
utili- lishorder
com- houses
houses
a ties
ers
panies
--- --- --- --- --- -All occupations-Number
of women.
Percent. ___ ___________
___ ____
42,844
100. 0
941
100. 0
7,821
100. 0
15,321
100.0
2,870
100.0
4,951
General clerk_ .. .. ___________________
Stenographic group ______________ ____
Secr-etary __ . __
-- ----------Stenographer
__ ---___ __--_____
________ .
Typist __ ______ ___ ___ __ _- - -- -- - . __
Clerk-typist __________________
Dictating-machine
t ranscriber
Other
. ____ _____ ______
_______ _
34. 7
34. 0
4. 4
14. 4
15. 2
1. 6
2. 2
11. 5
12. 3
5.1
3. 4
1. 6
1.5
.4
.3
6. ()
3. 7
2. 1
2. 3
1.0
.9
.9
.6
1. 4
25. 1
51. 6
17. 1
17. 5
17. 0
3. 5
2. 3
11. 2
4. 7
3. ()
1. 3
.4
20. 6
39. 6
6. 5
18. 0
15. 2
1. 7
1.4
12. 0
23. ()
13. 2
6.4
(4)
2. 3
.2
.8
6. 7
2. 5
3. 6
.6
2. ()
•2
.7
.5
37. 5
37. 5
3. 1
14. 1
20.4
2. 2
3. 5
14. 7
8. 6
1. 9
1. 9
3.5
.8
.4
.1
7. 2
4. ()
1. 2
1. 9
.5
.3
.5
.8
18. 2
48. 6
9. 7
22. 4
16. 6
1.8
1. 6
13.1
11.1
4. 7
2.3
39. 0
19. ()
1. 6
7. 2
10. 2
•3
.7
9. 2
11. 8
3.1
6. ()
.9
1. 2
•3
.2
5. 2
3. 8
.4
2. 0
.2
4.1
2. 4
.2
11.8
Machine operator. _______ _____ ___ ___ _
Bookkeeping or billing ____ _______
Calculating. _____ ________ ________
Tabulating or key punch _____ ___
Addressing
____ _____ ____ ___ ____ __.
Duplicating _________ ____ ____ ._ ...
Other _________________ _____ __._ . .
File clerk ____________ ______ _______ . __
l!llu£ervisor __________ ___. ____ . ___ ____.
Te ephone operator ____ ___ ___ _____ ___
~:;1h~e~fi:it:r~~~~=====
=======
=====.•.
===
Correspondent_ ______ _______
______
Messenger ____________ _____ ______ . ___
Other 1__________ _ ____ ___ _____________
Merchandising ___ ____ __ __ ___ _____ ____
3. 7
4. 7
3. 2
4. 7
1.0
.3
.1
1.0
LO
1. 9
.6
•6
7. 7
3. 1
3. 2
6. 5
•2
.2
.1
1.0
--------- -------- -------- --------
100.0
5,917
100. 0
4,169
100. 0
46.1
23. 2
2. 4
13. 5
7. 3
.6
.7
6. ()
12. 5
5. 8
3. 3
.7
1. 7
.8
.2
3. 2
4. 3
3. 8
3. 1
2. 3
.2
1.1
.2
44. 7
29. 0
5. 0
11. 1
12. 9
1.7
2.1
9. 2
7. 7
2.8
1.0
.2
2. 5
.7
.5
4. 9
3. 7
1.0
2. 9
.7
2. 7
1. 4
1. 3
-------- ------
1 This small group is composed of professional and semiprofessional women such as personnel directors,
underwriters, ete.
' Includes 4 types of office surveyed in Atlanta only, not shown separately.
a Includes a few chain stores.
1 Less than 0.05 percent.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
IN'l'RODUCTION AND SUMMARY
General clerks
Almost 15,000 women, or more than one-third, fell in the group of
general clerks. Insurance, mail-order houses, publishers, and public
utilities had more than one-third of their employees classed as clerks.
More than 60 percent of the clerks were being paid less than $100 a
month and only about 5 percent as much as $150.
Stenographic group
The invention and development of the typewriter has opened more
jobs to women than any other single machine. In the seventies and
eighties the amanuensis turned out stilted and formal letters in a
Spencerian hand and the term stenographer was almost unknown.
The first practical typewriter was invented in 1873, but its general
use was rather limited for several decades and in 1890 only 21,270
women were reported in the stenographic group of the census. In
1930, 40 years later, more than three-quarters of a million were
reported (775,140).
In this survey there were more than 14,500 women in the stenographic group- that is, secretaries, stenographers, and typists- and
they formed about one-third of all office workers. In earning capacity, secretaries topped the list with a median salary of $156 a month;
almost three-fifths of them were paid $150 or more. This particular
group is small (4.4 percent of all occupations), an effort being made
to class as secretaries only those who were holding positions of
responsibility and doing more than simple stenographic transcription.2 The proportion of secretaries varied from 1.6 percent in the
mail-order offices to 17 .1 percent in advertising; the next highest
proportion of secretaries was in investment houses.
Salaries of stenographers, ranking next to secretaries in the stenographic group, were fourth in rank among all occupations (excepting
the small group of "other" or semiprofessional workers) with a median
of $114; about two-thirds of this group were receiving $100 or more.
Typists, including clerk-typists, dictating-machine transcribers, and
others, made a larger group than stenographers. Their median was
$21 below that of stenographers and less than two-fifths earned $100 or
more. Dictating-machine transcribers had a median $11 less than
that of stenographers but $13 more than that of ordinary typists.
Insurance- perhaps because of the number of agents in and out of
the office at all hours- had the highest percentage of dictatingmachine transcri hers.
Machine operators
Other machines that have flooded the office-equipment market in
the last 20 years include adding, calculating, billing and bookkeeping,
tabulating, addressing, duplicating, and a host of minor office mechanisms. The office-appliance industries in 1929 were turning out a
product valued at nearly $500,000,000 at the factory and probably
more than $900,000,000 in the retail market. 3 War time, with its
emphasis on labor-saving devices, gave a great stimulus to the introduction of office machinery, and by 1930 most large offices were
equipped with machines fitted to the needs of their records.
, A secretary bas been defined as an office assistant who shares business confidences of the emplo:yer,
relieves the latter of minor office details, answers routine correspondence, and is allowed to make decisions
in reference to matters of ordinary routine work.
s Morse, Perley. Business Machines, 1932, p. 3'.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
8
EMPLOYM~NT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Adding machines may be considered as stock equipment in most
offices, and women operating them usually were doing other clerical
work, with the machine merely an adjunct to their occupation. For
this reason the adding-machine operators are included with the general
clerks. Many of the bookkeeping-machine operations are hardly
more than those of the manipulation of an adding machine.
In this survey machine operating includes bookkeeping and billing,
calculating, tabulating and key punch, addressing, duplicating, and a
small fqOUp of other machine operations that were either numerically
insignificant or not clearly designated. About 1 woman in 8 was
operating a machine. Banks had the highest proportion of machine
operators, with 23 percent, and advertising the lowest, with 4.7 percent.
Bookkeeping-machine operators comprised 5.1 percent of the entire
group and outnumbered hand bookkeepers more than 2 to 1, the latter
comprising 2.3 percent. The median salary for machine bookkeepers
was $104 and for hand bookkeepers it was $111. Banks had relatively
the largest number of machine bookkeepers and insurance had the
smallest. Calculating-machine operators were the only other machineoperating group with as much as 3 percent of the occupational distributio~ in all types combined; in banks and in the mail-order group
the proportions were about twice this . Calculating- and addressingmachine operators, with a median of $94, and duplicating-machine
operators, with a median of $93, are paid much the same amount; in
this study they rank just above general clerks and routine typists,
whose median is $90. Operators of tabulating and key-punch equipment were significant only in insurance, and even in this type of office
composed only 3.5 percent of the women. The median for those in all
offices was $89, the lowest of all machine operating.
Other occupations
In the majority of the offices filing was regarded as the most elementary of jobs. Educational and experience requirements were the
least demanding of any, so it is to be expected that this job would
have the lowest median among the usual office occupations ($81).
Besides those designated as file clerks, many general clerks, stenographers, and others did some filing in connection with their regular
duties. In small offices often there would be no one whose chief duty
was filing. The proportion of file clerks was largest in investment,
with 7. 7 percent of'the total. More than one-third of all the file clerks
were paid less than $75 a month and less than one-fourth were paid
as much as $100.
·
Less than 4 percent (3.7) of the women were listed as supervisors;
their median salary, $153, was only $3 below that of secretaries.
Usual salary range and occupation
About four-fifths of the women in this study are in the occupations
classed as the , stenographic group, machine operators, and general
clerks. In an effort to determine the salary range for the bulk of the
woinen in the various occupations, the lowest and highest tenths,
where the greatest variations occur, have been omitted. The range
of the remaining 80 percent has been termed the usual salary range,
and it is felt that it is a telling and useful measuring stick in evaluating
salaries and an enlightening supplement to median figures.
The three largest groups of offices covered in the study-banks,
insurance companies, and public utilities- have been selected and the
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
9
INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY
salary ranges for stenographers, typists, clerks, and machine operators
are given by city in the accompanying table:
Usual salary r ange
City
B an ks
I
Insurance
companies
I p u b l.ic u t·I i·tI ies
·
STENOGRA P HERS
I
~~r!~k__________________ ------------------________________ $100--$~6~Philadelphia______________ _____ ____ ___ _____ _____________
75- 145
Atlan ta___ ______ __ ____ ___ ___ ____ _______ ___ ____ ____ __ __ __
90- 150
Chicago __ ________ ______ ____ __ ____ ________ ___ ___ ________
95- 155
Des M oines ____ _____ ___ ___ _______ _______ ______ ________ _ ___________ ____ _
. St. Louis _______ ____ ____ ________ __ ___ __ ______ ___ ________
85- 145
$8,5-$160
75- 140
75- 135
75- 140
75- 140
75- 130
65- 120
$95-$160
90- 160
85- 155
80- 155
75- 125
TYPISTS
New York ____ _____________ _: __ _________ _______ _________
$90-$135
Hartford ___ ___ ___________ ____________ ______ ___ ___ ____ ____________ _______ _
Philadelphia
________
__________
___ --______
- ---- -_____________
------- - ---- -___
-- ________ 75120_
Atlanta
_______
___ __________
_______
_______
Chicago __ __ _______________ ______ ___ __ ______ ________ ____
80- 125
Des Moines ___ _-- --- - - --- --- - - - ------------------- - ____ __ _____ _______ __
St. Louis _______ ____ ___ ___ __ _________ ______ ________ ____ _
6Q- 110
$75- $125
$75-$130
65- 115 -- - --------- - --65- 110
70- 120
55- 11 0 -- -- - - ---- -- ---70- 120
75- 140
65- 115 - - - ------ ---- --6Q- 100 ----------------
GENE RAL CLE RKS
New York
_____
_____ _________________
---- - --- - ----- -- ----- - -- ____ __$80-$160
Hartford
______
________
______
__ _____
_____--__ ______
_______ _
Philadelphia ____ ______-- -- -- - - -- -- - - -- - - -- - - - - _-- - - - - - - _
70- 135
Atlanta ___ _______ _______ --------------- - - ___ -----------65- 130
Chicago ____ ________ ____ - ------------ - ----- - - - - - ----- --85- 155
Des M oines __ _-- - -- - -------- - -------------- --- -- - -- - --- ______ ______ ____
St. Louis _- - -- --------- - ------------- - - - -- - -- - - - --- --- -60- 130
$70-$135
$75-$145
65- 125 - - - - ------ - ----65- 130
75- 140
55- 130
70- 140
65- 130
65- 145
70- 130 ---- -------- -- - 6Q- 115
60- 115
M ACHI NE OPERAT ORS
New Y ork_____ ______________ _________ ____ ______ __ ______
$90-$135
$80-$125
Hartford ________________ ______ __ _________ _____ __ _______ _ __ __________ - - __
65- 110
Philadelphia
____
---------------------80115
75- 115
Atlanta _____ ___ ___ ____ __ ______ ________________ ___ __________ _________ _____ ____ _______
____
Chicago__________ ____ __ ___ ___ ___ _______ ___ ____ _____ ____
80- 130
Des Moines ___________ ___________________ ______ ________ - ------ - - - - - - - - St. Louis ______ ______ ___ _____________ ______ ____ __ ___ __ __
60- 125
80- 135
70- 125
65- llO
$80-$130
75- 120
80- 130
75- 125
80- 115
The best salaries for stenographers in these types of offices, as
measured by the usual range, were in New York banks, with a range
from $100 to $165; the lowest salaries were in St. Louis insurance
companies, being $65 to $120. In all four occupations and in all
cities insurance usually had a lower range of salaries.
Typists had a narrower and also a lower usual range than any of
the other occupations, the must usual low being $65 to $75 and
the upper $110 to $120.
The range in salaries for general clerks varied from banks in
New York, with a high range of $80 to $160, to a low range of $60
to- $115 in insurance and public utilities in St / Louis. · The most
typical range for clerks in these 3 types of offices was from $65 or
$70 to a high of $130. Machine operators had a narrower range in
salaries than either stenographers or clerks, the most common lower
limit being $80 and the most common upper limit $125 or $130.
76538°-U--2
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
10
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Age
For the en tire group for whom age was reported--over 41,000
women-the average (median) age was 25 years. Average ages of
women in advertising, banks, investment, and public utilities were
26 or 27; 25 was the average in insurance and publishing offices;
and the mail-order group was decidedly younger, with a median of
21 years.
There is little variation in age distribution by cities. Of all the
women, 9.2 percent were under 20, 40.5 percent were 20 and under
25, 24 percent were 25 and under 30, 18.8 percent were 30 and under
40, and only 7 .5 percent were 40 and over. Almost two-thirds were
between 20 and 30.
·
Length of service with present firm
Age, as it reflects experience, leads to higher salaries, as appears
in the discussion for the individual cities, but in this summary length
of service and present salary rates have been selected for analysis.
Just over 38 percent of the women had been employed with the
present firm for 5 years or more; almost 16 percent (15.7) had been
so employed at least 10 years. St. Louis, with the lowest average
salaries, had a large proportion of women with service records of
5 years or more, though outranked b,Y Philadelphia and Hartford.
Among the various types, public utilities and insurance had more
women of long service than the others, and mail order had the fewest.
Well over two-fifths of the women had been with the firm less
than 3 years. New York and Atlanta, more than other cities, had
many women with service of less than 5 years.
Accumulated experience is consistently reflected in earnings.
The median salaries and length of service for the entire group are
as follows:
Median monthl11
Years with present firm
.
salary rate
Less than L ___ ____ _____ __ __ ____ __ ____ ____ ______ ___ _ $77
1, less than 3 _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ 85
3, less than 5 _ _ _ _ __ __ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ ___ __ _ 94
5, less than 10 _ __ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ ___ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ 109
10, less than 15 ____ ___________________ ________ ______ 130
15 and more _____ ___ ________________ ____ _______ ____ _ 149
The median for women who had been employed from 5 to 9 years
is about 40 percent greater than the median for those with service
of less than 1 year, and the median for those with 15 or more years'
service is almost double. Relatively few women (25.3 percent)
who had been employed 5 years or more were being paid less than
$100 a month. Of the women whose service with their present
employers ranged from 10 to 14 years, seven-eighths were earning
$100 or more and well over a fourth were on salaries of $150 or
more. Of those whose records were of 15 years or over, about one~
half were receiving at least $150.
Salaries of those who have been with the office less than a year
are indicative to some extent of beginning rates, though of course
these are · not exclusively inexperienced women. In advertising,
in New York early in 1931, women with service of less than a year
showed a median of $113; in Chicago, surveyed 9 or 10 months later,
the median for the advertising group was $107. In banks, $101
in New York, $103 in Chicago, and $82 in Philadelphia were .the
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY
11
medians for the beginning group. In insurance offices, $65 in Hartford to $77 in Chicago was the range in medians for ' the first-year
group. In investment houses the medians for so little experience
were $104 in New York and $105 in Chicago. Publishing houses in
Philadelphia showed a median of $64, in New York one of $69, and
in Chicago one of $88. In public utilities the medians for the first
year were $76 for Chicago, $78 for Philadelphia, $79 for Atlanta,
and $89 for New York. Mail-order offices showed medians of $43
in Atlanta and $66 in Chicago. Except in banks, advertising, and
investment offices the median salaries for the first-year group were
well below $100.
There were approAimately 900 women in the. survey with salary
rates of at least $200, and of these about seven-tenths had worked
10 years or more with their present employers.
General schooling
Does general schooling influence the salaries paid to office workers?
In the detailed reports by cities considerable emphasis has been
given to correlations of schooling with occupation, age, and experience, and also to the bearing of supplementary business schooling
on earnings. The findings show clearly that when age or experience
(time with firm) is correlated with salary rate there is definite rise
in salary with increased education.
Approximately 80 percent of the personnel records reported on
general schooling. Where it was impossible to ascertain whether
or not high school or its equivalent had been completed, such records
were classed with high school incomplete, so undoubtedly this group
is rather mixed and includes some women with only a semester
of high-school training while others may have completed the course.
However, most of this class had not been graduated from a secondary school.
That the extended schooling of office workers is increasing is
substantiated in that only about 13 percent of the women of under
25 years, in contrast to about 33 percent of those 40 or more, had
had only grammar-school training.
Grammar school was the maxim um reported for more than onesixth (17.1 percent) of the women. When this group is broken
down into age divisions it is seen that of those with only grammar
school a larger proportion were 30 or more than in other schooling
groups, and that a significant proportion were 40 or older. Almost
one-third of the women of 40 or more had grammar school as their
maximum. In some instances, as in Philadelphia, the median
salary for the grammar-school class was amazingly high, but on
analysis it was found that most of these women were considerably
over the average age and had longer service records than other
schooling groups.
More than one-third of the girls in mail-order houses in Chicago,
in public utilities in New York, and in publishing in St. Louis were
in the grammar-school class.
Three-fourths (74.8 per cent) of the women had attended high
school, but considerably more than one-half of these, or about twofifths of all the women reported, had not been graduated from high
school.
,
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
12
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Education beyond high school-normal training, college, or university-was repoi'ted for the smallest group of all, only 8.1 percent
of the women. The proportion for whom college graduation was reported was only 2.2 percent, and because of this small number all
who had academic training in addition to high school have been
considered as a single class. Advertising with 16.5 percent, investment with 13.5 percent, and publishing with 11.9 percent, had the
largest proportions with higher academic training, while the mailorder hous.es with only 3 percent, and public utilities with 5.2 percent,
had the smallest.
· The proportion of women who had at least graduated from high
school, by type of office, was as follows: Insurance 50.7 percent,
investment 46.9 percent, advertising 46.6 percent, banking 45.6 percent, publishing 35.9 percent, public utilities 31.6 percent, and mailorder houses 22.6 percent. In Atlanta banks over three-fourths of
the women, and in Des Moines insurance offices about nine-tenths,
were at least high-school graduates.
Though public utilities had a higher median salary rate than insurance and publishing firms, their general rank when compared by the
schooling background of women clerks was lower.
The following summary table indicates the trend of the relation
among schooling, age, and earnings:
Median monthly salary rate
Agt (years)
Under 20 _______________ ___ ______________ ______ _
20, under 25 ________ ___________________________ _
25, under 30 ___________________________________ _
30, under 40 ____ __ ___________________________ __ _
40 and over __ ------------------ ------- -------- 1 Not
Grammar
school only
$64
83
. 103
ll8
123
1
High school
Incomplete
$65
86
107
123
131
Complete
Arlvanced
education
$69 ------------ - -
86
110
131 ,
144
$91
112
136
153
computed where base is less than 50.
In all age groups women with grammar-school training had lower
medians than the corresponding groups with more formal training.
In the group 30 and under 40 years of age, for example, those with
high school incomplete had a median $5 higher than for grammar
school, the median for high school complete was $8 more than that
for high school incomplete, and the median for advanced training was
$5 more than for high school complete. For girls under 20 there is
only $5 difference in median for the group who had completed high
school and that with only grammar school, but for the women of 40
years or more there is a difference of $21 in favor of the high-school
graduate. Experience as indicated by age, together with schooling,
accelerates the ;rise in earnings.
Marital status
Apparently there has been more prejudice against women's employment in office work after marriage than in other general lines of work.
Occupation statistics of the 1930 census 4 show that married women
were 35.3 percent of those in trade, 35 percent of those in domestic
• U .. S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census: 1930. Occupation Statistics, U. S. Summary, :p. 71 ,
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY
13
service, 32.4 percent of those in manufacturing and mechanical
industries, but only 18.3 percent of those in clerical work. The
proportion of married women has been increasing in clerical work,
however, as well as in other types of business, for in 1910 5 the census
figures showed only 5.6 percent of the women in this class as married.
In the past, though many women in manufacturing and domestic
service were forced to work from sheer economic necessity, in the
white-collar group the husband's earnings were more likely to be
adequate and dependable.
In this survey 84.8 percent of the women were single, 11.8 percent
were married, and 3.4 percent were widowed, separated, or divorced.
The below-average proportion reported as married may be due
partly to failure to notify employers of a change in marital status in
firms where there are restrictions against the retention of married
women. Also, many of the offices included in the study are large, and
generally these had the most definite and drastic policies barring
married women.
Atlanta, where the proportion of small offices was ·high, had the
largest proportion of married women, 26.4 percent; Hartford and
Des Moines had the smallest proportions. The group was preponderantly single and especially so in the large insurance offices.
Scheduled working hours
Compared with hours in trade and industry, office hours are short.
Saturday, except for some irregularities in banks, is a half day. A
small number of firms-not at all significant-reported a 5-day week
and a few more had a 5-day week in summer. A day of 7½ hours
with a week of 42 was the most common schedule in Chicago, Atlanta,
and St. Louis. In New York and Philadelphia the most frequently
reported hours were 39 a week with a 7-hour day, in Hartford 38½ with
a 7-hour day, and in Des Moines 41;~ with a 7½ hour day.
GENERAL EMPLOYMENT POLICIES
Employment policies and practices along the lines of hiring, training,
promoting, and general welfare activities were touched upon briefly.
Since the depression had practically terminated the taking on of
new help, inquiry was made as to which agencies or means were utilized
in normal times for recruiting additions to the staff. Direct or
personal application for employment and commercial agencies outweighed all others. Public and social agencies were used to a limited
extent except in Atlanta, where a community non-fee-charging agency
subsidized by some of the employers was used more than any other
source except direct applications. Schools were used considerably
for beginning clerks in insurance.
Where supervisors have the responsibility of hiring and releasing
their workers as they see fit there can be no uniform policy, and new
employees may be hired in one department while others are being
dropped who would be competent to fill such vacancies. In most of
the large offices employment functions were centralized in the duties
of a personnel worker, and in smaller establishments the office manager
or a member of the firm more often did the hiring.
• Ibid. Fourteenth Census: 1920, vol. IV, Population, Occupations, p . 693.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
14
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Requirements as to age, schooling, and experience were not definitely
formulated. While some required high-school graduation as a minimum school background, a larger number merely preferred that
candidates have some high-school training. College-trained people
generally were not desired for office work of a stenographic or clerical
nature. In some instances women with a college background were
preferred as secretaries and for work of a semiprofessional character.
In mail-order houses even less school background was required than
· elsewhere.
Young inexperienced workers were much more in demand than
women with experience. In most cases managers reported that they
preferred young women, which was interpreted as meaning under 25,
and some firms had definite policies of not employing women over 30
or 35 except for special work. It was considered more satisfactory to
employ beginners and to advance them as vacancies occurred after
they had become familiar with the practices of the firm. Searching
for a person who had just the experience necessary was not deemed
economical. Operators of specialized office machinery generally were
secured through the agency by which the machine was supplied.
Very few offices had any system of formal training for new employees.
Instruction by the immediate supervisor generally· was considered
sufficient, after which the new employee was left to make her own
adjustment to the job.
One of the most usual questions asked by clerical workers applying
for a job deals with the opportunity for advancement. Systematic
salary increases with regular pay-roll reviews were the rule in normal
times, but there was little job progression, and two of the pitfalls of
job advancement seemed to be that many of the office jobs are
routine in nature, afford little training and few leads for advancement,
and belong to the blind-alley class. Promotions become less possible
as the number of routine jobs increases and opportunities to rise above
the clerical field seem uncertain. Further, relatively few office managers give much conscious thought and planning to lines of promotion.
(Salary advances are discussed under each city in the respective
sections of this report.)
Welfare activities were extensively developed by the large banks,
insurance companies, and public utilities. Offices with fewer than 50
employees naturally could not have much organized welfare work.
Group insurance, the cost carried entirely by the employer or jointly
by employer and employee, was found in more than seven-tenths of
the offices. Salaries were almost never docked for short illnesses, and
cases were reported where they bad been continued for periods of
incapacity extending- for more than a year. Annuities or any provision for old-age pens10ns were much less common than group insurance.
Overtime
Records of overtime that would lend themselves to statistical tabulation were not found, and data obtained on overtime were restricted
to the general statements of managers or other officials interviewed.
Most of the banks, investment houses, and insurance o ces, and all
but one of the 15 mail-order houses reported some cyclical overtime,
and of course all might have occasional emergency work. In general,
the reports indicated that men were more likely than women to be
called upon for overtime work, partly because continued overtime
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY
15
usually was connected with financial statements and closing of records
at- the. end of a fiscal period and men are greatly in the majority as
auditors and accountants. Supper money usually was the only compensation for overtime and most of the offices had arrangements for
such meal allowances.
Vacations
A 2-week vacation with pay was the standard in all cities but
Atlanta, where 1 week was more common than 2. In a few instances
more extended leave was allowed to workers with long periods of
service.
MECHANIZATION
In the course of the general interview information was sought as to
the effects of mechanization on women's employment, and special
emphasis was directed to replacement and changes in personnel in the
preceding 5-year period. Lack of records and difficulty in getting
information vitiated much of the effort spent on this part of the study,
but in the detailed city reports typical cases indicative of the effects
of technological trends in office work are cited. The size and organization of the office have a direct bearing on the extent and feasibility
of mechanization.
At the beginning of the century there were comparatively few office
machines other than the typewriter in use, while today the large
modernly-equipped office has adding, calculating, billing and bookkeeping machines, addressing and duplicating devices with manifold
applications, check writing, mailing, and perhaps tabulating machines,
supplemented by a host of lesser devices and office tools. The cost
of equipping with machines an office employing 100 persons has been
estimated at $36,400. 6
Dictating machines
Though Mr. Edison developed the basic dictating instrument in
1887,7 its use was not very widespread in business offices until 20 or
30 years later. Shorthand transcription has been challenged by the
dictating machine as it is now called, but there still is a marked difference of opinion among executives as to its advantages. Many times
in the course of the study office managers stated that the machines
were satisfactory and that the operators transcribed the cylinders
efficiently, but that the dictators were reluctant to discipline themselves to machine dictation, and this limited the use of the instrument.
Many installations had been made for the convenience of executives
and department heads who dictate after work hours or who for some
other reason prefer the machine dictation. Labor saving was given
occasionally as the reason for using dictating machines. Where
marked economies ha& been effected, they usually were attributed
partly to the centralization and reorganization of the stenographic
department. If letter writing or reports dictated are standardized and
their flow is steady, there seemed to be agreement that the introduction
of dictating machines and the employment of typists in place of
stenographers reduced costs.
• System, June 1930.
7 Morse, Perley. Business Machines, 1932, p . 273.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
16
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Bookkeeping machines
In this survey more women were operating bookkeeping or bil1ing
machines than any other machine except typewriters. Machine
bookkeeping is an elastic term and its applications vary greatly.
A bookkeeping machine does not keep books; it posts, enters, totals,
and balances like items in an orderly fashion, and the accumulated
postings become the basis for control accounts much less laboriously
than by the hand method. The machine usually is a combination
adding and calculating device.
The forerunner of mechanized computation is the ancient abacus
which dates back to 2200 B.C. and is still in use in much of the Far
East. Bookkeeping machines have been developed from the simpler
adding and calculating machines and have much the same basic
structure. They appeared on the business-machine market early in
the present century and their first applications were largely of a billing
nature. It was not, however, till war time, or the period immediately
preceding this, that their use became general. The withdrawal of
men from banks during the war period speeded up their installation
in this type of office, and the end of the war found women entrenched
as bookkeeping-machine operators on customer accounts and other
applications of listing and balancing. Most of the banks covered
in this survey had had their bookkeeping machines so long that no
one remembered specifically what had happened so far as employment
was concerned when the machines were first put into use.
Bookkeeping machines frequently were installed as business expanded
and there was need for more adequate and elaborate records. There
was not actual displacement of workers or substitution of one group for
another, merely .a potential replacement that does not lend itself to
concrete evaluation. Where machines had been introduced in the last
5 years, a change from men to women was reported in some of the
instances; and in others, where women had been reported as employed
prior to the change, there was a reduction in numbers. As far as
women are concerned, bookkeeping machines in the past have perhaps opened as many fields of employment as they have restricted.
Men have been more adversely affected.
Other machines
Wherever there was a great deal of statistical work, as in insurance
companies and large public utilities, tabulating machines and their
accompanying equipment usually were found. In some cases these
machines had been brought in to do an entirely new line of work, so no
one was replaced but instead the force was slightly augmented. In a
few instances the most marked labor economies from the cost standpoint were the result of the introduction of this type of machine.
The addressing machine disposes of the onerous copying of names,
addresses, or other records used at frequently recurring intervals, and
it also eliminates the loss and inconveience due to the errors common
to recopying. The first addressing machine of a practical nature
appeared in the nineties, since which time there have been frequent
improvements and attachments until at present there is an office
robot under the guise of an addressing machine which, being fed a roll
of paper, prints, scores, addresses, and stacks bills at a rate of 3,000 an
hour. Machines of this sort were very new equipment in a few of the
larger public-utility offices. Their labor economy, however, was not
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY
17
one of reduction in the number of employees but of a reduced printing
bill-a bit of disastrous competition for the printer rather than the
clerical worker. In addition, one of the advantages claimed was a
saving in space given to inventories of printed forms. Addressing
machines of one type or another had been in use so long and there was
such a small proportion of women whose major job was their operation
that no significant reduction in numbers during the preceding 5 years
could be attributed to these.
Duplicating devices of a variety of types, including photostats and
the automatic typewriter, make possible the production oflarge quantities of form letters and other routine business papers with a minimum
expenditure of effort. Before the advent of such machines, much of
this form of communication was nonexistent, and the development of
simply operated duplicating devices has encouraged the production of
a good share of the circular letters and data available on all sides.
Very rarely could anyone recall any replacement of clerks because of
their installation; instead, clerks were added or the time saved in some
other way was utilized in operating these machines.
Automatic typewriters as installed in the offices visited tended more
to compete with commercial letter bureaus than to reduce the personnel of a particular office. Where an automatic typewriter had
been purchased it usually was found that a good-will or sales campaign
was in progress, requiring the production of a quantity of simulated
typed letters, or that it had been decided that circular letter work,
instead of being sent to the specialized bureaus, could be done more
economically by typists in the office. These machines were reported
as turning out from 3 to 10 times as much work as a typist can do with
an ordinary typewriter.
A number of specialized machines especially adapted to individual
offices and their problems were reported from time to time. With
changes in system of work these had effected marked labor economies.
In general, the increase in number of clerical workers and development of office machines has been concomitant. Machines have
tended decidedly to curb the rapid rise in number of employees with
the increased office functions of modern business. On some jobs
office workers tending machines in the performance of their duties are
not unlike the factory worker tending a machine in the factory.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Part 11.-OFFICE WORKERS IN NEW YORK
INTRODUCTION
New York is the Mecca of office workers. In the matter of number
and variety of clerical jobs in commerce and trade, no other city
approaches it. The census of occupations for 1930 1 recorded more
than half a million clerical workers in Greater New York. Their
distribution by sex and occupation was as follows:
Women
Number
of men
Number
517, 793
291,823
93,598
106,468
259,397
181,294
4, 346
49,029
258,396
110,529
89,252
57,439
49. 9
37. 9
95.4
53. 9
25, 904
24, 728
1, 176
4.5
Both
sexes
Occupation
TotaL _______________ -- - - -- ------- - ----- ------------Clerks (except clerks in stores) ___________ ___ ____ ___________
Stenographers and typists ________________________ _____ _____
Bookkeepers, cashiers, and accountants _________ ___ _____ ___
Messenger
, errand, and
office boys and
girls (except _____
tele-_
graph messengers)
__ ________________
________________
Percent
of total
As the census of 1920 2 reported 202,853 men and 183,175 women,
a total of 386,028, in these clerical jobs, there was an increase during
the decade of 41.1 percent for women and of 27.9 percent for men.
In 1930 men and women in New .York shared the work practically
50- 50, as they did approximately in the United States as a whole.
Scope of survey
This center of commercial and financial life in the United States
was selected by the Women's Bureau as the city in which to begin
its study of women office workers. Field work for the New York
area was carried on over a period of about 4 months; it was begun in
the winter of 1930- 31 and completed in April 1931. During this
time the survey of Hartford, Conn., also was made.
Fifty-two offices, employing more than 45,000 men and women,
were visited. The types of office to which the New York survey was
confined and the numbers of employees in each were as follows:
Type of office
All types ______ __ ___ ____ ___ _______________
Total
Number number
of
of offices employees
52
45,473
Number
of men
Women
Number
25,067
1 - - - - + - -- -- - 1 - - - - 1 --
i ~~;~:i_s!~~- ~~~~~i~~~== ==========: === ==== ==== ===
Insurance compani es __ _____ -- -- - _--- _- ___ __ ____
Investment house -------- ------------- --------Public utilities_------------------------- - -_____
Publishers__ _____________ ____________ _____ ___ ___
6
8
12
10
5
11
1,205
21,503
12,499
4,374
2,994
2, 898
609
13,453
5,565
2,600
1,891
949
20,406
Percent
of total
44: 9
--+----
g~g
8,
6,934
1,774
1, 103
1, 949
:~:
~
55. 5
40. 6
36. 8
67. 3
1 U.S. Bureau of the Census.
Fifteenth Census: 1930. Occupation Statistics, New York, p. 24. Clerical
division, exclusive only of the group "agents, collectors, and cred it men ."
2 Ibid.
Fourteenth Census: 1920, vol. I V, Population, Occupations, p . 202. Clerical division, exclusive
only of the group "agents, canvassers, and collectors."
18
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
19
OFFICE WORKERS IN NEW YORK
Personnel and salary records were copied for 14,025 women, or
more than two-thirds of the total number (20,406) employed. Complete records were copied except in five banks and insurance offices
where there were unusually large numbers of employees. In these,
data were taken off for only part of the women, a sample of from onefourth to one-half selected with due regard to occupation.
At the time of the survey the effects of the depression had been
felt but little in these offices. The salary rates taken off were chiefly
for December 1930 or one of the early months (January to April) of
1931, and in few cases had salary scales been reduced. In the matter
of employment, however, the depression was beginning to be felt.
Very few workers were being taken on, as voluntary turnover already
was slowing down and there were few exits.
The numbers of women for whom records were secured and the types
of offices in which they were employed are given in the following table.
Type of office
Offices
visited
vVomen
whose records were
secured
All types ________________________ _
52
14,025
Advertising agencies ____________ ___ __ __
Banks _________________ _______ _________ _
Insurance companies ___ ______ ______ ___ _
Investment houses __ __ __________ ____ ___
Public utilities __ ___ ___ ________ ________ _
Publishers ___________ __ __ ___ ____ ______ _
6
8
12
10
5
11
596
4,458
4, 145
1, 774
1, 103
1,949
SUMMARY
Date of survey
Winter of 1930- 31 to April 1931.
Scope
52 establishments, 14,025 women.
Monthly salaries
The medians (half the employees receiving more and half receiving less) ranged
from $81 in publishing to $132 in advertising agencies.
The best-paying occupations were secretary ($163) and supervisor ($161);
those paying the least, file clerk ($93) and general clerk ($99).
Hours of work
The most common daily hours were 7; weekly, 39; Saturday, 4.
Personal information
Most of the women were young (half of them below 25 years) and they were
preponderantly single.
Almost one-third (32.3 percent) had been 5 or more years with the present firm.
DATA FROM OFFICE RECORDS
The information taken from the women's records included not only
monthly salary rate but personal data that seemed to ha:ve a direct
relation to the amount of salary. Chief among these were the occupation, age, schooling, extent of office experience, and length of
service with present firm, not all being available in every case.
Type of office and monthly salary rate
Arranging the salaries of the 14,010 women with rates reported in
an array from the lowest to the highest, the midpoint or median is
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
20
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES .
$109. Separate distributions by type of office indicate that the
lowest median, $81, was in publishing, and the highest, $132, in
advertising. The median salaries and percent distribution at $25
intervals are shown by type of office in the following table:
Type of office
Number
of women
Per cent of women
Median
monthly
salary
rates
Less than
$75
$75, less
than $100
$100, less
than $125
$125, less
than $150
$150 and
more
All types ________ __
14,010
$109
9. 8
26.1
31. 3
18. 4
14. 5
Advertising agencies _____
Banks ___________________
Insurance companies ____
Investment houses _______
Public utilities ___________
Publishers ____________ ___
596
4,444
4,145
1,773
1,103
1,949
132
115
102
126
109
81
2. 0
.6
12. 2
1. 2
2.8
39. 5
13. 4
21. 4
34.8
12. 8
31. 2
31. 3
26. 7
41.1
28. 2
34.4
33. 9
12.8
23. 2
21. 6
15. 0
29. 0
18. 0
7. 2
34. 7
15. 3
9.8
22. 6
14.1
9. 2
As would be expected, the publishing business, with a median so
much below those for the other types of office, had much the largest
proportion of women receiving less than $75 a month, and advertising
concerns, with the highest median, had the largest proportion getting
$150 or more. Less than $100 a month was received by 71 percent
of the women in publishing houses and by 4 7 percent of those in
insurance offices, in contrast to 15 percent and 14 percent, respectively,
of those in advertising and investment houses. Public utilities paid
34 percent of their women and banks paid 22 percent of theirs less
than $100. The large proportion of low-salaried workers in publishing houses and insurance offices, especially the former , may be attributed partly to the fact that these firms had much the largest
proportions of women doing general clerical work, for which relatively
low salaries are paid, and by far the largest proportions of women
under 20 years of age.
Occupation
T he occupations of the 14,021 women for whom they were repor ted
are presented next.
Percent of women
Occupation
All types
of office Advertising agencies
Banks
Insurance Investcompament
houses
nies
.Allwomen
occupations-N
umber
of
_____ ________
__ __ ______
Percent_ ________________ ___
14,021
100.0
596
100. 0
4,455
100. 0
4, 144
100. 0
1,774
100. 0
Secretary _______ ____ ____________
Stenographer _________ ______ ___ _
Typist_
_- _-- - - ___
- - --------------Correspondent
_______ __ _____ _
File clerk _______________ ___ ____ _
Hand bookkeeper_ __ ______ _____
Cashier; teller __________________
General clerk _________ __________
Machine operator ____ ___ __ ______
Telephone operator_ ____________
Messenger ______________ __ ______
Supervisor _____________ ______ ___
Other __________________________
5. 4
14. 9
16. 5
.3
7. 3
3. 1
.8
30. 7
13. 0
3. 0
.6
3. 4
21. 6
14. 1
19. 0
.3
4. 5
1. 0
.5
26.8
4. 7
3.0
5. 7
17. 6
16. 4
.1
7. 8
1. 9
16.0
18. 6
8. 2
15. 9
19. 4
.2
9. 5
8. 9
1
•9
4.2
.2
.5
I
.9
19. 5
23. 5
4. 6
.2
2. 5
.6
.5
7. 3
2.1
.3
38. 2
6. 9
1.3
.9
4. 9
1.2
Public
utilities
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1,103
100. 0
1,949
100. 0
3. 5
5.8
7.8
14.1
.9
6. 5
2. 7
.4
50.4
5.2
.8
1.9
2.3
1. 2
11. 5
20. 7
10. 3
2. 5
6. 7
.1
4.4
9. 6
3. 8
31. 7
16. 7
8. 3
1. 0
.4
------------------3.6
3.3
13.1 percen t of the·women in banks were bookkeeping- or billing-machine operators.
Publishers
21
OFFICE WORKERS IN NEW YORK
The four chief occupations engaged more than three-fourths of the
women, but the various lines of business differed greatly. Advertising had an outstandingly high proportion of secretaries, 22 percent;
investment houses, the next in rank, had only 8 percent-. Dictatingmachine transcribers have been included with the typists. Their
number was small; for the entire group in New York it was 1.3 percent; 2 percent in investment offices was the highest proportion,
advertising following with 1. 7 percent. Machine operators were
commonest in banks because of the relatively large numbers (13
percent) of the women employed primarily as bookkeeping- or billingmachine operators. In public utilities there are more contacts with
large numbers of customers than in other types of offices, and this
explains the large proportion of telephone clerks. Also there was a
larger proportion of cashiers in public utilities than in the others.
Occupation and monthly salary
The median salary rates in selected occupations, by type of office,
were as follows:
Median monthly salary rate
Occupation
Banks
1
: :·
com panies
1
Invest- Public P ublish,
ment u tilities
ers
houses
- - -- - - - - - - - - t - - -1- - - t -- -- 1- - - - - - -- - - - All occupations__________________
$109
$132
$102
$115
$126
$109
$81
1 - - - 1 --
re tar
y --- - --- -------- -- --- -- --_
iSec
~ g~f
rapher
_______
__ ____
__ --__________
File clerk _________ __ ______________ ____ _
H and bookkeeper _______________ ______ _
General clerk _____ ____________ ___ _____ _
M achine operator____ __ ____ ______ _____ _
Bookkeeping or billing _______ _____ _
Telephone operator ______ _________ ___ __
Supervisor _________ ____ __ _____ ____ ____ _
1
163
127
103
93
113
99
106
111
118
161
- - 1 --
171
132
110
--------122
------- ------------------
- - 1 - - - J - - - - + -- - - i -- -
162
130
108
100
110
107
115
115
176
170
118
94
166
135
76
103
127
119
119
128
111
99
99
99
104
145
114
169
.
131
100
105
107
100
98
121
154
99
82
74
104
74
81
-----------------
--------- ---------
Not computed where base is less than 50.
In all types of office where the number was sufficient for the computing of a median, secretaries and supervisors had m edian s from
$25 to $50 abo ve the group next in rank, usually stenographers. File
clerks were consistently low in all types.
For dictating-machine transcribers the median in all offices combined was $126. For cashiers it was $120, for calculating-machine
operators $102, for tabulating-machine operators $101, and for the
operators of adding machines $104. A group of 121 office workers
not included in the table, whose duties were more of a professional
character, had a median of $169. This group included office librarians, translators, publicity directors, research clerks and assistant
economists, actuarial assistants, underwriters, auditors, and ·so forth.
The range in monthly salaries of this group was from $85 or $90 to
$366.
The distribution of earnings as next presented gives a more complete
picture of salaries than do the medians alone.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
22
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN I N OFFICES
Percent of women
Number o f > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - women
$100, less $125, less $150 and
Less than $75, Jess
more
than $100 than $125 than $150
$75
Occupation
All occupations_______________
14, 006
9. 8
26.1
31. 3
18. 4
14. 5
l----1-----1--------,1----+-----+---
Secretary ____ _____ __ ______ ____ ____ __
Stenographer_________________ _______
Typist______________________________
Clerk-typist__ ___ _____________ ___
Dictating-machine transcriber___
Other_ __________________________
Correspondent_ _____________________
File clerk___ ___ ____________ _______ __
Hand bookkeeper_ _____ :____________
Cashier; teller___________ ___ ________ _
General clerk_________ ______________
Machine operator____ _______________
Bookkeeping or billing__________
Calculating_____ ________ ________
T abulating or key pun ch________
Addressing___ _______ ___________ _
Duplicating_____________________
Other _--------- ----------------Telephone operator___ ____________ __
Messenger________ __ ________________
Supervisor________________________ __
Other_ _______ _____ _____________ ___ __
1
758
2,090
2,309
320
185
1,804
1 49
1,021
431
106
4, 306
1, 819
873
391
149
288
1 38
80
427
86
483
121
----------1.5
.8
15. 9
35. 0
40. 6
12. 4
36. 3
5.8
29. 2
40. 9
35. 0
32. 4
42. 8
1. 6
1. 9
18. 2
3. 4
1. 6
.8
4. 7
11. 5
21. 3
20. 8
32. 6
28.3 .
21.8
40. 2
42.3
25. 3
35. 3
34. 0
26. 2
48. 2
49. 0
48.1
44. 3
48. 3
.2
91. 9
11. 7
8. 1
2. 3
1.7
7. 4
4. 7
1. 6
8. 4
22. 2
32. 3
13. 9
14. 7
44. 9
IO. 6
71. 2
21.1
2. 8
5. 0
8. 6
1.8
------ ----- ----------- ----- ------ --------------------39. 4
29. 6
22. 6
6. 5
2.0
31. l
20. 8
14. 1
16. 9
23. 8
8. 2
7. 4
12. 2
10. 7
22. 6
9. 0
3. 2
3.8
2.8
1.3
2.8
---------- ----------- ----------- --------------------26. 3
60. 0
7. 5
1.3
5.0
---- -----------------
50. 6
28.1
9.4
12. 4
19. 8
66. 1
----- ---------- ---------------11.0
24.8
61. 9
Percent not computed ; base less than 50.
For most of the occupations salary ranges from the lowest to the
highest were wide. Even if the 10 percent at the highest and the 10
percent at the lowest are omitted, the range for the remaining 80
percent indicates great variety: ·
Usual salary range
Usual salary range
Occupation
Occupation
Low
All occupations_________
$75
High
Low
$160
1- - - - - + -- - -
Secretary _________________ ____
Stenographer_____________ ____
Typist_ ______________________
Clerk-typist_ ___________ __
Dictating-machine transcriber__ _______ _________
Other_ __________ __________
File clerk___________ __________
Hand bookkeeper _____________
130
90
75
80
240
165
130
135
95
75
70
90
150
130
120
150
I
Cashier; teller ___________ ____ _
General clerk ________________ _
Machine operator ______ __ ____ _
Bookkeeping or billing ___ _
Calculating ___ ____ _____ __ _
Tabulating or key punch __
Addressing ______________ _
Telephone operator_ ____ _____ _
Messenger ____________________
Supervisor ___________ ________ _
Other ________________________ _
$90
70
85
90
80
80
75
100
45
120
115
High
$175
145
135
135
130
125
130
145
70
255
245
1
This table gives what may be .considered the normal range. Among
the extremes omitted were a secretary who earned between $90 and
$95 a month and another who was paid $416; a stenographer whose
salary was between $50 and $55 and one who received $275; and a
telephone operator whose salary was in the $65-$70 group and one
getting as much as $325.
Schooling
Another phase of the data compiled was concerned with general
and business training. Almost 85 percent of the personnel records
included schooling. The percents of women in the general education
groups, by type of office and by occupation, are as follows:
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
23
OFFICE WORKERS IN NEW YORK
Percent of women
Number
High school
of women G~~~:ar 1 - - - - - - - , Advanced
only
Incom•
education
plete
Complete
Type of office and occupation
All types.····························--··
All occupations....... .. . . . ...... . ........
Secretary............................ ·.......•..
Stenographer.. . ........ ...... . . ................
Typist... ......................................
Correspondent....................... . . . .......
File clerk...................... . .. .... .. ........
Hand bookkeeper......... . ................ . ...
Cashier; teller. ....... . . ............ . ... ·····-··
General clerk.. ................. ...... ..........
Machine operator...... . ........... . ...........
Telephone operator............. ........ . .......
Messenger................................ ......
Supervisor...... . ..................... ..... .... .
Other .. ... ....................... ........ .. . . . .
1
29. 5
7. 7
50. 2
38. 7
46.8
43.4
43. 9
43. 4
25.1
35. 5
28.3
30. 8
17. 8
19. 5
6. 9
8. 5
4. 3
11. 9
3. 5
10. 2
20. 0
42. 7
29. 5
7.8
6. 7
11. 9
16. 9
30. 6
32.0
48. 2
43.1
46. 6
31.4
19.5
9. 5
3. 6
11. 9
34.1
23. 5
23. 6
42. 0
24. 1
30. 3
13. 9
37. 7
42. 0
45. 3
49. 9
43. 3
51.8
39. 4
27. 7
35. 5
14.8
20. 5
3. 4
23. 3
7.8
22. 9
3. 6
14. 2
.5
24. 1 -- -------- 19. 8
10. 5
22. 8
35. 6
11, 742
20. 0
231
4, 4U
3,269
1,577
545
1,696
17. 7
17. 4
20. 6
14. 0
34. 9
26. 9
11, 739
594
1,797
1, 979
1 40
906
310
88
3,474
1,640
374
83
353
101
42. 7
1-------+------1------11-
Advertising agencies............................
Banks ............ .......................... ·-··
Insurance companies....... ............... . . ...
Investment houses.... ..... ........ .... ........
Public utilities.. ...... . ......... . ... ....... ....
Publishers. .............................. . ......
----·----1-------11-
------------------------------- ----------20.8
40.8
28.4
10. 0
Percents not computed; base less than 50.
In addition to general education, training in a business school was
reported upon. For the 11,749 women for whom this information was
supplied, the proportion in each occupation with business-school
training was as follows:
Occupation
Percent
Number with busi·
of women ness•school
training
All occcupations.. .. ..
11, 749
29. 6
1 - - - - 1 - - --
Secretary ....... .... ........
Stenographer. ..............
Typist......... .... ........
Correspondent.. . .. .... . ...
File clerk. . . ..... ..... ......
Hand bookkeeper. .. .. . ....
1
594
52. 5
48. O
40. 7
1, 799
1, 983
40
906
310
(1)
16. 3
21. 9
Occupation
Cashier; teller. ......... ... .
General clerk ..... .. . ...... .
Machine operator ........ . .
Telephone operator. ..... . . .
Messenger . .. . . ... ......... .
Supervisor ................. .
Other ..... ·····-··· ....... .
Percent
umber with busi•
of women ness•school
training
88
3, 4i8
1, 640
3i4
83
353
101
15. 9
20.0
24. 6
13. 4
13. 3
22. 1
18. 8
Not computed; base less than 50.
When records were vague as to whether or not high school had been
completed, it seemed best to consider such cases as incomplete, so
this group probably contains some women who had finished high school.
Exactly one-fifth of the total number reported maximum schooling
as grammar school, and this proportion was somewhat higher for
public utilities and publishers, 34.9 percent and 26.9 percent,
respectively.
About 1 of every 13 whose schooling was reported (7.7 percent)
showed general education advanced beyond high school. The proportion with graduation from college or university was never so great as
4 percent. Public utilities and insurance had the smallest relative
numbers with advanced training, and investment and publishers had
the largest.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
24
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Schooling and median salary rate
The medians resulting from correlating education and salary rate
for all the women in the several types of office need some qualification.
Some of the older women with experience of 5 or 10 years or
more, with salaries considerably above the average, had only a background of grammar school. Since more emphasis has been placed on
schooling in the last decade or so, the number of women under 25
who had only grammar school is small. This results in the wage
figures for the grammar-school group being unduly influenced by the
more experienced workers, which must be taken into consideration in
the summary medians given here.
Median monthly salary rate 1
Schooling
All types Advertising
of office agencies
Grammar school. ...............
High school incomplete .........
High school complete....•.•....
Advanced education ............
1
$108
106
109
117
InsurInvestancecom• ment
panies
houses
Banks
$107
98
96
99
$118
111
115
$130
132
----------
118
Public
utilities
$125
$114
128
$76
76
79
122
111
104
122
126
PubUshers
----------
Not computed where base is less than 50.
There is apparently no consistent increase in median when considered apart from age and experience. Publishers are the only group
with a marked differential, that of the advanced education group
above high school complete, or $122 and $79.
Age group
All ages
Schooling
Under 20
years
20, under
25 years
25, under
30 years
PerPer•
Per•
Percent Me• cent Me- cent Me• cent Median
of
of
dian
of
dian
of
dian
worn• rate worn rate worn• rate worn• rate
en
en
en
en
30, under
40 years
Percent
of
WOID·
en
40 years
and over
PerMe• cent Median
dian
of
rate worn• rate
en
- - - - --
Total-Number of worn•
11,628
955
5,026
2,904
2,092
651
en . ... . ... .. - - -·
Percent and median ......... ·-- 100. 0 $107 100. 0
$73 100.0
$99 100. 0 $120 100.0 $135 100.0
$135
Grammar school. ........•. 20. 0
High school incomplete .... 42.8
High school complete ...•.. 29. 5
Advanced education ..•.... 7. 7
1
108
105
109
117
15. 9
47.0
35.3
LS
69
71
77
(1)
14.8
44. 9
33.0
7.3
97
97
101
102
21. 4
42. 1
27. 2
9.3
113
117
126
130
25.0
40.8
25. 0
9.1
129
134
142
154
43. 9
28. 7
19. 4
8.0
127
138
150
181
Not computed; base less than 50.
In every age class, as schooling increases sa.laries also rise. It is
apparent, too, that as the age groups progress the proportion with
grammar school as maximum academic training becomes larger. More
than two-fifths (43.9 percent) of the women who were over 40 had
only grammar schooling, in contrast to less than one-sixth (15 percent)
of those under 25. Academic training beyond high school was, of
course, insignificant for the group under 20, as most of these were too
young for representative numbers to have had college or university
work.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
25
OFFICE WORKERS IN NEW YORK
Schooling, experience, and median rate
Does a broader academic background tend to accelerate the rise to
the hi$'her salary levels? Something of the trend is indicated by the
followmg summary of office experience and general schooling:
Median monthly salary rate 1
Years in office work
Less than 1-------------------------------------------1, less than 3_________________ __ ________ __________ _____
3, less than 5_ ----------------------------------------r
6, less than 10_____________ _____________________ _______
10 and more---------------- --------------------------1 Not
Grammar 1---H_ig_
h-,-sc_h_oo_I_-1 Advanced
school only Incomplete Complete education
___________
_
$76
92
$68
$74
$88
80
95
88
104
101
105
111
130
134
120
137
124
147
172
computed where base is less than 50.
The median for those with experience of 10 years or more is about
twice that of the beginning group, no matter what the schooling, and
each group shows a differential above the group at the same experience
with less education. Th'3 median of those with advanced education
and only 1 or 2 years' experience is but $4 less than the median for
gra:rnmar school and 5 to 9 years' experience.
Business school supplementing general schooling
Business-school attendance as discussed in this study refers to a.
commercial business school and does not cover business training
acquired as part of a high-school course. Attendance at a business
school was reported for approximately 30 percent of the women.
The percentages of the women who had supplemented .t heir general
education with business training were these:
Women tcith business-school training
Total __________________________________________ Perce•
29. 6
Advertising agencies________ _ ___ __ ___ _ __ __ __ ____ __ ___ _ _
Banks _______________________________________________
Insurance companies _______ ___________________________
Investment houses ____________________________________
Public utilities ________________________________________
Publishers ____________________________________________
51.
28.
24.
37.
17.
5
9
9
3
4
34. 4
Advertising and investment, with high percents of secretaries and
stenographers, showed the most with business-school attendance. A
comparison of the median earnings of those who had and those who
had not attended business school follows. It will be seen that the
median is from $1 to $9 higher for those who had supplemented their
schooling with commercial education.
Median monthly
salary rate
Type of office
All
types_______________________
Advertising agencies_________________
Banks_ ____________ -----------------Insurance companies_________________
Investment houses___________________
Public utilities___ ____________________
Publishers_------------------------
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Business
school
attended
$113
Business
school not
attended
$106
1----1------1
133
125
119
112
103
129
111
79
98
120
110
78
26
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Correlating business school with general schooling gives the
following medians:
Median monthly
salary rate
Schooling
Gramm ar schooL ___ ____ ______ __ ___ __
High school incomplete ____________ __
High school complete _______ ~------ -Advanced education _____________ ____
Business
school
attended
$109
110
122
128
Business
school not
attended
$108
104
106
113
There is a widening of the difference in medians as education increases through high school in New York, but it will be shown later
that this is not always true in other cities.
Advanced schooling and median rate
The group with education beyond high school comprised about 900
women (906). Subdividing these by the type of their schooling the
medians of the groups are as follows:
Median monthly salary rate
Normal schooL _ __ _ _ ___ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ ___ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ _ ___ _ __ __ _ $99
University incomplete______ _________ ____ ____ ________ ____ 119
University complete ____________________________ _________ 130
The normal-school group is especially low and indicates that teacher
training has little value in business. Of course, some women with
such trainjng undoubtedly were misfits at teaching and had not made
any more satisfactory adjustment in their business occupation.
Age
The median ages ranged from 24 to 27 years in the various types of
·office, the figures beingMedian age (years)
TotaL _ __ _ __ _ __ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ ___ _ _ __ __ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ __ 25. 0
Advertising agencies ___________________________________ _
Banks ________________________________________________
Insurance companies ____________________ ·_ ___ _____ __ ____
Investment houses _______________ __ ____________________
Public utilities _________ ________________ ____ _______ _____
Publishers____________ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ __ __ __ _ __ _ __ __ _ _
.
26.
25.
24.
27.
25.
24.
6
0
6
1
3
0
On the whole, the women were very young. One-half of all for
whom age data were compiled were less than 25 years, the variations
by type of office being slight. Three-fourths (74.8 percent) were
under 30. In the investment group, which had somewhat the highest
median age, 27 years, almost one-third (32.1 percent) were 30 or
more, 13.3 percent were 35 or more, and 5.9 percent were at least 40.
Age and median rate
Age and experience are closely related, so it was to be expected that
earnings would increase with age as well as with experience. A
summary- of age and median rate foUows;
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
27
OFFICE WORKERS IN N EW YORK
Median monthly salary rate 1
Age (years)
All t ypes Advertising
of office agencies
Under 20 ______ ______ ____ _____ __
under 25 _____ __ ____ _________
under 30 ______ _____ _________ _
under 40 _____ _________ _____ _
under 50 ___ ______ __________ _
50 and over __ __ ___ ____________ __
20,
25,
30,
40,
1
$74
99
120
135
139
135
Insurance Investcompament
nies
houses
Banks
$84
104
122
143
167
$113
132
166
-- ------ -- ---- -- -- --
Public
utilities
Publishers
- -----
$73
$87
$78
90
108
101
120
128
124 '
127
140
133
131
160
142
137 -- --- -- - - - -- ---- -- - -
$67
77
98
109
108
----------
Not computed where base is less than 50.
After an irregula.r rise amounting to $65, the median for the combined types drops slightly for the women of 50 years and over, probably due to the fact that well over half of these older women were in
insurance offices, one of the lowest-paid employments. For some
~ypes of office and some women the trend continues upward beyond 50.
Four of 128 wom~n who were paid $250 or more were at least 60 years
of age.
Experience
Length of service with the same offiGe bears a direct relation to
salaries and indicates something of turnover in the different types
comprising the study. The percents of women with the various
periods of employment in the same fir_m are next presented:
P ercent of women
Years with present firm
InsurInvestance
Pu blic Publishment
comers
agencies
houses · utilities
pan ies
--- - -- - -- --- - -- - --
All type~ Advertising
of ofi.i ce
Banks
Total- Number of women_
Percent-. ____ ____ _
13,870
100. 0
503
100. 0
4,437
100. 0
4, 133
100.0
1,764
100. 0
1, 101
100. 0
1, 932
100. 0
Less t han L ___ ____________ ____ _
less than 2 _ _______ ________ ___
less than 3 __ • ______________ __
less than 4 ____ ____________ ___
less than 5 ____ ____ ___ __ ______
less than lQ _ ___ __________ __ __
10, less than 15 ____ ___ _____ ____ _
15 and more ____ __ ___ __ ____ ____ _
14. 9
23. 9
13. 0
8. 5
7. 4
18. 0
10. 8
3. 6
19. 1
23. 9
12. 5
9. 1
6.8
17. 5
7. 6
3. 6
12. 7
32. 0
14. 3
7. 8
7. 4
14. 3
10. 7
.7
12. 1
16. 8
10. 5
8. 9
8. 0
22. 8
12. 8
8.1
13. 8
29. 5
15. 4
7. 1
6. 0
17. 0
9. 0
2. 3
16. 9
16. 7
9. 3
11. 3
8. 1
23. 1
12. 3
2. 5
24.5
and more __ ____ ___ ______ _____ _
32. 3
28. 6
25. 7
43. 6
28. 2
37. 8
25. 2
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
5
19. 5
15.1
8. 4
7. 3
14. l
8. 2
2.8
In b anks and investment houses the group who had had 1 and less
than 2 years' service is large, undoubtedly due to the peak expansion
in 1929. Grouping the data gives a more striking comparison of
those with relatively short service with the furn and those with
extended. service.
Percent of women
with exper ience of Type of office
Less than 5 years
1 year
and more
10 years
and more
All types ___ ___ ____ ___ _______ _
14. 9
32. 3
14. 4
Advertising agencies _____ ___ c __ __ __ _
Banks __ ___ ____ ___ ___. __ _____ ____ --Insurance companies ______ __ ______ _
In vestment houses ___ __________ ____
P ublic utilities ______ ____ _____ _____ _
Publishers ____ ______ _________ __. ___ _
19. 1
12. 7
12. 1
13. 8
16. 9
24. 5
28. 6
25. 7
43. 6
28. 2
37. 8
25. 2
11. 1
11.4
20. 8
11. 2
14. 7
11. 1
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
28
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Salaries correlated with time with the firm show the following
medians:
M edian monthly salar y r a te
Years with present firm
All types Advertisin g
of office agen
cies
Less than L ______ ______________
1, less than 2_____ ____ __________ _
2, less than 3_______ _______ _____ _
3, less than 4___ __ _______ ____ ____
4, less than 5_____ __ __ ______ _____
5, less than lQ ___ ___ ___ __ ___ ___ __
10, less tha n 15 __ _____________ ___
15 and more _____ _____ __________
1
B anks
$113
$101
$88
101
120
105
132
110
100
115
105 -------- -123
109 --- ------ 123
132
154
] 41 ---------160
151 -- ---- ---- -- ----- -- -
1
Insuran ce
companies
Investm ent
houses
Public
utilities
$76
82
86
94
99
113
131
142
$104
113
119
125
130
142
150
$89
!17
98
111
108
130
142
---------- ----------
Publishers
$69
77
74
81
83
96
113
157
Not comput ed where base is less than 50.
A comparison with figures for aU office experience makes it clear
that medians are somewhat higher after IO or more years with one
employer than after 10 or more years in perhaps several offices.
Raises in salary while employed with the same firm have been calculated on a percentage basis, and it appears that of the group with
increased salaries after service of 5 but less than IO years, 1 in 7 had
had increases that at least doubled their salaries, and about 3 in 5 had
had increases of at least 50 percent. Of those with salaries increased
after being w1th the firm IO and under 15 years, 3 in 5 had at least
doubled their initial salaries. The low salary scale generally in vogue
before 1920 and the general adjustments made before the depression
account for some of this increase.
A summary of median salaries by t otal office experience irrespective
of number of employers follows:
Year s in ofl: ce work
P ercent of
women
M edian
mont hly
salary rate
TotaL_ ________ ___ __ __ _____ _____
100. 0
$106
1- - - -1-- - - l
Less t h an L ____________ ___ ____ _______
5. 7
72
1, less th an 3___ ____ ______ ______ ______
21. 3
85
19. 6
100
3, less t han 5____ _____ ____ ________ ____
5, less tha n 10 _-- --- -- --- - -- - ---- - --- 30. 0
113
10 and more________ ___ ___ ____ ______ __
23. 5
135
Of the women for whom entire time worked, at whatever employment, was reported, only 4.5 percent had worked less than 1 year.
The scarcity of jobs and lessened voluntary quitting were beginning to
slow turnover by late 1930 and early 1931, and separations were not
being replaced. Thus new employees were few. Of the group, 57
percent had work histories of 5 years or more, and 25 percent had
worked for IO years or more. Almost 80 percent of the women had
worked on two or more jobs and approximately 40 percent had had
three or more~
Reason for leaving last job
The reasons given by employees for their last job separation were
copied from the records. About 20 percent reported personal reasons,
35 percent classed the change as advancement, and 45 percent gave
business reasons, two-thirds of the last named being lay-offs.
Nine-tenths of the 7,452 women for whom this information was
obtainable gave their last previous occupation as clerical work. No
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
OFFICE WORKERS IN NEW YORK
29
definite trend or progression seemed apparent from a study of the
types of offices where they had been employed. They showed some
tendency to stick to the same general type of business, but not preponderantly so; 70 percent of those who had been in banks and almost
65 percent of those who had been in insurance offices were, at time of
study, in the same type of office. Considered from a different angle,
of the women now in insurance 37.5 percent gave their previous job as
insurance, while in advertising only 7.6 percent reported their previous job in that type of office. Chances of employment are much
more numerous in insurance a,nd older businesses than in advertising,
so this is only a natural corollary.
·
Marital status
Data on marital status are somewhat questionable, as considerable
prejudice against the employment of married women in offices undoubtedly leads to subterfuge on the part of women office workerS &s
to their conjugal condition. For the total tabulation the proportion of
single ·women is preponderantly high, with 87 .3 percent reporting
themselves as single on the office records. Just over 10 percent (10.1)
were married, 1.8 percent were widowed, and 0. 7 percent were separated or divorced. The 1930 census of New York City gives the following figures for women 3 : Single, 85.8 percent; married, 10.7 percent;
widowed, separated, or divorced, 3.4 percent. Variation in the percent
of married women by type of office is not especially marked. The
highest percents were in public utilities and investment houses (15.4
and 15.1, respectively) and the lowest was in insurance (6.7).
Scheduled hours
In comparison with industrial hours, the working schedules of the
New York offices were short. Weekly hours ranged from 34 to 42.
Forty of the 52 offices had a weekly schedule of 39 hours or less. The
most 11sual schedule was 39, with 19 firms reporting these hours.
The minimum daily hours were 6 ¾and the maximum were 8 ¾. In 32
cases daily hours were 7, and in 8 they were less than 7. "Saturday
was shorter for all, 24 firms reporting a Saturday of 4 hours and 16 a.
Saturday of 3 hours. Only 3 reported more than 4 hours as a regular
Saturday schedule.
One office was on a 5-day week the entire year, and in 9 others
Saturdays were.free in the summer, usually in July and August. . Some
offices had a skeleton force on duty to answer telephones and attend to
urgent business. Holidays were liberally observed in most of the
offices visited. In general, the most usual office hours in New York
were a 7-hour day for 5 days of the week and a Saturday of 4 hours,
making a total of 39 hours.
.
PERSONNEL POLICIES
Employment methods
In 44 of the offices an employment and personnel department, or
the office manager, auditor, or some specially designated employee,
had the hiring of all routine employees. In eight the em;ployin~ of
help was decentralized and left to department heads or rmmediate
supervisors.
a U.S. Bureau of the Census. Fi!teellth OeDsus: 1980.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Occupatioll Statist1cs, New York, p. 9Q.
30
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Commercial fee-charging agencies were the prime source of new
employees for 39 of the 52 offices. This type of labor exchange was
the only one used extensively. Seven firms relied chiefly on direct
applications · or the recommendations of friends and employees, and
in four newspaper advertisements were most commonly used. Only
two reported that a social type of non-fee-charging agency was the
chief means. Of course, most offices used several sources-commercial
agencies, machine companies for specialized operators, school employment service for junior clerks, and others-but the source most
frequently used in normal times was as described.
Surprisingly few had any specific educational or experience requirements. Selecting the most suitable of all who applied, rather than
special requirements, seemed to be the practice. Twelve stated that
they tried to get high-school graduates and nine others had some h ighschool training as a standard; only three reported that they had clerical
jobs other than professional for which they preferred academic
college training. These were secretarial positions. The comment
"College women are not satisfactory for the general run of clerical
work; they quickly become dissatisfied, and we have always had high
turn-over with such women, so usually do not hire them except for
jobs that require special training", was representative of remarks
made by many officials interviewed.
Thirty said that their organizations had no specific policy in regard
to age. Thirteen definitely preferred young women, though the
majority usually hired young and inexperienced women whom they
could train and promote as opportunities developed. Four said
that no one over 30 was hired and three others employed no one
over 40.
No discrimination against married women in initial employment
was admitted by 27 of the 52 offices. Eleven offices-chiefly banks
and insurance companies-had definite policies against the employment of married women, and 14 others qualified and restricted
their employment to varying degrees.
In 39 offices visited, women who changed their marital status while
in the employ of the firm were not affected by adverse marital policies.
In 2 banks and 3 insurance companies marriage was an automatic
resignation, and in the 8 other offices there were special policies
tending to discourage the retention of women after marriage.
Twenty of the offices required as a prerequisite to employment
that the applicant submit to a physical examination to prove physical
fitness for work. Four offices were being guided somewhat in their
selection of employees by giving applicants a standardized psychological test. ~
Seven of the larger offices had a special plan for training all or
certain new employees for their duties and in the policies of the
company. In some of these there was a regular prescribed course of
study with instruction manuals and supervision. In the majority,
however, employees were trained on the job by supervisors and other
employees.
Overtime
Overtime was admitted by about four-fifths (78.8 percent) of the
office managers interviewed, but there were practically no figures on
its extent, as time records are not kept for clerical workers. Eleven
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
OFFICE WORKERS IN NEW YORK
31
managers, five of whom were publishers, stated definitely that there
was no overtime in their office organizations.
All but three of the offices that reported overtime had some scheme
of payment for extra time worked. Supper money only, in amounts
varying from 75 cents to over $2, was paid in 24 offices. Six others
provided su_pper money and an hourly rate or specified flat sum in
addition. The rest gave no supper money but paid regular rates or
special sums_. A frequent comment was that overtime affected
women much less than men. Management, rather than type of
office, seemed to regulate and determine the amount of overtime.
Excerpts from the general interviews throw some light on the problems, policies, and practices in handling it.
Women never kept after 8 p.m. 11.nd rarely after 7. Policy is to hire extra
help at end of fiscal periods and whenever any special rush.
Machine bookkeeping has cut down first of the month overtime materially,
as accounts are now perpetually balanced.
Introduct:on of addressing machine and its use in writing names on checks
has largely eliminated overtime in departments concerned with interest payments.
No payment unless overtime contin ues until after 7, when $1.25 is paid and
50 cents an hour for additional time. General policy is not to have overtime
after 7, as it affects attitude and efficiency of all.
If continued overtime is necessary , take on temporary help.
Less overtime for women. Men in accounting work more overtime, due to
nature of work as much as to policy.
At the period of annual statements, when books are being closed for auditing,
there are 2 weeks with 1 to 3 hours a day of overtime for 7 or 8 women.
Rest periods
A few of the offices reported the practice of rest periods. This
usually was found only in the relatively large offices, where many
clerks were engaged on work decidedly routine and monotonous.
In these it was customary to have 10 minutes set aside morning and
afternoon for a general rest period.
In most offices the women were free to leave the room and arrange
intermissions of rest, provided ·output was maintained and ordinary
efficiency not impaired.
Vacations
Every office reported a vacation with pay. All but one, which
had a 3-week standard, reported a basic vacation of 2 weeks. For
one the length of the vacation was not reported. Several allowed
extended leave to employees with long service records. In a few
instances vacations were lengthened by granting the Saturday
immediately preceding the free period.
Payment during illness
All short absences on account of illness were paid for by the majority
of companies. There were numerous instances where salaries had
been paid in full for periods of 6 months, a year, or more. Frequently
payment for illness was at the discretion of the office manager or
immediate supervisor, but the general impression was that in most
cases the policy in this respect was generous. Salary deductions for
short absences were rare. Where plans were more definitely formulated, the following two excerpts taken from the schedules are typical:
One week's pay for illness is allowed for each year of service. In
addition, have a scheme of sick benefits, to which employees contribute. Participation is voluntary. With a combination of firm's
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
32
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
policy of paying on service basis and benefit plan, an employee may
be _paid for a whole year or more.
Grttduated scale of salary allowances from half a month for 1 to 6
months' service to 12 months for 9 or 10 years' service and special
consideration after that.
Salary increases and promotions
In the larger offices with definite organization policies, salary
increases and promotions were controlled by the personnel division
or a committee of department heads who considered and passed on
recommended increases. Sometimes jobs were graded, with minimums and maximums and definite salary steps in each grade. In
insurance especially it was customary to grant increases on the anniversary of the employee's entering the company's service. Where
there was a plan of promotion there usually were definite times for
reviewing the p-ay roll, as monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annun.lly. Twenty of the offices reported periodical reviews of salaries and
six had their jobs definitely graded and classified. Twenty-eight,
however, had no standardized policy or practice in effecting promotions or salary increases.
Bonus and other methods of payment
Except for Des Moines (and there the amount of bonus was very
small) there were more applications of special additions to salary rates
in New York than in any other city covered, as 19 of the 52 offices,
employing two-fifths of the women scheduled, offered to some or all of
their employees bonuses based on continued service or attendance.
The nature of the bonus varied from Christmas gifts of $5 or $10, or
an extra week's pay as a Christmas gift, to percentage ratios of salaries
that for a few women averaged $25 to $30 a month. Generally, however, these extras averaged less than $10 a month. Just over twothirds of the 4,129 women for whom amount of bonus was tabulated
were entitled under certain conditions to a bonus that would average
less than $10 a month, one-half of these averaging less than $5. In
one publishing house a 2-percent attendance bonus was paid for full
attendance and no tardiness during the month for women on salaries
up to $3,000 a year. It was stated that only about half the employees earned this bonus.
Production bonus. ----:-Five firms had a plan for paying some of their
elerical employees in accordance with output. All the employees had
a guaranteed salary, and the application was limited to so few jobs
that only 126 women were eligible. The women who had actually
earned a bonus were so few that the data are not significant. They
are offered as indicative of the extent to which earnings are augmented by such extras. Most of the bonuses were paid to dictatingor billing-machine operators.
Bonus earnings for the year · 1930 were recorded for 58 of the 126
women. Of the 58, 11 had received less than $50; 17 had received $50
and under $100; 8, $100 and under $150; 6, $150 and under $200; and
16, $200 or more. For 28 of the 58 women yearly salaries were less
than $1,200, and as only 15 of these had received bonuses of $100 or
more they were not lifted by the bonus into the higher salary brackets.
The two women who received a total in bonus payments of more than
f850 were receiving basic salaries of $1,500 and less than $1,600. Production-bonus records were obtained for the month of December 1930
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
OFFICE WORKERS IN NEW YORK
for 48 women. Of these, 7 had received less than $5; 20, $5 and under
$15; 13, $15 and under $25; and 8, $25 and over, to as much as $75.
Free lunches
Five offices in New Y ork- 3 insura.nce, 1 bank, and 1 public
utility-provided their employees with a free lunch at noon, 21 percent
of the women receiving this service. The value of the lunches was
appraised as $15 a month by 4 office managers and at $10 a month
by 1. The practice is not uncommon in financial institutions. In
the present study the reasons cited for the provision of lunch included
the inadequate neighborhood facilities, the short lunch period, and
the increased efficiency of employees who were given a nourishing meal.
Pensions
Thirty-five firms reported as to pensions but only 18 had any pension scheme. Six of these were banks, 3 investment houses, 5 insurance companies, 2 publishers, and 2 public utilities.
Group insurance
Of 4 7 offices reporting on group insurance, of whatever type, 39 carried such insurance. In 23 companies the entire cost for some or all
of the types was borne by the firm. The insurance usually was to
provide a death benefit.
Other welfare activities
Special good-will activities of varying nature were commented on
and described. Seventeen offices had some plan for special educa·t ion
outside of working hours. The common plan was to pay part or all
of the cost of tuition for study along prescribed lines. Seventeen reported recreation and special social activities. Saving funds were part
of the personnel work of 15 and stock purchase schemes of 3. Doctors
and nurses offering various degrees of medical treatment and care were
reported by 18. These activities, being of only secondary concern tts
far as the economic status of the worker is concerned, were not inquired into in detail.
MECHANIZATION
Changes from manual to mechanical or automatic methods of record
handling usually had been completed more than 5 years before the
period in which the present survey was conducted. All the offices
had the ordinary machines, typewriters, adding machines, and usually
some mailing equipment. All the banks, advertising agencies, and
public-utility companies had bookkeeping or billing machines.
Banks and msurance companies had the highest proportions of dictating machines. Because the offices were large and the initial introduction of machines dated back more than 5 years, often more than
10, little that shed light on the effects of mechanization was gathered.
A tabulation of the type of mechanical equipment in use indicates something of the extent to which machines had been installed in the 52 offices:
Number of
TypeDictating
of machine
fi r m, using
__________ ___ __ ____________ ______ _________
30
Automatic typewriter ___ _____ ________ ____ _______ ___ __
2
Bookkeeping or billing_____ ___ _________ ____ _____ __ ___ 47
Calculating_________ ____ __ _____ __ _______________ ____ 48
Tabulating or key punch______ ___ ___ _____ _______ ____ _ 19
Addressing ___ ________ ______ _____ __ ___ ___ __ _____ __ __ 38
Duplicating__________________________________ ______ 33
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
34
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Eight offices reported the introduction of dictating machines in
the preceding 5 years. Increase in business and convenience were the
reasons given most frequently. Only one admitted that the introduction of this type of machine had been the cause of laying off a clerk.
A few comments on the use or introduction of dictating machines
follow:
Dictating machines introduced in spring of 1927. Operators were trained in
office b y machine representatives. Introduction was part of scheme for centralized stenographic division.
Dictating machines used since 1918- 20 in credit and other departments where
executives are out of office and come in and do their dictating in the evening.
Dictating machines tried out in 1928. Executives did not like them; discontinued after short trial.
Several machines installed 7 years ago, followed by centralized transcribing
department. Economies in rent and salaries. Plan involves careful selection and
training, bonus system of paym ent, rest periods. Increased production followed
and decrease in cost per line. Twelve operators now do typing that would keep
45 stenographers busy.
Usually where marked economies in labor have been realized by the
introduction of the dictating machine, a reorganization and centralization of stenographic work has accompanied the change.
Ninety percent of the offices used bookkeeping or billing machines
on some record or accounting operation. Banks for the most part had
been using bookkeeping machines since the war period or earlier.
At this time in many instances women replaced men as manual ledger
clerks. In the past 5 years 14 offices had either introduced or extended the use of bookkeeping and billing machines. None had kept
any detailed records of the effects of the change, but the comments
following are typical of the generalizations made:
Women replaced men; 75 to 85 men affected. Number of women increased.
No change in numbers employed, but women replaced men.
Women substituted for men; 85 to 100 women added.
Reduced force of women one-fourth.
Machine bookkeeping has cut down first-of-the-month overtime.
No fewer women, but a greater volume of business and lower unit cost.
Women paid less than men, so cost reduced.
Machine bookkeeping cut down first-of-the-month overtime materially, as
accounts are now perpetually balanced.
Better records and increased business were the reasons most
frequently given for the installation of bookkeeping and billing
machines.
No significant data were secured on the introduction of other
machines. A few comments on addressing machines were that they
cut overtime and expedited work of mailing; that 1 operator does the
work formerly done by 4; and that 6 do the work of 11. No change
in sex was reported.
In general, most of the mechanization in the offices visited had
come more than 5 years before 1930 and new models and equipment
had been acquired without much conscious appreciation of what the
effect actually had been on employees or production. Apparently
there had been no immediate or recent reduction in force with most
installations, but in many cases the introduction precluded the need
for new employees with increasing business.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Part III.-OFFICE WORKERS IN PHILADELPHIA
INTRODUCTION
Within a hundred miles of New York, Philadelphia as a commercial
and manufacturing center employs more than 100,000 cl~rical
workers. Occupation statistics of the 1930 census of Philadelphia
show the following: 1
Occupation
T otal
Total- Number ___ -------- - --- ------- --- -- - --- - ------____ __ __
Percent distribution ___ _____ __ __________ ___ __________ ____ _____
Clerks (except clerks in stores)____ ___ ____ __________ _____ __ ___ ___ __ __
Stenographers and t ypists_------------- -- ---- ---- --- - -- -- - ------ -- Bookkeepers, cash iers, and accountants__ ____ ___ ___ _________ _____ ___
Messenger, errand, and office boys and girls (except telegraph messengers)__ ______________ ______ ____ ____ _____ ______ _____ ________ ____
M en
108. 799
100. 0
Women
53, 217
48. 9
55, 582
51.1
1-----------t- -- - - +-
60, 407
21,955
22,410
38, 763
1,300
9, 495
21,644
20, 655
12,915
4, 027
3, 659
368
In 1920 2 these occupations were reported for 95,321 workers, of
whom 4 7 percent were women. Thus the 1930 occupation figures
show an increase since 1920 of 24.1 percent for women but of only 5.3
percent for men.
Scope of the survey
The data for the Philadelphia section of the Women's Bureau survey were gathered in the summer of 1931. Forty-five offices, representative of six commercial types, were covered. The numbers of
clerical workers were as follows:
Type of office
Number
of
offices
All types _____ ____ __ _______ ________ _____________ _____ -- _--
145
Banks ___ ___ _____ __ -- __-- ________ -- _______ ___ - -- --- -- --- -- --- -Insurance companies ____________ ___ __ ____ __ __ ______ _____ __ __ __ _
Investment houses __ _______ ___ ____________ ___ __ ______ __ _______ _
Public utilities _________________________ ____ -- - ------ _-- -------Publishers; mail order ____ ______ ___ ____________ _____ ___ ------- - -
8
'16
4
6
11
1
Employees
Total
Men
Women
--------I
18, 106
7,995
2,520
4,041
276
5,178
6,091
1,572
1, 791
140
2,635
1,857
I
I
10, 111
948
12,250
136
2,543
4,234
Includes 1 firm employing 230 women, number of men employed not reported.
An insurance office with 230 women did not report the number of
men it employed, so the 230 have been excluded in computing the
1 U .S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census: 1930. Occupation Statistics, Pennsylvania, p. 15.
Clerical division, exclusive only of the group " agents, collectors, and credit men."
, Ibid. F ourteenth Census: 1920, vol. IV, Population, Occupations, p. 220. Clerical division, exclusive
only of the group "agents, canvassers, and collectors."
35
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
36
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
proportion of men and women, making the percentage of women
55.3 and that of men 44.7 in 44 offices. The procedure in the case of
large offices-generally those with 500 or more women clerks-was
the usual one of not including all the women but of selecting a sample
representative of the various occupations. Data from personnel
and 15alary records were copied for the following:
Offices
visited
Type of office
All types ________ __ ___ _____ __ ___
____
,__
Banks __- ------- -- ---- --------- --Insurance
companies
_____
__________
__
Investment houses __ _____ ____ ___ __ ___
Public utilities __ ___ ______ _______ ____ _
Publishers; mail order _____ ___ ___ ____ _
Women
whose records were
secured
(5
6,875
8
16
948
2, 250
136
1, 627
1, 914
(
6
11
The mail-order business has been combined with publishing to
avoid revealing the identity · of a firm. There is great similarity in
median rates, and both are characterized by a large number of
routine jobs.
SUMMARY
Date of survey
Summer of 1931.
Sco.pe
45 establishments, 6,875 women.
Monthly lialaries
The medians (half the employees receiving more and half reeeiving Iese) ranged
from $77 in publishing and mail-order houses to $112 in investment houses.
The best-paying occupations were supervisor ($152) and secretary ($141);
those paying the least, file clerk ($75) and typist ($86).
Hours of work
The most common daily hours were 7; weekly, 38 or 39; Saturday, 3 or 4.
Personal information
Most of the women were young (half of them below 25% years) ; and they were
preponderantly single.
Just over 46 percent had been 5 or more years with the present firm.
DATA FROM OFFICE RECORDS
Salary rate and type of office
The distribution of monthly rates reveals a median of $95. Since
New York is geographically near, it is interesting to recall that in
that city the midpoint in salaries was $109. For all office workers
recorded in Philadelphia the distribution of salaries shows that almost
one-fourth had monthly rates of less than $75; almost one-third,
$75 and less than $100; one-fourth, $100 and less than $125; and somewhat more than one-sixth, $125 or more. For the various types of
offices the monthly medians and distributions of salaries in $25 interv-als arr, summarized in the following:
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
37
OFFICE WORKERS IN PHILADELPHIA
M edian
Number of monthly
salary
w omen
rate
T y p e of office
All t ypes ______ _____
I
Banks _________________ ___
Insurance compan ies __ ___
Investment houses _______
Public utilities ___________
Publishers; m ail or der_ ___ ·
1 35
I
Percent of women
Less than
$75
$75, less
than $100
$100, less
than $125
$125, less $150 and
than $150
over
6,840
$95
23. 5
32. 7
25. 9
10. 1
7. 8
948
2, 250
136
1, 592
1, 914
101
93
112
111
10. 2
22. 1
7. 4
8. 7
45. 3
38. 3
36. 8
24. 3
22. 4
34. ~
32. 1
25. 2
42. 6
38. 8
11. 6
10. 9
9. 5
13. 2
16. 9
4. 6
8. 5
6. '
12. 5
13. 3
4.1
77
p ieceworkers in the public-ut ilit y group h ave not been included.
Seep. 49 for disqpssion of these.
The equivalent of an annual rate of $1 ,500 or more was paid to
approximately three-tenths of the women in public utilities, about
one-fourth of the women in investment houses, one-fifth of those in
banks, not quite one-sixth of those in insurance, and less than oneeleventh of those in publishing and mail-order houses. Public
utilities and investment houses are the two types with more than 10
percent of the women receiving at least $150 monthly and $1,800
annually: Almost three-fifths of the women in insurance and fourfifths in publishing and mail order had salary rates of less than $100.
A comparison of the medians for New York and Philadelphia follows:
Median mont hly salary
rate
Type of office
Philadelphia
All types___ ______________ ___
B anks______________ _________ _____
Insuran ce companies_ ____________
I nvestment h ouses ___ ____________
Public u tilities___________________
Publishers_______ __ ___ ___ ________
$95
New York
_____,
' - - - - - -,....._
101
93
112
111
82
$109
115
102
126
109
81
The medians of salary rates in the bank, investment, and insurance
offices were considerably higher for New York than Philadelphia, but
those for publishing and public utilities v aried by only $1 and $2.
In the comparison of these five types, the median for the investment
group is found to be high in both cities, publishing low in both, and
insurance next to the lowest. The median for the public-utility
group in Philadelphia ranks next to investment and is actually highe_r
than the corresponding figure for New York.
Occupation
Three occupational groups in the job classification used comprise
about five-sixths of the women. They are the general clerical group,
embracing about 40 percent, the stenographic (secretaries, stenographers, and typists) with 32.4 percent, and-much smaller-the
machine-operating group, -w ith approximately 12 percent.
For all the women the actual range in monthly salary rates was
from $39 to $368, but if the midgroup of 80 percent lying between
these two extremes be considered normal-that is, disregarding the
upper and lower 10 percent where the unusual items are found-the
lower limit is $65 and the upper is $140. A summary compilation of
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
38
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
occupational distribution, median monthly salary rate, and 80 percent
salary range for Philadelphia follows:
Occupation
Number
of women
All occupations__ __ __ ____ ______ ______
6, 875
1 -- ----11--
Secretar y __________________________________
Stenographer ______ __ ___ ____ _____ _..______ __
Typist______ _____ ___ ________ _______________
Clerk-typist_______ ___ _______________ __
Dictating-m!chin e transcriber_ ________
Other_ ______ _________________ ___ ______
Correspondent_____ ________________________
File clerk_ _______ __ _______ ______ ______ _____
Hand bookkeeper_ ____ ______ __ _____ ______ _
Cashier; teller ____ ___ ____ __ ____ _____ _______
General clerk _____ _____ __ ____ _______ ______ _
Machine operator_ ________ ____________ _____
Bookkeeping or billing__ ____________ ___
Calculating__ ________ ___ ______________ _
Tabulating or key punch ______________
Addressing_ ___ __ ____ __ ________________
Duplicating______ __ __ __ _________ ___ ___
Other______________ ________ ____________
Telephone operator_ ______ ____ _____________
Messenger_ ___ ___ ________ _-- --- - _______ -- __
Supervisor____ __ __________________ ___ ______
Other________ __ __________________________ __
M edian
mont hly
salary
rate 1
P ercent
of women
272
1,038
920
96
120
704
108
323
102
35
2, 732
821
415
169
99
89
24
25
131
52
300
41
100. 0
-
2
--,-
4. O
15. 1
13. 4
1. 4
1. 7
10. 2
1. 6
4. 7
-
1. 5
.5
39. 7
11. 9
6. 0
2. 5
1. 4
1. 3
.3
.4
1. 9
.8
4. 4
.6
$95
Usual salary range I
Low
High
$65
$140
------t- -------t- - - -
141
107
86
89
96
84
88
75
2 101
105
80
6.5
75
65
70
60
70
210
145
115
120
115
110
125
105
155
87
93
95
94
90
79
65
··---i3o
70
75
70
70
65
115
115
120
115
105
80
125
70
210
2
2
102
48
152
65
40
105
I Not computed where b ase is less than 50.
1
Based on dat a for salaried timeworkers; 35 pieceworkers-1 hand and 34 m achine bookkeepers-have
been omitted from the median and range but are included in t he number and percent of women.
Supervisors and secretaries top the list with medians of $152 and
$141, respectively , and it is interesting that their usual range was the
same- $105 to $210. Stenographers, hand bookkeepers, and telephone operators were the only others with medians above $100. The
telephone operators' pay fell within relatively narrow limits-$80 to
$125- and it may be noted here that this group is largely made up of
experienced women who have had service with the telephone companies before going into commercial office work. Hand bookkeepers
have a monthly median $6 higher than machine bookkeepers-$101
compared to $95-and a much wider range of salaries, $70 to $155 as
compared to $75 to $115. General clerks with $87 and typists with
$86 have practically the same median, but the range for clerks has a
higher upper limit. Detailed comparisons by type of office are not
presented, but below are listed the medians for six major occupations 3
in all the types but investment houses, where there are too few cases
to be analyzed.
Median monthly salary rate
Occupation
All occupations _____ __ ___ ___ ____ __ __ __ __ _____ _____ __
Banks
Insurance
companies
$101
Secretary __ _____ ___--- - - - - - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - - - ------- - 150
Stenographer ____ ______ _____ __ -------- - - ________ - - ______ _100
Typist_ ___ ____ ____ ___ ___-- -- -- ---------- --------- - - -- -- - '95
General clerk ____ _____________ - - - - ---- -- ----- - - - - - ______ __
101
Bookkeeping- or billing-machine operator__ ______ _______ _
97
Supervisor __ __________________ _______ __ ____ _____ ___ ___ _______ _____ _
1 Not
$93
130
101
85
89
94
153
Public
utilities
$111
-----------123
103
106
101
160
1
Publishers;
m ail order
$77
134
105
77
71
84
133
computed where base is less than 50.
a In all offices combined the number of file clerks exceeds secretaries and supervisors but medians can be
computed only for insurance offices and publishing and mail-order houses.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
_
39
OFFICE WORKERS IN PHILADELPHIA
Relatively fewer women were designated as secretaries in the publicutility group--only 34 women of 1,592 with rates reported-but the
median for each occupation in public utiJities shows a substantial
differential above those in the other types of office. Except in the
publishing and mail-order offices, median salaries are higher for clerks
than for typists. In banks the median for stenographers is $1 less
than that for general clerks.
To give a fuller account of the monthly salaries, their dis tribution
in $25 groupings for specified occupations is offered:
Percent of women
Occupation
Number of
women Less than
$75
All occupations
1 _ __ __ _ __ _____ _
Secretary ____ __ ____ ___ _____ ____ ______
Stenographer ______ ________ _________ _
Typist ________ ____ __ ________ ---- -- -Clerk-typist__ _________ __ ______ __
Dictating-machine
Other ___ ______ _____transcriber
_____ __ _______
__
Correspondent_ ___ ____ ___ ____ __ _____
File clerk ___ _____ ____ _____ ____ ____ __
Hand bookkeeper ____ :. __ ________ ____
General clerk __ __________ ______ _____ _
Machine operator 1___ _ ___ _ __ ________
Bookkeeping or billing __ __ _____ _
Calculating ____ ___ _______ ______ _
Tabulating or key punch ____ ____
Addressing ____________ ___ ______ _
Telephone operator ________ _____ ___ _
Messenger ______ __________________ __
Supervisor ____ ___ _________________ __
1 Includes
6, 840
272
1,038
920
96
120
704
108
323
101
2,732
787
381
169
99
89
131
521
300
23. 5
-- --------6. 8
27. 9
21. 9
10. 0
31.8
21. 3
50.5
12. 9
32. 0
18. 7
11. 3
15. 4
18. 2
40. 4
3. 1
94. 2
.3
$75, less
than $100
$100, less $125, less
than $125 than $150
$150 and
more
32. 7
25. 9
10.1
7. 8
5. 9
30. 8
42. 9
39. 6
44. 2
43. 2
46. 3
35. 3
34. 7
31. 9
44. 2
47. 2
39. 6
· 48. 5
43. 8
38. 2
3. 8
7. 0
22. 4
36. 1
25. 9
31. 3
44. 2
22. 0
23. 1
10. 8
27. 7
22.4
33. 5
37. 5
40. 2
30. 3
15. 7
47. 3
1. 9
16. 0
28. 3
17. 6
2. 4
6. 3
1. 7
2. _o
4. 6
2. 8
11. 9
9. 8
2. 8
3. 4
3. 0
2. 0
43. 4
8. 6
.9
1.0
----------1.0
4. ti
.6
12. 9
4.0
.8
.5
1.8
1.0
----------9. 2
2.3
--------------------24. 3
52.3
occupations with fewer than 50 women, not shown separately.
More than one-fourth of each group, typists, clerks, addressingmachine operators, file clerks, and messengers, in proportions ranging
from 27 .9 percent for the first named to 94.2 percent for the last, had
rates of less than $75 a month or annual salaries of less than $900.
Considering annual rates of $1,200 to $1,500 as a measuring stick,
from 30 to 50 percent of the stenographers, dictating-machine transcribers, bookkeeping-, calculating-, and tabulating-machine operators,
and telephone operators were within these limits. Annual rates of
$1,500 or more were received by as many as one-fourth of the women
in only four groups-secretaries, stenographers, hand bookkeepers,
and supervisors.
File clerks and messengers are beginning jobs and as such are concentrated in the lower earnings groups.
·
Age and its relation to salary
In Philadelphia as in the other cities a marked tendency was notedespecially in the larger offices-of definitely preferring the young and
inexperienced when new employees are hired. Twenty-nine of the
45 offices had some age qualification for new employees: 25 reported
that the young were given preference (in general this was interpreted
as under 25) and 4 had fixed upper limits above which no one was hired
except in special circumstances. These upper boundaries were given
as 30, 35, and 45 years.
Twenty-six (25.6) was the median age for the women in the entire
~roup. Publishing and mail-order houses, followed closely by
IDSurance, had the largest proportion of young women. The age
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
40
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
distribution and age median, and the salary medians for the various
age groups, are presented in the two ~ummaries next following:
Percent of women
Number Median
age
of
women (years) Under 20 20, under 25, under 30, under 40, under 50 years
years 25 years 30 years 40 years 50 years and over
--- ------ --- --- --- --All types ______ ________ _
6,474
22. 9
25. 6
10. 3
37.0
19. 9
3.2
6. 7
Banks ________________ ________
919
27.6
4..9
33. 0
23. 6
26. 3
8.9
3.3
Insurance companies ________
42. 3
2,087
24. 9
8. 7
22. 2
18. 5
6.1
2. 3
Investment houses ___________
134
28. 2
5. 2
21. 0
37. 3
27. 6
6. 7
2. 2
Public utilities _______________
5. 4
1,620
28. 2
27. 5
26. 5
27. 7
8.8
4.1
Publishers; mail order ________
1,714
23. 5
20. 3
42. 9
18. 8
10.3
4. 4
3.4
Type of office
Seventy percent of the women were under 30, and 37 percent were
20 and under 25. Not quite 10 percent were as much as 40. Publishing and mail-order houses reported one-fifth of their women as
under 20; no other group had as many as 9 percent so young. Banks
and public utilities had about 1 in every 8 women at least 40 years
old.
With rising age (at least to 50 years) the trend of median salary rates
is upward, reflecting appreciation of increased experience. For the
total and certain groups shown, the highest median salary, that for
women 40 but less than 50, is almost double the lowest, that for women
under 20 years.
Median monthly salary rate
Age (years)
All types
of office'
Under 20 _________________ __________________ _
20, under 25 ____________________ _____________ _
25, under 30 ___________ _____ _________________ _
30, under 40 __________________________ __ _____ _
40, under 50 _________________________________ _
50 and over __ _______________________________ _
1
1
Banks
$65
80
Insuran_ce
compames
118
Public
utilities
$67
81
102
$70
91
103
112
115
129
136
129
$86
103
1
Publishers;
mail order
112
129
128
128
127 ---------- ------------
$63
72
93
103
105
99
Not computed where base is less than 50.
Total includes investment houses, not shown separately because numbers too small for m edians.
There were 98 women with age reported who were being paid $200
or more monthly. Of these over three-fifths (62.2 percent) were 40
or older, while only about one-tenth of all the women were as much as
40. At the lower extreme, of the 60 women with rates below $50 a
month all but 1 were less than 25 years of age and 49 were under 20.
Schooling
Schooling and rates were recorded for slightly over 5,000 women.
The median rates and the proportions who had completed each degree
of scb,)Oling were as follows:
I
I
Women reported
Schooling
Modi&n
monthly
salary rate
Number
Percent
TotaL ____ _______________
5,030
108. 0
$89
Grammar schooL ________________
High school incomplete _________ _
High school complete ____________
Advanced education _____________
719
2,239
1,823
249
14. 3
44. 5
36.2
5.0
97
86
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
88
100
I
41
OFFICE WORKERS IN PHILADELPHIA
The high median of the grammar-school group seems anomalous,
but when the age distribution is considered it is apparent that the
higher figure is due to a larger proportion of older women. Approximately 40 percent of the women with only a grammar-school background were 30 years or older, while only 16.5 percent of thos~ completing high school and 20.5 percent of the high school incomplete
were as old as this. The following summarizes the effects of age
and education on the salary rates for the Philadelphia group:
Median monthly salary rate 1
Age (years)
Total
High school
Grammar
school only Incomplete Complete
Advanced
education
· $89
$100
$86
$97
$89
1 - -- 1 - - - - , - - - - - r - - - i - - 64
65 ·-········ -Under 20_ --·------·······-·-·-···-··· ----· ·
67 ·····-······
80
81
79
79
80
20, under 25-·--·-·······-------··---------104
109
101
99
103
25, under 30 ____ ··---·------·-·-·----·----··
130
122
111
111
115
30, under 40_·-·-·-·-····-··········----"-- ·
119
114
122
40 and over . ..•••••• ·-··-·--·-----··········
134 ··-···-·---·
TotaL----··-·· -·····-···-·-····----·
1
Not computed where base is less than 50.
The high-school graduate has the advantage over those with less
education in all the age groups. Of those with advanced schooling,
only the group 30 and under 40 years has a median above the corresponding group with high school complete, but as only about 5 percent of all the women had advanced schooling these figures are not·
significant. The lower medians of those under 30 with advanced
schooling may be due in part to the tendency of younger college
women to shift around more than others and so to have less accumulated experience with their present employer (in addition to the 1 to
4 years' delay in starting to work) not generally compensated before
30 years.
Business schooling
Commercial business schools had been attended by almost 1,400
women, or slightly more than one-fourth of the total for whom this was
reported. The median salary for those with business-school training was $11 higher than for those without it. Publishing and mail
order had relatively fewer who had attended a business school,
probably due in part to their lower proportion of stenographers and
secretaries. The proportion attending business school and a comparison of median salaries of those attending and those not attending,
follows:
Percent of Median monthly salary
rate 1
women who
Type of office
:ci%~!f~~·
school
Business
s:~~e~t-
Business
s~~~d~d'
$86
$97
27. 4
1--------r-----i---93
101
32. 6
88
96
29.1
Insurance companies--··--·············------·--·············-·····
111
23. 5 ,----·-···Investment houses·--·--············------·······················-·
All types._ •••.•. ·····-····-······ .················-···--·····
B an ks •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• - • • • • • • • • • • • · - • • - • - - • •
Public utilities.··· ···············-········-··---··········-····-···
Publishers; mail order••••••.•••• ·--·-·······--·-··-·--·····-···-·-1
Not computed where base is less than 50.
716380~
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
31. 4
20. 9
105
85
103
73
42
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Medians are from $2 to $12 higher for those who had attended
business school than for those who had not. Supplementing general
schooling with a special business course led to the following diffro-ences in monthly medians for the schooling groups:
Median mon thly salary rate
Schooling
Grammar schooL ------------- --High school incomplete __________
High school complete ____ ________
Advanced education ____ _____ ____
Business
school attended
Business
school not
attended
$102
93
. 98
104
$93
83
87
98
The women with high-school background seem to have benefited
most by supplementary business-school education and those with
advanced schooling the least . Attendance at business school correlated with occupation will be discussed in the next section.
Schooling and occupation
Which of the occupations drew primarily from the group with only
grammar-school education and which from those with high school
completed or advanced schooling? All the occupations with 50 or
more women have been included in an analysis of occupation and
· schooling, the resulting distribution being as follows:
Percent of women
Occupation
Number
High school
of women Grammar 1--- - -...,..-- - - 1 .Advanced
school only
education
Incomplete ~omplete
36. 3
All occupations t _ _ ---- - -- - ----- -----5, 064
14. 3
44. 5
t - - - - + - - - - t - - - - -- t - ----1'-Secretary_ _____ __________________ __ ___ ___ ___
187
JO. 7
31. 6
47.6
56. 6
Stenographer ----------- ----- -------- --~- --761
7. 9
31. 4
Typsl~rk~typist=== === ================== ====
Dictating-machine transcriber_ _________
Other - - ---- ---- -- -- -- ---------------- -Correspondent_----- - - -------- -- --- ------ -File clerk___________________________________
Hand bookkeeper ____ __ ____________________
General clerk__ ____ ____ _____ __ ___________ ___
Machine operator t _ _ ---- - --------- - ------- Bookkeeping or billing __ -------- ---- --Calculatmg__ _______ _________ ___________
Tabulating or key punch ________ _____ __
.Addressing_ ___ __ ____ __ ______ _______ ___ _
Telephone operator______ __________ _________
Messenger______ _____ ______ ___ __________ ____
Supervisor_-------- - -- ------ --- --- --- -- -- -1 Includes
7
~~
94
rn:~
10. 6
:~
:~
38. 3
567
100
273
61
1, 959
651
323
134
12. 9
7. 0
11. 4
11.5
15. 7
16. 9
13. 0
18. 7
21. 4
24. 3
38. 8
15. 7
20. 5
40. 6
30. 0
49. 5
55. 7
48.1
53. 8
62. 6
56. O
84
70
85
51
151
occupations with fewer t han 50 women, not shown separately.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
54. 8
50.0
49. 4
80. 4
42. 4
43. 8
38. 2
50. 0
43. 6
52. 0
35. 5
29. 5
30. 0
26. 6
30. 0 ,
24. 6
22. 6
22.9
10. 6
3. 9
29. 8
(.9
10. 2
4. 1
3. 0
5.3
1.1
3. 0
11.0
3. 7
3.3
6. 2
2. 8
4. 3
.7
1. 2
2. 9
1.2
-----------7.3
43
OFFICE WORKERS IN PHILADELPHIA
Number
of women
Occupation
Percent
wi th
b~~~~s
Number
of women
Occupation
1_ _ _ _ _ _ _
------
Secretary_____________________
Stenographer__ ___ ____________
Typist_ ______________________
Clerk-typist_ _______ _____ _
Dictating-machine transcriber____________ ______
Other_ ___ __________ __ ___ _
Correspondent_________ ______
File clerk___ ____ ______________
1
5, 101
27. 4
188
767
741
77
51. 6
42. 5
· 38. 2
45. 5
94
570
101
274
39.4
37. 0
22. 8
16. 1
b~~~~fs
training
training
All occupations
Percent
w~ th
Hand bookkeeper ____________ _
General clerk _________ __ _____ _
Machine operator 1 __ __ ____ _ _ _
Bookkeeping or billing ___ _
Calculating __ __ ____ ______ _
Tabulating or key punch_
Addressing ___ _____ ____ __ _
Telephone operator __ ________ _
Messenger ___________________ _
Super visor ___________________ _
61
1,975
657
324
137
85
71
31.1
19. 3
25.9
32.1
28.5
15. 3
16. 9
85
51
152
11. 8
21.1
8. 2
Includes occupa tions with fewer than 50 women, net shown separately.
As was shown by the New York tables, the largest group of women
--44.5 percent in the present case-had gone to work· without completing high school. Eighty percent of the messengers had done so,
about 56 percent of the hand bookkeepers, 50 to 56 percent of the
various machine groups, and just under 50 percent of the file clerks
and telephone operators. Some of these, though not all, are the
groups lowest paid, according to medians and usual salary ranges.
(See table on p. 38.)
One-fifth or more of the groups of supervisors, tabulating or keypunch operators, addressing-machine operators, and telephone
operators, had had no schooling beyond the grammar grades. Correspondents and secretaries were the only groups where 10 percent or
more had higher education after the completion of high school. The
only occupations with at least 50 percent of the women high-school
graduates or having advanced schooling are secretary, stenographer,
corre::;pondent, and dictating-machine transcriber. Large proportions-over 30 percent-of the secretaries, stenographers, typists, hand
bookkeepers, and bookkeeping- or billing-machine operators reported
attendance at commercial business schools. Following is · a comparison of the median salaries of those who had attended business
school and those who had not, in the job classes where information is
available:
Median monthly
salary rate
Occupation
Secretary ___ ____________________________ _________________ _
Stenographer ____ __ ____ _______ __ ____ _____ ___________ _____ _
Typist ___ __ ____ ___ ______ _______ ____ __--- ---------------- General clerk _____ ____ ________ _______ ___ ____________ _____ _
Bookkeeping- or billing-m ach ine operator_ ______________ _
Business
school attended
$137
105
87
89
94
Business
school not
attended
$132
102
84
79
92
General clerks show the g-reatest difference in the two classifications,
those with business-school training having a median $10 higher than
that of women without such training. However, the proportion of
clerks who had attended business school was comparatively small19 .3 percent-and perhaps those trained in business methods were a
specialized group in other respects also.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
44
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Experience
Closely tied up with age and affecting the distribution of salaries
directly are the total office experien~e and the time with the present
employer.
Since the personnel records of many of the companies were restricted
to past experience in clerical work, only office experience has been
consid ered. Records of time in office work were copied for more than
one-half of the women (3,706 of 6,875). About 8 percent of these had
worked ,less than a year, 23 percent had worked 1 and less than 3
years, 17 percent 3 and less than 5 years, and 52 percent 5 years or
more. Over one-fifth of the women, 21.4 percent, had worked 10
years or longer. Banks and investment houses were hiring very few
· new workers during the depr~ssion, so they had relatively few inexperienced women. Publishers and mail-order houses, with relatively
large proportions of young women, had 12 percent of their women
employees with total office experience of less than a year, and only
about 14 percent had worked as much as 10 years.
The number of jobs held- that is, number of employers worked
for- gives additional information on the experience backgrounds of
the women. For the 4,194 women for whom number of jobs was
reported the following is a summary:
Percent
Number of jobs held
of women
1____ ______ ___ ___ ____ ___ ____________________ __ ___ _ 29. 4
2 __ ___ ________________________ ________ ___ _________ 37. 7
3 ______ _____ _______________________ ____ ____ _____ __ 19. 8
4 __ ____________________________ ____ ____ ____ _______ 9. 0
5 ____ __ _______ ___ __ ____ - ----- - ----------- - ---- -- 3. 2
6_____
__ ___ ____ _________ _______ ___________ ___ _____
.7
1 ------------------~---------- - --- - - - ---- -- -- -- - --
8 or more_ _ ________
____________________ ________ (•)
.2
Almost seven-eighths of the women-86.9 percent- had had three
jobs or fewer. Publishing and mail order and the insurance group
. had the 'largest proportions-i)ne-third or more-i)f women who had
had only one job.
Promotions and salary increases
Of the women with advancement reported who had been employed
by the firm 3 years or more, 97 .5 percent had received an increase in
salary. E xamining the salaries of th e group who had been with the
firm 5 and less than 10 years, increases were noted for 98.4 percent.
The amount of increases reported for these 1,532 women is shown
below:
Percent
Percent increase over initial salary
ofwomen
Less than 20_____ __ _____ ___ ___ ____________________
8. 5
20, less than 50 __ ___ _______ _________ __ __ ____ ______ 35. 4
50, less than 100 ____ ___ _____ ___ __ ___ ____ _____ ___ __ 42. 0
100 or more_ _____________________________________ 14. 2
One in 7 of these women with ser vice of 5 to 10 years had at least
doubled their beginning salaries. Of the women who received increases after being employed by the firm 10 and less than 15 years,
58.8 percent-almost three-fifths- had received increases that at
least doubled their first salaries. There were 317 women with service
of 15 or more years with the same firm whose salary changes were
' Less than 0.05 percent.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
45
OFFICE WORKERS IN PHILADELPHIA
reported. Two had received no mcrease.
rates for 315 follows:
The changes m salary
Number
Percent increase over initial salary
ofwomen
Less than 20____ ____________________________________
3
2
20, less than 50 __ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ __ _ _ __ __ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ ____ _ __
50, le!s than 100 _ __ _ __ _ __ __ __ _ _ ____ __ _ __ _ __ ___ _ __ _ __
7
100, less than 200 _ __ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ _ ___ __ __ _ __ _ 58
200, less than 300 ___ __ ______________________________ 67
300, less than 400 _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ ___ __ _ __ _ _ ___ _ ___ _ __ _ 55
400, less than 500 _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ __ __ _ __ _ __ __ ___ _ ___ _ __ _ 43
500, less than 600 _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ ____ __ _ 42
600 and more_____ __ ____ __ ____________ ______________ 38
Time with present firm
Length of service with the present firm was recorded for all but
16 women. The percentage distribution in respect to this service
follows:
Percent of women
Year11 with present firm
All t ypes
of office
Banks
I
Insurance Investment Public
companies
hou ses
utilities
Total- Number of women ••.•
Percent. ... . ..• . ..•.•.
6,859
100. 0
943
100. 0
2,248
100.0
136
100.0
Less
- - ---------------1,
Jessthan
than1.2••..
_______
_____________ __--_
Je6S than 3 _______________________
3, less than 4--- --- -------- ----- ---4, Jess than 5_____ _________ _________
5, less than IO . . •.•.•.•.... _. . ......
10, Jess than 15 _____________________
15 and more. __ ___ ____ ____ __________
10.8
rn. 1
12. 1
8. 7
8. 6
26.1
13. 5
6. 5
10. 6
13. 0
15. 1
8. 3
7. 4
24. 0
16. 8
4. 9
9. 5
15. 7
14. 3
9.8
10. 2
24. 7
11. 2
4. 6
6.6
12. 5
15. 4
11. 8
8.1
27. 2
13. 2
5. 1
2,
Publishers;
mail order
1,623
100.0
1,909
100.0
8. 3
10. 4
7. 1
7. 3 '
7. 8
28.8
19. 0
11. 2
14. 8
14. 7
11.9
8. 6
7. 8
26. 6
10. 0
5.6
Not far from one-half of all the women (46.1 percent) had worked
5 years or longer for their present employers, and the proportion with
such service was between 40 and 46 percent in all groups but public
utilities, where it was 59 percent. Investment offices, which at the
time of survey were feeling the effects of the depression more than
the ?thers, showed the smallest proportions with less than 1 year's
service.
The progression in median salaries in each type-investment
offices omitted because when the group is divided the numbers are
too small for medians-is clear from the following table:
Median monthly salary rate
Years with present firm
All types
of office 2
Total_ ___________________ ______________
Less than L___ _____________________ ____ _____
1, less than 3______ ___________________________
3, less than 5__ ______ _________________________
6, leas than IQ____________ _____ _______________
10, leM than 15_______________________________
15 and more _______________________________ __
$94
Banks
Insurance
companies
$101
1 - - - - 1 - - - - 1 --
69
77
91
103
120
148
82
88
96
104
119
$93
1
Public
utili ties
Publishers;
mail order
$lll
68
77
91
106
119
151
78
87
103
88
128
155
104
132
1
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
63
68
76
112
Not computed where base is less than 50.
'Total i.Dcludes investment offices, not shown separately because numbers too small for medians.
1
$77
---1-----1----
46
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
The medians for the groups with the longest service records-15
years or more-were double the medians for the beginning groups.
As usual, publishing and m ail order is much below the other groups.
Insurance offices, with about _o ne-third of all the employees, have
practically the same medians as all offices. Their medians for less
than 5 years of service are low, but for and after 5 years they compare
favorably with banks.
Experience, education, and median salary
The effect of general academic education in expediting promotion
and salary rise can be gaged somewhat from the following:
Median monthly salary rate
Years with present firm
H igh school
Grammar 1 - - -- - - - - r - - - - i Advanced
school only
education
Incomplete Complete
Less than L __ ______ __ ____ __-- __ ___ _________ -- ---- - -- -- __ ------- - -$80
86
97
10 and more___________ __ ________ ___ ___ __ __________ ____
115
1, less than 3________________ ___________________ __ _____
3,
----- -__- -_____________
-------- - ----------------- 5, less
less than
than 5_
lQ _____
____ __________---___ -____
1
1
$66
73
87
98
119
$68
$82
77
96
94 - --------- -113 -------- ---134 ------ --- -- -
Not computed where base is less than 50.
The women who had completed high school seem, with their higher
medians, to have favorable odds over most of those with less formal
schooling. After 5 years' service the medians are $15 higher than
those for high school incomplete.
Reason for separation from last job
Four-fifths (80.8 percent) of the 2,702 women whose occupation
prior to the present job was reported had been in clerical work. This
figure was about 90 percent in the case of banks and insurance companies, but slightly more than one-third of the women in publishing
and mail order had. worked at industrial, selling, or other nonclerical
jobs before their present employment. Reasons for separation from
the job immediately preceding were known for 1,834 women, 43.3
percent of whom ascribed their loss of job to lay-offs, business failures,
etc.; 31.7 percent to personal causes such as illness of self or family,
home duties, travel, further schooling, and so forth; 13.6 percent to
"advancement"; and 10.9 percent to involuntary business causes
and nonpersonal from the employees' point of view.
A study of the type of office of previous employments yields little
of_interest. There was a tendency for present employment to be in
the same general line of business as that in which the women were
experienced.
Marital status
Conjugal condition was reported for 6,409 women. Only lO percent
were married and only 2.9 percent widowed, separated, or divorced.
Census figures for 1930 5 on marital status of women clerical workers
in Philadelphia show 11.1 percent married. In the present survey the
percent of married was highest in banks, 14.3. Public utilities had
almost as large a proportion, with 13.4 percent. The publishing and
• U.S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census: 1930. Occupation Statistics, Pennsylvania, p. 53.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
OFFICE WORKERS IN PHILADELPHIA
47
mail-order group had the highest proportion of single women, 92.3
percent. Policies with reference to hiring married women were
reported by 43 of the 45 offices. Twenty-three of these had no discriminatory regulations based on marital status, 14 did not hire
married women, 4 preferred single women but had no hard and fast
rule, and 2 considered the economic need of married women for
employment. In 32 offices women who married while employed
were allowed to continue; in 9 they were required to leave; in 2
their need for working was considered; and in 2 the preference for
single women tended to discourage marriage. Insurance companies,
somewhat more than other types of office, restricted the employment
of married women.
Working hours
Scheduled weekly hours ranged from 3·4 % in one of the investment
houses to 46}~ in one of the publishing and mail-order group. Sixteen
had a schedule of less than 39 hours and only 8 of the total-2 banks,
2 public utilities, and 4 of the publishing and -mail-order grouphad hours of more than 42. Investment and insurance companies
h ad the shortest hours, with banks, public utilities, and publishing
and mail order following in that order. Thirty-three of the 45
offices had a Saturday of 4 hours or less. The typical week was a
7-hour day with 3 to 4 hours on Saturday.
PERSONNEL POLICIES
New employees were recruited chiefly through their own direct
application. Twenty-five of the 45 offices reported such practice,
and 15 stated that they turned first to commercial agencies. Newspaper advertisements were used by 2, social agencies by 1, and
business-machine companies by 1. School placement bureaus frequently were called upon for junior clerks. No one source was used
exclusively.
A personnel department or some one official made the hiring of
employees a centralized function in 34 offices. In 11, employment
was decentralized, being left to supervisors or others.
Only three offices had special plans and formal policies for training
new employees on their jobs. In the others they were trained by
supervisors or fellow employees.
Medical examinations to determine physical fitness were reported
by 17 offices as a prerequisite to hiring; 5 used aptitude or psychological tests in selecting applicants.
·
Some offices made definite statements that high-school graduation
was a requirement for certain jobs, but on the whole it was rare to
find rigid requirements. Reports for 42 of the 45 offices stated that
preference in hiring was given to those with high-school training but
not necessarily specifying graduation.
Vacations
A basic vacation of 2 weeks was reported by all but two firms, a
bank and a public utility, which had 1 week. In most offices employment varying from 6 months to a year was the basis of such
vacation. One publishing house required service of 3 years and
another of 4 years before a 2-week vacation was allowed. For service of less than a year it was customary to allow 1 working day off
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
48
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
for each month employed. In some offices service of 15 or more
years was recognized by longer vacations.
Salary during illness
Clerical workers on a salary basis ordinarily are paid for all short
absences due to illness or obligations of a personal or family nature.
Thirty-five firms reported that it was their practice to pay salaries
during illness, and many cases were cited in the large offices of employees being paid for periods of more than a year. Some of the
large offices had formulated definite schedules of the amount and
duration of payment based on service. The following is the schedule
of payments of a large insurance company:
Number of weeks' illness allowed onService with the firm
Full salary
Two-thirds
salary
One-third
salary
2
2
4
a
12
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Overtime
All but eight offices reported that overtime was worked when
necessary by at least a part of their clerical staff. Of the 37 offices
with overtime, 35 paid extra for such time. Supper money only was
the most usual compensation, with 28 making such allowance. The
other overtime payments were on a money basis, or a combination
of salary basis and supper money. Bookkeeping divisions in all the
banks had overtime at the end of the month, usually onl;r 3 or 4
hours on 1 night with supper money or hourly compensation paid.
Investment companies, with business at a low ebb, had only occasional short periods of overtime affecting only a small part of the
force.
In insurance offices overtime for the force as a whole was insignificant. Usually it was only at the end of the fiscal period and for a
limited number of the bookkeeping and accounting clerks. Only 4
of the 11 firms in publishing and mail order reported any overtime;
usually it was in the fall and concerned only part of the force. In
public utilities much of the cyclical overtime of getting out statements had been eliminated by new equipment and better systems of
record-keeping.
In an insurance company employing more than 400 people where a
record of overtime had been kept in 1930, there had been about 1,700
employee-cases of overtime after 8 p.m. Most of these were men,
and analysis showed that overtime involved only 15 percent of the
employees at any time. In another case where records were kept
there was an average of 84 hours per woman per year, most of it
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
OFFICE WORKERS IN PHILADELPHIA
49
occurring in winter at the time of the annual statement. An employee must continue at work till 8:30 to receive extra compensation, and this is very seldom done. Ordinarily overtime did not last
later than 6, or occasionally 7. Since few records are kept of the
time of office workers beyond regular hours, the data on overtime
are only suggestive.
Supplements to monthly rates and special methods of payment
A regular weekly or monthly salary-the latter paid semimonthlyis the normal method of compensating clerical workers. On most
clerical jobs it has seemed to be difficult to set standards of output
and efficiency to serve as a direct basis of remuneration. In the
salary figures given in this report rates have not been modified by
reason of any bonus payments or other supplements to regular rates.
Annual, bonus.-Eleven of the 45 offices visited in Philadelphia
reported that annual bonuses were paid in 1930-that is, for the
year preceding the study. One firm stated that the bonus was to be
discontinued because of the depression.
Four of the 11 were banks, 4 were insurance companies, 2 were
public utilities, and 1 was a publisher. In some cases the bonus was
m the nature of a Christmas gift and was paid only to employees who
had worked for the company a year or more. In one insurance firm
the premium was a special service bonus for employees with at least
10 years of service. It varied with length of employment from 12.5
to 20 percent of the annual salary.
Actual amounts paid in the form of an annual bonus have been
tabulated for 704 women. Of these, 174 received $60 and under
$120, or a monthly average of $5 and less than $10. Only one received less than this amount. As many as 446 received $120 and
under $180, or a monthly average of $10 and less than $15.
Production bonus.-Only two firms-I public utility and 1 publisher-were paying production bonuses at the time of the investigation. Though 541 women were on jobs covered by the bonus standards, only 117 were actually receiving bonuses. In the typical
current month's period selected for bonus records, 60 women had
earned less than $5, over half of them less than $2; 25 had earned
$5 and less than $10; 17, $10 and less than $15; 8, $15 and less than
$20; and 7, $20 or more. Undoubtedly a reason for the relatively
few receivin~ such bonuses was the -lessened flow of work with decreased busmess activity. All the women having a production
bonus also had a guaranteed monthly salary. Payment on the basis
o-f measured output was insignificant at the time of the study.
One company has been developing for more than 10 years a system
of payment based on production, but with fixed weekly rates. A
new clerk comes in at a set beginning rate for the job, and as her
speed increases her weekly rate is raised by dollar steps based on her
production. Ability to maintain a certain speed must be demonstrated for a period of weeks and there must be at least 3 months
between the various steps of raises or increases. In this interim if
an employee's production exceeds the standard set she is paid a small
bonus, which may be as much as a dollar a week but more often is less.
Piecework.-Two offices of the same type (public utility) had 35
of their women on a system of payment that was virtually piecework.
In on.e company, with 11 pieceworkers, a minimum of $75 a month
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
50
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
was guaranteed; in the other, with 24 such workers, the guarantee
was $85. These women were all operating billing-bookkeeping types
of machines and were paid either on the number of lines billed or the
actual number of bills, with penalty deductions for errors. The mini. mum rate was in effect only when the women did not reach such
amount by their piecework earnings. The earnings of the 35 women
varied from $87.71 to $162.66; one-half earned less and one-half
earned more than $113. The middle half earned $106 to $127. The
distribution follows:
S5 women
p ieceworkers
,
.
in public
Month s earn mgs
utilities o
$85, less than $90 ($87.71 lowest)_ _______ _____ ___ ____ _____
3
$90, less than $95_ __ ____ _____ __ ____________ __________ ___
1
2
$95, less than $100 __ __ _____________ ________________ _____
$100, less than $110_ __________________________________ __
9
$110, less than $120_ _______________ ________________ _____
6
$120, less than $130_ ______________________________ _____ _
8
3
$130, less than $140___ ____________________ ___ ________ ___
$140, less than $150 _________ ______ _______ __ :_ ________ ____
2
1
$160, less than $170 ($162.66)__________________ _______ ___
In one of these offices the piecework system of billing was put into
operation about 2 years ago. New machines were purchased at the
time and the work was centralized in one office instead of being in
several district offices. It was estimated that 18 girls had worked on
the billing operation before the change and 11 after it. Much the
same report was made by the other office.
Free lunches
In almost every city a few of the firms visited gave their employees
lunch without charge. There were 7 such in Philadelphia; 4 were
insurance companies and 3 were banks, employing about one-half of all
the women in these 2 types. The monetary value placed on these
lunches varied, but $10 monthly was the lowest estimate. The cost
of the service was estimated by 1 company at $110 a year for each
employee and by 2 companies at $150 per employee.
Promotions
The general depression had retarded normal salary promotions, but
up to the summer of 1931 there had been few actual decreases in
salary rates; only one-half of 1 percent of -the salary records showed
a decrease. Some of the officials interviewed made the comment that
new workers were being taken on at a lower entrance salary than
formerly. In normal times 28 of the offices had regular periodic
reviews of salaries to consider raises.
Group insurance
Gr~mp insurance was maintained in 37 of the Philadelphia officesall the 8 banks and the 6 public utilities, 14 of the 16 insurance companies, 3 of the 4 investment companies, and 6 of the 11 in the publishing and mail-order group. The cost was carried by the employer,
the employees, or jointly.
Pensions
Old-age retirement systems or definite policies were reported among
the personnel activities of 20 offices. The highest proportion was in
• Omitted from all tabulations in which salary rates were involved.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
51
OFFICE WORKERS IN PHILADELPHIA
public utilities, with 5 of the 6 having pension schemes and the other
reporting that pensions sometimes were paid, depending on circumstances and the employee's record. Four offices that had no definite
retirement system pensioned employees when they felt the merits of
the case warranted.
Other benefits
Recreational, educational, and medical benefits were available in
some offices. Nine offered their employees educational courses either
free or with tuition partly paid. In banks and investment houses it
is customary to pay the tuition for courses taken successfully in the
American Institute of Banking. Three offices gave free medical consultation to their employees.
Recreational and social activities, occasionally stock-purchasing
plans at reduced rates, and the privilege of buying merchandise at
less than retail in public-utility and mail-order houses were other
welfare activities reported.
MECHANIZATION
Typewriters, adding machines, and some mech anical mailing equipment are as common in most offices as desks and file cabinets, so
these machines were disregarded in the survey. To show something
of the extent to which other machines and mechanical devices were
used, the kinds reported are listed here by type of office:
Machine
Dictating ________________ _____ __ __ __
Bookkeeping or billing __ ___ ______ ___
Calculating ___ __________ ___ ___ _____ _
T abulating or key punch ______ _____ _
Addressing __ ______ ___ ________ _______
Duplicating ___ __________ __ ______ ___ _
Automatic typewriter_ ______ __ ___ __ _
45 offices
8 banks
26
2
37
8
32
5
13 - - ------ - 30
7
24
1
1 ----------
16 insur-
ance
companies
4 invest-
ment
houses
6 public
utilities
12
2
2
14
3
6
11 publishers and
mail-order
houses
8
6
12
2
6
7
9 -------- ---2
2
8
2
5
8
10
2
4
7
1 --------- --- -------- -- --- ---------
In most cases the machines or similar models had been in use so
long that the effect on jobs at the time of installation could not be
recalled. Then too, machines had been introduced with expanding
business to enable the existing force to carry on the work or to restrict
the taking on of additional help. In gathering information on the
effects of mechanization the 5 y ears immediately preceding the survey
was taken as a base, but even for this period much of the information
was vague and fragmentary.
Dictating machines
More than one-half of the offices were using dictating equipment,
and in half of these cases the machines had been installed within the
preceding 5 years. The chief motives for inst allation were reported
as convenience by 5 offices, increased business by 4, labor saving by 2,
a combination of labor saving and convenience by 1, and a more
efficient system by 1. Convenience rather than labor saving was
mentioned repeatedly. Where marked labor economies had resulted
from the introduction of a dictating machine, centralization and
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
52
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
reorganization of the work of the stenographic division had been
accompanying features.
Four offices reported that the installation of dictating machines
had led to a reduction in the number of women employed. In one
case 25 stenographers had been employed, but 2 years after the purchase of dictating machines and an entirely new set-up of the work,
8 girls were doing the work previously done by 25. In another
division of the same company, that introduced dictating machines at
the same time, the results were quite different. There had been no
change in the organization of the work, the stenographic work was
not centralized. Most of the secretaries used shorthand transcription
as well as dictating machines. A few typists operated the machine
but none were full-time machine transcribers. No one was laid off
with the introduction of the machine in this branch of the company.
Bookkeeping machines
Bookkeeping machines had been installed in four-fifths of the
offices visited. The reason given most frequently was better records,
with labor saving as secondary. They had been introduced into 21
offices within the past 5 years. Eighteen officials reported on whether
or not clerks had been displaced, and 5 of these said there was no
displacement. Eight reported a reduced number of women on this
work, 2 a reduced number of men, 1 both men and women, and 2 did
not designate the sex of the employees replaced. As with the dictating machines, marked economies in labor had come only with a
change in the general system of keeping records and accounts.
Further, with the need of more detailed records for control purposes,
machines were introduced to make such records possible. A few
excerpts from the general schedules are representative of the data
gathered:
A special adaptation of a bookkeeping machine for billing was introduced in
1929. Before this the billing had been done in the district offices. Personnel
worker and supervisor of billing estimated that about 40 girls had worked on
billing before the change and 25 or 26 since. The 40 had not been exclusively
billers but had helped with other work. In other divisions of the company,
also, bookkeeping machines were introduced in 1929. By 1931 there were 12
machines of the combined typewriter-bookkeeping type. These are used for
posting ledger accounts, for accounts concerned with supplies, and for keeping
records of pay roll. Formerly there were 34 clerks in this department and now
there are 20. Not all the 14 were laid off but some were shifted to other work
and 8 or 9 men were dropped. The work now on the machines formerly was
done by men, who were paid at least 35 to 50 percent more than women. This
mechanization increased the number of girls employed-some brought in from
other departments--at least 8 new employees.
Bookkeeping machines were first introduced in 1927. Of 9 machines all but
2 are used in a billing operation in order to get better control of bills, with no
labor saving. Two similar machines are used on bookkeeping, in halancing
and keeping accounts. On this application 2 girls are doing what 4 did formerly.
Those replaced were transferred to other work.
Special machines for statistical accounting have been used for 7 years. These
have effected a great potential labor saving. Could not have present records
without machines. On some applications, machine does as much as 6 hand
clerks, while on others there is little saving, but the records are better.
A special machine was introduced in the past year for keeping pay-roll records.
One girl is able to do the work of 3, so 2 were transferred to other work. The
operator was trained by the machine company. There was no change in sex
or rate of pay.
Both men and women were operating bookkeeping machines.
Banks all had machines, and in one or more instances men were used
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
OFFICE WORKERS iN i>HILADELPiiiA
53
on some of the machines to give them training on accounts and
familiarity with records as a step in their job· progression.
Other machines
Calculating, addressing, tabulating, and duplicating machines were
reported as equipment in many offices. In only 10 cases had any of
these machines been introduced in the past 5 years. Of the nine
insurance companies with tabulating equipment, all had had it more
than 5 years. One firm in the publishing ·and mail-order group and
one in public utilities reported the introduction of tabulating machinery that had speeded up work and replaced clerks. In another
instance-a bank-the special adaptation of the addressing machine
to work formerly done by typists was very successful and a new
machine was to be installed to take care of the additional work.
In another instance an addressing machine in the circulation
department of a publishing house speeded up this work so that
where there had been 3 machines with 3 operators, 1 machine with 1
operator was doing it all. A new attachment for a machine sometimes
will speed up the work and effect as great economies as a new installation. The following illustrates this:
Three wide-carriage calculating machines were introduced in 1930. They are
used on records concerned with merchandise units and the wider carriage makes
it possible to keep a fixed set-up on one side while calculations are being made.
This speeds up operations from 20 to 30 percep.t with no other change in the
work. In the same office five electric calculating machines were reported as
not materially increasing production in a given period, but the supervisor felt
that fatigue was reduced and that actually the operators of the electric machines
were doing at least 10 percent more work than those on the old type of machine
operated by hand.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Part IV.-OFFICE WORKERS IN ATLANTA
INTRODUCTION
As a general community survey of the employment status of women
office workers had been asked for in Atlanta, the scope of the present
survey was enlarged in this city and the offices of credit-rating, manufacturing and distributing, mercantile, and oil companies were added
to the types covered elsewhere. Census figures for specified clerical
occupations in Atlanta in 1930 are as follows: 1
Occupation
Total
Total- Number ___ --- ------- ------ - - -- --- - -- - ---- ___ _____ ___ __ ____ _
Percent distribution ______ _____ ___ ___ _______ -- ____ -- -- ----- - ---- -- --
18,067
100. 0
f---------
Clerks (except clerks in stores) ___ _____ ___ ____ ____ _______ ___ ____ _____ ____ __
Stenographers and t ypists _- ---- -- --- -- --- ------ -- --- -- - -- ____ _____ ___ __ __
Bookkeepers, cashiers, and accountants____ ___ ____ ____ _____ _____________ __
Messenger, errand, and office boys and girls (except telegraph messengers)
Men
Women
8, 786
48. 6
9, 281
51. 4
-t-- -- + -
9, 515
4, 360
3, 876
316
5,900
234
2,367
' 285
3,615
4, 126
1,509
31
Comparing the total with the corresponding figure for 1920, 2 at
which time there were 7,265 men (54.6 percent) and 6,037 women
(45.4 percent), the increase in 10 years was about 36 percent; for
women it was approximately 54 percent and for men 21 percent.
By 1930 the number of women exceeded the number of men.
Scope of survey
Data were gathered by the Women's Bureau in April, May, and
June 1931, from 57 offices employing white women and 2 employing
Negro women, classified in 9 groups. Salary and personnel records
were secured for 3,655 white women and 57 Negro women. The
women in these offices were 56.6 percent of the total clerical force.
A summary of the number and sex of employees, by type of office,
·
follows:
All
type,_ ___
Employees
Number
Type of office
-- --- - - - ____, ___ - ------------ - ------ - --
~ T::: ~I~
~
WHITE CLERICAL WORKERS
TotaL ______ _____ ___ _______ ____ ______ ____ ____________________57_ _ _6_
, 5_07_ - - -~
2,852
Banks ____ ____ ___ _-- - --- - ---_ -- --- -- --- ---- - -- _______ _-- ---- --- Insurance companies __ ___ __ ____ ________ __ ________ __ ____ ___ _____
Investment houses_ __________ ____ ___ ___ __ ___ _________ ____ ___ ___
M ail-order houses'---- --- --- - - --- ----- --- - - ---- -- --- - --- - --- -- Public utilities______ ___ ___ ______ _____ ___ ___ _______ ___ ____ ___ ___
Publishers___ ____ ______ ____ _____ ___ _____ ______ ________ _____ ____
Credit-rating houses____ ___ _-- __ -- ___ ____ ___-- _-- ____ __________ __
Manufacturing and dis tributing offices___________ ______ _____ ___
Mercantile establishments________ _______ _____ ___________ _____ _
Oil companies_______________________ ______ ___ ___ _______ _______ _
4
14
4
4
6
5
4
8
5
3
876
772
549
370
23
524
648
54
125
156
13
390
71
1,525
1, 603
121
325
338
262
614
3,655
327
402
48
1,001
955
67
200
182
249
224
NEGRO CLERICAL WORKERS'
Insurance companies_ - -- ------ ------ -- --- - --- -- - --- -- ---- -- --
--1
571
(3)
57
Includes a few chain st ores.
'In the discussion and figures in this section an Atlanta, as in that on Chicago, the Negro women are·
shown separately in 1 or 2 important tables but are included in most tables with white women. They are
discussed separately on p . 92.
a No men were employed as office clerks; they were executives or salesmen.
1
1 U.S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census: 1930. Occupation Statistics, Georgia, p. 10. Clerical
division, exclusive only of "agents, collectors, and credit men."
' Ibid. Fourteenth Census: 1920, vol. IV, Population, Occup&tions, p. 148. Clerical division, exclusive
only of •·•agents, canvassers, and collectors."
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
55
OFFICE WORKERS IN ATLANTA
The mail-order group includes 175 women on jobs that were not
strictly clerical but were chiefly merchandise handling.
SUMMARY
Date of survey
April to June 1931.
Scope
59 establishments, 3,712 women.
Monthly salaries
The medians (half the employees receiving more and half receiving less) ranged
from $66 in mail-order houses to $105 in public utilities and manufacturing and
distributing offices.
The best-paying occupation was secretary, at $152; the lowest paid was file
clerk, at $75.
Hours of work
The most common daily hours were 7½; weekly, 42; Saturday, 4½.
Personal information
Most of the women were young (half of them below 25 years) and they were
preponderantly single.
Almost one-third (32. 7 percent) had been 5 or more years with the pres<>.it firm.
DATA FROM OFFICE RECORDS
Type of office and salary rate
Arranging the monthly salaries in order from the lowest to the
highest gives a midpoint or median of $89 for all. By type of office
the median salaries and percentage distribution are as follows:
Percent of women
T ype or office
Median
Number monthly
orwomen salary
rate
Less
than
$75
$75,
$1()0,
less
than
less
than
$100
$125
- -
$125,
less
t han
$150
---
$150
and
more
-
All types ___ ---- -- -- ----- - - ---- - --- -
3,711
$89
31. 3
31. 5
20. 6
9. 6
7.0
Banks and investment houses ____ ___ _____
Insurance companiesWhite _______ - -- -- -- --- -- - ---- ---- - --Negro _____ ____ _--- ------ - -- -- -- - -- __ _
Mail-order houses t __ ___ ___ _______ _ _ __ ____
-- - -- --- - -Public utilities ____-- - --- -----Publishers __ ______ ___ __ ______ __ __ _____ ___ _
Credit-rating houses _____ ____ _____ ____ ___ _
Manufacturing and distributing offi ces ___
Mercantile establishments ___ ____ _____ ___ _
Oil companies _------------------- - --- -- --
375
103
10. 1
30. 9
28. 5
16. 8
13. 6
402
57
1,001
955
67
94
55
66
1()5
1()1
88
1()5
77
98
18. 4
87. 7
69. 9
10. 2
13. 4
29. 5
7. 1
44. 8
5. 4
38. 1
1(). 5
23. 6
32. 9
35. 8
32. 5
33. 0
31. 9
51. 8
24. 9
1. 8
5. 2
30. 9
23. 9
18. 5
28. 6
14. 1
30. 4
9.0
9. 7
17. 5
17. 9
'7 . 0
14. 3
5. 2
8. 0
.4
8. 6
9. 0
12. 5
17. 0
4. 0
4. 5
1
200
182
248
224
--------------.9
Includes a rew chain stores.
In mail-order housea about 20 percent of the women had salaries of
less than $50 a month and 70 percent had salaries of less than $75.
Approximately 45 percent of those in the mercantile group and 30
percent of those in credit-rating houses had rates that would fall
below $900 a year. Less than one-eighth of the Negro women in the
two insurance offices employing them earned as much as $900.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
56
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Salaries equivalent to as much as $1,500 a year were received by not
quite 17 percent of the women. Slightly more than 30 percent of the
women in banks and investment houses and in manufacturing and
distributing offices had salaries of as much as $1,500 on an annual basis;
publishers and public utilities had just over one-fourth with such
salaries. Manufacturing and distributing offices, banks and investment houses, and credit-rating houses were the only types with as
many as 10 percent of their clerks at salary rates of $150 or more, the
equivalent of at least $1,800 a year.
Occupation and salary rate
Besides the type of office affecting the salary, the differentials
among occupations within each type are marked. Further, individual salaries are affected by general education, business training,
age, general experience, and time with the present firm.
The following table shows for all offices, by occupation, the median
and percent distribution of monthly salary rates.
Pircent of women
Occupation
Median
Number monthly
of
salary
women
rate
Less
than
$75
$75,
less
than
$100
$125,
less
than
$150
$100,
less
than
$125
$150
and
I more
-- --
All occupations 1 ___________________
Secretary ____ ____ _________ ____ _________ ___
Stenographer _________ ___ _________________
Stenographic, not specified _______________
Typist 1 _________ _________________ _______ _
Dictating-machine transcriber __ ___ ___
Other 2 ____ _____ _____ _________________
Correspondent_ ___ __ ____ __________________
File clerk __________ ____ ___________________
Hand bookkeeper _______ ______ ___________ _
Cashier; teller _________ __________ _____ ____
General clerk _______ ___ ______________ _____
Machine operator' -------------- -- ------Bookkeeping or billing ________________
Calculating _____ __ _____________ _______
Telephone operator ____________________ ___
Supervisor _______ _____________________ ____
3,704
$89
31. 4
31. 5
20.6
9. 6
6.9
117
525
97
329
82
221
57
159
73
95
1,377
436
177
188
70
142
152
105
121
88
7. 7
31. 2
17. 5
45. 3
50. 0
43. 9
42.1
33. 3
16. 4
11. 6
33.1
47. 9
42.9
52. 7
54. 3
16. 9
13. 7
30. 7
32. 0
23. 4
40.2
16. 7
12. 3
13. 2
21.9
31. 6
20.4
18. 3
22.0
16. 0
20. 0
19.0
23.9
18. 7
37.1
2. 7
3. 7
1.8
10.5
1.9
12. 3
14. 7
52.1
9. 7
9.3
.6
84
84
90
124
2. 6
9. 7
4. 1
28. 0
6.1
36. 7
29.8
50. 3
34. 2
25. 3
35. 9
27.3
26.6
26. 1
17. 1
15. 5
Merchandising (mail order) _________ ______
175
54
98. 3
.6
1.1
99
81
87
75
99
112
84
84
7.4
6. 0
7. 9
4.8
7. 1
13. 4
.9
5. 3
1.3
15.1
16.8
3. 2
.5
.6
.5
1.4
35. 2
-------- --------
1 Includes
2
occupations with fewer than 50 women, not shown separately.
Covers the regular typists that are not dictating-machine transcribers or clerk-typists.
Only five occupations-secretary, stenographer, stenographic not
specified, cashier or teller, and supervisor-had medians over $100,
and these occupations together covered only about one-fourth of the
women. The stenographers were the only considerable group with a
median of more than $100. One-fourth of the typists were dictatingmachine transcribers, with a median $18 higher than that for typists
not so classified-$99 and $81, respectively. More than two-thirds
of the general clerks had rates of less than $100, and the median rate
for this, the largest occupational group, was only $84. Machine
operators as· a group and also operators of calculating machines and
of bookkeeping or billing machines had a median of $84. Hand
bookkeepers had a median of $99 compared with $84 for bookkeepingmachine operators, and almost two and one-half times as many
machine as manual bookkeepers were reported. The median was
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
57
OFFICE WORKERS IN ATLANTA
lowest for merchandising occupations, $54, and next lowest for file
clerks, $7 5. Practically all the former and half the latter were on
salaries of less than $75.
Considering briefly the groups with an appreciable proportion
having salary rates of $150 or more, there are secretaries with over
one-half, supervisors with about one-third, and hand bookkeepers and
cashiers or tellers with approximately one-sixth in this class. These
groups represent about 11 percent or one-ninth of all the women
surveyed.
Comparing the median salary rates of the stenographers and general
clerks, by type of office, indicates something of the differences in the
various lines of business.
Median monthly salary
rate 1
Type of office
Stenographers
General
clerks
$105
$84
All types 2_ --------- - - ---- ----- --- -- - -- ----- -- --Banks and investment houses_ __________ ______ __ _____
114
101
Insurance companies 3_______ ____ ___ ___ ________ ___ ____
104
83
Mail-order houses•------- - ----- -- --- --- ---- ---------83
65
Public utilities _________ ___________ __ _______ __ _______ _
115
98
Credit-rating houses__ _______ __ _______________ ________ ______ __ __ ___ _
79
Manufacturing and distributing offices _______________
107 ____ _______ __ _
Mercantile establishments_ ______ ____ ________________ _____________ _
76
Oil companies______ __________________ _________ ___ ____
121 ------- - -----ot computed where base is less than 50.
Total includes publishers, not shown separately because numbers too small for medians.
Includes Negroes. For white women the medians are $105 and $88.
• Includes a few chain stores.
1
2
3
The medians for stenographers range from $83 to $121 and those for
general clerks from $65 to $101.
A better portrayal of the salary range is obtained by omitting the
10 percent of the women who earned least and the 10 percent who
earned most. The high and low for the middle 80 percent, the representative majority, are shown for the various occupations in all
offices combined.
Usual salary range
Occupation
I
All occupations _________
Low
$50
High
$140
1---t----
Secretary________ _____________
Stenographer_ ___ _______ ___ ___
Typist______________ __ __ ____ __
Correspondent____ __________ __
File clerk________ _____ __ __ _
Hand bookkeeper_ __ ______ ____
Cashier; teller ____________ __ __
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Usual salary range
Occupation
100
75
65
65
45
45
55
210
150
110
135
110
160
160
Low
General clerk ___ _____________ _
Machine operator ___ ______ ___ _
Bookkeeping or billing __ __
Calculating ________ ______ _
Telephone operator __ _____ ____
Supervisor______ ___ ______ ____ _
$50
60
Merchandising (mail order) __
45
55
70
70
70
High
$125
115
120
115
120
195
70
98
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Schooling and salary rate
The women's distribution by general education and the median
salary for each education group are given here.
Percent of
women
(2,533
reported)
Schooling
Median
monthly
salary
rate
10. 5
39. 6
Grammar schooL _-------- ------ High school incomplete __________
High school complete _____ _______
Advanced education ______ _______
$68
78
84
94
36. 4
13. 4
The median rises steadily with increased education. Only 10 percent of the women had had no schooling beyond the grammar grades.
High school not completed was reported for 39.6 percent, and onehalf had completed high school or had high school plus advanced
training.
•
There were no significant differences in education in the various
types of office except that in the mail-order group a larger proportion
of women had only grammar schooling.
Age
The median of the ages of the women in Atlanta offices was 25
years. By type of office the median and the age distribution are
as follows:
Percent of women
Type of office
Number Median
of
age
20,
25,
30,
40,
50years
women (years) Under under
under under under
and
20years 25years 30years
40years 50years over
- -- - - - - - - -
All types _____________________
3,403
25. 0
9.1
39. 2
25. 2
19. 4
Banks and investment houses ______
Insurance companies _______________
Mail-order houses 1----------------Public utilities ________ _____ ________
Publishers ___ ______ ---------------_
Credit-ratini houses _______ ________
Manufacturmg and distributing
offices_ -- _-- - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mercantile establishments _________
Oil companies------ ------------ -- --
358
413
960
808
61
194
29. 2
27. 4
22.9
28.1
27. 9
23.4
2.8
2. 2
19. 4
4.1
4.9
10.3
25. 7
33. 2
53. 5
30. 3
27. 9
57. 7
-25. 7
30. 5
21.1
25.4
29.5
18. 0
33. 0
24.9
5.5
27. 2
27.9
9.3
177
209
223
27.5
23. 9
27.0
2.8
14.4
6. 3
31. 6
45. 5
29. 6
31. 6
21.1
35.0
24. 9
13. 4
26. 0
1
6.1
-1.1
- -- -
11. 2
1. 7
6.8
2. 4
.4 ------- 11.0
2.0
4.9
4. 9
4. 6 ---- --- 9.0
5.3
3.1
-------.5
--------
Includes a few chain stores.
About 20 percent (19.4) of the women in mail-order houses were
under 20 years and only 4 of the 960 were as much as 40. The much
smaller group of mercantile establishments ranked next in the proportion of young women, with 14.4 percent under 20, but in this industry
about 6 percent of the women were 40 or more.
The Negroes included in the insurance offices were too few to change
the median though they themselves were a somewhat older group.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
59
OFFICE WORKERS lN ATLANTA
Age and salary rate
Salaries rise with the increased experience that usually accompanies
age. The upward trend of the median with increasing age is shown
for 3,402 women in the next table.
.
Percent of
Median
women (31402
monthly
reportea)
salary rate
Age (years)
Total __ --------------------·
Under 2Q __________ ______________ _
20, under 25 _____________________ _
25, under 30 _______________ ______ _
30, under 35 _____________________ _
35, under 40 ___ _________ ____ __ ___ _
40, under 45 _____________________ _
45, under 50. ____________________ _
50 and over _____________________ _
1
100.0
$87
9.1
39.2
25.2
13.4
52
76
96
1
110
122
5. 9
3. 9
126
2.1
1.1
141
Not computed where base is less than 50.
Age, schooling, and salary rate
In Atlanta the percent of women with high school complete or more
advanced education is high, ranging from 51.4 to 54.2 for all the groups
but the one under 20. The proportion of those 40 and over with
grade schooling only is 17 .3 percent, practically the same as the youngest group, with 17 .5 percent. The group under 20 is weighted by those
employed in the mail-order houses, which tend to have lower educational requirements. A summary of the extent of education and the
median salary rates in the various age groups follows:
I
High school
Grammar
school only
Total
Incomplete
Age (years)
Complete
Advanced
education
Num- Median Per- Median Per- Median Per- Median Per- Median
ber of salary cent of salary cent of salary cent of salary cent of salary
women rate women rate 1 women rate 1 women rate 1 women rate!
- - - -- -
Total __ _______
2,459
$81
10. 7
Under 20. _____ _____ _
20, under 25 ______ __ _
25, under 30 _________
30, under 40 _________
40 and over _________
274
1,057
615
409
104
51
74
94
107
125
17. 5
8.3
9.3
12. 7
17. 3
1
$68
63
76
98
--------
-39.2
$77
36.9
$84
13. 2
$94
54.4
37.6
39.0
35. 9
29. 8
48
26. 3
44. 6
36. 4
28. 4
23.1
60
78
97
116
1.8
9. 6
15. 3
23. 0
29.8
78
96
120
71
92
104
--------
--------
--------
Not computed where base is less than 50.
There is a rise in median salary with age in all groups and a rise with
education within each age group at least through the completion of
high school.
General schooling and occupation
For the occupations on which 50 or more women were engaged, the
percents with various degrees of schooling are shown in the next table.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
60
EMPLOYMENT OF WOME N IN OFFICES
Percent of women
Number
of women Grammar
school
only
Occupation
Secretary ____ ___ _________ _____ ______
Stenographer ____ ____________ ____ ____
Typist_ __________________ --- - --- -- - Dictating-machine transcriher ___
Other 1 __ ____ __ __ __ _ ____ __ _______
Correspondent ___________ _--- - ____ -File clerk __ __ ___ ___________ ___ .
Hand bookkeeper ___ _______ _____ ___ _
Cashier; teller ___ ____________ ________
Genocal clerk ___ ______ ___ _______ __ . _
Machine operator ___ __ ___ ___ ___ ____ _
Bookkeeping or billing __________
Calculating _____________ ____ ____
Supervisor ____________ __ -- -- ---- - ---
77
384
274
76
78
50
129
57
54
07
334
140
146
102
Merchandising (mail order) _____ ___ _
172
1
High
school
completed Advanced
or adeducation
vanced
Complete edu
ca tion
Jljgh school
Incomplete
33. 8
45.1
44. 5
44. i
44. 9
50. 0
:H.8
4.0. 4
40. 7
36. 2
36. 2
41. 4
30. 8
44. l
70.1
64.8
53. 3
52. 6
53. 9
68.0
42. 6
54.4
51. 9
50. 7
44. 9
49. 3
39. 7
66. 7
36.4
19. 8
11. 6
5. 3
5. 6
8. 7
8. 1
7. 9
8. 9
10. 8
24. 7
3 1. 8
43. 8
44. 7
43. 3
24. 0
45. 7
40. 4
42. 6
40. 6
47. 0
42. 9
51.4
22.5
49. 4
34. 9
14. 5
15. 7
1. 2
5. 2
3. 4
2. 9
2. 6
2. 8
8. 0
8.8
7.9
9.0
18.0
10.9
14.0
11. 1
14. 5
8.4
7. 9
8. 9
22. 5
Covers the regular typists that are not dictating-machine transcribers or clerk-typists.
The only groups in which 60 percent or more of the women had at
least completed high school were those of secretary, stenographer,
correspondent, and supervisor. Practically one-half of the women in
the merchandising jobs in mail-order houses had only grammar-school
training. No other group had more than 10 or 11 percent with such
limited schooling, and most jobs had very small proportions indeed.
Business-school training
More than one-third (34.2 percent) of the 2,546 women with education reported had taken business courses at commercial schools. On
the whole, attendance at such schools seemed to have some monetary
value in increasing earnings; for all the women who had attended
business school the median was $90, and for those who had not it was
$77. The median salaries, indicated here by type of office, generally
show small differences:
Median monthly salary
rate
Type of office
Banks and in~ estment houses ______ __ _____ __________ _
Insurance companies ___________ ______ ___ ____ ______ . __
Mail-order houses i __ _____ _ ____ ____________ •• ___ _ . ___ _
Public utilities ________________ _______ ___ ____ __ ___ ____
Manufacturing and distributing offices ___________ ____
Mercantile establishments ___ _______ ___ ___________ __ _
Oil companies _____ _____ ______ ______ _______ ________ __ _
1
Business
school attended
Business
school not
attended
$IOI
$102
85
83
68
93
116
87
99
65
104
lOl
72
95
Includes a few chain stores.
The mercantile and manufacturing and distributing groups show
the greatest differential, with the business-school women having a
median $15 higher than that of other women. The insurance group
has its medians reduced by the inclusion of Negro women. For white
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
61
OJi...,FICE WORKERS · IN A'l'LANTA
women only the figure is $90, both with and .w ithout business-school
training.
The following summary shows for the occupations with 50 or more
women in each training group the proportion that had attended business school and the median salaries of those who had and those who
had not this supplementary training.
Occupation
Median monthly salary
rate
Percent of
women with,--- - - - , - - - - - businessBusiness
Business
school trainschool not
ing
school atattended
tended
Stenographer ___________________ ____________ ____ __________ ____
Typist
----_____
-- -- ___
-- - ··__- -___________
-- ---- ---- -______________________
-- --- -- -- - -- --- -- -- - --__General_____
clerk--____
Machine operator _____ ___ _____ ______ _______ ___ _____ _______ ___
Bookkeeping or billing _____ __ ____________ ___ ___ _________ _
Calculating _____ __-- __ -- __ ______ _____ __ ______ ___ ___ ___ ___ _
60. 9
$103
91
80
50. 5
22. 1
35. 5
35. 7
::19. 5
$102
83
74
82
80
86
82
83
82
Experience
For more than one-half of the women, records were sufficiently
complete to summarize their total work experience. Only about 1 in
14 (7 .1 percent) had worked less than a year. Almost one-half (4 7 .1
percent) had worked 5 years or more, and 1 of every 6 (16.1 percent)
had worked 10 years or more.
A summary of the total time worked, the years in office work, and
the years with the present employer gives a resume of the experience
of the group as a whole.
Percent of women
Years worked
Total- Number of women __ ___ _______ ___ ___ ________ ___ _____ -_
Percent_ __________ ____ ___ ____ _________________ ____ __ _
Less than
i_ ____________ _ _________ _ _ ___ ___ _ ___ ____ ______ ___ _ ___ ___ _ _
1, less than 2____ __ _____ ___ _____ _______ _______ ____ ________________ ___
2, less than 3 _______ ___ ______ ______ _______ ___________ _____ ______ ____ _
3, less than 4__ __________ ____________ _____ _____ ______ _______________ _
4, less than 5___ ______ ___ __________________________ ______ _____ ___ ___ _
5, less than IQ ___ _____ __ _________ _______________ ______ _____ __ _____ __
10, less than 15 __ __ _______ __ __ ___ ______ __ __ ________ ___ ______ _________ _
15, less than 20 ________ ________________ _____ ___ ______ ___________ ____ _
20 and more ___ __ _-______ ___ ____ ____ __ ____________ _____ _________ ____
Total time Time in Time with
worked office work present firm
2,068
100. 0
1,912
100. 0
7. 1
11.0
13. 4
9. 6
11. 8
31. 0
11. 8
2. 2
2. 1
8.
11.
13.
9.
13.
29.
3,672
100. 0
7
6
1
3
3
2
18. 5
15. 4
13. 5
11. 3
1. 7
1.8
9. 5
8. 2
11. 8
20.1
1. 6
1. 5
Nearly one-half of the women had worked 5 years or more, but less
than one-third had stayed with the same firm as much as 5 years.
The total experience of 2,285 women in terms of the number of jobs
held was as follows:
Number of jobs held
Percent of women
l ______ ____ ___ ______ __________ ______ _________ ____ _ 23. 8
2 __ __ ___ ___ ______________________________ __ _______ 37. 4
3 ____ ____ ___ __ ______ ___ ___ ____ ___ _______ __________ 22. 9
4 ______ _______ __ ________ __ ______ ___ ____ ___________ 10. 5
2
5 ______ _______ ___ __ _______ __ __ __ ___ __ __ _______ ____
6 _______ _____ _____ ______ ___ ________ ______ ____ _____ 1. 1
7___ ___ ____________ __________ _____ __ ______ __ ____ __
.2
~
More than three-fifths of the women had had only 1 or 2 jobs.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
62
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Median salary rate and time with the firm
Th e decided upward t rend in medians with increasing years of
sPrvice in one office indicates something of the value placed on experience by the employer. For Atlanta this correlation is as follows:
Median monthlv
Years with present firm
salary rate
Less than l ____ ______ ____ ____ __ __ __ _____ ____________ $61
1, less than 2 _____ ______________________________ ____ 78
2, less than 3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 79
3, less than 4 ____ __ ___ _____ ______ ___ ________________ 86
4, less than 5 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 89
5, less than 10 ______________________________ _______ _ 109
10, less than 15 _____________________ _____________ ___ 130
15, less than 20 ____ _____ _____ _________________ :.. __ __ _ 139
20 and more _________________ _______________________ 150
Of the women with increases.reported who h ad been employed 5 and
less than 10 years with the same firm, 12.6 percent had doubled their
initial salaries; of the group with service of 10 years or more, 58.8 percent had at least doubled their salaries.
Schooling, time with the firm, and median salary rate
The relationship of experience in the same office and general basic
education is indicated in the following summary of median salaries.
~oth with increased experience and increased education, the medians
rise.
Median monthly salary rate 1
Years with present firm
Grammar 1_ _
· _
H_ig_h~sc_h_00_1_ _., Advanced
school only Incomplete Complete education
$43
Less
1, lessthan
than1-------------------------------------------3__________________________ _______ _________
60
3,
less
than
5_
----------------------------------------69 _
5, less than 10 ____________________________________________________
10 and more _____ ______________________________________________ ___ _
1
$52
70
82
106
128
$63
79
$73
88
91
98
111
128
141 - -----------
Not computed where base is less than 50.
Reason for leaving last job
The reasons shown on the employment records for the women leaving
their last jobs (1,783 reported) were personal, such as illness, desire for
change, home duties, in 24.4 percent of the cases. Desire for advancement was given as the cause by about 20 percent. Conditions connected with the job, such as lay-off because of poor business, failure,
a change in ownership or management, and others connected with
business and involuntary from the employee's standpoint, comprised
more than one-half of the reasons for leaving.
Marital ,status
Marital status as reported for the women was as follows:
Percent of women
Single ___ ____________ ___ _______________ _______ _____
___ 67. 5
Married _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 26. 4
Widowed, separated, or divorced_________________________ 6. 2
The census of occupations of 1930 gives the marital status of
women clerical workers in Atlanta as single 61.7 percent, married
27 .3 percent, widowed and divorced 11 percent. 3
• U.S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census: 1930. Occupation Statistics, Georgia, p. 2'.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
OFFICE WORKERS IN ATLANTA
63
The proportion of married women is higher than in most of the other
cities covered by the study. Apparently the prejudices founded on
marital status are not so strong.
Scheduled hours
The scheduled weekly hours varied from 37½ to 48. Thirty-three
of the offices had weekly hours of less than 44, the most common being
42 hours, reported by 17 of 57 offices. Three of five stores had an
office week of 48 hours, Saturday being as long as other days. One
of the Negro insurance companies had weekly hours of 45 and the
other of 44; both had a basic 8-hour day. The most common day
was 7½ hours, with Saturday hours of 4½. Daily hours for 30 of
the offices were 7½ or less.
Eight offices-5 stores, 1 credit-rating house, 1 of the mail-order
houses, and 1 publisher-worked a full day on Saturday, which is
an exception to the usual office standards. Two manufacturing and
distributing offices reported no Saturday work.
PERSONNEL POLICIES
Employment methods
In an effort to secure and maintain the same employment standards
throughout a firm, it is well to have the hiring and the direction of
other personnel relations centralized in an employment office, or in
smaller offices centralized as part of the duties of one person. Employment was centralized in 40 of the 55 offices reporting that employed white women, and in both those that employed Negro women.
The most commonly used method of recruiting employees in normal
times was said by 26 firms to be the interviewing of applicants. A
very good socialized agency, subsidized by many of the business men
of Atlanta, was the chief source of employees in 14 cases. Commercial agencies, machine companies, and schools were utilized about
equally by the others. Both the Negro insurance .companies had
centralized employment, and new employees were enlisted through
direct application.
A physical examination as a prerequisite of employment was enforced by 12 offices, and 2 more were trying out psychological tests as
an aid in selecting employees.
Young women of high-school age or at least under 25 were preferred
in the majority of the firms, 32 offices definitely making this statement
of policy with reference to age. Four stated that except in special
circumstances no one over 30 was taken on. Eighteen stated that,
within reasonable limits, age was not a factor in their employment
policies. One publisher reported that he preferred the matured,
experienced worker rather than the youngster coming directly from
high school.
Specific educational requirements as a general hiring policy were
not common. Eight firms seemed to have no special policy in this
regard; 16 stated that in taking on new clerks they expected some
high-school training; 27 gave preference to those who had completed
high school and 12 of these required high-school graduation for some
of their positions. Several employers commented that for such jobs
as file clerk or routine junior clerk they sometimes employed women
with only a grammar-school background. The jobs for which highschool graduation was most often a requirement were the secretarial
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
64
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
and stenographic ... One publisher hired women with college training
for his correspondents. The mail-order group was the least adverse
to taking on grammar-school graduates or those with limited highschool training. Both Negro insurance firms preferred high-school
graduates and said plenty were available.
A difference in employment policies based on marital status of
women employees was reported by 25 of the offices. In 18 the general
policy was to hire single women exclusively. If marriage occurred
after employment. 13 of the 18 would allow employment to continue.
One office would keep a woman employee if her service record was 5
years or more. Four reported that single women were preferred but
that there was not a hard and fast policy ; one that married women
had been dropped since the depression; and another that when layoffs were necessary the married were dropped first. One publisher
stood alone in preferring to hire married women.
Bonuses and supplements to salaries
Supplements to earnings in the form of annual or production
bonuses affected few of the employees. One of the public utilities
had an annual income-participating bonus, depending on profits.
Two firms reported Christmas gifts of money, a publishing firm $10
and an investment office $25, and a credit-rating firm had a vacation
gift for employees whose service was 3 years or more that varied from
$5 to $40, depending on length of service. A mail-order house gave
an attendance bonus of 5 days, either in additional vacation or in
cash, after employment of 1 year. None of the salaries was raised
appreciably by these bonuses.
Three offices paid some of their employees a bonus for production
beyond a set standard. Two of these were mercantile firms, and in
each the billing-bookkeeping machine operators were on an incentive
basis: In one, 5 bookkeeping-machine operators were on a taskbonus system in addition to regular salary in which the task was set
for 8 hours, and if more was done a percent of the salary saving was
paid; in the other, 9 billing-machine operators were paid extra money
for detecting errors-5 cents for a credit error, 5 cents for another
type of error in handling returned merchandise, and smaller amounts
for other errors that the company was anxious to eliminate. Only
14 women were affected in stores. One mail-order office had a widespread system of bonus payments. The tabulation of production
bonuses taken off the pay roll for 124 women for 1 week shows that
salaries, in spite ot the low basic rates, were not materially increased
by the bonus.
Number of
Amount of bonus for 1 week
women
Total ___ ___ ___________________________ _____ ____ __ 124
Less than $1 _____ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ __ _ _
$1, less than $2 __ ________ __ __ __ ___ __ _____ ____ _____ __
$2, less than $3 _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ __
$3, less than $4_ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _
$4, less than $5 _ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ ___ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ _
73
37
10
2
2
For almost three-fifths (58.9 percent) the week's salaries were
augmented by less than $1. For only 11.3 percent were these
extras $2 or more.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
OFFICE WORKERS IN A'rLA TA
65
Promotions and increases in salary
Since many of the offices included were relatively small, it is not
surprising that very few would have any objective or routine schem~
of promotions or regular salary increases. Promotion according to
merit was the vague and uncertain basis usually reported. In only
two large offices had the jobs been classified with definite salary
grades.
Thirteen offices had a policy of reviewing and revising the pay roll
at regular intervals and the other 40 had no system. In the mailorder group, comment was made that necessarily there is little
opportunity for promotion when a majority of the jobs are operating
a calculating machine or simp]e routine work.
Whe-r-e there is no plan for advancement and the immediate supervisor has control of promotions, partiality and other abuses may occur
because of the lack of standardization.
Free lunches
None of the offices covered gave their employees a free noon meal.
One provided a substantial lunch at a blanket char~e of $5 a month,
said to cover the cost of food but not the cost of marntaining the dining room. Low-priced cafeterias were maintained in several offices,
usually mercantile or mail-order houses.
Vacations
Vacation allowances, on the whole, were shorter than in the other
cities covered. The basic vacation in Atlanta was 1 week. Thirtysix offices employing white women and the 2 employing Negroes gave
1 week, 1 of these allowing, in addition, the Saturday preceding vacation week. Thirteen gave 2 weeks, 1 gave 15 days, and 2 gave 10
days. Employees were eligible for vacation after employment
varying from a few months to more than a year.
Two offices allowed a 2-week period for vacation without compensation, and in another it was stated that there were no paid vacations.
One firm gave a vacation bonus after 3 years of employment, this
varying from $5 to $40, depending on length of service.
Payment during illness
Office workers usually receive their salaries for short illnesses and
sometimes whileill for extended periods. Thirty-eight offices reported
on their policies in this matter, and all but two of these had some such
policy . Nineteen paid salary rates iu full for specified periods, sometimes varying with length of service; in 9 each case was considered
on its merits, with no general policy; and 8 had either sickness insurance or a benefit association.
Overtime
Overtime occurred in 32 of the offices, including the 2 insurance
offices employing Negro women. The amount of overtime admitted
for women did not seem excessive. The most common means of
compensating for overtime was the allowance of supper money, reported by 12 firms. Seven had some form of money compensation
and 3 allowed compensating time. Overtime comments from some
of the schedules follow:
A bank felt that short time more than compensated for overtime. Usually
worked less than scheduled hours-allowed to leave when work finished for a.a}.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
66
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFic:ms
Another bank said the last day of the month meant an hour or more of overtime
for evervone.
·
Busin.ess (insurance) is such that when extra work comes it can lie over till
next day; no pressure.
No overtime for women (publishing house).
A public utility averages 1 night weekly for a total of 2 hours. This affects
about 15 girls in pay-roll department. They must work till 7 o'clock to be
entitled to supper money, 75 cents.
Once every 3 months 3 comptometer operators work overtime 5 hours a
day for 2 weeks. There is no additional pay other than supper money. Understood to be included in salary when employed.
One bank reported rather chronic irregularity of hours. Employees were not
ellowed to leave until a balance was struck in transit and bookkeeping department. Employees may leave any time after 4 if their work is finished.
Pensions
Pension or retirement plans were reported by only 7 offices-3 insurance, 2 mail order, 1 publisher, and 1 oil company.
Group insurance
All but one of the offices employing white women reported on insurance plans. All but 10 had some scheme of group insurance, which
usually was a death or disability benefit. The premiums were met
in several ways, being paid wholly by the employees, wholly by the
employer, or jointly by the two. In about one-half of the offices the
employees carried the entire cost.
Other welfare activities
Adult education was encouraged and subsidized to some extent by
13 offices. All the banks encouraged their employees to take the
courses of the American Institute of Banking. Five offices gave some
free medical treatment. Recreational activities-clubs, sports, dancing parties, and other social programs-were part of the personnel
programs of 10 companies. Loan funds and savings plans were reported by 13 and 10 sought to increase the employees' interest and
give them a share in ownership by stock-selling plans.
MECHANIZATION
In Atlanta as elsewhere it was difficult to get definite information
on what happens to employees when office machines and devices are
installed. Managers admitted often that the reason for the purchase
of a machine had been high-pressure salesmanship, and no records
had been made of what took place before or after the installation.
Very few installations seem to have been based on a job analysis-of
needs. Increased business, need for better records, convenience,
with labor saving only indirectly considered, were the reasons for
purchasing machines or other devices. Also, as elsewhere, the introduction of office machines had in many cases occurred more than 5
years before the date of the study.
The principal business machines used give some indication of the
extent of mechanization. A summary of the number of firms in each
type of office using certain basic office machines follows:
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
67
OFFICE WORKERS IN ATLANTA
Offices reporting
Type of office .
. tat
pie
Total !
TabuCalcu.AdDupli- lating
lating dress- eating or key
billing
ma- ing ma- mapun ch
machine chine chine
m achine
chine
Bookkeep-
- ing or
~t:t
Autom atic
typewri ter
No
machine
iJ~c-
- - - - -- - -- 1---------------- ----------.All types _____ __________
59
n
Percent of total firms
_,
using machines _____ __ ,__
JOO. 0_,_ 52.
5
_
Banks and investment houses _
Insurance companies_______ __
Mail-order houses ' -- -- - -----Public utilities____ ______ _____
Publishers________ ________ ____
Credit-rating houses _______ __ _
Manufacturing and distributing offices___ ______________ __
Mercantile establishments___ _
Oil companies__ __ __ ____ _____ _
_
8
16
4
6
5
4
2
8
1
4
2
2
8
5
3
7
2
3
W
__
61. 0_,_
6
5
3
6
2
1
6
5
2
________
~
M
~
14
79. 7
40. 7
44. 1
25. 4
6
14
4
6
1
1
7
5
3
1. 7
1. 7
1
6 - -- -- -- - --- - ---2
1
1
3
1 ---- - - -- -------- -------- - -- - ---4
3
1 ---- ----
4
2
4
1
2
2 - - -- - - - - -- ------
1 --- -- -- - - ------2 --- -- - -- --------
1 Details aggregate more than totals, as :firms are entered in mo.re than 1 machine group.
• Includes a few chain stores.
Dictating, bookkeeping or billing, and calculating machines were
used to some extent by one-half or more of the offices covered. All
the oil companies, 7 of the 8 manufacturing and distributing offices,
two-thirds of the public utilities, one-half of the credit rating, onehalf the insmance offices, and in both publishing and mercantile 2 of
5 offices used dictating machines to some extent. Bookkeeping
machines were used by all the mercantile establishments and public
utilities, and by three-fourths of the banks, mail-ordel houses, and
manufacturing and distributing offices. Excepting only credit. rating and publishing houses, calculating machines were used by all
or the great majority of firms in each type of office.
Dictating machines
Dictating equipment had been installed in 9 offices for the first
time or in a new application within the last 5 years, but only 1 reported any actual displacement of women by these machines. In this
case the introduction of a dictating machine 2 years previously had
displaced 1 typist by releasing the time of a stenographer to do work
formerly done by the typist.
Comments were made in several instances that dictating machines
had been introduced for convenience. Some of these comments
follow:
Dictaphones were not introduced as a labor-saving device but for the convenience of the dictator. Girl who operates is also a stenographer.
No employee does dictaphone work exclusively; dictating machine introduced
for convenience rather than labor saving.
Dictating rrutchines installed 2 years ago. Installation made because several
men preferred that form of dictation. No labor saving.
Other comments concerned with the introduction of dictating
machines indicate a potential labor saving but not one that can be
measured.
Dictaphones never displaced anyone. Introduced 10 years ago and made for
efficiency with the gradual growth of business.
Dictaphones have been used since before the war. Took care of growth of
business.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
68
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Bookkeeping and billing machines
About three-fifths of the firms (36) were using bookkeeping or billing machines. Of these, 16 offices had made installations in the past
5 years.
.
Only two felt that there had been any actual reductiop. in the number employed and these reductions were small.
Increased business made the installation of billing machines necessary. Type
of records was changed. Some women were shifted to other work but none
laid off.
An operation that had been recorded with an ordinary typewriter and adding
machine was changed to billing machine, and the opinion was that one typist
fewer was required.
Increased business with potential labor saving and better or new
forms of records was the usual impetus that led to purchasing bookkeeping machines. For example:
Bookkeeping machine installed in 1929 to effect more accurate records. Women
were added as machine operators. No women had been used on machine bookkeeping before.
Five bookkeeping machines were added in 1929. Detail of work was increased.
No one was laid off. Women do the machine posting; men on bookkeeping. When
new system of bookkeeping was installed girls already trained were hired from
the machine company. Since then, others trained in office.
Substitution of women for men had often come in the period
. before the preceding 5 years which the Women's Bureau study
covers. .A few general interview excerpts on this follow:
B ookkeeping machines introduced 10 years ago.
men bookkeepers were replaced by women.
When they were installed,
Bookkeeping, as it has grown increasing]y mechanical, has become
women's province rather than men's. Notes from two general interviews follow:
·
Bookkeeping machines have been in use since before 1915. Women put on
during war times and have been employed ever since.
Bookkeeping machines were introduced in 1925. One new operator, a woman,
was hired and men were changed to other work. Later another woman was
added and men were replaced. Women's employment not affected by this change.
Other machines
Calcu]ating, tabulating, addressing, and dup]icating machines
were included in the inquiries made, but little that seemed to suggest
marked labor economies in the offices visited in Atlanta was found
except the following :
A tabulating machine was introduced about 1926 and it absorbed the work
formerly done by four women. The women were not laid off but retained on
other work.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Part V.-OFFICE WORKERS IN CHICAGO
INTRODUCTION
Chicago, the second largest commercial center in this country,
ranked second in number of women and first in number of offices
covered in the study. Almost one-fourth of a million clerical
workers~245,647 1-were recorded by the 1930 census for Chicago
and slightly more than one-half (51.9 percent) were women. A comparison with earlier census figures shows that those for 1930 are 30
percent greater for women and 16.6 percent greater for men than the
1920 figures. 2 The 1930 census data for Chicago are as follows:
Occupation
Total
Men
Women
118,249
127,398
Total- Number _____ __ _____ _____ ____________ ____ ____________ __ ___ __ 245,647
Percent distribution ________ ___ _____ _____ ____ ____ ___ ______ _____ __ ___
100. O
48.1
51. 9
- - - - - - -- Clerks (except clerks in stores) _________ ____________ ___ _________ ____ ___ __ __ 139, 481
86,674
52,807
Stenographers and typists_ ____________ ___ __ ______ ___ ________ _______ ____ __ 56,023
l, 857
.54, 166
Bookkeepers, cashiers, and accountants___ _______ _______ __________________
42, 620
22,701
19,919
Messenger,
errand,
and
office
boys
and
girls
(except
telegraph
messengers) ___ __________________ _____________________________ ______________ ___ _
7, 523
7,017
506
Scope of survey
Chicago establishments were visited in the fall and early winter of
1931. All the types of offices included in the study were sampled
in Chicago, the total comprising 81 offices, 6 of which employed
Negro workers. In Chicago, as in no other city, the salaries of men
as well as women were secured. The number of offices and the extent
of the clerical force were as follows:
Employees
N umber of
offices
Type or office
Total
All types ______ _____ ___ _______ _____ _____ ________ _~
81
I
27, 715
Men
I Women
12,874
14,841
12,870
175
3, 95 1
898
1,124
4,054
2,487
181
14, 740
292
2, 179
l , 548
858
6,961
2,049
853
WHl'I'E CLERICAL WORKERS
1---------,·----,--
Adver:~:=~-~~~~~;~;:~::::: :: : : : : ~:::: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : ::
Banks __________ ________ ___ __ ____ ____ ________________ ___
Insurance companies ___ ___ ______ ____ ______ ______ _______
Investment houses _____ __ __.. __ __ ___ _____ _____ _____ ____ _
Mail-order houses '-··-· -- -- __ _________ ___ _____ ________ _
Public utilities _________ ____ ______ __________ ___________ _
Publishers .. ____ ______________________________________ _
75
7
13
18
13
5
6
14
NEGRO CLERICAL WORKER S
27,610
467
6,130
2,446
1,982
11,015
4,536
1,034
2
101
90
11
Includes a few chain stores.
2 In the discussion and figures in this section on Chicago the Negro group is included. They are discussed separately on p. 92.
1
Women formed 53.5 percent and men 46.5 percent of the total
group. In large offices records for the entire force usually were not
transcribed, but instead a representative sample of the various occu1 U.S. Bureau of the Cenims.
Fifteenth Census: 1930. Occupation Statistics, Illinois, p. 13. Clerical
division, exclusive only of "agents, collectors, and credit men."
ll Ibid. Fourteenth Census: 1920, vol. IV, Population, Occupations, p, H~.
Cle.riC!ll division, ei:clusiv6
only o! "agents, canvassers, and collectors."
69
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
70
E MPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
pations was selected. The data secured from salary and personnel
records covered 7,180 men and 9,575 women. By type of office the
numbers are as follows:
Records secured
Type
of office
Men
All types _________ ___ __________ f -_
Advertising agencies __ __ _____ _____ ___
Banks____ __ ___ ______ __ _____ _______ ___
Insurance companies_______ ___ _____ __
Investment houses ___ _____ _______ __ __
Mail-order houses 1________ _ ___ __ _ _ _ _ _
Public utilities_ ______________ ____ ____
Publishers_____________ _____ _______ __
1
Women
7,_1_80-1-_ _9_
, 5_7_5 -t
170
2,518
676
828
1,053
1, 754
181
292
1,565
1,632
858
2, 785
1,581
862
Includes a few chain stores.
SUMMARY
Date of survey
F all and early winter of 1931.
Scope
81 establishment£, 9,575 women. Also salary records for 7,180 men.
Monthly salaries
The medians (half the employees receiving more and half receiving less) ranged
from: For wom en, $75 in mail-order houses to $127 in investment houses; for
m en, $103 in m ail-order houses to $158 in public utilities.
T he best-paying occupations were, for women, secretary ($159) and supervisor ($153), those pa ying the least, file clerk ($80) and clerk-typist ($84). For
m en, the best were security clerk ($25~ ) a nd supervisor ($241); those paying the
least were file clerk ($80) and certain machine opera.tors ($98) .
Hours of work
T he m ost common daily hours were 7½; weekly hours, 42; Saturday
hours, 4½.
Personal information
Most of t he women were young (half of them below 24¾ years) and they were
preponderantly single.
·
About 38 percent had been 5 or more y ears with the present firm.
DATA FROM OFFICE RECORDS
Salaries of women, by type of office
The median monthly salary and the distribution of salaries are
much the same for Chicago as for all women covered in the seven cities.
The median monthly salary is $99 in both cases. The distribution of
the women according to salary rate in Chicago and in all cities follows:
Percent distribution of
women
Salary rate
In Chicago
In 7 cities (includes Chicago,
which has 22
percent of t he
42,180 women)
Total- Number of women __ ______
8, 909
42, 180
Percent ____ ____ ___ ________
100. 0
100. 0
1 - - - - - - 1 - - - - - -1
Less than $75______ ____ _____________ ____
20. 3
19. 4
$75, less t han $100____ __ ______________ __
30. 4
31. 6
$100, less t han $125 _ __ _____ ______ _______
23. 3
25. 4
14. 5
13. 4
$125, less than $150___ _________ ____ _____
$150 and more____ __ __ ____ _________ ____
11. 6
10. 2
Roughly, one-fourth of the women were being paid $125 a month
or more. A summary of the Chicago salary data for women is shown
here by type of office:
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
71
OFFICE WORKERS IN CHICAGO
Type of office
Number
of women
Percent of women
Median
monthly
salary
Less than $75, less $100, less $125, less
rate
than $100 than $125 than $150
$75
$150 and
more
All types __________
8,909
$99
20. 3
30. 4
23. 3
14. 5
11.6
Advertising agencies ____ _
Banks _________ ___ __ ___ __
Insuran ce companies ____
:rnvestment houses ______
Mail-order houses 1 ______
Public utilities ___ ___ ____
Publishers _______________
292
1,565
1,632
858
2,124
1,581
857
117
3.4
5. 2
17. 5
1. 2
49.6
17. 5
10. 9
22. 3
26. 5
41. 5
11. 2
30. 6
32.1
34. 3
33. 2
31.1
23. 2
35. 3
10. 3
23.6
25. 7
21. 9
. 21.0
11.1
26. 3
5. 2
15. 7
14.9
19. 2
16.2
6. 8
26. 0
4.2
11.1
14. 2
1
114
93
127
75
100
106
Includes a few chain stores.
Investment houses, advertising agencies, and banks were considerably above the average in salary level, and mail-order houses were very
much below. 3 Four-fifths of the women's salaries in the mail-order
.
group fell in the two classes below $100.
About 1 woman in 9 of all in the Chicago study was being paid
$150 or more. In investment houses 1 woman in every 4 was receiving
at least $150. The median for women employed by publishers was
higher here than in other cities, probably because a number of the
offices were distributing branches and a larger proportion of the women
were stenographers and secretaries.
The mail-order group was the only type covered where a tabulation
of salary rates on a monthly basis was not fully representative of
earnings. In this group there were two disturbing factors. First,
not all the women were working full time, and as payment sometimes
was based on hourly rates and special incentive plans it was not
possible to tell whether the amounts received represented full time or
part time. Second, 9 percent of the women were not actually in clerical
service but were doing work of a merchandising nature in handling
stock. However, the clerical group is so much larger that it controls
the median rate, $75 for the mail-order industry. When the two
groups of employees are considered separately, the median is found to
be $76 for clerical work and $67 for the merchandising jobs.
The median rates quoted are based only on the records of women
on a definite weekly salary, and when the earnings of all in the mailorder group are tabulated the medians are still lower. Since the
payment period in this industry was weekly for the majority of workers, the tabulation of the actual earnings, as distinct from rates, is
on this basis. For the group of almost 2,800 women the median weekly
earnings were $15.40, equivalent to about $67 a month. For the
clerical group alone it was $15.90, or nearly $69 a month, and for the
merchandise employees $13.10, or approximately $57 a month. About
70 percent of the merchandising group earned $10 and less than $15
a week, as did almost 40 percent of the clerical. Throughout the
salaries discussion it must be remembered that in the mail-order
group, even though so much lower than the others, the figures given
as rates tend to be somewhat higher than the amounts actually being
paid.
1
In mail-order houses 9 percent of the women were handling merchandise instead of doing strictly office
work:.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
72
EMPLOYMENT OF WOME N I
OFFICES
Salaries of men, by type of office
The median monthly salary for men is $36 higher than that for
women. The greater proportion of men in the higher-salary range
un_d oubtedly is affected by tradition and occupational differences. A
summary of the median monthly salaries and the distribution of
men's earnings follows:
Number
of men
Medi an
monthly
salar y
r ate
All types _. ________
7,016
Advertising agencies ___ __
Banks __ __________ _____ __
Insurance companies ___ _
Investment houses ____ __
Mail-order houses'- - - - - Public u t ilit ies ___ ______ _
Publishers _____ __ __ ___ ___
170
2,5 18
676
828
889
1, 7,j4
181
T ype of office
1
Percent of m en
Less t h an
$75
$75, less
than $100
$1()0, less
than $125
$125, less
than $150
$135
13. 3
15. 5
15. 0
12. 9
43.4
145
133
128
156
103
158
152
19. 4
15. 9
14. 9
17. 5
9. 3
30. 3
11. 5
8.8
8. 2
1::1. 7
19. 4
12. 9
26. 4
10. 5
18. 2
7. 1
14. 5
14. 9
12. 8
11. 5
11. 2
13. 3
49. 4
42. 1
36. 5
54. 1
15. 6
55. 5
51. 9
14. 9
11. 7
1(), 9
16. 2
11. 2
7. 7
$150 and
more
Includes a few chain stores.
Public utilities and publishers show the greatest differences in the
salaries of men and women. Publishers in Chicago have a comparatively small proportion of men, 17 .3 percent, but public utilities have
more men than women- 54.8 percent men; therefore the differences
cannot be attributed to the fact that men are in only a few selected
jobs. More likely they are due to managerial policies. The lowest
median for men as for women is in the mail-order group, $103 if all
the meri are included and $126 if the merchandising jobs are omitted.
The median for all women is $75, and for those on purely clerical work
it is $76.
The proportions of men who earn $150 a month or more are from
2 to 5½ times the proportions of women who earn that much. In
advertising, investment, publishing, and public-utility offices roughly
50 percent or more of the men were receiving at least $150, while
only in investment and advertising were as many as around 20 percent
of the women so paid.
Occupations and salaries of women
The percent of women in each occupational group, their median
salaries, and their usual salary range, omitting the highest one-tenth
and the lowest one-tenth, are as follows;
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
OFFIC~ WORKERS I
73
CHICAGO
M edian
Percent of
women (9,533 monthly
salar y rate
with occu(8,867 wompation re-
Occupatiou
ported)
All occupations __ ____ _________ ____ ___ ___ _____ __ --
en)
HlO. 0
Usual salary range
High
Low
$65
, 155
115
80
225
150
125
135
135
120
160
110
170
1----1
Stenographer ____ ___________ ______ __ ____ __ .. . . ___ .______
Typist_ __ _________ ____ ___ ______________ _____ ._ ______ ___
Clerk-typist__ __ ---- ----- ---- ---- -- - -- -- -- -- - --- - -- Dictating-machine transcriber _____ ____ .-------- - --Other ___ __________________ ___ __ ___ __ . .... ________ . .
4. 9
L3. 0
15. 1
159
112
91
:~
2
84
llO
70
1\5
R5
~fl~~~~~~~~:::::::::::::::::========::::::::::===:::
Hand bookkeeper________ ______________ _______ ______ ___
t2. 4~
89
120
80
122
138
90
55
0
Secretary ____ ___ ___ -- --------- --- ------- - --- - --- - - - -- - - -
Cashier; teller_ ________ ___ ___ -- . --- ---..... ----- . . -- - . .
General clerk___________ _____ ____________ __________ _____
Machine operator- -------- --- -- ---- ---- ---- .... ---·....
Bookkeeping or billing__ ___ _____ __ ________ ____ _____
Calculating _____ ____________ _.. _____ .. --- ----- -....
Tabulating or key punch__ ___________ __ _____ _____ __
Addressing _____ ___________ ____ . ____ . --- ..... --- .. ..
Duplicating and other ____ _________________________
Telephone operator_ ______ ______ _________ _____________ _
Messenger ___________ ______ _-- - - -... --- ... --- -- --- --- . .
12. 0
1. 3
30. 5
12. 8
5. 6
3. 9
.7
l. 6
I. O
I. 9
-: . 5
100
108
95
101
86
88
llO
~~re~~~~~~=====::::::::::::======:::::::::::::::::::==:
3: ~
56
153
183
Merchandising (mail order) _____ __________ __ ______ __ _
4. 3
(i7
65
70
]7[i
95
60
140
135
135
135
70
75
75
75
55
65
0
50
100
120
50
120
115
i20
145
70
2:'\[i
:.. 5
I
95
Considering the clerical workers other than supervisors and the
miscellaneous group, the five highest-paid occupations were secretary,
cashier-teller, hand bookkeeper, correspondent, and stenographer.
These five groups constituted only about a quarter of the women in all
occupations, and the medians of their monthly salaries varied from
$112 to $159. All but 10 percent of the secretaries were being paid
monthly salaries of at least $115, and 10 percent received more than
$225. No other group but supervisors and miscellaneous was paid so
well. Dictating-machine transcribers had a median of $110, much
higher than those of other typists. Hand bookkeepers had a median
$14 higher than machine bookkeepers, but they were only about
two-fifths as many in number. Office girls or messengers, usually
girls under 20, had a median of $56, and the middle 80 percent of their
salaries ranged only from $50 to $70. File clerks, with a median of
$80, were the group with the lowest salary rank for purely clerical
jobs. The median for general clerks in Chicago, $90, is the same as
that for the seven cities combined, and the usual range for this occupation, $60 to $140, is more elastic than that of any but a few of the most
highly paid occupations. The salary rates for correspondents, cashierstellers, tabulating-machine operators, and hand bookkeepers were
from $15 to $11 higher in Chicago than in the seven cities combined.
Education and experience and their effect on salaries will be considered
in a later section of the report.
76538°- 3+--t
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
74
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN. OFFICES
Four of the chief occupational groups of women in the various types
of office in Chicago had the following median salaries: _
M edian monthly salary rate
Type of office
Stenographers
All types_________________ _____ ________ ___________
$112
Machine
operators
General
clerks
$91
$100
$90
100
90
110
70
96
90
106
104
119
73
93
99
98
114
88
111
72
97
100
- - - - i - - - - - r - - - - - , -- --
Advertising agencies_____________________ ____ _________ _
Banks...... __ . ___ .. _____ _____ ______ _____ _____ •..... ____
Insurance companies. __ __________________________ ... ___
Investment houses _____________________________________
Mail-order houses 2_____________________________________
Public utilities_ ________________________________________
Publishers .•• ____________________________ ____ ._____ ____
1 Not computed where base is
2 Includes a few chain stores.
Typists
1
117
126
103
129
95
117
99
-
-
less than 50.
Summarizing the distribution of salary rates for the occupations
with as many as 200 women gives the following:
Percent of women
Occupation
All occupations
1______ ____ __ __
Secretary..... ___________________ ____
Stenographer ___________ . __________ ..
- --- - -------·--I __ -2---------Typist
__________________________
Other
------------------------··
File clerk_
___________________
bookkeeper
Hand
General clerk ____ __ ____________ _____
Machine operator !_____________ _____
Bookkeeping or billing _____ _____
Calculating .. ___________________
Supervisor __________________________
Number of
women Less than $75, less
$100, less
than $100 than $125
$75
$125, less
than $150
$150 and
more
8,867
20. 4
30. 5 '
23.4
14. 5
11. 2
465
1,235
1, 363
1,085
572
215
0.4
6.1
19. 7
22.1
38.3
6. 5
4. 7
26. 7
43. 9
46. 5
41. 3
19. 1
33. 4
34. 6
26. 7
46. 8
8. 2
9. 0
31.8
26. 4
24. 7
15. 9
27. 9
21. 2
34. 2
39. 8
27.3
11. 5
25. 6
25.1
8.8
5. 6
3. 7
27. 0
60.1
10. 3
1. 2
1.0
.9
19.4
10. 6
6.1
2,656
1,166
517
348
330
28.8
14. 5
10. 3
10.3
2. 1
1 Includes groups with fewer than 200 women, not shown separately.
2 Covers the regular typists that are not dictating-machine transcribers
14. 2
20. 9
11.5
24. 2
2.4
2.4
4. 0
53. 9
or clerk-typists.
It is interesting to note that three-fifths of the secretaries were
receiving at least $150 a month. Supervisors and hand bookkeepers
were other groups with relatively large proportions earning at least
$150. On the other hand, considerable proportions of the typists,
file clerks, and general clerks were on salaries of less than $75.
Occupations and salaries of men
The occupational line-up differs m arkedly for men. In several of
the occupations listed for women either no men were employed or
there were so few that they are not shown separately. These include
secretary, stenographer, and typist. Men's occupations not appearing
in the women's list are accountant and statistical clerk, security clerk,
.
and a semiprofessional group.
For the occupational groups with at least 50 men, the percent
distribution, median salary, and usual salary range, omitting the
highest one-tenth and the lowest one-tenth, are as follows:
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
75
OFFICE WORKERS IN CHICAGO
Percent of
men (7,178
with occupation reported)
Occupation
All occupations
1 ________________________________ _
100.0
1. 3
.9
7. 0
33. 2
1.2
2. 2
10.3
10.4
4. 4
1. 4
3. 1
8. 2
1. 3
3. 2
8. 9
Correspondent_
_________ ---- - -- ----------- -- - - - - - -- __ - -_
File clerk _____________________________________________
Hand bookkeeper ______ ------------------- --- _________ _
General clerk __ ________ - _- - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- -- --------- Bookkeeping- or billing-machine operator _____________ _
Calculating-machine operator_------------------------Messenger ___________ ______ ---------------------- ---- -Supervisor_------------------------------- --- _________ _
Other ______ ____ . --------------------------------------Semiprofessional_
___ __ --------------------------------Accountant and statistical
clerk _______________________ _
Teller __________________________ ---------------- _______ _
Security clerk _______ __________________________________ _
Miscellaneous __________ -- ------ -------- --- _--- -- ----- __
Merchandising (mail order) ________ __ _________________ _
1
Usual salary range
Median
monthly salary rate
High
Low
.(7,014 men)
$135
174
80
162
115
98
98
65
241
213
224
219
177
251
205
97
$70
109
62
112
75
82
74
40
151
179
174
182
125
153
180
69
$259
266
· 116
214
162
140
132
101
395
303
391
348
270
400
283
122
Includes occupations with fewer than 50 men, not shown separately.
The much higher medians and usual ranges of men's salaries as
compared to women's, in almost every comparable case, indicate a
totally different plane of salary values, into the higher classes of which
women apparently have not made their way. Selecting a few jobs
in which there are appreciable groups of both men and women, a
comparison of medians and usual ranges of salaries shows striking
differences between the sexes. It is extremely doubtful whether the
differences in duties are so great as the differences in salaries.
Woment
Men
Usual salary range
Occupation
Median
High
Low
Correspondent_ __________________________
General clerk ___ _____ --- - --- -------------Hand bookkeeper ________ --- -------------Bookkeeping- or billing-machine operator_
Teller t _____ ·-- - - - -----------------------File clerk ____------------------------------Messenger
___ __ _________________________
Supervisor ______ ____ -- - - - - -- - - ---------- - Calculating-machine operator _____________
1
$174
115
162
98
177
80
65
241
98
$109
75
112
82
125
62
40
151
74
Usual salary range
Median
Low
High
--- --- -----$266
162
214
140
270
116
101
395
132
$120
90
122
108
138
80
56
153
95
$70
60
80
75
95
55
50
100
75
$160
140
170
135
175
110
70
235
135
Cashiers included for women.
Data were not secured on men's schooling or service records, so it
is not possible to make a comparison on these bases. Comparing the
median salaries of men and of women classed as general clerks in the
various types of office gives the following:
Median monthly salary
rate of general clerks
Type of office
All
types_______________________
________
,
Advertising agencies_________________
Banks _________________ · ______________
Insurance companies _______-__________
Investment houses__ _____ ____________
Mail-order houses 1___________________
Public utilities _____________________ __
• -Publishers______ ______________________
Men
Women
$115
$90
108
111
109
125
108
124
121
98
114
88
111
72
97
100
----'-,~-------,--- - - - - - - - .: Includes a few chain stores.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
76
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
In all types but banks the median salaries of general clerks are
higher for men than for women, the differences ranging from $10 in
advertising agencies to $36 in mail-order houses. In banks, where ·
the women average $3 more than the men, the number of men clerks
is 671 compared to only 277 women. These numbers suggest that
men are employed more extensively than women in general clerical
jobs, and undoubtedly a large proportion of the men are junior clerks,
while the women are working on the more responsible senior clerk jobs.
In this one exception of women's average being higher than men's, it
is not so striking as the adverse comparison in other types of office.
Age and salary
For Chicago- as for all cities combined- the average age of the
women was about 25 years. The vast majority were young, about
three-fourths being under 30. Over 10 percent were under 20, a
higher, proportion than in most of the cities, due to the predominantly
large number of young women in mail-order houses. Only about 1
in 14 was 40 or more. The age distribution by type of office follows:
Percen t of women
T ype of office
u mber
of women
Median
age
(years)
-
30,
40,
50 years
20,
25,
Under
der under under under
and
20 years 25u nyears
30 years 40 years 50 years over
-- - -- - - -- -- -
--
All types . . ... . .. -- - ---- ---
!J, C21
24. 8
10. 7
41. l
23. 1
18. 3
5. 6
1. 4
Advertising agencies .• • . . . ••• . . ..
B anks .•••.... . . . ... . .•. . ..••• ....
Insurance companies ... .. . .... .. .
Investment houses ..• __.. . _. ... . .
Mail-order houses 1••• •.••• • ••
Public utilities . . • • . • _. __ __ - ·
Publishers ... • • . • • . . . . ...
-- - - -
240
1,544
1,471
684
2,730
I , ,'i72
7 '0
27. 7
26. 4
24. 8
27. 8
23. 1
25. 8
2Ci. 3
2. 9
7. 8
9. 5
2. 9
17. 7·
7. 7
8.8
26. 3
35. 2
42. 4
26. 0
51.8
38. 7
35. 5
37. 9
2,5. 6
26. 4
:18. o
15. /\
22. l
22. 7
25. 8
21. 0
16. 6
28. 8
6. 3
8.8
4. l
:{. 8
3. 6
6. 9
7. 4
.8
1. 6
1.1
.4
.6
2.9
2. 2
1
10. 9
21. 8
23. 5
Includes a few chain st ores.
Banks, public utilities, and publishers had the largest proportions
of women of 40 years or over. The first and third of these had well
over one-half of the women who were 50 or more.
Age being so closely associated with experience, the higher salaries
for older women shown by the following correlation for 8,192 women
reported are not surprising.
Age
Median monthlt1
1alar11 rate
Under 20 years _ _ __ _ .. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
20, under 25 years .... _________ ____________________ ________
25, under 30 years ___ __ ___ __ __ ____ _____ ________ ___ ___ ____
30, under 40 years___ ____ ___ _ ___ __ ____ __ ____ _____ ______ _ _
40, under 50 years _______________ ______ ___________ _______
50 years and over.. ____ ______ _______ ___ __________ ___ ___ __
$65
85
110
130
140
147
Years in office work
Experience and. salaries are expected to have a close relation. As
the personnel records undoubtedly were incomplete regarding previous
experience other than clerical, only total office experience and service
with the present firm are considered in this discussion. In general,
the women's work histories appear short, but in view of the youth of
the group they may be considered fairly long. Length of experience
in office work is reported for over three-fifths of the women in the
survey, and for all but 310 of these their present salary rates are
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
77
OFFICE WORKERS IN CHICAGO
available. A summary of the proportions of the women wit.h specified
experience and the medians of their salarie~ follows:
Y ears in otfi ce work
P er cent of
women
(6,052 w ith
exp erien ce
rep orted )
Media n
monthl y
salar y rate
(5,742
women)
3. 1
5. 8
12. 8
11. 5
8. !l
34. 5
14. 8
8. 7
$68
72
77
82
Less t h a n L __ ___________ _____ ____
1, less t ha n 2 __ ______ ______ . ____ __
2, less than 3 _ ___ ____ ____________ _
3, less than 4_ __ ________ ___ _______
4, less than 5_ __ _______ ____ ______ _
5, less than 10_ ______ ____ ______ ___
10, less t h an 15__ ___ ____________ __
15 an d more ___ _____ ___ ___ ______ __
103
127
144
Nearly 60 percent (58) of the women had worked 5 years or longer;
about 24 percent 10 years or more. Only 3 percent had worked less
than a year, and these women had a median salary rate of $68. The
median for those who had worked 5 and under 10 years was about
50 percent higher. Though the tendency may have been to offer a
lower beginning rate in the past year, there had been instances of pay
cuts also, so the comparison here probably is a fair picture of the
increase in pay after 5 YAflrs of experience.
The number of jobs on which the women had worked indicates
something of turnover and shifting from one job to another. The
following shows the number · of jobs held by the women:
Percent of women
Number of jobs held
(7, £35 with number reported)
! ___ __ __ ________ _____ _____ _______ __ ___ ______ __ __ __ 22. 2
2 _____ ______ ____________________ __ ___ ___ ________ __ 35. 9
3 ______ _____ __ __ _____ _____ _____ ________ __ ___ ______ 23. 1
4 ________ _______ ______ ______ __ _________ __ _____ ____ 12. 9
5 or m ore _ _ __ __ __ __ _ _ __ __ __ _ _ __ __ __ __ __ __ _ ___ _ _ __ _
5. 9
Over 40 percent of the women had had 3 or more jobs; 22 percent
had had only 1, the present job.
Time with present firm
Examining records of the length of service with the present firm
reveals that about 10 percent had been employed less than 1 year,
and about 38 percent bad service records of 5 years or more. The
mail-order group, with its younger employees and lower salary schedule, had the smallest proportion employed as much as 5 years. The
percentages of women with specified service with the present firm, by
type of office, follow:
P ercent of wom en
Years wi t h presen t firm
All
Ad vertypes of tis ing
office agen cies
T otal- N u mber of
women ___
Per cent_ ____
Less than 1_ ___
1, less than 2 ____ ____ ____ _
2, less t h a n 3 ___ ___ __ ___ __
3, less than 4 ___ _____ __ __ _
4, less than 5 __ __________ _
5, less than 10 __ ____ _____ _
10, less than 15 __ ___ _____ _
15 and more __ ___ ______ ___
1
9, 546
100. 0
9.8
10. 5
21. 0
12. 0
8.8
24. 0
9. 5
4. 5
Includes a few cha in stores .
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
-
B anks
- - --
292
100. 0
19. 5
13. 0
19. 5
7. 2
7. 9
20. 9
5. 8
6. 2
1,563
100. 0
6. 9
7. 7
24. 8
11. 8
8. 3
25. 5
11. 5
3. (j
InsurIn vest a n ce com- m en t
p a nies
houses
Mailord er
houses 1
--- ------ 1. 630
100. 0
11.0
13. 9
19. 8
12. 0
10. 9
23. 7
6. 3
2. 5
857
100. 0
14. 0
13. 4
20. 0
8. 6
8. 8
25. 6
8. 3
1. 4
2,774
100. 0
11. 2
10. 0
23.4
14. 1
9. 4
21. 2
5. 7
4. 8
Publ ic
u t ili ties
-
-
1. 571
100. 0
6. 7
7. 3
15. 4
10. 7
7. 1
27. 8
18. 3
6. 6
Publish ers
- 859
100. 0
6. 5
12. 7
20. 0
12. 8
7. 0
23. 1
10. 6
7. 3
78
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Public utilities, publishers, and banks had the largest proportions
of women with service reGords of 5 years or more. Advertising, with
much the smallest total, had taken on about one-fifth of its women
within the past year. The value of continued service with one employer is indicated by the following comparison of median salaries for
8,881 women, by years of service and type of office.
Median monthly salary rate 1
Years with present firm
All
Adver•
types of tising
office agencies
Less than!_ ______________
1, less than 3 _____________
3, less than 5 _____________
5, less than 10 ____________
10, less than 15 ___________
15 and more ______________
1
Banks
InsurInvestance com- ment
panies
houses
Mailorder
houses 2
Public
utilities
Publishers
------------ --- ---- $81
84
93
113
135
154
$107
107
131
-------------------
$103
93
107
125
143
170
Not computed where base is less than 50.
$77
81
94
112
130
$105
115
125
144
161
---------- ---------2
$66
66
71
87
104
133
$88
89
97
116
133
153
$76
78
91
110
136
153
Includes a few chain stores.
As experience increases, the upward trend of salaries is apparent.
Women in the mail-order and public-utility groups who had worked
15 years or more show a median salary double that of the women
with less than a year's experience. Advertising had the highest
median for beginners, but the general level is much the highest in
investment houses.
There were 222 women in the offices who were receiving $200 or
more, and almost 90 percent of the 221 for whom time with the firm
was reported had been with the same employers 5 years or more. Of
the women earning as much as $200, less than 10 percent were under
30 years, 43 percent were 40 or more.
Salary increases and promotion policies
Considering the actual increases over the initial rate as revealed by
the individual salary records of the women who had been employed
in the present office 3 and less than 5 years, 82.2 percent had had an
increase. Six percent of these had had increases of 50 to 100 percent,
1.4 percent having at least doubled their salaries. Reductions in
salaries were reported by 10.5 percent of this service group.
Of those employed 5 and less than 10 years, 95.2 percent had
received increases and 3.6 percent were receiving less than their
initial rate. For 29.9 percent of tbose who had experienced salary
increases they were 50 to 100 percent, and for 6.8 percent salaries
had at ]east doubled. Practically all (98 percent) of those employed
10 and less than 15 years had had their rates increased. One-half of
these had at least doubled their salaries. Increases were reported
for 97.5 percent of those with records of 15 years or more, and for
88.5 percent of these women salaries had at least doubled.
Reason for leaving last job
Business causes-such as lay-offs, mergers, and others- constituted
about one-half of the reasons reported for separation from the last
job. Personal reasons and change to a better job made up the other
half. The proportions due to business reasons were greater and those
due to advancement or personal factors were smaller among the
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
79
OFFICE WORKERS I N CHICAGO
women with oomparatively short periods of service, as few persons
were leaving jobs voluntarily in 1930 and 1931. A summary of the
tabulations on this subject follows:
Percent of women
Number of 1- - - - - - r - - - - - - - , - - - - , - - -- women
Personal AdvanceOther busiLay-off ness
ment
cause
reason
Years wit h present firm
Total__ ____________ _______ _____ ____
Less than!._ ______ __ ____ ______ ________
1, less than
2, less than 3___________ __ ____ __ _____ ______
3, less than 4_______________________________
4, less than 5__________________ ___ _____ _____
5,
less than 10______________________________
10 and more. __ --------------------- - ------
2-------------------------------
3, 208
36. 3
14. 2
6. 8
42. 8
1 - -----1 - - - - - - - t - - - - t - - - - - 1 - - - 542
24. 9
11. 6
4. 6
58. 9
46.'i
658
374
260
650
32. 5
39. 4
34. 0
35. 0
44. 8
259
42. 1
53. 5
40. 4
44.1
42. 7
29.5
27. 0
7. 3
14. 0
16. 3
14. 6
20.8
27. 0
6. 7
6. 2
5. 6
7. 7
4. 9
3. II
Before the depression period from 27 to 44 percent of the women
had been laid off from their last jobs and from 14 to 27 percent left
for advanc.ement. Within the past 2 years, however, conditions had
so changed that well over one-half of the separations had been layoffs and less than 8 pei·cent had been for advancement.
Schooling
To learn something of the relation of formal education to the
earnings of the women surveyed, information was sought on the
general academic and special business education of the women covered. Extent of schooling was reported for 7,509 women, more than
three-fourths of the total. About 20 percent had only grammarschoolbackground, more than 40 percent had at tended high school but
did not report graduation, almost 30 percent had completed high
school, and about 10 percent h ad received some advanced education.
The proportion of women in each type of office who had the specified
amount of schooling is shown in the following:
Percent of women
Type of office
High school
Number
of women Grammar
school
IncomComonly
plete
plete
Advanced education
College
Incom·plete
Complete
Normal
school
All t ypes . ________________
7,509
19. 3
42.1
28. 8
5. 8
2. 7
L3
Advertising agencies .• ------"·-Banks ______ -- -- ______ ---------Insurance companies. ________ -Investment houses ______ ________
Mail-order houses t ____________
Publi.c utilities __ ___ ___________ _
Publishers ________________ ______
104
1,414
1,058
605
2,577
1, 037
714
3.8
12. 4
6. 7
3. 6
35. 5
19. 7
8. 3
26. 9
38. 8
38. 5
40. 5
46. 7
45. 8
35. 3
37. 5
36. 8
41. 7
36. 7
15. 6
27. 4
35. 9
17. 3
6. 7
8. 7
14. 7
1. 0
4. 6
11. 5
3.5
2. 3
3.6
.5
1. 5
9. 2
2. 9
1. 8
2. 2
.8
.7
1. 0
2. 2
9.1
Ilncludes a few chain stores.
In banks, public utilities, and mail-order houses more than onehalf the women- 51.1 percent, 65.5 percent, and 82 .2 percent, respectively-had left school before the completion of high school. More
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
80
~MPLOYMEN'J: OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
than one-third of the women in mail-order houses had had only a
grammar-school background and only about one-sixth of them had
been graduated from high school or h ad advanced training. In the
advertising offices 70 percent had completed high school or had advanced training, and only 3.8 percent had merely a background of
grammar schooling. The investment and publishing types, also, had
larger than average proportions who had at least completed high
school.
General schooling and salary
In Chicago median salarie~ mount with the extent of education.
The medians correlated with general schooling are as follows:
J\fedian monthly salarv
Schooling
rate (for 6,870 women)
Grammar schooL _ _ _ __ __ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ __ ___ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ $94
High school incomplete ___ __________ _____ ___ _____________ _
94
High school complete ___ __ _____ _________________ __ _____ ___ 100
Advanced education__ ___ __ ______ _________ ___ _________ ___ _ 113
The findings of the study support the theory that the younger
women entering the business world rec.en tly ha v~ in general more
formal education than the women who entered 10 or more years
ago. The relative proportion of women with only grammar-school
background is larger for the group of 40 years and over than for the
other age classes, and the proportion of the women in this age group
with at least high school complete is smaller than for any other group
except the youngest. Of these, 59 percent have incomplete high
school as their maximum education. The two summary tables following correlate age and general schooling and age and median salary
by schooling. The second summary demonstrates the generalization
that in all age groups there was a rise in salary as education or formal
schooling increased·.
rercent of women
Number of
women reported
Age (years)
TotaL _____ ____ _______ ____ _____ ___ __
High school
Grammar 1 - - - - - - - - i Advanced
school only
education
Incomplete Complete
7,437
19. 3
42. 0
28. 8
9. 9
25. 1
30. 8
31. 0
26. 0
20. 3
16. 2
1- -- -1 - - - - - 1 - - - - - t -
Under 20 __ --- - - -- --- - - -- - - - - - -- -- ---- -- ..
20, under 25 __ ______ _________ ________ _ . __ . _
25, under 30 ___ _____ _______ ____ ____ _-- ___ __
3, 158
1, 696
~8•a1:i1ti~:~--:=::::: ::: :::::::;:::::::::: ::1
l,
14. 7
16. 9
18. 2
24. 6
34. 4
838
:~~
58. 5
45. 4
34. 7
35. 5
34. 2
1.8
6.8
13. 9
11. 2
Median monthly salary rate 1
Age (years)
(6,801 women reported)
High school
Grammar i - - - - - . - - - - i Advanced
school only
education
Incomplete Complete
TotaL _________ __________ ____ __________ ___ ______
$94
$94
$100
$113
1 - - -- -- ---1-----1----
Under 20____ ____ __ ___________________ ___ ____ _______ ___
20, under 25_ _______ ________ _____ __ __ ____ __ __ _____ __ ___
25, under 30_ _ ___________ ____ ____ ____ __ ________________
30, under 40__ _________ __ __________ __ ____ ______________
.Wand over -- -- ------------- ~--_____ ___ __ ____ __________
tNot computed where base is less than 50.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
58
63
84
119
130
139
76
98
135
111
71 - - ------ - --89
95
114
115
137
141
160 --·- ------- -
81
OFFICE WORKERS IN CHICAGO
Examining the second su:rp.mary horizon tally, the trend in median
salaries for the age groups shows in each group a steady rise with
increased schooling. Vertically, the increase in medians as age ad·
vances is much greater.
E xperience is represented very well by age, but by examining the
experience with the present employer the value of formal education
combined with continuous service is indicated clearly. The summary of the correlations on this point shows that in any length of
service group those with more schooling have an advantage over those
with less.
Median mon thly salary rate
Years with present fi rm
Less than L __ _____ __________________________ •________ _
1, less t han 3 __ _____ _______________________________ ___ _
3, less t han 5 __ _____ __________________________________ _
5, less t han 10 _______ ________ _________ __ ____________ __ _
10 and more _____ __ ____ __ __ __ . ___________________ ____ _
Grammar i - - H_ig_h_,s,-ch_o_ol_ _ 1 Advanced
school only I ncomplete Complete education
$67
69
74
951
131
$72
78
87
l 10
$85
87
$9
100
117
125
150
139
161
171
104
In each schooling group the median increases with length of service,
and in each division of service salaries increase with education.
Women with advanced training have median salaries r anging from
6 to 20 percent above those of women who had only completed high
school, and the median for the group with high school complete is
23 to 35-percent above that for the group with grammar school only .
All the evidence from the Chicago offices indicates tha t at the time of
this survey schooling had a concrete value measured by average
salary returns.
Business-school training
Commercial business school had been attended by 24.2 percent_of
the women. This is a somewhat lower proportion than that of any
other city but Hartford. In Philadelphia 27.4 percent and in N ew
York 29.6 percent of the women had attended business school. I t
is to be not ed again that the data on business-school attendance refer
to those att ending a commercial business school and not those taking
commercial training in a public high school. The percentage who
had supplemented their general schooling with commercial business
training and the median monthly salaries of the groups who had and
had not at tended business school are shown below:
Type of office
Median monthly salary
Percent of
rate 1
women who
had attended,------ - - business
Bs~b~;t
s~huiir~~t
attended
attended
school
All types _________ __ ___ ___ ___ . ___ . _______ . _______ ______ .
1---Ad vert ising agencies ____ ____ __ __ __ . _____ . ___ . . ______________ - _
Banks_____ ______ ___ ______ _____ __ __ ______ _________ __ _____ ____ _
Insurance companies___ _________________________ __ __ ______ ___
Investment houses ___ ____ ___ ____ ._. __________ .__________ ____ _
Mail-order houses 2 •••• _ __ __ ·--- ---- __ _ ____ _ __ _ _ ___ _ __ __ __ __ __
Public utilities·-··· --- ----------- --- --- - ·----·------ -·-- "- - --Publishers .....• ·- - -·- ---- ____ -- __ ____ - -- - --- __--- - - -- -- . --- __
1
Not computed where base is less t han 50,
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
24. 2
$107
40. 6 __ _____ ___ __--
$95
119
29. 8
29. 4
109
91
- - - 1- - - - - 1 - - - - -
38. 1
13. 8
20. 9
33. 7
2 lncludes
122
91
125
81
108
114
a few chain stores,
118
73
106
1()4
1
82
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
In the group as a whole, the median was $12 higher for those with
business schooling than for those without. Advertising offices had
somewhat the largest proportion who had attended business school.
The median salary rate for this group was $122, not shown in the
table because only 43 women were in the business-school group. In
banks the women who had attended business school had a median
. salM"y $13 greater than those without such training.
Correlating general schooling, business school, and median salaries
for all types of office discloses the following:
Median monthly salary
rate
Schooling
Business
school
attended
Grammar schooL __ ----- ----------High school incomplete ____________
High school complete ___ ________ __ _
Advanced education _____ _______ ___
Business
school
not attended
$106
106
107
112
$90
90
98
114
The two groups of women who had not completed high school
apparently had benefited the most by business-school courses, there
being a difference of $16 in the medians in favor of those with businessschool training. Women with advanced education appear not to
have profited by business training, as their median is $2 less for those
who had been to business school than for those who had not. In
New York City, it will be recalled, figures show higher medians for
the business-trained in each education group.
Managerial policies with reference to schooling were indefinite,
but it is possible to correlate the data on schooling and occupation to
find what the actual practices had been in filling jobs. The summaries
following show for the various occupational groups the proportions
who had each degree of general schooling and the proportion who had
been to business school:
Percent of women
Number f-----,---- - - -- - - , - - - - Occupation
wo'i;en
Grammar
High school
Advanced
school only f - - - - - - - - 1 education
Incomplete Complete
19. 4
42.2
28.9
9.5
All occupations'--- ----------------- -7,476
- -f - - --1-- - - - 1 - - - - - 1 - - - - Secretary____ __ __ ___________________________
327
5.2
26.6
44. 3
23. 9
2.8
31. 3
49. 7
16.2
Stenographer- -- ------ -- --- ---------- - - - ---907
Typist______ _____ _____ ___ ____________ __ ____
1,125
9. 9
49. 8
34. 8
5.5
Clerk-typist_ __ ________ --- _- - ----------56
14. 3
42. 9
37. 5
5.4
Dictating-machine transcriber_ ______ ___
155
5. 2
47. 7
36.8
10. 3
Other _________ ______________ ---- ------914
10.4
50. 5
34. 4
4.7
27. 4
14.1
37. 8
10. 7
Correspondent_ .--------------------------135
File clerk____ ______ __ ____________ ________ ___
476
18. 7
51. 3
20. 2
9. 9
20.5
38.
5
30.
8
10.3
Hand bookkeeper __ -----------------------156
27. 3
35. 5
28. 2
9.1
Cashier; teller ___ --------------------------110
General clerk_ ____ ____ __ ___________________ _
2,319
25. 9
42. 6
22.7
8.8
17. 4
48. 0
28. 9
5. 7
Machine operator __ ---------- ---- ---------1,003
Bookkeeping or billing_________________
430
13. 3
50. 2
30. 7
5. 8
14. 6
47. 0
32. 7
5. 6
Calculating __ ______ -- --- ------- ---- --- - 321
Tabulating or key punch __ ___ ____ ___ ___
63
7. 9
42.9
36. 5
12. 7
Addressing _____________________ __ ______
131
38. 9
43. 5
H. 5
3.1
25. 9
51. 7
19. 0
3. 4
Duplicating __ - -- --------------------- -58
Telephone operator___ ______________________
135
25.2
47.4
23. 0
4. 4
Messenger___________________________ ___ ___ _
106
18. 9
73. 6
7. 5 ----- ------Supervisor_____________ _______ __ __ _______ ___
253
28.9
34. 8
21. 7
14. 6
Merchandising (mail order) _---- --------- -1 Includes
380
57.9
occupations with fewer than 50 women, not shown separately.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
35.8
5.5
.8
83
OFFICE WORKERS IN CHICAGO
Occupation
Number of
women
Percent
with
business
school
training
.All occupations 1.......... 7, 526
24. 3
Secretary..... . •. •....•.•.•..•.. ~~
Stenographer. .............. . ...
914
39. 5
Typist. .......... ...... ..... . ... 1,140
31. 8
Clerk-typist-... . ... . . . . ....
56
28. 6
Dictating-machine tran•
scriber........... . . ... . ...
157
36. 9
Other_........ . .......... . ..
927
31. 2
Correspondent....... ...........
137
21. 9
File clerk.·----······· ········ · ·
479
14. 4
Hand bookkeeper......... ..... .
156
30. 8
Cashier; teller.. .... ...... ......
111
23. 4
1
Percent
Numwith
ber of busine&"S
women school
training
Occupation
General clerk.. ............... . . 2, 323
Machine operator. .. ·-··-······· 1,012
Bookkeeping or billing.__ __
435
Calculating.. __ -· ___ _-·_. ...
323
T abulating or key punch _..
64
Addressing_ ........ ... . .. . _
132
Duplicating __ ..............
58
Telephone operator... ..........
136
Messenger. . ..... _... ..... .... . .
106
Supervisor . •. . . ... __ .. _. . . . • • . . .
255
Merchandising (mail order).....
380
17. 0
24. 7
26.0
29. 4
18. 8
13. 6
20. 7
16. 9
14.2
22. 7
3. 7
Includes occupations with fewer than .50 women, not shown separately.
The majority of the women who were secretaries and stenographers-68.2 percent and 65.8 percent, respectively- had at least
completed high school. The only other occupational groups with as
many as 40 percent who had finished high school were the correspondents, tabulating-machine operators, dictating-machine transcribers, clerk-typists, and hand bookkeepers. Almost 40 percent of
the addressing-machine operators had only a grammer-school background, and for the merchandising group in the mail-order houses
this figure is almost 60 percent. One-fifth or more of the hand bookkeepers, cashiers and tellers, general clerks, duplicating and other
machine operators, telephone operators, and supervisors had ended
their formal education with grammar school. The proportion with
education beyond high school was largest for secretaries, almost onefourth being so reported.
The proportions who had attended business school were largest for
secretaries, stenographers, certain typists, hand bookkeepers, and
calculating-machine operators, with from about 30 to 48 percent
reported as having business-school training.
Schooling and salaries have been correlated for a few of the larger
occupational groups. The summary follows:
Median monthly salary rate 1
Occupation
Gramm ar
school
only
High school
Incomplete
Complete
Advanced
educat ion
Business school
At tended
Not at•
tended
- - - - --
Secretary.-... . . ...••....••.•••... . ....... -· · · .. ··· ·Stenographer ..••••....•••••••..•• . ..... . _ -· . .. ·- -· -·
Typist.. ·············· · · ······· · · · · ···· · $90
File clerk........ . . .... . .................
79
General clerk . . . ·- ····· · ······-········ · ··
94
Bookkeeping• or billing-machine operator.
110
Calculating•machine operator. ......... . _- ····· ----Supervisor. ..•.. . . ... . . .• •• .•. .••••••••. .
135
1 Not
$156
108
90
75
86
110
91
154
$159
110
89
83
90
105
93
158
$154
ll8
93
101
$158
113
92
90
99
110
94
158
$156
109
89
78
89
107
92
149
computed where base is less than 50.
In all analyses of schooling and salaries, the modifying effect of
experience and length of service with the office must be remembered.
In general, the trend in the foregoing summary shows that earnings
are higher in the higher educational groups, and the irregularities
probably would be ironed out if corrections were made for age and
experience. Business-school attendance was accompanied by higher
earnings in each occupation.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
84
BMPLO f ME ~'l' OF WOME N IN OF FICE S
Marital status
Single women greatly predominated, as in other cities: 82 percent
were single, 14 percent married, and 4 percent widowed, separated,
or divorced. The census of 1930 reported that 17.1 percent of the
women clerical workers in this city were married. Some variation in
the proportion of single and married women in Chicago is shown by
type of office, but the differences are not especially interesting.
Percent of women
fy~~ ~ ce
~ m ~~
women
All types_ _________________ ________ __ __ __________ _
Advertising agencies__ ___ ___________ _____ ___ __________ _
Banks_______ _____ ___ ____________ ______________ ________ _
Insuran ce companies ___ _____ _______ _________ _______ __ ._
Investmen t houses____ ____ ___ _____ ______ ________ ___ ____
Mail-order houses 1___ _____ ___ __ __ ___ __________ ________ _
Public u t ilities_ ______ _________ _________ ___ ______ ______ _
Publishers ____ ___ ____ ____ _---- ------------ -- --- ------- 1
Single
9,177
289
I , 554
1,469
85 1
2,728
1, 426
860
Married
Widowed,
separated,
or divorced
81. 7
14. 2
4. I.
76. l
17. 3
6. 6
80. 6
78. 0
87. 3
82. 0
14. 4
17. 0
14. 7
10. 6
13. 3
5. 0
5. 0
4. 1
2. l
4. 7
74. 1
20. 9
5. 0
1. 2
Includes a few chain stores.
Hours of work
The most common weekly schedule of hours m Chicago was 42 ;
the most usual day was 7}~ hours.
Fifty of the 75 offices reporting had a week of 42 hours or less; for
19 the schedule was 42 hours. Fifteen had a week of 44 hours or
more, the longest being 46 ½ hours.
Saturday hours in 63 offices were no more than 4½. Two offices1 insurance and 1 advertising- had a 5-day week and no Saturday
work. One bank reported a full Saturday but employees were
allowed half a day off during the week.
PERSONNEL POLICIES
Direct application, especially on recommendation of old employees,
was the most common source of recruiting help; it was reported by 41
offices. Commercial agencies were used by 22 offices, school employment services by 7, and newspaper advertisements by 6; 1 applied
t o social agencies and 1 to office-machine companies as their most
frequent source. Other sources might be resorted to concurrently.
Centralization of employment activities tends to standardize and
to control the fairness of general personnel policies. Of 80 offices
reporting, 58 had their personnel activities centralized. Where there
was not a regular employment department, hiring usually was a
function of the office manager.
Certification of physical fitness for work was a common demand;
it was accomplished in 20 of the offices by requiring applicants to
undergo a physical examination. Psychological tests were being
used by 2 firms, but most employers relied on an interview to weed
out the unfit 0r select the fit.
There · were only occasional instances in which mature and experienced workers were preferred when new employees were being
selected. The general tendency apparent throughout the study was
a decided preference for young women when hiring employees. Of
the 80 offices reporting, 31 stated that age was not a recognized factor
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
OFFICE WORKERS IN CHIC AGO
85
in their hiring policies, 6 of the officials interviewed said that no one
over 45 would be taken on, 12 stated that their upper age limits were
30 to 35, and 31 merely reported that young workers were preferred.
The usual comment was that young inexperienced workers fitted in
best at the beginning jobs and that vacancies in the more responsible
openings were filled by promotion.
Schooling requirements either for office work as a whole or for
individual jobs were not formulated as definite policies by most
employers. The majority replied vaguely that high-school people
were preferred and occasionally that for certain jobs, such as secretaries
and correspondents, only high-school graduates or those with college
training were employed. High-school graduates were given preference in hiring in 36 of the 79 offices reporting, 19 had no educational
requirements that could be expressed as a policy, and 24 stated that
women with high-school training were preferred. College training
was never commented on as a general requirement, and was mentioned only in connection with secretarial work, statistics, or foreign
languages.
Policies as to the hiring and retention of married women seemed to
depend largely on individual managers. One office had the policy of
dropping both men and women who married without the knowledge
and permission of the firm on salaries of no more than $1,400. This
represented an extreme and, fortunately, an unusual point of view,
but there was considerable sentiment against the hiring of married
women. About one-third of 'the offices (27) did not hire married
women when vacancies were to be filled; 8 did not definitely rule
out married women but single women were given preference, and 3
would not employ married women if their husbands were employed;
3 would take . on married women if necessary for -them to work.
Insurance offices seemed most prejudiced against married women
and they definitely were not employed in about three-fifths of these
offices. Four of seven advertising offices either did not hire married
women or preferred single women. There was no discrimination
against hiring married women in over three-fifths of the investment
and of the publishing offices. One-seventh of all the offices reporting
would not retain women who married while in the offices' employ.
Two offices left to the department heads the matter of policies with
reference to marital status. A statement volunteered by two offices
was that if a general lay-off should become necessary, married women
would be dropped first. In another office, if two employees married
while in the company's service, the woman was required to resign,
but otherwise married women might be retained.
Informal training on the job under the direction of the immediate
supervisor or other employees was the only special job training for
adjusting new employees. Two offices had so-called "training programs" for new employees on certain jobs. In one of these, a bank,
young people enter directly from high school, usually as pages, are
given instruction in fundamental banking principles, in answering
the telephone, and in directing and receiving customers and visitors.
During the last 2 months of their period as pages- usually 2 years- ·
they are given beginning clerical duties in the department to which
they are later assigned. The other firm- a mail-order house- in
normal times had regular classes for many activities, but so few em-
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
86
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
ployees were being taken on at time of survey tha.t training, except
by supervisors, had been discontinued.
Bonuses and other supplements to salaries
Office workers in Chicago generally were compensated on a straight
time basis. Most of them were paid weekly or semimonthly, the
latter on a monthly or yearly rate. Production bonuses as extra
incentives did not affect large proportions, and though annual bonuses
had been paid by 23 firms in the year preceding the survey some
employers stated that these were to be discontinued. There is a
growing interest in salary standardization for clerical workers and in
incentive systems of payment as the routine and repetitive type of
work has increased. Only a few of the large offices, however, had
accomplished much in this direction.
As stated, 23 of the offices had paid an annual bonus during the
year, banks, advertising offices, and publishers reporting this most
frequently. No mail-order or public-utilities office paid an annual
bonus. More than 1,900 women were said to be eligible, and the
amounts paid were reported for approximately 1,400 women. For
528 women (37.8 percent) the bonus when reduced to a monthly
basis amounted to less than $1, and for 355 (25.4 percent) it averaged
from $1 to $2, so that for almost two-thirds of the women the annual
bonus received averaged less than $2 monthly. Slightly less than
one-fifth (18.5 percent) received a bonus averaging $4 and less than
$5 a month. Many of the annual bonuses were regarded as Christmas
gifts and not considered as additions to salary. Sometimes they
were based on length of service, sometimes on amount of salary, and
in some cases a specified amount was given to each employee, usually
in the form of a Christmas gift.
About 1,800 men were eligible for annual bonuses. Of those for
whom the amounts received in the preceding year were reported, twothirds (66.6 percent) received an amount that would average less
than $1 a month. Only about 13 percent received as much as $5 a
month.
In one firm the annual bonus was treated more or less as a lottery,
tickets being drawn to determine the amount received.
Production bonus.-An. incentive system based on output had been
applied to some of the jobs in 4 mail-order houses and 2 public
utilities. Transcribing from dictating machines, billing, and addressing were the occupations most commonly on an incentive basis.
About 800 women and 273 men were eligible for such bonus, but in
the pay-roll period selected for the bonus inquiry only 469 women and
236 men had received this addition to wages. The amounts by which
monthly salary rates were augmented by a production bonus are as
follows:
Production bonus received
(1 month's pay roll)
Less than $L __________ _____ _____ _
$1, less than $2 _______ ________ ___ _
$2, less than $3 _______ _____ ______ _
$3, less than $4 __________________ _
$4, less than $5 __________________ _
$5, less than $10 _________________ _
$10, less than $15 ________________ _
$15, less than $20 ________________ _
$20, less than $25 _______ _________ _
$25 and more _______ _______ ______ _
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Percent of
women (469
reported)
23. 0
23. 5
19. 8
5.3
2. 6
7. 5
6. 2
4. 5
2. 3
5. 3
Percent of
men (236
reported)
1.3
8.1
8.5
7.6
1. 7
11.9
8.9
27.5
14.8
7.6
OFFICE WORKERS IN CHICAGO
87
For about two-thirds of the women receiving production bonuses
in the month reported, the amount received was less than $3. All
the women, of course, were receiving a basic salary. Fewer men were
on the incentive plan of pay but the amounts received were higher,
three-fifths receiving $10 and more.
In small offices the unstandardized nature of the duties required
of each clerk have in the past made the introduction of any form of
payment on measured output too complicated to be practical.
In the interview with the planning division of a public-utilities
company there was related the experience with a division in suburban
Chicago where, by the introduction of an iri1centive system for billing,
a labor saving of 45 percent had been bro·a.ght about. In May there
had been 18 clerks and in September there were 11, the latter doing
more work than had been done in May. The average individual
bonus was $19.45, the largest being $46.10 and the smallest $1.91.
Other savings were in equipment-"We were using 7 billing machines
and are using only 4 now" - and in floor space.
Free noon lunches .
Two banks, employing 466 women and 999 men, provided their
employees with a substantial noon lunch, estimated as the equivalent
of $10 monthly added to each employee's salary.
Promotions
Salary increases are controlled by a variety of factors, including
managerial policies as well as individual ability. A few officesusually the larger ones- have well-defined promotional systems,
though only 4 reported such in Chicago. Forty-nine offices had
regular periodic salary reviews and 28 had no special plan other than
those vaguely termed "merit" or "as the management sees fit."
One manager stated that in his organization promotions depend
entirely on the department head; if the salary problem is taken up
by an employee she may be discharged, as the company believes itself
generous enough to note ability and pay accordingly. This attitude
is not a general one but it expresses the feeling of considerable numbers
of employers in regard to this phase of management.
Overtime
The depre~sion undoubtedly had lessened the amount of overtime,
and since in the great majority of offices records of time worked were
not kept, only general statements could be secured. Only 17 offices
reported absolutely no overtime, the rest usually admitting periodical
or occasional overtime. Many stated, however, that the amount was
negligible. As in other cities, supper money was the most usual compensation for extra time worked. Four offices gave no recompense
for overtime and four allowed compensating time. Forty-four compensated for overtime with supper money only, and 16 paid on the
basis of hourly rates, 4 of these giving supper money in addition.
Since the data collected on overtime did not lend themselves to
tabulation, a few typical reports from the schedules are quoted here:
Overtime is negligible. Occasionally women in supervisory or semiexecutive
positions have to work overtime. If extra work is anticipated, temporary girls
are hired to handle it.
Three to 4 hours overtime 1 night a month.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
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EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Only rush occurs in September and overtime qoes not average more than l
evening a week and for only some of the girls. The work never lasts after 9
o'clock.
Overtime is spasmodic-a special issue of stock may cause it in the securities
department.
A good deal of overtime, which comes spasmodically. About 10 people affected
b y this, including bookkeeping-machine operators, who work once or twice a
month till 11 and 12 p.m. and on some occasions have stayed until 5 a.m. Estimated overtime is high.
Vacations
All but one of the offices gave a vacation with pay to the clerical
force. Three allowed 3 weeks, one 10 days, and two a week, the
great majority, 74, allowing 2 weeks. Ten of the 74 required service
of 2 years and another required service of 1½ years before the full 2
weeks was granted. In a few instances a longer time was allowed
after service of 10 years. For example, one office had a 2-week basic
vacation and after 14 years 1 additional day for each year of service
was allowed, up to a maximum of 30 days. Another gave 1 day for
each month of service prior to July, with a maximum of 2 weeks,
except for employees as much as 10 years with the firm, who had 3 weeks.
Payment during illness
Time lost because of illness was paid for in almost all the offices
covered if the service record warranted. Fifty-one offices had definite plans for sick allowance, and 20 offices-though without definite
policies on this subject-considered each case on its merits in relation
to the employee's service record.
Pensions or retirement
Retirement plans, pensions, annuities, or other special allowance&
were reported by only 18 of the offices. Banks more than any other type
of office tended to have pension plans for their long-service employees.
Group insurance
Approximately one-half of the offices made group insurance available to their employees. One-half or more of the advertising, banks,
investment, insurance, and public-utility offices had such insurance.
It was reported by all 5 of the public-utility offices. The cost of
policies usually was carried either solely by the employer or jointly
by employer and employees. In 5 offices the cost was carried entirely
by the employees and in 15 entirely by the firm.
Other personnel activities
In 12 of the offices employees were encouraged to continue their
schooling, either through free classes or by subsidies for certain types
of educational work. Some offices sponsored only courses along the
lines and subject matter of their types of business, but others allowed
a panel of courses of wide and general interest. Among those subsidizing these adult education activities were 8 banks, usually offering
courses with the American Institute of Banking, 2 public utilities,
and 1 investment and 1 insurance company.
Free medical treatment or consultation with doctors was afforded
in varying degrees by 15 offices. Savings plans and investment funds
were reported by small numbers, and 4 mail-order houses and 3 public
utilities sold goods to employees at reduced prices. Recreational and
athle~ic _activities were sponsored by several through their employee.'l'
associa t10ns.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
89
OFFICE WORKERS IN CHICAGO
MECHANIZATION
Some office m achines other than typewriters, adding machines, and
mailing devices were in use in all but two small insurance offices of
the 81 firms surveyed. The types of machines in use and the number
of offices having them are shown here:
Offices reporting
Type of office
'fotal
BookDictat- keeping
ing
or billing
1
Calculating
T abulating Address- Duplior key
ing
eating
punch
- - - - - - - - --1-- -1- - - 1 - - -1- - - - - - - - - - -All types _____ _____ ____ _
Advertising agencies ____ ____ _
Banks
__________ ________ _____ _
Insurance companies ___ _____ _
Investment houses ______ _____
Mail-order houses 2_ ___ _ _____ _
Public utilities _______ ____ ____
Publishers ___ ____------ ----- 1
2
79
40
58
7
13
21
13
5
6
11
4
3
12
12
1~
5
4
I
3
7
10
4
5
12
56
19
51
41
13
1
3
2
11
9
10
5
5
11
5
13
9
3
2
9
6
9 15
9
4
5
8
Automatic
typewriter
--1
2
1
Details aggregate more than Lotals, as firm are entered in more than 1 machine group.
Includes a few chain stores.
Dictating machines
One-half of the firms were using dictating machines. In all types
but banks and investment houses, from one-half to six-sevenths of the
offices were equipped with such instruments. Thirteei1 offices
reported that they had been installed within the past 5 years. Nine
stated that this introduction had not effected any labor economies,
but the other 4 reported the displacement of women stenographers.
The largest number of women affected was 15 stenographers in a
bank employing at the time of the survey about 170 women in stenographic occupations; that is, secretaries, stenographers, typists, and
dictating-machine transcribers. An excerpt from the office interview describes this inst allation and its effect on personnel:
In the fall of 1929 a centralized stenographic department was esta blished and
25 to 30 dicta ting and transcribing machines ·w ere installed. Many officers who
formerly had stenographers were r equired t o use the central stenographic division.
Fifteen girls who had been t er m ed stenographers were transferred to clerical
work. The bank still has a large number of individual stenographers and secretaries for officers but none for junior executives. This installation and change in
system saved time of these execut ives as well as of stenographers, as too much
time has been consumed in unessential duties.
An investment company employing about 50 women in its stenographic division described a recent introduction of the dictating
machine as follows:
Within the past 6 months the dictating machine has been used for mail inquiry
work. An experienced girl came in with the one machine and was able to handle
the work of 3 stenographers who were dismissed. One boy who had been on the
work was transferred to another office.
The experience of a mail-order house where stenographers were
replaced was reported as follows:
Dictating machines were installed 3 to 4 years ago in order to increase efficiency.
Twelve machines were installed and the company's own girls were trained to
operate them, 4 girls being transferred to other work and 2 girls resigning.
The other company reported a reduction in number of women
because of the introduction of dictating machines. One stenographer
76538°- ~4-- 7
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
90
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
of three resigned and was not replaced because of the introduction of
the machine.
Labor saving was given as the objective in introducing the machine
by 4 offices, 4 others had considered the convenience, and the others
reporting gave reasons such as better records, increased business,
and labor saving and convenience combined.
Bookkeeping machines
Bookkeeping machines were used in three-fourths of the offices
covered. All the public utilities, all but one of the banks and the mailorder houses, and all but two publishing houses kept some of their
financial accounts with the aid of mechanical bookkeeping. Thirtyone offices had installed bookkeeping or billing machines during the
preceding 5 years, and 16 of these reported that there had been no
displacement of employees due to the change. Banks had made
their initial installation in most cases more than 5 years ago, but in a
number of cases the use of machines had been extended within such
period. Of those reporting on the sex of the employees displaced, 11
reported that the number of men on this work had been reduced either
because of the reduction in force or because of the substitution of
women, and 3 offices reported that the number of women had been
reduced. Labor saving was given most frequently as the reason for
the installation of the machine and improved records was the reason
next in importance.
The following cases have been selected from the general interviews as illustrating the labor changes caused by bookkeeping
machines in the 5-year period preceding the interviews:
A bookkeeping machine was introduced in 1929. Operated by a girl sent by
the installing company. The girl is younger than the 3 men whose work her
machine replaced. The girl was first paid $30 a week, and later cut to $25,
while each of the 3 men had received $25. One man was retained and shifted to
other work and the other 2 were dismissed.
Old bookkeeping machines were replaced. Entire system was changed.
Women exclusively were used on the new machines where formerly both men and
women had been employed. Now there are 4 women, and present volume of
work would have required at least 1 more clerk. Present system has eliminated
overtime and records are always up-to-date. Labor cost s are slightly less because
men were shifted to other work, but there is no material saving in cost because
the machine is so expensive. The resulting records are much more satisfactory .
Bookkeeping machines were introduced in one department for keeping trust
a ccounts. Men had been used on the manual method but with the advent of
machines the work was shifted to women, who are paid less. Men a veraged
$1,800 a year and women only $1,300.
When the savings-account bookkeeping machine was introduced, a woman
was added to operate the machine in the cage and the regular men tellers remained.
This was too expensive, so the men were taught to operate the machine, but t he
men have been slow at the machine operation and so now in two cages men tellers
have been replaced by women at lower salaries and the women are successfully
doing both the usual window work and the operation of the machine.
The work on certain accounts was done by men, entirely by hand, until 1929It is now done on machines by men and women. All the machine operators are
paid less than the ledger clerks were. There is a saving in salary though not in the
number required to do the work. One great advantage of the machines is that
the work is always up-to-date; also it looks better.
Two women are doing the work that three formerly did. At the time of
installing the machines a saving of $90 a month in salaries was effected.
A special bookkeeping machine for pay roll was installed. It calculates as
well as enters pay-roll items. Two operators on this machine and 2 other clerks
do as much work as 8 or 9 people who formerly worked on pay roll. Machine is
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
OFFICE WORKEns lN ClllCAGO
91
responsible for replacing at least 3 or 4 workers. Also, potentially they could
keep pay roll for another 100 or more employees without increase in clerical
force. Volume of work is slightly less this year than in normal times, but this
machine halved work on pay roll. None of the clerks were laid off but they were
shifted to other work, displacing inefficient people.
Bookkeeping machine purchased about l½ yel;'rs ago. Woman clerk who
formerly kept hand ledgers was trained on machine. Better records and statements made at same time. Has saved at least one-fourth of this clerk's time
and statements are ready without a mad rush at end of month.
Bookkeeping machines appear not to supplant accountants but to
reduce the work of ledger and simple-entry clerks. ·
Other machines
The larger group of general clerks have had their activities modified
by a variety of machines that effect short cuts in handling statistical
data, addressing, mailing, and duplicating. In some instances the
instaUation of tabulating and duplicating machines especially has
tended to increase employment because they have made available
new records and new advertising mediums that were impractical
under hand met.hods of production.
Calculating machines were in general use in all types of office· and
addressing and duplicating machines in all types but advertising.
Tabulation by machine was the practice in 13 of the 21 insurance
offices and 3 0f the 5 mail-order houses. A significant labor replacement was brought about in one of the mail-order houses by the change
from a manual to a machine method of handling stock records.
The first of the following interview records describes this:
The most significant change from the standpoint of mechanization in this
company in the past 5 years was an application of the tabulating machine and keypunch system to the keeping of inventory or stock records. Entire system of
keeping these records has been changed. At present 4 women key-punch operators,
1 boy operating the tabulating machine, 1 boy on a gang punch and interpreting
machine, and a supervisor make up the staff doing this work, where previously
about 30 record clerks and the part time of many re-buyers were required.
Twenty to twenty-two clerks are eliminated and the time equivalent of at least 3
re-buyers. None of the people were laid off;. have been transferred to other
jobs and fitted into places left vacant by normal turnover. More and better
records are available; annual money saving is large.
A new expansion and extension of uses of tabulating machines has made it
possible for 5 people to do in 1 week the quantity of work that it would have
taken 7 people 3 weeks to do formerly.
Key-punch and tabulating equipment was installed about 2 years ago to increase
extent of statistical material; personnel doing other statistical work was trained
to operate machines and do the work along these lines.
Addressing-machine equipment was adapted to making trust lists instead of
having them typed or done in long hand. Higher-priced clerks were relieved
from this work and were able to spend all their time on more responsible work.
The time saved was estimated at 50 percent.
Addressing machine introduced in 1920. Temporary force formerly taken on
during busy season practically eliminated. Machine can do as much work as was
turned out by 3½ to 4 typists.
New eiectric calculating machines put in pay-roll division speeded up work
at least 20 percent. No one was laid off but 2 or 3 vacancies had not been filled.
Teletype was installed in October 1931. Four regular telegraphers laid off.
Work done previously by telegraphers can be done just as well on teletype with
much cheaper operators, labor cost being about one-half.
In July 1928 an inserting machine was added to equipment of division that
sends out bills. A folding machine had been in use for over 10 years but bills
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
92
'.EJMPLOYME 'I' OF WOME
I
OFFICES
and advertising circulars were inserted by hand . Present machine can insert
bill and four other pieces of advertising or supplementary material in one operation.
Machine turns out 37,000 pieces of mail with four or more insertions. A clerk
making manual insertions averaged about 1,000 bills an hour and the insertion of
advertising literature was a separate operation . Eleven fewer clerks on this work,
more inserting done than formerly, and overtime eliminated.
Large offices much more than small or medium sized- those with
less than 40, or 40 to 50 clerks-have been able to divide their work
so as to take advantage of the saving of labor by machines. In large
offices much of the routine work can be standardized and record keeping can be performed by mechanical methods. Modern machinery
has made a place for itself in the office rush as in other daily activities,
and the large office of today has little in common with that of 20 years
ago. Photostatic methods of record copying an d use in accounting
were commented on as coming developments, but in 1931 and 1932
these were not common. In small offices mechanization, because of
its high cost and certain inflexibility, h as not made any great advances,
and except for style modifications in equipment and different emphasis
on work there have not been marked changes.
NEGRO WOMEN IN CHICAGO AND ATLANTA
In Chicago and Atlanta an effort was made to secme information
for Negro women employed in the types of offices covered. The two
races were not employed together in any office visited, but 5 insurance
companies and 1 publisher in Chicago and 2 insurance offices in Atlanta, all controlled and managed by Negro ownership, were found t o
employ Negroes. In both cities several banks a.n d other types of
offices employing Negroes were contacted, but tht,J had only from 1
to 3 women, all combined being too few to form a representative
group.
In the six Chicago offices 101 Negro women, 90 in insurance and 11
in publishing, were included. Their median monthly salary in insurance was $80 as compared to $94 for the white women in insurance.
In Atlanta insurance offices the median monthly salary for Negro
women was $55 in contrast to $94 for white women. In Chicago
about one-third of the Negro women (including 11 in publishing) and
in Atlanta about seven-eighths were on salaries of less than $75 a
month. Four-fifths in Chicago and 98 percent in Atlanta were on
salaries of less than $100.
The groups were too small to lend themselves to occupational distribution, but as was true of all small offices the proportion on stenographic jobs was high and the others t ended to be in the general clerical group.
The amount of general schooling and the attendance at business
schools were higher than for the study as a whole. In Chicago 50 of
100 women with education reported had completed high school, and
34 more had some advanced training. In Atlanta 16 of 56 were highschool graduates, 23 more having had some advanced training:
The Negro women tended to be somewhat older than the white.
The median age of all the white women in Atlanta and Chicago was
25 in both cases, but for Negroes the median was 31 in Atlanta and 28
in Chicago. As to marital status, larger proporti ns of the Negroes
than of the white women were married. The chief finding seems to
be the much lower salaries paid, with the interesting fact that this
was true even though the employers were Negroes.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Part VI.- OFFICE WORKERS IN ST. LOUIS
INTRODUCTION
The 1930 census returns for the clerical group in St. Louis show a
much less equal distribution of the jobs between men and women than
is true of some other cities and of the United States as a whole. The
figures follow: 1
Total
Occupation
Men
Women
Total-Number__ __ ____ _____ _________ ______ _____________________ __
55, 452
29,097
Percent distribution__ ________ ___ _________________________________
100. 0
52. 6
Clerks (except clerks in stores) ___ _________ _______ __ _____________________ i--31-,3-11-1---21, 581
Stenographers and typists ___ ___ _________ ____ _____ ____ ___ ____ _________ __
13,080
649
Bookkeepers, cashiers, and accountants__ __ _______________________ ______
9,348
5,359
Messenger, errand, and office boys and girls (except telegraph messengers)___ _______ ___ _____________ ____ _______ ________ _____ __ ______________
1, 713
1,508
26,365
47. 4
9,730
12, 431
3,989
205
The St. Louis census figures, like those of other cities, show that as
office work has expanded in recent years women have been drawn to
its ranks relatively faster than men, and data for 1930 disclose that
women office workers had increased by about 4,000 (18 percent) and
men by only about 750 (2 .6 percent) since 1920. 2 However, the total
number of men still exceeded that of women by more than 2,700.
The number of bookkeepers, cashiers, and accountants was 586 less
in 1920 than in 1930. The messenger group also had declined.
Men stenographers and typists had decreased by about 27 percent,
but women in this group had increased by approximately 20 percent.
Men had increased only in the general clerical group.
Scope of survey
The St. Louis section of the study of office workers was carried on
during the early part of 1932-February 1 to March 10. Fifty
offices, with 2,963 women employed, were covered. The summary
following shows the offices of various types included in the survey
and the numbers of men and women clerical workers they employed.
Type or office
All types ________ _----- --·- - ---- ------ --- - ----- - -Advertising agencies __ __________________ ________ ______ _
Banks ____ ___ __________ ___ _______ ____________ - - --- - -- --_
Insurance companies ___ ______ __ ______ _______ _____ __ ___ _
Investment houses ____ ____ __ _- -- -- - --- --- ----- ----- -- -Mail-order houses 2_____ _ ____ __________ ____ _ _ _____ __ ___ _
Public utilities _____ ___ __________ _-- - _- __ --- -- -- -- -- --- Publishers ______ ___ _______ ____ ___ -- - -- --- --- --- --- - -- -1
2
Number of
offices
I 5Q
2
7
2L
4
5
I 7
4
Employees
Total
I
I
6,397
81
2, 111
1, 792
206
612
1, 483
112
Men
,vomen
3,434
27
1, 583
702
142
113
825
42
I
2,963
54
528
1,090
64
499
I 658
70
Includes 1 firm employing 83 women, number of men not reported.
Includes a few chain stores.
1 U.S. Bureau of the Census.
Fifteenth Census: 1930. Occupation Statistics, Missouri, p . 12. Clerical
division, exclusive only of the group "agents, collectors, and credit men. ''
' !bid. Fourteenth Census: 1920, vol. IV, Population, Occupations, p . 221. Clerical division, exclu,;ive
only of the group "agents, canvassers, and collectors."
93
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
94
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Excluding one office not reporting the number of men, the proportions of men and women are found to be 54.4 percent and 45.6 percent,
respectively. Because of the small numbers in the 4 investment
offices, these have been combined with banks for all tabulations, and
similarly advertising and publishing are combined, leaving 5 general
groups to be discussed instead of the 7 listed in · the preceding scope
coverage.
SUMMARY
Date of survey
February 1 to March 10, 1932.
Scope
50 establishments, 2,963 women.
Monthly salaries
The medians (half the employees rece1vmg more and half rece1vmg less)
ranged from $76 in mail-order houses to $98 in banks and investment houses.
The best-paying occupations were secretary ($130) and supervisor ($128) ;
those paying the least were file clerk ($73) and typist ($77) .
Hours of work
The most common daily hours were 7½; weekly hours 42; Saturday hours 4½.
Personal inforrnation
Most of the women were young (half of them below 26%0 years) and they were
preponderantly single.
Almost 45 percent (44.2) had been 5 or more years with the present firm.
DATA FROM OFFICE RECORDS
Salary and type of office
All the monthly salary rates used in this study are synonymous
with earnings figures, and the median or midpoint in salary distributions has been used most frequently as a measuring rod of salaries.
The median salary rate for all women was $87. The medians and
the distribution of salaries by type of office are as follows :
Percent of women
T ype of office
M edian
Number of monthly
women
salary
rate
Less
t han
$75
- All types _---- -------------------Advertising and publishing houses _____ _
Banks and investment houses _____ _____
Insurance companies __ _____________ ___ _
Mail-order
-----Public
utilithouses'---------ies _________ ________
__ __----___ _
1
$75,
less
t han
$100
$100,
less
than
$125
$125,
less
than
$150
$150
and
more
- - - - - -- -
2,963
$87
29.5
39. 4
19. 4
7. 4
4. 3
124
592
1, 090
499
658
94
98
85
76
90
16. 9
15. 9
31. 9
47. 1
26. 7
41. 1
37. 0
39. 4
41. 3
39. 5
22. 6
25. 0
19.1
7.8
23. 3
9. 7
14. 4
5.4
3. 0
7. 4
9. 7
7. 8
4. 1
.8
3. 0
Includes a few chain stores.
Banks and investment houses had the highest median rate and the
mail-order group much the lowest. The average age was highest in the
banks and lowest in the mail-order group, and the probability of
longer work histories in the former may explain some of the difference
in salaries paid.
From the preceding summary table it is apparent that more than
two-thirds of all the women were on salaries of less than $100. In the
mail-order houses about seven-eighths (88.4 percent) were on rates
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
95
OFFICE WORKERS IN ST. LOUIS
below $100 and not far from one-half (47.1 percent) on rates below
$75, but in banks and investment houses only about one-half (52.9
percent) were under the $100 mark and less than one-sixth (15.9
percent) were below $75. Almost 10 percent of the women in advertising and publishing and almost 8 percent of those in banks and
investment, but only 4. 3 percent of the entire group, were receiving
salaries the equivalent of $1,800 or more annually, and only about 12
percent of the total-1 of 8-had the equivalent of $1,500 or more.
The percent below $100 is relatively somewhat greater than in any
other city.
Salary and occupational distribution
Disregarding such factors as age, schooling, and experience, the
comparative salaries in certain occupations may be summarized as
follows:
Occupation
Number
Percent
of women of women
Median
monthly
salary
rate
All occupations 2____ ____________ _______ __
2, 963
100. 0
1 -- 1 - - - - 1 - -Secretary __ __ ______ _______ ______ ___ · - - - - ------- 130
-i. 4
Stenographer------------------- - --- ---------- - 577
19. 5
Typist 2_ - -- - ---------------------- - - - - ------ - -412
13. 9
Dictating-machine transcriber___ ________ __ _
76
2. 6
Other a_______________ ___ ___ __ ______ ___ _____
293
9. 9
File clerk_ ________ __________ _________________ ___
128
4. 3
Hand bookkeeper __ ------------- ------------ - -82
2. 8
Cashier; teller______ ______________ ____ ____ _____ _
62
2.1
General clerk__ ______________ ___________ ________
1,062
36. 8
Bookkeeping- or billing-machine operator_______
97
3. 3
Calculating-machine operator____ ____ __________ _
142
4. 8
Telephone operator_________ __ __ __ ____ ____ ____ __
M
2. 2
Supervisor___ _____ _____ __ ___ __ ____ __ ___ ___ ______
87
2. 9
Usual salary range
1
1-----Low
High
$87
$60
$130
- 1 - - ---1-- - 130
100
165
97
70
130
77
55
105
89
60
115
74
55
95
73
60
100
100
75
140
105
85
160
80
60
115
93
65
120
87
70
105
90
65
120
128
95
215
1 Disregarding the upper and lower 10 percent.
1 Includes occupations with fewer than 50 women, not shown separately.
• Covers the regular typists that are not dictating-machine transcribers or clerk-typists.
Secretaries, less than 5 percent of the entire group, topped the list
from the salary standpoint, though supervisors had a median only
$2 less and had much the higher range. Cashiers and tellers, hand
bookkeepers, and stenographers follow, with medians of from $105
to $97. File clerks and general typists rank the lowest, their respective medians being $73 and $74.
The largest group, that of general clerks, comprises more than onethird of the total (35.8 percent) and has one of the lowest medians,
$80. A distribution of the rates of this group shows that four-fifths
of them (80.1 percent) were below $100. Disregarding the upper and
the lower 10 percent, the usual range of salaries in this occupation is
from $60 to $115.
Stenographers, the group next in size to that of the general clerks,
comprised about 20 percent of the women. The upper limit of the
usual range for this group was $130, and only 3.5 percent had rates
of $150 or more.
Dictating-machine transcribers were a small proportion of the
group, being only 2.6 percent of the total or about one-fifth of the
typist class, but their median was $15 higher than for ordinary copy
typists, though $8 less than for stenographers. There was a higher
proportion of these transcribers in insurance than in other types of
offices in St. Louis. The hand bookkeepers had a median $7 and a
usual high range $20 above that of machine bookkeepers.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
96
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
A summRry of the distribution of rates, given in the followin g
table, shows that the only occupations where significant proportions- at least 15 percent-were receiving the equivalent of $1,500 a year
or more were secretaries, stenographers, hand bookkeepers, cashiers
and tellers, and supervisors. Only about 6 percent of the general
clerks received this much. The summary covers all the 2,963 women.
Percent of women
Occupation
Less than
$75, less
$100, less $125, less
than $100 than $125 than $150
$75
All occupations
1 _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
20. 5
Secretary ____ _____ _______ ________ __ _______ _____ _____ _______ _
Stenographer ___ ___ ___ _______ _____________ __ .___
13. 2
Typist 1 ___ __ _____ _ _ __ _______ ___ - - --.- - -- ________
46. 8
Dictating-machine transcriber ____ __________
26. 3
53. 6
Other 2_ ___ ________ ___ __ _____ _______________
File clerk___ _____ ____ ____ ___ ___ ______ ____ ______ _
53. 9
Hand bookkeeper_ __--- --- --- --- - -- ----- - -- -___
9. 8
Cashier; teller_ ____ _____ __ _____________ __ _____ __
4. 8
39. 5
General clerk__ ___ _________ _______ _____ ___ ______
Bookkeeping- or billing-machine operator_____ __
18. 6
15. 5
Calculating-machine operator______________ _____
Telephone operator. ___ ___ ________ ___ ____ ____ ___
21. 9
Supervisor ____ _______ _____.___ _________ _____ ____
1. 1
1
2
and
more
$150
39. 4
19. 4
7. 4
4. 3
10. 0
31. 5
30. 7
12. 6
27. 7
11. 6
30. 8
3. 5
28. 9
5. 3
.7
41.1
38. 8
39. 5
37. 9
37. 5
40. 2
4]. 9
40. 7
4:i. 3
1. 7
7. 8
7.8
34. 1
Ill. 4
13. 9
32. 0
14. 8
21. 9
32. 2
f,8. 3
50. 0
ll. 5
.8
8. 5
16. 1 ·
4.8
6. 2
7. 3
17. 7
1. 1
.7
.i
6. 3
25. 3
29. 9
Includes occupations with fewer than 50 women, not shown separately .
Covers the regular typists that are not dictating-machine transcribers or clerk-typists.
File clerks, typists as a group, and the general clerks a.11 had large
proportions with salaries under $75. No typist,no telephone operator,
and only one operator of an office machine (calculating) was paid as
much as $150 a month.
Salary and age
Al though few of the women whose age was reported were below 20
years (3_9 percent), a large proportion of the women were young, the
median age being 26 years (26.3). About 40 percent were 20 and
under 25 and about 28 percent were 25 and under 30, making approximately 70 percent who were not yet 30. Only about 1 in 12 was as
inuch as 40, and very few (1 in 45 or 46) had passed their fiftieth
birthday. The age distribution by type of office follows:
Percent of women
Type of offi ce
Number
of
women
Median
age
(years)
20,
Under
20
years
- ---All types _____ ______ ____ ____
2,946
Advertising and publishing
houses ___ __ ____ -- -- -_-- -- - --- - Banks and investment houses __ __
Insurance com panies _____ _____ ___
Mail-order houses 1 ___ __ _____ _ __ _
Public utilities __ __ __ _______ ____ __
119
587
1, 086
4. 8
656
1
-
25,
40,
30,
under
under
under
under
25
30
40
50
years
-
years
- -
years
- -
-
26. 3
3. 9
38. 8
27. 6
21.1
27.1
28.0
26. 1
24. 5
27.0
4. 2
2. 4
3. 2
5. 6
5. 2
35. 3
33. 7
39. 8
49. 0
34. 6
25. 2
30. 5
29. 1
26. 2
24. 4
27. 4
20. 9
13. 1
21. 2
---- - - -- - 22.8
-
-
years
6.4
- -
6. 7
11.1
4.1
2. 6
8. 7
50
years
and
over
--- -
2. 2
4. 2
2. 6
1.5
.6
4. 1
Includes a few chain stores.
Banks and investment houses, advertising and publishing houses,
and public utilities have somewhat the highest age medians--28
and 27 years- and the largest proportions of women past 40. The
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
OFFICE WORK)!}RS 1
97
ST . LOUl
mail-order group employs the youngest women (median age 24½
years) with not quite one-sixth of the women as old as 30 years and
well over one-half under 25. The increased experience associated
with age is reflected in the correlation of age and salary for all offices:
Median mont.hl11
Age (years)
salar11 rate
Under20 ____ __________________________________________ $61
20, under 25_______ __ ______ ____ ___________ _______ __ ____ _ 74
25, under 30__ _ _ __ ___ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ __ __ _ __ _ ___ __ ___ _ __ _ _ _ 91
30, under 40__ _ _ __ __ __ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ ____ __ __ _ _ _ 107
40, under 50 __________________ ___________ _____________ __ 121
50 and over ___ __________________________________________ 118
Salaries rose with age to the group 40 and under 50 years, and as the
women of 50 and over numbered only 66 the decline of $3 in median
is not significant. Of 21 women with a salary of $200 or more, 13
were at least 40 years old; and of the 38 earning less than $50, all
were under 25.
Length of time in office work
With the make-up of the group predominantly young, it was not to
be expected that the work histones would be long. Records of experience in other than office work were considered incomplete and have
been disregarded. The small proportion of women who had worked
less than 2 years undoubtedly was due to the fact that few vacancies
were being filled and few new employees, in proportion to the total,
were being hired. Approximately two-thirds of the entire group had
worked in offices 5 years or more, and one-fourth 10 years or more.
The mail-order group, with more young women than any other, had
more than the average proportion of employees with short work
histories.
The total time worked in offices was reported for about 80 percent
of the women and is as follows:
.
.
Percent of women
Time m office work
(t ,~.µJ reported)
Less than 6 months______ ______ ___ ____ __ __ ______ ____ ___ 0.
6 months, less than 1 year__ ___________ ______ ______ _____ _ 1.
1, less than 2 years____ _____ ___ ____ ____ ____ _ ___ __ __ __ __ _ 4.
2, less than 3 years___ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ __ __ _ ___ _ __ __ _ ___ _ 10.
3, less than 4 years___ _______________ ___ ___ __ __ ___ _____ _ 10.
4, less than 5 years ____ ____ _____ ____ ___ _____ ___ __ _______ 8.
5, less than 10 years ____________________________________ 38.
10, less than 15 years __ ____ ___ ____ _______________ ___ ____ 17.
15, less than 20 years ____ ___ _________ ___ ________ ______ __ 4.
20 years a nd more_______ __ __ __ ______ __ ___ _____ ______ ___ 3.
2
4
7
1
4
8
3
5
9
7
Number of jobs held
For slightly over 85 percent of the women (2,570) the number of
jobs on which they had been employed was reported, and a tabulation
of these data shows the following :
Percent of
Number of jobs held
women
1_____ ___________ ___ _· -- - -- -- ----------------- - ------ 2& 0
2 ___ ___ ___ ----- ----- __ -- ----- _--- _-- --- -- - -- ----- - - -- _ 40. 4
3 __ __ ___ ___ ______________ ____ ___ __ ____ ____ ____________ 20. 2
4--6,--or-------------~& 6
5,
7 ___ __ __ ____ _ _--__ -__ _--_ __--------------__ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ __--___----_ __ __--__ 4.
9
It was uncommon for these workers to have had more than three
jobs. The women in the mail-order group, though younger than those
in the other offices and with shorter work histories, had the largest
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
98
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
proportion with more than three jobs. · (Cause of change of job 1s
shown on page 99.)
Time with present firm
Limiting the experience to length of service with the present
firm discloses that well over 40 percent of the women had been employed 5 years or more and slightly more than one-sixth had been
employed 10 years or more with the same firm. The proportion
taken on within the past year was small- less than 6 percent in all
types but mail-order houses, where the figure was almost 10 percent.
This difference was said to be due to increased activities and reorganization of 1 or 2 of the offices in this group.
The proportions of women employees with length of service as specified are shown here by type of office:
Percent of women
Time with presen t firm
Total- Number of women ___
Percent_ ____ ________ _____ ___
Less than 6 months ___ _____ _____ __
6 months, less than 1 year_ _____ ___
1, less than 2 years ______ __ __ ____ __
2, less than 3 years ______ ___ _______
3, less than 4 years ________ __ _____ _
4, less than 5 years ___ ___ ____ ___ ___
5, less than 10 years __ _____________
10, less than 15 years _____ ____ .! ___ _
15, less than 20 years _______ ___ ____
20 years and m ore _____ ____ ______ __
1
Advertis- Banks and
All types ing and
Insurance Mail-order
companies houses 1
of office publishing investment
houses
houses
2,949
100. 0
1.9
4. 2
10. 3
18. 4
12. 0
8. 9
27.0
12.1
2. 6
2. 5
121
100. 0
0.8
2. 5
9.9
26. 4
12.4
5.8
28.1 ·
10. 7
2.5
.8
590
100.0
1. 7
3. 2
8.1
19. 5
14. 1
9. 5
23.1
15.4
2. 0
3.4
1,082
100. 0
1. 8
3. 6
10. 2
13. 9
12. 1
11. 2
32. 7
12. 3
1.6
.6
Public
utilities
499
100. 0
2. 4
7. 4
17. 2
32. 3
11.8
6. 4
15. 4
657
100.0
1. 8
4.0
7.5
13. 1
10. 2
7. 0
29. 7
4. 4
14. 8
1.8
.8
5. 5
6. 5
Includes a few chain stores.
Considering only the women who had been employed 5 years or
more, public utilities (with 56.5 percent) had much the highest proportion and the mail-order group (with 22.4 percent) had much the lowest.
Public utilities and banks and investment houses had the highest
proportions of employees with service of 10 years or more.
To demonstrate the value of continued service with the same employer in St. Louis, time with the firm correlated with rates is summarized in the table following:
Median monthly salary rate 1
Years with present firm
All types. l!~1!s~~~gt Insuran_ce M ail-order
houses
compames
houses a
of office 2
Less than L _____ ___ _____ _________ ____ _____
1, less than 3____________ ______________ ____ _
3, less than 5_____ ___ ____ __________ _________
5, less than IQ _____ __ ____ ___ ____ ______ __ __ __
10, less than 15____ ____ __ __ ____ ___ __ ____ ___ _
15 and more ___ -- ----- ---- -- - -- ---- -- -- ___ _
$69
75
Public
utilities
$66
$82
72
$73
95
77
83
86
94
103
95
79
113
121
117 -----------129 ------------ ---- - ------- - ------ -----
$7
82
91
101
123
1 Not computed where base is less than 50.
t Total includes advertising and publishing houses, not shown separately because numbers too small for
medians.
a Includes a few chain stores.
The upward trend in earnings with increasing experience is apparent,
and it is interesting to note that only in banks and investment houses
had the median rate passed the hundred-dollar mark with less than
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
99
OFFICE WORKERS IN ·ST. LOUIS
10 years of service. Salaries of $200 a month or more were reported
for only 22 women and 19 of these had worked 10 years or more for the
same firm.
Reason for changing job
About 1,300 records showed reason for separation from the job
immediately preceding the current employment. About one-fourth
of the women had left the last job for personal reasons, and a slightly
larger percentage fell under the rather general term advancement. It
is significant of the period that almost two-thirds of the women who
had been with the firm less than 2 Y.ears had left their jobs involuntarily because of lay-off, business failure, or other business reason. Of
those who had left their last jobs 2 or more years before, a higher
proportion h ad left for personal reasons or advancement. Time
on the present job, coupled with reasons for leaving preceding job,
shows the changing trend of cause of separation:
Percen t of women
Y ears with present firm
Number of
women
1-----.---- - - - -- - Personal
cause
TotaL________________ ____ __ ____ __ __
Less t han L______ ___________________ __ ____
1, less than 2________________________ _______
2, less than 3----- - - ---------------- -~ -----3, less than 4-------- - ---------------~----4, less than 5__ ____ ____ __________ ___ _____ ___
5, less than IQ___________________ ___________
10 and more ___ --- - - - -- -- -- ------- ------ - --
1,300
1 - --
24. 8
- - 1 - - - - - l-
109
176
275
170
123
309
138
23. 9
17. 6
25. 5
31. 8
25. 2
23. 6
27. 5
Adv ancement
28. 5
Lay-off
40. 4
Other busin ess reason
6. 3
---1-----1----
11. 9
15. 3
30. 2
27. 6
29. 3
34. 0
42. 8
56. 9
56. 8
37. 5
35. 9
39. 8
36. 2
27. 5
7. 3
10. 2
6. 9
4. 7
5. 7
6.1
2. 2
To some extent past experience affects the type of office in which
work is obtained, but other factors, such as the commercial and
industrial make-up of the community, are more important. Of 1,314
women whose preceding job was clerical, less than one-fifth had been
in the same type of office as at present. As St. Louis has a relatively
large proportion of wholesale and manufacturing industries, these
types figured prominently in the work histories.
Salary increases
Considering those women who had been employed with the firm at
least 3 years, over nine-tenths (91.5 percent) had had an increase in
salary. Of the group with 5 and under 10 years' service with one
firm, almost 95 percent had hB,d an increase. For two-fifths (40.8
percent) of the group with increases, such increases were 20 and less
than 50 percent; for more than one-third (36.9 percent) they were 50
and less than 100 percent, and for one-twelfth (8.5 percent) they were
100 percent or more. Of the group employed 10 and under 15 years,
·98.2 percent had had increases, and of this number 40 percent had at
least doubled their initial salaries. For a similar group whose
employment had been for 15 years or more, 85.9 percent had at least
dou led their salaries.
Schooling
Another factor besides age and experience that has a bearing on the
job and its financial returns is schooling. Summarizing the extent of
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
100
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
schooling for the 2,276 women whose education was ascertained, the
findings are as follows:
Percent or women
Ad vertising Banks and Insurance
All types and
publish- investment
Schooling
Total-Number or women ___
Percent_ __ __ ______ __________
HighIncomplete
school: ____ ___ ______ ___ ____
Complete ______ __ _____ ____ ____
Advanced __ ______ __ ________ __ _____
NormaL ________ ___ ______- --"College:
Incomplete ___ _________ ___ _
Complete __ ___ ____-- - -- _--
Mail-order
houses 1
515
100.0
18. 4
960
100. 0
18. 0
441
100.0
23.1
241
100. 0
31.]
:n. 9
28.6
17. 6
2. 5
35.9
37. 1
8. 5
1.7
34. 0
40.6
7. 4
54. 9
18.1
3.9
41.1
23. 7
4.1
.4
13. 4
1. 7
C.. 0
5.1
1. 9
3. 4
.5
3.3
ing houses
2,276
100. 0
:./0. 7
119
100.0
21.8
39.1
33.0
7. 2
.7
5. 2
1. 2
- Grammar schooL ___ ___ ____ _______
companies
or office
houses
.4
.8
Public
utilities
---- ---·----
.4
I
t
Includes a few chain stores.
One-fifth of the women had stopped their schooling with the grammar grades. Only 7 percent had had formal education beyond high
school. The proportions of women with college completed are small,
about 2 percent in insurance being the highest. Advertising and
publishing houses, banks and investment houses, and insurance companie~ have slightly more than 45 percent of their women employees
with high school completed or more advanced training. The mailorder group and public utilities have relatively the most with only
grammar schooling and the fewest with advanced training.
Schooling and salary rates
What relation is there between formal schooling and the salary
received? Strange as it may seem, a comparison of the medians of the
women with a grammar-school background and those who had completed high school reveals that the former is the higher by $3. Only
in the mail-order group and public utilities does the group with high
school completed show a favorable balance over the grammar school.
Assuming that the women in the older groups-those over 30 yearshave had less formal schooling than those who entered the commercial
world in later years, when the tendency was to take advantage of
high-school training, a correlation of salaries and schooling by age
groups has been made for the 2,266 women whose education and age
were ascertained. The number with advanced training is -so smallonly 161-that it is omitted from the summary.
Schooling and median salar y
1
High school
Age (years)
Grammar school only
Number or
women
Median
salary
1- - - - - - - - , - - - - - -- Incomplete
Number or
women
Median
salary
Complete
Number or
women
Median
salary
Total ______ ____ ____ _____ _
747
469
889
$86
$83
$86
Undel" 20 _____ __ __ ___ __ ____ _____1-----1-----1--- - - i- - -- , - - - - - i...---25 ----------19 -----------47 -----------20, under 25 __ ____ ______ ___ ____ _
162
331
73
380
73
71
25, under 30 ___ ___ __ ____ __ _____ _
198
88
94
145
92
254
30, under 40 ____ _____ ______ ____ _
114
114
105
115
100
195
.0 a.n d over ___ __ _____ ___ __ ___ __ _
29
29 -- ---------62
115
.
-----------
1
Not computed where b~e is less than 00.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
101
OFFICE WORKERS IN ST. LOUIS
Age as it reflects experience shows a steady increase in rates, but
an increase in formal schooling does not cause so decided nor so steady
an advance, though in all the comparable age groups the women with
high school complete have a higher median than those with only
grammar school. The proportions of women 30 years or older are
greater within the grammar-school and unfinished high-school classes
than in the other group. Advanced training is not shown here because of the small numbers.
Correlating schooling, time with the firm, and salaries gives a
clearer picture of the relation of education and experience to reward.
In other words- Does increased schooling give continuing advantage
in salary with years of service for one firm? A summa.ry of the comparable medians on this point follows:
.:\1ediau mon th l y salar y rate
High school
Yea.rs witb µre ~ent firm
Gramma r ___ _ _ _ __
school onl y
Less than L ___ __ _____ _______ ___________ _________ ___ ______ ___ _____ ____________ .
1, less than 3 _____ ___ ______ __. _____ _. ___ .. ____ ___ ______ __ _______ __ __
$71
3, less than 5 ____ ___ ______________ _____ _____ ___ _ ____ _.. __. __ ____ . __
80
5, less than IQ __ __ ___ __ _. . __ . ____ __ . _.. ______ ___ ____ ___. ___ __ __ __. _
8
10 and more ___ _____ ______ ____ . . __ . _.. ____ ____ . ___. __. __.. _. __ __ __
ll 2
1
1
Incom plet.e
_
Complete
$66
75
84
$72
7I
\J2
ll4
99
129
81
Not computed where base is less than 50.
The value of schooling is most marked for the two groups with at
least 5 years of service with the firm, the medians for those who have
completed high school being more than 10 percent higher than for
those with only grammar school, and even the high school incomplete
showing some advantage.
Business-school training
Office workers so frequently supplement their general schooling with
training at a commercial business school that this type of education
has been considered as a separate factor throughout the study. In
the St. Louis survey, almost one-half of the women-46.1 percentwere recorded as having had business-school training. The median
salary for the group having such training is $6 higher than the median
for those without, or $89 compared to $83. Correlating general
schooling, business-school training, and salaries affords a comparison
of the financial returns of those with and without special training.
Schooling and median salary
'chooling
Business sehool
attended
umber of
women
Median
salary
Business school
no t attended
Number of
women
Median
salary
TotaL _______ ____ ____ __ _______ ____________ ______ _
1,038
$89
1,238
1- -- - - 1 -- -- - i- -- - i - - -Grammar schooL__ __ __ ____ ___________ _________ __ __ ____
304
87
167
High school incomplete ____________ _____ _____ .. ____ ____
416
89
474
High school complete __ ._ ___________ ___ __ ____ __ ___ _____
247
90
505
Advanced education ___ _______ ______ ___ __ _______________
71
96
92
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
$83
85
--
83
81
99
102
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
The greater need for additional training where the school attendance
has been least is reflected in the relatively larger proportions of women
with only grammar schooling who have had business training. The
differences in medians are not great, though the group with high school
complete has a median $9 higher for the women with business training
than for those without.
Managerial policies with reference to educational standards were
somewhat indefinite (seep. 105), but in practice certain jobs had large
proportions of women with advanced schooling or with business
training. This is indicated in the following summaries:
Percent of women
Occupation
High school
Number
of women Grammar i - - - - - , - - - - - -i Advanced
school only Incomplete Complete education
All occupations 1_____ _________________
2,276
20. 7
Secretary __________________________________ _ - - 1 -05-1----1-0.-5-1-Stenographer _________________ __ ____________
474
14. 3
T ypist!________________ _________ ___________
358
20. 7
Dictating-machine transcri ber __________
62
21. 0
Other 2_________________________________
262
19. 8
File clerk ___ __________ ______________________
101
23. 8
Hand bookkeeper___________________________
57
24. 6
General clerk _____________ ____________ ____ __
738
22. 2
Bookkeeping- or billing-machine operator . _
89
19. 1
Calculating-machine operator_ ______________
122
25. 4
Supervisor___ ______________________________ _
66
21. 2
7. 2
39. 1
33. 0
- - - + -- - - - 1 - --2-o-.O
26. 7
42. 9
9. 5
35. 7
40. 5
2. 0
38. 5
38.8
6. 5
43. 5
29. 0
.8
42. 7
36. 6
7. 9
41. 6
26. 7
8.
8
43. 9
22. 8
6. 5
32. 0
39. 3
4. 5
28. 1
48. 3
4. 9
22. 1
47. 5
19. 7
22. 7
36. 4
: Includes occupations wi th fewer than 50 women, not shown separately.
2 Covers regular typists t hat are not dict ating-machine transcribers or clerk-typists.
All occupations 1____________ _ ________ _ ______________
2,_29_7_
__
1
Secretary------------------------- __ ---------------------Stenographer__________________________________ ___________
T ypist 1_ _ __ _ _______________ _ ______ _ ______________________
Dictating-machine transcriber_ __ __________________ ____
~------------------------------------------_________________ . __________ --_________
File Other
clerk ____________
Hand bookkeeper _______ ____________ _____________________
General clerk___________________ _________ ______ _______ ____
Bookkeeping- or billing-machine operator___ _____________
Calculating-machine operator_______ __ ____________________
Supervisor _______ __ ___ . ___-- - ------ ---------------------__
1
2
Percent
wit h
business
school
training
Number
of
women
Occupation
46_.1_,
___
1
105
476
361
62
61. 0
64. 3
45. 7
263
102
57
746
89
127
40. 7
30.
4
57. 9
32. 6
50. 6
74. 0
32. 4
68
64. 5
Includes occupations with fewer than 50 women, not shown separately.
Covers regular typists that are not dictating-machine transcribers or clerk-typists.
The only occupations in which 50 percent or more of the women
had been at least graduated from high school were secretaries and
stenographers, with 62.9 percent and 50 percent, respectively.
Secretaries and supervisors to the extent of about 1 in every 5 were
women with training beyond high school. There were relatively
few secretaries and stenographers with only grammar-school education. The other occupations had from about one-fifth to one-fourth
with no schooling beyond the grammar grades . .
The groups of secretaries, stenographers, dictating-machine transcribers, hand and machine bookkeepers, and calculating-machine
operators all had at least one-half of their members with businessschool or machine-company training.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
103
OFFICE WORKERS IN s,r. LOUIS
At first glance the correlation of schooling, occupation, and salaries
for the four largest occupational groups indicates a surprising trend
in salaries, the medians for the women in the grammar-school group
having the highest level. Allowance must be made, however, for the
greater age and experience of this group, which apparently compensate for the lack of schooling.
Median monthly salary rate
Occupation
Stenographer _________________ ._. ___ . _____
Typist._._ -- ------- _____ -- -- -- -- --- -- --- -General clerk _______________ __________ ___ _
Machine operator-------------- ---- _______
High school
Grammar
school
only
Incomplete Complete
Attended
$94
73
75
88
$100
79
75
87
$94
80
78
90
$100
76
78
87
Business school
Not attended
$93
73
79
89
Business-school training was of value to stenographers and typists,
but the medians for clerks and machine operators who had attended
business school lagged behind the medians for those who had not.
In all data on schooling in this survey where age and experience are
not directly considered, it must be recalled that these factors have a
very marked effect. v\i hen the discussion is limited to women of the
same ages or the same periods of service with the office, increased
schooling usually has a corresponding effect on salaries.
Marital status
Census figures for St. Louis in 1930 3 reported 11.1 percent of the
women clerical workers 15 years of age and over as married. For
the women in the present study marital status was reported as
follows:
Percent (S,9,.5
women)
Single _______________ ._____ _________________ ______ ____ __ 86. 1
Married _______________ _________ ___________ ______ ____ __ Q4
Widowed ________________ _____ _____________ ____________ 2.5
Separated and divorced _________________________________
1. 9
Banks and investment offices, insurance, and mail-order houses
had the highest percents single, with almost 90 percent (89.5, 87.4,
and 86.4 percent, respectively), and advertising and publishing houses
had the highest percent married, 13.3.
Hours of work
Scheduled hours show the time of beginning and closing and the
allowance for lunch, and though actual hours may vary from the
schedule occasionally they usually are indicative of the most common
hours. The hours most frequently repor~ed were from 8.30 to 5 on
week days and from 8:30 to 1 on Saturdays; in other words, a 7½-hour
day and a 42-hour week. Twenty-two of the 50 offices reported a
day of 7½ or 7¾ hours, and 18 offices a day of 8 to 8½ hours. Weekly
hours varied more than daily; 33 of the 50 offices had a weekly schedule of 44 hours or less. None of the offices in St. Louis reported a
5-day week, and 1 mail-order house and 1 bank worked the full day
on Saturday.
1
lJ.8. Bureau of the Censos. Wteentb Oemus: 1930. Occopational Statistics, Missouri, p. 31.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
104
EMPLOYMENT OF WOME
I r OF FICE S
Overtime
Frequently there are long days for some or all of the force, but these
usually are compensated for by extra time or a small payment.
Just over one-half of the offices- 26 of 50-admitted overtime. Five
of 7 banks, but only one-third of the insurance companies, reported
seasonal overtime. All but one office reported some compensation
for the extra time. Seventeen allowed supper money when overtime
was worked, 4 gave supper money and in addition an hourly rate,
1 an hourly rate only, and 3 allowed compensating time off. Something of the nature of overtime extent and policies of compensation
may be gleaned from a few excerpts from the schedules :
Bank- Not considered overtime till after 6 o' clock. For special work on
income tax, $3 to $5 a night.
Insurance--Latter part of D ecember and first half of J anuary, actuarial, statistical, and auditing divisions have considerable overt ime-75 t o 100 clerks have
5 to 15 hours a week ext ra. They are m ostly clerks in auditing and statistical.
Publisher- Overtime affects office work a bout 1 week in September. Force
works every night until 9 o'clock, t aking 1 hour for supper. Special market
demands at that time. In addition to $1 paid as supper money, time a nd onehalf is allowed.
Public utility-Bill-issuing periods are spread over m onth by districts, so no
overtime on billing.
As the -depression progressed, over time was not so common as to
constitute a problem.
PERSONNEL POLICIES
Employment methods
In normal times how were new employees recruited? Twentyeight offices replied that direct applications provided them with
most of their labor supply. Nine turned generally to agencies when
seeking new employees, 6 called on the employment service of public
or commercial schools, 2 called an office-equipment agency, as a
typewriter or other machine company, and 2 resorted to newspaper
advertisements. Several sources of :finding new employees were
used in all offices, and this classification shows the principal avenue
used. All but 15 offices reported th at the function of hiring new
employees was centralized, either in a personnel division or, more
commonly, as one of the duties of the office manager. Centralization of employment and of other personnel relations tends to give
greater uniformity in practices and generally is more satisfactory
to both employer and employees than h aving this duty decentralized.
Twelve offices required a physical examination by the company's
doctor before an applicant's employment was confirmed, and 1 of
the 12 was subjecting applicants to a psychological test. Only one
office had any special plan for training new employees in their duties
with the firm. Training through experience on the job was general
throughout.
Mature women may be preferred when the job requires specialized
training or experience, but for the gener al run of clerical work the
young and inexperienced seemed to be desired when hiring. Twentysix of the offices reported that there was no employment policy as
to the ages of new employees within reasonable limits; 20 reported
that young workers were preferred as new employees, 2 that none
were hired over 30 or 35, and 1 that none over 40 were hired.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
OFFICE WORKERS IN ST. LOU1S
105
Though less prejudice was found with reference to the employment
of married women than exists in some of the other cities surveyed,
married women were at a disadvantage. Eleven managements
definitely stated that they had a policy of not employing married
women and 19 reported no discrimination based on marital status,
but there were 19 with vacillating ideas and with some of them there
seemed to be confusion and a complexity of prejudices as to their
stand. In general they preferred single women but would hire
married women under certain qualified conditions. Banks and
investment houses more commonly than other types of offices expressed a definite policy against the hiring and retention of married
women in their group. Only 7 of 46 firms reporting did not retain
married women in their employ.
Inquiries were directed to learn something of the general educational requirements either for office workers as a group or for specific
jobs. Most of the office managers or others interviewed seemed to
have little that could be considered formulated policy as to the
backgrounds required. Fourteen offices reported no employment
policy based on education, 16 stated that they sought to employ
high-school graduates for all jobs or for some, and 20 preferred
employees to have high-school training but did not require that they
be graduates. In discussing personnel policies with relation to education, the reply often was to the effect that high-school graduates
were likely to be chosen for jobs such as stenographer, secretary, or
correspondent, but that some high-school work supplemented by
business training was adequate for routine clerks, file clerks, or
machine operators. College training was not in demand for general
office occupations by any employer.
Promotions
Increases in salary depend on a variety of factors, both personal
and business, but a regular periodic review of salaries or a definite
promotional system is more satisfactory to the personnel and the
general employee morale than an indefinite and personal basis. In
St. Louis only 1 of the offices visited reported a systematic grading
of jobs with promotion steps defined; 26 had, in normal times, regular
periodic reviews of the pay roll, but the remaining 23 had no definite
policy or arrangement for increases in rates.
Payment during illness
Over nine-tenths of the offices visited reported that time lost
because of illness was paid for. The extent and duration of such
payments varied considerably, and often the merits of each individual case were considered, but it is significant that most clerical
workers do not lose their salary income for short indispositions, and
usually time lost for longer illness is paid .fully or in part.
Vacations
Every office reported a paid vacation for workers who had been
employed for certain specified periods, varying from a few months
to a year. Two weeks was the basic vacation period and 43 of the
50 offices reported this allowance. Two gave a vacation of 10 days,
1 of 3 weeks, and 4 of only 1 week. For employees of less than a
year's standing the practice where the basic vacation was 2 weeks
was to &.liow a day for each month worked.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
106
EMPLOYME T OF WOMEN 1N OFFICES
Retirement
Pensions, annuities, or other retirement plans were rep:::>rted by
14 of the firms. Public utilities more than other offices had made
some provision for their employees who had reached the retirement age.
Group insurance
Death benefits secured by group insurance were reported by 35
of the 50 offices, and in 21 of these the company gave their employees
policies of $500 or more as a good-will offering. In at least onehalf of the cases last mentioned the employees could add to the
amount of the policy at low group rates. In 13 offices the group
insurance was paid for jointly by employer and employee, and
participation was voluntary on the employee's part. In one insurance
office the cost of the policy was carried entirely by the employee but
at a special rate.
Bonuses supplementing rates
Every woman in the study had a basic monthly salary rate, and
in addition 9 of the 50 offices had forms of bonus payments, either
annual or production. No office of those covered in St. Louis provided free lunches.
Annual bonus.-The annual bonus payments usually were in the
nature of Christmas gifts and were not large. Five offices-3 banks
and 2 of the mail-order group-had paid bonuses in the preceding
year. Ten percent of the women were affected-309 of. the 2,963and on a monthly basis the amount was small, since for less than
5 percent of the 273 for whom it was reported was the average per
month as much as $5. Most of the banks had given bonuses before
the depression, but in only three were they still continued. Two
of these banks had a policy of paying about the equivalent of a
half month's salary and the other paid a month's salary to employees
with specified service records. The number of women eligible for
bonuses in banks was about 100. Of the 2 mail-order houses
referred to, 1 with about 40 women employees gave a week's
salary as a Christmas present to all with a year or more of service,
and the other, with about 160 women, had paid a Christmas bonus
of 3 percent of the year's salary to those with 1 year's service and
of 5 percent to those· with 2 years or more of service. Bonus payments of this nature are so uncertain that it did not seem that they
could be treated except as gratuities and usually they were not
considered as part of the salary by employment officials.
Production bonus.-Four offices-I insurance and 3 public utilitiesaugmented the salaries of a part of their workers with production
bonuses. Descriptions of these bonus schemes from the schedules
follow:
A few women (12) in the centralized stenographic division-typists and dictaphone transcribers-are on a bonus. They have a monthly guarantee and after
task has been reached additional earnings are paid on a basis of cyclometer records.
Seven billing-machine operators have been working on a bonus basis for about
5 months. There is a guarantee of $50 a month, and after 18,000 bills have been
completed by an operator she is paid a piece rate per 100. The employees on this
occupation are paid $50 the first half of the month and the remainder of their
earnings the second half.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
107
OFFICE WORKERS IN ST . LOUIS
Two public utilities had a similar system with tasks set for routine
jobs lending themselves to measurement. In some instances the
bonus basis was individual and in others it was group.
The amount of compensation received for extra output was reported
for 182 women in 3 offices. The median of the monthly earnings of the
women receiving a bonus was $119, the bonus amounting to $25 or
more for five-eighths of the women.
Education for employees
Adult educational activities were sponsored and subsidized in varying degrees by 11 firms. Some sponsored courses given by their own
trade institutions, such as the American Institute of Banking, and
others made arrangements for reduced rates with local social and
educational institutions.
MECHANIZATION
Small offices generally are not so affected by mechanization as are
larger offices. In the St. Louis study only 7 firms employed more than
100 women, and most of them (32) had fewer than 50 women doing
clerical work. Disregarding the typewriter, adding machine, and
other machines and devices that are practically standardized equipment in any office with as many as 10 employees, the following
machines were reported:
Offices reporting
Type of machine
Total'· ···· · · ·············-Dictating ...••••...........•••....
Bookkeeping or billing......•.. ...
Calculating . ............ . ..•.••••.
Tabulating or key punch....••: ...
Addressing... •..••....... _••. •• _..
Duplicating..............•...•. _..
Automatic typewriter......•.•.•..
No machines.. .•••••••.•.•••....•..
1
1
AdvertisAll t ypes ing and
of office put~~~~~ng
~~~l~~gt Insuran_ce Mail-order
houses
companies
50
6
11
21
24
1
28
5
3
6
6
1
7
15
11
9
6
4
1
27
1
12 ·····--··· · ·
22
12
4
3
2
1
2 ···- -·--- - · -
3
1
houses 1
P ublic
utilities
7
2
3
5
3
3
4
3
3
6
2
5
2
2 ·----- ----- · · · ·--·--· ·
1 ··---· --- · -- ·-·--·- ---
Includes a few chain stores.
Details aggregate more than total because some offices used several types of machines.
Dictating machines
Though about one-half of the offices were using dictating machines,
only 6 had installed them within the past 5 years, and none reported
any displacement of clerks because of installations in recent years.
Five reported that their motive in installing dictating machines was
convenience. Growth of business and potential labor saving through
the purchase of a machine are factors that can be evaluated. In one
office the management reported that 11 dictating machines had been
purchased in 1928 in order that more work could be produced by the
steno~raphic division. There was no reduction in force but there was
a saVIDg <?f 20 to 25 percent of the time of the women transcribing
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
108
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
from the machines, who had been stenographers before and who now
were able to spend all their time in transcribing work.
Bookkeeping machines •
Most of the offices using bookkeeping machines- 20 of a total of 28had purchased their machines within the past 5 years. Nineteen
reported the effects on numbers employed. Of these, 8 reported that
numbers or sex of employees had not changed with the introduction of
the bookkeeping or billing machines, while 11 reported a reduction
in number or a replacement of old employees. In two banks it was
reported that accounts formerly kept by men hand bookkeepers are
now kept by women with the aid of a machine system. A description
of these changes follows:
In trust work, bookkeeping machines operated by women. Begun in past 5
years but merger and changes in system make it hard to say what definite economies due to machine. Trust work has increased, and longer list of customers
led to changes in records. Formerly most accounts were kept by men; now practically all kept by women with machines. Are doing at least twice as much as
hand clerks-perhaps two and a half times, but no records to prove this. If men
were used , cost would be considerably higher.
In an insurance company 10 women as machine operators had taken
over the work formerly done by 14 men. Three other insurance
companies reported that the number of women clerks had been reduced
on record jobs by the installation of a bookkeeping machine. A note
from the interview schedule on one of these follows:
A bookkeeping machine was installed 2 years ago. Before that, posting done
by hand by two girls. One girl was trained to operate the machine and she
immediately did what two had been doing. The second girl was transferred to
other work. The machine operator is now, with more experience, doing what it
would take 3 to do by hand.
The following is a report on bookkeeping-machine installation from
one of the public utilities:
In general accounting have 3 or 4 bookkeeping machines for control accounts.
Installed at different times in past 5 years. Formerly used both men and women,
but on machines only women. Were trained from clerks on force to operate
machine; no special background required. Men were shifted to other work and
there was no actual lay-off, but it is estimated that the 3 women and 3 machines
are doing work of 6 or 7 clerks, and machines save at least $3,500 to $4,000 in
salaries yearly.
The potential labor saving of some machines is indicated by the
following excerpt:
A bookkeeping machine was introduced in 1926 and a ledger clerk trained to
operate it. Now have much better records and the volume of work has increased
from 9,000 to 20,000 accounts and only the one operator.
Other machines
Calculating, tabulating, addressing, and other types of machines in
many instances change jobs and effect marked economies. Twentyseven firms reported the installation of one or more such machines
during the past 5 years and eight of these stated that employees had
been displaced or transferred to other work. Since no furn had actual
records of what happened at the time of installation, the gathering of
statistical data on mechanization was difficult. However, typical
extracts from the reports serve to indicate the findings. A few relating
to miscellaneous machines follow:
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
OFFICE WORKERS IN ST. LOUIS
109
Before the merger of two insurance companies, statistical work was done b y
hand. Four clerks did the statistical work for 15,000 to 20 ,000 policyhol<lers.
Anticipating the merger, machines were introduced; after the mer,ger, four clerks
with the aid of machines were doing the work for 65,000 policyholders.
Machine changes frequently are accompanied by changes in the
system of record keeping; it is hard to allocate the saving by mechanization alone, as it depends on other factors such as lay-out, routing of
work, and form in whichreports are made. Such a change is suggested
in the following:
In summer of 1930, had 30 girls doing machine billing; 25 of these were tra~ned
to use calculating machines with their billing operation and the other 5 were trarn,ferred t o another department. Under the new system of computing bills with the
aid of a calculating machine the work has been so speeded up that 10 girls have
been dropped from the entire department of about 60.
Addressing machines were said to save part of the time of a clerk so
that he or she had more time for other duties; occasionally one :person's
full time was saved. Addressing machines have been used m most
offices for long periods, and the reports obtained usually were concerned with new application rather than initial installation. Suggestive of most of the comments on addressing machines is the following:
New addressing equipment has replaced obsolescent machines. The new are
smoother and faster and have an increased volume of about 10 percent per clerk.
No one laid off, but one clerk shifted to other work.
Need for more detailed records is of ten the chief reason for new
machine equipment. In these cases the saving of labor is only potential because the work was never done by hand. An example of this
follows:
Ownership and management of business changed, and also the method of keeping
statistical recor<ls. Tabulating machines were introduced in 1928. E stimated
that 5 women clerks do the work that it would take 15 or more by old methods.
Further, statistical information is available whenever needed.
Automatic typewriters that can be lined up to type form letters
tend not so much to displace clerks as to stop the practice of sending
out work to letter bureaus. An example of this in St. Louis is a firm
with an automatic typewriter bought in 1928. It is not in use continuously. The work used to be done by bringing in 2 or 3 temporary
typists or by sending it out to a letter bureau.
A new machine or change in one department may reach out and
affect employment in another department. For example, in one firm
the punch cards were changed from 45 to 80 columns, enabling more
information to be kept on a card. With these additional data in
tabular form, less information was kept in the general files, and the
filing department reduced its personnel by 3 women.
Mechanization and its far-reaching effects have greatly altered
office work, but it is difficult to get concrete data and the information
offered is merely suggestive of the changes that have occurred along
these lines in St. Loms offices.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Part VII.- INSURANCE OFFICES IN HARTFORD AND
DES MOINES
INCLUDING COMPARISONS WITH OTHER CITIES
INTRODUCTION
The home offices of insurance companies are one of the largest
clerical fields, and to learn more of women's employment in this
business two centers, Hartford, Conn., and Des Moines, Iowa, were
surveyed. In these places insurance is a major enterprise and engages
the majority of the office workers. The numbers of men and women
clerical workers in the two cities were reported by the 1930 census
as follows: 1
Hartford
Des Moines
Occupation
Total
Men
Women
Total
Men
Women
--Total-Number ____________________
Percent distribution __ ______________
13,603
100.0
5,319
39.1
8,284
60. 9
9,930
100.0
3,656
36. 8
6,274
63.2
Clerks (except clerks in stores) ____________
Stenographers and typists _________________
Bookkeepers, cashiers, and accountants ...
Messenger, errand, and office boys and
girls (except telegraph messengers) _____ __
8,763
2,547
2,090
4,138
58
958
4,625
2,489
1,132
4,820
2,845
2,181
2,502
66
1,019
2,318
2,779
1,162
203
165
38
84
69
15
The 1920 census 2 reported a total of 10,640 for Hartford, men
comprising 43.8 percent and women 56.2 percent. In the decade
1920- 30 the increase in number of men was 14.1 percent and of women
38.5 percent. Similar figures for Des Moines are a 1920 total of
8,523, with men 41.3 percent and . women 58.7 percent. Men in
D es Moines had increased by only about 4 percent in contrast to
women's 25 percent. Men stenographers, not especially import ant
in numbers in 1920, decreased almost one-half in both cities in the 10
years, while women stenographers increased materially.
Scope of study
The Woman's Bureau study of these two cities covered insurance
offices with employment as follows:
City
Hartford. ___ ---------------------------Des Moines _________ ---------------- -----
Men
Women
Number
of offices
Total
number
employed
Number
Percent
Number
14
13
11, 573
1,443
4,619
308
39.9
21.3
6,954
1,135
Percent
60.1
78. 7
1 U.S . Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census: 1930. Occupation Statistics, Connecticut, p. 14; Iowa ,
p. 11. Clerical division, exclusive only of the group "agents, collectors, and credit men."
2 Ibid. Fourteenth Census: 1920, vol. IV, Popqlation, Occupations, p.167.
Clerical division, exclusive
only of group "agents, canvassers, and collectors."
110
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
INSURANCE OFFICES IN HAl{.r.rFORD AND DES MOINES
111
Hartford was visited in March 1931 and Des Moines in February
Because of their large size, several offices in Hartford were
covered by taking representative samples, 4,612 personnel and salary
records being copied of the total of 6,954 women. In Des Moines all
the women were included.
1932.
SUMMARY
Date of survey
Hartford, March 1931; Des Moines, February 1932.
Scope
27 insurance establishments, 14 in Hartford and 13 in Des Moines, and respectively 4,612 and 1,135 women.
Monthly salaries
The medians (half the employees receiving more and half receiving less) are
$89 in Hartford and $90 in Des Moines.
The best-paying occupations were supervisor ($155 in Hartford and $173 in
Des Moines) and secretary ($147 in Hartford and $129 in Des Moines); the lowest
paid was file clerk (respectively $73 and $79).
Hours of work
The most common hours were: In Hartford, daily 7, weekly 38½, Saturday
3½; in Des Moines, daily 7½, weekly 41 ½, Saturday 4.
Personal information
Most of the women were young (half of those in Hartford below 24½ years
and half of those in Des Moines below 25 ¾o years) and they were preponderantly
single.
In Hartford just over 46 percent (46.4) but in Des Moines only 37 percent
had been 5 or more years with the present firm.
DATA FROM OFFICE RECORDS
Median and distribution of salaries
In the survey of 7 cities 115 insurance offices were visited and records
were copied for more than 15,000 women employees. 3 Life, fire,
casualty, and other insurance offices were scheduled. A summary
of the numbers covered in the various cities and the medians of the
women's salaries follows:
City
All cities _____ _____ _____________________ -- - -- -- -- --- ---- -- ---- New York.. _____ ______ _____ ______ ______________________ __ __________ _
Hartford ______ ___________ ___________________________ ________ __ _____ _
Philadelphia _____ ___________________________________ __________ _____ _
Atlanta (white) __ __________________________________________________ _
Chicago (white) _______________________________ _____________________ _
Des Moines ____ ------- - --------------------- __ ---------------- ----St. Louis ____ --- - --- - --- -- --- -- -- -- --- --- _- _-- -- --- -- --- -- -- --- --- -Atlanta (Negro) __________________________ ____ _______ _________ _____ _
Chicago (Negro) ___ ____ __________ ________ ______________________ ____ _
Number of Number of
insurance
women
offices
scheduled
Median
monthly
salary
115
15,323
$93
12
14
16
14
18
13
21
4,145
4,612
2,250
402
1, 542
1,135
1,090
102
89
93
2
5
57
90
55
80
94
94
90
85
The differences in medians are not surprising. - Pay-roll dates varied
by as much as a year, size of the office, size and location of the city,
and managerial policies were much at variance, and all influenced the
general salary levels. The salaries paid in the Negro offices were con• Not all offices in the cities other than Hartford and Des Moines were home offioos. Some were brauches
or agendas.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
112
E MPLOYMENT OF WOME
I
OFFICES
siderably lower than those paid white women for similar work ,
especially in Atlanta.
A distribution of the salaries in insurance offices for the seven cities
and for Hartford and Des Moines separately gives an idea of their
range and the proportions of women with salaries at the following
$25 intervals:
Number
of
women
City
Percent of women
Les~ t han
$75
All cities ___ ____ ____ __ ___
Hartford __ ____ _____ _________ _
Des Moines _________ _________ _
$75, less
than $100
$100, less
than $ 125
$125, less
t han $150
and
more
$ 150
15,323
20. 4
38. 6
23. 4
10. 6
7.0
4. 612
1. 135
26. 0
14. 7
:{O. 7
48. 9
20. 8
17. 4
8. 7
9. 9
4.9
9. 1
Both Hartford and Des Moines had median salaries lower than that
for the insurance companies as a group. Hartford had a higher proportion than the average of women paid below $75, and a lower percent in the group being paid at least $150. Des Moines had proportionately fewer women being paid under $75 than either Hartford or
the total group, and also more in the highest group. In both cities,
however, well over three-fifths were on monthly salaries of less than
$100. The salaries of almost one-half (48.9 percent) of the women in
Des Moines were concentrated in the group $75 and less than $100.
Occupational distribution
In insurance offices there are a great number of routine jobs difficult
to class except as "general clerks" because of the unstandardized
terminology in clerical work. This group contains 45 percent of the
women in Hartford and 36 percent of those in Des Moines. Hartford,
with larger offices, has a higher proportion of such clerks. The stenographic group- secretaries, stenographers, and all typists- comprised
31 percent of the total in Hartford and 33· percent in Des Moines.
Smaller offices tend generally to have higher percentages in the stenographic group.
· The occupational distribution of the women in insurance, in all
seven cities combined and in Hartford and Des Moines separately,
follows:
Percent of women
Occupation
7 cities (15,321
women)
- -- - -- - - - -- - - - -- 1- - -- All occupations 1 __ _ _ ___ _ ___ __ __ _ _____ __ __ _ _______ _
100. 0
I Hart ford (4,Gl 2
women)
Secretary ________ __ __ ___________ ________________________ _1 -- - - - -3.-l1 - - -Stenographer ___ ___ __ ___ ______________________________ ___
14. 1
Typist_ _________ ------ -- --- - --- _____ . .. _. __ __. __ ___ _____ .. _
20. 4
Clerk-typist_ _________ ___ ________ _. ... _____ __________ _
2. 2
Dictating-machine transcriber ______ _____ _________ ___
3. 5
Other ______ · __ ________ _______ __. __ ____ _________ _____ _
14. 7
File clerk _______ ____ ___ ___ ___ _____ . __ _______ __.· -. ______ _
7. 2
Hand bookkeeper ___ ______ ________ . . _____ _______________ _
1. 9
Cashier; teller _______ __________________ . ___________ _____ _
.5
General clerk _______ ___ ______ ______________ ____________ __
37. 5
Machine operator'--- ---- ---- -- ________________ ___ ___ ____
8. 6
Bookkeeping or billing __ __ ____ · -------------------·· · 1. 9
Calculating ________ _____ ____ -~. __ ___ . ___ _______ ____ __
1. 9
Tabulating or key punch ____ _______ ___ ______ __ _____ _
3.5
Addressing ______________ ___ ___ ___ ___________ __ ____ __
.8
T ~lephone operator ____ ______ ___ ____ ___ . _________ ___ ___ __
1. 2
Messenger _____ ____ ___ ___ ____ _________________ _______ _. __
.5
Supervisor ____ _______ __ __ ________________ __ ___ ____ ______ _
4. 0
Other ______________ __ ______ ____ ___ ____ . __ _._ .. ____ __ __ ___ .
.8
100. 0
100. 0
- - - + - -- -
2. 0
.7
20. 2
1.0
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
5. 2
16. 3
16. 7
5. 3
5. 0
14. 2
3. 0
8. 4
6. 1
1. 3
7. 3
45. 0
12. 1
1. 8
1.4
35. 7
7.5
1.1
4. 2
5. 6
1.1
.8
2. 7
•5
•5
2. 3
3. 0
.4
5.4
.4
.4
Includes occupations with less than 0.5 percent in the 7 cities, not shown separately.
' Less than 0.05 percent.
1
D es Moines
(1 , 13.5 women)
.9
.9
113
INSURANCE OFFICES IN HARTFORD A..·,, m DES MOINES
Median and distribution of salaries, by occupation
Arranging the occupations with 50 or more women in descending
rank according to median salary gives the accompanying summary:
Percent of women
Occupation
M edian
Number monthly
of
salary
women
rate
Less
than
$75
$75,
$100,
$125,
less
than
lPSS
t han
less
t han
$100
$125
$150
$150
and
more
HA R'rFORD
All occupations 1_______ _______ _____ _
Supervisor __ __ ______ __ _______________ ____ _
Secretary ___ _______ _______ _-- -___ ----- __ __
Stenographer __ ____ ____________ __ ___ _____ _
Hand bookkeeper _________ ___ _____ _____ __ _
Dictating-machine transcriber ___ __ ___ ____
Bookkeeping- or billing-machine operator_
Calculating-machine operator ___ __ _______ _
General clerk ____ ______ _____ ___ _______ ___ _
Typist (total) __ ____ ____ ____________ ___ ___ _
Other typist 2_____ _______ _________ ___ __ _ _ _
Machine operator (total) ___ _____ ___ _______
Tabulating- or key-punch machine oper____ --- ----__- ----- ------- -_
atorclerk
________
File
____________
____
_______
_______
4,61 2 !
140
$891
26. 0
~~~ '-----~~-
39. 7
20. 8
8. 7
4. 9
5. 0
a. 3
28. 8
29. 5
47. 0
35. 8
51. 3
4.0. 3
48. 0
48. 1
50. 6
17. 1
20. 7
32. 1
39. 3
34. 5
30. 2
25. 4
21. 3
20. 9
16. 5
18. 3
22. 1
30. 4
55. 0
45. 7
92
399
61
232
53
193
2, 076
931
6,53
557
107
104
97
93
90
87
87
84
84
8. 2
9. 1
22. 6
17. 6
28.6
25. 0
30. 6
26. 6
256
283
82
73
33.
57. 2
52. 7
10. 5
3. 9
2. 7
38. 2
14. 7
48. 9
Ii. 4
9. 9
1. 7
11. 9
14. 1
6. 7
1.5. 8
22. 2
32. 6
16. 9
8. 2
18. 6
47. 0
50. 6
58.3
54. 6
56. 6
54. 7
75. 9
9. 8
16. 4
23. 7
27. 1
24.9
14. 6
25. 9
8. 2
28. 3
5. 0
17. 3
6. 4
13. 8
6. 9
6. 3
6. 3
7. 2 ---- --- -
8. 8
61
23.S
6. 5
16. 4
6. 6
9. 1
.4
11. 3 ------ - 3. 1
2. 6
7.5
2. 3
5. 4
.6
4. 1
. fl
3. 4
1. 1
I
I
.4
•7
DBS MOI NE S
$90
1, Ia5
All occupations'--- - -- ---- -- --- -·___
- - - - - - ! - -Supervisor__ ____ ________ ____ _____ ___ ______
61
173
Secretary ______ ___ ____ _- ____- . ____ ___ -- _-59
129
Stenographer ______ __ ___ ________ _____ . ___ _
185
93
Machine operator (total)___ ____ __ __ ______
85
92
Clerk-typist_ ___ __ __ ___ _______ ________ ___ _
60
92
General clerk_______________________ ____ __
405
Si
Typist (total) ________________ ______ -·-_ ___
189
83
Other typist 2__ _____ ________ __ __ __ _______ _
95
79
File cler k____ ___ ____ ____ __ ___ ___ _____ __ ___
83
79
1
2
9. 1
65. 6
28.8
1. 6
1. 2
1.7
5. 9
.5
--------
Includes occupations with fewer than 50 women, not shown separately.
Covers the regular typists that are not dictating-machine transcribers or clerk-typists.
In each city almost two-thirds of the women (65.7 percent and 63. 6
percent) had salary rates of less than $100. Clerks, the preponderant
class, with the same median in each city, had approximately 70 percen t
with rates of less than $100, or only about 30 percent receiving $1,200
or more annually. In Hartford about 10 percent of the clerks, and in
Des Moines 12 percent, had salary rates the yearly equivalent of
$1,500 or more.
Due chiefly to the difference in size of office, Hartford having the
largest establishments, stenographers comprised a much higher proportion of the women in Des Moines than in Hartford. They had a
markedly higher median in Hartford, $107, than in Des Moines, $93.
In the Iowa city almost one-half (47 percent) were massed in the $75
and under $100 group. Only 1.6 percent in Des Moines and 6.5 percent in H artford had salaries the equivalent of $1,800 or more a year.
Secretaries also had a much higher median in Hartford, $147 compared to $129 in Des Moines. Approximately one-half (45.7 percent)
of those in Hartford had rates of at least $150 a month~
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
114
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
Dictating-machine transcribers in Hartford, with a median of $97,
had a higher wage level than other typists (median $84) but less than
regular stenographers (median $107); and while only 34 women were
listed as machine transcribers in Des Moines, half of these earned less
than $80, which is considerably lower than the median for stenographers ($93) and practically the same as for other typists ($79).
The hand- and machine-bookkeeping groups in Hartford were comparable in size, and it is interesting to note that the median for manual
work was $11 higher than that for machine work. Tabulatingmachine operators are in the low-salaried class, with 86.3 percent at
less than $100. File clerk is frequently considered a beginning job
and is the lowest paid in both cities, with 95 percent in Hartford and
93 percent in Des Moines receiving less than $100 monthly. In
Hartford, however, 57 percent of the file clerks were paid less than
$75, in contrast to only about 17 percent so paid in Des Moines.
In many cases absolute range is not representative, being determined by extreme and exceptional cases. For this reason, the extremes-the lowest and the highest 10 percent- have been eliminated,
and only the middle 80 percent is used to determine the range of
salaries.
For the chief occupational groups the figures (where comparisons
can be made) are given here:
Occupation
H art ford
Des Moines
Usu al salary range
Usual salary range
High
Low
Supervisor ______ ____ _________ __ ____ _____________ __ ____ _
Secretary ______ ____ ____________________ _________ ___ __ ___
Stenographer __________ ____________________________ ____ _
Typist_
---- - - - ---- ---- -- ----- -------- -- -- - -- ------ - -_
Machine_-operator
__ ___________________________________
General clerk ______ ___ __ ____ ______ _______ : _____________ _
File clerk ___ __ _______________________ __ _______________ _
$115
115
75
65
65
65
60
$220
205
140
115
110
125
90
Low
$100
90
75
65
70
70
65
High
$265
215
130
115
125
130
95
Salary and age
The median age for all women covered in the insurance offices was
low, being 24.8 years. In Hartford it was 24.5 years and in Des
Moines 25.9. In Hartford, 76.1 percent and in Des Moines 69.1
ercent were under 30. About 6 percent in Hartford and 11 percent
in Des Moines were ,40 years or older.
With increased age, experience usually brings an advance in salary.
There are next shown the proportions in the various age classes and
the median salary in each:
Hartford (4,502 women)
Des Moines (1,128
women)
Age (years)
Percent of
women
Median
salary
Percent of
women
Median
salary
Total_ ___ ___ ______ ________ _______________________
100. 0 ___ ___ ___ ___
100. 0 ___________ _
Under 2()______ __ _______________________________________ i- - 11-. 3--i- - - $-6-5 - i - -- 6.-8-1----$6-9
20, under 25_ ______ ______________________________ ______ _
42. 8
81
38. 9
79
25, under 30___ ___ __ _______________________ ___ ___ _______
21. 9
100
23. 3
95
30, under 40 _____ ____ ______________ __________ ______ _____
17. 6
115
19. 6
115
40, under 50___ ____ __ _______________ ____________________
4. 9
125
8. 0
148
50 and over________ _____________________________________
1. 3
113
3. •
(')
1
Not computed; base less than 50.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
lNSURANCE OFFICES
r'
HARTFORD AND DES MOINES
115
In both cities there is a continuous rise in median up to 50 years.
The Des Moines women of 40 and under 50 have a median $23 higher
than that of the Hartford women of these ages. There were 103
women in Des Moines receiving $150 or more a month, and 61 of these
were 40 or more. Of 35 women earning $200 or over, 15 were 40 and
under 50, and 9 were 50 or more.
General schooling
An attempt has been made to correlate schooling with salary, with
occupation, with age, and with experience, all being definitely interrelated. The extent of general schooling was reported for 85 percent
of the women in H_a rtford and 96 percent of those in Des Moines. In
Des Moines 90 percent of the women covered had completed high
school (high-school graduates and those with advanced training). In
this city the proportion with college, university, or normal schooling
was higher than usual, being about 20 percent. In Hartford about
50 percent had completed high school (including advanced training).
Considering the general educational background of the women in
insurance in the various cities., those who were reported as completing
high school and those with training of an academic nature beyond
high school were as follows:
Percent of women
City
New York ___________ ______ _____ _
Hartford _______ ____ _____ ________ _
Philadelphia ___ _____ _____ ____ ___ _
Atlanta ______ __ ______ __ -- - ___ ___ _
Chicago ________ ________ -- _------Des Moines ___ _____ _____________ _
St. Louis _____ ___________________ _
1
High school
completed or Advanced
education 1
advanced
education
32. 6
50. 2
4.3
3. 9
5.8
20. 0
13.1
19. 5
7. 4
58. 6
57. 6
54.8
89. 9
48.0
Included in other column.
Differences among cities in employers' requirements as to education
or young people's practices a.s regards leaving school stand out in the
tabulation. It is apparent that the proportions of women who were
at work without having completed high school ranged from only 10
percent in Des Moines to as much as 67 percent in New York. No
other city had anything like these figures. Further, in Atlanta and
Des Moines, 1 woman in 5 had had something in the way of advanced
schooling, as had 1 in about 8 in Chicago. The other proportions in
this column are small.
The details of maximum education as reported for the two insurance
cities follow:
Hartford (3,926 women)
Des Moines (1,090
women)
Schooling
Percent of
women
Median
salary
Percent of
women
Median
salary
TotaL _________________________ __________________
100. o
$88
100. o
$89
Grammar schooL ______ _______________________________ _i - - 14-. 2-i----8-9-1---1.-9·1- - (1-)High school incomplete______ ___________ _______ ________
35. 7
88
8. 2
109
High school complete__________ ______ ______________ ____
46. 3
87
70. 4
86
Advanced education__ _______________________________ __
3. 9
106
19. 5
94
- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - ~ ~ - - ~ - - - - - - ~ - - !
Not completed; base less than 50.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
116
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFIC1i1S
In Des Moines the group with high school complete is large, practically 70 percent of the women; the advanced training comprises
about 20 percent; the high school incomplete 8 percent; and grammar
school only 2 percent. Three-fourths of the group with high school
incomplete was made up of women 30 years of age or more and twothirds of the group had been 5 or more years with the present firm,
which accounts largely for their high median. The high-school-complete group contains 70 percent of the women and determines the
major trend. Correlating salary and age for those who had completed
high school gives the following for Des Moines:
Median for those with
Age (years)
hiah school complete
Under20
___ __________ _____ ____________ _____ __________
$69
20, under 25___ _ __ __ __ __ __ ___ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ 80
25, under 30_______________________________ __________ __ _ 94
30, under 40 ________ _______ _____________ _____ _________ __ 122
40 and over _ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ (4) ·
The advanced-training group is so small that it does not lend itself
to subdivision, but it is interesting to note that of 30 women receiving
$200 or over whose education was reported, 23 had at least completed
high school and 11 of these had college, university, or normal-school
training.
The educational distribution in the Connecticut city is more varied
and the numbers are larger, so more subdivision is possible. A correlation of salary, age, and education presents a representative picture
of the relation of education to salary and shows the effect of age as
well as of schooling for Hartford:
Med ian sal9.ry
Age (years)
High school
Grammar
Advanced
school i - - - - - -- i education
on ly
Incomplete C omplete
Under 20 _____ _______ ___________________ ______________ __
. 20, under 25 ___________________________________________ _
25, under 30 ________ ___ __ -- - ----------------------- ----30, under 40 ____ ______ __---------------------- - ------ __ _
(() and over _____ _____ _----- - - -- ____ -- __ ---- -- ---------1 Not
(1)
$80
97
(1)
105
$65
80
98
115
125
$66
82
104
123
134
computed; ba.se less than 50. Averages progress in every case.
Schooling and occupation
A comparison of the educational background of the women in the
chief occupations adds to the picture of the group. In Des Moines
the custom, from whatever cause, of completing high school before
going to work in the insurance offices is again apparent in the figures.
From 90 to 98 percent of the general clerks, file clerks, typists, stenographers, and secretaries had completed high school or gone beyond it.
Since the groups with high school complete and advanced training are
the only ones of appreciable size in Des Moines, no others are shown
in the summary following:
, Not computed; base less than 50. Average salary much the highest.
I .
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
INSURANCE OFFICES IN HARTFORD AND DES
Occupation
117
OI1 E
Des Moines: Percent of
women
Nurnberof 1_ _ _ _- , -_ _ _
women
High school Advanced
complete
education
1,090
All occupations! ____ ____ ______ _____ ______________ ______ _____
64. 5
Secretary _____ __ ______ __ ____________ ___________ _______ ____________ i- - - 57- 1 - - - - - - 1 80. 7
Stenographer ____ __ ___ __ ____ ______ ____ __ ____ ____ __ ________________
179
70. 9
Typist'- ---_ ____ _______ _____ __ __________________________ __ _____ __
184
85. 3
Clerk-typist_ _________ ____ ________ _____ _______________________
59
78. 0
Other 2_ _ _ ______ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _
91
87. 9
File clerk________ ___ __________ _______ _____________ _______________ _
83
75. 9
General clerk __ ___ ___ ___ _· __________ ___ _________________________ __
385
67. S
Machine operator __ _________ __ _____ _____________ ___ ___ ___ ________
84
70. 2
Super'l'isor __ __ __ ___ _____ __ __ ____ ________ ____ __ ____ _______ _____ __ __
55
36. 4
1
2
17. 9
17. 5
22. 9
8. 2
11. 9
6. 6
16. 0
23. 6
13.1
27. 3
Includes occupations with fewer than 50 women, not shown separately.
Covers the regular typists that are not dictating-machine transcri bers or clerk-typists.
The summary fo::.· Hartford, next presented, includes grammar
schooling and a more detailed classification of jobs. Much smaller
proportions than in Des Moines had completed high school and had
advanced training.
Hartford : Percent of women
Occupation
Number of
women
Grammar
High
I
school com- Adv::m~ed
school
plete
education
only
All occupations t ___ -- - - -- - - ------- ---- - --------- 3, 92()
14. 2
46. 3
- - - - - 1 -- -- 1 - -- -1 Secretary__ _______ _____ ___ ____ ___ ____ _____________ _____
6S
7. 4
,5.5. 9
303
7. 3
62. O
Stenographer________ ____ ___ _______ ___ ____ __ ______ ____ __
Typist'- ---------- ------- ----- ---- ----- --- -- -- - -------799
16. 4
57. 9
Dictating-machine transcri ber--- -~---- -- ------- ---224
6. 3
77. 2
Other 2______ ___ __ ___ __ ____ ____ _________ ______ ___ ___
531
21. 5
4S. 8
File clerk _________ ___ _________ _____ ___ _______ ____ ___ ___
245
13. 9
29. 8
General clerk _____ __ ___ _________ ______ ___ ___ _____ ____ __
1, 812
13. 7
43. 5
Hand bookkeeper ____ ___________ _____ _____ __ __ ___ ____ __
51
13. 7
37. 3
Machine operator'--------------- ---- -- --- ---- ---- ----484
19. 4
36. 6
Calculating ___ _______ ___ ________ _______ ________ ____
184
13. O
44. 6
Tabulating or key punch _____ _______ ________ _____ __
212
20. 8
33. 5
Supervisor_______ ___________ ___ ___ ___ _____ _____________
103
4. 9
48. 5
1
2
-
3. 9
--
10. 3
3. 6
.6
.4
.8
2. 9
4. 6
11. 8
3. 7
7.1
2. 4
8. 7
Includes occupations with fewer than 50 women, not shown separately.
Covers t he regular typists other than dictating-machine transcribers or clerk-typists.
Special business training
Business training in a commercial institution was reported for 32.8
percent of the women covered in Des Moines and 19.2 percent of those
in Hartford. The groups with advanced schooling supplemented by
business training are small and probably are not representative.
In Hartford, of 556 women who reported grammar school as maximum education, 263 (47.3 percent) had attended business school,
while of the 1,816 who had completed high school only 119 (6.6 percent) had been to business school. Undoubtedly a good proportion
of the high-school graduates had taken commercial courses as part of
their general education.
In Des Moines the median monthly salary was only $1 higher for
those who had attended business school than for those who had not,
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
118
E MPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
while in Hartford it was $6 higher. The comparative medians cor~lated with general schooling follow:
Business school no t
at tended
Busin ess school atten ded
Schooling
Hart ford
-
Des Moines
Hartford
D es Moines
- - -- - - - - - - - - - -1 - - - ---1-- - - -+ - - - - l -
Grammar school_ __ _____ ____ _______ ___________ _
H igh school incomplete _______________________ _
H igh school complete _________________________ _
Advanced ed ucation _____________________ _____ _
1
(1)
(1)
(1)
$89
94
104
$89
85
86
105
$88
90
---
$105
85
94
Not computed; base less than 50.
The group with high school complete is the largest and the only one
for which a comparison of the two cities is possible. In general,
business training seems to pay a good return, but the trend is variable.
To learn something of the occupations in which those with businessschool training were massed, a tabulation of the percents of women
in the chief jobs who h ad attended business school has been drawn
up and is given here:
Percent of women who attended business school
Occupation
Hartford
Des Moines
All occupations ___ _______ __
19. 2
Secretary ___________ _____________ _1-----t34. 8
Stenographer ____ _____ _________ ___
31. 4
Typist_ _________ ____ ___ ___ ____ - -28. 5
File clerk ________ ____ _______ ____ _
11. 4
Hand bookkeeper_ __________ __ __ _
25. 5
General clerk __ _________ ___ _____ __
13. 7
Machine operator ______ _________ _
17. 8
Supervisor _______ ___ ____ __ ___ ___ _
26. 2
1
32. 8
39. 7
40. 8
40. 8
15. 7
(I)
24. 6
29.4
49.1
Not computed; base less than 50.
The general trend of more schooling in Des Moines appears in
the mat ter of supplementary business school as well as in general
education.
Median salaries of the women with special business training are
compared next for a few occupations in D es Moines and in Hartford:
H ar tford: Business school Des Moines: Business school
Occu pation
Attended
All occupations _________________________ _
N ot attended
Attended
Not attended
$93
$87
$90
$89
90
90
86
86
86
84
84
94
82
85
86
1------t-~-----1-------116
105
89
Sten ograph er--------- -- -- ---- ------- ------- -- -- ---- ----- - ----- -_
T
ypist_ ____
General
clerk------------------__________________________________
Machine operator---- ----- ---------------------
-------------- --------------
Office workers in Des Moines, where practically one-third have been
to business school, profit less by such special training than do those in
Hartford where it is not so common.
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
INSURANCE OFFICES IN HARTFORD AND DES MOINES
119
Reasons for leaving jobs
No attempt was made to measure turnover, but the number of
jobs the women had held gives a suggestion of the shifting in the two
cities. In Hartford only 16 percent of the women, in contrast to about
38 percent in Des Moines, had had more than two jobs.
Percent of women
Num ber of job s
Hartford
(2,565 women)
!____________ ____ ___________ __
D es M oines
(1,064 women )
45. 5
38. 3
11. 6
2______ ____ ___ ______ ___ ______ _
3___ ____ _____ _____________ ____
4_____ ______ __ ____ ___ _________
5___________________________ __
27. 3
35. 1
23.4
8. 5
4. 4
3. 4
1. 0
6__ _____ ___________ _______ ____
.2
1.0
.2
.2
7-- - - - ---- - - -- - - - - - --- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -- -- -- - 8_ - ---- --- - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ---- --- - -- - -
For the women who had had more than one job and gave a reason
for leaving, the cause of separation from the last job has been tabulated in the following:
Percen t of women
R eason for leaving last job
Har t ford
(3 16 women)
P ersonaL ______________ ____ ___ ___
Advan cem en t_____ __________ _____
Lay -off_ ______ ________ ______ __ __ __
D es M oines
(583 women)
47. 8
32. 1
16. 5
43.4
15. 5
31. 0
3. 6
4. 5
t1t<rffre~- - -- -- - -- - - - ___ ________ ____ -- -- -- - - - 5. 7 - -
Involuntary business reasons accounted for a much larger proportion of the separations in Des Moines than in Hartford, which
undoubtedly may be attributed somewhat to the dates of the study,
Hartford being scheduled in March 1931 and Des Moines in February
1932. As the depression continued fewer jobs were abandoned for
personal reasons and lay-offs increased.
Experience and length of service with firm
Other factors to be considered with age and education in an evaluation of salaries are general experience and length of service with the
firm. With a median of women's ages of less than 26 in the two cities,
long work histories cannot be expected. In reporting past experience
clerical workers are likely to give only their office experience. Total
office experience for the women covered in the two cities follows:
Percent of women
Years in office work
Hartford
(2,110 women)
Less tqan !_ ___ __ ________ __ __ _
1, less than 3 ____ ________ ____ _
3, less than 5 ______ ___ ___ ___ __
5, less than IQ __ __ _______ ___ __
10 and over ___ ___ _______ ______
1
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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
6. 4
21. 6
20.8
28.3
22. 9
Des Moines
(925 women)
9. 3
24. 6
17. 2
26. 9
21. 9
120
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
The median age was slightly higher in Des Moines (25.9 years, as
compared to 24.5 in Hartford), so that city might be expected to have
a greater proportion of women who had been 5 or more years in office
work. Actually, however, the proportion with this experience is
slightly less in Des Moines, undoubtedly due to longer school attendance.
Median salaries after various periods of office experience and after
corresponding periods of service with one firm are next presented:
Total office experience
;years worked
Des Moines
Hartford
$64
72
82
97
122
Less
--- "------------------ ---------_
1,
lessthan
thanL3---__ ________________________
____ ____
3, less than 5 _______ __ __ ----------------------- 5, less than 10 __ ____ ___ _____ _______________ ____ _
10 and over_ _______ ___________ __________ __ _____ _
Time with present firm
Hartford
$68
78
86
98
130
Des Moine~
$65
73
85
99
123
$75
79
92
103
144
Time with the firm and median monthly salaries for the women in
these cities are as follows:
Hartford (4,601
women)
Years with present firm
Percent of
women
Less than }_ __ ______ ________ ________ ___________________ _
1, les~ than 3 __ ___ _____ __________ _______________ _______ _
3, less than 5__ ________ __ ________ __ ____________ ________ _
5, less than 10 ____ ______ -- -- _______ ___ __ ______ ___ ___ ____
10 and over __________ __ __ ________ ________ ______________ _
Des Moines (1,135
women)
Med ian
salary
7. 3
24. 9
21. 4
28. 0
18. 4
~65
n
85
99
12:3
Percent of
women
.1 8. 1
27. 9
16. 9
22. 4
14. 6
Median
salar y
$75
79
92
10:{
144
Comparing these figures with those for total office experience, the
service with one firm in Hartford is found to approximate closely
total time worked.
The women 10 years or more in the same office had a median almost
twice as high as the median of those who had worked less than 1 year.
In neither city did the median approach $100 until the interval of 5
and less than 10 years.
In Des Moines 3 women were included whose salaries were $4,000
to $5,000 anually; 2 of these had worked over 30 years, and the other
over 20 years, for the same firm.
Relating median salaries and time with the firm for grammar-school
and high-school groups in Hartford and for the group with high school
complete in Des Moines gives the following:
H art for d
Years with present firm
Less than L ___________________ ________________ ____ __
1, less than 3__ ___________________________ __________ _
3, less than 5 __ ___ ___ ____ ____________ ___ ____ ____ __ ___
5, less than 10 _ ___ _____ __________ _____ ___ ___ ___ ___ __ _
10 and over___ ___ ----- - --- -- ------ --- _______ ___ ____ __
I
Not compqted; base less thim 5Q.
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Des Moines
High school
G~~~:ar ,- -- - - - - - < High school
only
Incomplete Complete
complete
(1)
$69
81
91
111
$64
70
81
95
121
$65
74
86
104
133
$71
78
89
100
144
121
INSURANCE OFFICES IN HARTFORD AND DES MOINES
No further testimony than these figures as to the wisdom of completing high school and of staying with one firm instead of frequently
shifting would seem to be necessary.
Promotions and salary increases
Of the women with 10 or more years of service with the firm, just
under two-thirds in Hartford and almost two-thirds in Des Moines
had received increases that at least doubled their initial salaries.
Less than 6 percent in Hartford but over 13 percent in Des Moines
had at least doubled their salaries in from 5 to 9 years.
A study made by the Life Office Management Association in 1932
compares the experience and salaries of men and women in home
offices and gives an interesting basis with which to compare the findings of the present study. The following has been extracted from
this report: 6
* * * For males the most prevalent salary during the first year of employment is $660, or $55 a month. * * * women beginners are paid on a more
generous basis, because the . most prevalent salary during the first year of
employment for women is $780 a year, or $65 a month. During the second year
of employment this figure goes up to $720 a year for the men, and $840 a year
for the girls. Although these girls are about the same age as the young men they
are apparently still worth more to the companies employing them. During the
third year most of our young men rate $960 a year. By this time they have caught
up and passed the girls, most or whom now receive a salary of $900 a year.
From this point on the advantage seems to be with the young men. During
the fourth year of employment the most prevalent salary is $1,200 a year; for
women, $960. During the next year, or the fifth year of employment, it still
remains at $1,200 for the men, while the prevailing salary for women has gone
up to $1,020 a year.
Beyond the 5-year period-in the statistics of those employed from 1921 to
1925-the prevailing salary of those still on the pay-roll is $1,800 for the men,
or $150 a month, while the girls, after 5 years of service, have just made the
grade at $100 a month.
For the men employed before 1911 we find a prevailing salary of $3,600, or
$300 a month, the average salary being $3,136. There are 697 men in this
group, or 10.8 percent of the pay roll. The women who have had more than 20
years of service receive a modal salary of $1,800. There are 310 women in this
group, or 2.3 percent of the pay roll, with an average salary of $2,018.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
For purposes of comparison, the foregoing figures might be translated into
monthly salaries, thus:
Entered employment
1930 __ __ ____ ____ ___ __ ________ -- - -- -1929_-- - -- -- - _- - - -- _____ -- __________
1928 __ -- - - - __----- _-- _-- ____________
1927 _- - - - - -- - - -- _-- -- _-- -- -- ________
1926 __ ----- - --- - - -- - ---- - -- - __-- __ -1921-25 __ _________ - -- - -- - - --- - - _- - - _
1916-20 __ ______ _______ - - - - --- - - - - -- _
1911-- - --__- -----------------Prior15to___191L
____ ______
___________
1
M ales
$55
60
80
100
100
150
200
250
300
Females
I
$65
70
75
80
85
100
125
150
150
Estimated.
a Clerical Salaries in the Life Insurance Business. The Life Office Management Association, Fort Wayne,
Ind ., 1932, pp. 53-54.
76538°- 34-
9
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122
EMPLOYMEr T OF WOME N I
OFFICES
Marital status
Because of the firms' policies in regard to married women (see
p. 123) it was to be expected that the proportions of single women
would be extremely high. The distribution in terms of marital
status for the two cities follows:
Percent of women
Marital status
Single ___________________________________________ _
Married _________ __________ ______________________ _
W idowed, separated, or divorced __ ______________ _
H artford
(4,558 women)
90. 7
7. 6
1.7
Des Moines
(1,131 women)
89. 5
5. 4
5.1
In either city personnel records showed approximately 9 out of 10
women single. Census figures for 1930 6 on the marital status of
women 15 years of age and over employed at clerical occupations give
23.2 percent in Des Moines and 13.4 perce_n t in Hartford as married.
These are based on all types of busin ess, so insurance undoubtedly
had more than average proportions of single women.
Working hours
Office hours are much shorter than those in mercantile or manufacturing, and insurance hours tended to be among the shortest of those
covered in this study. Hartford's hours were shorter than those of
Des Moines. In Hartford the range of weekly hours was from 36 to
39, while in Des Moines the range was from 39 to 45. The daily hours
in Hartford varied from 6½ to 7; in D es Moines they varied from 7¼to
8. The most usual hours reported in Hartford were a 7-hour day, a
Saturday of 3½ hours, and a week of 38}6. In Des Moines, 9 of the
13 offices had a week of 40~ hours, a week day of 17~, and a Saturday
of 4. The longest hours were found in 2 offices with a week of 45
hours, and d_a ily hours in 3 offices were 8.
PERSONNEL POLICIES
Employment methods
The typical home insurance office is relatively large and the employment functions are centralized either in a personnel department or
in the duties of the office manager. Two companies in each city left
selection, hiring, and dismissal of workers entirely to immediate supervisors, but in other offices these activities were centralized. In recruiting new employees in Hartford the most usual course was direct application or the graduation classes of the local high school. In Des
Moines a single commercial agency was used by almost all firms, but
direct applications and schools were used also by most of them.
A medical examination was a prerequisite of employment in 9 of
the offices (4 in Des Moines and 5 in Hartford). Mental or aptitude
tests were used by 3 as an aid in selecting new workers.
Throughout the study the policy was to prefer young _people when
new workers were being hired, and the large offices with many routine
jobs especially stresse_d their preference for the young and inexperienced who could be trained by the firm in its special methods and
practices. Of the 14 Hartford and 13 D es Moines offices, 9 in each
city said their preference was for young workers. Some explained
o U.S . Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census: 1930. Occupation Statistics, Connecticut, p . 37, and
Iowa, p . 26.
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INSURANCE OFFICES I
HARTFORD AND DES MOINES
123
that by "young" they meant under 30; others meant under 25, or
even under 20.
More than two-thirds of the offices reported that in hiring workers
they either required or gave preference to high-school graduates.
Married women were not favored as employees in either Hartford
or Des Moines. All the offices in Des Moines and all but three in Hartford preferred single women and did not hire married women at all
except under unusual circumstances. One of the three offices in Hartford where married women might be employed stated that single women
were preferred. If married while in the company's employ, 8 of the
Des Moines offices automatically terminated the employment contract, 4 had no policy against retaining women, although in 1 firm it
was said that because of growing sentiment against them, married
women would be dropped before 1932 was over. In the other office
married women were listed on a temporary role from which they
could be dropped with little notice. Only 6 of the 14 Hartford offices
did not discriminate in their personnel policies against women if married while in their employ. Four of the others released women on marriage, 2 placed them on a temporary basis after marriage, 1 retained
women who would be difficult to replace, and the other allowed them
to remain but had a policy of not advancing any married woman.
Pensions and insurance
Insurance had been going through a period of good business, and
some of the surplus gains had been directed into special activities and
schemes for directly or indirectly benefiting the employees. It is
not surprising that 12 of the 14 Hartford offices and 8 of the 13 in
Des Moines had group-insurance schemes. Most of them covered
death and disability.
Old age and retirement plans were not· so common as group insurance, with only 3 offices in Des Moines and 6 in Hartford having
pension systems. One such plan was the retirement of men at 70 and
women at 65 on an allowance amounting to 2 percent of the average
annual salary for the last 10 years multiplied by the years of service.
Educational and recreational activities
Five offices in Hartford and two in Des Moines encouraged some form
of educational activity; general courses in insurance predominated but
in several instances a variety of the subjects offered were avocational.
In addition most of the large companies had extensive recreational
and social programs. Several had large gymnasiums and intercompany athletic activities and meets were arranged. One company had an entire building devoted to women's club facilities.
Besides the general clubrooms there were card rooms, a cafeteria,
dining rooms for special parties, reading rooms, and a gymnasium
with a director for women. A convalescent home was maintained,
with rates on a sliding scale depending on the needs and income of
the employee. Several of the companies had well-equipped hospitals
with X-ray, physiotherapy, and other electrical equipment. Dental
hygienists for prophylactic dental work also were reported.
Promotions
Classification, grading, general standardization of jobs, and lines
of progression were well developed in 1 office in Har tford, and to
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124
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
some extent in a few other offices in the 2 cities, but the majority
had no special plan of promotions and increases based on job analysis.
The general plan was to consider employees for an increase on the
anniversary date of their employment with the company. In normal
times most of the companies have regular periodic reviews of salaries.
Overtime
Heavy demands for policy loans were creating an unusual kind of
overtime in 1931 and 1932 in the life-insurance companies. Employees were transferr ed from less busy departments, but there still
was some irregularity due to this emergency demand. Six of the 27
offices in the 2 cities (3 in each) reported that women were never
required to work overtime, but the remaining 21 had overtime to
some extent. Four offices in Des Moines and two in Hartford did
not compensate in any way for the extra time worked. The others
gave supper money, a free supper, extra pay, or both supper and pay.
To be compensatory, it usually was required that overtime continue
at least 2 or 3 hours. It was commented several times that men are
required to work beyond scheduled .hours more often than women.
Vacations
Two weeks was the basic vacation aft er a year's employment for all
but one office, which gave only 1 week after a year's employment and
2 weeks after 2 years. One office added the Saturday preceding the
vacation to give the free period three week-ends.
Payment during illness
On the whole, the custom was to pay salaries in short absences due
to illness, and in the majority the provisions were liberal in payment
for unavoidable absence.
Bonuses and other supplements
Production bonus.- Three firms, one in Des Moines and two in
Hartford, were paying a production bonus to a part of their employees.
In Des Moines only 7 of more than 1,100 women for whom salary
data were reported were eligible for such payments, so they have been
disregarded. In Hartford records were copied for 205 women who
received special compensation in addition to a guaranteed salary in
1930. Standards of output had been set for a variety of jobs and
production in excess of this entitled the clerk to a bonus. File clerks,
bookkeeping clerks, key-punch and tabulating-machine operators,
dictating-machine transcribers and other typists were among those
eligible for bonuses. The guaranteed salaries ranged from $50 to
$150 a month, but one-half of them were $75 and less than $100, with a
median of $89. These production bonuses augmented salaries in
193 0 by amounts ranging from less than $1 a month for some of the
women to more than $30 a month for others. The amount of bonus
paid during the year and the percent of the 205 women receiving
these sums follow:
Production bonus in yea r 1930
P ercent of women
Less than $50 ________ ___________ _____ __ ____________ 32. 7
$50, less than $100 _______________________________ __ 18. 0
$100, Jess than $150 _____________________________ __ _ 12. 7
$150, less than $200 _______ ________________ ______ ___ 12. 2
$200, less than $300 ___ _________ ________ ______ ___ __ _ 14. 1
$300, less than $400_ ________________________ __ ___ __ 7. 3
$400 and over_ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ 2. 9
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INSURANCE OFFICES IN HARTFORD AND DES MOINES
125
The additional compensation represented by production bonuses
was less than $100 for about 50 percent of the women affected, but
for a small group it was appreciable, as it added $200 or more to the
income of almost 25 percent of those eligible. The median bonus for
the year was $98, which was more than the equivalent of the median
monthly salary.
Annual bonus.-Annual bonuses were relatively insignificant in
both Hartford and Des Moines. Most of these bonuses were in the
nature of Christmas presents and did not materially affect the incomes
of the limited group of workers involved.
Merit days.-In Hartford no effort was made to note provisions for
merit days, which are in the nature of an attendance bonus, but in
Des Moines, where this item was checked on, it was found that 6 of
the 13 offices rewarded perfect attendance for stipulated periods with
time off. The provisions yaried from one-half day for every 2 months
to 1 day for each month of perfect attendance.
Free lunches
A number of larger companies had cafeterias with low-priced meals,
but no free lunches were reported in either Hartford or Des Moines.
·
One firm in Hartford served soup and a drink free.
MECHANIZATION
Much of the work in insurance offices still seemed of a nature that
was best adapted to manual methods, and mechanization was not
especially significant. Bookkeeping and billing machines were used
by most companies, but only in a minor degree. In most instances
addressing machines had been used for policyholder lists for 10 years
or more. A summary of the type of machines used in the offices of
Hartford and Des Moines follows:
Number of offices
T ype of m achine
Hartford
T otal offices' - ------- ---- - Dictating __ _________ ___ ____ _____ _
Bookkeeping or billing ___ _____ __ _
Calculating ____________ ______ ___ _
T abulating or key punch ___ _____ _
Addressing ___ __ __ ____ _________ ___
Duplicating ________ __ ______ ____ __
Automatic typewriter __ ___ ___ ___ _
1
Des Moines
14
13
12
10
13
13
9
10
1
9
7
8
8
9
8
3
Details aggregate more than t otal, as firms are entered in m ore than 1 machine group.
Tabulating machines
Tabulating-machine equipment with its accessory devices was used
extensively and was the most distinctive factor in the mechanization
of insurance offices. Most of such machinery, however, had been
installed several years before the 5-year period for which information
was sought in order to measure results. Automatic and electric keypunch devices had increased the speed with which the statistical work
was turned out, but there seemed to have been no abrupt tangible
displacement of clerks because of such innovations. In 1 Des
Moines office the introduction of tabulating equipment caused a
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126
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN OFFICES
decrease from 8 to 4 girls on the same work, and in ano ther an automatic-feeding device had absorbed the duties of 2 or 3 clerks. Electric key-punch machines were said to reduce or relieve fatigue, and
1 company report ed that the output was increased at least 20 percent
a,bove that of the old type of key punch.
Dictating machines
More than two-thirds of the offices had dictating machines, but in
some instances their use was limited to men who returned at irregular
hours to their offices, often late in the day, and preferred this type of
dictation. Though 5 companies in Des Moines had had new installations or applications of phonographic equipment in the past 5 years,
none reported any dismissal of clerks. In Hartford two companies
had introduced dictating machinery in this period and both stated that
women had been displaced. In 1 office 2 fewer women were employed in stenographic work, and in the other stenographers were
replaced by typists, as at the time the change was effected the stenographers preferred not to change from shorthand to machine transcription. Convenience was the reason most generally given for the
ll).stallation of machines, and labor-saving and increased business
somewhat less frequently.
With the advent of these machines, typists or stenographers already
in the employ of the company usually were developed into machine
transcribers with the help of the demonstrators. Since ability to take
shorthand dictation is a real asset at times, several offices reported
that they continued to employ regular stenographers for at least a part
of their machine transcription.
Bookkeeping machines
Although almost two-thirds of the offices had bookkeeping or billing
machines, their use was not extensive. Generally they were in the
accounting division for certain control accounts. No office in Hartford reported an installation in the preceding 5-year period. Five
offices in Des Moines had had new installations or applications of
these machines in the period covered; three reported no reduction in
numbers employed. One office had used 15 persons-7 men and 8
women-on certain work, and through a change of system, that added
bookkeeping and calculating machines, the force was reduced to 4 girls.
In another office the coming of machine bookkeeping reduced the force
from 5 to 2 men. Better records accompanied by labor saving,
commonly was stated as the reason for buying bookkeeping machines.
Other machines
Miscellaneous comments on other machines described a mailopening machine that had made it possible for 1 full-time employee
on mail opening to do all this work alone and give up the help of 4 parttime helpers. In another, the installation of a tube and conveyor
system for transmitting business papers and other interdepartmental
communications had practically eliminated mail and errand clerks.
In gel\eral, the inquiries with reference to office mechanization in
Hartford and Des Moines, like those in other cities, did not yield much
that was illuminating, and throughout the study little was gathered
on office mechanization.
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