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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU, NO. 88

THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN
IN SLAUGHTERING AND
MEAT PACKING

[Public—No. 259—66th Congress]
[H. B. 13229]
An Act To establish in the Department of Labor a bureau to be known as the
Women’s Bureau

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be
established in the Department of Labor, a bureau to be known as the
Women’s Bureau.
Sec. 2. That the said bureau shall be in charge of a director, a
woman, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate, who shall receive an annual compensa
tion of $5,000. It shall be the duty of said bureau to formulate
standards and policies which shall promote the welfare of wragecarning women, improve their working conditions, increase their
efficiency, and advance their opportunities for profitable employ
ment. The said bureau shall have authority to investigate and
report to the said department upon all matters pertaining to the
welfare of women in industry. The director of said bureau may
from time to time publish the results of these investigations in
such a manner and to such extent as the Secretary of Labor may
prescribe.
Sec. 3. That there shall be in said bureau an assistant director, to
be appointed by the Secretary of Labor, who shall receive an an
nual compensation of $3,500 and shall perform such duties as shall
be prescribed by the director and approved by the Secretary of
Labor.
Sec. 4. That there is hereby authorized to be employed by said
bureau a chief clerk and such special agents, assistants, clerks, and
other employees at such rates of compensation and in such numbers
as Congress may from time to time provide by appropriations.
Sec. 5. That the Secretary of Labor is hereby directed to furnish
sufficient quarters, office furniture, and equipment, for the work of
this bureau.
Sec. 6. That this act shall take effect and be in force from and
after its passage.
Approved, June 5, 1920.

STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE LIBRARY

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
W. N. DOAK, SECRETARY

WOMEN’S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Director

BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN’S

BUREAU, NO. 88

THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN
IN SLAUGHTERING AND
MEAT PACKING
J.;
BY

MARY ELIZABETH PIDGEON

JlHT

UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1932

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.

Price 40 cents

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tO H O c O O O M ^ O J M H O c O M C n ^ ^ i^ ^ W M C O C O W M M H H H H H O O O C O

Letter of transmittal_________________________________________
Part I.—Introduction_______________________________________
Importance and growth of the industry___________________________
Irregularities incident to the industry
Request for study
Women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Scope and method of study
Part II.—Summary of findings
Scope of the study
Occupations of women
Working conditions
Sanitary facilities_______ ____________________________________ I
Service facilities
Hazards to health____________ ___ ____ ________________________
The workers
Nativity and race _
Age------------------ ---------------------------------------------------Marital status
Industrial experience_______
Earnings and hours in the current week
Earnings of all women regardless of time worked or system of
payment
Earnings under different systems of payment
Earnings and hours worked
Earnings and nativity
Year’s earnings
Receipt of 40-hour-guaranty payments
Vacations with pay____________
Fluctuations in employment, hours, and earnings
Variations in employment, hours, and earnings
Number and duration of breaks in employment
Causes of breaks in employment
Lay-offs
Breaks in employment of new and of all employees
Women who were paid a bonus
Women who received the 40-hour guaranty
Women who had vacation with pay_________________
Composition and economic status of the families of women
Wage earners in the family other than the woman visited
Sources of family income
Responsibilities of the women
The homes of the workers
Part III.—Occupations of women in meat packing___ _______________'
Kill departments___________________________
Offal department
Casings department
Fancy-meat cooler department
Pork-trim department
Sausage department____________________________________ _
Smoked meats or ham house
Sliced-bacon department_______________
Lard and similar departments
Canning department
Other occupations
Occupational progression

0 O C 0 cOC0 O 00 0 0 < T < l* ^ J< l< I^ C 0 0 3 0 0 t0 HJ

CONTENTS

CONTENTS
Page

Part IV.—Working conditions;--------------------------------------------------------------Conditions in the various departments_____________________________
Kill and offal departments
34
Casings rooms
35
Fancy-meat cooler or freezer pack
35
Pork-trim department
36
Sausage department
37
Smoked meats or ham house
39
Sliced-bacon department
39
Lard and similar departments
41
Canning department
41
Hazards in meat-packing occupations
41
Sanitary and service facilities
46
Sanitary facilities
46
Uniforms _______________________________________________
Drinking facilities
46
Washing facilities
47
Toilets
47
Service facilities
48
Cloak rooms
48
Lunch rooms
48
Rest rooms
49
Medical-service department
49
Part V.—The workers
51
Nativity and race
51
Age
53
Marital status
54
Industrial experience
54
Actual time in the industry
54
Over-all time in the industry
55
Women whose experience was in one department only__________
Employment of women other than in meat packing-----------------Part VI.—Earnings and hours in the current week______________________
Earnings of all women regardless of system of payment or time
worked
Median week’s earnings
Proportions of women earning certain amounts________________
Median week’s earnings in various cities_______________________
Median week’s earnings in various firms_______________________
Average hourly earnings
62
Earnings under different systems of payment_______________________
Systems of payment in use
63
Extent of the use of a bonus system
63
Proportion the bonus formed of total week’s earnings__________
Average hourly earnings under different systems of payment___
Effect of bonus on week’s earnings
Comments on the bonus
Hourly rates
Earnings and hours worked
Hours worked in the week
Women who worked maximum weekly hours permitted by law._
Week’s earnings and hours worked:____________________________
Week’s earnings and nativity
76
Week’s earnings and hours worked in relation to nativity_______
Part VII.—Year’s earnings
81
Extent of receipt of bonus payments
82
Hours of the weeks worked in the year in relation to bonus receivedReceipt of 40-hour-guaranty payment
84
Vacations with pay
85
Part VIII.—Variations in employment, hours, and earnings_____________
Basis of data on variations in employment, hours, and earnings______
Variations in employment in 52 weeks
88
Employment fluctuations in various departments______________
Employment fluctuations in various firms______________________
Variations in hours in 52 weeks
94
Variations in earnings in 52 weeks
94

33
34

56
57
59
59
59
60
60
62
63
64
65
68
69
71
72
72
74
75
79
83
87
87
88
92

CONTENTS

Part VIII.—Variations in employment, hours, and earnings in the quarters
of the year
Number, cause, and duration of breaks in employment______________
Proportion of women who had broken employment_____________
Period of service prior to first break in employment_____________
Causes of broken employment
97
Duration of breaks in employment
99
Number and duration of lay-offs in various departments____________
Comments on lay-offs made by women visited in their homes_______
Breaks in the employment of new and of other employees-. ________
Service record of new employees prior to first break in employ
ment1_____________________________________________________
Causes of breaks in employment of new and of all employees____
Lay-offs of new and all employees _
Season of the year in which breaks in employment of new and
old employees occurred
109
Extent to which bonus payments, the 40-hour guaranty, and vaca
tions with pay had been received, in two cities
111
Women who were paid a bonus
112
Women who had received guaranteed pay
112
Women who had had vacations with pay
112
Part IX.—Composition and economic status of the families of women
workers
113
The homes of the workers
113
Workers living at home, with other relatives, or independently-_
Size of house or apartment and number of persons in the house
hold------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lodgers
114
Type of house
115
Home ownership
115
Amount of rent
116
Wage earners in the family other than the woman visited__________
Employment in meat packing
Employment other than in meat packing
Steadiness of employment
Wage earners and dependents in the family
Children in the family
Non-wage-earning sons and daughters in the family____________
Necessity to the family of the work of women visited_______________
Women who were self-supporting only
123
Women who were the sole support of their families_____________
Earnings of women who were self-supporting or sole support of the
family
123
Reasons for working given by women not sole support of family- _
Contributions to family income made by women not sole support
of family
Household assistance available to women visited_______________
Sources of family income and methods of meeting expenses_________
Source of family income other than wages
132
Payment by installments or irregularly
134
Appendixes:
A.—General tables
138
B.—Schedule forms
205

V
Page
95
96
96
97
100
102
103
104
104
106

113
113

117
117
117
118
120
120
121
122
123
126
129
131
132

TEXT TABLES

1. Distribution by department of women employed in slaughtering and
meat-packing establishments, by city
18
2. Number and per cent of women in firms having the task-and-bonus
system, by department
64
3. Average hourly earnings, by method of payment-,_______________________ 66
4. Week’s earnings, by department and nativity
77
5. Earnings distribution of women, by nativity andcity_________________
78
6. Breaks in employment of new and of all employees in three depart
ments, Sioux City and St. Paul
105
7. Number of lay-offs of new and of all employees, bycity and department107
8. Employees having no breaks in employment and employees having
breaks at end of the year, by department and whether new or old
employees
HO

CONTENTS
APPENDIX TABLES
Page

I. Nativity and race of women employed in specified departments
II. Percentage distribution by nativity and race of women employed in
specified departments
III. Age of women employed in specified departments
IV. Marital status of women employed in specified departments
V. Week’s earnings of women employed in specified departments
VI. Median of week’s earnings of women employed in specified de
partments, by location of establishment and size of city
VII. Method of payment and average hourly earnings of women em
ployed in eight selected departments
VIII. Percentage distribution of average hourly earnings, by method of
payment, of women employed in eight selected departments—
IX. Relation of bonus to total week’s earnings of women employed in
four selected departments and in all departments
X. Percentage distribution by relation of bonus to total week’s earn
ings of women employed in four selected departments and in all
department
XI. Weekly hours worked, by location of establishment and size of city__
XII. Percentage distribution of women by weekly hours worked, by
location of establishment and size of city
XIII. Week’s earnings and hours worked by women employed in four
selected departments
XIV. Hours of weeks worked by women for whom records of 44 weeks or
more were secured, by firm___________________________________
XV. Number of weeks and number of hours in which guaranteed pay was
received by women for whom records of 44 weeks or more were
secured, by city and by department
XVI. Number of animals slaughtered under Federal inspection in four
cities, by month, June, 1927, to May, 1928, inclusive
XVII. Number of women employed in representative departments in three
cities, by week, June, 1927, to May, 1928, inclusive---------------XVIII. Index of weekly variation in number of women employed in
representative departments in three cities, June, 1927, to May,
1928, inclusive
XIX. Number of women employed in representative departments in East
St. Louis and Omaha, by week, June, 1927, to May, 1928,
inclusive
XX. Index of weekly variation in number of women employed in represent
ative departments in East St. Louis and Omaha, June, 1927, to
May, 1928. inclusive
XXI. Average weekly hours worked by women employed in representative
departments in Sioux City and St. Paul, by week, June, 1927,
to May, 1928, inclusive
XXII. Index of average weekly hours worked by women employed in
representative departments in Sioux City and St. Paul, June,
1927, to May, 1928, inclusive
XXIII. Average weekly earnings of women employed in representative
departments in Sioux City and St. Paul, by week, June, 1927, to
May, 1928, inclusive
XXIV. Index of average weekly earnings of women employed in repre
sentative departments in Sioux City and St. Paul, June, 1927, to
May, 1928, inclusive
XXV. Number of lay-offs and other breaks in employment of all women
employed during year in specified departments in Sioux City
and St. Paul, June, 1927, to May, 1928, inclusive------------------XXVI. Number of breaks in employment of women employed during
year in selected departments in East St. Louis and Omaha,
June, 1927, to May, 1928, inclusive
XXVII. Duration of breaks in employment of women employed during
year in selected departments in East St. Louis and Omaha,
June, 1927, to May, 1928, inclusive---------------------------------------XXVIII. Duration of lay-offs and other breaks in employment during
year of all and of new women employees in Sioux City and St.
Paul, June, 1927, to May, 1928, inclusive---------------------------------

138
140
141
142
143
144
146
148
150
151
152
153
154

155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166

d
168
169
170

CONTENTS

VII

XXIX. Percentage distribution by duration of lay-offs and other breaks
in employment of all and of new women employees in Sioux
City and St. Paul, June, 1927, to May, 1928, inclusive________
XXX. Duration of lay-offs of all women employed during year in specified
departments in Sioux City and St. Paul, June, 1927, to May,
1928, inclusive172
XXXI. Number of lay-offs during past year as reported by 159 women..
XXXII. Duration of lay-offs during past year as reported by 159 women. _
XXXIII. Procedures in relation to lay-offs during past year as reported
by 125 women
174
XXXIV. Over-all employment with present or last firm as reported by
159 women
174
XXXV. Age of 159 women laid off during past year
175
XXXVI. Number of new women employees with breaks in employment
during year and duration of employment prior to first break,
Sioux City, St. Paul, and Ottumwa, June, 1927, to May, 1928,
inclusive
175
XXXVII. Number and cause of breaks in employment during year and
duration of employment prior to first break for all new women
employees in Sioux City, St. Paul, and Ottumwa, June, 1927, to
May, 1928, inclusive
176
XXXVIII. Employment status and breaks in employment of all women
employed during year in Sioux City and St. Paul, June, 1927, to
May, 1928, inclusive____
XXXIX. Bonus, guaranteed pay, and vacation by over-all employment
during year in Sioux City and St. Paul, June, 1927, to May, 1928,
inclusive
180
XL. Number of rooms and number of persons in household by nativity and
race of interviewed woman, in eight cities
182
XLI. Number of rooms and number of persons in household, by city______
XLII. Number of lodgers in family, by nativity and race of interviewed
woman and by city
186
XLIII. Tenure and type of house, by nativity and race of interviewed
woman and by city —Numbers
188
XLIV. Tenure and type of house by nativity and race of interviewed
women and by city—Per cent distribution
190
XLV. Number of rooms and rent paid by families of interviewed women. _
XLVI. Occupations other than in slaughtering and meat packing of
female wage earners in families of interviewed women_____ ._____
XLVII. Occupations other than in slaughtering and meat packing of male
wage earners in families of interviewed women_________________
XLVIII. Number and sex of all wage earners in families of interviewed
women, according to whether steadily or not steadily employed..
XLIX: Age of children and number at home, at school, and at work, by
nativity and race of mother,__________________________________
L. Percentage distribution of children by age and proportion at home, at
school, and at work, by nativity and race of mother_____________
LI. Number of non-wage-earning sons and daughters and employment of
husband, by nativity and race of interviewed woman___________
LII. Average weekly earnings, and number of persons supported, inter
viewed women who were entirely self-supporting_______________
LIII. Year’s earnings and number of persons supported, interviewed
women who were entirely self-supporting
201
LIV. Week’s income of family and proportion of income earned by inter
viewed women not the sole support of the family_______________
LV. Size of family and proportion of family’s week’s income earned by
interviewed women not the sole support of the family___________
LVI. Size of family and assistance with household duties reported by 578
wives and mothers
203

Page
171

173
173

178

184

192
194
195
196
198
198
199
200

202
202

ILLUSTRATIONS
Typical pork-trim room____
Sausage-manufacturing room

Frontispiece.
Facing 37

VIII

CONTENTS
CHARTS
Page

1. Index of weekly variation in number of women employed in slaughtering
and meat-packing establishments, Sioux City and St. Paul, June,
1927, to May, 1928, inclusive
89
2. Index of weekly variation in number of women employed in slaughtering
and meat-packing establishments, June, 1927, to May, 1928, inclu
sive
90
3. Index of weekly variation in number of women employed in slaughtering
and meat-packing establishments, June, 1927, to May, 1928, inclu
sive
93
4. Index of weekly variation in hours worked by women employed in
slaughtering and meat-packing establishments, June, 1927, to May,
1928, inclusive 94^95
5. Index of weekly variation in hours worked by women employed in
slaughtering and meat-packing establishments, June, 1927, to May,
1928, inclusiveI- 94-95
6. Index of weekly variation in earnings of women employed in slaughter
ing and meat-packing establishments, June, 1927, to May, 1928,
inclusive 94-95
7. Index of weekly variation in earnings of women employed in slaughter
ing and meat-packing establishments, June, 1927, to May, 1928,
inclusive 94H15

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
United States Department of Labor,
Women’s Bureau,

Washington, June 2, 1931.
Sir : I have the honor to submit herewith a report on the employ
ment of women in the slaughtering and meat-packing industry in
1928, covering nearly 6,600 women workers in 34 plants.
The study was made at the request of a volunteer committee of the
National Conference of Social Work.
The report is particularly timely, as it furnishes data on the fluctua
tion in women’s employment in an industry subject to great irregu
larity in the receipt of the raw material.
The tables cover employment, hours, earnings (weekly and for a
year), lay-offs and other separations, personal history, family respon
sibilities, and economic status. The effect of the task-and-bonus
system in operation in a number of plants is shown. Occupations
and working conditions are described.
The cooperation of employers who courteously gave the investi
gators access to their employment records and pay rolls is gratefully
acknowledged.
The field study was conducted by Caroline Manning, industrial
supervisor. The report was written by Mary Elizabeth Pidgeon,
chief of the division of research, assisted in the preparation of two
chapters by Ethel Erickson, of the field service.
Respectfully submitted.
Mary Anderson, Director.
Hon. W. N. Doak,
Secretary of Labor.

HttVu

__ 1_ Jf~Tifc #1

3s9?r&s
jpl# **hi
"•$-4
*. . m. ...

Typical Pork-trim Room
Note carriers, full and inverted, for supplying meat at tables

THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN
SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
PART I.—INTRODUCTION

It is probable that the industry of which the slaughtering and meat
packing processes form a part, including as it does the production and
marketing of the livestock as well as the preparation and distribution
of the product, would be found to touch the lives of more families
and of more types of people scattered through all sections of the coun
try than does almost any other great American business. Estimate
has been made that its raw material is drawn from over 6,000,000
farmers.1 Its direct products are used as foods in homes in all parts
of the United States and in foreign countries.
While this report deals only with workers employed at the meat
packing plants proper, this preparation and the distribution features
as well are concentrated in a few large-scale companies. Stock is
shipped to market in cars owned chiefly by the railroads. The stock
yards are owned largely by the packing companies, who allow the use
of designated pens, free of rent, to various commission merchants.
The shipper of the animals pays a yardage fee to cover accommodation
and food until sale and a commission to the seller.
The conversion into various packing-house products takes place
in plants adjoining the yards. It is an industry in which direct
hand labor plays an especially important part, for, although there is
a high degree of labor specialization and accuracy of job specification,
the replacement of hand by machine labor has proceeded less rapidly
than in almost any other of the large industries.2
The packing companies own and lease to the railroads most of the
refrigerator cars in which their products are shipped, and they also
maintain icing stations and branch distribution houses.
Under the supervision of the Bureau of Animal Industry in the
United States Department of Agriculture, the animals lulled in plants
engaging in interstate shipment are inspected thoroughly for healthy
condition both before killing and at different stages of the dressing.
Practically all the establishments visited had inspection stations.
Though workers on the by-products of this business form no part
of the present study, it is interesting to observe that almost every
part of the animal is utilized in effective fashion and that the result
is the making of many useful and important articles. Some of these
are materials in common use, such as hides, gelatin, glue, soap, and
stock foods. The blood is used for an edible serum substitute for
egg whites, or for an ingredient of fertilizer or of animal food. The
hair is employed as a plaster base, as furniture stuffing, and for cer
tain brushes. The intestines make sausage casings, the caps of per
fume or other bottles, surgical ligatures, and strings for musical instru
ments. Hoofs, horns, and bones furnish material for knife and um
brella handles, combs, buttons, and other article#. of value. From
the fresh glands medicinal needs are served by the preparation of
such substances as thyroid extract, pancreatin, pepsin, pituitary
i Clemen, Rudolf A. The American Meat-Packing Industry. In Representative Industries in the
United States, H. T. Warshow, ed., 1928, p. 440.
a U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Monthly Labor Review, November, 1926, pp. 30 and 31.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

fluid, and insulin.3 In extolling the value of large-scale production,
an advertising booklet of one of the large firms states that the tiny
glands of 16,000 cattle are required to produce a pound of insulin,
a substance recently made known to the medical profession as effec
tive in the treatment of a disease formerly almost impossible to alleviate.
Importance and growth of the industry.

There are many independent small-town and country butchers and
packers in various sections who do a local business relatively unim
portant m extent, but the greater part of this work is carried on by
companies that operate on a large scale. This is in contrast to the
situation that prevailed in the eighteen-sixties, of which an official
of one of the large companies has said—In 1865 every town or city in the country had its own slaughter
house. For example, New York had more than 200, and what is
now Fifth Avenue was often encumbered by large droves of cattle.
Stockyards stood on land in Manhattan that now is the site for
some of the finest clubs, hotels, and retail stores in the metropolis.

The development and centralization of slaughtering and meat
packing, as of many other great American industries, took place
largely in the last quarter of the nineteenth and first decade of the
twentieth centuries and undoubtedly was greatly facilitated by the
perfection of refrigerated transportation and by certain mechanical
inventions such as the endless-chain or overhead-conveyor system.
In total value of products, the industry is a leading one in the
country, ranking third in 1927, being exceeded only by motor ve
hicles and iron and steel.4
If the figures of the Department of Agriculture on the number of
animals slaughtered under Federal inspection be taken as an indi
cation, the hogs used show a very great preponderance over other
types of animals. While from 1920 to 1927, inclusive, the millions of
cattle annually slaughtered under Federal inspection were, roughly,
from 8 to 10, of calves from 4 to 5, and of sheep from 11 to nearly
13, those of hogs were from 38 to 54. In 1927, 42,650,443 hogs were
slaughtered, a figure that was nearly 6 per cent above that in 1926
and was nearly 80 per cent of that of a peak year, 1924.6
The proportional growth in slaughtering and meat packing from
1909 to 1925, as adduced from figures as to number of establishments,
average number of wage earners, pounds of meat dressed, and num
ber of animals slaughtered, was as follows:
Data reported •

Per cent increase—
1909-1919° 1919-1925°

Number of establishments...................................
Average number of wage earners______ ____ .
Millions of pounds dressed weight of cattle, hogs, sheep, lambs, calves
Number of animals slaughtered:
Calves ___ _______ ____________________
Cattle.......................... ....................................
......................
Hogs..................................... ................... ................... ........
Sheep and lambs..................... .............................

6.8
83.3
29.5

7.6

31.4
9.8

» TJ. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wages and Hours in the Slaughtering and Meat-Packing Industry
1927, p. 48. From data from U. S. Census of Manufactures. (Percentages computed by Women’s Bureau 1
6 In this case the figure is a per cent decrease.
’
TT!-9Ie,I?':ni Eli3oIl 4;, T5e American Meat-Packing Industry. In Eepresentative Industries in the
United States, H. T. Warshow, ed., 1928, p. 440.
icin' S' Bureau of the 0ensus- Census of Manufactures: 1927. Statistics for Industries and States, pp.
* U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Economics. Animals Slaughtered Under
Federal Inspection, Fiscal Years Ending June 30, 1908-1927.

INTRODUCTION

The foregoing figures show a net increase frorn 1909 to 1925 in
every category of measurement, but in each case this was proportion
ately much greater from 1909 to 1919 than from 1919 to 1925. In
the latter period both the number of establishments and the average
number of wage earners decreased, but at the same time the amount
of meat handled showed a material increase, indicating a greater
productivity on the part of the labor employed. The cost of labor
in the industry has been relatively small, the average from 1899 to
1923 being about 7 per cent, of the total value of goods produced;
the average cost of raw materials was about 87 per cent; the remainder
consisting of overhead expense, interest, and profits.6
Irregularities incident to the industry.

There is great irregularity in the flow of livestock. The variation
in shipments that occurs from day to day, week to week, and month
to month causes great fluctuation in employment and frequent
changes in daily and weekly hours of work in packing houses—a
situation that makes difficulties both for the management and for
the workers. In setting forth conditions in the industry in 1919, by
request of the Federal Trade Commission, the packers emphasized
these difficulties, one of them stating that the companies
* * * have to buy uneven quantities of their raw material—a
condition that almost no other kind of manufacturer has to face.7

It is probable that this condition is somewhat aggravated because
many farmers tend, in growing stock, to follow the movement of the
preceding season rather than to anticipate the market thus a great
surplus will be produced in one year, an extreme scarcity in another.
The peak period for cattle is likely to be at some time in the last
half of the calendar year; for calves it is usually in the fall and spring,
for sheep in July and again in November or December, for hogs
from November to May.
Request for study.

It is apparent that the variations in employment that tend to be
caused by such a condition are likely to introduce a considerable de
gree of hardship into the lives of workers in the communities whose
labor supports this industry. Social agencies in these localities testify
that such is often the case, even though the unemployment hazard
has been reduced in some degree by improvements in organization.
For this reason, a volunteer committee of the National Conference
of Social Work made the request, near the close of 1927, that the
Women’s Bureau make a study of the.employees of packing houses.
Following its policy of cooperation with agencies interested in the
economic condition of workers, the bureau was glad to undertake
such a study, especially in view of the fact that the number of women
in the industry had shown a material increase in the last census decade
for which figures were obtainable.
Women employed in slaughtering and meat packing.

According to the United States census of occupations, the number
of women laborers and semiskilled workers in slaughtering and meat
«U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Monthly X.abor Review, November, 1926, p. 31.
__
7 Federal Trade Commission. Report on the Meat-Packing Industry. Summary and Part I. June 24,
1919, p. 427.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

packing more than trebled from 1910 to 1920. In the latter year
12,197 women employees were reported, forming more than 10 per
cent of all those recorded in the industry. 8
SCOPE AND METHOD OF STUDY

Scope.

In the period from June, 1928, to February, 1929, the Women’s
Bureau made a field study that covered one or more types of in
formation for 6,568 women workers. Thirty-four meat-packing plants
in 13 cities in 9 States were visited. The numbers of women included
in the various places are as follows:
All cities 6, 568
Austin, Minn___________
Chicago, 111 1, 703
Denver, Colo___________
East St. Louis, 111______
Fort Worth, Texas______
Kansas City, Kans_____

111
87
469
232
975

Los Angeles, Calif______
Omaha, Nebr____________
Ottumwa, Iowa_________
St. Joseph, Mo___________
St. Paul, Minn___________
San Francisco, Calif____
Sioux City, Iowa_________

203
652
186
188
984
44
734

That a representative proportion of the industry was covered by
the study is indicated by two facts: (1) Of the livestock received at
66 markets in 1926, as reported by the Bureau of Agricultural Eco
nomics, that received in 9 of the 13 cities studied formed 54 per cent
of the total; (2) of the women in this industry as reported by the
1920 census of occupations, nearly 70 per cent were employed in the
9 States visited by the Women’s Bureau. The table following
gives the survey figures and those of the census of occupations, by
State:9

State

All States________ ____________
California____ _____________ _____
Colorado___________ _ _____________
Illinois_____ . ____________ _ .
Iowa_____ ____ __________________ _
Kansas.............. ... . _________ __
Minnesota________ _ ..........................
Missouri___ _______________________
Nebraska_____________________
Texas........
...... ___ _________

Number of
women ° 10
years of
Ratio of
age and Number of number of
women
in
women in
over re
ported by Women’s
study to
census of
Bureau
total
1920 as em
study,
number
ployed in
1928
employed
slaughtering
in 1920
and meat
packing

8,830

Per cent

391
80
3,869
734
’379
816
434

ifO. 4
17.4

“ U. S. Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census, 1920: vol. 4, Population, Occupations, pp. 62 if.

«IT. S. Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census, 1920: vol. 4, Population, Occupations, pp. 37 and 38.
Later figures not available.'
■ The Census of Manufactures, 1919, reported 12,166 women employees in this industry, larger num
bers than were found by the Women’s Bureau in every State but Missouri and California, and considerably
larger m Illinois. Even if the numbers studied by the Women’s Bureau be compared with these larger
numbers of the Census of Manufactures, they constitute over one-half of the entire number included in the
census reports and over one-half the number in six of the nine States—in four of these, over three-fourths.

INTRODUCTION

Sources and types of data secured.

In making the study the agents of the Women’s Bureau consulted
plant officials and other persons having a knowledge of conditions
within the industry. They also interviewed persons interested in the
problems of the workers in the communities visited, such as settle
ment workers and those connected with other social agencies.
A week’s record of each woman employee was copied from the com
pany’s pay roll. It included the data obtainable upon the hours she
actually worked, any time on vacation, her rate of pay, and her actual
earnings—regular, bonus, and guaranty. Furthermore, a year’s rec
ords were copied for a picked group of steady workers, those who had
worked at least 44 weeks in the year. The employment records of
the firm were consulted to ascertain the personal history of the women
then employed—their nativity, time in the United States if foreign
born, race, age, and marital status; more than a thousand records
of this kind were secured for women whose current earnings were not
obtainable. Finally visits were, made to the homes of 897 of the
women for whom information had been secured in the plants to obtain
a more complete picture of the worker’s general economic status,
family responsibilities, and industrial history, including past jobs,
periods of unemployment, and irregularity of work. Opportunity
was afforded for comments on the present job and reasons for
working.10
Dates of the current and year’s records of earnings.

Material relating to a week’s earnings and hours ordinarily was
taken from a pay roll for late May or early June, 1928, selected upon
consultation with members of the firms as representative of a usual
season, having neither a peak nor a slump. No pay roll taken
included the holiday on the 30th of May. In every locality studied,
a year’s records were taken from the pay rolls for a picked group of
steady workers—those who had worked at least 44 weeks in the year.
In three cities—Sioux City, St. Paul, and Ottumwa—pay-roll data
for 12 months, including the record of lay-offs and other breaks in
employment as well as earnings and hours worked, were secured for
all women who had been employed at any time during the year,
whether for 1 week or 52. The year’s records ordinarily were based on
the pay rolls of June 4, 1927, to May 26,1928, a period of relatively
normal industrial activity. The home visits for the most part were
made in the second half of 1928.
Of the total of 6,568 women, the numbers for whom the various
types of information were reported are as follows:
Number of

Data from pay rolls:
women
Reports of one week’s earnings 5, 101
Year’s records of selected women who had worked 44
weeks or over 2, 003
Complete year’s records of all women in three localities. 1, 904
Data from employment records—Personal history6, 133
Data from home visits.___________________________________
897
i“ For the schedules used for the year's record of the women in the plants and for the home visits, see
Appendix B.

PART II.—SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study of women in the meat-packing industry, made by the
Women’s Bureau in 1928, included 6,568 women in 34 plants in 13
cities in 9 States. This number constitutes about three-fourths of
the number reported in this industry in the census of 1920—the
latest available figures. The data reported were as follows:
Number of—
Type of data

Source

Time
Cities Women
Week in late May or
beginning of June,
1928.
Year beginning first
week in June, 1927.

Year’s earnings of women em- ___ do______________
ployed 44 weeks or over.
Employment, hours, and earn
ings of women employed,
each week of the year studied.
Plant employment records.. 1928__
Interviews with women in Chiefly second half of
their homes.
1928.

5,101

2,003

1, 904

13
8

6,133
897

OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN

The 6,564 women whose occupations were reported were distributed
in the various departments as follows:
Women
Department
Number

Kill_________________ ______________________________________ _____ ___
Offal

Other......... _________ ________ ___ _____ ______ ____

Per cent

6, 564

100.0

232
480
497
958
1,933
380
1,094
511
335
144

3. 5
7.3
29. 4
5. 8
16. 7
7.8
5.1
2.2

1 Includes a few women on chipped beef, not discussed separately in this report.

WORKING CONDITIONS

General maintenance, condition of floors, cleanliness, repair, light
ing, and ventilation were better in the meat-packing plants than is
usual in industries having such difficult problems.
Sanitary facilities.

Drinking facilities.—Almost all the plants visited provided cool
drinking water, and the use of the common cup had practically
disappeared. A better type of bubbler seemed to be the general
need, since only three of the plants had sanitary bubblers through
out; two plants had them in some of the workrooms.
64051°—32------2
7

WOMEN EMPLOYEE IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

Washing jacilities.—All the plants visited had hot as well as cold
water, and all provided soap in some or all of the wash rooms. The
sausage, smoked-meat, sliced-bacon, and canning departments v
usually had washing facilities in the workroom as well as in the wash
or toilet rooms. The type of equipment varied greatly, and some
crude troughs or sinks were seen; but on the whole the maintenance
and cleanliness were satisfactory. Individual towels were provided
for all or some of the women in three-fourths of the plants. Unfor
tunately, in a number of the plants only common towels were pro
vided, and occasionally towels were found in only a few of the wash
rooms or in some one or two departments, such as sliced bacon and
sausage making.
Uniforms.—Some sliced-bacon departments had rigid uniform
requirements, and in a few cases the girls complained of the cost of
these. Some plants offered free laundry service, some did the launder
ing for certain departments, such as sausage and sliced bacon, and
some offered rough-dry work. The service offered was in some cases
so poor that few cared to take advantage of it. Some plants sold
dresses, aprons, caps, rubbers, and heavy shoes at cost or at less than
cost.
Toilets.—Of the 28 plants whose toilet facilities were reported, 21
had a satisfactory ratio of toilet seats; that is, one to every 15 women
employed. However, some of these were unsatisfactory because then’
location was inconvenient to large numbers of women.
Service facilities.

Cloakrooms.—All the plants reported had cloakroom facilities for
their employees. In all but four of the plants the dressing room was
combined with other service facilities, usually the lunch room and
lavatory, and sometimes this entailed uncomfortable crowding.
_ Lunch rooms.—Lunch accommodations of some kind were provided
in ail the plants reported. About three-fourths were cafeterias, where
a variety of foods could be obtained at low prices. In all but a few
establishments it was possible to obtain at least a hot drink.
Rest rooms.—Only four of the plants visited had separate and dis
tinct rest rooms. In 18 a cot or a few rocking chairs gave a semblance
of a rest rooin to the combined service facilities that frequently were
crowded. Eight of the plants had no rest-room equipment.
Medical service.—The first-aid and medical service in the plants
surveyed ordinarily was superior to that found in most industries.
Hazards to health.

The two outstanding dangers to women workers in meat packing
arise from the condition of the floors, which frequently are wet and
slippery, and the specific occupational hazard of knife injuries. In
the cutting jobs in the kill, offal, casings, and pork-trim departments,
where the use of a sharp knife is necessary, cuts and punctures are
frequent; these jobs ordinarily are paid by the piece and considerable
speed is required. Nurses and others questioned stated frequently
that cuts and punctures of the pork trimmers were the only injuries
common to women. Most of these are comparatively slight, but there
is always danger of infection unless proper care is taken.
In addition to these and other accident hazards, there is the strain
of constant standing and of work at high tension. The continual
immersion of hands in water and the excessive humidity and dampness

SUMMARY OP FINDINGS

in some rooms, frequently combined with ventilation facilities that
are nonexistent or very poor, constitute health hazards having cumu
lative effects.
More care and attention to the designing and guarding of hand
knives, better ventilation in most of the chilled rooms, better floor
drainage or. the use of well-drained platforms in departments using
large quantities of water, and more care in keeping aisles free from
obstruction undoubtedly would reduce the health and accident
hazards in the industry.
THE WORKERS

Nativity and race.

Of 5,873 women whose nativity and race were reported, more than
one-half were native white, about one-third were foreign born, and
over one-tenth were colored (including a very few Indians). In the
larger woman-employing departments, foreign-born women predom
inated in pork trim and native white in sliced bacon; the two formed
nearly equal groups in sausage manufacture. Of the colored women,
practically one-half were in offal and hog and sheep casings. Women
of Slavic origin formed 60 per cent of the foreign born where country
of birth was reported.
Age.

Age was reported for 5,785 women, and of these more than two-fifths
were 20 and under 30. The largest proportions were of these ages in
every department but offal, pork trim, sausage casings, and canning,
where the chief groups were 30 and under 40. The largest proportions
of women under 20 were in sliced bacon and lard. In sausage casings,
beef casings, canning, and pork trim from about one-fifth to one-third
of the women were 40 or over.
Marital status.

The marital status of 5,789 women was reported, and of these more
than one-half were married and more than one-tenth were widowed,
separated, or divorced. Taken with the data as to economic status
of the families visited, this indicates that heavy responsibilities rested
on the shoulders of a substantial majority of the women. Only in
two departments—sliced bacon and lard—did single women prevail
over those who were or had been married.
Industrial experience.

. Testimony to the fact that women are not mere transient workers
is shown in reports on industrial experience made by 760 women
visited in their homes, nearly one-fifth of whom had worked in meat
packing 10 years or longer. Only a small proportion had worked less
than a year. Nearly one-half of the women interviewed said they had
worked in one department all the time they had been in meat packing;
of these, about one-sixth had been so employed for 10 years or longer.'
EARNINGS AND HOURS IN THE CURRENT WEEK

Earnings of all women regardless of time worked or system of
payment.
i

Of the 5,093 women whose week’s earnings were reported, one-half
earned more and one-half earned less than $16.85, the median for this
total. In the various jobs, the median ran highest—$20.40—in pork

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

trim, while sausage casings and beef casings came next. The lowest
were in cooked meat, kill, lard, and sliced bacon, each around $15.
About 10 per cent of the women earned under $12, and less than 7 per
cent—chiefly those in pork trim—earned as much as $25.
Average hourly earnings were computed for 4,959 women, of whom
nearly one-third had an average of 30 and under 35 cents, one-fourth
averaged 35 and under 40 cents, and about one-fifth 40 and under 45
cents. The hourly rates reported for 2,873 women ranged from 52}£
cents, the highest rate reported in offal and hog and sheep casings, to
24 cents, the lowest rate reported in sausage casings and manufacture.
Earnings under different systems of payment.

Methods of payment varied from firm to firm and frequently from
department to department. Some form of bonus or efficiency method
of payment was found to be very largely in use. Frequently the
Bedaux or a similar type of bonus payment was employed, although
one large firm and most of the smaller firms had only the usual time
work and piecework systems. Of 5,101 women reported, nearly threefourths were employed in firms that paid a bonus in some depart
ments, and of these over three-fourths had received a bonus in the
current week. Over three-fifths of those who worked under the bonus
system were in the four departments of sliced bacon, sausage manu
facture, pork trim, and canning.
There was considerable evidence to the effect that the bonus system
had proven as unsatisfactory as piecework in producing the strain
due to excessive speed. Furthermore, there was found a frequent
lack of general understanding of the system, and this sometimes
engendered distrust of its administrators on the part of the worker.
Earnings and hours worked.

Of 4,960 women whose hours were reported, the largest group—
23.3 per cent—had worked over 44 and under 48 hours; 16.6 per cent
had worked under 40 hours, and about 12 per cent each were in the
groups that had worked over 40 and under 44 and over 50 and under
54 hours.
Ordinarily, median earnings showed increase as longer hours were
worked, largely because of the prevalence of the piecework and
hourly-rate systems instead of straight weekly rates. In practice, the
40-hour guaranty, instituted some years ago in an attempt to mini
mize the irregularities incident to the industry, applies rather infre
quently to women. In the first place, guaranteed payments tend to
be most necessary in departments employing chiefly men; in the
second, the existence of the guaranty introduces an incentive to more
careful planning, more frequent shifting of workers from a slack to a
busy department. In the current week for which earnings were
taken, which was not at the peak season of the year, over three-fourths
of the women reported had worked more than 40 hours.
Earnings and nativity.

The medians of earnings of women in the three nativity groups are
next presented. The differences in earnings are due to some extent
to differences in occupation.
Native white$16. 00
Foreign-born white 18. 75
Colored 16. 55

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

While the majority of women in each group had worked more than
40 hours, the proportion was largest in the case of the foreign bom;
the proportion working less than 40 hours was greatest for colored
women. In every hour group the proportion of women who earned
$20 or more was greatest for the foreign born.
YEAR’S EARNINGS

For a representative group of the steadiest workers, whose names
appeared on the pay rolls in at least 44 weeks of the year studied, a
record of year’s earnings was secured. The median of the earnings
of these 2,003 women was $899; of these, 1,573 had worked 50 weeks
or longer, and these had a median of $919. Earnings were highest in
the pork-trim and sausage departments.
Receipt of 40-hour-guaranty payments.

For some 1,400 women for whom a record of at least 44 weeks was
secured in 16 plants in 7 cities, data were reported in regard to the
40-hour guaranty. Of 523 women in departments in which guar
anty payments had been made, 67.3 per cent had received such pay
and for an average of five weeks in the year. Nearly 70 per cent of
the women who had been paid the guaranty were in three depart
ments in which the work is especially fluctuating because of variations
in the receipt and killing of livestock—the kill, offal, and pork-trim
departments.
Vacations with pay.

Of 1,817 women for whom this information was taken in 24 plants
giving vacation with pay, 629 (34.6 per cent) had received such
vacations in the year covered by the survey. Over 80 per cent of the
vacations were of a week’s duration. The remainder were longer
than this.
FLUCTUATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND EARNINGS

Meat packing is an industry with a marked seasonal activity and
the problem of fluctuations in employment is a serious one for both
the management and the workers. The handling of hogs constitutes
the bulk of the work done by women in the industry, and this work is
at its height roughly from January to March in all localities but St.
Paul. That city had a busy season beginning as early as October
and lasting about six months.
The bureau secured data on fluctuations in employment, hours,
and earnings for more than 2,600 women. This included all those
who had been on the pay rolls at any time in the year in all plants in
Sioux City, St. Paul, and Ottumwa—a total of 1,904—and for those
in some plants in East St. Louis and Omaha—739 women.
Variations in employment, hours, and earnings.

The most extreme variation in employment, hours, and earnings
was found in Sioux City. Hours and earnings tended to vary in the
same direction as employment, but the fluctuations were less extreme
than those in employment. Of the data secured at the plants, the

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

per cent the figures for the minimum week formed of those for the
maximum week was as follows:
Employ
ment

City

Hours
worked
per
woman

72.1
68.9
54.5
67.9

St. Paul..

65.3
78.4

Earnings
per
woman

66.2
77.9

Of the more important woman-employing departments, sausage
manufacture was that in which the women were the most regularly
employed, while those more closely dependent upon the killing of the
animals—hog casings and pork trim—or upon the consumer’s de
mand—for example, sliced bacon—showed much greater irregularity.
In two cities the proportion the minimum formed of the maximum
employment was as follows:
Sioux City

Department

34.1
44.4
76.1

St. Paul
35.0
50.0
58.6
38.6

Number and duration of breaks in employment.

The summary following shows for two cities data on breaks in em
ployment during the year:
Women with breaks in em
ployment with cause reported
Per cent
with
Number breaks in
Per cent Per cent
unem
of women employ
having
ployed
reported
ment
3 or
for 27
during Number
more
the year
breaks weeks or
more
during
during
the year the
year

City

734
984

St. Paul

81.7
84.2

554
629

10.5
4.6

29.8
36.1

Causes of breaks in employment.

In Sioux City more than half and in St. Paul almost half of the
breaks in employment with cause reported were due to the woman’s
being laid off. The causes in the two cities were as follows:

City

Sioux City_____
St. Paul______________________

Number of
breaks in
employment
in the
year with
cause re
ported
809
782

Per cent of breaks in
employment due to—

Lay-off

52.7
47.2

Other
cause

47.3
52.8

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Lay-offs.

About 40 per cent of the women reported in Sioux City and about
31 per cent of those in St. Paul had been laid off at some time. Of
the Sioux City lay-offs 36.4 per cent, and of those in St. Paul 28.5 per
cent, were followed by an absence of less than four weeks. In each
city about 11 per cent were followed by an absence that lasted 36
weeks or longer.
Breaks in employment of new and of all employees.

About 40 per cent of the women reported, both in Sioux City and
in St. Paul, were new employees, hired for the first time during the
year of study. Larger proportions of the new than of all employees
had had breaks in employment, the difference between new and all
being greater in Sioux City than in St. Paul. Larger proportions of
the new employees than of all had had only one such break, probably
due to not being taken back after a lay-off. The proportions having
broken employment were as follows:
New employees
City

Number of
women
295
403

Per cent
having
breaks
89.5
89.6

All employees
Number of
women
734
984

Per cent
having
breaks
81.7
84.2

In Sioux City, St. Paul, and Ottumwa combined, over half the new
employees had worked less than four weeks before their first break in
employment; less than 5 per cent had worked as long as 24 weeks.
Women who were paid a bonus.

Of 282 women in Sioux City who were employed in departments
operating under the bonus system, more than three-fourths received
bonus payments at some time during the year. In almost half the
cases (43.6 per cent) such payments were received in less than 12 of
the weeks worked. For St. Paul the corresponding figures are 798
women in departments having the bonus system, more than fourfifths receiving bonus payments, and such payments being received
in less than 12 weeks in 41.4 per cent of the cases.
Women who received the 40-hour guaranty.

Of 734 women in Sioux City and of 984 in St. Paul in firms having
the 40-hour guaranty, only 24.4 per cent in Sioux City and 18.9 per
cent in St. Paul actually received such guaranty at any time, the
practice being to transfer women to other departments for the remain
ing hours of a shift rather than pay for time not worked. In each
city more than one-third of the women receiving the guaranty had
guaranty payments in only one week.
Women who had vacation with pay.

Of 734 women in Sioux City and of 798 in St. Paul in firms allowing
vacation with pay after a certain period of service, less than 8 per cent
in Sioux City and less than 10 per cent in St. Paul had had such vaca
tion within the year.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
COMPOSITION AND ECONOMIC STATUS OF THE FAMILIES OF
WOMEN

_ In eight cities, 897 women were visited in their homes, and these
interviews gave information on the type of home and size of family;
the number of wage earners, lodgers, and dependents; the extent to
which members of families were employed in the same industry; the
total family income; and the contribution made by the woman worker
to the support of the family.
Wage earners in the family other than the woman visited.

The chief source of employment for the families visited was the
meat-packing industry. Of the families reporting, 387 had two or
more wage earners in meat packing, and in over three-fourths of these
all wage earners in the family were so employed. Nearly 30 per cent
of the men and 20 per cent of the women were reported as not being
steadily employed.
Sources of family income.

Of the 848 families for whom this information was reported, prac
tically three-fourths had no income other than the wages received by
their members. About one-sixth of all the families visited made
definite statements to the effect that they were buying on install
ments or paying irregularly for the barest needs of life—food, cloth
ing, coal, or rent—or for the emergencies created by illness.
Responsibilities of the women.

Of the women visited in their homes, 152 were self-supporting only,
and considerably over one-half of these were 25 years of age or more;
101 reported that they were the sole support of themselves and their
families, nearly one-fifth of which consisted of four or more persons.
Of the 634 women who did not report that they were the sole support
of themselves or others but told the interviewer why they were at
work, less than 3 per cent gave choice rather than necessity as their
reason for working. Roughly one-third of these reported working
because of insufficiency of husband’s earnings or the need to keep up
general family expenses; and almost another one-third had lost their
husbands through death, desertion, or divorce, or were helping rela
tives other than husband and children. For another large group, the
husbands had unsteady employment. Many women reported being
at work for some very definite purpose, such as to educate children,
to pay for a home or for a series of doctor and hospital bills, to buy
furniture, to make a visit to the old country, or to get a start in life
and save something while young. Complete reports of the family
income were made by 173 women partially but not entirely supporting
their families. The earnings of women interviewed constituted 40
per cent of the income of these families.
The employed woman is likely to have the double responsibility of
her work for wages and her labor in the family. Cooking, cleaning,
laundry, and the care of children must be provided for in some way,
and these women could not afford to spend much to have this work
done. Over one-fifth cf the more than 400 mothers reporting had
children under 6 years of age, and in about 70 per cent of the cases all
the children were so young that they were in school.

SUMMARY OR FINDINGS

The homes of the workers.

About 90 per cent of the women reported lived at home; this in
cluded wives, mothers, daughters, granddaughters, and sisters living
with single brothers or sisters. In about one-half of the cases the
households consisted of from two to four members. About threefifths of the households had houses or apartments of four or five
rooms. Thirteen per cent of the families had lodgers. Of the 337
households having 5 or more persons, 137 lived in 4 rooms or less,
obviously a crowded condition for groups of such size.
Of 757 families reporting on this, 358 owned their homes; in over
60 per cent of the cases these wore encumbered. One-third of all
houses reported had the modem equipment of bath, toilet, and sink;
less than one-tenth were without any of these conveniences, but an
additional one-fourth had no inside toilet.
The amount of rent was reported for 373 families. About 45 per
cent of the rented homes consisted of four rooms, for which the
families paid $15 and under $20 a month. Rent showed a tendency
to be higher in Chicago than elsewhere.

PART III.—OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN IN MEAT PACKING 1

In the early era of the meat-packing industry, slaughtering the
livestock and dressing and curing the carcasses for the immediate
market—that is, the processes of the abattoir—were the principal
functions of the industry. With growth and development, the inten
sive utilization of by-products and the manufacture of a wider
variety of edible and other special products have become vastly
important, and in their train have come new demands for the labor of
both men and women. The economies of large-scale enterprise led
to mergers within the industry, which has evolved into one of large
units in which, quite generally, it is practicable and economical for
the management to divide tasks and specialize labor to a fine degree.
The subdivision of tasks, new products, and new methods of
marketing have opened up a number of occupations that can be
performed by women. In the early history of the industry few women
were employed, but now they are found throughout almost the entire
plant and especially in departments in which the character of the work
is largely that of manufacturing. Women did not replace men to
any appreciable extent, but came either to take a new job or to fill
part of an old one that had been subdivided and recast into several.
New methods for marketing meat products—canned goods, sliced
bacon in small packages, paper packages of lard, packaging of sausage
and similar products—have increased materially the occupations open
to women.
Some of the operations require considerable manual skill, but most
of the occupations for both men and women are unskilled and those
for women are, except for certain disagreeable conditions of work that
accompany the slaughtering industry, quite similar to food prepara
tion or simple packing operations in other industries.
Table 1 shows by city the occupational distribution of the women
reported in this survey. Of the total, about 60 per cent were employed
in three departments, as follows: 29.4 per cent in sausage, 16.7 per
cent in sliced bacon, and 14.6 per cent in pork trim. The cities
differed widely in this comparison. For example, in the five with the
largest totals, the proportions of women in the combined sausage
departments ranged from 12.4 per cent in Sioux City to 45.9 per cent
in Omaha, those in sliced bacon from 4.8 per cent in Sioux City to
20.4 per cent in Chicago, and those in pork trim from 7.7 per cent in
Omaha to 24 per cent in Sioux City. Other departments employing, in
all cities combined, more than 5 per cent of the women were as follows:
Canning, 7.8 per cent; beef, hog, and sheep casings, 7.6 per cent;
offal, 7.3 per cent; smoked meat (ham and bacon wrapping), 5.8
per cent; and the lard refinery (including small numbers on butter,
butterine, and cheese), 5.1 per cent. The kill department employed
3.5 per cent and all other departments together less than 3 per cent
of the women reported. The discussion that follows will deal with
the occupations of women in the various departments in the order
in which the product is handled rather than in that of numbers of
women employed.
1 This chapter was prepared by Miss Ethel Erickson, ol the field-investigation department.

by department of women employed in slaughtering and meat-packing establishments, by city
Number of women in—

Department

All departments___ ______

Num
ber

Per
cent

Chicago

Denver

East St.
Louis

469

Fort
Worth

Kansas
City

1 6,564

100.0

1,703

Kill......................................
Offal____ _____ ________

232
480

3.5
7.3

7
81

9
33

37
78

Casings................................ ............

497

7.6

105

115
382

1.8
5.8

34
71

16
43

Fancy-meat cooler_____ ______
Pork trim ........................

58
958

.9
14.6

4
161

Sausage casings_______________

307

4.7

102

. 23

53
105
149

.8
1.6
2.3

39
40
23

1,269

19.3

311

122

812
295
162

12.4
4.5
2.5

138
173

Sausage pack...............................................

357

5.4

Fresh sausage____________________
Dry sausage"______ ____________

217
72
68
380
1,094
41
511
335
39
6

Beef_____________ _____
Hog and sheep__________________

Fresh sausage______________ .
Dry sausage____ _________ .
Blind not reported_____
Sausage manufacturing............... _ _ _
Fresh sausage____ _____________
Dry sausage____________ ______

Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon)
Sliced bacon2...___ ___________
Cooked meat (ham and meat loaf) ...
Canning________ _____
Lard, butter, butterine, and cheese___ _____
Glue________________
Miscellaneous..................... ..........

Omaha

247

652

Ottumwa
and
St. Joseph St. Paul
Austin
297

187

38
26
1

-----------

984
---------ZT

734
110
76

74 —-—...

24
72

11
50

171

176

1
3
60

177

87
40
50

9
7

Sioux
City

2
62
2

161

3
9

117
34
18

123
34
4

40
11
20

3.3
1.1
1.0

40
26
11

8
5
15

32
2

4
10

24
5
8

5.8
16.7
.6
7.8
5.1
.6
.1

65
348
10
352
74
6

19
72
1

53
62
1

41
65

13
14

42
100

60
35

20
4

20
11

33
8

9
18

18
95
1

20
65
46
5
4

1 For 3 women in Kansas City and 1 in St. Joseph, department was not reported.

Los
Angeles
and San
Francisco

59
9

5
2

-----........
a Includes a few women on chipped beef, not discussed separately in this report.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

All wornen having dep artment
repc rted

Table 1.—Distribution

OCCUPATIONS OP WOMEN IN MEAT PACKING

Kill departments.
Policies with reference to the employment of women in the kill
departments are not uniform among the meat-packing companies and
sometimes differ in the plants of the same firm, due to practices of
local superintendents. Opinion as to the suitability of the work for
women varies. One of the largest of the meat-packing companies
has a general prohibition of the employment of women in the kill
and offal rooms, and relatively few women were found in these de
partments in the plants investigated. Of all the women for whom
information on the nature of jobs is compiled, less than 4 per cent
were in the kill departments; about three-fourths of these were em
ployed by one company, and all but four were in the plants of two
firms. Most of the women worked in hog-killing departments only,
few being noted in cattle and sheep slaughtering rooms. All the jobs of
the women were light work in comparison to those of the men. The
strain of continuous standing, sometimes on rather high, unguarded
platforms; the hazard of knife cuts in some occupations; a steamy
atmosphere and repugnant odors were the unpleasant features con
nected with work in these departments.
Women were not employed on the actual slaughtering operations,
but they were working as a part of the gang that dresses the carcasses
as they are carried on a conveyor en route to the coolers. In a se
quence of operations, the first job on which a woman was observed
was the supplying of hooks to men who were removing hogs from the
scalding vats and hanging them on overhead conveyor lines that
carry the carcasses through the dressing processes. A few women
noted were tying the bung gut—the largest intestine—before the
plucks were removed from the carcass; some were inserting and taking
out pins that spread the sides open for cleaning and inspection; others
were scraping the insides with a blunt tool after the leaf fat had been
removed; and a few were washing the insides of carcasses, using a light
spray brush. One of the most common occupations of women on the
hog-kill line was the loosening and exposing of kidneys for inspection.
Cutting out bruises and taking out the gullets were among the knife
jobs of women, and these require skill and adroitness in doing a simple
task quickly and with exactness as each carcass passes by the worker.
The largest number of women employed in the killing room were
on the last operation on the carcasses before they are carried into the
cooler—the stamping of every animal to indicate that it has been
approved by the United States Bureau of Animal Industry. Each
carcass is stamped a number of times—sometimes as many as 15 to
20—and in small plants or when the run of hogs is low one woman
would be doing all the stamping, while in others the work would be
done by two or more. In one plant five girls were stamping hogs on
the same line. If the hog-line conveyors were moving at a rapid rate,
it often was necessary for the stamper to run along the line to keep up
with her work, and .she was on the jump constan tly as long as the line
moved. In one plant a good arrangement of stamping was effected
by having a small, somewhat separated compartment off the killing
floor through which the line passed and in which two girls did the
stamping, one sitting on a rather low stool to stamp the head and
shoulders while the other was standing to stamp the back and hind
legs, the girls changing off on sitting and standing jobs. In a plant
where five girls were stamping on one line, three worked on the backs
and two on the insides.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

Most of the plants had no women in the beef or cattle killing de
partments, but a few had small numbers employed, some of whom had
been working on these jobs since the war period, when women were
used temporarily for expediency in a number of occupations that
since have been filled by men. In one plant a woman was giving
beeves their final washing with a spray, another was wiping shanks,
while the next in line put on shank rags. In a few plants women were
putting on long shrouds to cover the carcass while in the cooler; this
requires considerable reaching and a long pole is used to get the shroud
completely on. The shrouds are dipped in tepid water, and in one
instance men wrung them and did most of the long reaching. Another
occupation of women in beef kill was that of stuHing rags to stop flow
of blood into the opening where kidneys had been severed from the
carcass; where the kidneys were allowed to remain in, women were
wrapping or covering them with small pieces of cheese cloth. Putting
on or attaching tags to identify lots was another job on which women
were employed in the beef-kill department.
Offal department.

Like the kill, the offal department is not an agreeable work place,
and in both the proportion of negro and foreign-born women was
high in relation to that of native-born whites. Slightly more than 7
per cent of the women reported were employed in the offal rooms—a
little more than twice as many as in kill.
The offal department is likely to be in the same room as the slaugh
tering processes or in one directly below, since offal is a by-product
of the killing floors. The term covers a considerable variety of prod
ucts and includes the fat around the viscera and organs, casings,
paunches, livers, lungs, hearts, brains, cheeks, lips, tongues, and the
various glands saved for commercial and pharmaceutical purposes.
Because of the use of some of these for food, the department some
times is called fancy-meat products.
Offal requires immediate careful attention in cleaning and pre
paring after slaughtering, as most of the product deteriorates rapidly.
The women’s occupations seemed to fall into two groups—trimming
and separating parts by the use of a knife, and washing fat and other
offal. Among the knife jobs were the saving of weasand and gullet
meat, trimming livers, splitting hearts, skinning kidneys, trimming
oxtails, cutting gall bladders off livers, and cutting out lesions—in the
case of livers this was designated b3r the women as "spotting livers.”
Work on the head bench of hog offal was primarily trimming, and in
cluded such jobs as trimming tongues, cheeks, ears, snouts, and jaw
bones, and feeding the last named to a splitting wheel, operating the
machine that crushes skulls, and taking out brains. Operating the
skull-crushing machine usually is considered a man’s job and women
were so employed only in a few cases; it presents a specific accident
hazard, and in one of the home visits a negro woman employed in an
offal room told of two women suffering serious accidents on this ma
chine. Women were seen splitting stomachs and emptying the con
tents, washing them, and pulling off the membrane or lining from
which pepsin is obtained. Women also scrubbed, scraped, and cut
out glands between the toes of pigs’ feet.
Fat is a valuable product of the offal room and great effort is made
to salvage every bit possible. Washing, inspecting, and picking

OCCUPATIONS OP WOMEN IN MEAT PACKING

over fat probably employed more women than any other single occu
pation in the offal room. The fat usually is washed or inspected over
large vats under a continuous spray of warm water; women scoop it
from one vat to another or into a trough, picking out clots'of blood or
any bits of foreign matter. There were no especially undesirable
features connected with this except that it was very wet work and
required almost continuous immersing of hands in water. Other
washing jobs of women were scrubbing oxtails and washing brains and
sweetbreads.
Men usually have the more heavy occupations of separating sets
and plucks and pulling the guts, but in a few instances women were
employed on this work. The guts—uncleaned casings—are bound
loosely together with tissue, and as they are pulled into straight
lengths, membranes must be cut and care taken not to break the gut,
which requires skillful handling of a knife. The pulling of guts
involves a long continuous arm motion that appears quite strenuous.
Where women were employed on gut pulling, foremen volunteered
comments to the effect that women were fully as efficient as the men
employed, but the pay rolls showed that women were paid a lower
rate, explained by plant officials on the basis that the men sometimes
were shifted to heavier jobs and the women to easier work.
In certain seasons and in some plants, the middle hog gut is given
special treatment and is sold as an edible product—chitterlings.
Women—usually negro—are employed on cleaning the gut and pre
paring the chitterlings. This section of the gut is drawn on or over
long pole-like pipes or flushing rods that give the first washing. In
several offal rooms the flushing rods were placed near the floor, and
the women who worked at this operation necessarily did a great deal
of stooping. After chitterlings have received their first flushing,
they are turned and some of the fat is pulled off; then they are im
mersed in ice water and allowed to harden or toughen for a short time.
The final operation in the offal room is to remove them from the ice
water and sort and inspect them before they are sent to the offal
cooler or storage room. Work on chitterlings is wet and vile smell
ing and requires constant standing.
Casings department.

About the same proportion of women were employed in the casings
as in the offal department, 7.6 and 7.3 per cent, respectively. Casings
are the intestines of hogs, sheep, and cattle, and their principal use is
as sausage containers, although gut strings and other quite special
ized products sometimes are made from them. Like offal, casings
must be given their first cleaning promptly after removal from the
carcass,, to prevent discoloration and deterioration. Consequently,
the first stripping is done in the killing or offal rooms, and women were
reported on this work only in one or two instances, chiefly in connec
tion with hog and sheep casings.
Casings usually are divided into three classes—bungs, middles,
and rounds. The bung is the largest in diameter, the middle some
what smaller, and the rounds are the small casings. Bladders and
weasands (windpipes) usually are classed as casings. At least from
the standpoint of product worked on, the occupations of women in
the casings rooms are not so varied as those in the kill and offal
departments. They consist principally of scraping, inspecting,

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTEKING AND MEAT PACKING

by running water or compressed air through the casings, grading for
width, and measuring for length. Smaller numbers of women were
employed on trimming beef bungs, on clipping warts, in work on
bung-gut. skins—a fine membrane covering the bung—and on clean
ing, blowing, and grading bladders and weasands.
Scraping, to remove any remaining slime or fat not eliminated by
the first stripping and sliming, is done with a small, blunt tool on
long, wooden tables. Small casings—those of hogs and sheep—are
inspected for holes and irregularities by flushing with running water,
and at the same time they are graded for width in small wooden
gages and hung on pegs at the end of the washing tanks. The
disagreeable feature of the work is that it is wet, as is almost all the
work in the casings department.
On beef casings most of the women were employed on trimming
warts and fatty thicknesses from the bungs with scissors. For this
it is necessary to have some lighting arrangement, over or before
which the4 casings can be held to discover the irregularities in texture.
The inspection is done by inflating with compressed air.
Another job in this department on which a number of women are
employed is the salting of casings. Wet casings coming from the
inspecting and grading tables are packed in salt, where they are
allowed to remain for a day or two to be toughened. This seemed one
of the most disagreeable jobs, because of the tendency of the coarse
salt to cling to the workers’ hands, wet from handling the casings.
Salt sores sometimes result from this work, but foremen or plant
nurses questioned with regard to such infections replied that they had
known of very few cases. After a day or two in the salt bins the
casings are removed and shaken free of the surplus salt, preparatory
to packing.
Casings may be measured before or after their curing in dry salt,
and this is done either by hand at tables with yard markers or on
automatic measuring drums equipped with a yardage recording
device. Casings are then assembled into hanks of 300 feet (100 yards).
Women usually shift about at the jobs of grading and measuring.
Miscellaneous trimming jobs at which women were found were
cutting off fat ends of casings, trimming and cutting fat from the
necks of bladders, and trimming and skinning weasands. A few wom
en worked on bung-gut skins. Separating this thin tissue from the
gut was skilled knife work, as great care must be taken to preserve
both casing and skin from being broken. These skins are salted in
much the same way as are casings. Women were removing them
from the salt bins, shaking off the salt, and hanging them on the bars,
where they are allowed to hang a day or two until thoroughly dry.
After shaking off all the salt from the dried product, the ‘women
examine them for holes and trim them into uniform sizes. Work
on bung-gut skins is one of the driest and cleanest of the jobs in the
casings department.
Bladders and weasands usually are fatted in the offal room and
blown up with compressed air. In some plants they are routed from
the offal room to a small separate section or suite of rooms where one
woman does all the work on them. A description of this job taken
from a schedule is as follows:

OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN IN MEAT PACKING

After bladders and weasands have been cleaned, they are inflated with air,
tied, and allowed to dry; then they are trucked to a small storeroom cooled by
brine pipes. When a sufficient quantity is on hand for packing, the worker
turns on the steam to soften the brittle casings before she deflates them, after
ward grading and packing. She works in the cooler and steam room only for
short periods. Her duties are principally grading, counting, and tying in small
bundles.

In two instances, women employed on bladders or weasands com
mented to the investigators that they considered their jobs the best
of all those in which women were working.
Large casings with holes and thin places are made available for use
by trimming away the defective parts and sewing good pieces together
to make a strong product. In several plants women were employed
on this work. An ordinary power sewing machine was used for joining
the pieces together; next, the casings were inflated with compressed
air for inspection, and later they were stretched on long flat boards
to dry.
Fancy-meat cooler department.

Less than 1 per cent of the women worked in departments desig
nated as offal cooler, freezer pack, or fancy-meat cooler. In this
department brains, sweetbreads, hearts, livers, kidneys, oxtails, and
other meat specialties are packed for the market in tin pails—5 or
10 pound capacity—and in wooden boxes. In addition to the sim
ple hand-packing occupations, a few women were reported as prepar
ing and pounding cutlets and minute steaks and packing them in small
pails. Pounding of steaks is a heavy job, but it is not long con
tinued ; the steaks are only a minor product, and after about half an
hour the worker is shifted to another job. Work in the fancy-meat
cooler is a clean, simple, packing operation, the only bad feature
being the fact that the packing usually is done in the storage room,
which is cold and poorly ventilated.
Pork-trim department.

One of the largest occupational groups of wonien was that in the
pork-trim department, in which 14.6 per cent of all those covered by
the survey were engaged. Those employed in pork trim were ex
ceeded in numbers only by those in the sliced-bacon and sausage
departments. Everywhere pork trimming was considered to be one
of the most skilled jobs for women, and in a community in which
several packing houses are competing for labor, the employment office
is more reluctant in a slack season to lay off trimmers than any other
group of women, because it is difficult to replace them when the busi
ness trend is upward again. In some plants estimates of a year or
more were given as the time required to become a skilled pork trimmer.
Primarily, the job of the pork trimmer is separating or cutting out
lean from fat, trimming edges and rinds, and retrimming trimmings
from the pork-cut department, the last named being used in the
manufacturing departments for a variety of meat products. The
earnings of pork trimmers are almost always on a piece or incentive
basis, and rates are based on the weight of lean trimmings. Trimmers
must cut out -bones, blood clots, and bruises as well as separate
lean from fat. For the most part women work on small, scrappy
pieces of meat (see frontispiece), but to a limited extent they are em
ployed on larger pieces, trimming “gem squares”—squares for salt
64051°—32----- 3

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

pork, butts, blades, and small chunks of pork—into shape for mar
keting. Occasionally they were found trimming hams or handling
pieces that weighed up to 15 or 20 pounds.
The pork comes from the cooler and usually is chilled so that the
meat is quite hard, which makes it difficult for the knife to penetrate
esP^la% 111 the case of larger cuts. Since the speed and ease with
which they are able to work depends largely on the keenness of their
knives the women provide their own knives and sharpening steels,
lo make the blades cut the cold or frozen meat more easily, many of
+ vi w01Sen leated their knives in pails of hot water at the work
table Hot water was obtained by carrying the pails to a live-steam
outlet and heating the water by application of the steam. Besides
the regular pork-trimming jobs, women were engaged in cleaning
pigs feet, packing pigs’ tails and ribs, and sometimes in packing offal
A lew women who were employed in the pork-cut department and
whose occupations were similar to those in pork trim have been
grouped with the pork trimmers in the tabulations. These had such
work as trimming pork butts and blades or acting as tenders on the
pork-hne conveyors, directing the meat to the proper chutes as it
passed along. No women were found in the beef-cutting room
proper, but in one or two places women were trimming steaks, cut
lets, and small cuts for the local wholesale trade.
Each trimmer has a large individual can in which she deposits
the trimmed meat that is to be weighed for her credit The most
common arrangement is to have an opening in the table under
which the can fits, so that the trimmed meat can easily be dropped or
pushed into it. Practices vary in getting these cans to the scales for
weighing. In a number of plants men carried the cans to the scales
in some cases they also carried the pails of hot water for women to
use in heating their knives. In one plant women moved their cans
to the scales on small trucks with long handles that they called “buggms. VVhen filled with meat, the cans weigh from 50 to 80 pounds
and it is heavy work to handle them if no help or special conveyance
is provided for getting them to the scales. From the home visits a
number of unsolicited comments on the pork trimmer’s iob were con
cerned with this problem of getting the filled can to the scales
iypical examples are:
Have to lift cans with pork weighing 60 to 80 pounds.
.
!hef«bUKkelS under the table, the women fill them with 50 to 54 pounds
of meat and the bucket weighs 10 to 15 pounds. Some women fill 20 to 25 buck
ets a day. VV omen must pull and lift these buckets onto a bridge conveyor close
behind them. Man used to help, but not now.
*

Sausage department.

The numerical stronghold of women in meat packing is in the
sausage department. The largest proportion of the women covered
by this study—almost 30 per cent—were employed there, and every
plant visited had some women on sausage work. The work mav be
divided roughly mto three classes: That concerned with sausage
casings, the making or manufacture of the sausage, and the packing.
TV*16-)VOIlien rePorted as in sausage in this survey were grouped within
the department as 15.9 per cent on casings, 65.6 per cent on making
and 18.5 per cent on packing. Women outnumber men on most
occupations m the sausage department and are employed as stuft'ers,

OCCUPATIONS OP WOMEN IN MEAT PACKING

linkers, tiers, ropers of dry sausage, hangers, and helpers in preparing
the raw materials in the kitchens, where they wash pans, mix spices,
or fit in wherever needed.
Trimmings from the pork-trim room, beef and cured meats, and
offal such as hearts, lungs, giblets, and head meat are chopped and
mixed with spices and other ingredients to form the seemingly endless
variety of sausage and other products having ground meat as a base.
Sausage making may be divided into two main divisions, and in a
large plant these are separate: Domestic or fresh sausage and summer
or dry sausage. Frankfurters, pork sausage, liver sausage, and
bologna are typical of the fresh vaiieties, and salami, cervelat,
cappicola, and mortadella of the summer or dry. In all but the
largest plants the various kinds of sausage are made in one department.
Most of the fresh sausage varieties are cooked, but the dry varieties
are not. The latter are heavily spiced and hung in drying rooms
for from three weeks to six months before marketing. Great care is
given to the handling of the materials and the manufacturing of dry
sausage, as the complete processing consumes Considerable time and
the possibility of damage by the wrong land of bacterial action over
the long drying period is always a factor. Also, the casings must be
protected against excessive strain while drying.
Casings.—Casings used in the sausage department have been pre
pared by the regular procedure in the casings department, but before
they are filled with the sausage mixture they are flushed with water,
inspected for defects, turned, fatted again if necessary, measured and
cut into required lengths, and tied with cord at one end ready for
stuffing.
Sausage casings almost always are handled in a room adjoining or
close to the making room, and the temperature and the condition of
walls and windows ordinarily are the same. In small plants, casings
are prepared in the same room in which the stuffing is done. The
floors tend to be as wet as in the regular casings rooms, but otherwise
better conditions obtain. Usually stools and platforms are pro
vided. For cutting the casings into proper lengths, many women stick
a common unguarded butcher knife into the wooden table with the
blade toward the worker, and against this cut a bunch of casings with
a single forward movement. The position and sharpness of the knife
give this the appearance of danger, but no comments about accidents
in connection with it were reported. One plant had a horizontal knife
with a protecting top guard that seemed safe and efficient.
Manufacture.—In the sausage-making room proper, a stuffer with
a group of linkers, tiers, ropers, and a hanger work together as a crew
at one table. Where an incentive system of payment has been intro
duced, the bonus depends on the joint effort of the group and is di
vided among them.
Although not heavy nor difficult work, except for filling the. hopper,
the stuffing of sausage is normally a man’s job. Perhaps this is partly
because it involves the operation of a stuffing machine driven by
compressed air, and partly because filling the hopper of the stuffer with
meat, which is done by shoveling, is heavy work; if women are em
ployed as stuffers, it is necessary to have roustabout boys to do this
work, which the man stuffer does himself. One of the large Chicago
plants employed women as stuffers and a few others had small
numbers of women on stuffing, but on the whole there were relatively

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

few women on this job. The stuffer attaches the open end of the casing
to be filled to a tube, controls pressure forcing the meat into the casing,
and when the casing is filled, releases the power and drops the sausage
onto the table, where the tiers, linkers, or ropers make it into a finished
product.
_ Linking is the occupation in which the largest number of women
in the sausage-manufacturing department are engaged. Small-sized
dry sausage—that contained in small casings—is linked, but most
other varieties are tied and then roped. The linkers, by a deft twist
ing motion, separate the lengths of stuffed casings into sausage links.
Frankfurters and pork sausage in small casings are the most common
of the linked varieties of fresh sausage. Linking, like pork trimming,
is a skilled occupation, and it requires a term of apprenticeship to
acquire dexterity. Foremen in the sausage departments estimated
that from two or three weeks to six months of experience is necessary
to become a good and a fast linker. At the time of the survey there
were rumors of the introduction of an automatic sausage-linking
machine; one firm reported that one of its branches was making a
try-out of such a device, but none were seen in the course of the
study. At one place a table chute extended from the stuffer to the
hanger, inclining toward the latter. The stuffer sent sausages to the
far end of the table through the chute, and the women linkers near
the stuffer sent their finished sausages to the hanger by this slide.
_ Larger sausages of the bologna type are tied to retain the contents
in the casing and some are roped for protection. The hard-twisted
cord is tied or knotted very tightly close to the end of the sausage.
Pulling this cord taut sometimes cuts the hands of the tier, and women
interviewed in their homes frequently exhibited calloused hands as
markings of their job. _ After tying, some of the large sausages are
pounded lightly with wire-like paddles to perforate the casings, which
expedites the drying or smoking of the sausage. Roping forms a
protective network of cord over the casing relieving it of the full weight
and strain of the contents while hanging in the drying room. Roping
does not employ so many women as linking, but like linking it is
skilled, a period of from a few weeks to months being required to
attain sufficient experience to be considered a good roper. As in
tying, the cord used in roping is hard-twisted, and women on this
work sometimes had their fingers bound with rags to prevent cuts and
callouses.
After the making of the sausage—both fresh and dry—it is hung on
racks for conveying it to the smokehouse, dryhouse, or cooler. The
hanger works at the end of each sausage-making unit, taking the
sausages as they are finished, wiping them with a cloth if necessary,
then hanging them by string loops at one end on rods that are lifted
onto the racks. When large sausages in bungs or bladders are being
made, their weight may be as much as 10 or 15 pounds each, and with
three or four of these dangling on a rod the lifting part of the hanger’s
job becomes strenuous. In some cases where heavy sausages were
being made, two women were employed in hanging. Though many
of the linkers and ropers have stools that they can use while working,
the hanger necessarily stands at her job. New and inexperienced
women often start their training as sausage makers on hanging, being
relieved occasionally by one of the other workers so as to try the

OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN IN MEAT PACKING

linking, tying, or roping. In some plants the other members of the
group take turns on the hanging job.
Besides the work on sausage making, women are employed on
miscellaneous food-preparation jobs. Meat loaves of many varieties,
blocks of chili con carne, and special cooking and treatment of cuts of
meat such as pork butts are products of the sausage department, and
women are engaged in their preparation. In the sausage kitchens
women do such work as skinning tongues, lining meat-loaf pans with
pieces of fat and filling them with ground-meat mixtures, preparing
onions, green peppers, and pimentos, taking blocks of chili out of
molds,_ washing pans, and other jobs of simple kitchen nature.
Mixing of spices for the various recipes is one of the pleasant
occupations, for women in the sausage department. Generally the
spice room is a small pantry-like arrangement off the making room,
clean and dry. One or more women measure, weigh, grind, and blend
spices for the various kinds of sausage. Care and attention to detail
must be given in following the formulas exactly, as the wrong mixture
of spices might easily ruin an entire lot of sausages.
Packing.—Approximately one-fifth of the women reported in the
sausage department were in sausage pack. The marketing of pork
and other sausage in small wrapped packages has increased the demand
for women’s work in this department, as has the introduction and
wrapping of blocks of chili, liver cheese, jellied pigs’ feet, meat loaf,
and such products. Girls in the sausage pack are predominantly
American-born and tend to be younger than those in sausage making.
The work, although in cold rooms, is dry and clean and of such a nature
that young girls prefer it to most other meat-packing jobs.
The occupations are all of a simple packing nature, consisting
chiefly.of taking sausages off racks, tagging some varieties, and packing
them in paper or wooden boxes. Packing pork sausages in small
cartons or in cellophane wrapping and packing frankfurters are among
the most common jobs, and setting up paper boxes or cartons is another
simple and easy job that employs a considerable proportion of the
girls.in this department. Women often work in teams in sausage
packing, the various groups taking the sausage off the rack, weighing
out lots, packing, and covering and tying the boxes. Dry sausage
often has to be wiped off to remove a grayish covering, and some of it
is reroped to improve its appearance for marketing. The reroping in
sausage packing is not so difficult nor skilled a job as that in sausage
making and is most often a machine process. The women workers
shift around on the various jobs, a number of which may be done
either sitting or standing.
Smoked meats or ham house.

For this, survey the smoked-meat department has been considered
as the division handling hams and slabs of bacon, sliced bacon being
treated as a separate division. The work in smoked meats, on which
nearly.6 per cent of.the women reported were employed, is a packing
operation and conditions are much like sausage packing except that
heavier lifting is involved. Women wrap, tie, label, and weigh hams
and slabs of bacon so that they can be shipped to the markets. The
size of the establishment tends to determine the extent to which the
work is subdivided; in some cases the girls lift hams or bacon slabs from
the racks and wrap, stamp, and tie each piece, while in others every

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

operation is a separate step. In a medium-sized or large packing
house, the usual jobs of women are of three kinds, as follows:
1. Taking hams and pieces of bacon off the racks.—Where women are
employed for this job they rarely keep at it all day, but shift to other
work. Men also are employed on tins, and often they lift the pieces
from the higher rungs of the racks, since climbing ladders and carry
ing down hams of over 15 pounds in weight is a heavy job for all but
the strongest girls and women.
2. Laying paper for the wrapping of meats—This involves a rather
long and continuous arm motion, but otherwise it is a simple, un
skilled job.
3. Wrapping hams.—After being lifted down from the racks, hams
generally are placed on the wrapping papers and carried by means of
a conveyor through the middle of the table to the women who do
the wrapping. Many of the wrapping tables found in the plants in
this study had this conveyor arrangement, which eliminates much of
the lifting and makes possible the effective division of labor. Where
there was no such conveyor, the girls had to push the hams along
from one to another. The wrapping is done with speed and deftness,
and seems to require little turning or lifting of the piece. The hams
are tied with tape or soft cord, and in most cases tins does not cut the
hands of the workers as does the hard cords in some departments. The
pasting on of labels, in no way a difficult job, may be done either before
or after the tying and weighing. Chutes at the end of the tables
carrj; the completed packages to the shipping department, ready to
be billed out. For some markets—southern or foreign—hams are
sewed into a tight cloth covering, and at the time of the survey a few
of the places visited had women so employed. In sewing, the women
hold the ham between their knees—a tiring position—but as the
demand for such wrapping is small they are not kept long at this
work. In one plant there were specially designed seats for this work,
and leather straps were attached to the table for holding the hams
while being sewed. Another occupation, observed in only one or
two instances, was the labeling of hams that had been covered with
a tar-like coating after wrapping; this involved continuous standing
and reaching, as the labels were put on while hams were on the racks.
Stools were provided for most women in the ham house, but occa
sionally the only seating facilities were boxes. Where girls wrapped
along conveyors, they usually sat at work; but if no conveyor was
provided, standing was the more convenient position.
Sliced-bacon department.

About one-sixth of the women for whom occupations were reported
were in sliced bacon, and this department ranked next to sausage in
numbers of women employed. Work on sliced bacon formerly was
done in the general smoked-meats division, and in a few plants it
still was being prepared in this department, where the girls shifted
from wrapping hams and bacon to work on sliced bacon, with some
times a small number on chipped beef.
The jobs of the women in sliced-bacon departments in plants where
the more up-to-date methods were used were slicing, weighing, filling
trays, packing, tallying or checking, and wrapping in glassine.
The operating of the slicing machines was done largely by men, but
in at least one-fourth to one-third of the plants they were operated by
women for a part of the time. The machines appeared to be well

OCCUPATIONS OP WOMEN IN MEAT PACKING

guarded, and there seemed to be no particular strain of operation that
might be considered a handicap in the employment of women. A
few plants had combined weighing and slicing machines that deposited
prescribed quantities of sliced bacon on sheets of wrapping tissue.
Where the automatic process was less complete, the bacon came from
the slicing machine on large pans, was weighed into proper quantities
by women scalers, and was placed on individual trays for distribution
to the packers either by a belt conveyor through the middle of the
packing tables or by tray girls who carried them. Sliced bacon was
packed both in cartons and in cellophane wrapping. If cartons were
being used, these generally were set up in an adjoining room.
Packers sat on both sides of long tables and worked very rapidly,
overlapping the slices of bacon in a step-like form or spread. Those
at work nearest the scalers were likely to take the best pans of bacon
from the conveyors, so to give all the girls an equal chance, the
workers were rotated or progressed from the top to the bottom of the
table.
After the packing was completed, tally girls checked the packages
and the cartons were wrapped in glassine paper and placed in shipping
cases ready for the market. At other tables, bacon of a less perfect
grade was packed in larger boxes for hotel and restaurant use, and
this was not handled with the same care as was given to the firstquality pack.
Chipped beef sometimes was packed in small cellophane packages,
in glasses, or in cartons holding three or five pounds. Except in the
largest plants the packing of chipped beef was in the sliced-bacon
department, and working conditions were similar for the two occupa
tions. In large plants the girls who packed chipped beef usually sat
along the sides of tables with a central conveyor, while in small plants
a few girls at a separate table did all this packing and wrapping.
When chipped beef was packed in glasses, these usually were capped
and labeled by machines tended by women.
Lard and similar departments.

The packaging of lard is the only job in the lard department on
which women are employed to any appreciable extent. Fat of all
kinds is saved and cleaned or washed by women in the offal depart
ments, but the actual processing of lard as a manufactured product
is done by men. Because of the similarity of jobs, women employed
in lard, butter, butterine, and cheese have been grouped together,
and they make up about 5 per cent of the total number of women
included in the survey.
_
The filling of 1-pound containers with lard is done almost entirely
by automatic machinery tended by women. After the blanks for the
cartons have been fed into the machine, the cartons are set up with
an inner lining, the lard is poured and cooled, and the packages are
closed, without direct human labor at any point in the process until
the filled cartons are taken off. Girls are employed at different
points on the line to see that all is going smoothly, to take off any
defective packages, and generally to prevent anything from interfer
ing with straight progress. One such unit was reported as having an
output of 45 1-pound packages a minute, and the rhythm of work did
not seem unduly fast. Where the filling arrangement and the machin
ery are not so automatic, girls set up the cartons with small foottreadle carton machines, others fill the cartons at volume fillers, most

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

of which shut off automatically when the prescribed weight of lard
has been poured, and another group closes the cartons and removes
them from the conveyor.
In some cases women were employed on filling larger buckets or
pails of lard; they were seen working on wooden pails weighing 65 to
85 pounds, but since these were carried on rollers or other conveyors
the women were not required to do any actual lifting. In one instance
the women were doing all the filling and lifting operations on gallon
pails weighing about 8 pounds. Working steadily on this job all day
would be heavy labor, but in the lard departments—especially in the
smaller plants—the girls were shifted about on different kinds of fill
ing and labeling, operations. In some cases where men were doing
the filling, the girls lined wooden pails with tissue, as a preliminary
process, and later pasted labels and sealed large pails.
Work for women in the oleo and butterine departments is similar
to that in lard, involving only the packaging. Naturally, butterine
and butter are not poured like lard but are cut in blocks and wrapped.
Wire cutters are operated by women. In the large plants 1-pound
packages are wrapped by automatic machines, with a girl tending
but in no other way assisting in the process. Pound blocks of butter
and butterine divided into sections, and all fancy or odd-shaped prints,
are wrapped and cartoned by hand. Small numbers of women were
packaging cheese.
Canning department.

The number of women employed in the canning department was
relatively small—less than 8 per cent of those for whom occupations
were reported. Canning of meat in the plants covered was definitely
centralized in the large Chicago plants, almost 70 per cent of the
women reported as employed in canning being in that city; of these,
approximately 60 per cent were in two plants.
Women outnumber men in the canning of meat products, and they
are employed extensively throughout the department. Much of the
work is simple food preparation and some of it is almost identical with
the work in the pork-trim and sausage rooms. Women were washing
cans and jars; trimming cooked and uncooked meats; skinning
tongues; boning chicken; stuffing sausages and cutting them into
short lengths for canning; stuffing cans; labeling and painting cans
and packing them in shipping boxes; and performing general and
miscellaneous jobs throughout the department.
Automatic machines and the use of conveyors for carrying the
product through the processes is almost standard equipment. Women
feed cans to conveyors that carry them into washing and sterilizing
machines and then on to the stuffers. Stuffing—the filling of cans—
is done both by hand and by machine. In most places, food like
tongue, chicken, pigs’ feet, and small sausages is stuffed by hand, while
corned beef, hash, and all products in which the shape of the units
packed is unimportant are stuffed by compressed-air machines. Hand
stuffing requires skill and experience to get a neat and suitable pack.
After stuffing, women weigh the cans, if necessary adding to or remov
ing some of the contents to bring the weight to the amount desired.
The cooking processes are carried on in large automatic steam
retorts tended by men experienced in steam cooking. Cans are closed
in a variety of ways, depending on the type of can, most of them being
capped or soldered by machine methods. Some pass through a

OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN IN MEAT PACKING

vacuum machine that exhausts the air from the can and solders the
vent opening, the soldering iron being watched through a glass slide
and controlled by the operator. There was said to be no possible
lead hazard on this type of soldering, as the machine is inclosed and
has its own exhaust. Some hand soldering was reported but no appar
ent hazard was noted.
After the cans have been sealed, they are painted, labeled, or
wrapped for the consumer, those for export trade usually being
painted or shellacked. Painting—apparently the most disagreeable
job in this department—is done both by machine and by hand. The
rooms in which this operation was carried on were heavy with fumes
and seemed to be in need of improved ventilating facilities. The
hand painting is done very rapidly, the women on this job walking
from one pile of cans to another, taking down and building up the
pyramids of cans on the long row of tables. Practically all the label
ing of cans of standard shape and size is done by machine, the women
feeding the machines and taking off the cans. Irregular-sized cans
and some special packs are labeled by hand, and this, like the hand
painting, is done at great speed, the labeler moving from pile to pile
as she puts labels on seemingly endless rows of cans. Neatness as
well as speed is required, and several weeks are necessary to become
an experienced labeler. After this process is completed, girls stack
the cans on trucks or pack them in corrugated or wooden boxes for
shipping. Trucking of cans is done by boys or men. At almost all
these operations there are women employed on inspection jobs; and
another considerable group is made up of general workers shifting
about from one job to another and fitting in wherever needed.
Other occupations.

The boiled-ham department, glue processes, and miscellaneous
occupations employed less than 1.5 per cent of the women. In the
boiled-ham department, women were employed on washing molds,
which was a heavy job because of the continuous lifting of heavy
molds, and was hard on the hands because of the caustic used to cut
the grease. In one plant, molds were washed in warm water only—
no soap powder or soda being used—and then were fed into a steam
chest where sterilization by live steam was said to obviate the need
of caustics. The molds were pushed into the steam chest as they
were washed, and as a washed mold was put into the chest a sterilized
mold fell out at the other end, thus making it unnecessary for the
worker to handle them while hot. Weighing, wrapping, and tying
of boiled hams generally was done in the sausage-pack cooler.
Not all the plants visited had glue departments, and only about
one-fourth had any women employed on glue. The women found
were almost exclusively negroes. Women were not employed at all
on the early processes, but they worked on glue in the form of hard
jellied blocks. A few women were seen operating glue-slicing ma
chines—circular-knifed machines that cut rectangular slabs about
six by eight inches and less than an inch in thickness. Most of the
women were spreading these slabs on wire drying racks, to be stacked
in dryers, or were knocking or raking off dried glue. The spreaders
worked very rapidly and all jobs were done standing. When spread
with glue, the racks were estimated to weigh about 25 pounds, and
since they were lifted by two girls it was not an especially heavy job
except when the women tried to speed up work by lifting several

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

racks at a time. The odors of drying glue were strong, and the
floors were sticky. Comments from the home interviews on gluedepartment jobs include these:
Lifting tired her greatly. Said girls would lift three racks at a time from high
stack and carry them to worktable. Often they were carried above head to
avoid running into other workers.
Floors very sticky-—feet get sore because glue works into shoes.
Interviewed woman was on spreading. Has to lift racks over her head, and
though the racks do not weigh (worker’s estimate) more than 30 to 35 pounds
after spread, and two women do the lifting, it still seems hard. Also, since it
is piecework the tendency is for the girls to speed.

Small numbers of women were candling eggs, sewing cattle shrouds
and shank rags, and doing mending. Jobs not directly connected
with meat products, such as those in soap making or in handling
pharmaceutical goods, hair and wool, and horns and hoofs, generally
were in separate plants and were not included in the inspections nor
in the taking of wage records.
A few women employed on defleshing hog skins and preparing them
for leather have been included in the wage tables under offal, but
this operation was performed in separate rooms and was one of the
most unpleasant of all jobs. No skin room reported had really good
conditions, and the following excerpt from a factory schedule is
typical of the worst:
Shin room.—Iron and board platforms provided for the defleshing-machine
operators. The excess fat is taken off hides by feeding them through machine
rollers, which presses and brushes off all the grease. The grease runs off into
tanks and some splashes to the floor. The defleshing machine is similar to a
mangle, one of the rollers being heated with steam to melt the fat. Greasy
hides make the work especially repulsive. Steam was escaping from one of the
machines and rising in clouds between the operator and her work. Although
the work looked somewhat dangerous, the foreman said there had been no ac
cidents and that the rollers moved too slowly to make it likely for the workers’
hands to be drawn in with the hides. Room was crowded and steam rose into
the operators’ faces. After defleshing, the hides or skins are washed in a low
tank and hung on wooden horses or racks for the water to drip off. Lastly
they are sorted and graded and packed in wooden boxes according to grades
and weight. The room was hot, floor slippery, and clouds of steam everywhere;
room dark, crowded with machines, trucks, and tanks.

Occupational progression.

To the question as to whether progress was possible for women
in the occupations in meat packing, the answer usually was to the
effect that there was scarcely any, except that in every department
there were likely to be a few less skilled jobs in which beginners were
placed, and in addition workers sometimes were “advanced” from
timework to piecework. If a foreman had a good worker, he was
likely to be reluctant to recommend her to another department even
at her own request. Occasionally a girl might work her way to the
office, which was considered an advance.
In a number of plants women were employed as assistants to fore
men of certain departments; usually these were personally responsible
for supervising and teaching the women, but they had no adminis
trative power nor general responsibility over the department. Oc
casionally such a woman was a member of the plant committee.
One plant reported that the assistants were selected from the de
partment as experienced workers, and that in some cases they spent
all their time supervising but in others they shared in the regular
work of the department.

PART IV.—WORKING CONDITIONS1

The type and arrangement of buildings in which meat-packing
plants are housed depend largely on the age and size of the establish
ments. The largest plants have grown over periods of 40 or 50 years
and some represent the merger of two or more firms. Their buildings
are spread over many acres and sometimes are connected by outside
bridges, docks, and passages that seem devious to the outsider. In
a few places visited in the present study women were found employed
in 8 to 10 scattered buildings, within which conditions varied con
siderably. A plant that has grown more or less haphazardly over
a long period of years can not be compared with a compact plant
built as a unit within the past 10 years.
_
In the new buildings, packing-house engineers have given expression
to their ideas of the methods of routing and arrangement most ad
vantageous for the industry. The new buildings usually are of
brick and concrete, fireproof, sanitary, and durable, with the flow of
product toward its final destination at the shipping dock largely
based on gravity. Departments or buildings frequently are grouped
together according to the general type of work, and they may, for
example, be grouped as follows: First, those concerned with the
abattoir processes—the slaughtering, offal, and casings departments;
second, the cold storage or freezer units, such as the curing rooms, the
offal cooler, the pork-cut and pork-trim rooms; third, the sausage
manufacturing department; fourth, the more strictly packing depart
ments, such as the smokehouse and the sliced bacon, lard, canning,
and sometimes the sausage-pack departments; and fifth, the buildings
concerned with inedible products such as hides, fertilizers, and glue,
in which few or no women are employed.
_
Generally speaking, there is relatively little shifting from building
to building or department to department, except the practice in a
few plants of operating the kill gang only part of the day, with a high
killing rate per hour, and then shifting these workers to some other
department—in the case of women, pork trim—and the more general
practice of shifting for brief periods gangs that have completed their
jobs and that otherwise would be paid for time not worked.
If the plants are considered as units, maintenance and housekeeping
are almost always good. One or two departments may not be up to
the general standard, but there is always evidence that great effort
is being expended to keep the buildings and equipment clean and
sanitary. In addition to a direct inspection of animals slaughtered,
the Bureau of Animal Industry of the United States Department of
Agriculture has established for the plants operating under _ its _ in
spection certain standards for buildings, equipment, and sanitation,
and these help to maintain good conditions even if they are not a
matter of primary concern to the firms’ managers.
1 This chapter was prepared by Miss Ethel Erickson, of the field-investigation department.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

A medium-sized plant described its own system as follows: A
committee of two foremen is appointed each month to make an in
spection of the entire plant, rating the housekeeping of each depart
ment on the basis of 100 points. On mimeographed forms each
department’s rating is given, spaces being provided for checking the
presence of such items as rubbish; broken window panes; dirty
windows, floors, tables, utensils, lamps, or trucks; cobwebs; the con
dition of employees’ uniforms; dirty elevators; running water, steam
and water leaks. There is a space for recommendation, also.
Inspections are almost worthless if they are merely aimless tours,
but in such a case as the one cited, where there is a definite list of
items to watch for and space is provided for recording comments,
they undoubtedly help to standardize good conditions throughout
the plant.
As far as women were concerned, the bureau’s investigators found
the best working conditions in the sliced-bacon, the smoked-meat
the sausage, and the canning departments. The poorest conditions
that affected appreciable numbers of women were in the pork-trim
and casings departments.
CONDITIONS IN THE VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS
Kill and offal departments.

Kilhng rooms usually are located on the top floors in order to make
use of gravity in routing the product for subsequent operations.
Many of the killing rooms have monitor roofs for providing natural
light, but this rarely is sufficient, as equipment and overhead con
veyors tend to block the free diffusion of light. Since the abattoir
processes naturally are bloody and dirty, continuous cleaning is a
necessity and large quantities of water and live steam are used. In
the newer buildings, walls of killing rooms usually are of white or
light-colored tile to expedite cleaning. Live steam used in cleaning
as well as steam from the scalding vats, raises the humidity of the
room, and in winter, at least, some artificial ventilation or special
arrangement for natural ventilation seems necessary. Monitor roof
openings tend to draw off some of the steam, but air conditions seem
better where there is a motor-driven exhaust.
Unavoidably, the floors are wet in some places, and where the drain
age is not especially good there are literally pools of water. Because
oi the floor condition, it usually is necessary for the women to wear
rubber boots, and there is danger of slipping. All the women's
work, except that of an occasional stamper, is done standing.
Officials maintain that owing to the conditions and general nature
of the work the use of stools is impracticable, since many of the
women are employed on platforms where, unless a special type of
construction could be evolved, the stools would constitute a hazard.
Working conditions in the offal rooms are quite similar to and often
the same as those.in the killing departments. Floors inspected were
wet and slippery in most of the plants, and the rooms were steamy
because of the many operations that required the use of water. In
a few cases stools or chairs were provided for some of the trimming
and fat-washing operations, but this condition was unusual.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Casings rooms.

In several instances the casings department seemed to have been
squeezed into any available location, regardless of the ventilation
facilities or the general welfare and convenience of the workers. Long,
narrow rooms with one or two windows and dark rooms with low
ceilings, no windows, and no artificial ventilation were reported in a
number of cases. In one ol the most northern plants, the employ
ment of women on hog casings was a recent venture, and the new
casings room was located on a second floor where the only convenient
entry for the women was by an iron stairway similar to that of a fire
escape. Toilet and dressing rooms were in another building, so the
women had to cross a short, open stretch to reach these facilities, and
in the cold winter months, during which the casings room would be
at its peak production, such exposure in damp clothing would not
contribute either to efficiency or to health.
_
The handling and preparation of casings for trade uses requires a
plentiful supply of running water, and consequently wet floors, over
flowing tanks, dampness, and strong odors from fermenting casings
were characteristic of the majority of the casings, rooms. Casings
rooms were the wettest and, in general, the most disagreeable places
in which women were found employed in appreciable numbers.
The drainage of the tanks over which much of the turning, grading,
and inspecting was done frequently was poor and seemed to be un
necessarily so—water poured from open bungholes or seeped over the
tops of the tanks to open drains in the floor. Sometimes there were
no special gutters, and the water found its own course over the floors
to the drains. All the women wore rubber or oiled aprons, and a
majority wore rubber boots or rubber shoes of some kind to protect
their feet from the wet floors. Some of the tables—-usually with zinc
or tin tops—were built with a slant toward the middle that gave a
little help in keeping the workers’ aprons dry. In one typical case the
woman reported that an oilcloth apron, her only protection from
splashes, was inadequate; her waist was not covered by a bib and even
her shoulders got wet.
_
.
Platforms were provided in some of the casings rooms, but it was a
question whether they were of much value, as most of the women
needed boots anyway for protecting their feet when they stepped off
the platform. With the wet floor, the platform seemed at times only
to increase the hazard of stumbling. Occasionally stools were re
ported, but a large majority of the women stood at their work.
Women on beef casings who were clipping warts and doing the final
trimming just before stuffing usually sat. Where the job requires
constant working in water, stools get wet on top when not in use, and
since they are a nuisance at cleaning times they quite commonly are
considered undesirable.
Fancy-meat cooler or freezer pack.

Characteristic features of the freezer-pack departments are that
they have no natural light and no ventilation. Temperatures of
32° to 40° F. were reported. Sawdust on the floor tends to absorb
much of the excess dampness, but in places where there was no.saw
dust the floors were damp and slippery. Walls often were unpainted
or the paint was in very poor condition, ceilings were low.and dirty;
by and large, the offal cooler was a drab and dreary place in which to

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

work. One company has, in all its plants, a special arrangement by
which the product to be packed is carted out from the cooler to an
adjoining room that is not refrigerated, and here the women do the
packing; the finished boxes are sent back to the cooler to await re
moval for delivery. This seems to be a much more satisfactory
arrangement from the workers’ standpoint. Most of the girls working
in the offal coolers had stools available, but usually they stood at their
work, often moving from one place to another as they packed different
products. Where the women were packing from trucks in a room
adjoining the cooler, they often sat at their jobs. In one freezer
pack where there were no stools, the foreman made the comment that
there is “No desire to loaf on this job; not warm enough.” In the
course of an interview, a woman who worked in the fancy-meat cooler
remarked that sometimes she wore three pairs of woolen stockings.
The doctor had advised her that the work was bad for her.
Pork-trim department.

Working conditions for women in the pork-trim rooms were, in
many instances, as poor as any observed for women in the plant, and
this is significant because of the massing in this department of so
large a proportion of the women in the industry. The trimming
room usually was located in the units devoted to cold storage and
almost always was. a chilled room. One woman interviewed at home
spoke of the occasional formation of icicles on the ceiling. Ceilings
were low, walls drab, and floors often wet and slippery. Seldom were
there special provisions for either natural or artificial ventilation
Very few women in pork trim were provided with stools, and aisles,
worktables, meat cans, and trucks were so arranged as to make the
provision of seats appear rather impracticable. During rest periods
of slack pauses in the flow of work, the women preferred going to a
warmer room for a few minutes’ rest. Aisles sometimes were ob
structed by barrels, boxes, and trucks, and when a peak load of work
was m progress, the women were working close together and the rooms
seemed very crowded, which undoubtedly increased the hazard of
kmfe cuts.
The crowded and obstructed appearance of the room often is inten
sified by overhead chutes that bring trimmings from a cutting room
above, f hese chutes are constructed so as to turn on a central axis
to distribute the meat to the various tables. Most of the chutes are
fitted with trapdoors having a rope and pulley arrangement for clos
ing, to hold back the excess supply of meat. If this closing arrange
ment docs not work satisfactorily, or if there is no means of shut-off
the worktable is struck by a deluge of falling meat. Such a downfall
not only is disturbing but is hazardous when a job involves the handfing of a sfiarp knife, and, in addition, there is considerable possibility
of being splashed with hot water if the meat happens to land in the
pails used lor heating knives.
. While not all pork-trim rooms were as unattractive as the foregoing
implies, most of the large ones unfortunately were. A few had clean
glossy tile or freshly painted walls, but it is difficult to maintain the
appeaiance of cleanliness and freshness where moisture condenses on
walls and ceilings and causes the paint to peel and to lose its brightness
In several instances the newer plants had carrier systems of washed air
or some other system of moving the air, but in most cases the only

i fc£&f-1

*£

•I*-

.**M

Sausage-manufacturing Room
Note drains, platforms, seats, waste-container racks over tables, and guarded knives at table corners

WORKING CONDITIONS

means of ventilation was the casual opening of doors, and in about
three-fourths of the establishments visited pork-trim rooms seemed
inadequately ventilated.
The floors often are hazardous, wet and slippery because of the con
densing of moisture and the scraps of fat falling to the floor. In some
plants a covering of sawdust improved the floor condition, obviated
the need of platforms, and kept the atmosphere of the room drier by
absorbing excess moisture; this in turn lessened the tendency for mois
ture to condense on ceilings and drip down to add to the wetness.
Where sawdust was not used, platforms frequently were provided,
being covered with coarse salt to counteract slipperiness. In some
plants women were working on high platforms, and while such work
places were drier than those of the main floor, they were not always
well guarded and the approach was inconvenient. In an effort to
keep the floor as free as possible of slippery bits of meat, women or
boys sometimes are employed as roustabouts to pick them up during
the intervals between more thorough cleanings.
Except in the two or three plants in which the pork-trim room was
not chilled, the temperatures reported varied from 38° to 55°. In
two plants the statements of foremen or other responsible employees
were to the effect that no special effort was made to cool the porktrim room, that the cold meat kept the temperature down, and in
one—a St. Paul plant—that it was necessary to warm the room slightly
in winter. One foreman advocated the installing of heating coils
under the wood platforms on which the women stood. He thought
girls worked better when they were warm and that it was the only
human thing to do, but the superintendent was not persuaded.
The women in pork trim dressed especially for their job. Most of
them wore sweaters under the regulation packing-house frock, and an
oiled apron over it. Heavy boots, lined shoes, or woolen stockings
were considered necessary.
A number of the smaller plants have a practice of shifting some of
the women between the pork-trim rooms and the kill or offal depart
ment, allotting them about one-half day in each. The trimming
jobs are similar in both, but temperature conditions are very different
and the women objected to the unhealthful and unpleasant feature of
working first in the warm, steamy temperature of the offal room and
then in the pork-trim room where the temperature might be as low
as 38° or 40°. It is difficult to dress to suit both these conditions.
Sausage department.

Working conditions in the sausage departments are almost always
better than those in the kill, offal, casings, and pork-trim depart
ments. Most of the sausage rooms have outside windows giving
good natural ventilation, and often this is supplemented by electric
fans or exhausts and in a few instances by carrier washed-air systems.
Walls frequently are of white or tan tile, or else they are painted or
enameled white or gray. In the majority of the plants visited, the
walls of the sausage room were reported as clean and quite in contrast
to the drab and often dirty walls of the pork-trim rooms and offal
coolers.
In one case, pork sausage was being made in a cooled room, but
this is exceptional and temperatures are never so low as those of porktrim rooms, fancy-meat cooler, or sausage-packing divisions. The

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

general appearance of the workers in the sausage-making room is veryneat. In many of the plants work dresses are changed two or three
times a week and white aprons daily.
Wet and sometimes slippery floors are likely to be the worst factor
m the sausage casings and making rooms. Scraps of stuffing that
fall to the floor make it greasy and slippery, and unless the mechanics
of drainage have been carefully worked out, frequent hosings leave
puddles where there are depressions. In most plants, much effort
seems to be expended in keeping the sausage rooms clean, and the
common condition was to find wet rather than dirty floors. Some of
the moisture in the sausage rooms came from dripping sausages hang
ing on racks at the ends of the tables, as the larger sausages frequently
are washed by the hanger, just before being put on the racks. In one
plant a satisfactory provision for alleviating the effect of such drip
pings was a grill-covered drain at the end of each table, over which the
racks were placed while being filled. Where special containers were
provided for waste and debris, such as broken sausage or defective
casings, the floors tended to be cleaner. A satisfactory arrangement
for waste seen in one plant was a long trough-like pan hanging over
each table that served as a catch-all for scraps. Waste cans sliding
under the table were provided in some places, but they were less
satisfactory in keeping the floor clean than the type hanging over the
table.
In most plants low wooden platforms along the table sides were
provided for workers to stand on; many of these were well constructed
and seemed adequate and an advantage to the workers. There was,
however, a difference of opinion with reference to the advisability of
providing platforms. In one large plant where none were in use, the
agent commented on their absence to the company employee making
the inspection with her, and his reply was to the effect that platforms
tend to get slippery, are hard to keep clean, and are obstructions to
stumble over; and, furthermore, that most of the women wear boots
or special shoes as protection against the wet floors. The ideal was,
he thought, to have sufficient space to move workers from one table
to another when they change from one lot of sausage to a new batch,
and after each change to give the table previously used and the floor
near it a thorough cleaning and a chance to dry.'
Most of the sausage rooms were equipped with stools, some of which
were hinged to the worktable so that they could be pushed under the
table when not in use and pulled out when needed. In one establish
ment where no stools were provided, the nurse accompanying the
investigator said that the women in this department did not want
them as they became wet and sticky. When the sausage season is at
its peak and the work is running at top speed, most of the women
stand at work, but in slack periods much of the sausage making—
at least the linking, roping, tying, and kitchen jobs—can be done
while sitting.
The workers’ hands are bound to become sticky in sausage making,
and the well-equipped room had some convenient provision for wash
ing hands. In a number of places each table was equipped with
basins with continuously running water, and others had small sinks
near every table.
Excerpts from the home-visit schedules of women who had been
employed in sausage making set forth some of the workers’ criticisms
of the jobs:
.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Woman interviewed had worked on the roping of dry sausage. “It has to be
tied hard or the boss gives you hell. The heavy cord cuts wet hands. Company
ought to furnish gloves.” Had cut finger and got slight infection during the
previous winter. Transferred to sausage pack because work would be dry and
give finger a chance to heal.
Right arm gets numb from the twisting motion in linking sausage. Meat is
cold and wet.
Wet place—wears oiled apron but does not like to wear rubbers. Salt eats
rubbers, anyway. Wears ordinary shoes and leaves them in plant to dry every
afternoon.

Not all the comments were of an unfavorable nature:
Interviewed woman on linking. Comfortable place to work; makes a pretty
good bonus.
Likes linking; glad she knows how, because always a demand for it.
Good working conditions; always satisfied with job; makes almost as much as
her husband.

The sausage-packing room is always a cooled room, and in many
cases natural light and ventilation are absent. Room temperatures
varied from 34° upward, temperatures in the 40° to 50° range being
most common. Pork sausage is packaged very soon after making,
and as it spoils more rapidly than sausage made of beef it is handled
at lower temperatures than the latter. Floors were clean and dry
and most of them were covered with sawdust or had adequate plat
form facilities. Stools were provided almost always in sausage pack
ing. In general, conditions in this department were good, and the
only unfavorable comments were concerned with the coldness of
the room and, in some cases, with the poor ventilation.
Smoked meats or ham house.

Conditions in the ham house were among the more desirable ones
in the industry. Floors were always dry, and walls were clean except
in a few cases. Exhausts near the smokehouses drew off odors and
heat and provided good ventilation. Since the ham house often
adjoined the packing room, if good ventilation was not provided, the
latter became unbearably hot and stuffy.
Stools were provided for most of the workers in the ham house,
but occasionally the only seating facilities were boxes. Where girls
wrapped along conveyors, they usually sat to work; but if no conveyor
was provided, standing was the more convenient position. Typical
comments from the schedules of women working in this department
are as follows:
Work in smokehouse rather heavy, especially “laying up,” that is, taking
hams and bacon from the rack and laying them on paper.
Job of interviewed woman was tying hams. No conveyor at X’s. Thinks she
prefers it this way, as places that have conveyors are so efficient that they time
the girls and they must work faster and do so much an hour. “We don’t loaf,
but wre aren’t driven.”
Stands all day. No heat in winter, so must bundle up. In summer it is hot
near the smoker. Every time the door opens, get a blast of heat.
Does not like to tie, because hands get calloused from drawing twine tight.
_ At table where large hams are handled, 15 to 30 pounds, use round cord that
is hard and cuts and callouses hands.

Sliced-bacon department.

The marketing of bacon sliced and wrapped in pound and half
pound packages (a relatively recent development coming with the
consumers’ tendency to buy in smaller and smaller lots), the increased
64051°—32—4

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

demand for this product, and advertising campaigns pushing its sale
made it necessary to evolve a separate division devoted to its prepara
tion. Wherever a plant makes a specialty of sliced bacon, special
facilities are provided. Consequently these sliced-bacon rooms are
quite new—none were more than two or three years old at the time
the study was made. They are the show places of many plants, and
conditions generally are very good. Foremen would escort the
bureau's agents through these departments with more than ordinary
pride, and when such a department was not quite up to the presentday standard for this work, the foreman would explain apologetically
that he was anticipating the installation of new equipment and the
establishment of an up-to-date room.
Some of the rooms visited are walled off with glass so that visitors
being escorted through the plant can watch without entering. Waffs
are constructed of white tile or are enameled in white or light gray,
and the woodwork and casings often are of white enamel. Modern
adjustable chairs are provided for the women employees. Special
washed-air ventilating systems are customary. The temperature is
maintained at about 50° F. In a few plants pipes through which warm
air circulates are attached to the work tables as foot rests for the
packers, helping to lessen the coldness of the room for the worker
without raising the temperature appreciably. In some cases, where
more than ordinary precautions as regards sanitation are taken, the
girls handling the bacon wear gloves and pack the bacon with tongs
as tools. Some of these extra precautions were said to be observed
only where bacon with a light cure was being handled. Bacon
lightly cured spoils more easily than does that with a stronger cure,
and every possible care is taken to avoid exposure to bacteria in
processing.
Though all sliced-bacon departments are not equally good, there
seems to be a feeling on the part of the workers that employment
there is superior to that of other meat-packing jobs. Most of the
women employed in sliced bacon are below the average age of all
women in the industry, and they are predominantly American born.
The only unfavorable comments on the work concerned the speed
at which it is done and, in a few cases, the cost of uniforms. The
immaculate appearance of the girls in many of the sliced-bacon rooms
has its pecuniary drawback from the worker’s standpoint. Most
firms sell the uniforms at half price. Some firms launder the smocks
for the girls, but the frequent laundering tends to wear out the gar
ments rapidly. In some cases the girls had to have several uniforms
on hand, the laundry being sent out only once a week; more generally
it was sent at least twice. Comments from interviews with em
ployees in the sliced-bacon department were as follows:
Sliced-bacon girls work harder than any other. Every minute and every
motion counts. The standard for the job is seven boxes an hour. Each box
contains 12 half-pound packages, which makes 84 individual packages an hour.
For every box over seven an hour a bonus of 4 cents is paid. Some girls make
8 to 20 extra boxes a day.
In commenting on sliced-bacon uniforms, said she owns 9 white coats ($1.25
each) and has 4 to 0 striped gingham dresses and 8 caps on hand. Necessary
to have a large supply of coats; often puts on clean one every day and laundry
back only twice a week and sometimes late. Wears a dress'two days. Coats
wear out fast, so have to buy at least one a month.

WORKING CONDITIONS

While excessive cost of uniforms is not common in all plants, it
may constitute a considerable hardship, especially for girls who get
laid off. The case of one of these was stated as follows:
Said when she was laid off in February, 1927, had six or seven uniforms (coats)
and sold them to another girl for $3. When she returned in September, new
outfit cost $10.

Lard and similar departments.

Working conditions in the lard, butter, butterine, and cheese de
partments are much less standardized than are those in sausage and
sliced bacon. A few of the lard rooms inspected were very good, but
a number were dark and had dirty walls. Added to this, the odors
of melted lard were quite disagreeable. If any of the products are
spilled on the floor, and especially if the floor is wet, it makes a par
ticularly sleek surface and causes a distinct hazard.
Stools are provided for some jobs, but many of the workers were
standing at the time the inspection was made. The butter and
butterine rooms usually are chilled to prevent the product from melt
ing. The standard temperature reported seemed to fall around 50°.
Conditions tended to be somewhat better in butter and butterine
than in lard, but relatively few women were employed and their
occupations were similar in these departments.
Canning department.

On the whole, conditions of work in canning generally are good.
These departments tend to be located in newer buildings than are
others, and they are so large and centralized that attention has been
given to providing good conditions. Floors were clean and dry except
around washing machinery. Natural ventilation usually was good;
exhaust fans were provided in rooms where cooking was done, but
there seemed to be too few in rooms where cans were painted. A few
jobs were carried on in a sitting posture, but the majority of workers
were standing; and since many of the occupations could be carried on
for at least part of the time in a sitting position the need of stools was
striking.
Few of the women interviewed in their homes were employed in
canning, since the group is a relatively small one. The following are
the reactions of some women to special features of their jobs:
Lacquering machine run in department at times gives very disagreeable odor.
Fan for intake of air recently installed helps a great deal. Two exhaust fans
opposite the intake fan.
Packs chicken in jars. Likes her job. It is easy.
Pleasant job, steady, work varied. Helps out where needed. Trimming
and stuffing is piecework.
Interviewed woman was on machine labeling, which is piecework. Makes
good money and job is easy. Makes more than husband, whose work is harder
(loading trucks in coal yard). Likes job in all ways.

HAZARDS IN MEAT-PACKING OCCUPATIONS

As far as women are concerned, the specific mechanical hazard in the
meat-packing industry is slight.. The engineering problems of pro
viding safe-guards for machines have been worked out. Sprinkler
systems, fire escapes, well-lighted passageways, clean stairways, and
well-guarded elevator shafts obviate the most common building-con
struction hazards. The packers have made efforts to develop a

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

“safety spirit” and to gain the cooperation of employees in observing
safety rules by means of education through posters, campaigns,
suggestion boxes, etc.
That accidents in meat packing tend to be frequent in occurrence
but minor in character is indicated in reports made by the National
Safety Council, although these are not so divided that accidents to
women appear separately. Of 17 types of industry reported upon
for 1927 and 1928, only construction and mining had higher accident
frequency rates than had meat packing, and the rate for this industry
was each year over twice as high as the rate for all industries. Fur
thermore, as the reports do not include accidents so slight that, after
treatment, the employee is able to resume work on the same day or
shirt, the total number of injuries, minor as well as serious, must be
very much larger than appears from published figures.
That conditions vary greatly from plant to plant is apparent in the
fact that in 1928 the highest frequency rate, 266.98, was for one of the
smaller plants, with an average of 375 employees, where the accidents
that occurred were, roughly, 3 to each 4 employees; while the largest
plant of all those reporting, with an average of 3,875 employees, had a
frequency rate of 24.95 and the accidents were, roughly, 3 to each 50
employees.
Of the large number of accidents in meat packing, the majority were
less severe than those in most other industries, the seventy rate in
packing being exceeded by the severity rate in 15 of the 17 industries
in 1927 and by 8 of the 17 in 1928. In 1927 the severity rate in pack
ing was 0.91 day lost per 1,000 man-hours worked; in 1928 it had
risen to 2.06 days, which was slightly above the rate for ail industries
(2.03) but still was exceeded by that for 8 of the other 16 groups.2
The two outstanding dangers to women workers in meat packing
arise from the conditions of the floors, which frequently are wet and
slippery, and the specific occupational hazard of knife cuts.
The first of these is especially serious, since falls cause disability of
longer duration than that resulting from most other injuries. In
a study of about 800 cases of permanent disability among women in
jured in various lines of employment, the Women’s Bureau found that
falls, though constituting less than 10 per cent of the accidents, were
almost 46 per cent of the cases with a healing period—the time required
to recover as fully as possible—of 52 weeks or more. Only about 37
per cent of the women injured by falls, in contrast to 79 per cent of
all reported,_ recovered in less than 12 weeks. The 2,452 cases of
temporary disability studied at the same time were about one-fourth
falls. Though two-thirds of all the women injured, all causes com
bined, recovered in less than four weeks, only about one-half of the
women whose accidents were falls recovered within such period.3
It has.been stated that floors are especially likely to be wet and
slippery in kill, offal, and casings rooms, in the pork-trim, and some
times in the sausage departments; the hazard often is increased by
scraps of fat falling to the floor. In lard and butterine making there
is likely to be the danger of slipping, but fewer women are affected
than in most of the other departments mentioned. Sometimes this
»National Safety Council. Industrial Accident Statistics, 1929 ed.. pp. 6 and 33 (Packing senarated
from tanning by means of Table 25.)
'
B
m
3 U. S. Department of Labor. Women’s Bureau. Industrial Accidents to Women in New Jersey Ohio
and Wisconsin. 1927. pp. 276-279.
"
’

WORKING CONDITIONS

condition is obviated—especially in the pork-trim, fancy-meat cooler,
and sausage departments—by the use of sawdust on the floors or by
platforms covered with coarse salt and by providing convenient
receptacles for refuse; sometimes in pork trim roustabouts are em
ployed to keep the floors free from bits of meat. In pork-trim rooms
the danger is increased in some cases by the obstruction of the aisles
by barrels, boxes, and trucks, and for women in this department there
is the danger of being hit by falling meat from the overhead chutes.
Among the comments on these hazards from the schedules of women
visited in their homes are'the following:
Woman’s job was cleaning casings. She slipped on wet floor, sprained her arm,
and was home two weeks; no compensation or insurance.
Woman in pork trim: Slipped on wet floor, dislocated a shoulder, and broke
cheek bone.
Woman in sausage pack: Slipped and wrenched herself; out two weeks; firm
good and sent their doctor. Attributes fall to rubber soles and damp floor.
. Woman in pork trim: While carrying a pail of scalding water, a truck bumped
into her and the water splashed on her leg, leaving a burn just above top of shoe.
Out two weeks; received two weeks’ compensation and the services of the com
pany’s doctor.
Woman in sausage department: On busy days carries as many as 100 heavy
pails filled with casings. Slipped on wet and greasy platform and felt pain.
Hernia developed later. The company paid for the” operation. Returned to
work for two days, but was unable to continue; could not be on her feet.

In sausage making the hazards are not great, although the stiff
cord used in tying and linking cuts or callouses the hands of women
so employed. No specific occupational hazards were apparent in
sausage-pack and sliced-bacon departments. The rooms in which
cans are painted in the canning department were found to be heavy
with fumes, but no data on the effects of these fumes were reported,
and relatively few women did such work.
In the kill, offal, casings, and pork-trim departments, the chief
specific occupational hazard is that of cuts from the knife in the hand
of the worker herself or in that of her coworker. Salt sores on the
hands of those who salt casings also constitute a job hazard. As one
woman in casings stated, “When the hands have a sore, salt is very
bad on them. Salt on the floor hurts rubber boots so they do not last
more than four or five months. ”
It would seem to be inevitable that the danger of accidents would
be connected with piecework jobs such as those described, especially
the more skilled jobs in pork trim. Speed is necessary to maintain
earnings at a fair level and the use of a sharp knife as a hand tool is
required. When nurses or others were questioned as to accidents to
women in meat packing, they often replied that the cuts of the pork
trimmers were the only injuries common to women. While most of
the cuts are slight, there is always the possibility of serious infection
unless they, are attended to quickly and properly. Excerpts from
the home-visit schedules indicate something of the women’s expe
rience and reaction to the hazards of the trimming jobs.
Woman interviewed has had many cuts. She said, “Everybody in pork trim
gets cut some time.”
About six years ago, a great deal of meat coming down the chute startled her,
and her knife cut the third and little fingers of her right hand. She lost three

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

months from work; the fingers remain stiff and the strength and grasp of hand
are reduced.
Woman in canning had cuts on her hands from cans. Hands get so sore that
she has to stop occasionally.
Woman in kill: Has had many minor cuts; always treated by plant doctor.
Woman in offal: Knife slipped; cut artery in hand; home six weeks; received
care and insurance.
Woman in casings: Hands covered with small cuts, caused by working on
tough bladders.
Woman in an offal trimming job was absent five weeks in 1927 and 1928 because
of accident. “ I was working, using my knife. A head hit my right hand and
I cut my left thumb.” Thumb is stiff. Received $250 compensation.

In addition to specific accident hazards, there is, in some depart
ments, the danger of strain from constant standing, from speed in
keeping up with a moving line, and, in the case of a few jobs, from
lifting. Speeding may be very detrimental to the health and well
being of workers, but there is no simple method for measuring its
effects. In pork trim, sliced bacon, and the piecework jobs in
sausage some of the women appeared to be working at high tension
to develop speed, while others seemed to be working easily, depending
on individual differences. The great majority of the women in the
kill, casings, pork-trim, lard, and canning departments stood con
stantly at their work, and in some of these departments the manage
ment seemed to consider it impracticable to install seats. Many
comments were made on the constant standing, a few of which follow:
Woman in sausage casings: “It’s kind of tough to stand nine hours a day in
one place with those heavy boots on. Your feet get so hot and they swell.”
Woman in kill: Hard standing on rack all day. “Just tired out at night.”
Woman in offal: “It sure is a hard job. You have to stand all the time.”
Woman in canning: Washing and trimming tongues, hams, and pigs’ feet. Hot
and must stand all day, which is hard on the feet.

Besides the direct accident hazards and the more definite strains
there are conditions in meat packing that are likely to undermine
health in a way difficult to measure. In some jobs in kill, offal, and
casings, the continual immersion of the hands in water and the exces
sive humidity and dampness, with ventilation facilities nonexistent or
very poor, are health hazards impossible to evaluate because their
effects are cumulative and because they are directly related to the
worker’s general stamina. Handling frozen meat, as in pork trim,
involves the same hazards. Working in chilled rooms and exposed to
a variety of temperatures undoubtedly is a health hazard for people
subject to rheumatic and respiratory ills. Better ventilation in most
of the chilled rooms and better floor drainage or the use of welldrained platforms in departments using large quantities of water
undoubtedly would reduce health hazards.
Some of the comments from interviews with women in their homes
in respect to these more intangible factors that undermine health
were as follows:
Woman cleaning casings: Wet, dirty work; said she was too old to work on jobs
that required speed.
■
Woman in casings: Standing constantly in water was reported as cause of rheu
matism. Hands numb in cold weather.
Woman works in a warm place (hog kill) part of the day and then in a cool
place (pork trim). This makes her feel the cold very much.

STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE LIBRARY
45

WORKING CONDITIONS

Woman in linking: Arms so numb at night that she can’t feel them. Wrist,
back, and shoulders never get used to it.
Woman in lard refinery packing room: After four and a half years contracted
rheumatism from the cold, so that her hands and arms ached all the time.

Attempts were made to get from the plants reports of the injuries
incurred by women, but very few medical departments kept complete
records of the first aid administered, and even these did not keep
records separate for men and women. Accidents usually are not
recorded at all unless time is lost, but in one small plant having an
average of about 50 women employed the nurse in charge had a record
of all injuries treated during the six months previous to the visit of
the Women’s Bureau agent. A tabulation of these showed that of
104 injuries to women, almost 90 per cent were cuts or punctures.
Bruise, blister from knife, bone scratch, caustic burns, and “hit by
meat ’ ’ were some of the other causes. There was one serious infection;
information as to the extent or duration of other injuries was not
available.
A tabulation of 56 injuries to women in 1928, reported upon by the
Industrial Commission of Illinois, shows the nature of the injuries to
have been as follows:
Cuts and lacerations_________
Bruises, contusions, abrasions.
Punctures___________________
Infections___________________
Burns and scalds____________
Sprains and strains___ _ ___
Not reported_________ ______

18
3
7
1

Since this includes only closed compensable cases, it must be recog
nized as a sampling group only and must not be taken as showing
total accidents. The data are for the five largest packing firms oper
ating in the State, and in these hundreds of women were employed.
Of 817 closed cases of compensable accidents to men and women in
meat packing reported upon, 56 were to women.
More care and attention to the designing and guarding of hand
knives might eliminate some of the accidents in the first and third
groups in the foregoing list, which constitute almost half of the cases
reported. Eight of the 18 in the second group were caused by falls.
It is interesting to note that 11 falls caused lost time averaging 30
days to the case, though for the 56 accidents of all kinds the average
was 20% days.
Seven of these accidents to women resulted in permanent partial
disabilities, the five in the production departments being described as
follows:
Worker in sweet-pickle department: A man threw a piece of meat which struck
her knife, and the knife cut her finger. Incised wound of right index finger. Lost
5 per cent of use of finger. Disabled for 13 days.
Worker in pork-trim department: Trimming pork, piece of meat struck knife,
knife slipped. Incised wound of left thumb. Lost 5 per cent use of thumb. Lost
no time.
Worker in ham house: Cutting rind off bacon, and fellow employee’s knife
slipped and struck hand. Incised wound on back of left hand. Ten per cent loss
of use of loft ring finger. Lost 27 days.
Linker in sausage department: Stuck wire through palm of right hand. Lacera
tion of base of right thumb. Five per cent loss of use of thumb. Lost 44 days.
Trimmer in hog-kill department: Cut thumb with knife. Paid for one-seventh
loss of use of thumb. Lost no time.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
SANITARY AND SERVICE FACILITIES

The provision of drinking, washing, and toilet facilities and of
cloak rooms, rest rooms, and lunch rooms is a matter of great import
ance in plant building and plant sanitation, since it affects the comfort
and health of the working force and has a direct bearing on the work
ers’ general morale. Suitable and adequate equipment, convenient
location, and good maintenance are essential for these facilities.
Except for the inconvenient location of some of the toilet rooms and
the overcrowded condition of combined service facilities in some cases,
sanitary and service facilities in the packing plants visited were, on
the whole, good—better than those in most industries.
Sanitary facilities.
Uniforms.—The nature of the jobs in many meat-packing de
partments is such that special work clothing is practically a necessity.
It is out of the question to wear street clothes in departments like
kill, offal, pork trim, and casings. Rubbers or heavy boots and oiled
or rubber aprons are essential in some departments. Caps are a
general requirement. The United States Bureau of Animal Industry
requires that workers wear clean, washable clothing, and that they be
neat at all times, but naturally it does not require uniforms.
The regulation packing-house frock was worn by women in the
chilled rooms and in the kill, offal, and some of the casings depart
ments ; striped dresses were common garb in sausage making. Casings
and sausage workers sometimes made no pretense of having a regula
tion uniform, but wore any form of washable kitchen dress. In some
plants sliced-bacon departments had rigid requirements, and in a few
cases girls complained of the cost of uniforms in this department.
The most desirable condition seemed to be that in which uniforms
were sold to the worker at the lowest price possible and free and satis
factory laundry service was provided. Most of the plants sold
dresses, aprons, caps, rubbers, and heavy shoes at cost, or in some
instances, at less than cost. In some establishments a woman was
given her first uniform if she remained a certain number of weeks.
Policies with reference to the sale of uniforms varied from plant to
plant of the same company, and this was true also of the laundering.
Some plants offered free laundry service; some did laundering for
certain departments, such as sausage and sliced bacon; some offered
laundry service of a rough-dry nature to all. In certain plants the
quality of the work of the laundry was said to be so poor that few
cared to take advantage of this service.
Drinking facilities.—Cool and abundant drinking water, easily
accessible, is a primary requisite. The sanitary drinking fountain,
connected with a cooled water supply, probably is the most generally
satisfactory provision. For a fountain to be sanitary, the flow of
water must emerge at an angle at which there is no possibility of its
falling back on the orifice, and there must bo a guard to prevent
hands or face coming in contact with the orifice.
All the plants inspected had bubblers of some sort, but in the
majority the equipment was crude and unsatisfactory; a better type
of bubbler seemed to be a general need. Only three of the plants
bad sanitary bubblers throughout; two others had them in some of
the rooms. Almost all the plants had prolusions for cooling the
water or had artesian-well water that tended to be naturally cool.

WORKING CONDITIONS

The common drinking cup, long decried as a menace to health, had
practically disappeared in the plants visited, being reported in use in
only one plant.
Washing facilities—The handling of food requires high standards
of cleanliness, and it is especially important that good and adequate
washing facilities be provided for workers in food industries. It is a
primary essential that washing facilities be conveniently located and
adequately supplied with hot and cold water, soap, and individual
towels. The sausage, smoked-meat, sliced-bacon, and canning de
partments usually had washing facilities in the workroom as well as
in the wash or toilet rooms. Showers are welcome to women who
have been working in such departments as the kill, offal, and casings,
and the matrons in charge of those provided reported that con
siderable use was made of them. All the plants visited had hot as
well as cold water, and all provided soap in some or all of the wash
rooms.
Towels, either individual or common, were provided to some extent
by _ all the plants for which this information was reported. Oc
casionally, however, towels were found in only a few of the wash rooms
or in some one or two departments, such as sliced bacon and sausage
making. Individual towels, the desirability of which is unques
tioned, were supplied for all or some of the women in three-fourths
of the plants. Unfortunately, in a number of the plants reported
only common towels were provided.
The type of equipment provided varied greatly, and some quite
crude and old troughs or sinks were seen in the older plants, but, on
the whole, maintenance and cleanliness were satisfactory. Special
instructions with reference to washing hands were posted in some or
all of the toilet rooms of 15 of the plants visited. Such reminders,
required by law in some States, have considerable educational and
hygienic value from the standpoint of the ultimate consumers of the
product as well as from that of the workers.
Toilets.—The best standards for toilet rooms require separate
facilities and designation for men and women, fully partitioned rooms,
seats inclosed on four sides so as to insure privacy, screening so that
the interior of the toilet room is not visible from the workroom when
the door is open, adequate natural or artificial ventilation and lighting,
a floor that is smooth and impervious to moisture, and the provision
of at least one seat for every 15 women.
Three-fourths of the plants whose toilet facilities were reported—
21 of 28—had a satisfactory ratio of toilet seats to women employed;
that is, one seat or more to every 15 women employed. The average
is a. bit misleading, however, as toilet facilities were not always con
veniently located, and while some departments appeared to average
far less than 15 women to each toilet seat, others had a much higher
average.
In a number of the plants visited, toilet facilities were anything but
convenient. Some of the women had to go by way of outside stair
ways or fire escapes and passageways, or to use walks that led over
roofs, to reach the nearest toilet room. Of course, this is especially
undesirable in the winter months, and particularly for women em
ployed in warm and humid rooms. In some of the newer plants very
tine centralized toilet rooms and general service facilities were found,
but in a few places these were the only facilities provided and, although

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

good, they were unsatisfactory because of their inconvenience. In
more than two-fifths of the plants visited, some or all of the seats
were not inclosed into separate compartments; some lacked only
doors, but complete privacy in toilet rooms seems a reasonable
standard. General maintenance, condition of floors, cleanliness,
repair, lighting, and ventilation were better in meat packing than in
most other industries.
Service facilities.
Cloak rooms.-—It is never desirable for women to hang their outer
clothing in the workroom, and since most of the women employed in
meat packing must change into special work clothes, cloak rooms or
dressing rooms are a necessity. These should provide means of safe
guarding clothing left there, by lockers or responsible supervision,
and the rooms should be clean, convenient to work rooms and lavatory
facilities, and well lighted and ventilated. All the plants reported
had lockers for some or all of the women. Facilities were not always
the same for all departments; some had lockers for certain groups of
the women and racks, hangers, or wall hooks for the others. In all
but four plants the dressing room was combined with other service
facilities, usually the lunch room or lavatory, and in many instances
where there was such a combination an uncomfortable degree of
crowding resulted.
Women in the kill, offal, and pork-trim rooms, in casings and in
sausage making, wore oiled or rubber aprons, and these became spat
tered and soiled and needed washing each day, so that it was necessary
to have a place to hang them for drying. A few plants had sinks for
washing aprons and racks to hang them on, but most of them had
neglected to make such provision. In several instances during the
home interviews women complained of lack of special places to wash
and dry their aprons; they objected to putting them into the lockers
wet or so soiled as to make the room disagreeable and to attract
vermin.
Lunch rooms.—Lunch rooms of some kind were provided in all the
plants reported. About three-fourths had cafeterias, where a variety
of foods could be obtained at low prices. A few of these were for only
certain classes of the employees. Many of the cafeterias were well
equipped, and some had a special section set aside for women. Others
were little more than lunch counters, where hot food and drinks could
be obtained for consumption elsewhere.
Where the lunch facilities were combined with the dressing room or
other feature, practically every plant provided tables and chairs or
benches, and it was the general practice for women to bring their
own lunches and eat them there—in many cases under very crowded
conditions. Some of these rooms had steam urns for the women to
use in making coffee and tea, and a few had gas plates for cooking.
In all but a few of the establishments it was possible to obtain at least
a hot drink, and in some departments it was customary to dismiss one
or more women a few minutes ahead of time at noon so that they
might go to the central cafeteria or lunch stand and obtain coffee and
whatever food was desired for the group. Small tin lard pails marked
“coffee” were much in evidence at lunch time. Many of the plants
had arrangements also for the selling of coffee during the morning rest
period, which time is used for a light lunch, especially by women work
ing in the chilled rooms. The combined lunch, cloak, rest, and

WORKING CONDITIONS

lavatory facilities usually were under supervision of a matron and were
maintained in good condition.
Rest rooms.—Rest periods and the noon recess are much more effica
cious in combating fatigue if a rest room is provided, with couches,
comfortable chairs, and enough spade to give a feeling of relaxation.
Only 4 of the plants visited had separate rest rooms; in 18, a cot or a
few rocking chairs gave a semblance of a rest room to the combined
service facilities, that frequently were crowded. Eight of the plants
had no rest-room equipment. All plants had first-aid equipment and
emergency cots for use in case of accident or severe illness, but
these were not available for the few minutes’ rest and relaxation that
sometimes makes it possible for a woman to stay on for a full working
day when otherwise she must go home. Better rest-room facilities
quite generally were needed.
Medical-service department.—Since physical fitness has a direct
bearing on efficiency, many firms feel that it is worth while to eliminate
the unfit by requiring a physical examination for employment. In
meat packing, the rejection of the unhealthy can be justified on the
basis of the nature of the product handled and the protection of the
meat-consuming public. Physical examinations before employment
were required quite generally in the case of men, but the majority of
plants did not require an examination of women. In a .number of
places a cursory examination and questioning of prospective women
employees by a nurse was carried out. No periodic or follow-up exam
inations were reported for employees after they had been accepted,
except as a check-up in unusual cases where the continuance of
employment depended on an employee’s following a definite course of
treatment. One company required annual examinations of eyes,
which was made without charge by local specialists; when glasses
were recommended, they were obtainable at a low cost.
On the whole, the first-aid and medical services in the meat-packing
plants surveyed were superior to those found in most industries. Large
packing houses have had medical departments for many years, but
the nature and extent of health service offered vary greatly with firms
and even between plants of the same firm. The size of the plant
naturally tends to control somewhat the number on the medical
staff. One Chicago plant reported a staff of 10 doctors, and it was
stated that a doctor was always on duty there. Small and medium
sized plants had not always a full-time doctor on the staff, but fre
quently a doctor was on duty for a number of hours in the morning
and was subject to call at other times. One or more nurses were
employed by all but two relatively small plants, and these reported
that injured or ill employees were taken in company cars to a near-by
doctor, or the doctor was called to the plant. In most of the estab
lishments the first-aid rooms were well equipped, and many really
were equivalent to emergency hospitals. In addition to the facilities
for emergency care, a few had quite elaborate equipment and apparatus
for taking X rays and for giving therapeutic light and electrical
treatment.
In all plants there was a rule that any injury, no matter how
slight, must be given first-aid treatment so as to avoid infection, and
in all cases employees were free to visit the first-aid rooms for treat
ment for colds, headaches, and minor illnesses. Employees were at
liberty to consult the doctor on any matter pertaining to their own

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

health, while on duty in the plant, and in one establishment with a
good-sized medical department the practice of employees bringing
their children and other members of the family for health advice was
countenanced, although there was no company policy covering this
extension of the medical service. Home-nursing service for the
employee only—not her family—was effected by one firm through
its group-insurance scheme. In some plants, doctors made home calls
when employees were injured or known to be ill. Only one or two
plants were giving dental service at the time of the survey, and this
was. confined to extractions, simple fillings, and work of a prophy
lactic nature. Some reported having had dental service during the
war, when emphasis had been put on all health service, but they had
discontinued it because of the cost and the objections of local dentists.

PART V.—THE WORKERS

It is of interest to know something of the personal history of the
women studied in the slaughtering and meat-packing industry—to
discover what proportion were foreign born and of what nationalities,
and, if the departments where they worked or the localities in which
they lived showed appreciable differences, which were more likely to
have native white, foreign-born, or colored women; what were the
ages of most of the women employed, and whether these differed
with department or locality; what proportion were single and what
married, and whether departments or localities showed any notable
differences in the employment of single or married women; and what
had been the industrial experience of the workers.
NATIVITY AND RACE

The summary following shows the numbers of women reported as
native white, foreign bom, and colored, by department.

Department

Kill_____________________
Offal
Pork trim_____________ _______________________

Canning_____

__ _

Number of
women whose
nativity and
race were
reported

Number who were—
Native
white

Foreignborn white

Colored

5,873

3,143

1,978

1752

208
435
105
366
843
292
1,139
'338
362
944
391
314
136

106
109
40
145
293
78
540
228
285
792
182
256
89

25
64
32
116
490
179
544
94
71
138
159
44

77
262
33
105
60
35
55
16
6

14
50
14
25

1 Includes 5 Indians.

More than one-half of the women reported were native white,
about one-third were foreign born, and over one-tenth were colored,
the last named including a very few Indians. Appendix Tables 1
and II give in greater detail the nativity of the women reported
in the various departments. From these details it appears that,
roughly, 80 per cent of the women in sliced bacon,1 smoked meat, and
lard making, as well as of those in a department employing a much
smaller number of women—fancy-meat cooler—were native white
women. This nativity group also formed one-half or more in the
kill and sausage-pack departments and approached one-half in the
canning department.
Of the practically 2,000 foreign-born white women, more than onehalf were in pork-trim and sausage manufacture. In the latter the
1 Includes a relatively small number of women slicing meats other than bacon.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

numbers of native white and of foreign-bom women were practically
the same, this being true also of its largest subgroup—the manu
facture of fresh sausage. Comparatively few foreign bom were found
in the kill, lard, offal, and sliced-bacon departments.
Of the 752 colored women, practically one-half were in two depart
ments, offal and hog and sheep casings, but the former had two and
one-half times as many as the latter. No other department approach
ed these in number of colored women.
The offal department, with about 60 per cent colored women, had
the smallest porportion of native white women in any department
but fresh sausage casings—25 per cent.
_
.
In beef casings and in hog and sheep casings the proportions of
the three races and nativity groups were more nearly similar than in
the other departments.
The largest group of' foreign-born women—more than one-fourth
of those with country of origin reported—had come from Poland.
Between 10 and 15 per cent each had come from Austria and Lithuania.
If the women of Slavic origin be combined—those from Czechoslo
vakia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukrainia, and Yugoslavia—they
will be found to form 60 per cent of the foreign born with country
of birth reported, and in addition many of those reported as coming
from Austria undoubtedly were Slavic.
If the nativity of women be considered by city, it will be found
that practically all the women in Ottumwa and Austin were native
white, as were- the majority everywhere except in Chicago and the
California cities. In Chicago 47.2 per cent of the 1,483 reported
were foreign born, and the proportion of colored women was higher,
of native white women lower, than in any other community. This
city had over one-half of the Polish and Lithuanian women reported,
anil groups of Russians and Irish larger than in any other place. In
Los Angeles and San Francisco, where two-thirds of the 167 reported
were foreign born, these were mainly Mexicans and Italians.
The nativity groups in the various cities were as follows:
Number who were—

Number
City

for whom
country
was re
ported

St Paul

............. ........... ........................................

Foreign-born white
white

Colored
Slavic

Total

5,818

3,143

1,923

1,154

1752

1,483
84
413
229
743
167
620
287
154
938
700

428
58
256
196
394
56
332
283
89
599
452

700
26
98

550

355

243

124

59
25
106

240
4
54
249
190

158

81
133

90
58

111

1
20

i Includes 5 Indians.

Even with the omission of those reported as being from Austria,
women of Slavic origin formed well over three-fourths of the foreignborn in Chicago whose country of birth was reported, at least 70 per

THE WORKERS

cent of those in East St. Louis and in Sioux City, in the latter of
which Russians and Lithuanians prevailed; they formed over 65 per
cent in Omaha, where Polish and Czechoslovakian women formed the
chief groups. In Kansas City slightly over one-half of the foreignborn women were Slavic—chiefly from Poland. In St. Paul about
one-third were Slavic—mostly Polish and Russian.
On the whole, the foreign-born women reported had been in the
United States a long time. Nearly 70 per cent of them had been
here for 15 years or longer, and fewer than 6 per cent had arrived
within the past 5 years. In practically every department the largest
group had been in the United States at least 15 years.
For 442 foreign-born women visited in their homes, reports were
secured as to whether or not they spoke English. Of this number
only 75 women (17 per cent) did not speak English, the proportions
being highest among Russians, Poles, and Lithuanians—more than
one-fourth of those in the two groups last mentioned. In Chicago
nearly one-third of the 212 foreign bom reporting on this did not
speak English, but in the other cities the proportions were very small.
Considered by department, over one-fifth of the 90 women reported in
sausage manufacture and over two-fifths of the 61 reported in sausage
casings—the majority of whom were in Chicago—did not speak
English.
AGE

Of the 5,785 women whose ages were ascertained, more than twofifths were 20 and under 30 and nearly one-third 30 and under 40.
The median of the ages fell in the 25-and-under-30-year group. Only
a very small proportion of the women were under 18, and less than 1
per cent were 60 and over. Table III in the appendix shows by de
partment the numbers of women in the various age groups. Data in
this table may be summarized as follows:

Department

All departments______ __________
Kill________ ________ _____
Offal __________ _________ __
Beef casings. _ ... _____________________
Hog and sheep casings______________ _____
Pork trim... ___ ___
..
Sausage casings____ ________________
Sausage manufacturing.._ ___ _______ ______ ____
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon)________ .
Sliced bacon________________________ _____ ___
Canning.
. ____________________
Lard, butter, butterine, and cheese ...
Other_____ ______ _ __
__

Per cent of women whose age was—
Number
of women
whose age
20 and
30 and
40 years
was re Under 20 under
under
ported
years
30 years 40 years and over
5,785

14.6

41.9

29.0

14.5

198
410
99
353
830
291
1,128
340
363
944
381
315
133

16.7

42.9
38.8
35.4
43.1
28.8
23 4
40.7
53. 8
55.1
51.6
32.5
54.9
45.1

32.3
40.7
27.3
26.9
42.9
34 7
34.4

12.4
30.3
13.9
22.3
33 7
1L8

19.8
14.7
32.8
13.3
27.1

8.3
5.9
23.9
3.8
16.5

8.0

7. 1
16.1

6.0
8.2
10.1

16.8
16.8
27.8
10.8

27.9
11.3

8.1

Sliced bacon, one of the great woman-employing departments, and
lard and butter making, also important but with only one-third the
number of women in sliced bacon, had the largest proportions of the
younger American white women. In each case over 60 per cent of
the women were under 25 and more than 80 per cent of the women
having nativity reported were American-born white. In two other

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

departments, fresh-sausage packing and smoked meat, over one-half
of the women were under 25. In this connection it may be well to
state that the employment of considerable numbers of women in
the sliced-bacon department has taken place rather recently, this
having resulted from changes in method within the business, due to
marketing practice and consumer demand.
Only about one-third of the women in sausage manufacture were
under 25, but an additional 18 per cent in the next age group brings
the total under 30 years to more than one-half. Fifty per cent of
those in sausage pack were under 25 and about 20 per cent were in
the next group, making a total of over 70 per cent who were under 30.
Only in sausage casings were as many as one-third of the women 40
or more years of age, beef casings following with 30 per cent, but
women who were at least 30 prevailed in seven reported departments.
The smallest cities and Denver and St. Paul were those in which
the younger women prevailed, about 54 per cent in each case being
under 25. In East St. Louis, Sioux City, Omaha, Fort Worth, and
the California cities, one-half of the women were under 30. In Kan
sas City, Chicago, and St. Joseph women somewhat older formed the
chief groups, in each case about three-fifths of those reported being
30 or beyond and more than one-fifth being at least 40.
MARITAL STATUS

Table IV in the appendix shows the marital status of the 5,798
women for whom this information was secured. Over 60 per cent of
those reported in the entire study either were or had been married.
There were only two departments in which over half the women were
single—sliced bacon and lard; and there were only three others in which
as many as 40 per cent were single—smoked meat, fresh-sausage pack,
and glue. The largest proportions of the women who were or had
been married were in pork trim, beef casings, dry-sausage casings, and
cooked meat—-the percentages ranging from 80 to 71. One of the
smaller firms reported that the employment office made no distinction
between single and married women, but that “married women make
good workers,” and the foreman of the smokehouse would not have
single girls. There was little difference between fresh and dry sausage
in the proportion of the women employed who were or had been
married. In the sausage departments the packing operations employed
the largest proportion of single women—a little over two-fifths of those
who worked there—and casings the smallest proportion—about 28
per cent of those so employed.
In no city were single women in the majority, but they formed very
nearly half of those reported in St. Paul, the two California cities, and
Denver, and 40 per cent of those in East St. Louis. The largest
proportions of women who were or had been married were in St.
Joseph, Kansas City, and Sioux City, in each case over 70 per cent.
INDUSTRIAL EXPERIENCE

Information on industrial experience was obtained from the women
visited in their homes.
Actual time in the industry.
A consideration of the actual time spent in the industry shows that
ordinarily the women interviewed had been so employed for long

THE WORKERS

periods. Of 760 women reporting, over one-half had had actual time
in meat packing of 5 years or longer—nearly one-fifth had been so
employed for 10 years or more. The proportion of those who had
worked less than a year was very small. The summary that follows
shows for departments having 50 or more women the actual time
these women had been in the industry.

Department

All departments l„_..............
Pork trim_________ _
Sausage casings
Sausage manufacturing____
_
Sausage pack____________
Sliced bacon___ ___________
Canning____________
Other_____________________

Per cent whose actual time in meat packing was—
Number
of women
reporting
actual
5 and
10 and
time in Under 1 1 and
under 5 under 10 under 15 15 years 5 years
the indus year
and over and over
years
years
years
try
760

6.7

40.8

33.9

13.6

5.0

52.5

117
67
125
61
130
55
113

2.6

29.1
25.4
32.8
45.9
54.6
43.6
51.3

47.0
44.8
36.8
31.1

20.5
13.4
15.2
16.4
5.4
10.9
14.2

.9
11.9

68.4
70.1
63.2
49.2
30.0
49.1
42.5

4.5
4.0
4.9
15.4
7.3
6.2

20.8

30.9
25.7

11.2
1.6

3.8
7.3
2.7

1 Total includes 92 women in departments not shown separately.

In a department that is relatively new in the industry—sliced
bacon—70 per cent of the women had worked under five years, more
than 15 per cent less than one year. No other group had such figures
for recent employment. In the other departments shown separately,
from 46 to 70 per cent of the women had had actual time in meat
packing of five years or more. Ten years at least had been worked by
over one-fifth of the women in each of four chief departments—sausage
manufacture, sausage casings, offal, and pork trim; in the first two,
over one-tenth had seen actual experience of 15 years or longer.
In Chicago nearly one-fourth of the women had been in the industry
10 years or longer, over three-fifths of them 5 years or more. In
Kansas City only a little more than one-half of the women had worked
as much as 5 years, less than one-fifth as much as 10 years. In each
of the other cities fewer than 100 women were reported, and in each
case one-half or more had worked less than five years.
Over-all time in the industry.

The foregoing discussion has dealt with the actual time the women
visited had worked in meat packing. Other tabulations were made
of the over-all time in the trade—the time from the first work done
m the industry to the date of the visit of the Women’s Bureau agents,
l liese show that over 60 per cent of the women reported an over-all
time m the trade of as long as 5 years, and for 14.1 per cent—about
one-seventh of the whole—the over-all was 15 years or more. There
is no way of measuring to what extent the loss of time, as indicated
by the discrepancies between over-all and actual, was due to slack
work and to what extent to personal causes. When the various
causes contributing to loss of time are considered, it is remarkable
that actual time in the trade corresponded with over-all time for so
large a proportion of women as was the case—67 per cent.
64051°—32----- 5

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

The tabulation following shows what per cent of the women with
over-all time as specified actually had been so employed for the entire
period.

Over-all time in the industry

Number of Women w nose actual
time was the same as
women
their ove r-all
reporting
actual and
over-all
time in the Number
Per cent
industry
67.0

All periods................................................................ ............. ........

754

505

1 and under 5 years______ _________ ___ _____________________

36
259

201

2 years____________________ ______ __________

3 years
4 yeras.............. ..................................... .....................
5 years ___________________________ ________

73
65
59
62

63
53
43
42

86.3
81.5
72.9
67.7

5 and under 10 years................... ..................... ....................................
10 and under 15 years........................................................ .....................
15 years and over---- --------------- ---------- --------------- ------------ ------

214
139
106

165
78
38

77.1
56.1
35.8

1 and under
2 and under
3 and under
4 and under

(i)

77.6

1 Per cent not computed; base less than 50.

Of the women whose over-all in meat packing had been one and
under five years, 77.6 per cent had actually worked for that length of
time, as had 61 per cent of those employed five years or more. The
remaining 22.4 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively, had lost some
time, and in a good many of these cases the loss had been considerable.
Of those whose over-all time in meat packing was 5 and under 10
years, 6 per cent actually had worked there less than 3 years, 12.6 per
cent less than 4 years. Of those whose over-all time was 10 and under
15 years, 5 per cent had been actually employed less than 5 years.
Of those connected with the industry for 15 years or longer, 7.5 per
cent actually had been at the work for less than 5 years, 41.5 per cent
for less than 10 years.
Time actually worked was the same as the over-all period for more
than 75 per cent of the 294 women reporting in Chicago and for over
60 per cent of the 190 reporting in Kansas City. This information
was reported by only relatively small numbers in the other cities.
Women whose experience was in one department only.

The statement was made by more than one employment manager
that women ordinarily opposed transfers and greatly preferred to
continue work in the same department. Not far from one-half of
the women interviewed said they had worked in only one department
all the time they had been in meat packing. Of those who reported
having had their entire meat-packing experience in but one depart
ment, one-sixth had had such actual employment for 10 years or
longer. The proportions of women who had been in one department
only are shown by such department in the statement following:

.57

THE WORKERS

Number of
women
reporting
actual time
in department

Department

Offal

Women reporting ac
tual time worked
whose entire experi
ence had been in one
department i
Number

760

362

49
117
67
125
61
43
130
55
113

19
60
34
30
19
63
36
44

Per cent
47.6
(2)

(2)

51.3
50.7
45.6
49.2
48.5
65.5
38.9

1 There is some interchange of workers among the departments, but it is probable that the women con
sider themselves as belonging definitely to the department where most of their work lies.
2 Per cent not computed; base less than 50.

Of the larger departmental groups, 51.3 per cent of the women in
pork trim, 48.5 per cent of those in sliced bacon, and 45.6 per cent of
those in sausage manufacture had had experience in one department
only. Unpublished data show that in sausage manufacture a large
number of those whose time in meat packing had been all in one de
partment had worked for 10 years or longer.
Employment of women other than in meat packing.

Nearly half the women reporting then- industrial experience had
worked in other industries as well as in meat packing. That the
proportion of women who had had experience other than meat packing
was much the greatest among the foreign-born women—82.1 per cent
had done other work—may be seen from the following summary:

Nativity

Women who had had—
Number of
women re
porting
Experience in meat
industrial
packing and other No experi
experience
ence but
work
and nativin meat
ity
packing
Number
Per cent
l 852

419

49.2

433

298
140
414

181
115
123

60.7
82.1
29.7

117
25
291

1 For 6 women nativity was not reported.

It is of interest to see in what types of work other than meat packing
the women had been engaged, and the summary following shows this
by chief occupational group.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTEKING AND MEAT PACKING
Cases of employment in industries other than meat packing
All women

Occupational group

Num
ber

Per
cent

Foreign-born
white

Native white
Num
ber

Per
cent

Num
ber

Per
cent

Colored
Num
ber

Per
cent

545

100.0

244

100.0

153

100.0

148

100.0

----

235

43.1

145

59.4

46.4

12.8

5.7

16
19
55
55

6.6

Clothing____ _______________
Food________ _______________
Other, __________ _________

31
34
79
91

7.8
22.5
22.5

9.8
7.8

8.6

18
30

7.4
12.3
4.9

All groups 1....................... ..........
Manufacturing--------------------

Domestic service......... .........................
General mercantile---- --------- ------Hotel and restaurant----------------Laundry________________ _____ -

135

69
52

6.2

14.5
16.7
24.8
4.0
12.7
9.5

11.8

2.0

18
26

17.0

6
10

4.1

43
3

28.1

14.4
3.3

17
35

48.0
.7
11.5
23.6

2.0

6.8

1 Totals exceed details, as only the chief occupational groups are shown.

This summary shows that in much the largest number of cases
native white and foreign-born women had been in manufacturing
and that the largest groups of these had worked in food industries.
Domestic service had afforded the employment in nearly one-half of
the cases of colored women and more than one-fourth of those of the
foreign born, but very few native white women had done such work.
There was little difference among the nativity groups in the pro
portions with hotel and restaurant experience. In the cases of col
ored women’s employment, nearly one-fourth had been in laundries.
Among the Slavic women reported, about 30 per cent of the cases
of employment had been in industries other than meat packing, about,
one-half in manufacturing, and nearly three-tenths in domestic and
personal service.

PART VI.—EARNINGS AND HOURS IN THE CURRENT WEEK
EARNINGS OF ALL WOMEN REGARDLESS OF SYSTEM OF PAYMENT
OR TIME WORKED

Median week’s earnings.

Table V in the appendix gives, by department, the earnings distri
bution of 5,093 women in the current week studied,1 and the following
brief summary of these earnings data is of interest here.

Department

All departments......................................
Kill_________________
Offal__________
Casings, beef_____________ ..
Casings, hog and sheep.................
Fancy-meat cooler____________ _
Pork trim. __________
Sausage casings. _______________
Sausage manufacturing__________
Sausage pack___ ____ ____
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon)
Sliced bacon............ ...........
Cooked meat (ham and meat loaf)
Canning______________ .
Lard, butter, butterine, and cheese________
Glue..............................
Miscellaneous___ ______

Per cent of women
Total
Median
who received—
number
of the
of women week’s
reported earnings Less than $25 and
$12
over
5,093

$10. 85

115
281
80
251
38
695
274
1,094
311
280
929
39
444
223
33

15.05

18.15
16.40
16.70
20.40
19.40
17.50
16.45
16.25
15.20
14.95
15.15
15.50

10.3

7.5

10.0

3.2

13.2
3.7
6.9

7.1
O. i2
3.9

13.2
17.2
12.8

1.6

13.0

21.2

i Not computed, owing to the small number involved.

This summary shows that one-half of the women earned more,
one-half less, than $16.85, the median of the figures reported without
regard to time worked. (For earnings and time worked, see p. 72.)
Of these workers, more than one-fifth were in sausage manufacturing,
not far from that proportion were in the sliced-bacon department,
and nearly one-seventh were pork trimmers. Besides the women in
these departments, there were from 4 to nearly 9 per cent in each of
the following: Canning, sausage packing, offal, smoked meat, sausage
casings, hog and sheep casings, and lard and related products. These
may be considered the chief woman-employing departments in the
discussion immediately following. The median of the week’s earnings
was found to be relatively high in two of the three largest womanemploying departments, sausage manufacture and pork trim, in
which it was respectively $17.50 and $20.40; in the third—sliced
bacon—the women reported had the relatively low median of $15.20.
The highest median in any department was that of the pork trimmers
cited, which is not surprising, as the group probably contained a
larger number of comparatively skilled workers; the lowest was
$14.95, for women in a department employing less than 1 per cent of
those reported—cooked meat.
1 For date of the current week, see p. 5 in the introduction.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

Of the other chief woman-employing departments listed, women
in sausage casings had a high median—$19.40; those in smoked
meat, canning, sausage pack, offal, hog and sheep casings, and lard
had each a median of earnings below that of all women reported and
ranging from $15.15 to $16.55. In the departments that employed
somewhat fewer women, those in beef casings had the relatively high
median of $18.15 and those in the cooked-meat, kill, and glue depart
ments had low medians, $14.95, $15.05, and $15.50, respectively.
While the median for the fancy-meat-cooler department was higher,
it was below that of all women reported.
Proportions of women earning certain amounts.

While the median figure is an important indicator of the standard
of earnings in a department, it should be supplemented by some
consideration of the proportions of women that receive relatively
high or low amounts. Of the women reported, 10.3 per cent had
earned less than $12 in the week, and only 6.6 per cent had earned
as much as $25. The inadequacy of such earnings for a woman’s
expenses appears the more striking when it is considered that in the
present study, while only 7.7 per cent of the women reporting
were living independently of the family group, over 10 per cent of
those visited in their homes were the sole support of the family, and
in over one-fourth of these cases the family consisted of four or more
persons. Nearly 30 per cent of the women were entirely self-support
ing or were the sole family support.2
The pork-trim department was the only one in which a very con
siderable proportion of the women—nearly one-fourth—earned as
much as $25; but even in tiffs, the best-paying department, over
one-tenth of those reported had received less than $12 in the week.
To mention only the largest woman-employing departments, sums so
small were received by still larger proportions of the women reported
in offal (12.1 per cent), in lard (13 per cent), in smoked meat (13.2
per cent), and by 17.2 per cent of the women in sliced bacon.
Median week’s earnings in various cities.

The medians of the week’s earnings by department and by city
are shown in Table VI in the appendix. For all women reported in
each city, the medians are as follows:
Number
of women
reported

City®

210

St Paul'(266,660 and under 300,000)

_____________ ______ _________ -

444
158
271
232
905
587
83
367
237
1,599

Median
of the
week's
earnings
$13.80
15.80
19.75
18.20
14.90
17.50
16. 50
14. 30
17.80
16. 75
17.40

« Listed by size; population as reported in 1920 census.
2 For a discussion of women’s responsibilities, see Women’s Bureau Bulletin 75, What the Wage

Earning Woman Contributes to Family Support.

EARNINGS AND HOURS IN THE CURRENT WEEK

According to the foregoing, the highest median of earnings was
$19.75, that for St. Joseph. Next came, in the order named, Sioux
City, St. Paul, Kansas City, and Chicago. The smallest cities,
Ottumwa and Austin, paid the least, the median being nearly onethird below the highest figure—that of St. Joseph—and nearly onethird below the next highest—that of Sioux City.
Earnings in the departments employing the largest numbers of
women, as they may have affected the standard of earnings in any
particular locality, and without regard to hours worked are sum
marized in the paragraph following.
The cities with the highest medians are these:
St. Joseph.—The largest group of women was in the pork-trim department
with a comparatively high median. The next largest group was in fresh-sausage
manufacture with a median lower than for most of the other cities. The median
for all women, without regard to department, was the highest figure for any
city, exceeding by $1.55 the median for Sioux City, which ranked second. How
ever, only Denver had a smaller group of women than the total for St. Joseph.
Sioux City.—The largest group of women was in the pork-trim department,
usually well paid, and the next was in fresh-sausage manufacturing. In each
of these the median of earnings was above that of all the women reported in the
same department in all cities combined; in the latter it was as much as 21 per
cent above.
St. Paul.—The largest group of women manufactured fresh sausage, and their
median was over 14 per cent higher than that of all women so engaged in all
cities; almost as many were pork trimmers, with a median well below those so
employed in all cities.
Kansas City.—The largest group was formed by the pork trimmers, with the
highest median recorded except for one small group in Chicago. There were
large numbers in the fresh-sausage-manufacturing and sliced-bacon departments,
and their medians were below those of all women so engaged.
. Chicago. The largest numbers were in sliced bacon, ordinarily low paid, and
in canning, not one of the best-paid departments, and in each case the Chicago
median was somewhat below the median of all women so employed. Consider
able numbers were in the pork-trim and the fresh-sausage and dry-sausage
manufacturing departments, and in each of these the median was somewhat
higher than that of all women so engaged.

The cities with the lowest medians are these:
. Ottumwa and Austin.—An important point contributing to the low earnings
m the two smaller cities was that no women were employed in the usually highpaid pork-trim department. However, in every department for which a median
has been computed, the figure is far below that for the women in the same de
partment in all cities.

Denver.—More than one-third of the 83 women reported were in fresh-sausage
manufacture, and their median was lower than that in the same department in
any other city.
Fort Worth.—The largest group of women was in the sliced-bacon depart
ment—about 45 per cent—with a median lower than that for the city as a whole
and considerably lower than the median for all women in this department.
East St. Louis.—The largest group was in the pork-trim department, but their
median was about 10 per cent below the median of all women so employed.
Almost as many women were in fresh-sausage manufacture, with virtually the
same median as that for all women in this department. The next largest group—
more than one-seventh of the women—was in the sliced-bacon department, usu
ally low paid, but here the median was slightly higher than that for all women so
employed.
Omaha.—The largest number was for the group of women in fresh-sausage
manufacturing. Their median was slightly above that of all women so engaged,
but the median of the group of women next in size—those in hog and sheep cas
ings was more than 10 per cent below that of the women in the same department

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

in all cities combined. In sliced bacon the median again was somewhat higher
than that for the entire group.
San Francisco and Los Angeles.—The largest group of women reported in the
plants visited in these two cities was in sliced bacon, a department usually low
paid but in this instance having a median practically $2 above that of women in all
cities combined. The group next in size was in fresh-sausage manufacturing, and
their median was well below that of all women so engaged. In the several
departments reported, the median ranged from $0.25 to $1.15 above the minimum
wage for adult experienced women fixed by law in California—$16. Usually it
was not strikingly high in relation to other cities, since meat packing is, on the
whole, rather better paid than are some of the other industries that employ large
numbers of women.

Median week’s earnings in various firms.

Unpublished material shows that, for all cities, the median of earn
ings was $17.15 for the four largest firms together. The highest
median of earnings in any of the large firms studied was $18.55, and
the lowest was $16.45. The median for the six smaller firms taken
together was only $14.70.
A study of the departments reveals further differences among
the firms. If the larger departments be considered separately, it is
found that in every large firm, as well as in the smaller ones combined,
the median of earnings for the pork-trim department was above that
of all women in the firm. The same was true of sausage casings and
of sausage manufacturing in each large firm but not in the smaller
ones combined; also in offal, in two firms. In smoked meat and
sliced bacon, the department median was below that of all women in
each large firm as well as in the smaller ones combined. In one firm
there was a striking difference in the earnings according to whether
fresh or dry sausage was made, the median for the workers in the
former being $15.95, in the latter $22.90. In another firm, freshsausage packers had a median of $16.45, dry-sausage packers one of
$18.50. In canning, the median in the smaller firms was above that
of all women, but in two of the three large firms having this depart
ment the median was below that of all women.
Average hourly earnings.

A summary from Tables VII and VIII in the appendix shows that
the average hourly earnings of all women reported were as follows:
Women
Average hourly earnings
Number

Per cent

All amounts—

4,959

100.0

20 and under 25 cents.
25 and under 30 cents.
30 and under 35 cents.
35 and under 40 cents.
40 and under 45 cents.
45 and under 50 cents.
50 and under 55 cents.
55 and under 60 cents.
60 cents and over___

7
207
1,629
1,241
985
488
246
74
82

4.2
32.8
25.0
19.9
9.8
5.0
1.5
1.7

Of the women in this summary, almost one-third had average
earnings of 30 and under 35 cents an hour, one-fourth averaged 35
and under 40 cents, and about one-fifth 40 and under 45 cents.
Nearly 80 per cent of the women were in these three groups, which
would represent earnings of $12 to $18 for a 40-hour week.

EARNINGS AND HOURS IN THE CURRENT WEEK

EARNINGS UNDER DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OF PAYMENT

Systems of payment in use.

Up to this point total week’s earnings have been discussed, and
this included data for timeworkers, pieceworkers, and workers em
ployed under some form of incentive scheme whereby they earned
a regular rate plus a production bonus. Firms vary in their methods
of payment, and even in the same establishment methods vary by
department and sometimes by occupation within the department.
One of the large firms and most of the smaller firms make payment
simply for straight timework or piecework. In all other firms,
workers receiving a bonus were reported, and where the weekly earn
ings are in the higher ranges the bonus ordinarily forms a considerable
proportion of the total.
In most cases the Bedaux 3 or a similar incentive plan is used.
Under such systems the standard of production for a particular job
is set by time studies and this standard represents 100. A certain
per cent of efficiency, say 60, is required of the worker, and for this
the regular time rate is paid; for any excess of production beyond that
point the worker is paid a certain per cent of that rate—it may be
25 per cent, it may be 80. Thus the piece rate is less for the increased
output than for the standard, which differs from bonuses as commonly
understood. The system may be used for individual work or for the
work of a group or “gang, ” of which the members perform successive
steps in one process. In meat packing it frequently is applied to a
gang, especially in certain departments, and sometimes the women
complained that new girls or slow workers cut down the bonus the
group was able to make. Where the Bedaux or a similar system is
most fully or effectively in operation, foremen and supervisors share
in the bonus earned by the group. While this is designed to insure
their cooperation with workers in the effort to increase production,
it is quite likely to result in a tendency to speed up.
Extent of the use of a bonus system.

The extent to which a bonus system of some kind is in use in the
departments employing women in meat packing and the proportion
of these women who received the bonus in the current week may be
seen by the following.
8 Carver, Arthur H.

Personnel and Labor Problems in the Packing Industry. 1928. pp. 128-130.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

Table 2.—Number and per cent of women in firms having the task-and-bonus

system, by department
Women in firms having the
task-and-bonus system

Department

Total
number
of women
reported

Women receiving
bonus in current
week
Total
number

Per cent
of all
Number women in
firms pay
ing bonus

All departments.................... ........

6,101

3,686

2,817

76.4

Kill....................................................
oflai......................................................;
Casings, beef______________________
Casings, hog and sheep...........................
Fancy-meat cooler_________________
Pork trim_________________________
Sausage casings......................................
Sausage manufacturing...........................
Sausage pack...................... ......................
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon)
Sliced bacon........... ................ ......... ......
Cooked meat (ham and meat loaf)____
Canning..................... ..............................
Lard, butter, butterine, and cheese___

115
281
80
251
38
695
274
1,094
311
280
929
39
449
226
33

40
236
70
152
35
545
189
756
197
198
702
30
338
171

26
147
67
124
23
404
168
551
155
152
565
19
262
146
15
3

65.0
62.3
81.4
81.6
65.7
74.1
88.9
72.9
78.7
76.8
80.5
63.3
77.5
85.4

Miscellaneous.

68.2
0)

1 Not computed, owing to the small number involved.

The foregoing shows that 72.3 per cent of the women reported
were employed in firms having the task-and-bonus system and that
over three-fourths of these had received a bonus in the current week.
These women represent 55.2 per cent of all reported. Over threefifths of the women who had received a bonus were in the four de
partments of sliced bacon, sausage manufacture, pork trim, and
canning. In three of these—pork trim, canning, and sliced bacon—
the bonus seemed to be rather generally used. It was received by
approximately three-fifths of all the women reported as in these de
partments, and these constituted 74.1, 77.5, and 80.5 per cent, re
spectively, of the women in the same processes in the plants having
the bonus system. In the latter connection, almost as much may be
said for the women receiving a bonus in sausage manufacture, but
they constituted only one-half of the very large group so occupied
in all plants reporting.
Proportion the bonus formed of total week’s earnings.

Tables IX and X in the appendix show for all departments and for
the four largest woman-employing departments the proportion the
bonus formed of the week’s earnings of the women receiving it. For
one-fifth of the 2,809 women here reported, the bonus formed 10 and
under 15 per cent of the total week’s earnings, and the groups for
whom it formed 5 and under 10 per cent and 15 and under 20 per cent
were nearly as large. For almost one-seventh of the women the
bonus was less than 5 per cent of the earnings, but for a larger group
than this it constituted 20 and under 25 per cent and for one still
larger it was one-fourth or more of the earnings.

EARNINGS AND HOURS IN THE CURRENT WEEK

The principal percentage groups are shown in the summary next
presented:

Week’s earnings, including
bonus

Per cent whose bonus formed of the week's earnings—
Number
of women
5 and
10 and
15 and
20 and
25 per
reported Under 5 under
10 under 15 under 20 under 25 cent and
per cent per cent
per cent per cent per cent
over

Total..................................

2,809

13.6

18.3

20.1

18.0

14.6

15.4

Under $10______ ___________
$10 and under $15____________
$15 and under $18.___
___
$18 and under $20..____ _____
$20 and under $25... .. _
$25 and under $40__ _________

96
551
767
515
680

22.9
28.7
15.4
10.7
4.0
1.5

18.8
37.4
19.6
15.0

19.8
19.6
24.3
18.3
21.3

13.5
8.5

9.4
3.6
14.0
18.4
21.9
14.5

15.6

200

8.2

3.5

6.0

21.8

24.1
18.5
14.5

2.2
6.1

13.6
26.0
60.0

These and other data of the same sort (see under year’s earnings,
p. 82) show that when high amounts were received, a more consider
able proportion was formed by the bonus than when the earnings
were low. This was found to be true in the different firms as well
as in the various departments.
.
Average hourly earnings under different systems of payment.

Average hourly earnings and the system of payment were reported
for 4,959 women. The distribution of these according to system of
payment is shown in the following 'summary, which also gives the
system in the departments reporting the largest numbers of women.

Department

OffaL--___ _________________

Number
reported

Per cent of women who
were paid by—
Time

Task and
bonus

14,959

18.9

67.6

278

13.7
5.0
13.5
25. 2
30.1
30.2
13.3

82.4
71.8
63.6
59. 3
58.5
58. 5
77.5
72.9

666

266
1,067
306
275
894
432

10.6

Piece
12.8

3.2
22. 6

14. 0
11. 4
11.3
9.2
16.7

1 A small per cent (0.7) were paid by both time and piece. Total exceeds details, as not all departments
are reported.

Of the women shown in the foregoing, 67.6 per cent worked under
a task-and-bonus system (though not all received a bonus), 18.9 per
cent were on timework, and 12.8 per cent were on piecework. Since
a task-and-bonus system is superseding timework and piecework
systems of payment in several of the firms, it is not surprising that
it constitutes much the largest group. However, in pork trim and
sausage casings more than one-fifth of the women reported were
pieceworkers. In these departments and canning, timeworkers
formed the smallest group. In the various departments, from 58.5
to 82.4 per cent of the women reported were paid by the task-andbonus system.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

The actual amount women are able to earn varies considerably
with the method of payment. The average hourly earnings of 4,959
women under the different systems are shown by the following:
Table 3.—Average hourly earnings, by method, of payment
Women who were paid by—
All women
reported
Average hourly earnings
Num Per
ber* cent
All amounts..... ........... .

4,959

100.0

25 and under 30 cents
30 and under 35 cents 35 and under 40 cents
40 and under 45 cents
45 and under 50 cents______
60 and under 55 cents
55 and under 60 cents
60 cents and over

7
207
1,629
1,241
985
488
246
74
82

.1
4.2
32.8
25.0
19.9
9.8
5.0
1.5
1.7

Time

Task and
bonus

Piece

Num Per
ber
cent

937
121

100.0

631
89
72
13
5

12.9
67.3
9.5
7.7
1.4
.5

Both time
and piece

3,350

100.0

635

100.0

81
885
979
785
382
164
45
23

2.4
26.4
29.2
23.4
11.4
4.9
1.3
.7

5
107
167
126
82
71
24
52

.2
.8

Num
ber

Per
cent

100.0

16.9
26.3
19.8
12.9

6
6
2
11
6

3.8

3
3

16.2
16.2
5.4
29.7
16.2

11.2
8.2

8.1
8.1

The foregoing indicates that, while the number of women on
piecework was smaller than that on either timework or task and
bonus, pieceworkers’ earnings showed a marked tendency to be higher
than those under the other two systems. Four-fifths of the timeworkers earned less than 35 cents, and even the task-and-bonus
system had almost 30 per cent of its workers so paid, while less than
18 per cent of the pieceworkers had earnings averaging less than 35
cents. Only about 1 per cent of the timeworkers and less than 7
per cent of those on task and bonus received as much as 50 cents an
hour, while these higher earnings went to 23.1 per cent of the women
on piecework only.
Tables VII and VIII show the average hourly earnings and systems
of payment of the women in the eight departments employing the
largest numbers. In four of the eight departments the largest group
of pieceworkers had higher average earnings than had the largest
group under any other system of payment; in one of these—pork
trim—over one-fourth of the pieceworkers earned 60 cents or more,
while not more than 3 per cent under any other system of payment
had earnings so high. In the offal department there were very few
pieceworkers; and in the remaining three the largest groups on piece
work and on task and bonus had similar average earnings. The fol
lowing shows the proportions of women who had average hourly
earnings of 40 cents or more under each system of payment in these
departments:

EARNINGS AND HOURS IN THE CURRENT WEEK

Per cent of women whose average
hourly earnings were 40 cents or
more under—
Department
Timework

Task and
bonus

39.5

27.5
67.4
60.4
52.0
27.9
30.4
27.1
31.7

12.1
2.8

6.3
7.2
28.6
6.5

Piecework
(')

74.5
73.3
59.1
48.6
67.7
36.6
44.1

i Not computed, owing to the small number involved.

In six of the eight departments a larger proportion of women had
average earnings of 40 cents or more under the task-and-bonus sys
tem than under timework, but a still larger proportion of the piece
workers had such earnings. The greatest differences between piece
work and task and bonus in the proportions averaging 40 cents or
more were in the smoked-meat and sausage-pack departments, where
the differences were about 37 and 20 per cent, respectively. _
The extent to which the three systems of payment were in use in
the various cities is as follows:
Number of
City

reported

i 210
418
158
■ 266
231
1 895
1581
183
367
237
1 1,579

Per cent of women who were paid
by—
Time
78.1

22.2

15.2
27.1
1.3
16.5
23.9
31.3
9.5
78.9
4.1

Task and
bonus

Piece

77.8
84.8
39.5
98.7
52.8
33.7
60.2
83.7
17.3
93.5

32.3
30.5
36.3
6.8

3.8

2.0

i Details aggregate less than total, because some women worked on both timework and piecework.

In every city but Omaha, where there were somewhat more piece
workers, and Los Angeles and San Francisco, where there were more
timeworkers, the largest group was that of workers on task _ and
bonus, the proportions ranging from 39.5 to 98.7 per cent. No piece
workers were reported in East St. Louis, Denver, St. Joseph, Fort
Worth, or in Ottumwa and Austin combined, and pieceworkers formed
the smallest groups in Chicago, St. Paul, and in Los Angeles and San
Francisco combined. In Sioux City, Kansas City, and Omaha timeworkers formed much the smallest groups.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

Unpublished data show that the same situation found in different
departments obtained in the various cities—larger proportions of
pieceworkers than of those on any other system of payment had the
relatively high average earnings of 40 cents or more an hour. An
exception to this was Sioux City, in which smaller numbers were
reported than elsewhere; in this city nearly one-fourth more of the
women on task and bonus than of the pieceworkers had average
hourly earnings of at least 40 cents—64 of the 105 task-and-bonus
workers reported and only 32 of the 86 pieceworkers had earnings so
high. In Chicago a great difference existed, but the numbers are
hardly comparable.
In but one firm, that had only time and task-and-bonus workers,
did over half the women under each of these systems receive average
hourly earnings as high as 40 cents, and this was the only firm in
which a larger proportion of timeworkers than of task-and-bonus
workers had such earnings.
Of the 635 pieceworkers reporting average hourly earnings, 518
■yvere employed by one firm. Not quite half of these had earnings
averaging as much as 40 cents per hour worked. The firms with
comparatively few pieceworkers reported showed much larger pro
portions to have received such earnings.
Effect of bonus on week’s earnings.

_ It was possible to obtain a small amount of data giving some
indication of the effect of the bonus system. Average hourly earn
ings of 48 women in three cities were ascertained for a period of
four weeks before the introduction of the incentive scheme and for
the four weeks immediately prior to the close of the survey. These
earnings, by department, were as follows:
Earnings during 4 weeks—

Department

Pork trim______________
Fresh-sausage manufacturing...................
Dry-sausage manufacturing......................
Sausage manufacturing (kind n. r.)_____
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon)
Other___ _______________

Directly prior to introduc
Num tion of incentive scheme
ber of
women
Total
Total Average
hourly
hours
earn earnings
worked ings
(cents)
3
19

2
8

$190.81
445
3,201^ 1, 332. 57
404
228.90
1,305
545.87
2, 227Yt 672.33
337
110.28

42.88
41.62
56.66
41.83
30.18
32.72

Immediately prior to close
of survey
Total
earn
ings

Average
hourly
earnings
(cents)

$236.92
510
3,405^2 1, 387.30
353
132.47
1,345
495. 72
2,189K 722.03
336
131.95

46.45
40.74
37.53
36.86
32.98
39. 27

Total
hours
worked

For the two departments having the largest numbers reported—
fresh-sausage manufacturing and smoked meat—there are shown a
decrease of 2.1 per cent and an increase of 9.3 per cent, respectively,
in average hourly earnings. The numbers are too small to warrant
comparison of the various departments; however, they give a some
what more valid basis for comparing the effect of the incentive
scheme on timeworkers and pieceworkers.
Of the women reported, 28 formerly were pieceworkers and 20
formerly were timeworkers. The following shows the increase or
decrease in earnings by system of payment.

EARNINGS AND HOURS IN THE CURRENT WEEK
Formerly timeworkers

Department
Number
reported

Formerly pieceworkers

Per cent by which
Per cent by which
average hourly
average hourly
earnings had—
earnings had.—
Number
reported
Increased Decreased

Increased Decreased

Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon)

■»

21.6

12
2

1
11
1

18.3
9.0
31.4

7
3
1

8.3

11.2

33.8
14.7
13.4

8.8

The foregoing shows that in every case the timeworkers’ earnings
had increased under the incentive scheme, while those of pieceworkers
had decreased in three departments. The increases for timeworkers
ran from 9 to 31.4 per cent; the decreases for pieceworkers ran from
11.2 to 33.8 per cent. In the department in which the largest numher was reported—fresh-sausage manufacture—timeworkers’ earn
ings had increased 21.6 per cent and those of pieceworkers had
decreased 11.2 per cent. While the numbers are too small to justify
any final conclusion, their showing tends to lend color to the general
impression that the bonus increased the earnings of timeworkers but
decreased those of pieceworkers. This is reinforced by the findings
as to earnings of women under three systems—that earnings of
timeworkers ordinarily were lower, earnings of pieceworkers usually
higher, than those of the women receiving task-and-bonus payments.4
Comments on the bonus.

The statement was sometimes made that the introduction of a
task-and-bonus system had meant a raise for some workers, depend
ing on output, but that rates were cut when it was introduced.
_
If comments made by plant officials and by women visited in their
homes be considered, the task-and-bonus system appeared to be as
liable as straight piecework to produce physical strain from excessive
speed and consequently to increase the accident hazard. One fore
man said he hoped it would not be installed in his plant, terming it a
“slave-driving system.” Another had protested vigorously when a
production hourly standard was adopted, following time studies, in
his department, as the tendency was to use the output of the fastest
workers for the standard, but later he had been able to have the
rating based on an average of the output of all workers. Closely
related to the speed incident to the bonus system is the factor of its
application to women who work in gangs. Complaints frequently
were made that new girls or slow workers lessened the output of the
group and consequently the earnings of all its members. The follow
ing comments on speed, accident, and gang work are taken from the
home interviews in various cities:
To make bonus (at teamwork) must wrap 6 pounds a minute, 60 minutes to the
hour, and every hour of the day. If you went to the dressing room you had to
make it up. (Lard.)
Husband says five men a day cut their fingers for the bonus.
* See p. 66.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

Good money on piecework. Bonus spoils stockyards. Boss say “Hurry up!
Hurry up!” all the time. Can’t make anything. (Sausage manufacture.)
Work like lightning to get_bonus. (Sausage pack.)
Works hard as she can. Never leaves the table. If sick, matron gives her a
dose. “That’s the way you work for a bonus.” (Sausage links.)
Could make more since bonus, but it is a group system and are held back by
inexperienced girls. Wishes bonus were individual. (Sliced bacon.)
Have to work hard scraping, to make any bonus. (Hog casings.)
No allowance made for new girls; they bring down earnings of all girls at table.
(Sausage manufacture.)
The bonus has ruined the place. Only one girl on her job now where they had
three, and bonus is hardly ever over $2, and most of the time is under $1. (Chipped
beef.)

Much of the dissatisfaction with the bonus appeared to be based
on a lack of understanding by the workers of the way in which it was
calculated and a feeling that payment was unfairly allotted. In 11
of 44 typical cases, the woman said she did not understand the system.
Among the comments showing the misunderstanding and dissatisfac
tion of women, in various cities and in various departments, were the
following:5
Present bonus system hard to understand. Woman visited said she had done
the same kind of work and, to her knowledge, the same quantity, and received
different bonuses. “Can’t tell what the bonus will be until we get pay.” (Pork
trim.)
Woman visited can’t tell about her bonus. Wishes she could figure it. It is
figured on number of hogs, and “they just keep you from knowing how many
there are.” She asks, but the boss “seems as if he doesn’t want to tell.” (Offal.)
Can not understand bonus. They never mark it on the board. “I get so
tangled up with that bonus man.” (Offal.)
Made more money on piecework—never less than $20 to $25, and that was
seldom. Now it is different, and it seems very hard to be so much poorer.
(Pork trim.)
“Bonus is bunk.” Liked piecework and made good pay. At first they were
told how many pounds they must trim; now can’t tell. On a sliding scale, ac
cording to how many hogs are cut. (Pork trim.)
Made $35 to $40 on piecework—much less now on task and bonus. Women
do not understand how the bonus is figured. Get “just what the bosses want
you to have.” (Sausage manufacture.)
Three girls at 33 cents an hour plus bonus do the work of seven girls at 25 and
28 cents. (Smoked meat.)
A woman of 42 did not understand the bonus, stating that some weeks she
works hard and gets only $1 bonus, next week no harder and gets $3 or $4. (Lard.)

A report from one plant gave some details of the effort made by the
management to obviate such misunderstanding. After the standard
for production in the various occupations had been set and a depart
ment in the plant was about to be put on a bonus basis, the employ
ment manager and the man who had determined the standards took
a blackboard and, during working hours, they explained how the
standard had been arrived at and how the bonus payment would be
figured. At the request of the employment manager the efficiency
man did not use his slide rule for the calculation of the bonus. This
reduced the speed of the operation to such an extent that the em
ployees were able to follow and check the method, and they had time
5 Some cases of misunderstanding may have been caused by the fact that wage and bonus weeks are not
always the same.

EARNINGS AND HOURS IN THE CURRENT WEEK

to grasp the idea and ask questions. As a result, the employment
manager felt, most of the employees understood the system, and
there was little of the hard feeling and criticism that frequently ac
companied its installation in other plants.
HOURLY RATES

Hourly rates were reported for timeworkers in various depart
ments in 15 of the 34 plants visited. There were 2,873 women in
these departments, including a few on piecework. In the case of
women shifted to piecework jobs for part of their time, the rates
discussed are their hourly rates when on timework.
The summary following shows that the rates for the women re
ported ranged from 24 to 52% cents, which would be from $9.60 to
$21 for the week of 40 hours,6 and from $11.52 to $25.20 for one of
48 hours.

Department

Offal____ _______________________________________ _________

Number of
workers in
the depart
ment in
which rates
were re
ported

Cents per hour, time
rate

Highest

Lowest

2,873

62X

118
176
345
171
628
158
141
613
230

52H
52H
50
37
45
40
m
45
45^
45
48^

27
27
27^
24
24
27
25
24y2
30
27
27

121

172

The departments in which the hourly rates ran highest—52% cents—
were offal and hog and sheep casings. The liighest in pork trim was
50 cents; in sausage casings it was only 37 cents—the least among the
maximum rates in effect. The lowest hourly rate found was 24
cents in sausage casings and sausage manufacture; the lowest in
sliced bacon was 24%, in smoked meat 25 cents. No hourly rate in
canning was below 30 cents or in pork trim below 27% cents. There
was a difference of over 25 cents between the highest and the lowest
rates in offal and hog and sheep casings, and of 20 and under 25 cents
in pork trim, sausage manufacture, and sliced bacon, but of only 13
cents in sausage casings and in sausage packing, the departments in
which rates varied least.
In two of the four large firms reported, the highest rate was 52%
cents, and in one of these the lowest rate was more than 28 cents
below the highest. In the other two large firms the highest rates
were, respectively, 45 and 45% cents. Among the various cities the
highest hourly rate was in Kansas City and St. Joseph, which also
showed the greatest range from lowest to highest; the lowest rates
« The guaranteed-pay period. See p. 72.

64051°-—32-----6

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

found were in Denver and East St. Louis. Data for the various
cities may be seen in the following summary:

City

Number of
workers in
the departments in
which rates
were re
ported

Cents per hour, time
rate

Highest

Lowest

2,873

62 Yi

329
150

42M
52M
36
52^
45
35
45
48><i

27
30
24
30
30
25
30
30

222

265
394
74
71
1,368

EARNINGS AND HOURS WORKED

Hours worked in the week.

Tables XI and XII in the appendix give data as to the hours
worked in the current Week by the 4,960 women for whom this in
formation was reported. Of these, the largest group—23.3 per cent—
had worked over 44 and under 48 hours; 16.6 per cent had worked
under 40 hours, and about 12 per cent each were in groups that had
worked over 40 and under 44 hours and over 50 and under 54 hours.
Owing to the nature of the industry and its dependence to a large
extent upon the flow of livestock to the market, there is likely to be
considerable variation from day to day and from department to de
partment in the hours of work required. Some plants reported that
this did not greatly affect the work of women, but in the cases in
which complete annual records were secured by the investigators
much fluctuation from week to week had occurred. Most plants
made some effort to minimize the more extreme variations. Of
33 plants for which such data were reported, all but 2 or 3 belong
ing to independent firms—in 1 of which girls were paid for a full
day if present any part of the day—guaranteed to pay their workers
for a 40-hour week. In a number of cases such a guaranty had been
instituted at the time of the Alschuler decision,7 and officials some
times designated it as the “penalty”—penalty against the manage
ment for not spreading the work so as to avoid a week of less than 40
working hours. Comments in two plants illustrate this:
Keeps foremen alert; reflects on their efficiency in avoiding extremes.
Foreman has been caught twice and had to pay the guaranty, but it would
never happen again, as it was charged against his overhead and affected his
efficiency rating.

Although the guaranty system usually applied to both sexes, in
practice it was seldom necessary to pay the guaranty to women. The
extent to which guaranteed pay was received by the women with
year’s records reported is shown in Appendix Tables XV and XXXIX.
It was observed most commonly in departments employing relatively
few women—expecially those concerned with or directly dependent
7 Federal mediation during the war.

EARNINGS AND HOURS IN THE CURRENT WEEK

upon killing—and sometimes the rule did not apply to all departments
in a plant. If the work in their regular departments was completed,
women usually could be shifted elsewhere; and if they refused such
transfer for the remainder of a day or other period, ordinarily they
forfeited the guaranteed pay. As the chief of the time office in one
plant expressed it, “We make an effort to find work for women as long
as we have to pay them. When work decreases in quantity, we lay off
part of the force.” The practice regarding lay-offs was resorted to
in many plants to avoid paying the guaranty when work was slack.
The lay-off breaks the provision for guaranteed pay but only tem
porarily reduces the number of the gang. Furthermore, the lay-off
does not always break the individual’s service record with the firm.
In one plant it was reported that the women in one department
had asked for a suspension of the guaranteed-pay plan in order to
avoid lay-off, preferring to divide the work and have such pay as
they could get. Other comments were: “Guaranty is seldom paid,
as the force is reduced temporarily instead, where the need can be
foreseen.” “When offered work in other departments, women often
refuse to transfer.”
Most plants required that the worker, to be eligible to receive
guaranteed pay, must be present every day in the week, must be on
time at work, and must accept transfer to other departments when
work in her own was finished. However, in one plant it was explained
that the 40 hours meant a daily guaranty of 6% hours, and the policy
was to pay a worker who might be sick for part of the week full pay
for the days present.
That the guaranty is paid only to a minority is indicated by the
fact that three-fourths of the women reported, ranging from 68 to 88
per cent in the cities visited, had worked more than 40 hours in the
current week, which was not at the peak season of the year. The
distribution of the women in the various cities according to hours
worked is as follows:

City

All cities......... ....................................................
Ottumwa and Austin_____________ _____
St. Joseph...................................... ...... ..........................
Sioux City___ ____ _____ _____________________
Fort Worth________________________________ .
Kansas City......... .......................... ........... ........ ...........
Omaha_____ ____ _______ ______________ ____ _
Denver............................................ ............ .................
St. Paul._____
Chicago...................................................... ....................

Per cent of women who had worked—
Number
of wom
en re
40 40 hours Over 40 Over 54
ported Under
hours
hours
hours
4,960

16.6

164
419
168
266
230
895
680
83
367
219
1,579

10.4
22.9
13.3
11.3
19.6
16.4
18.8
8.4
19.9
10.0

16.2

7.9
2.4
7.2
2.5
1.9 v
3.0
3.5
3.1
3.6
8.2
4.6
15.8

75.5
87.2
69.9
84.2
86.8
77.4
80.1
78.1
88.0
71.9
85.4
68.0

5.9
1.2

2.6
17.3
4.7
21.3
7.2

Although in each city the great majority of the women had worked
over 40 hours, the foregoing shows that over one-fifth of the women
reported in East St. Louis and nearly one-fifth in Fort Worth,
Omaha, and St. Paul had worked less than 40 hours. In the last
named and in Sioux City large proportions had exceeded 54 hours,
and cases of very long hours sometimes were found. No woman

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

worked over 48 hours in the California cities or Denver and none
over 54 hours in Omaha, St. Joseph, or Fort Worth.
In each firm, with one exception, the hours worked by the largest
group of women were over 44 and under 48; in the one excepted,
slightly more women had worked over 50 and under 54 hours. That
there was considerable difference in the hours worked in the various
firms is indicated by the following:
Per cent of women reported who
had worked—
Firm
Under 40
hours
I
.. _______ _____
II
_________________________________________
III______________________________________________ ________
IV- ________________________________________
Other (smaller firms)------------------------------------------------------------

20.5
12.9
19.2
17.9
12.3

Over 40
hours

Over 54
hours

74.6
82.4
77.1

1.4
15.2
4.9
2.7

68.2

2.1

84.3

The proportions of women who had worked over 40 hours ranged
from 68.2 to 84.3 per cent; in one firm between one-sixth and oneseventh of the women reported had worked more than 54 hours.
Women who worked maximum weekly hours permitted by law.

In six of the cities included in the survey, data in regard to the hours
worked could be compared with the legal regulations as to maximum
weekly hours—St. Joseph, Fort Worth, Kansas City, Omaha, St.
Paul, and Los Angeles and San Francisco combined.8 In these the
women who had worked the full legal maximum were as follows:

City

Maximum
Total
number of
hours
permitted
women
by law
reported

Women who had
worked the maximum
hours permitted by
law
Number

f
\

48
lWA }
354
54
54
54
58

219
895 1f
230
580
158
367

94
3 84
21
14
44
5
6

Per cent
42.9
2.3
9.4
6.1

7.6
3.2
1.6

1 Maximum ordinarily permitted.
2 200 women had exceeded the maximum ordinarily permitted.
3 Maximum permitted in emergency.

From the foregoing it is apparent that in St. Joseph, Fort Worth,
Omaha, and St. Paul the great majority of the women reported had
worked less than the hours permitted by law—in the first three over
90 per cent and in St. Paul over 85 per cent. In Los Angeles and San
Francisco, where legal hours were considerably shorter than in the
other cities, only about 57 per cent had worked less than the full legal
maximum. In Kansas City, where the State differs from those just
s Chicago, East St. Louis, Sioux City, and Denver are not discussed here. In regard to Chicago and
East St. Louis, Illinois has no weekly limit but fixes the 10-hour day as a maximum. No woman reported
from Chicago or East St. Louis worked 70 hours, and only 1 in each case worked as long as 60 hours. Iowa
has no hour-law for women. Colorado has no legal weekly limit.

EARNINGS AND HOURS IN THE CURRENT WEEK

discussed in fixing 49% hours as the ordinary legal limit but allowing
54 hours for emergency work, three-fourths of the women had worked
less than the ordinary legal maximum and about six-sevenths had
worked less than the emergency maximum, as compared to over
nine-tenths who had worked less than the legal limit in St. Joseph,
Port Worth, and Omaha. The emergency hours in Kansas City were
the same as the regular legal limit in St. Joseph, Port Worth, and
Omaha; in Omaha 7.6 per cent of the women had worked these hours.
Unpublished data show that the largest racial group that had worked
the emerg§ncy-hour period in Kansas City was composed of colored
women and comprised more than one-third of their number, while
over one-tenth of the foreign born and less than 2 in every 100 of the
native white women had worked so long.
Week’s earnings and hours worked.

The earnings of the women according to the number of hours
worked are next presented.
Women re
ported
Hours worked

Women who earned—
Per
and $15 and $18 and $20 and
cent
Under $10
under under under under $25 and earning
$10
over $20 and
$20
$15
$18
$25
over

Num
ber

Me
dian
earn
ings

Total____________
Per cent distribution

4,960

$16.85

290
5.8

1,342
27.1

1,392
28.1

687
13.9

930
18.8

319
6.4

Under 40_____ ________
40___ ____ ________
Over 40 and under 44... _ _
44______________
Over 44 and under 48... ...
48__________

823
391
572
174
1,155
363
289

11.45
15. 30
16. 05
17. 60
16. 45
17. 55
18. 45
19.85
19. 55
21.65
23.70
26. 70

289

406
181
232
38
337
76
41
5

80
144
174

23
32
96
32
171
92
50
17

23
29
64

3.0
8.4

156

17.1

50______ ______________
54________________
60 and over.___ ______

100.0

112

606
182
254
39

450
115
87
35
204
25
17

102

212

38
32

114

91
26

25.2

80 7
92.3

The foregoing shows that ordinarily the median of earnings for
each group of women was above that of the group just preceding who
had worked shorter hours, continuous growth in earnings with increase
in hours being broken only by the median of the 44-hour group, which
was relatively high, and that of the women who worked over 50 and
under 54 hours, which was relatively low.
Table XIII in the appendix shows the earnings by hours worked in
four important woman-employing departments—pork trim, sliced
bacon, fresh-sausage manufacture, and canning. In each depart
ment but pork trim the largest group of women worked over 44 and
under 48 hours; 43.5 per cent of these women earned $15 and under
$18, and 29.5 per cent earned $10 and under $15. In pork trim, women
who worked over 50 and under 54 hours formed the chief group,
followed closely by those working under 40 hours. Of the women
with the longer week, over 55 per cent earned $20 and under $25;
more than half of those with the shortest hours made less than $10.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

Median earnings of women working various hours in these four
departments were as follows:
Median earnings of women reported in—
Hours worked
Pork trim

40___________________________
44___________________________
48______________________________________
50___ ____ ______________ _________________
54

Sliced
bacon

Fresh-saus
age manu
facturing

Canning

$20.20

$15.15

$17. 25

$16.40

9.50
17.90
18. 25
0)
19. 55
20. 50

11.20

12.05
Q)
16.00
19.90
16. 35
16.95
21.65
0)
18.90
21.35
21.45
27.65

12. 05
14. 55
16.00

20.10

(*)
22. 35
30.20
27. 20
0)

14.70
14.85
17. 30
15. 65
17.00
13.80
0)

20.20
0)

(')

16.90
13.90
17.95

18.05
P>
0

1 Not computed, owing to the small number involved.

_ Among the women in fresh-sausage manufacture—as among those
in all departments taken together—the median was relatively high
for 44-hour workers, relatively low for those who had worked over 50
and under 54 hours. Illustrative of the variations in earnings where
piecework and task and bonus prevail is the following situation, that
obtained in respect to fresh-sausage manufacture in these hour groups:
Forty-four-hour group.—Of 27 women reported, only 5 were on timework,
and 1 was on piecework. Twenty-one were paid by the task-and-bonus system;
for 3 of these the bonus formed over 30 per cent of their earnings; for 10 others it
was over 20 per cent. All the last named had earned over $20, the highest $24.25.
Over-BO-and-under-64-hour group.—Of 85 women reported, only 3 were on
piecework, 2 of -whom had low earnings; 20 were on timework, and all these had
earned under $17.30 (the median for all fresh-sausage workers reported in the
entire study). Sixty-two were under the task-and-bonus system, but 24 of these
had earned under $20. Ten had earned no bonus; for 9 others the bonus formed
less than 5 per cent of their earnings; and for 7 others it formed less than 10 per cent.

In sliced bacon, the following was the situation among the 44-hour
workers, whose median was relatively high:
Of 58 women reported, while 30 were timeworkers, nearly all earning under
$20, 10 were pieceworkers, 4 of whom earned over $20, the highest being $24.40;
the remaining 18 were paid by task and bonus, and of these the bonus formed
over 30 per cent of the earnings for 2 women, at least 25 per cent for 3 others.

Week’s earnings and nativity.

Up to the present point the earnings of all women reported have
been considered by department, firm, and city. Additional differ
ences appear when the data, are separated according to whether the
women were native white, foreign born, or colored. The median of
earnings for native white women was $16, for foreign-bom $18.75,
and for colored $16.55. The earnings distribution of those for whom
both earnings and nativity were reported is as follows:

EARNINGS AND HOURS IN THE CURRENT WEEK
Native white

Foreign born

77
Colored

Earnings
Number

Per cent

Number

Per cent

Number

2,240

100.0

‘1,666

100.0

3 575

100.0

Under $10.............................................
$10 and under $15________ _____
$15 and under $18..........................
$18 and under $20
$20 and under $25................. . ..........
$25 and over

136
763
658
293
312
78

6.1
34.1
29.4
13.1
13.9
3.5

55
259
413
265
463
211

3.3
15.5
24.8
15.9
27.8
12.7

38
157
175
78
112
15

6.6
27.3
30.4
13.6
19.5
2.6

All earnings____ _______

Per cent

1 Exclusive of 1 woman receiving bonus but no salary, indicating that the bonus applied to an earlier week.
3 Exclusive of 3 women receiving bonus but no salary, indicating that the bonus applied to an earlier week.

The table that follows shows the earnings of women in each nativity
group in eight important departments.
Table 4.—Week’s earnings, by department and nativity
All cities 1
Department and nativity

Number
women

All departments:2
Native white_______ ______________________
Foreign born
Colored........ .............................................................. .

Per cent earning—
Median
earnings

$20 and

over

Under
$10

6.1

2,240
1,666
575

$16.00
18. 75
16.55

17.4
40.5
22.1

6.6

Offal:
Native white__________________________ ____ _____
Foreign born
Colored------------------------------- ------- --------------- ------ -----

43
40
172

17. 30
18.15
15.45

37.2
32.5
19.8

11.0

Pork trim:
Native white_____ _______________________ ______ ___
Foreign born
_____________ __________
Colored_______________ ____ _____ ____________

163
384
45

18. 20
21.65
18.65

34.4
64.3
37.8

11.0

67
161
35

18.25

16.70

32.8
52.2
14.3

6.0

20.20

435
487
53

16.45
19.10
18.15

22.8
42.9
35.8

4.8
2.5

134
147
43

16.00
16.90
16.20

15.7
15.0
4.7

2.2
3.4
2.3

195
86
16

16.05
16.65
20.40

15.9
25.6
62.5

195
65
6

15. 90
16.95
P)

6.7
21.5
«

6.7
3.1

655
124
14

15.20
15.50
(s)

12.1

22.6
m

7.2
5.6

Sausage casings:
Native white__________________________ ___________
Foreign born..................... ........ ........... ............. ....................
Sausage manufacturing:
Native white................................................ ...........................
Foreign born______________________ _____ ____ ____
Canning:
Native white................. ......................................................
Foreign born------------- --------------- --------- ----------------Colored___ _________ ____________ ________ ___ ____
Sausage pack:
Native white-------------------- ------------------ ----------- ------ Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon):
Native white_______ ________ _____________ _____ ___

Sliced bacon:
Native white............ ............ .................. .................................
Foreign born__________ _____ __________ _____ _____

3.3

2.3
7.5

3.1
15.6
2.5

1 Includes all cities.
3 Includes also departments not given in detail. All departments having total of over 260 women re
ported, given in detail.
8 Not computed, owing to the small number involved.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

The summary on page 77 shows that 6.1 per cent of the native white
women and a slightly larger proportion of the colored women earned
under $10, while only 3.3 per cent of the foreign born earned amounts
so low. In the higher ranges, over 17 per cent of the native white
women earned $20 or more, but larger proportions of the foreign
born and of the colored had such high earnings—over 40 and over 22
per cent, respectively. Table 4, also on page 77, makes it clear that
the proportions in the highest and in the lowest earnings groups
differ greatly among the various departments.
Table 5 shows the differences in earnings by nativity and by city.
It will be seen that there were only a few foreign-born women in
Ottumwa and Austin, and there were no colored women in these
towns nor in the California cities, and only a very few in Sioux City.
Table 5.—Earnings distribution of women, by nativity and city
Per cent of women who earned—
Median
women earn
and $15 and $18 and $20 and
report ings Under $10
under under under under $25 and
$10
ed
over
$20
$15
$18
$25
Num-

NATIVE WHITE
All cities___________________
Ottumwa and Austin_ _.
St. Joseph________ _________ _
Sioux City______ __________

Kansas City
Omaha____ _____________________
St. Paul____ ____________________
Chicago.-- ------------

-----------------

2,240

$16.00

6.1

34.1

29.4

13.1

13.9

198
233
74
150
190
353
308
55
218
53
402

13. 75
15. 65
18.60
16. 80
14.90
16. 75
15. 80
14. 10
16.90
16.55
16. 65

6.1
8. 6

72.2
36.1
17.6
14.0
41.8
28.0
31.5
69.1
23.9
18.9
30.8

15.7
34. 8
25.7
42.0
29.6
31.4
29.5
25. 5
24.3
54.7
26.9

2.0
13. 7

3.5

13.6
16.7
13.3
17.8
6.5

36.5
16.7
5. 6
15.3
21.4

4.1
4.7

19.7
15.1.
15.2

15.1
11. 3
16.7

3.3

15.5

24.8

15.9

27.8

4.7

(I)
25.2

5.6

3.7

2.7
6.0

9.7
3.4
7.8
3.6
9.6
3.7

1.8

3.5

4.0
3.2
7.3
6.7

FOREIGN BORN
All cities.............. .......................
East St. Louis __ __________ ____
St. Joseph
Sioux City
Omaha__ _____
St. Paul____ ________________ ____
Los Angeles and San Francisco... ...
Chicago.......................................

1,666

$18.75

3
127
50
107

(!)
17.30
21. 00
20. 90
0)
20. 55
18. 65
15.85
18. 80
16.70
18. 60

226
223
25
124
105

668

2.0

7.6
6.5
1.9

2.2

6.0

19.0
16.6
40.0
11.3
7.6
15.6

29.9

12.0

15.7
16.0

19.7
54.0
48.6
(!)
24. 8
36.3
28. 0

15.0
(i)
15.9
22.4

12.0
21.0

20.0
21.0

58.1
26.3

12.4
18.9

12.4
25.9

11.2
12.8

10.3

21.8

12.7
(l)
4.7

10.0

15.9
27 4
6.7
18.5
7.6
11.1

COLORED
All cities............................ ..........

575

$16. 55

6.6

27.3

30.4

13.6

19.5

59
4

14.70
(0
(1)
14. 45
18.70
14. 80
16. 50
17.05

10.2

42.4
(!)
(>)
48.0
19.8
39. 5
39.1
22.3

35.6

6.8

5.1
(1)
«

Kansas City

101

St. Paul________________________
Chicago________________ _____—

38
23
314

1 Not computed, owing to the small number involved.

0)
20.0

4.0
15.8
4.3
4.8

28.0
19.8
39. 5
13.0
33.4

4. 0

21.8

5. 3
30.4
13.4

2.6

28.7

5.9

13. 0
23.2

2.9

K-

EARNINGS AND HOURS IN THE CURRENT WEEK

Week’s earnings and hours worked in relation to nativity.

The hours worked by women of the various nativity groups were
as follows:
"Women who had worked—
Nativity

Number
of
women
reported

Over 54 hours

Over 40 hours

40 hours

Under 40 hours

Number Per cent Number Per cent Number Per cent Number Per cent
All groups___
Native white
Foreign born
Colored

4,363

674

15.4

325

• 7.4

3, 364

77.1

272

6.2

2,171
1,621
571

367
194
113

16.9

144

6.6

1, 660

76.5
80.6
69.7

96
153
23

4.4
9.4
4.0

12.0

121

19.8

7.5
10.5

1,306
398

The foregoing shows that while the majority of women in each
nativity group worked over 40 hours, the largest proportion working
for such period was that of foreign-born women, who also had much
the largest proportion working more than 54 hours. A larger pro
portion of colored women than of any other nativity group worked
under 40 hours.
The following summary shows, by hours worked, the women of the
various nativity groups who had earned $20 or more.

Hours worked

Native white

Foreign born

Colored

Earning $20
and over
Num
ber re
ported Num
Per
ber
cent

367
144
289

40.

44
48
50

54 _

527
160
146
52
268
56
79
17

1.1

19
13
67

6.6

94
27
53
H

6.9
19.7
12.7
13.1
21.9
38.5
35.1
48.2
67. 1
82.4

194
121

175
49
347
168

100

33
217
64
132
21

17
40
28
104
56
57
23
127
51
117
21

5.2
14.0
22.9
57. 1
30.0
33.3
57.0
69.7
58.5
79. 7
88. 6

100.0

5
3

113
60
60
19
126

19
77
43
23

33
24
19

11
20

6
1
1
8
10

4.4
5.0

10.0

5.3
12.7
(>)
40.0
52.6
42.9
55.8
82.6

i Not computed, owing to the small number involved.

In every hour group, larger proportions of foreign-born than of
native white or colored women earned $20 or more, and in 7 of the
12 groups such earnings were received by larger proportions of col
ored than of native white women. This is due to several factors,
chiefly differences in jobs.

STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE LIBKART

PART

m—YEAR’S

EARNINGS

For a representative group of the steadiest workers, whose names
appeared on the pay rolls in at least 44 weeks of the year studied, a
record of earnings was secured. These women numbered 2,003.
Practically three-eighths of them—739 women—were found on the
pay rolls in each of the 52 weeks; 552 had worked 51 weeks and 282
had worked 50 weeks.
The median of the year’s earnings of the 2,003 women who had
worked 44 weeks or more was $898.70; the 1,573 who had worked at
least 50 weeks had a median of $919.20.
The summary following shows the year’s earnings of the women in
this selected group who were in the chief departments:
Selected group
whose record of 44
weeks or more was
secured

Women who worked 50
weeks or more

Department
Per cent Median
Number Median
of select earnings
of women earnings Number ed
group
All departments 1..........................-........-..........
Offal................................................................................
Fresh-sausage manufacturing--------------------- ------Dry-sausage manufacturing
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon)----- ----------Sliced bacon--------------------------------------------------Canning--------- -----------------------------------------------

2,003

$898.70

1,573

78.5

$919. 20

117
301
301

882. 50
1,001.00
915. 30
926.45
857.15
870. 65
851.65

90
207
233

76.9

915.00
1,050.00
928. 75
933. 35
873. 55
900.75
886. 65

120

128
295
109

100

98
231
98

68.8

77.4
83.3
76.6
78.3
89.9

1 Only those departments are shown separately in which the largest numbers of the women reporting
were at work.

The foregoing summary shows that, in the various departments,
from 68.8 to 89.9 per cent of the women for whom records of 44 weeks
or more were secured had worked at least 50 weeks. The median of
the year’s earnings of such workers ranged from $873.55 in smoked
meat to $1,050 in pork trim, with those in the sausage-manufacturing
departments ranking next to pork trim. The departments had much
the same relation as this in respect to earnings of women who had
worked as much as 44 weeks.
From unpublished material classified by locality it is apparent that
in each locality as many as two-thirds of the workers had been steadily
employed—50 weeks or more. The median of earnings bore little or
no relationship to size of city, though the median of the women who
had worked 50 weeks or more was highest in Chicago, $976.65, and
lowest in Ottumwa and Austin, $702.80. Earnings came nearest to
Chicago in Kansas City, St. Paul, St. Joseph, and Sioux City. Un
published data classified by firm show the year’s earnings of these
steadiest workers to have ranged from $900 to $995 in the four largest
firms.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

Extent of receipt of bonus payments.

The following summary supplies, for the important womanemploying departments, data as to the receipt of bonus payments
in the year by 895 women whose complete record was secured in 19
plants having the task-and-bonus system:

Department

Offal_________ _________
Pork trim_____ _________
Fresh-sausage manufacturing.........
Dry-sausage manufacturing __
Smoked meat (other than sliced
bacon).
Sliced bacon.. _................ ........... ...
Canning_____ ______

Total Women having
bonus pay
Total of bonus payments received
number
in year
of women ments during
the year
whose
record of
44 weeks
or more
was se
cured in
plants Num
Per
Lowest
having
ber
cent Median Highest amount
amount
task-andbonus
system
90
223
205
101
93

89
209
175
84
72

98.9
93.7
85.4
83.2
77.4

$70.85
174.25
181. 25
170.00
100.00

$400 and under $425.. Under $10.
$575 and under $600..
Do.
$350 and under $375__
Do.
$400 and under $425__
Do.
$375 and under $400. _
Do.

207
62

206
60

99.5
96.8

132.45
90.00

$625 and under $650. _
$550 and under $575. _

Do.
Do.

For plants having the task-and-bonus system, the foregoing shows
that in all but one of the seven departments over 80 per cent of the
women for whom year’s records were taken had received a bonus;
in four departments the per cent was over 90. The amount of the
bonus in the year had been considerable, the median ranging from
$70.85 in offal to $181.25 in fresh-sausage manufacture, and being
over $100 in five of the seven departments. In each department
some woman had received less than $10 in bonus payments in the
year, but in each the highest had run to at least $350, and the highest
of all, in sliced bacon, was in the group $625 and under $650.
A comparison of the median of the bonus payments received and the
median of the total year’s earnings, of which the bonus forms a part,
shows how important is the incentive system in the matter of income.
Proportion bonus forms of total earnings—
women whose record of 44 weeks or more
was secured
Department

Offal______ ____
Pork trim........... .......
Fresh-sausage manufacturing...___ ______
Dry-sausage manufacturing.. ____
____
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon)___
Sliced bacon........ .............. ..................
,
Canning___ _

Median of
year’s
Number earnings, Median of
bonus
of women including
receipts
bonus
receipts
89
209
84
72
206
60

$891.65
988. 55
1,003. 00
929.15
890.00
888. 25
862.50

174.25
181.25
170.00
100. 00
132. 45

Per cent
median of
bonus is
of median
of year’s
earnings

18.1
11.2

year’s earnings

Hours of the weeks worked in the year in relation to bonus received.

Table XIV in the appendix shows the hours of the weeks worked in
the year by 1,924 women who had worked a total of 97,014 weeks—•
an average of about 50 weeks per woman. Nearly all these women
had worked some weeks of over 44 and under 48 hours, one-fifth of
all weeks worked being of this duration, and nearly all had worked
some weeks of 42 and under 44 hours, the duration of about one-tenth
of the weeks worked. Over 80 per cent had had some weeks of 36 and
under 39 hours, of 40 hours, of over 40 and under 42 hours, and of
over 48 and under 49K hours. Seventy-eight per cent had had some
weeks of over 50 and under 52 hours, and 71 per cent weeks of over 52
and under 54 hours. As many as 22 per cent had worked more than
60 hours in a week, averaging 2% such weeks; and 5 per cent—96
women—had had one or more weeks of over 70 hours, averaging about
1% such weeks.
In one of the four large firms no woman had worked a week of over
60 hours, although 16.5 per cent of the women had had a small pro
portion of 60-hour weeks. Two large firms had a very different record:
In one, over one-tenth of the women had had a small proportion
of weeks of over 70 hours, and over one-fourth had had weeks of over
60 and under 70 hours; the other firm was less extreme, somewhat
fewer than one-tenth of the women having worked one week of over
70 hours, and over one-fifth having averaged two weeks of over 60
and under 70 hours.
Unpublished details on the subject of the bonus make it clear how
variable are the earnings and the bonus payments. That the season
may be largely responsible for this appears in the following:
A comparison of a week in August and a week in the January fol
lowing showed for one department 30 and 33 women, respectively, to
have been employed. The average earnings were $12.35 in August,
with hours averaging only 34.9, and $19.02 in January, with hours
averaging 52.9, a fraction over 35 cents per hour in each case. In
August 21 women and in January 23 women of the group were paid
a bonus, but this averaged only $2.82 in the week in August and
amounted to an average of $6.03 in the week in January.
However, season is not the only factor influencing women’s earnings
in this industry. In two consecutive weeks in December, 20 and 21
women, respectively, were employed. The hours worked averaged
42.6 in the first week and 46.7 in the second, and the week’s earnings
averaged $14.98 and $16.48, respectively, in each case a fraction over
35 cents an hour. In the first week 17 women and in the second week 15
women were paid a bonus, but this averaged only $3.77 in the first
week and amounted to an average of $8.45 in the week following.
For certain groups of the women in Sioux City and St. Paul who
had worked at least 44 weeks in the period studied, figures showing the
number of weeks in which a bonus had been received are available.
Of 47 women in pork trim, 29 had worked 49, 50, or 51 weeks, and 21
of these had received a bonus in 49, 50, or 51 weeks. No two of the
remaining eight had fared alike as regards the frequency of bonus pay
ments. Instead, the weeks in which a bonus was received ranged
from 30 to 48 for seven of the women and were fewer than 10 in the
case of 1 woman. Of 50 women in fresh-sausage manufacturing, 31
had worked 51 or 52 weeks. Eighteen of these bad received a bonus
in 51 or 52 weeks. Of the remaining 13, two had had bonus payments

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

in 50 weeks and two in 44 weeks. None of the others had fared alike,
the weeks with a bonus ranging from under 10 to 49 and including
such small numbers as 13 (1 in 4 weeks), 15, 16, and 17 (1 in 3 weeks).
_ About one-sixth of the weeks worked were of less than 40 hours, rang
ing from 12 per cent in one large firm to 21 per cent in two others.
The proportion of women who had worked some short weeks was con
siderable, with variation among the large firms in this respect also.
Receipt of 40-hour-guaranty payment.1

The data included in Table XV in the appendix, covering 1,402
women for whom records of 44 weeks or more were secured in 16
plants in 7 cities, form some basis for discussing the receipt of the
40-hour guaranty as disclosed by the pay-roll records secured. There
were 523 of these women in departments in which a guaranty was
paid—37.3 per cent of all the women for whom these records were
secured in plants having the guaranty system. In these plants 352
women—67.3 per cent of all those reported upon in the departments
that paid a guaranty—had received such pay in 1,811 weeks, con
stituting an average per woman of about 5 weeks. The use of the
guaranty was likely to be confined to the more fluctuating depart
ments dependent upon the receipt and killing of livestock; of the
352 women, 237—nearly 70 per cent—were in the kill, offal, and porktrim departments.
_ In these 16 plants, belonging to four of the largest firms, the propor
tion of all the women whose year’s records were taken who were in
departments in which the guaranty system was in effect and the
proportion of these who received such pay were as follows:

Firm

I___ ___________________________
II_____________________ _______ ____
III...______ _________________________
IV______________________________

Per cent of the Per cent of the
women whose
women in
year's records
guaranteedwere secured
pay
depart
who were in
ments who
guaranteedreceived
the
pay depart
guaranty
ments

39 4
27.9

52! 4

The foregoing shows that in no firm did as many as 45 per cent of
the women whose year’s records were taken work in departments
affected by the guaranty, but in only one firm were there less than 30
per cent. In each case roughly from one-half to three-fourths of the
women in the guaranteed-pay departments actually had received the
guaranty at some time in the year.
For the women who had received the guaranty, the number of
weeks in which it was paid ordinarily was not great; however, the
average ran to seven or eight weeks per woman in the kill and offal
departments, where it is difficult to regulate the flow of work. Simi
larly, the number of hours paid for on this account was not great in
the year as a whole; for^the women who received the guaranty, the
average per week in which it was received was only slightly higher
1 For a description of the guaranty system, see p. 72.

YEAR’S EARNINGS

than five hours in the offal and not quite five hours in the pork-trim
department. ,
Vacations with pay.

It is the practice of the principal packing companies to give their
women employees a vacation of one week with pay after 3 years’ con
tinuous service; after 15 years’ service, a vacation of two weeks
is granted. Other companies have various practices, ranging from
no vacation at all, as far as the production force is concerned, to the
generous allowance by one company of one week after a year’s service.
A worth-while vacation requires five years’ service in the case of the
one plant granting two days after two years, plus one day for each
year’s service thereafter, up to a maximum of five days after five
years.
In the matter of what constitutes continuous service practices again
are not uniform, one firm being said to carry on the books for 60 days
the names of employees laid off, rather than break their service
record, while another carries such names for only two weeks, and at
least one reports that a lay-off constitutes a break in employment.
In some plants, sickness or accident is said not to constitute a break.
Of 1,817 women whose record for at least 44 weeks was secured in
24 plants giving vacation with pay, 629—34.6 per cent—had received
such vacations in the year covered by the Women’s Bureau. Over
80 per cent of these had had one week’s vacation with pay.
The amounts received for the vacation time were reported for 461
women in nine departments. Of those who had had one week’s vaca
tion, about 70 per cent were paid $14 and under $18, the range for
the entire group with a week’s vacation being from $12 and under $13
to $35 and under $40. Of the women whose record showed two
weeks with pay, the largest group—45—received $30 and under $35.
None received less than $25 for the two weeks, and two received $60
or more.
The distribution by department of the 461 steadiest workers whose
earnings while on vacation were reported is as follows:
Women whose record
for 44 weeks or more
was secured who re
ceived vacation with
pay
Department
Number

Offal_______________________________

45
23
110
91
54
36
67
21
14

Per cent of
total whose
record for
44 weeks or
more was
secured

35.4
30.0
23.3

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

Of the women reported, from two-fifths to almost one-half in pork
trim, offal, and dry-sausage manufacturing had had vacations with
pay, while only from one-fifth to one-fourth of those in casings, can
ning, sliced bacon, and lard, butter, butterine, and cheese had had
such vacations.
From unpublished data for this very select group whose record for
44 weeks or more was secured, it is apparent that from 27 to about 38
per cent of the women for whom the matter of vacation was reported
by the four largest firms had been given vacation with pay, while only
14 per cent of those at work in plants of the small firms reporting had
had such vacation.

PART

Vin.—VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND
EARNINGS

The irregularity in flow of work in the meat-packing industry con
stitutes a continual source of difficulty both for the management in
arranging the work and for the workers in making a living.1 According
to figures of the United States Department of Agriculture, showing
the numbers of animals slaughtered under Federal inspection in four
of the localities covered by the Women’s Bureau survey and for the
same period, the receipt of hogs fluctuates very much more than does
that of cattle. The number of hogs killed in the months of least
activity formed, in the four localities, respectively only 22, 25, 31, and
54 per cent of the numbers killed in the busiest months. The corre
sponding percentages for the cattle killed were 49 and 50 in two
localities and 70 and 71 in the remaining two, showing a more stable
condition. (Table XVI in the appendix.)
Conditions change from year to year and also from plant to plant,
as described by the officials interviewed, but the Federal figures may
be considered as indicating satisfactorily the flow of livestock to four
of the localities studied in the year of the Women’s Bureau survey.
It is in hog products that women are more generally employed.
Here the busiest season in the year studied was, according to the
Department of Agriculture figures referred to, the three months Jan
uary to March in all localities but St. Paul. That city, with much the
largest numbers of hogs slaughtered, had a busy season beginning as*
early as October and lasting about six months.
BASIS OF DATA ON VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND
EARNINGS

Information as to changes in employment from week to week was
recorded for more than 2,600 women in five cities, and comments on
lay-offs were made by nearly 160 women visited in their homes.
Records of employment, hours, and earnings in every week in the
12 months from the first week in June, 1927, to the end of May, 1928,
were taken for all plants in three localities in Iowa and Minnesota.
These included data as to the number and duration of lay-offs and
other breaks in employment for every woman who had been on the
pay rolls in this time, the total numbers reported being as follows:
Three cities j. 904
Ottumwa *
Sioux City734
St. Paul
984

180

The number and duration of breaks in employment were ascertained
for women in some of the plants visited in Omaha and East St. Louis.
Since such data were not recorded for all firms visited in these cities,
they do not show the entire situation, but they are sufficiently repre» The number in Ottumwa is relatively small, and there is much more canning than elsewhere, so this
• city is omitted from the greater part of the discussion.
1 For discussion of irregularity in the industry see an article that appeared while present study was in
proof: Guaranteed Time in the Stock Yards, by Harold H. Swift, in Survey Graphic, November, 1931.

64051°—32------7

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

sentative to indicate general trends and to form the basis for certain
valid comparisons. The numbers of women reported here were as
follows:
Two cities 739
East St. Louis____ 234
Omaha505

The women who supplied information in regard to lay-offs in the
course of interviews were chiefly in Kansas City, Omaha, and Chicago.
VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT IN 52 WEEKS

Table XYII in the appendix shows the total number of women
employed in each of the 52 weeks in all plants in Sioux City, St. Paul,
and Ottumwa, and the numbers employed in each week in certain
important woman-employing departments in the two larger cities.
Table XIX gives similar information for the plants for which it was
ascertained in East St. Louis and Omaha. Indexes have been pre
pared from these employment data (Tables XVIII and XX) and the
fluctuations in all and certain important departments are shown for
Sioux City and St. Paul in graphic form in Charts 1 and 2.
Employment of women in the minimum week in St. Paul formed
less than 70 per cent of that in the maximum, and in Sioux City the
proportion fell as low as 54.5 per cent. In June, July, and August
the relative activity was somewhat better in Sioux City than in St.
Paul, but it was on the decline in both cities in August. In September
employment of women in St. Paul was the lowest yet reached, but it
began to rise at that time; it was still declining in Sioux City, in which
a continued rise did not begin until November. With some depres
sions, the general curve in both Sioux City and St. Paul continued
upward from the autumn until the highest point was reached in both
cities about the end of January. A general decline ensued until late
in April, this being somewhat the sharper in Sioux City. Here the
lowest point of the year had been in October, but in St. Paul it was
this April figure.
It was stated by an official interviewed in an Omaha plant that it
was usual for the hog season to come later in Sioux City and Omaha
than in other localities, because farmers in these sections tend not to
ship their corn as grain but to utilize it more as feed. Not until the
middle of December do hogs begin to be sold in large lots.
In the plants reported in East St. Louis and Omaha, employment
of women in the minimum week was about 70 per cent of that at the
maximum. As in Sioux City and St. Paul, the marked seasonality
was shown, but in East St. Louis and Omaha employment of women
was lowest in late December or early January—a time when it was
rising in Sioux City and St. Paul—and the highest point was not
reached until the end of February.
Employment fluctuations in various departments.

The effect of variations in the live-stock market shows itself to the
greatest degree in the kill departments and those directly dependent
upon them. While relatively few women are engaged in the work of

VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND EARNINGS

ChaW I--INDEX OF WEEKLY VARIATION IN NUMBER OF WOMEN EMPLOYED
IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING ESTABLISHMENTS
■
SIOUX CITY AND ST PAUL
JUNE 19 27 TO MAY 1928, INCLUSIVE
Average, for S5L wee*s • loo

a-AH departments

b.—PorK trim

u-Fresh sausage manufac rurrng

d.—Hog "and sheep casings

June Jul/- Aug.

Sept. Oct.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.
19 28

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

the kill departments proper, fluctuations in the market have a great
effect upon two important woman-employing departments that are
closely allied to killing—hog and sheep casings and pork trim.
Chart 2,-INDEX

OF WEEKLY VARIATION IN NUMBER OF WOMEN EMPLOYED
IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT-PACKING ESTABLISHMENTS
JUNE 19 27 TO MAY 192 8, INCLUSIVE
Average

tor 5£ w«exs = IOO

a-Three departments In Sioux City
Hoq and
Sheefj casings

PorK tritn.

Fresh squsage mfg.

♦

b.—Three departments in St. Paul

June July Aug.

Sept. Oct.

Apr.

May

The charts show the fluctuations in the employment of women in
various departments in which considerable numbers of them were at

VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND EARNINGS

work.2 In both Sioux City and St. Paul, fluctuations in the em
ployment of women in pork trim and hog and sheep casings followed
the general line of the curve of employment of all women in the city.
The variations in hog and sheep casings were the more extreme of the
two, the minimum of employment being only a little over a third of
the maximum. In fresh-sausage manufacturing there was much less
fluctuation in employment than in the two departments that were
more directly dependent upon killing, the minimum in sausage man
ufacture being three-fourths of the maximum in each city, except for
a sharp upward trend in St. Paul at the end of the period of study.
The following summary shows for Sioux City and St. Paul the per
cent the minimum employment formed of the maximum in four
departments:

Department

Per cent minimum
employment was of
maximum in—
Sioux City

Sliced bacon________________________________ ___ _______ ______ _____

34.1
44.4
76.1

St. Paul
35.0
58.6
38.6

1 Number too small to make comparison significant.

For three of these departments the fluctuation in East St. Louis
and Omaha may be compared.

Department

Per cent minimum
employment was of
maximum in—
East St.
Louis

Omaha

35.9
52.5

The situation in the sliced-bacon department, also employing con
siderable numbers of women in some cities, differs from those already
discussed in that it tends to be dependent upon the consumers’ de
mand rather than upon the packers’ buying market. Officials of a
number of the plants visited reported the period of high activity in
sliced bacon to be in the summer. The effect of certain customs on
industrial employment is illustrated in the remark of one official that
the sliced-bacon department, while busy in summer, was slack in the
Lenten season. Taking the year as a whole, employment varied
sharply in this department, but it presented an interesting condition
in St. Paul. From June (with the exception of one week only) to
almost the end of January the minimum of employment was over 70
per cent of the maximum. Early in 1928 a large firm put on a bacoriadvertising campaign in its plants in various parts of the country,
greatly enlarging its working force—in St. Paul nearly doubling the
2 When departments are considered separately, the number of women employed in some one week may
be quite small.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

number employed—but the effect was of very short duration. The
event is not typical of general conditions in the department, but it
goes to show the effect that sporadic movements within an industry
may have on the employment of women.
Employment fluctuations in various firms.

Chart 3 illustrates the variations in employment in three firms in
Sioux City and St. Paul combined—women reported in these firms in
all departments and in certain departments separately. The fol
lowing shows for these firms the proportion the minimum employ
ment of women formed of the maximum:
Per cent minimum employment of women
was of maximum in—
Firm
All depart
ments

II_____
iri:
...
IV

________ __________ _______________
________________

75.5
55.4
50.6

Casings,
hog ana
sheep
0)
40.0
41.2

Freshsausage
manufac
turing
58.5
64.3
60.5

Pork trim

45.8
59.1
46.1

i Average number of women employed was less than 20.

One firm seemed to have been much more successful than the other
two in preventing extreme fluctuations in the employment of the
women in their plants, and that in the minimum week was over threefourths of the maximum. However, the pork-trim and fresli-sausage
departments showed somewhat more variation in this firm than in
the other two.
Employment in pork trim in the three firms showed high and low
seasons similar to those usually apparent in the industry where
influenced chiefly by the hog market. It was low during part of
August, September, and October, and again at the end of April; for
the most part, it was high in the winter months, beginning to rise as
early as October. The spring decline began as early as February,
but in only one firm was the downward movement continuous.
In fresh-sausage manufacture, ordinarily a department where em
ployment is relatively stable, it is interesting to notice the differences
shown in the three firms, in every one of which the number of women
in the week of minimum employment was 58 but under 65 per cent of
the maximum. In Firm III, employment appeared more nearly than in
the others to follow the general line of the variations in pork trim,
usually a department fluctuating more than theaverage; in thisinstance
employment was low until early January, then rose with frequent
variations until the highest point was reached in the latter part of
March and in early April; after this there was a distinct decline for
a period, but the lowest point was far above the employment found
at any time before early February. In Firm II, employment was
for the most part fairly regular, dropping to the lowest point in early
August, a period of average employment in Firm III; it turned sharply
upward in April and May, in which the highest point of the 52 weeks
was reached. Firm IV showed a very decided difference from the
other two in having quite high employment until the end of August;
the lowest point was reached in December, after which there was

VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND EARNINGS

Cha»t3.-INDEX OF WEEKLY VARIATION IN NUMBER OF WOMEN EMPLOYED
IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT-PACKING ESTABLISHMENTS
JUNE 19 27 TO MAY 192 8, INCLUSIVE
Average,

for 5£

wccksbIOO

a.—All departments in three firms

ISO

Ff rm HI

125
Firm IV,

Firm II

100

50
b.-Poi’KtHm in three firms
Firm IT
Fi r m IV

^ Firm III

c.-Fresh sausage manufacturing in three firms

;

Firm IV.
Firm 111 fmm,\ > /
/
/
.v/ ...

l ,*,t Firm 11
/■■ v'yTTT>
_/ “

V-'

• :
V

j
June Jul

Aug.

Sept. Oct.
1927

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.
1928

Apr. May

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

some rise, but not to the extent shown in the other firms, and never
to so high a level as in the time from June to October.
VARIATIONS IN HOURS IN 52 WEEKS

Some plants reported much variation in the hours of work from day
to day, week to week, and month to month, and also from department
to department. Some reported little overtime worked. Hours of
women appeared to vary relatively little in the plants in one city in
which the cattle market had more influence than in most of the other
localities.
_
Table XXI in the appendix shows the average hours worked per
woman in each week in all plants in Sioux City and St. Paul. The
index of variations in hours worked (Table XXII) is shown in graphic
form in Charts 4 and 5.
# t
_
While there was considerable fluctuation in hours in both these cities,
the deviations from the average were not so extreme in either case as
were those in employment, the minimum being 65.3 per cent and
78.4 per cent of the maximum in Sioux City and St. Paul, respectively.
It is not surprising that hours ordinarily were short in the same seasons
in which employment was relatively small, long at the peak-employ
ment season. In some parts of the year there was indication of a
lag of the movement of employment behind that of hours, a distinct
peak or slump in the former coming in the week following that in
which hours had shown such a rise or fall. Evidently the flow of
work had, at such times, caused the shortening or lengthening of
hours as an immediate emergency measure and this was followed by
the laying off of excess employees or the taking on of additional
women. At other times there is indication that the taking on of
additional employees coincided exactly with a marked shortening of
hours, as in St. Paul in a week at the end of November.
VARIATIONS IN EARNINGS IN 52 WEEKS

Table XXIII in the appendix shows the average earnings per woman
in the 52 weeks, and Charts 6 and 7 from Table XXIV give a graphic
picture of the variations. The curve for earnings follows almost
exactly the line of that for hours, which is to be expected in an industry
where the piecework and task-and-bonus systems are used, instead of
straight weekly rates. That neither earnings nor hours reached the
more extreme high and low points found in the case of employment
is indicated in the following, which shows by city the per cent the
minimum formed of the maximum in employment, in hours, and in
earnings.

Sioux City
54.5
65.3
66.2

St. Paul
67.9
78.4
77.9

CfcAfo4.-INDEX OF WEEKLY VARIATION IN HOURS WORKED BY WOMEN
EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT-PACKING ESTABLISHMENTS

JUNE 19 27 TO MAY 1928, INCLUSIVE
Average for 52 weeKS= 100

a.-AII departments in two cities

St. Paul

---

b.-Three departments in Sioux City

Hoc} and
sheep casings
PorK trim
Freeh tausaqe mfg.

c.-Three departments in 5t. Paul

H oq and

sheep cailnijS

Sept. Oct.

Jan.

Feb.

1928

ChartJ—INDEX OF WEEKLY VARIATION IN HOURS WORKED BY WOMEN
EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT-PACKING ESTABLISHMENTS
JUNE 1927 TO MAY 1928, INCLUSIVE
Average for Si. weexs = lOO
a.-PorK Trim in Two cities

Sioux C;ty
St. Paul

b.—Fresh sausage manufacturing ;n two oilies

5t. Paul

150
Sioux Ci1y^
125

S1. Paul^
a/AVJ L

100

v\ \ A*

\V/ __ 1

7
\/

June July

/\ .s
---- , y V

\ A
M • \K f\-. r' VjC\

' V
_____

Aug
1927

1928

Chart‘61-INDEX OF WEEKLY

VARIATION IN EARNINGS OF WOMEN

EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT-PACKING ESTABLISHMENTS

JUNE 19 27 TO MAY 1928, INCLUSIVE
^ver.oqe for 5t weens » loo

ar-AII departments in two cities

b.—Three departments in Sioux City

f*\ Fresh sausaqe rufg.

H09 and

e—Three departments in St. Paul

Fresh sausaqe mfa.

V
*

/S-V

/\'*

June Jul/

Aug.

Sept. Oct.

Nov.

Mar.

Apr.

May

Chart 7.-INDEX OF WEEKLY VARIATION IN EARNINGS OF WOMEN
EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT-PACKING ESTABLISHMENTS

JUNE 1927 TO MAY 1928, INCLUSIVE
Average for 52. we«K5= loo

a.-PorK tHin in two cities

/ \ /

.b-Fresh sausage manufacturing in two cities

St. Paul

c—Hoq and sheep casings in two cities

I\ /

June

July

Aug.

Sept, Oct.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND EARNINGS

VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND EARNINGS IN THE
QUARTERS OF THE YEAR

Of the average employment of women in the various quarters of the
year, the minimum was only about three-fourths that of the maximum,
ranging from 71.8 per cent in Sioux City to 79.4 per cent in Ottumwa.
The summary following shows the deviation from quarter to quarter
of the year in the averages of employment in three cities and of hours
and earnings in two.
Per cent deviation from
average for quarter 1
of average for quar
ter—

Average in—

City

Aver
Per
cent age for
mini quar
4
3
2
ter 1
(June
High Low mum
is
of
Au (Sep
est
est
(De
maxi togust,
tember cember
quarter quarter
(March
mum
1927) to No to
Feb to May,
vem ruary, 1928)
ber,
1927) 1927-8)

Number of women employed per week:
Sioux City--------------------------------- ------ 308.8
St. Paul______________ _____________ 481.8
Ottumwa_________________ __________ 123.8
Weekly hours per woman:
45.3
Sioux City........ ............................................
43.9
St. Paul
Weekly earnings per woman:
Sioux City_____________ ____________ $16.58
15.00
St. Paul

221.6
378. 2
98.3

71.8
78.5
79.4

295.1
400.8
118.2

-24.9
+5.4
+4.7

+4.6
+20.2
-16.8

+3.6
-5.6
-11.5

38.3
42.5

84.5
96.8

38.6
43.3

-.8
+1.4

+17.4
-1.4

+11.9
-1.8

$14.12
14. 56

85.2
97.1

$16.01
14.82

-11.8
+1.2

+3.6
-1.2

-.3
-1.8

The average number of women employed was greatest in the winter
quarter in both St. Paul and Sioux City, but the season of least
employment was fall for Sioux City and spring for St. Paul. In the
third and fourth quarters, the Sioux City hour changes were much
greater than those in the employment of women, while in St. Paul
employment fluctuated much more than did weekly hours. In
Ottumwa the situation was exactly the opposite of that in Sioux City,
probably because canning was an important department.
Of average weekly hours worked and of average weekly earnings,
the minimum was about 85 per cent of the maximum in Sioux City
and about 97 per cent in -St. Paul. In Sioux City the longest hours
worked and the highest earnings of the women were in the winter, the
shorter hours and lowest earnings were in the fall. In St. Paul the
differences from quarter to quarter were far less than in Sioux City;
the autumn showed somewhat higher earnings and longer hours than
any other quarter, the spring somewhat the shortest hours and the
lowest earnings.
_
...
If four important woman-employing departments in these cities be
considered—offal, pork trim, fresh-sausage manufacture, and sliced
bacon—employment, hours, and earnings as measured by the per
cent the minimum quarter is of the maximum quarter were consider
ably more regular in the sausage than in any other department, except
that in St. Paul average earnings and hours per woman employed in
the minimum quarter were 90 per cent or more of those in the maxi
mum quarter in the offal and pork-trim departments.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

NUMBER, CAUSE, AND DURATION OF BREAKS IN EMPLOYMENT

Proportion of women who had broken employment.

In Sioux City, 600 of 734 women had had some breaks in employ
ment within the year, that is, some weeks in which no work was done;
in St. Paul, 829 of 984 had had such breaks. Thus in each case over
80 per cent of the women reported had had some unemployment.
Data for the firms reported in East St. Louis and Omaha show that
the same was true of nearly 80 per cent of the women reported there.
Table XXVI shows the number of breaks in employment, and Table
XXVII the duration of these breaks, for the women in East St. Louis
and Omaha. In each of the two cities about 70 per cent of the women
reported had had only one break, but about 10 per cent had had three
or more.
The following summary shows the numbers of women who had had
breaks in employment in the chief departments in Sioux City and
St. Paul.
Sioux City

St. Paul

Number of
women in
plants
visited

Per cent
having
breaks in
employ
ment re
ported

Number of
women in
plants
visited

All departments........................................... _.........

734

81.7

984

84.2

Kill.............................................................. ............. ..........
Offal_______ ________ _____
Casings (beef, hog, and sheep)..........................................
Pork trim...................................................... ...................

110
76
96
176

91.8
81.6
86.5
84.1

29
167
81
171
64
177
42
100
96
57

82.8
89.8
84.0
92.4
70. 3
73.4
83.3
88.0
92.5
78.7

Department

Sausage manufacturing. ........................ ..........................
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon).
Sliced bacon____________ _______ ___ ___________
Lard, butter, butterine, and cheese.._____ _________
Other. _______________________________________

(i)

69
60
35
33
89

57.6
91.7
71.4
81.8
73.0

Per cent
having
breaks in
employ
ment re
ported

1 Included in sausage manufacturing on some pay rolls.

From the foregoing it is apparent that in all but three departments
larger proportions of the St. Paul than of the Sioux City women had
broken employment. In Sioux City, in every department but sausage
manufacture over 70 per cent had breaks—over 80 per cent in six of
the eight departments and over 90 per cent in kill and smoked meat.
In St. Paul, over 70 per cent of the women in sausage casings and man
ufacture had broken employment, as had over 80 per cent of those in
all other departments and over 90 per cent in pork trim and lard.
From Appendix Tables XXVI and XXXVIII it may be seen that
of four comparable departments—pork trim, sausage pack, sausage
manufacture, and sliced bacon—the first two had larger proportions
in East St. Louis than they had in Sioux City or St. Paul of women
with broken employment. Except in sliced bacon, larger proportions
of the East St. Louis than of the Omaha women had broken employ
ment. In pork trim and sausage manufacture Omaha stood between
Sioux City and St. Paul in respect to employment breaks.

VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND EARNINGS

Period of service prior to first break in employment.

Reports made as to length of service within the 12-month period
before the first break in employment, for 185 women in East St.
Louis and 392 in Omaha, were as follows:3
Women who had any broken employment in—
Weeks worked previous to first break
in employment

All
departments
Num
ber

Per
cent

185

100.0

Pork
trim

Sausage
Sausage manu- Sausage Sliced
casings faetur- pack bacon
ing

Other

47
63
46
21
8

25.4
34.1
24. 9
11.4
4. 3

11
20
18

9
4
8
4

10
14
11
11
2

4
6
5
3
2

13
19
4
3
4

392

100.0

i 142

164
101
84
21
22

41.8
25.8
21.4
5.4
5.6

22
27
18

39
18
12
11
4

4
4
9
1
1

43
14
11
4
8

56
38
34
5
9

1 Includes 45 women in hog, sheep, and beef casings; 39 in kill and offal; 28 in offal cooler; 2 in glue; 16 in
lard; and 12 in smoked meat.

The figures show that over one-fourth of the women reported in East
St. Louis and over two-fifths of those in Omaha had worked less than
four weeks before their first break in employment. Over 15 per cent
in East St. Louis and 11 per cent in Omaha had worked at least 24
weeks—very roughly, six months—-before suffering their first period'
of unemployment.
. Causes of broken employment.

The number and cause of breaks in employment were reported for
554 women in Sioux City and 629 in St. Paul. Of these women, over
one-tenth in Sioux City and nearly one-fifth in St. Paul had had three
or more breaks in employment. Table XXV shows by department
and city the number of women who had breaks in employment and the
number of such breaks due to lay-offs and to other causes. Other
causes were discharge, drop, and quit, but they have not been analyzed
since the differences in the usage of these terms in the various employ
ment departments were considerable. It is probably true that the
extent of laying off is even greater than appears here, in that "drops”
are sure to have included some lay-offs.4 Furthermore, women are
3 A similar tabulation was made for new employees only in Sioux City, St. Paul, and Ottumwa: it may
be seen on p. 176.
* A lay-off invariably indicated a separation caused by slack work, and it might continue a few days or
a few weeks. In no way did a lay-off bar the employee from reemployment. A discharge denoted a com
plete and final separation for other causes on the part of the company, while a quit was voluntary on the
part of the employee. In a large Sioux City plant several foremen customarily used the word “dropped,”
applying it indiscriminately to lay-offs, discharges, and quits. It was impossible to separate the “ dropped ”
into specific causes in these records.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

inclined to quit so as to avoid the lay-off that they know is due within
a day or so. The summary following is taken from Table XXV:

Department

All departments__ __________
Kill_______
Casings (beef, hog, and sheep).......... .
Pork trim____
Sausage casings______
Sausage manufacturing... ___ ..
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon).
Sliced bacon _
Lard, butter, butterine, and cheese__
Other_________________

Sioux City

St. Paul

Num Breaks in employment
due to—
ber of
breaks
in em
ploy
Other
Lay-off
ment
cause
with
cause
re Num Per Num Per
ported ber cent ber cent

Num Breaks in employment
due to—
ber of
breaks
in em
ployOther
Lay-off
ment
cause
with
cause
re Num Per
Per
ported ber cent Num
ber cent

809

426

52.7

383

47.3

782

369

47.2

413

52.8

149
88
131
184

74
50
62
121

49.7
56. 8
47.3
65.8

75
38
69
63

50.3
43.2
52.7
34.2

31
137
66
160

16
70
24
60

51.6
51.1
36.4
37.5

15
67
42
100

48.4

35
09
33
38
82

10
44
12
18
35

28.6
63.8
36.4
47.4
42.7

25
25
21
20
47

71.4
36.2
63.6
52.6
57.3

116
31
76
112
27

50
13
39
78
11

43.1
41.9
51. 3
69.6
40.7

66
18
37
34
16

63.6
62.5
58. 1
48. 7
30.4
59.3

From this summary it can be seen that in Sioux City over 50 per
cent and in St. Paul a somewhat smaller proportion of the breaks in
employment where cause was reported were due to the woman’s being
laid off. In the three departments with considerable numbers in each
city, a larger proportion of the breaks in employment in Sioux City
than in St. Paul were due to lay-offs. In Sioux City the proportion
of lay-offs was largest in pork trim; in St. Paul it was largest in the
departments making lard, butter, etc. In the lour largest womanemploying departments in Sioux City, from 47.3 to 65.8 per cent of
the breaks in employment were due to lay-offs, and in the four largest
in St. Paul from 37.5 to 69.6 per cent of the breaks were due to this
cause. The great variations among the departments may be seen in
the summary.
If the women be considered whose names had been on the pay roll
for all but a few weeks, and who therefore in all probability are repre
sentative of the steadier workers, the showing differs somewhat from
that for all women. The extent of lay-offs of women whose names
were on the pay rolls 44 weeks or more in the year of study was as
follows:

City

St. Paul_____________________________________

Total
number of
breaks in
employ
ment
with cause
reportedwomen on
the pay
rolls 44
weeks or
more
54

Per cent of breaks in
employment due to—

Lay-off

4o! 7

Other
cause

59.3

VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND EARNINGS

This shows that for these steadier workers the proportion of breaks
in employment due to lay-off was somewhat greater in St. Paul than
in Sioux City. In both Sioux City and St. Paul, but especially the
former, the breaks in the employment of 44-week workers showed a
much smaller proportion of lay-offs than did those of all workers.
The proportions of breaks in employment due to lay-offs among all
women and among those whose names were on the pay roll 44 weeks or
more in the year of study were as follows:

City

All women

Sioux City.
St. Paul....

52. 7
47.2

Women
whose
names
were on
pay roll
44 weeks
or more
38.2
40. 7

Duration of breaks in employment.

Tables XXVIII and XXIX in the appendix show the duration of
breaks in employment, whether lay-offs or not, for 554 women in
Sioux City and 629 in St. Paul.
In connection with the duration of absences from the books, it
should be explained that in each case the cause given is that reported
on the records as the immediate cause of separation. In the case of
protracted absences classed as lay-offs there is no means of telling at
what point the lay-off became a condition of being permanently off
the rolls, whether for industrial reasons or from choice. In some cases
it was made clear at the instant of lay-off that its duration would be
of such indefinite length as practically to connote permanency. Prob
ably it is fair to say that breaks classed as lay-offs were genuine, tem
porary lay-offs if not in excess of 10 or 12 weeks, but that after that
a condition of unemployment instead of lay-off, its cause not ascer
tainable from the records, may be considered as having existed. The
home-visit schedules, largely from other cities, show that some women
were able to secure work elsewhere when laid off for long periods, but
others complained of their weary waiting for the promised reemploy
ment or their frequent visits to the office of the plant until finally
securing work in the same or another department.
With this qualification regarding lay-offs in mind, the summaries
and analyses in this section may be accepted as at least indicative of
the extent of the absences following separations from the industry.
The proportions of the women in the two cities who had breaks in
employment for various periods of time were as follows:

City

W omen with brok
en employ
ment for which
cause
was
reported
Number Per cent1
554
629

100.0
100.0

Per cent of women who had had breaks
in employment of—

Under 4
weeks
39.0
26.1

4 and
14 and
under under 27 27 weeks
14 weeks weeks and over
39.5
30.8

28.3
26.4

* Details aggregate more than total, as women reported several breaks of different duration.

64051“—32-----8

29.8
36.1

100 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

On the whole, larger proportions of the women in Sioux City than of
those in St. Paul had had breaks in employment for the shorter periods,
while a noticeably larger proportion of the St. Paul women than those
in Sioux City had been off the books for at least 27 weeks—roughly,
6 months—in the year.
The duration of the absences following lay-offs and other breaks in
Sioux City and St. Paul is shown in the summary following:
Per cent of breaks with absence as
specified in—
Duration of absence after break in employment

Sioux City
Lay-off

St. Paul

Other
cause

Lay-off

Other
cause

Total number of breaks________ ____________________

426

383

369

413

Under 4 weeks............................ .....................................................
4 and under 9 weeks_________ __________________________
9 and under 14 weeks___ _____ ___________ ____________
14 and under 27 weeks------------- ------------------ ------ --------27 weeks and over_______ _____ _________________________

36.4
19.7
9.2
17.1
17.6

21.4
15.9
12.8
26.4
23.5

28.5
13.3
20.3
18.7
19.2

19.1
10.4
8.7
24.0
37.8

Of the lay-offs, over 60 per cent in both cities—65.3 and 62.1 per
cent respectively—were followed by an absence of less than 14 weeks’
duration. A considerably larger proportion in Sioux City than in
St. Paul lasted less than four weeks.
Note.—Although emphasis has been laid in this section on the differences in the expectancy of unem
ployment in the two localities, it is a composite picture of three important firms in each place, and it may
be that a further comparison of firms within the community would reveal varying managerial policies
and greater stabilization of employment in some plants than in others. Because of various interpretations
of terms (see p. 97) too sweeping conclusions must not be made of conditions in St. Paul in contrast to those
in Sioux City.

NUMBER AND DURATION OF LAY-OFFS IN VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS

Table XXX shows the number and duration of lay-offs in the
various departments. In Sioux City 39.9 per cent of the women
reported and in St. Paul 30.8 per cent had been laid off at some time
in the year. The duration of the absences following lay-offs, as far
as such data existed in the reports, is shown in the summary next
presented:
Duration of absence following a lay-off

Per cent of lay-offs
followed by absence
as specified in—
Sioux City
9.4
27. 0
16.2
10.3
5.2
7.0
4.7
8.9
11.3

St. Paul
6. 2
22. 2
12.2
9. 2
14.9
9.5
3.0
11.4
11.4

In St. Paul about half the women (49.8 per cent), but in Sioux City
a number approaching two-thirds (62.9 per cent), had been laid off
for periods of less than 12 weeks; in both cases the majority of such
group had been laid off for less than four weeks. In each city more
than 11 per cent of the women had been off the books, following a
lay-off, for more than eight months.

VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND EARNINGS

101

The proportions of women laid off in the various departments were
as follows:
Sioux City
Department

cent Number Per cent
Number Per
having of
ofwomen had
women having
lay
lay
reported
reported had
offs
offs

All departments............... ...........................
Kill______________________
Offal_____________ ______
Casings (beef, hog, and sheep)..______
Pork trim___ _________________ ..
Sausage casings........ .............................. .
Sausage manufacturing_______ ...
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon)_____
Lard, butter, butterine, and cheese___ ______
Other.................................................. .
'

St. Paul

734

39.9

984

110
76
96
176
0)
69
60
35
33

43.6
42.1
39.6
48.3
0)
16.9
65.0
31.4
42.4
24.7

81
171
64
177
42
100
96

23.5
23.7
23.8
59.4

i Included in sausage manufacturing on some pay rolls.

_ In every department but two, a smaller proportion of the women
in St. Paul than of those in Sioux City had had breaks classed as
lay-offs. In pork trim, the largest department and with almost
identical numbers of women, only 31 per cent in St. Paul, in contrast
to 48 per cent in Sioux City, had been laid off; in the work on casings,
another department fairly comparable, the proportions of women so
reported are very different. In only two groups in St. Paul—the
departments making lard, butter, etc., and the kill department (the
latter employing very few women)—had as many as 40 per cent of
the women been laid off during the year.
Of the various departments in Sioux City, smoked meat had the
largest proportion of women who had been laid off—55 per cent.
Nearly 50 per cent of the women in pork trim had had lay-offs. The
smallest proportion was in sausage manufacture, with about the same
number of women as in smoked meat.
. Lay-offs of short duration and protracted periods of absence follow
ing lay-offs are shown by department in the summary next presented,
taken from Table XXX.
Sioux City

Department

Number
of lay
offs

St. Paul

Per cent of lay-offs
Per cent of lay-offs
followed by an
followed by an
Number
absence of—
absence of—
of lay
offs
Less than 36 weeks
Less than 36 weeks
4 weeks
4 weeks or more
or more

All departments...............................

426

36.4

11.3

i 369

28.5

Kill........................................
Offal................................. .............
Casings (beef, hog, and sheep)................
Pork trim______ ____ __ _____
Sausage manufacturing...................
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon)..
Sliced bacon____________
Lard, butter, butterine, and cheese
Other...............................

74
50
62
121
10
44
12
18
35

25.7
28.0
41.9
35.5
(2)
31.8
0)
55.6
65.7

16.2
8.0
4.8
15.7
(2)
13.6
(s)

16
70
24
60
50
13
39
78
11

25.0
14.3
37.5
28.3
28.0
(3)
23.1
42.3
<5)

1 Includes 8 lay-offs in sausage casings, not shown separately.
2 3 lay-offs.
3 5 lay-offs.

42 lay-offs.
61 lay-off.

11.4

(*)
(4)

10.0
4.2
5.0
30.0
10.3
7.7

102 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

For all departments, the proportion of lay-offs of less than four
weeks was much smaller in St. Paul than in Sioux City, but the pro
portions followed by absences of 36 weeks or longer were practically
the same. Both in Sioux City and St. Paul, lard and related products
and casings had the largest proportions of the short lay-offs. In
several departments considerable proportions of the breaks in employ
ment classed as lay-offs were followed by absences of 36 weeks or
more—a period in excess of eight months.
COMMENTS ON LAY-OFFS MADE BY WOMEN VISITED IN THEIR
HOMES

Comments on lay-offs were made by 159 women visited in thenhomes, the largest groups of whom worked in Kansas City, Omaha,
and Chicago.5 These women had had 284 lay-offs. The duration of
their lay-offs, as given by their own statements, their ages, and certain
other data are shown in Tables XXXI to XXXV in the appendix.
While this material is slight, in the three cities from which the largest
numbers were reported the women formed nearly 4 per cent of those
for whom any data were obtained in these cities, and it is probable
that their statements are fairly representative of the general situation.
Of the 154 women reporting over-all time with the firm, over a
third had been employed at least 5 years, including one-tenth whose
over-all time was 10 years or longer. More than 45 per cent of 159
women reporting their ages were at least 30, and over 10 per cent
were 40 or more. Of 159 women reporting number of lay-offs, more
than one-fifth had had three or more within the year. The entire
group averaged practically two lay-offs per woman (1.94), a much
higher figure than that for St. Paul, where the average per woman
was 1.22 lay-offs, or that of Sioux City, 1.45. Their comments gave
testimony to the ever-present fear of loss of employment.
At night they hand you a lay-off slip. You see the forelady coming with the
yellow slips and you want to run before she reaches you. My mother scolded
every time I had a lay-off.
Was surprised, and not ready for a lay-off. Pretty hard in dead of winter.
Couldn’t find any work.

Some women had avoided additional lay-offs by getting transferred
or by taking turns with other members of the department or other
workers in the gang in staying home; frequently this was done upon
advice of the foreman.
We take turns staying home a couple of days. We’ve got a pretty good gang
and we hate to see anyone get laid off, so the boss and us fix it up by ourselves.
Each woman in the regular gang took one week off at two different times; four
or five were off at a time.
Each woman in turn was laid off for one week.

In several instances it was stated that each table in the room was
laid off in turn for a week’s time while the season was slack.
5 The data in this section relate chiefly to places other than Sioux City and St. Paul, since in these two
cities relatively few women were visited in their homes. However, it seems wise to insert these data here,
since it is at this point that lay-offs are considered—information upon which was almost entirely from Sioux
City and St. Paul.

VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND EARNINGS

103

Of 125 women who reported as to how they secured reemployment
after being laid off, 56 had been sent for by the firm or had been told
at the time of lay-off to return later; 25 others applied at the employ
ment office and were taken on again, in some cases after repeated
trials and long delay. As one timekeeper said, referring to periods of
increasing activity when workers are taken on, “First come, first
served.” Twenty-three women who could not stand a wage loss got
new jobs or did temporary work; 15 tried but could get no work.
BREAKS IN THE EMPLOYMENT OF NEW AND OF OTHER EMPLOYEES

Before taking up the discussion of the relation to the entire group
of those women—roughly two-fifths—who were new employees, never
before having been in the employ of the firm, it may be of interest
to make a brief comparison of these new employees and another twofifths whose names were on earlier employment records and who were
considered to be old employees.6 Such comparison shows very
clearly that, generally speaking, it is the newer employees who suffer
the most breaks in employment and who are the less likely to be
reemployed when business picks up. In Sioux City, 89.5 per cent of
the new employees and 73.6 per cent of the old had had breaks in
employment during the year, and 80.7 per cent of the new employees,
in contrast to 43.7 per cent of the old, were off the books when the
year closed. In St. Paul the figures show the same trend: 89.6 per
cent of the new employees and 78.4 per cent of the old had had breaks
in employment during the year, and 77.2 per cent of the new employ
ees, in contrast to 44.8 per cent of the old, were off the books at the
close of the year.
The proportions of new and of all employees who had had breaks
in employment during the year were as follows:
Number of women
reported

Per cent of women
having broken em
ployment among—

City
New em
ployees

St. Paul______________ ___________

295
403

All em
ployees
734
984

New em
ployees
89.5
89.6

All em
ployees
81.7
84.2

This summary makes clear the condition described—the consider
ably larger proportions of new employees with periods of broken em
ployment, the difference being somewhat greater in Sioux City than
in St. Paul.
The following shows the proportions who had had only one break in
employment and who had had three or more, both for the new and for
all employees who reported number and cause of separations, in the
two cities.
6 The remaining group of employees had been on the books at some earlier date—in a number of cases
several years before the period of study—but were absent from the rolls for at least six weeks immediately
prior to their first appearance on the pay roll for the year studied and are considered as having much the
same status as new employees.

104 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
New employees

City

St. Paul.'..................................

Number of
women
having
breaks in
employ
ment with
cause
reported
260
326

All employees

Per cent having—

Only 1
break

75.0
83.1

3 or more
breaks

7.7
3.7

Number of
women
having
breaks in
employ
ment with
cause
reported
554
629

Per cent having—

Only 1
break

3 or more
breaks

67.5
81.9

10. 5
4.6

Whether for new or for all employees, the great majority of women
with breaks in employment had had only one such separation during
the year. Somewhat larger proportions of the total than of the new
employees had had three or more breaks in employment, indicating
the greater readiness to take back the old employees, and their
greater readiness to return, after breaks in employment. This is
further borne out by the fact that somewhat larger proportions of the
new than of all employees had had only one break, caused by the work
in the rush season lasting for a relatively short period and being fol
lowed by a lay-off or discharge and no further employment within the
year studied.
Service record of new employees prior to first break in employment.

Table XXXVI shows, for Sioux City, St. Paul, and Ottumwa com
bined, 661 new employees who had had broken employment, the total
number of breaks, and the period worked previous to the first break.
More than three-fourths of these new employees had had only one
such separation, but nearly 6 per cent had had three or more breaks,
one having six, and one seven. Over half these women had worked
less than four weeks before their first break in employment, and fewer
than 5 per cent (3.6) had worked as long as 24 weeks before being
separated from their work; of those who had had three or more breaks
in employment, over 55 per cent had their first separation before
they had worked a month—more than 25 per cent in less than two
weeks.
Causes of breaks in employment of new and of all employees.

If data for St. Paul, Sioux City, and Ottumwa be combined, the
causes of employment breaks of new employees (see Table XXXVII)
and of all women reported are found to be as follows:
Per cent of breaks in
employment due to—

Total number
of breaks in
employment
with cause
reported

Lay-off

1,682
786

49.3
57.1

Other cause
50.7
42.9

The foregoing shows that for the three cities combined the breaks in
employment were lay-offs in almost three-fifths of the cases of new em
ployees but in not quite half the cases of all.

VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND EARNINGS

105

The number of breaks in employment for which cause was reported,
for all and for new employees in Sioux City and St. Paul, separately,
and the proportions of these that were due to lay-offs and to other
causes, were as follows:

City

New employees

All employees

Number of Per cent of breaks in
employment due t<J—
breaks in
employment in the
year with
Lay-off Other cause
cause
reported

Number of Per cent of breaks in
breaks in employment due to—
employment in the
year with
Lay-off Other cause
cause
reported

353
398

59.2
55.8

40.8
44.2

809
782

52.7
47.2

47.3
52.8

The figures indicate that in each city much larger proportions of
the breaks in employment of new employees than of all employees
were due to lay-offs.
■
The following shows, for new and for all employees, the breaks in
employment in three important woman-employing departments in
Sioux City and St. Paul.
Table 6.—Breaks

in employment of new and of all employees in three departments,
Sioux City and St. Paul

City and department

Women having
breaks in employ
Number
ment
of women
reported
in plants
visited Number Per cent

Number
in employ
of women Number Breaks
ment due to—
having of breaks
breaks in in ememploy ployment
with
ment
with
Other
cause
reported Lay-off
cause
cause
reported

NEW EMPLOYEES
Sioux City:
Offal_________ _________
Pork trim__
_
Sausage manufacturing _ _ _ _
St. Paul:
Offal_______ _____
Pork trim______
Sausage manufacturing___

19
51
14

15
50
12

78.9
98.0
85.7

14
49
12

23
61
15

13
47
5

10
14
10

6G
71
55

59
71
43

89.4
100.0
78.2

53
69
38

63
80
44

32
43
19

31
37
25

ALL EMPLOYEES
Sioux City:
Offal_______ ___________
Pork trim ______
___
Sausage manufacturing___
St. Paul:
Offal___________________
Pork trim................... _ __
Sausage manufacturing___

76
176
59

62
148
34

81.6
84.1
57.6

54
130
29

88
184
35

50
121
10

38
63
25

167
171
177

150
158
130

89.8
92.4
73.4

111
134
94

137
160
116

70
60
50

67
100
66

This summary shows that, whether for new or for all employees,
the largest proportion of women having broken employment was in
pork trim; the smallest, with one exception, was in sausage manufac
ture. In the following cases, over half the breaks in employment for
which cause was reported were due to lay-offs: For both new and all

106 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

employees in both cities in offal and in Sioux City in pork trim; for
new employees in St. Paul in pork trim.
Lay-offs of new and all employees.

The proportions of new employees and of all women reported who
had various numbers of lay-offs in Sioux City and St. Paul were as
follows:
/ Sioux City

All women reported............ .
New employees..

St. Paul

Number
of women
reported
who had
lay-offs

Per cent of women laid
off—

Once

293
152

68.6
74.3

Number
of women
reported
Three who had
Twice times or lay-offs
more
20.5
16.4

10.9
9.2

303
184

83.2
84.8

Three
Twice times or
more
12.9
11.4

4.0
3.8

Since lay-offs form so large a part of all breaks in employment, it
is not surprising to find the proportions of women having had but
one lay-off practically the same as the proportions having had only
one break in employment. (See summary on p. 104.)
The next summary shows the number of lay-offs and the duration
of the period off the books that followed, for new and for all employees
in Sioux City and St. Paul.
Sioux City
Duration of absence following lay-off
New em
ployees
295
51.5
Per cent of lay-offs followed by absence of—

St. Paul

All em
ployees
734
39.9

New em
ployees
403
45.7

All em
ployees
984
30.8

209

426

222

369

28.2
10.0
15.8
10.5
18.2
7.2
10.0

25.6
10.8
16.2
10.3
16.9
8.9
11.3

20.7
9.9
11.3
8.6
27.5
14.4
7.7

18.7
9.8
12.2
9.2
27.4
11.4
11.4

More than half of the new employees in Sioux City and about 46
per cent of those in St. Paul had had lay-offs. In each case a much
smaller proportion of all than of new employees had had lay-offs,
indicating the great difference between old and new employees in this
respect already commented upon.
In each city the duration of the period off the books following a
lay-off tended to be so little different for new and all employees as to
indicate the same practice in each case. The cities differed, however.
In St. Paul the proportion of relatively long lay-offs was greater than
in Sioux City; in the latter over 60 per cent of the lay-offs of both all
and new employees were for less than 12 weeks, but in St. Paul only 50
per cent were of such duration.

Table 7.—Number

of lay-offs of new and of all employees, by city and department

City and department

Women having
lay-offs
Num
Num
ber of
ber of
women
lay
Per
report Num cent
offs
ed
ber
of all
women
51.5

Sioux City—Total.
Kill..................................... -....................
Offal...... ............................................ ........
Casings (beef, hog, and sheep)-----------Pork trim...................................................
Sausage manufacturing...... ............... ......
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon).
Sliced bacon_______ ______ _________
Lard, butter, butterine, and cheese-----Other-------- ---------- -------------------------St. Paul-Total.
Kill.............................................................
Offal.____________ ________________
Casings (beef, hog, and sheep)................
Pork trim...... ............................ ...............
Sausage casings........................................ Sausage manufacturing........_........... ......
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon).
Sliced bacon............................................ Lard, butter, butterine, and cheese-----Other..................................................... -1 Not computed, owing to the small number involved.

50.0
47.4
65.8
70.6
(9

113

Women having
lay-offs
Num
Num
ber of
ber of
women
Per
lay
report Num cent
offs
ed
of all
ber
women

110

76
96
176
59
60
35
33

56.3
42.9
44.4
33.9

184

45.7

984

55.6
45.5
30.6
52.1

29
167
81
171
64
177
42

0)
30.9

(l)
34.0
66.2

(l)

100

96
57

201

39.9

734
4S
32
38
85

43.6
42.1
39.6
48.3
16.9
55.0
31.4
42.4
24.7

303

30.8

41.4
37.1
23.5
31.0
12.5
23.7
23.8
30.0
59.4
17.5

Number of women whose
lay-offs numbered—

74
50
62

121
10

18
35
10

107

23
9
25
36
5
18
9

Number of women whose
lay-offs numbered—

VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND EARNINGS

All employees

New employees

108 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

Table 7 shows the lay-offs of new and of all employees in various
departments in Sioux City and St. Paul. Naturally, in some cases
the numbers are small. In every department that can be compared,
in each city, a larger proportion of new than of all employees had had
lay-offs. In four of six departments for new and in six of eight for
all employees, larger proportions of Sioux City than of St. Paul women
had had lay-offs. In the following departments more than half the
new employees had had lay-offs: Casings, pork trim, and smoked
meat in Sioux City, and kill, pork trim, and lard in St. Paul. In
smoked meat in Sioux City and lard in St. Paul more than half of all
employees had had lay-offs. In Sioux City the smallest proportion
of new employees laid off was in sliced bacon; in St. Paul it was in
casings and sausage manufacture. Of all employees in Sioux City, the
smallest proportions laid off were in sausage manufacture; in St. Paul,
in sausage casings. Whether new or all employees be considered, in
Sioux City roughly one-half and in St. Paul about seven-tenths of the
lay-offs reported were first lay-offs.
The summary following shows the duration of absence from the
books following lay-offs among new and all employees in three impor
tant woman-employing departments.

Department and status of
employees

Number of
women
report
ed

Number of lay-offs followed by absence of—
Per Num
cent of ber of
36
women lay Under 2 and 4 and 8 and 12 and 24 and
having offs
under under under under under weeks
2
lay-offs
4
8
12
24
36
and
weeks weeks weeks weeks weeks weeks
over
SIOUX CITY

New employees:
Offal............................... .
Pork trim
Sausage manufacturing..
All employees:
Offal___ ____________
Pork trim
Sausage manufacturing..

19
51
14

47.4
70.6
«

13
47
5

3
11

4
5
1

1
9
1

3
6

76
176
59

42.1
48.3'
16.9

50
121
10

8
30
2

6
13
1

10
16
1

5
14
1

4
1

12
18

5
11
2

4
19
3

ST. PAUL
New employees:
Offal__________ ______
Pork trim____________
Sausage manufacturing..
All employees:
Offal
Pork trim____________
Sausage manufacturing..

66
71
55

45.5
52.1
30.9

32
43
19

3
9
2

3
3
2

6
1
3

i
5

12
16
5

4
7
4

3
2
3

167
171
177

37.1
31.0
23.7

70
60
50

5
13
8

6
4
6

10
4
8

11
8
1

28
20
6

4
8
6

7
3
15

1 Not computed, owing to the small number involved.

The foregoing shows again that new employees had larger propor
tions of lay-offs than had all employees. Whether for new or for all
employees, the largest proportion of the lay-offs in these important
women-employing departments generally was in pork trim and the
smallest was in sausage manufacture. The lay-offs showed a definite
tendency to be for longer periods in St. Paul than in Sioux City.

VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND EARNINGS

109

Season of the year in which breaks in employment of new and old
employees occurred.

Table XXXVIII shows the period of the year of study in which the
breaks in employment of new and of old employees occurred. Two
types of new employees are shown separately in this table—those
already discussed at some length, who had never been on the books
before, and those described in the footnote on pagel03, who, although
they had previously worked for the same firm, had been off the books
for six weeks or longer just before the beginning of their employment
record for the year of the study. As before stated, some women in the
latter group had not worked with the firm for several years prior to
the study, and the entire group may be considered as new employees
for this discussion.
Of the old employees, over one-fourth in Sioux City and over onefifth in St. Paul had been on the books throughout the year without a
break, but of the new employees in the two groups combined only a
little over one-tenth (12.3 and 11.8 per cent) in each city had had no
breaks in employment, the proportion being smaller for those who had
never been on the books before.
The proportion of the new employees who were off the books at the
end of the year of study was strikingly larger than that of the old
employees, and this was true both in Sioux City and St. Paul. The
proportions not on the books when the year closed, expressed as per
centages, were as follows:
Sioux City
Period off books

End of the year and also another period __

Former
em
New em ployees
ployees counted
as new

St. Paul
Former
em
Old em New em ployees
ployees ployees counted
as new

Old em
ployees

80.7

69.6

43.7

77.2

71.3

44.8

61.0
19.7

46.1
23.4

18.3
25.4

14. i

14.4

21.9

1 Year was from June, 1927, to May, 1928.

The end of the 12-month period studied came after the close of the
peak season in hogs. In each city about three-fourths of the new
employees—considering the two classes together—had lost their em
ployment at that time, the proportion being greater for those who had
never been on the books before. Although the proportion of old
employees off the books at this period was considerably below that of
the new, nevertheless it was large enough to testify to the distinct
slump at this time of the year, and it was similar in the two cities—
nearly 45 per cent in each case.
The situation in the two cities was sufficiently similar to indicate,
as seems reasonable, that it is usual for smaller proportions of new than
of old employees to be kept in mind, for reemployment when they are
able to return or when business becomes active again, and for much
larger proportions of the new than of the old to be out of employment
at the close of the season of peak activity.
Table 8 shows by department the new and the old employees having
no breaks in employment and those who had breaks at the end of the
year.

old employees

New employees3

Department

Old employees

Per cent having—
Total
number
of women
Breaks
reported Number No breaks in em
reported in em
ploy
ploy
ment at
ment
end of
year 2

All departments.................

734

423

Kill....... ........... .............. ............
Offal____ __________________
Casings, beef... ____ ________
Casings, hog and sheep_______
Pork trim__________
..
Sausage casings______________
Sausage manufacturing
Sausage pack
Smoked meat (other than sliced
bacon)
Sliced bacon ________ .
Lard, butter, butterine, and
cheese
Other____ _______ ______

110
76
24
72
176

68
36
11
43
87

59
32

18
21

60
35
33
57

12.5

St. Paul

Per cent having—
Number No breaks Breaks
in em
reported in em
ploy
ploy
ment at
end of
ment
year 2

77.3

311

26.7

94.1
77.8

14.3
20.0

81.4
78.2

42
40
13
29
89

16.7
38.1

72.2
33.3

41
11

53.7
«

42
26

2.4
30.8

85.7
61.5

18
9

22.2

26
45

15.4
17.8

69.2
71.1

7
12

4.4
16.7

4.7
10.3

New employees i

24.1
21.3

0
0

Per cent having—
Total
number
Breaks
of women Number
reported reported No breaks in em
in em
ploy
ploy
ment at
end of
ment
year 2

43.7

984

591

66.7
37.5

29
167
21
60
171
64
177
37

20
114
12
45
104
26
84
8

42
98

20
66

0
0

96
22

80
12

65.5
41.6
19.5

0
44.4

Old employees

11.8
10.0
9.6

393

21.6

44.8

85.0
86.0

9
53
9
15
67
38
93
29

0
11.3
0

0
60.4
0

60.0
81.8

22
32

22.7
25.0

54.5
34.4

83.8

16
10

10.0
6.1
0

7.5

Number No breaks Breaks
in em
reported in em
ploy
ploy
ment at
ment
end of
year2

75.3

11.1
4.8
23.1
29.8

Per cent having—

75.6
81.7
53. 8
50.0

20.0
11.9
34.2
23.7
37.9

6.3

40.0
40.3
31 6
50.5
27.6

50.0

1 Includes those who had never been on the books before and those who had been off the books for at least 6 weeks immedi ately prior to their employment record in the year of study.
2 Year was from first week in June, 1927, to last week in May, 1928.
3 Not computed, owing to the small number involved.

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

Sioux City

110

Table 8.—Employees having no breaks in employment and employees having breaks at end of the year, by department and whether new1

VARIATIONS IN EMPLOYMENT, HOURS, AND EARNINGS

111

In practically all comparable departments, a greater proportion of
old than of new employees had worked without any break in employ
ment. Wherever comparisons by department could be made be
tween the two cities, the differences between old and new employees
in this respect were greater in Sioux City than in St. Paul.
In every department in both cities—with the exception of sausage
manufacture in St. Paul, where the percentages were practically iden
tical—larger proportions of new than of old employees, usually very
much larger proportions, were off the books at the slack season fol
lowing the winter’s activity in hog packing.
EXTENT TO WHICH BONUS PAYMENTS, THE 40-HOUR GUARANTY,
AND VACATIONS WITH PAY HAD BEEN RECEIVED, IN TWO
CITIES

Table XXXIX gives data as to the number of women reported in
Sioux City and St. Paul whose earnings had included a bonus, the
number to whom one or more 40-hour-guaranty payments had been
made, and the number who had been given vacations with pay.
These data are shown for all women reported and also for those who
had been on the pay rolls 44 weeks or more in the year.—Total number of women in
firms giving—

Per cent of women who had
received—

City
Bonus
All women:
Sioux City.............. .............................. .
St. Paul.................................. .................
Women who had worked 44 weeks or more:
Sioux City..............................................
St. Paul.................................. .................

Guaran Vacation
teed pay with pay

Bonus

Guaran Vacation
teed pay with pay

282
798

734
984

734
798

77.3
80.6

24.4
18.9

7.5
9.3

70
195

157
227

157
195

97.1
100.0

47.8
21.1

30.6
26.7

The summary following shows by department the women in Sioux
City and St. Paul who had been on the pay rolls 44 weeks or longer:
Sioux City

Per cent
Total
Total
had number
number who
worked of
of women 44
women
weeks reported
reported
or more

Department

All departments______________

_____

Kill.. ................... ......... ............ ..........
Offal___ ______ ________________
Casings (hog and sheep)_____ _
Pork trim.__......... ...................
Sausage casings______________
Sausage manufacturing______ ____
Sausage pack_____
. ___
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon) _..
Sliced bacon___________ _________
Lard, butter, butterine, and cheese................
Other.......................... .........

St. Paul

734

21.4

110
76
72
176

10.0
25.0
16.7
25.0

59
32
60
35

49.2
18.8
18.3
20.0
18.2

984

Per cent
who had
worked
44 weeks
or more
23.1
n n
12 0
18.3

64
177
42

23.8

10.4

112

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

In both Sioux City and St. Paul, only a little over one-fifth of the
women had been on the pay rolls as much as 44 weeks; the proportion
was somewhat the larger in St. Paul. In four departments, larger
proportions of the Sioux City women than of those in St. Paul had
worked 44 weeks or longer; these were offal, pork trim, sausage manu
facture, and lard. In five departments the proportion was the larger
in St. Paul. In Sioux City the proportion was highest in sausage
manufacture and lowest in kill; in St. Paul it was very high for the
few women in sausage pack, and it was lowest in lard, butter, etc.,
and in offal.
Women who were paid a bonus.

A somewhat larger proportion of all the women in the firms affected
in St. Paul than of those in Sioux City had been paid under the bonus
system. Of the women on the pay rolls 44 weeks or more, all in St.
Paul and all but 3 per cent in Sioux City had received bonus pay
ments. Of the women who had worked as much as 44 weeks and who
had been paid on the bonus system, nearly 60 per cent in Sioux City
and nearly 75 per cent in St. Paul had received bonus payments in
each of the weeks worked.
Women who had received guaranteed pay.

The 40-hour guaranty had been paid to larger proportions of women
in the firms affected in Sioux City than in St. Paul. When coupled
with the fact that in St. Paul the proportion who had had lay-offs was
somewhat the smaller, this might appear to indicate either that the
supply of work was more continuous or that the flow of work was
under more effective control in St. Paul than in Sioux City. It is
likely, however, to be due partly to the greater proportion of Sioux
City women than of St. Paul women employed in the kill, offal, and
pork-trim departments, where the guaranty more generally applies.
Of the recipients of guaranty pay among the women more steadily
employed, those who had worked 44 weeks or longer, 67 per cent in
St. Paul, in contrast to 55 per cent in Sioux City, had received such
pay for more than three weeks, though none for over 13 weeks.
Women who had had vacations with pay.

It is not surprising to find that vacations with pay had been given
to comparatively few women, and to larger proportions of those who
had worked 44 weeks or more than of all reported. In general, the
vacations were of a week’s duration. A few of the women had had
two weeks.

PART IX.—COMPOSITION AND ECONOMIC STATUS OF THE
FAMILIES OF WOMEN WORKERS

In all, 897 workers were visited in their homes, the numbers in
the various cities being as follows:
All cities

897

Chicago
East St. Louis__ _________________
Kansas City
215
Omaha
97
Ottumwa
15
St. Joseph
51
St. Paul
26
Sioux City
10

382
101

Since the reports, from Ottumwa, St.. Paul, and Sioux City arc so
few in number, ordinarily they will be included only in the totals in
the discussion that follows, and will be omitted from the details by
city.
THE HOMES OF THE WORKERS

Workers living at home, with other relatives, or independently.

Of the 897 women visited in their homes, all but 6 reported on their
living condition. The great majority of these workers—90 per cent—
were living at home. Included here are the women whose relation
to the group was wife, mother, daughter, granddaughter, or sister
living with single brothers or sisters. A very small proportion lived
with other relatives, such as aunts or married sisters or brothers.
Less than 8 per cent lived entirely apart from their own families or
relatives.
Living condition is correlated with nativity and race in the state
ment following.
Women who lived—
Number of
re
Nativity and race of women women
porting
interviewed
living
condition

At home

With other relatives

Independently

Number Per cent Number Per cent Number Per cent
All groups-----------------

891

803

90.1

2.1

7.7

Native white. --------- ---------Foreign born.................. ..........
Negro..................................—

309
432
150

285
404
114

92.2
93.5
76.0

7
5
7

2.3
1.2
4.7

17
23
29

5.5
5.3
19.3

Size of house or apartment and number of persons in the household.1

Table XL in the appendix gives data as to the size of house or
apartment and number of persons in the household of 772 women
interviewed. The usual household consisted of from two to four
• Includes lodgers.

113

114 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

persons, 51.6 per cent of the total being so reported. The house or
apartment most commonly found had four or five rooms—58 per cent
of the households having such quarters—and there were more than
one and a half times as many of four rooms as of five. Thirty-two
per cent of the households of two persons and from approximately 43
to 48 per cent of those of three, four, and five persons lived in four
rooms. Over one-fourth of the households of these sizes taken
together lived in places having less than four rooms. Households of
six or more members formed over one-fourth of those studied, and of
these more than one-third lived in four rooms or less, obviously a
crowded condition for groups of such size. Two of the households
living in so small a space had 11 members each.

Nativity and race of woman interviewed

All nativity groups_______ ____
Native white___________
Foreign born_________ ____
Negro__ __________

Number of
households
having
complete
information
reported

Households of 6 or more members

Number

Per cent of Per cent
all house living in 4
holds re
rooms or
ported
less

767

218

28.4

36.2

236
390
141

95
103
20

40.3
26.4
14.2

35.8
38.8
25.0

According to Table XLI in the appendix, the 772 households for
which number of persons and number of rooms were reported were
distributed by city as follows:
TrhW-f—■------------ -------- ------------------------------- 332
Kansas City"
Omaha___________________________________________
Others82

195
ao

Omaha had the largest proportion of households of six or more
members, but in this city an especial effort was made to visit the
families in which the responsibilities of the women were particularly
heavy. Almost half of the Omaha households were reported as
having at least six members, while in every other city from about 65
to just over 70 per cent had two to five members.
. -P Pr households of two to five persons, Omaha made the best showing
in size of homes, slightly more than one-half living in five rooms or
more; East St. Louis made the poorest showing, three-fifths of the
households reported living in less than four rooms, seven-eighths in
four rooms or less.
Of the households of six or more persons, less than one-fifth in
Kansas City and about one-fourth in Omaha lived in four rooms or
less, but in Chicago the proportion ran well above two-fifths (46.3 per
cent) of the 80 such households reported. East St. Louis again made
the poorest showing in the proportion of the larger households living
in such crowded accommodations—14 of the 22 reported.
Lodgers.
Table XLII in the appendix shows that for 773 households the num
ber having lodgers was reported. Of these households, 13.3 per cent
had lodgers. The proportion was as high as 17.8 per cent in Chicago,
in which 320 families were reported, 12.8 in Kansas City, in which 196

115

COMPOSITION AND ECONOMIC STATES

families were reported, and about 10 per cent in Omaha and East St.
Louis, in each of which fewer than 100 were reported.
Of the 103 households with lodgers, 14 had three or more. Less
than 10 per cent of the 248 native white women and 12 per cent of
the 401 foreign born reported having lodgers in the household, but
about 26 per cent of the 119 negro women made such report.
Type of house.

The type of home was reported for 762 households and may be
seen from Tables XLIII and XLIY in the appendix. Just over half
were 1-family homes, less than one-fifth were 2-family, and over onefourth were multifamily dwellings.2 Over 80 per cent of the homes
of the native white and nearly 70 per cent of those of the foreignborn women were of the 1-family or 2-family type, but this was true
of only one-half of the homes of the negro women, a large proportion
of whom lived in multifamily dwellings. In Chicago nearly 60 per
cent of all households reported were in multifamily buildings; in the
other cities 70 per cent or more lived in 1-family homes, in Omaha the
proportion running as high as 96.5 per cent.
It is of interest to know the extent to which these households lived
under modern conditions, and the following summary gives data as
to the sanitary facilities in 772 homes:
Houses with—
Modern
Total equipment Inside toilet
number of
(inside
houses bath, toilet, and sink
reported
sink)

City

Sink but
Neither
not,inside water nor
toilet
toilet inside

Other

Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per
ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent
All cities i-----------

...

772

257

33.3

237

30.7

190

24.6

7.8

3.6

East St. Louis------- ----------Kansas City............... ........ .
Omaha----------- ---------------St. Joseph................. ......... .

331
78
198
82
42

128
18
58
27
15

38.7
23. 1
29.3
32.9
35.7

183
10
15
9
6

55.3
12.8
7.6
11.0
14.3

12
31
104
23
15

3. 6
39.7
52.5
28.0
35.7

14
14
18
3

17.9
7.1
22.0
7.1

5
7
5
3

6.4
3.5
6.1
7.1

i Includes cities with numbers too small to report in detail.

One-third of the homes reported had the modern equipment of bath,
inside toilet, and sink. Almost as many had toilet and sink but no
bath, and one in four had neither bath nor inside toilet. Less than
one-tenth were without any of these conveniences.
Home ownership.

Tables XLIII and XLIV also show that somewhat more than onehalf of the 757 families whose tenure of home was reported were rent
ing, and of the 358 owned homes less than 40 per cent were unencum
bered. Between 45 and 50 per cent of the families of the native white
2 “A multifamily dwelling is one designed to accommodate three or more families. The term is equivalent
to the less definite term ‘apartment house’ or ‘tenement house.’”—Bureau of Labor Statistics. Handbook
of Labor Statistics, 1929 ed., p. 209.
The Encyclopedia Britannica states that in England both tenement and apartment signify a poor place
of abode, and that in the United States, while the words are not technically distinguished, common usage
applies the term ‘‘apartment” to a dwelling having better equipment and facilities than that designated
by the term “tenement.”

116 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

and of the foreign-bom women were renters, but over 80 per cent of
the negro households were in this class.
Where the woman interviewed was native white, half the homes
owned or being bought were mortgaged or otherwise encumbered,
as were over three-fifths of those of the foreign bom and nearly threefourths of those of negro women.
The largest proportion of rented homes—70 per cent—was in Chi
cago ; in East St. Louis about 45 per cent and in Kansas City and in
Omaha about 36 per cent were in this class. In East St. Louis about
one-fourth of the homes and in Kansas City over one-third were fully
owned, but in Chicago and Omaha only small proportions were owned
free. Only six of the fully-owned homes reported were those of negro
families, five of these being in Kansas City. Of the fully owned
homes, about 60 per cent in Chicago and in Kansas City were those
of foreign-born women. Over 50 per cent in East St. Louis and over
60 per cent in Omaha were those of native white women.
Amount of rent.

Table XLV in the appendix shows, by number of rooms occupied,
the rents paid by 373 families. About 45 per cent of the homes for
which rental was reported had four rooms, and for accommodations
of this size more than half the families paid $15 and under $20.
About 23 per cent of the families paid $10 and under $15 for rent,
more than two-thirds of these homes having three or four rooms.
Over one-fifth of the families paid at least $25 m rent, more than fourfifths of these having from four to six rooms. Of the 42 two-room
accommodations, more than half rented for $10 and under $15, and
of 291 homes of three to five rooms, 43.3 per cent rented for $15 and
under $20. Of 12 homes renting for $50 or more, none was smaller
than five rooms.
In the four largest cities the most common rent, paid by about onethird to over two-fifths of the families, was $15 and under $20. The
largest group of families paying this price in East St. Louis had 3
rooms, in Kansas City and Chicago 4 rooms, and in Omaha 5 rooms.
The distribution of the families by amount of rent, and the most com
mon size of the homes renting at $15 and under $20, are shown in this
summary:
Families paying—
$15 and under $20
City

Total
number
of fami
lies re
ported

Size of home most
common

Under
$16
Number

$20 and $25 and
under $25 over

Number
Number of fami
of rooms lies hav
ing

All cities 1

373

103

136

Chicago
East St. Louis__ ...
Kansas City________
Omaha

212
33
65
26

43
11
25
11

72
12
28
11

4
3
4
5

60
10
20
7

32
8
7
3

65
2
5
1

1 Includes cities with numbers too small to report in detail.

117

COMPOSITION AND ECONOMIC STATUS

In Chicago about one-fifth of the families and in the other cities
one-third or more paid less than $15. Of these the largest group in
Chicago, Kansas City, and Omaha had four rooms, and in East St.
Louis, three. Higher rents, of $25 and over, were paid by 65 Chicago
families—about 30 per cent of those reported—and five or six rooms
ordinarily were had for this price. In the other cities reported
very few families paid such high rents.
WAGE EARNERS IN THE FAMILY OTHER THAN THE WOMAN
VISITED

Employment in meat packing.

Of the families reporting employment of their members, 387 had
two or more wage earners, including the woman interviewed, in meat
packing. In over three-fourths of these, all wage earners in the fam
ily were so employed, and this was the case in nearly one-fifth of the
families haying four wage earners and in somewhat less than one-half
of those with three, as is shown in the following summary.
Number of wage earners in family

All families______

Number of
hav
families with Number
ing all wage
2 or more wage earners
in meat
earners in meat
packing
packing

___

2................. .................................
3___________________________
4_____________________
5 or more___ ______________________

. The foregoing indicates the very large extent to which the families
visited had all their wage earners employed in meat packing. How
closely the fate of a family may be tied to one industry, and how futile
an attempt to better the economic status may prove in the end, is
illustrated by the cases of two Croatian families visited in their Omaha
homes, summarized as follows:
A woman, aged 33, returned from a visit to Croatia. Her husband had been
to Detroit to try work in an automobile factory. He could not get a good job,
so returned to Omaha, and then could not get back his steady job in meat pack
ing, which leaves her meat-packing wage their chief dependence. There are five
sons, the oldest 14. They pay $25 rent for an 8-room house in fair repair.
A woman, aged 34, had seven children, the oldest 16. Her husband thought
to better himself by going to Detroit. He had a steady job there for over a year
and a half and sent home $10 to $15 a week. It was hard for such a large fam
ily to get along on this. When work grew slack in Detroit, he returned, only to
find that he could not get steady work again in meat packing. The mother had
to go to work and now has had to take her 16-year-old daughter out of school to
work.

Employment other than in meat packing.

The occupations other than meat packing engaged in by members
of the families visited are shown in Tables XLVI and XLVII for 91
female wage earners in 82 families and for 343 male wage earners in
309 families.
Of the female wage earners reported, 57 were the daughters, 8 were
the mothers, and 26 were the sisters of the women interviewed. Of
these women, 41 were in some branch of manufacturing, the largest

118 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

single group being in food industries. The largest group of those
outside manufacturing were in clerical pursuits, chiefly as stenogra
phers or not specified. The groups next in size were in mercantile
establishments and in domestic and personal service. The daughters
were more commonly in clerical work or stores than were the mothers
or sisters.
Over half (54.2 per cent) of the male wage earners reported were
husbands of the women visited, the remainder being fairly equally
divided as brothers, sons, and fathers. Over 40 per cent of these men
were in manufacturing industries, and over 15 per cent were general
laborers, a large proportion of whom were in manufacturing plants.
The largest groups in manufacturing were in metal and wood indus
tries and in railroad and machine shops. Over 10 per cent of those
reported were in transportation, and nearly 10 per cent were in do
mestic and personal service. Almost 7 percent were reported engaged
in their own business, and among the occupations of these were those
of barber, carpenter, dealer in coal and ice, grocer, paper hanger, shoe
repairer, and trucker and hauler. Unpublished data show that in
the two cities having the largest numbers reported—Chicago with 149
and Kansas City with 107—in each case over half the men not in meat
packing were in manufacturing. In Chicago over a tenth were in
transportation and a similar proportion were in domestic and personal
service.
Steadiness of employment.

From Table XLVIII in the appendix may be seen the steadiness of
employment as reported for wage earners, both men and women, other
than the women interviewed. The reports cover 165 women and 698
men.
Nearly 80 per cent of the women and over 70 per cent of the men
were reported as having been steadily employed during the 12 months
just past, but since the information was secured during the home
visits and the women interviewed often could remember only the
more definite periods of rather extended unemployment, it is probable
that the estimates of steady employment include some cases in which
the workers lost from four to eight weeks’ time or worked many short
weeks or short days. Even under these conditions, about 20 per cent
of the women and nearly 29 per cent of the men were reported as having
had unsteady employment.
The largest proportions of steady workers among the men were in
families having three wage earners in addition to the woman inter
viewed, the greatest unsteadiness in those of two such wage earners.
Among women steady employment was greatest where there was but
one wage earner besides the person interviewed, and the least where
there were three such employed persons.
In Chicago a larger proportion of women had steady employment
and of men unsteady employment than in any other city. _ Excluding
the cities where the numbers reported were small, the one in which the
largest proportion of the men in the families visited were steadily
employed was Omaha.
A number of the husbands who were unsteadily employed were
in meat packing; others were scattered in various types of work such
as foundry, construction work, odd jobs of carpentering, work with
street car or railway, coal yard or lumber yard, janitor, iron works,

COMPOSITION AND ECONOMIC STATUS

119

and own business such as grocery or coal. One had worked 10 years
in a railroad shop, during which time the wife had not had to work;
then he was laid off, as the shop work was transferred to another
town; he went into meat packing, but as a new man there he was one
of the first to be subject to lay-off. There are three school children
to support in this family, the oldest 13. The home is a good 5-room
cottage renting for $22.50.
In many of the instances in which the husband was unsteadily
employed the reason was illness, or his unsteadiness seemed to date
from a past illness that left him less robust than formerly. And as a
Polish woman in Chicago put it: “My man try hard. Can’t help be
sick.” Frequently the woman, even though not the sole breadwinner,
becomes in fact the chief support of the family, perhaps assisted by
the husband’s irregular earnings or by the beginning wages of a young
son or daughter.
Some of the cases that illustrate the family status thus described
are as follows:
A native white woman 21 years of age—whose husband developed tuberculosis
about three years ago, shortly after their marriage, and is in a sanitarium—lives
in a 7 room mortgaged house in Kansas City. She has a little girl of 2 years and
lives with her mother, who has five children, two of them under 6. She stayed
home with her baby and kept house while her mother worked. Then the mother
became pregnant and remained at home while the daughter went to work. Now
the mother has a night job cleaning offices and the daughter works by day at
meat packing.
A Polish woman of 37 who is the main support of a family consisting of herself,
a sick husband, a daughter in office work, and four boys 11 to 16, all in school.
She has earned $1,170 during the year in beef casings. She does all her own
housework, except that she has wet wash done. The rent for their Chicago
tenement home is $15.
Another Chicago Polish woman, in her 50th year. The husband is ill, and
although the young daughter, who works regularly in a cafeteria, contributes her
entire earnings of $12 a week, the mother is the chief breadwinner. She earned
about $913 in the year. The rent is $15.
A native white woman of 43, who was the only earner in her Omaha family at
the time of the interview. A daughter of 17 and a son work when they are able
and can keep jobs. The husband lost an arm and is unable to work, and there
are five children in school and a little boy at home—a family of 10. They live
in(a 7-room house renting for $15. The mother had earned about $1,122 in the
year as a pork trimmer.
An Italian woman of 34, who lives in a 2-family house in Chicago. She was
the only wage earner when visited, as her husband “can’t catch him a job.”
A daughter 16 is the housekeeper, and there are four other children in school and
one of 5 years—a family of eight to provide for from her meat-packing wage.
A Croatian woman of 41, living in Kansas City. Her husband was not taken
back at the meat-packing plant after an operation and an illness of two months.
For a year he was out of work and is now a laborer in a lumber camp. A son
worked with the railroad, but was laid off because of poor sight. There are three
children in school, the oldest 12, and one child of preschool age. A daughter of
14 has just gone to work in domestic service for $7 a week. The mother was
discouraged when visited and feared the coming winter. They owe $100 at the
grocery store and $86 in hospital and doctor’s bills.
A Slovak of East St. Louis, 38 years old. Her husband is not a steady worker,
and although he is only 43 she says he is old. There are six to feed and a mortgage
to pay. Three years ago one of the children had a 2-year illness, followed by
doctor’s bills and heavy expense. This woman earned about $979 in meat
packing last year.

120

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

A Chicago Mexican woman 34 years old, whose husband has been out of work
some time and is unable to find a job. There are two daughters in school and a
baby girl. The rent of their tenement home is $8.
A Russian woman of 45, living in Sioux City. A son 29 is a truck driver, and
a daughter 22 is in meat packing but has considerable slack work. There is a
daughter aged 20 at home—a family of five adults. The husband is 55 and not
at work; he had worked steadily in meat packing, but last year the boss came to
him and told him he was too old to work. When asked if he had tried other work,
he replied, “What could I do?” The wife says, “It’s mamma pay the electric
bill, mamma pay the gas bill, mamma pay everything.” Last year she earned
$738.75 as a pork trimmer. They live in a comfortable 5-room house which thev
rent for $15.
J

WAGE EARNERS AND DEPENDENTS IN THE FAMILY

The following summary shows the average size of family of 764
women reporting and the extent of support ordinarily devolving on
each wage earner.
Total number of—
City

All cities
Chicago__________
Last St. Louis. ______
Kansas City....... .
Omaha
St. Joseph____________ _
Other cities_______

Persons in family
who were—

Average number of—

Persons
At work Not at work
Women in families
Persons Wage Persons
inter of women
in the earners per
viewed
inter
Num Per Num Per family in the wage
family earner
viewed 1
ber cent ber cent
764

3,339

1,693

50.7

1,646

49.3

4.37

2.22

1.97

317
82
193
86
41
45

1,334
340
846
459
180
180

687
194
424
199
88
101

51.5
57.1
50.1
43.4
48.9
56.1

647
146
422
260
92
79

48.5
42.9
49.9
56.6
51.1
43.9

4.21
4.15
4.38
5.34
4. 39
4.00

2.17
2.37
2.20
2.31
2.15
2.24

1.94
1.75
2.00
2.31
2.05
1.78

1 Including the women interviewed.

Ihe families reported had an average of slightly more than four
and one-third members, falling below this in East St. Louis and
Chicago, and rising to five and one-third in Omaha, owing to a dif
ference in selection of the families visited in Omaha, as already noted.
(See p. 114.) One-half of all the members of these families were at
work, the proportions ranging from just over 57 per cent in East St.
Louis to only 43.4 per cent in Omaha. When all cities are considered,
the families had an average of about two and one-fifth wage earners,
slightly less in Chicago and St. Joseph, and somewhat more—about
two and one-third—in Omaha and East St. Louis. On the average,
each wage earner had practically two persons (1.97) to support, the
averages ranging from 1.75 in East St. Louis to 2.31 in Omaha.
Children in the family.
Of more than 400 mothers reporting number of non-wage-earning
children, more than 20 per cent had children under 6 years of age.
About 7 per cent reported that all their children were under 6 and less
than per cent that all their children were 16 and under 18. In
about 70 per cent of the cases all the children were in school.
Data on the ages and status of children under 18 in 424 families
are given by city and by nativity of mother in Tables XLIX and L in
the appendix. The families reported averaged more than two chil

121

COMPOSITION AND ECONOMIC STATUS

dren under 18, and this was true in every city but East St. Louis,
where the. average was just under two; in Omaha, owing to the
difference in selection of the families visited, it was nearly three.
(See p. 114.) The average number of children was highest for the
foreign bom, lowest for the negro mothers.
Of the 1,002 children reported, 15.5 per cent were under 7 years of
age. Much the largest proportion found in any city was in Omaha,
where about one-third were so young. In Chicago the figure was
only 8.9 per cent. Almost one-third of all the children were 14 and
under 18, with the proportions in such age group smaller in Omaha
and St. Joseph than elsewhere. More than half of all the children
(53.6 per cent) were 7 and under 14, Omaha again being exceptional,
with a proportion of 42.9 per cent. Mothers in Chicago had 57.4 per
cent of their children in this age group.
While the largest number of children in each nativity group were
7 and under 14, native white mothers had a much larger proportion
of children under 7 than had those of any other nativity group.
In each city and in each nativity group the great majority of the
children were in school, and only very small proportions were at work—
in no city and in no nativity group as a whole as much as 5 per cent.
The proportion at work was highest in Chicago—4.9 per cent.
Nearly 14 per cent of all children reported were at home, and in
Omaha, where one-third of the children were under 7, the proportion
ran above 20 per cent. Nearly one-fourth of the children of native
white mothers and nearly one-fifth of those of negroes were at home,
but this was true of less than 11 per cent of the children of foreignbom mothers, who, with 56 per cent of their children 7 and under 14
years of age, had. a. larger proportion in school than had mothers in
the other two nativity groups.
Non-wage-earning sons and daughters in the family.

Table LI in the appendix shows the number of non-wage-earning
sons and daughters in 435 families and whether or not they were
minor children (including also a very few grandchildren, young sisters,
or other dependent children), in relation to the burden of support
likely to be thrown on the mother by the father’s unsteadiness of
employment or by his death, desertion, or divorce. For this tabu
lation the father was considered unsteadily employed only if he had
lost more than eight weeks in the year. In about 46 per cent of the
families reported, the father had unsteady work or was dead, desert
ing, or divorced. The average number of sons, daughters, and child
dependents to be supported in families in which the father had the
status specified was as follows:

Nativity and race of mother

All groups____________________
Native white__________
Foreign born____________
Negro___ ___________
Nativity not reported............. _

Total
number
of families
reported

435
82
283
69
1

1 Not computed, owing to the small number involved.

Number of families
reported in which
the father was—

Average number of non
wage-earning sons,
and daughters in fam
ilies in which the fa
ther was—

Dead,
Unsteadily deserting,
employed
or
divorced

83
17
54
11
1

119
27

2.6
2.1
0

1.8
2.4
1.6

122 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

The foregoing shows that where the father was unsteadily employed
the number of non-wage-earning sons and daughters to be supported
in families of native white women averaged about two, in those of
negro women less than two, and in those of foreign-born women nearly
three. Where the father was dead, deserting, or divorced, the average
number to be supported again was least in negro families, 1.5; it was
nearly 2 among native white and was above 2 among families of
foreign-born women.
The following summary shows that where the husband was un
steadily employed or was dead, deserting, or divorced there were four
or more non-wage-earning sons and daughters in over one-sixth of all
families reported. Almost one in four of the families in the largest
nativity group—those of foreign-born mothers—had such large num
bers to be supported.

Nativity and race of mother

Total number of Mothers specified in
whose families there
mothers reported
were 4 or more chil
whose husbands
dren
were unsteadily
employed or were
dead, deserting, or
divorced
Number
Per cent
202

17.3

44
113
44
1

27
3

9.1
23.9
6.8

1 Not computed, owing to the small number involved.

Where the husband was dead, separated, or divorced, the wife
often had the responsibility of supporting the family, even though
she had some help from a son or daughter. Some typical examples
of such situations were as follows:
A Czech mother and a daughter of 17 support a family of seven in Omaha,
including the grandmother. When the girl went to work, the mother’s pension
was discontinued, although there were four younger children; but the daughter’s
wage in the first month did not compensate for this, as she did not make $25 a
month at first, and the mother felt the loss.
The meat-packing wage of a woman in East St. Louis was the sole support of
herself and four children for 10 years after her husband’s death. Now the two
eldest daughters are at work.
A mother and her steadily employed son support themselves and two children
in Chicago. He gives her all his earnings except $2 a week. The husband is in
an insane hospital.
A woman separated from her husband has two sons, 18 and 20, both out of
work. The elder is partially paralyzed. She earned $806.50 in the year and had
the help of one steadily employed son, 22 years old, in supporting the four adults.
A mother and her daughter of 17, both employed in meat packing, support
themselves and five younger children. The mother earned $1,261 in the year.
The husband is dead.

NECESSITY TO THE FAMILY OF THE WORK OF WOMEN VISITED

Of the women visited in their homes, 152 reported that they were
self-supporting only and 101 that they were the sole support of them
selves and others. Of 634 who did not report that they were the
sole support of themselves and others, but who told the interviewer

STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE LIBRARY

123

COMPOSITION AND ECONOMIC STATUS

why they were at work, less than 3 per cent gave choice rather than
necessity as their reason for working.
Women who were self-supporting only.

The age and marital status of the 152 women who supported
themselves alone may be seen from the following summary:
A)] women reported Number of women in age group
specified who were—
Age
Number Per cent

Single

All ages_______________ ____________ ___
Per cent distribution.......................................

152
100.0

100.0

93
61.2

16 and under 18 years. ______________________
18 and under 20 years.._____ ___________
20 and under 25 years________ ______
25 and under 30 years______ ___________
30 and under 40 years______________
40 and under 50 years....... ................................
50 and under 60 years____________________

7
18
40
16
36
27
8

4.6
11.8
26 3
10. 5
23.7
17.8
5.3

7
17
15
3

Widowed,
Married separated,
or
divorced
7
4.6

52
34.2

3
2
1

The foregoing shows that just over 61 per cent of the women who
stated that they supported themselves only were single. Naturally,
very few were married. The single women ordinarily were young,
almost two-thirds being under 25. Only a few of those who had been
married were under 30, and well over one-half were 40 or more.
_ Nearly three-fourths of the women reporting this information were
in Chicago and Kansas City. In the former, the proportion of women
who were or had been married was larger; in the latter, it was some
what smaller than the proportion of such women among the total
number reported from all cities. Of the 43 single women reported
in Chicago, 17 were 30 years old or more; in Kansas City none were
of such age. Of the 38 women reported in Chicago who were or had
been married, 19 were 40 years old or more, as was the case with 9
of the 11 reported in Kansas City.
Women who were the sole support of their families.

Of the 101 women who were the sole support of the family and who
reported on marital status, 71 were widowed, separated, or divorced,
and 22 were married—in all, over 90 per cent were or had been married!
However, it is significant that eight of these women were single, and
in one case a single woman was supporting a family of four.
Of those reported, more than one-fourth were in families of four
or more; in one case the family numbered six, and in one seven.
Earnings of women who were self-supporting or sole support of the
family.

Earnings were reported for 191 of the 253 women who were either
self-supporting or the sole support of themselves and others. Table
LII shows the average weekly earnings of these women in all cities
reported; Table LIII gives their year’s earnings.
Of the 191 who reported their earnings, 77 were the sole support of
others besides themselves. Forty-two of the 77 had average weekly
earnings of less than $19; and 5 of these were supporting husbands, 4

124 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

were supporting families of 4 (themselves included), and 6 were sup
porting families of 5. Fifteen women were supporting self and two
children on weekly earnings that ranged from $13 and under $14
to $24 and under $25. Eight of these had year’s earnings of less than
$1,000. Of six women who were supporting themselves and four
children, none earned as much as $19 weekly or as much as $1,000 in
the year; one earned less than $750.
Twenty-three of the 77 women who were the sole family support
earned $900 and under $1,000 in the year, and 23 others earned
$1,000 and under $1,200. The range of earnings of those who were
the sole support of self and family in the various cities was as
follows:

City

Number
of women
reporting
who were
sole sup
port of
family

Range of—

Average weekly earnings

Year’s earnings

From $13 and under $14 to

From $650 and under $700
f o $1,300 and under $1,400.

46
6
18
6
1

$13-$14 to $25-$30
$13—$14 to $20-$21
$13-$14 to $23-$24
$14-$15 to $19-$20___ _____

$700-$750 to $1,300-11,400.
$650-$700 to $900-$1,000.
$650-700 to $1,100-$1,200.
$750-$800 to $900-$1,000.
$1,000 and under $1,100.

Of the women reported in Chicago, each of five supported herself
and four children on less than $19 a week and less than $1,000 in the
year, each of six supported herself and three children on less than $22
a week and less than $1,100 in the year.
Of the women reported in Kansas City, one supporting herself,
husband, and five children had average weekly earnings of less than
$15 and had earned less than $800 in the year; one supported herself
and five children on weekly earnings of less than $22 and year’s
earnings of under $1,100.
In East St. Louis and in Omaha, six women in each case were
supporting families on average weekly earnings of only $20 or $21.
In each case the year’s earnings were below $1,000.
A more complete picture of the problems faced by the women who
were the sole support of their families may be gained from the citation
of a few cases such as those that follow:
NATIVE WHITE WOMEN
A Chicago girl of 18 is supporting her mother, father, and sister of 9. The
mother is crippled, and the father, who has been out of work a year and a half, does
most of the housework.
A woman of 31 is divorced and is supporting herself and four children, ranging
from 6 to 10 years of age. They live in four rooms in a Chicago tenement and
the landlady keeps an eye on the children after school hours. The average weekly
income is $18.90; the year’s earnings $945.15, including bonus. Occasional help
is given the wage earner by her sisters.
A Kansas City woman of 30 years supports her two children of 9 and 11 years
and an aged uncle. They live in a tumble-down house with no sink or inside
toilet. She pays 60 cents a week for milk, and says “I am afraid to make a
grocery bill.”

COMPOSITION AND ECONOMIC STATUS

125

Also 30 years old and living in Kansas City, this woman supports herself and
three school children, two her own and one her sister’s. Tlley live in a 4-room
house with sink and modern toilet, for which she pays $18 a month rent. She says
it takes close managing, for when the rent is due it requires nearly a -week’s
earnings, and the grocery bill can not be paid that week. She is paying $10 a
month on furniture. Her average weekly earnings are $23.36, and she made
$1,191.45 in the year.
Fifty-two years old, this woman supports a crippled husband and two sons,
one of whom is 16 and is now looking for work. She has two boarders, but they
are relatives and have their own obligations, so she charges them only enough
to pay their expenses. The home has no inside water or toilet, and she pays $16
for its five rooms. She has a garden, which saves some expense. When -work is
slack, they transfer her instead of giving her a lay-off, for “they know I need the
work. ” Her year’s earnings were only $957.77 and weekly average $18.78. She
says she gets behind, but manages to catch up again.
A widow who has worked nearly 7 of her 40 years in meat packing. She lives
in Omaha, supports two children, and buys clothing for her third child, who lives
with his grandmother. Their home is in a 2-family house with modern plumbing,
for which she pays a rental of $12.50 a month. Her year’s earnings were only
$932.44, and the average weekly amount was $19.03.
FOREIGN-BORN WOMEN
Of Czech origin, this woman is 41 years old and lives in Omaha. She has only
two to support now, for her 17-year-old son died last year. She had always been
strong, but since this blow she is sometimes sick, and this worries her. She is
buying the home, a 5-room house with modern equipment, but still owes $1,000
on it. Her daughter of 16 is in school, but is a helpful girl. The mother says
“If I can just hold on, but it is harder if you do not feel so good. The boss only
looks at the way you can put the work out.” She averaged $19.55 a week at meat
packing, but the year brought only $918.62.
A Hungarian girl of 26 who lives in East St. Louis. Her husband was laid
off two years ago and will not work unless he can get an easy job. This throws
on her the support of the family, including two small children, one in school, the
other cared for by a sister-in-law, for whom the mother pays 50 cents a dav.
She has worked in meat packing 6 years in a 10-year period. 'She makes most of
the children’s clothes, has no help with the cooking, laundry, or cleaning, and
must carry water from an outside pump. She is trying to buy the 3-room home,
but owes a coal bill and also has had to borrow from relatives. Her weekly
earnings at sausage manufacture average $20.38, the year’s work having brought
in only $998.61.
An Austrian woman of 35, living in Kansas City. Her husband is sick and
not strong enough to work; he has not had steady work for eight or nine years.
She supports the family, including five children, the oldest 14. The husband
looks after the two little ones at home. The 2-story house of six rooms is in a
wretched condition, and is very untidily kept. She has been trying to buy
the home but has been unable to pay her taxes the last three times due. She
does not run a grocery bill, because she would never be able to pay it. She can
buy only the cheapest food, and all the children appear undernourished. She
averages $14.82 at pork trimming, and the year brought in only $770.47.
A 36-year-old Polish woman, who has been a pork trimmer for nine years.
About eight months before the interview her husband, who had been ill' with
tuberculosis and unable to work for two years, died. The 5-room house was
paid for at that time, and he left insurance, but now she is the sole support of
herself and four children aged from 8 to 15 years.
A Polish woman of 32, living in Kansas City. She has two children in school,
and the young son helps somewhat. But her husband is unable to do anything.
About nine months before the interview he was so ill that she had to stay at home
and lost about two months’ work. She has a hospital bill of $400 to pay, besides
the doctor’s bills. She had to mortgage the house to keep the family going, and
is in debt beyond her courage.
A Polish grandmother, 52 years old, who has worked in meat packing 17 years.
Her husband is dead and she supports three grandchildren from 10 to 15 years
old. Their home is in two rooms in a Chicago tenement, and her earnings in
sausage casings averaged $20.19 a week. She earned $1,045.63 in the year.

126 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
A Polish woman of 37, living in two Chicago tenement rooms, which she rents
for $10. Her husband has been out of work for about a year, and she has had
to borrow from relatives to help support the family, which includes three school
children of 12 and under. She averaged $23.07 a week in sausage manufacturing,
and earned $1,199.40 in the year.
A Czechoslovakian woman of 36, who supports herself and her four children
of 11 and less on an average weekly wage of $16.80 earned in sausage manu
facturing. Her husband died before the youngest—now a child of seven-—was
born. Their Chicago home is in three tenement rooms that rent for $16 a month,
and the bedroom is small and dark. She used to send the children to the Polish
Sisters’ nursery, but now the older ones look after the 7-year-old after school
hours. “The charities have been good to me,” she said. They pay the rent,
buy milk, give some clothing, and send the children to the country in the summer.
“And then I get a vacation, too,” she added. In the year she earned $856.79.
A Lithuanian woman of 38, whose husband is dead. On an average weekly
wage of $19.54 earned in sausage casings she supports herself and three children
of 13 and less. She has four tenement rooms, for which she pays $16 a month.
She does all the housework and has a boarder. Her rooms provide a sink but no
inside toilet. Her earnings in the year were only $996.42.
NEGRO WOMEN
Although married and living with her husband, this woman supports herself
and four children of 11 to 17. She is 48, and lives in Omaha. “It takes two,”
she said, “and besides these are my children and not his. It was lots harder
when the children’s father died and they were little.” She has been a meat
packer for 11 years, and earned $781.60 last year, with a weekly average of
$15.03. “Mister does not work as steady as I do,” she said, “he is laid off a
week every once in a while.” They pay $20 rent for a 6-room house without
modern equipment, and although they do not need so much room can find nothing
smaller at less rent.
A woman of 37, living in East St. Louis, supports herself and three children of
13 and less. She does all the housework and provides for a boarder. “I don’t
hardly see myself how I make out,” she said. She thinks her job as a pork trim
mer easier than her former work in the glass factory, for that means “tramping
every minute, every second, all day.”
A Chicago woman of 38, whose husband is dead, supports herself and three
children aged 11 to 16. The eldest, a son, works in his school vacation, and the
daughter, 14, helps in the house. They rent four tenement rooms for $25, and
have little furnishing. She has her wet wash done, for she is “too tired to do
laundry, and saves strength for out yonder (her job).” She averages $15.28
at sausage manufacture, and earned $763.96 in the year.
A deserted mother in Chicago supports herself and four school children of 12
and less. For her four rooms in a 2-family house the rent is $16. She can not pay
her rent and has a bill against her at the grocery, though not of long standing.
The children have no clothes to begin school. She averages $18.37 at sausage
manufacture, and in the year earned $955-20.

Reasons for working given by women not sole support of family.

Where women are supporting themselves or are the sole support of
others, the importance to the family of their employment is fairly
obvious. Of 634 women reporting who were not the sole support of
themselves or others, it may be said in brief that roughly a third
reported working because of insufficiency of husband's earnings or
the need to keep up the general family expenses, and almost another
third had lost their husbands through death, desertion, or divorce,
or were helping relatives other than husband and children. Another
large group has been discussed—that in which the husband was un
steadily employed, either through the vicissitudes of industry or
through his own incapacity. Many women reported being at work
for some very definite purpose, such as to educate children, pay for a
home, or pay a series of doctor and hospital bills, buy furniture,

COMPOSITION AND ECONOMIC STATUS

127

make a visit to the old country, or get a start in life and save some
thing while young. A few specifically mentioned the high cost of
living. Less than 3 per cent gave choice rather than necessity as
their reason for working.
Even where the husband’s work is steady, there are many cases in
which he can not earn enough to meet the family needs or where the
general expenses to be met make it necessary for the mother to work.
Typical of these is a worker of Omaha , who reported that her husband
would not be able to support the family of seven on his wages. “We
don’t work for our health,” she said. The oldest child is in high
school now, and that adds to the expense. Similarly, a native white
woman of 34 said it was hard to manage all the time on her husband’s
earnings. There were six children, and she added, “I thought if I
worked a while we’d get through the winter even and not go in debt.”
A few of the many other typical cases are as follows:
Owes nothing, but is afraid of the winter. “So many to feed.” Family of
nine includes aged father and uncle and five children.
“My man not bring much pay.” Eager to keep the four children in school.
Her husband said, “Don’t you think, missus, if I could make a living for my
family, my wife go to work.” (Serbian.)
A native white woman of 28, whose husband was 50, said he was “not stout any
more.” There were no children, but they could “never get ahead on $21 a week.”
A colored woman in Chicago says there are “So many in family. Got to work.”
There are a mother-in-law and father-in-law at home, and four children. Her
husband is a steady laborer. She supplements her meat-packing wage by doing
hairdressing in the evening.
“ My husband no play cards or nothing, like some men. A good man. I want
to help him. We both old now, past 40, can’t keep a job long. What will we
do when we are old?” The husband had gone into business with another man and
lost everything. They have one daughter, 13.
A native white woman of 31, married at 15, now has a daughter of 15. Since
her second marriage either she or her husband has been sick most of the time.
She has a small boy, and last year an appendicitis operation made a big bill. The
husband has twice been desperately ill.
A Croatian, who wanted to help her husband. They were very poor when they
came from the old country. They go to school two nights a week to learn English,
and the principal referred to her as being particularly ambitious.

Nearly a fourth of those reporting reason for working were assisting
relatives other than husband and children. Many of these were
native white women, and in many cases, though not in all, they were
very young. In some cases a very young woman was the only wage
earner in the family who was employed at the time of the interview;
in others she was helping, though the father had steady work, and there
were families where she shared the support with one or more brothers
or sisters, frequently also quite young. For the most part these
families, although poor and struggling, appeared to be normal working
families, not of the shiftless type so familiar to social workers. Unless
the use of free clinical facilities could be so classified, very few of them
reported assistance from organized charity. Some mothers who were
alone in caring for small children had mothers’ aid from the State, but
this does not come under the head of charity, since it is a payment for
a direct service to society. There were a few families in which one
or more of the members were mentally deficient, inefficient, or addicted
to drink.

128 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

In one case reported in St. Paul, a married woman with no children
was helping her father and mother in the old country. An ambition
for self-improvement and a normal need of some of the happier things
of life are shown in a family where the girl of 18 gives all her earnings
as a pork trimmer to her mother, but receives back something for
clothes and music lessons; there are five younger brothers and sisters,
and the father works in the packing plant. “It always takes two to
keep our family,” said a mother who had stopped working when her
daughter of 20 went into the fresh-sausage department. The father
is 50 and is in meat packing, and there are two younger boys, the
oldest of whom, 18, will not work because he has a lame, foot and
“would not take a kid’s job.” Other examples that typify many
more are as follows:
A native white girl of 20 in East St. Louis, who worked in fresh sausage manu
facture, made $801.96 during the year, all of which she gave to her mother. A
sister and two brothers 17 to 21 also worked in the packing plant. There were
four younger children, the oldest 11.
In Omaha, a native white girl of 18 pays her mother $8 a week board when
at work, but her employment is not steady and her father has had many lay-offs.
‘‘Every time he loses a job. All the time' change him. Awful 'fraid now for his
job.” A brother of 19 has a clerical position, but he pays only $5 board, “he
needs so much himself.” There are five younger children. ' Lodges and insurance
for the family take $7 a month, and every Sunday there is 25 cents for church.
Two.years ago the mother had an operation that was an added expense. Recently
city improvements have demanded a special tax assessment on their 5-room home,
which once was paid for but now is mortgaged.
A native white girl, 18 years old and living in Kansas City, gives all her earn
ings in sliced bacon to her family. The father is steadily employed and there are
a mother and eight younger brothers and sisters. The 3-room tenement home
of this family of 11 costs $14.
A native white girl of 19, who earned $1,133 in sliced bacon in Chicago in the
year. Her father is ill and the mother earns 33 cents an hour in meat packing.
There are five younger children, all in school but the 5-year-old. Their 6-room
tenement home costs $25.
A native white girl of 18 in Omaha assists her brother of 22 to support a large,
helpless family. She is in sliced bacon now, but has had several lay-offs and has
worked in a number of other departments. During the year a feeble-minded
child of 8 was sent to a State institution. The father had been bedridden for
some time before his recent death. There are a mother and five younger children.
The rent for the five rooms that accommodate this family of 8 (until recently, 10)
is $15.
A 22-year-old native white woman of East St. Louis who shares with a sister
of 20 the support of a family that includes the mother and three younger sisters.
In the year she earned $748.75 in fresh-sausage manufacturing.
A 19-year-old native white girl of Kansas City made $855 in the lard department
in the year, all of which she gave to her mother. Her father and sister of 16 also
are at work, and there are six younger brothers and sisters.
A native white woman of 20 in Chicago has been five years in meat packing,
and shares the family support with a sister of 22 who makes $17 to $18a week in
meat packing. She is in the canning department and earned $1,069.60 in the
year. The mother and three school children are at home. This family of six
lives in three tenement rooms rented for $14.
A native white girl of 20, living in East St. Louis. She has three younger sisters,
one in school. The family is supported by the girl of 20, who is in sliced bacon
and earned $773 in the year, and her mother, 50 years of age, who earned less
than this as a charwoman.
_ A native white girl of 18 who works in sausage casings in Omaha. She earned
$915 in the year. Her father ordinarily is in the same industry, but he had been
laid off; she alone was supporting the family at the time of the interview, although

COMPOSITION AND ECONOMIC STATUS

129

the father was seeking a job. There are a mother and six younger brothers and
sisters. A sister of 16 hoped to get work in a store at least for the Christmas
season; she had tried several times to get a meat-packing job, and had become
discouraged.

Among the less numerous group of women who worked because
they desired to live a little better than they otherwise could, or had
some special expense or other reason for employment, were the follow
ing:
“Nothing to do at home.” Has helped to pay for the house and now can save
a little.
To get ahead and have something to fall back on. “Can’t expect the children
to care for us when we are old.”
“I could get along but I couldn’t save. I don’t want to be dependent on others
when hard luck comes.”
Wants to have a nice home and give children advantages.
“Perhaps not absolutely necessary. No reason for not working. Can have
more when I work.”
“Wouldn’t have to work, but we get along better.” Did not work when the
three children were little. (Youngest now six.)
“We wouldn’t have a home if I hadn’t worked. No woman works for fun.”
Free to work, as mother does most of housework, and can have better clothes
for self and small son and help mother also.
Wanted to have a good home and couldn’t get it on husband’s earnings.
Her earnings helped to send daughter to high school and son through law
school. Enough to live on now, but she likes to work and earn her own money.
“Lady, I work just for doctor.” Family has had several surgical cases.
Could save when both worked, and wanted something for old age and sickness.
Wants “something more than just food and shelter.” She and husband have
had doctor and hospital bills. No children. “It’s the married women in the
department who work steadily. Girls come in and don’t want to stay because
it’s cold.” (Sausage pack.)
“Don’t like to stay home.” So little to do. Could help save a little. No
children.
“Nothing to do.” Might as well help and save something. No children.
Negro, thinks she should work, as mother (age 60) is able to keep house.

High costs of rent and other necessities were given as reasons for
working by at least four negro women in Chicago. A comparison
of their rentals with some of the amounts given in the foregoing pages
as paid for apparently similar accommodations by white families
illustrates a case often found—that negroes frequently are subject
to somewhat heavier expense for rent than are white people. None
of these four women had children, and the rents three of them reported
as required to provide for themselves and husbands were as follows:
Tenement (5 rooms), $25; basement of tenement (5 rooms), $35;
modern heated apartment (6 rooms), $77.50.
Contributions to family income made by women not sole support of
family.

Even where they are not the sole support of the family, employed
women frequently make very substantial contributions to the family
income. Complete reports of the family week’s income were made
by 173 women, partially but not entirely supporting their families.
Table LIV in the appendix shows in detail, for the 173 women, the

130 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

total week’s income of the family and the proportion contributed by
the woman interviewed.
The earnings of the women interviewed averaged 40.6 per cent of
the income oi these families. In practically one-fifth of the cases
the woman provided one-half or more of the week’s income; in over
two-fifths she contributed 40 and under 50 per cent of the week’s
income; and in well over one-fourth she contributed 30 and under 40
per cent. Unpublished data show that in the various cities the
proportions of family week’s earnings contributed by the woman
interviewed ranged from 31.5 per cent to 41.9 per cent.
Table LIV, referred to, shows that in over three-fourths of the
cases the total week’s income was less than $50, and that in practically
one-fourth of the families having such income the wage of the woman
interviewed formed at least one-half of the entire amount.
The size of family of the women who were not the sole support of
the family is shown in Table LV in the appendix.
Of 173 women reporting family’s week’s incomeand size of family, 34,
or 1 in 5 of the number, were contributing one-half or more of the in
come. In 6 of these cases there was only the woman herself and one
other, and in 5 cases the family consisted of only 3 persons; but in 8
cases the family had 4 members, in 6 it had 5, in 4 it had 6, and in 5
there were 7 or 8 persons in the family. Thus the woman interviewed
earned one-half or more of the week’s income in about one-fifth of the
families of 4 or 6 persons and in more than one-fourth of the families
of 5 or of 7 and 8 persons.
_ Seventy-eight women in families in which all wage earners were
in meat packing reported complete year’s earnings of the family.
Unpublished data in regard to these show that in 59 cases the woman
reporting had earned 30 and under 50 per cent of the year’s income
of the family; in 11 cases she had earned 50 per cent or more.
That women who were not the sole support of their families often
bore a very large economic share in keeping the family going may
be indicated by the citation of a few typical cases.
A 19-year-old girl was the chief wage earner for a family of six. Her weekly
earnings averaged $17.45, while an 18-year-old sister earned $9 a week. The
father had not worked for over a year. Two younger sisters and a brother were
in school.
A mother of 12 children had gone to work for the first time three years before
the interview. Her husband was ill and had not worked for five years. Older
children who had supported the family were married and could no longer help.
Of six children left at home, only one, a boy of 17, was old enough to work. When
working, he had earned $14 a week, but had been laid off two weeks previously,
besides having been out of work two months at other times in the year. The
mother’s earnings averaged $18.13 a week.
A girl of 20 earned a considerable proportion of the income of a family of nine,
although it contained two other wage earners. Her father had averaged $22.25 a
week for the past year. The eldest brother’s earnings were from $15 to $20 a
week, but he had lost considerable time through lay-offs or part-time employment.
The other children ranged from 2 to 15 years. “The kids eat a lot,’’ she said.
“I can’t spend money for clothes, ’cause we need so much at home.”
In a family of five, the husband had been ill a year and a half and the youngest
girl was in school. The mother averaged nearly $20 a week in the past year, and
the two daughters about $15 a week each. Out of these sums, meager enough
for a family of five, they had been paying $25 a month for furniture for nearly a
year. The mother explained that they had lived in the ground-floor rooms of the
house and rented the first floor. Then her daughter urged that they occupy the
whole house. "We live in basement, someone come here she ’shamed.” The
next problem was the furniture for the additional rooms.

COMPOSITION AND ECONOMIC STATUS

131

A Russian woman said, “If he bring $35 every week, I no go to work.” But
they needed a bathroom, and she wanted to educate the throe children and to buy
furniture. Her husband had steady work, but as he earned only $22.50 a week
her earnings, averaging $15.84 a week, were needed.
A Croatian woman always stayed at home while her five children were small.
But the youngest was 10, the oldest 17, and she was anxious to educate them.
Two were in high school and one in business college. She earns half the family
income, having made $1,057.89 in the past year.
In one family, the husband had a job paying about $19 a week but lost eight
months because of illness. The wife averaged nearly $17 a week, and a 16-yearold daughter earned $11. During part of the summer a boy of 15 had earned $8
a week. He and two others were in school.
A colored woman worked in beef offal, earning an average of $13.74. Her semi
invalid aunt lived with her. She explained that her husband, making $22.20 a
week steadily, could not support the family and pay for the home they were buy
ing. They expect it to be six or seven years before the house is paid for. Then
it will need a new roof, paint, and other repairs.

Household assistance available to women visited.

In addition to the financial assistance they rendered their families,
many of the women had to carry on the duties of the home. While
in many cases they had some help in these tasks—usually from children
or other members of the family—the reports give abundant evidence
that the employed woman is likely to have the double responsibility
of her work for wages and her labor for the family. Cooking, cleaning,
laundry, and the care of children must be provided for in some way,
and these women could not afford to spend money for having this
work done. Table LVI in the appendix shows the extent to which
578 women had assistance with their household duties.
More than one-third of the women reporting had no assistance, or
had comparatively little, in the care of their homes. Over threefourths had aid with their laundry, although this did not always mean
that it was sent out; more than two-thirds had some help in the cleaning,
and somewhat over one-half had assistance in the cooking. More
than two-fifths had some help with all types of work.
In some cases the employed woman’s mother was the housekeeper,
and in at least one case a native white woman with an American name
had the assistance of a man who paid in that way for his board and
lodging. Many reported their children very helpful, and the pro
portions of women having no help or very limited assistance declined
considerably as the size of family increased from three to eight mem
bers. Typical cases of children who gave aid are these:
An Italian daughter of 16 does most of the work.
A Lithuanian high-school girl is very helpful.
A Mexican daughter does most of the work.
A German mother reported that her three daughters, the eldest 14, helped with
the work. She baked her bread on Sunday.
In a Slavic family with five children, the eldest 15, these were very helpful.
A frail daughter of 17 does the housework in a Polish family that includes five
younger children. The father’s employment is unsteady. The mother made
$1,299.91 in the year at pork trimming.
A Polish daughter of 14 is in school, but she gives her mother considerable
assistance at home.
In a Russian family, three boys under 15 years help their mother. The father
is in a sanitarium, and the mother, who has worked in meat packing for 10 years,
earned but $1,024.85 in the past year.
64051 °—32-----10

132 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

The most pressing problem to be solved by the employed woman
who is also a home maker is the care of young children, if there are
such in the family, while the mother is at work. This has been recog
nized in one large city, where the employers cooperate in conducting
a day nursery.
About four-fifths of the mothers interviewed in the study had assist
ance in the care of their children, and the reports give ample testimony
to the expedients resorted to, among which the following are typical
cases:
A neighbor cares for the 4-year-old child of a native white woman in St. Paul,
and she has three others who are in school.
The husband in an Omaha family is at home and looks after the five children.
A Lithuanian child of 4 in Chicago is cared for by a neighbor during the day.
Two Polish children under 7—one only 19 months old—are left at a Catholic
day nursery by their Chicago mother.
An Omaha woman reports that her little boys of 2 and 4 are cared for by the
woman next door, who furnishes their breakfast and dinner and charges $4 a week
for their care. Sometimes in the morning the mother carries the younger boy
asleep to the neighbor’s. The father’s employment is not steady, and the mother
earned only about $625 in the year.
A Polish father in Chicago works at night and looks after the four children
in the daytime. Two of them are under 7.
An Omaha mother hires a girl to look after the children and do part of the work.
In this family there are three sons, the eldest 15.
A native white woman in Chicago leaves her two little girls (3 and 9) with her
mother while she is at work.
A relative cares for the five boys of a Croatian mother in Omaha. The
husband’s work is not steady. The mother’s earnings were not reported, but $15
a month is paid for care of the children, whose ages range from 2 to 14.
An Omaha woman leaves her two little children with her mother-in-law. She
says, “She is just like a mother to them. Some weeks I never see them except
to put them to bed.” This mother did not work for several years after marriage,
but sought employment about three years ago because she “didn’t see where
the food was coming from.” In 1928 she earned more than her husband, who is
a garage mechanic and often unemployed because he wants an expert mechanic’s
rate and “that is not paid around here.”

SOURCES OF FAMILY INCOME AND METHODS OF MEETING
EXPENSES

When the amount received by wage earners is under discussion, it
should be remembered that in the great majority of cases this con
stitutes the sole source of income, and the individual or the family
has no reserve of any land to turn to, even in cases of emergency.
All but a very small proportion of the families visited made definite
reports as to other source of income. Of these families—848 in
all—practically three-fourths (74.2 per cent) had nothing but the
wages received by their members.3
Source of family income other than wages.

The following summary shows by city the number of families
that had no source of income other than wages, the number that
3 It is of interest to note the correspondence of this proportion with the findings in a survey made by
the Federal Trade Commission—that the estates of 76.5 per cent of the deceased persons in the representative
sample selected for study were not probated (toosmall to probate).—Federal Trade Commission. National
Wealth and Income, 1926, p. 58.

133

COMPOSITION AND ECONOMIC STATUS

had other income, and the sources of such additional income for the
219 families in the second of these groups.
All
cities

Source of income
Number of families reporting.........................
Wages only—Number of families
Per cent of total_________ ____

_________

Other income—Number of families _ _________
Per cent of total___
_____
Boarders and lodgers__

Part-time work—dependents or extra work by
Rental (apartment, house, etc.).
Source not reported

_________

St. Kansas Omaha Other
Chicago East
Louis
City

848

373

208

629
74.2

242
64.9

77
86.5

161
77.4

74
83.1

75
84.3

1219
25.8

1131
35.1

12
13.5

47
22.6

115
16.9

14
15.7

2
2 106
3
2
4

260
3

1
38

1
26

*7
2
101

1 Details aggregate more than total, as some families had more than one source of other income.
2 Includes three cases in which girls shared expenses.
3 Includes one case of a woman’s family sharing expenses.
* Wages, strictly speaking, but distinct from the wages of the person’s principal job and considered as
other income.

Considerable numbers of families reported were in Chicago and
Kansas City, and the proportion having no source of income but
wages was lowest in Chicago—64.9 per cent of those reporting; it
was 77.4 per cent in Kansas City. In the other cities more than 80
per cent depended on wages alone for the family maintenance. The
conclusion that the families of wage earners are likely to be wholly
dependent on the earnings of members of the family in their usual
employment, and therefore without resource when such earnings fail,
can not be too strongly emphasized.
The summary given shows, in addition, that where families had
income other than the wage of their members, that income was from
boarders or lodgers or from rentals in over nine-tenths of the cases.
A few families were helped by charity or by parents, and a few received
something from extra work by the woman, such as sewing, from the
work of the children in vacation, or other effort. Only four families
had what they termed “means” or had savings—and savings usually
have come out of the wage at some time. One of these was a Chicago
family with three children in school and a boy of 4, but the husband
was steadily employed and the savings were considerable. In a Kansas
City family with four sons in school, the father’s employment was
unsteady but they had “some savings to fall back on.” In an Omaha
family the father was ill and drew a pension, and in a Kansas City
family a widow had her husband’s insurance, but she had the full
responsibility of supporting herself and four school children. In
two cases divorced women received something from their former hus
bands. One of these received but $5 a week, and with this and her
wage for irregular employment in sausage manufacture she had the
support of herself and three children, two in school and the oldest—
a daughter of 17—the housekeeper. The other woman received but
irregular contributions from the husband to assist with the support
of herself and a daughter who was in high school; she was in the slicedbacon department, had had actual time of 10 years in meat packing,
and had earned only just over $700 in the year past.

134 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

Payment by installments or irregularly.

An expedient resorted to by many families less hampered by intense
economic pressure than most of those under discussion is that of
installment buying. Its use is even more necessary in many of the
families whose wage earners are in meat packing than in those in more
fortunate situations. In addition, many families are forced to fall
behind in paying bills, or to pay very irregularly. Many of the fami
lies visited made no report upon whether they were paying for goods
in installments or were paying irregularly, yet more than one-sixth of
all the families visited made definite statements that they were using
such methods of payment for the barest needs of life—food, clothing,
coal, or rent—or for the emergencies created by illness. Almost as
many were paying for furniture; some of this, such as a chair or a stove,
would come distinctly in the category of necessity, while in other
instances it included less essential articles, such as radios or victrolas.
The two groups mentioned are exclusive of those who reported buying
homes or who had mortgaged their homes—as over one-fourth of
those reporting on the subject had done—although some may have
been carrying mortgages or payments on a house and at the same time
buying something else on the installment plan. At least 36 families
reported buying on installment or paying irregularly for two or more
types of things at the same time.
Of 50 families who reported as to method of paying grocery bills,
only 5—two native white and three negro—always paid cash. One
mother said, "I’m afraid to make a grocery bill.” Ten paid regularly,
but at least one of these “could never get caught up”; nine additional
families reported being always behind. Several said that the week
they paid a bill lor one purpose, another had to go, and there is reason
to believe that this was a very common experience. At the time
visited, 14 were in arrears $25 or more in payments for food, 5 of these
$75 or more. Of 24 women reporting on regularity of rent payments,
only 1 could pay up regularly, and 2 were behind as much as three or
four months. One reported a lenient landlord who “lets the rent lapse
a few weeks sometimes when there are coal and milk bills and every
thing comes at once.” Twenty-two families reported buying coats,
dresses, shoes, or other clothing on time, in at least one case this being
secondhand clothing; others were “afraid of credit” or would go
without new clothing if they could not pay for it.
Of 137 families who reported buying furniture in installments, over
one-fourth were paying for household pieces, those in the largest group
being stoves or heaters, while others were beds, chairs, etc. Nearly
one-fourth were buying radios, pianos, or other musical instruments.
Other articles important in relieving the home labors of women whose
time is limited at best were an electric iron, kitchen cabinet, washing
machine, refrigerator, vacuum cleaner, and sewing machine. Some
what less than one-half of the payments on these furnishings were
made by the week, the amount sometimes being as small as $2 or less.
Fifty-six families reported heavy expenses due to illness, and this
is a type of emergency that is almost certain to come to any family.
The amounts of indebtedness reported for doctor and hospital bills
ranged from $86 to $900.
At least 18 of the families visited reported borrowing money from
relatives, but this did not include those who had mortgaged homes.

COMPOSITION AND ECONOMIC STATUS

135

Some of the reasons for borrowing were to pay hospital bills, rent,
grocery bills, and other living expenses.
Sixteen families reported buying automobiles, a convenience of
modern life that can not always be considered a luxury. As one
Omaha woman said, “We really need one, up here a mile from a street
car.” A foreign-bom woman was worried that her son and daughter
were incurring such an expense, but said, “I can’t talk about it.
Children are so queer in America.” One of the cars purchased had
cost only $90, which was paid in cash. Monthly payments in other
cases ranged from $8 to $75.
The data here set forth necessarily are fragmentary in character,
and if full reports could be obtained on this subject undoubtedly they
would reveal a much more widespread practice of installment buying
and irregular payment. However, these are sufficient to indicate the
severe problems with which these families often are faced, and the
way in which this type of expedient frequently is resorted to.

APPENDIXES
APPENDIX A—GENERAL TABLES
APPENDIX B—SCHEDULE FORMS

137

138 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
APPENDIX A.—
Table I.—Nativity

and race of women
[Source: Employment

6,568 women employed in slaughtering and
meat packing
Nativity reported
Native born

Total reported.

Race not reported

Colored

White

Total

Total reported

Total
Total—Number.
Per cent.

Total reported

Race reported

Department

6,568 5,912 3,932 3,897 3,144
100. C 80. 7

753
19.3

6, 564 5,908 3,930 3,895 3,143

752

Kill..................
Offal________

232
480

211
441

186
377

183
371

106
109

77
262

3
6

Casings..

497

472

324

323

185

138

Beef_____ ____
Hog and sheep.

115
382

106
366

74
250

73
250

40
145

33
105

Fancy-meat cooler..
Pork trim......... .......

58
958

55
846

45
356

45
353

45
293

Sausage casings.

307

292

113

53
105
149

48
103
141

8
36
69

7
27
44

1
9
25

Fresh sausage_____
Dry sausage______
Kind not reported _.
Sausage manufacturing..
Fresh sausage.........
Dry sausage______
Kind not reported..
Sausage pack..
Fresh sausage____
Dry sausage______
Kind not reported..
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon) .
Sliced bacon 2_______ _______________
Cooked meat (ham and meat loaf)_____
Canning_____________ _______ _____
Lard, butter, butterine, and cheese. _..__
Glue....................................................... .
M iscellaneous........................................ .
Department not reported.

1, 269 1,146

602

595

540

812
295
162

753
266
127

388
121
93

384
120
91

355
94
91

29
26

4
1
2

357

343

249

244

228

217
72
68

211
70
62

159
41
49

154
41
49

142
38
48

12
3
1

380
1,094
41
511
335
39
6

366
950
36
391
314
39
6

295
812
32
232
270
32
5

291
806
32
232
270
32
5

285
792
23
182
256
21

6
14
9
50
14
11
5

4
6

1 Includes 5 Indians.
2 Includes a few women in chipped beef, not referred to in tables following because of numerical
unimportance.

139

GENERAL TABLES

GENERAL TABLES
employed in specified departments
records—All cities]

6,568 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing—Continued
Nativity reported—Continued
Foreign born
Country of birth reported
Central and eastern Europe

O
e<

lx
O
P,
3
lx
"cs
o

<3 C

>»
cl
CSJ

Cfl
o 2
£
oM
<D
O

fl
rrt
03.2

3
©
H

Other foreign

<3
O

1,980 1, 925 1,610
100.0 83.6

306
15.9

111
5.8

1, 978 1,923 1,608

306

111

'3
ca
d
£

•i!

1! gs.

.2
<3

c3
o
H

CD
lx
o
*K*>
-u
"to

lx
a>
£J
o

154
8.0

120
6.2

62 315
3.2 16.4

125
6.5

107
5.6

64
3.3

19
1.0

656

119

315

125

107

656

5
7

2
3

1
4

252

518

154

4
12

6
7

8
20

2
2

1
5

7
39

3
9

8
8

3
16

2
8

9
16

2
79

1
19

2
21

2
144

1
57

2
31

1
9

1
3

3
112

153

33
59
61

2
16
15

4
5
1

1
3
7

15
12
8

9
10
10

2
7
8

3
6

6
8
11

2
8

5
2
8

25
64

17
44

4
7

148

146

127

32
116

32
114

29
98

8
21

10
490

10
462

8
431

179

178

40
67
72

39
67
72

.2 ®
o&

a <d

be
2
1*

86 252 519
4.5 13. 1 27.0

efl
>
03

21
39

544

525

445

127

123

365
145
34

347
145
33

287
132
26

65
25

27
5
2

8
2
1

44
36

82
39
6

18
14

29
11
4

60
13
7

35
6
5

5
7

]

59
29
35

52
29
13

51
29
13

28
25

2
8

2
4

4
4
3

2
2

4
1

23
4
4

4
3
2

4
1
1

6
2
6

71
138
4
156
44
7
1

70
137
4
158
43
7
1

40
104
2
145
26
3
1

14
35
1
84
8
1

4
7

30
33

12
15
2
3
6
1

13
16

5
2

1
1

14
144

8
6
1

1
5
2

120
21

4
22
10
4

1
1

11
5
1

6
7

6
9

3
13

13
1
1

8
7

18
4

8
1

2
6
4

1
1

1
6

2
13
17
4

140 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table II.—Percentage

distribution by nativity and race of women employed in
specified, departments
[Source: Employment records—All cities]
6,568 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Nativity and race reported

Department
Total

Nativ
ity
and
Per
race
cent not re
foreign ported
Col
born
Total White ored

Total report
Per cent native born
ed
Num
ber

Per
cent

6, 568

5,877

100.0

66.3

53.5

12.8

33.7

691

6,564

5,873

232
480

208
435

100.0
100.0

88.0
85.3

51.0
25.1

37.0
60.2

12.0
14.7

24
45

497

471

100.0

68.6

39.3

29.3

31.4

115
382

105
366

100.0
100.0

69.5
68.3

38.1
39.6

31.4
28.7

30.5
31.7

10
16

Pork trim _ . _ . _. .. - _ - . ___

58
958

55
843

100 0
100.0

41.9

34.8

7.1

58.1

115

Sausage casings ----------------------- ------------

307

292

100.0

38.7

26.7

12.0

61.3

Fresh sausage _.
Dry sausage________
___ -____ __
Kind not reported---------------- ------- --

53
105
149

48
103
141

(>)

(•)

(>>

(i)

100.0
100.0

(■)

35.0
48.9

26.2
31.2

8.7
17.7

65.0
51.1

5
2
8

1, 269

1,139

100.0

52.2

47.4

4.8

47.8

130

812
295
162

749
265
125

100.0
100.0
100. 0

51.3
45. 3
72.8

47.4
35.5

3.9
9.8

48.7
54.7

63
30

Total__________________________
Total reported____
Kill
Offal_______ _

___ _ . _________

Casings
Beef_______________________________
Hog and sheep-------------------- ------- ------

Sausage manufacturing________ _______
Fresh sausage_____ ____ _____________
Dry sausage
Sausage pack_____ _______________

357

338

100.0

72.2

67.5

4.7

27.8

Fresh sausage_________________ ____
Dry sausage__ ___
Kind not reported_______ ______ . ...

217
72
68

206
70
62

100.0
100.0
100.0

74.8
58.6
79.0

68.9
54.3
77.4

5.8
4.3
1.6

25.2
41.4
21.0

11
2

Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon)___
380
Sliced bacon. _ ____ _____
_____ ____ 1, 094
Cooked meat (ham and meat loaf)_________
41
Canning. _
511
Lard, butter, butterine, and cheese. _. __
335
39
6

362
944
36
391
314
39

100.0
100.0
0
100.0
100.0
(1)

80.4
85.4

78.7
83.9

1.7

(>)

1.5

19.6
14.6

18
150

59.3
86.0

120
21

12.8
4.5
(l)

40.7
14.0
(lj

(l)
(0

46.5
81.5

(l)

(*)

(■)

(>)

4
1 Per cent not computed; base less than 50.

(>)

141

GENERAL TABLES
Table III.—Age of women employed in specified departments
[Source: Employment records—All cities]

6,568 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Age reported
Department

Age
not
Total Total 16 and 18 and 20 and 25 and 30 and 40 and 50 and 60
re
under
under
under
under
under
under
under
years port
report 18
20
25
30
40
50
60
and
ed
ed
years years years years years years years over

Total—Number. _ 6,568
Per cent.__ ----- 100.0

5,789
1.7

100
12.8

742
24.9

1,441
17.0

984
29.0

1,680
12.6

727
1.7

100
0.3

779

Total reported____ _ _. 6,564

1,679

725

100

779

5,785

100

742

1,440

984

232
480

198
410

2
5

31
28

48
80

37
79

167

497

452

100

122

Hog and sheep____

115
382

99
353

2
11

5
46

22
78

Fancy-meat cooler___
Pork trim-----------------

58
958

54
830

3
4

4
46

15
130

13
109

9
356

9
165

1
18

128

Sausage casings___

307

291

101

Fresh sausage........Dry sausage---- -- .
Kind not reported..

53
105
149

47
103
141

5
1

4
6
8

4
10
22

6
9
17

17
32
52

34
37

6
4

2
8

Sausage manufacturing. 1, 269

Kill
Offal

70
45
29

1,128

256

203

388

148

141

Fresh sausage
Dry sausage--------Kind not reported.

812
295
162

738
267
123

10
3
3

66
14
18

163
59
34

147
36
20

251
100
37

89
48
11

Sausage pack..............

357

340

116

217
72
68

208
70
62

6
1
1

34
8
7

80
18
18

35
15
17

35
18
14

15
7
4

3
2
1

2
6

363
944

5
24

56
238

122
319

78
168

72
139

23
48

36
381
315

4
9

3
37
79

9
75
125

49
48

125
42

73
10

13
1

39
4

13
2

3
2

Fresh sausage
Dry sausage
Kind not reported

Smoked meat (other
than sliced bacon)__
380
Sliced bacon
1,094
Cooked meat (ham and
meat loaf)--------------41
Canning ___________
511
Lard, butter, butterine,
335
and cheese____ ___
Glue
39
Miscellaneous
6
Department not reported

17
150
5
1

130
20

142

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table

IV.—Marital status of women employed in specified departments
[Source: Employment records—All cities]

6,568 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Marital status reported
Department
Total

Total
re
ported

Single

Mar
ried

Marital
Wid
status
owed,
not re
sepa
ported
rated,
and
divorced

Total—Number_________________ ___

6, 568

5,802
100.0

2,131
36.7

3,020
52.1

651
11. 2

766

Total reported___________________________

6,564

5,798

2,131

3,016

651

766

Kill................... .......................... ........... .........
Offal

232
480

200
410

64
126

107
226

29
58

32
70

Casings..................................................................

497

451

135

256

Beef..... ................ - __________ _____ _
Hog and sheep___________ ___________ _

115
382

99
352

25
110

56
200

18
42

16
30

Fancy-meat cooler. ________________ ___
Pork trim........................... ..................................

58
958

55
833

19
163

28
583

8
87

3
125

Sausage casings. .............. .................. ................

307

290

168

Fresh sausage___...
Dry sausage__ ________ . .. _
Kind not reported............................ ............

53
105
149

48
101
141

15
26

27
56
85

19
16

5
4
8

Sausage manufacturing__________ __________

1,269

1,137

363

660

114

132

Fresh sausage
Dry sausage.____ _____________________
Kind not reported

812
295
162

747

264

441
147
72

126

233
82
48

Sausage pack............................................ .............

357

342

147

165

Fresh sausage------------ ------- ---------- ---Dry sausage__________ _________ ______
Kind not reported_____________________

217
72

212
70
60

98
26
23

92
42
31

22
2
6

2
8

Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon)
Sliced bacon . _
..
Cooked meat (ham and meat loaf).
Canning
Lard, butter, butterine, and cheese.--------------

3801,094
41

362
946
35
378
316
39

168
522
10
127
189
17

154
356
18
182
93
18

18
148

511
335
39
6
4

7
69
34

133

4
2

Table V.—Week’s

earnings of women employed in specified departments
[Source: Current week’s pay rolls]

5,101 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Department reported
Week’s earnings (including bonus)
Total

Total reported--------------------------

5,093

$40 and more.................... ..........

105
187
81
150
186
406
541
441
522
473
397
307
286
225
192
160
97
251
67
11
8

Received a bonus but did not
work 1

$5 and less than $10.________
_

$21 and less than $22
$22 and less than $23..--------$25 and less than $30------------$30 and less than $35-------------

1 Bonus and wage weeks not exactly the same.

115
115
3
8
2
1
6
9
28
11
12
5
4
4
8
3
1
2
1

Pork
trim

695

281
281
8
17
2
7
16
18
33
30
18
25
14
27
18
13
10
6
14
5

80
80
2
1
3
4
2
11
2
13
12
3
13
4
5
1
3
1

251
251
13
1
8
10
9
42
30
25
34
17
17
15
11
2
4
2
8

38
1
1
2
1
2
3
10
3
3
3
1
3
1

695
30
26
8
6
8
13
24
19
36
59
57
42
51
47
49
33
25
97
46
11
8

Cooked
Smoked
Lard,
meat
meat
Sausage
butter,
(ham Can butterSliced
(other
Sausage
Sausage manu
ning ine, and
and
than bacon
casings factur pack
meat
sliced
ing
cheese
loaf)
bacon)
274
274
3
5
1
1
9
11
15
10
11
29
28
35
24
19

1,094
1,094

21
6

13
32
11
19
30
72
104
101
114
99
82
76
63
55
53
61
31

311
311

9
6
12
24
41
38
54
27
19
14
15
15
10
8
!

280
280
5
11
3
18
19
28
21
20
20
35
15
3

1
4

929
929
27
46
30
57
25
137
99
51
37
40
19
18
13
17
3

Glue

Miscel
laneous

449

226

444

223

1
1

6
13

10
25
53
53
44
49
51
55
24
17
19
12

5
21
21

20
29
19
17

4
1

13
8

GENERAL TABLES

5,101

Total_______ ____________

$11 and less than $12_____

Kill

Casings, Fancy
hog
meat
Offal Casings,
and
beef
sheep cooler

1
1
::::::::

144 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table VI.—Median

of week’s earnings of women employed in
Source: Current

Median of week’s earnings 12 of 5,093 women with earnings and de
partment reported in slaughtering and meat packing
10,000
and
less than
50,000
popu
lation
Department

Number of
wornen

All departments

100,000 population

5,093 $16.85
115
281

East St.
Louis

St.

Joseph

Sioux City

Medi- Num- Medi- Num- Medi- Num- Medi- Num- Mediber of
ber of
ber of
an
ber ol
an
an
an
an
earn- worn- earn- worn- earn- worn- earn- worn- earnings
ings
ings
ings
en
mgs
en
en
en

210 $13.80

15.05
16. 55

444 $15.80
9
33

80
251
38
695

18.15
16. 40
16. 70
20. 40

51
103
120

19.55
19. 95
18. 75

744
264
86

17.30
19. 05
16.05

39
11
1

193
69
49

10.66
18.10
15. 20

280
929
39
444

16. 25
15. 20
14. 95
16. 40

223
33
6

15.15
15. 50
(8)

(3)
13.35

158 $19. 75
10

(3)
(3)

1
17
4
94

(3)
16.65
(3)
18. 35

9
18
6
47

(3)

16.50

14.15
(3)

17. 35

13. 50

12
4

0)
0)

28
4

25
58

12.90
13.50

14.05

1 Population as of 1920.
2 Includes bonus.
3 Median not computed, owing to the small number involved.

less than

All cities
Ottumwa
and Austin

Kill................ ..............................
Offal________________ _______
Casings:
Beef___ ________________
Hog and sheep
Fancy-meat cooler____ _______
Pork trim..................... ......... ......
Sausage casings:
Fresh sausage_____ _______
Dry sausage
Kind not reported.................
Sausage manufacturing:
Fresh sausage
Dry sausage
Kind not reported
Sausage pack:
Fresh sausage........ .............. .
Dry sausage
Kind not reported
Smoked meat (other than sliced
bacon)____________ _______
Sliced bacon
Cooked meat (ham and meat loaf)
Canning__ _________________
Lard, butter, butterine, and
cheese..........................................
Glue________ _______________
Miscellaneous________________

50,000 and

271 $18.20
18
33
(3)

20.30

10
17

20.40

21.90

20. 75

16.50

21.00

15.00

15.65

(3)

18
70
1

16.65
15.60

13
10

(?)

16
15
3
9

16. 35
17.10
(3)

14.40

1
4
2

(?)

13
3

(3)

(>)

(3)

145

GENERAL TABLES

specified departments, by location of establishment and size of city 1
week’s pay rolls]
Median of week’s earnings2 of 5,093 women with earnings and department reported in slaughtering and
meat packing—Continued

100,000 and less than 200,000 population

Fort Worth

Kansas City

Omaha

200’000 “op'XtioS11300,000

Denver

St. Paul

500,000 and 1,000,000 popu
less than
lation or
600,000 popu
lation
Los Angeles
and San
Francisco

Chicago

Num Medi Num Medi Num Medi Num Medi- Num Medi- Num Medi Num Medi
ber of
ber of
ber of
ber of
ber of
ber of
ber of
an
an
an
an
an
wom earn wom earn wom- earn wom eam- wom earn
earn wom earn
ings
ings
ings
ings
ings wom- ings
ings
en
en
en
en
en
232 $14.90

0
(3)
(3)
21

18.25

905 $17. .50
37
75

1972

23.(3)95

18.025

32
3
9

16.75

111

0
0

32
13

16.75
14. 50

7
5
14

103
4
10

14.45

14.045

23.30

47
161

65
37
5
4

15. 70

15.15
18.85

17.85

18. 65

17. 55
22. 90

19. 85
18. 90

31
31

14. 95
16. 85

41
57

13.40
15. 70

14.65

16.60
15.90

14. 25

12.90

16.95
14.90
14.65
18.65

20.085
113
33

367 $17. 80
15. 50

(3)
17.70

$14.30

15.90
18.00

13
39

"l4 'W

587 $16.50

14.50
19.15

22.15

0
0

$16. 75

0
0

“

1,599

17.30
17. 35

4
137

17.40
16. 55

14. 65

21.50
19.60
19. 35
24.15

0
16.65

$17. 40

6
66

134

168

38
26

18. 90
19. 40
20.20

19. 65

16.65
17.15

63
333
9
332

16. 25

18.25
15.05
16.15
17.20

VII.—Method of payment and average hourly earnings of women employed in eight selected departments

146

Table

[Source: Current week’s pay rolls]

Specified method of payment in selected department reported
Average hourly earnings 1

Total

Offal
Pork trim
Sausage casings
Sausage manufacturing
Total Total
in se
lected
Time
Task
Time
Task
Time
Task
depart Total Time Task
Time
and Piece and Total Time and Piece and Total Time and Piece and Total Time and Piece and
ments
bonus
piece
bonus
piece
bonus
piece
bonus
piece
5,101

4,313

281

232

695

480

166

274

172

Total reported—Number.............. 4,959
Per cent____ ..

4,184

278
100.0

38
13.7

229
82.4

9
3.2

2
666
0.7 100.0

478

141

266

169
63. j

1 1,067

17
6
10
4
1

7
57
102
33
17
4
4
5

1
4
2
2

6
95
121
173
116
72
32

2
25
2
1

40
349
234
231
134
72
4

20 and less than 25 cents
25 and less than 30 cents__
30 and less than 35 cents__
35 and less than 40 cents__
40 and less than 45 cents
45 and less than 50 cents__
50 and less than 55 cents___
55 and less than 60 cents__
60 cents and more
Information not reported_____

7
207
1, 629
1,241
985
488
246
74
82

7
190
1,303
1, 039
844
435
227
66
73

8
78
111
45
22
5
4
5

142

129

1
1

4
52
100
154
93
49
17

18
17
17
21
11

100.0

50
93
29

639

151

269
25.2

633
59.3

149
14.0

16
1.5

24
199
29
15
2

2
16
122
164
173
108
46
2

23
38
43
20
22
2
1

5
3
4
4

8
1
1
6

279

1
8

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

5,101 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing

5,101 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing—Continued

64051°— 32-

Specified method of payment in selected department reported— Continued
Average hourly earnings 1

Percent
25 and less than 30 cents

i Computed in Women’s Bureau.

311

180

306
100.0

92
30.1

179
58.5

10
166
63
40
17
6
4

4
84
4

5
75
49
38
12

1
7
10
2
5
6
4

280

163

83
30.2

161
58.5

33
104
62
48
12
6
5

23
51
3
3

10
43
59
36
9
3

275
35
11.4 ........ - 100.0

1
1
1

Sliced bacon

929

123

700

31
894
11.3 100.0

119
13.3

693
77.5

38
33
14
27
5
1

9
3
2
4
3

5
68
310
259
143
67
30
8
4

4
28
259
214
109
46
24
6
3

Canning

449

82
432
9.2 ........... ........... 100.0
1
2
17
18
141
31
139
7
71
38
16
14
5
2
8
4
23

46
46
10.6
17
22
4
3

321

788

315
72.9

68
15.7

3
0.7

775

113
102
50
27
13
7
3

5
33
17
11
1
1

17
326
202
141
53
19
8
9

GENERAL TABLES

Total_________ ________________

Not
in se
lected
de
part
Not
ments
Time
Task
Task
Task
Time
Task
Time
re Total Time and Piece and
Total Time and Piece and Total Time and Piece Total Time and Piece and port
piece
bonus
bonus
bonus
piece ed
piece
bonus
Smoked meat (other
than sliced bacon)

Sausage pack

148 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table VIII.—Percentage distribution of average hourly earnings, by method of pay

ment, of women employed in eight selected departments
[Source: Current week’s pay rolls]
5,101 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing

Piece

bonus

Task and

Time

Sausage manufac
turing

Total

bonus

Piece

Task and
bonus

Total

bonus

Task and

Sausage cas
ings

Pork trim

Total

Offal

Total

Average hourly earnings

Total in selected
departments

Per cent'withaveragehourlyearnings as specified, bymethodof payment

Total reported2....... . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
20 and less than 25 cents
. 1
25 and less than 30 cents___ 4.2
30 and less than 35 cents___ 32. 8
35 and less than 40 cents___ 25.0
40 and less than 45 cents----- 19.9
45 and less than 50 cents___ 9.8
50 and less than 55 cents___ 5. C
55 and less than 60 cents----- 1.5
1.7

.2
4.5 2.9 3.1
.9
.8
31.1 28.1 24.1 14.3 10.1 12. 8
24.8 39.9 44.5 18.2 20.1 12.8
20. 2 16.2 14.4 26.0 32.2 12.1
10.4 7.9 7.4 17.4 19.5 12.1
5.4 1.8 1.7 10.8 10.3 14. S
1.6 1.4 1.7 4.8 3.6 7.8
1. 7 1. 8 2.2 7.7 1.1 27. 7

3.0
22.6
18.8
35.0
10. 9
8.3
.4
1.1

.2
.3
1.2
3. 7 8.9 2.5
18.3 1.7 32. 7 74.0 19.3 15.4
20.1 25.0 21.9 10.8 25.9 25.5
40.2 40.0 21.6 5.6 27.3 28.9
14.2 8.3 12. 6 .7 17.1 13.4
4.7 21.7 6.7
7.3 14.8
.6
.4
.3 1.3
3.3
. 1

149

GENERAL TABLES

Table VIII.-—Percentage distribution of average hourly earnings, by method of pay-

ment, of women employed in eight selected departments—Continued
[Source: Current week’s pay rolls]

Per cent1 2with average hourly earnings as specified, by method of
payment—Continued
Average hourly earnings

Sausage pack

Smoked meat
(other than
sliced bacon)

Total

T3
§3
1

Sliced bacon

'd
1g
3
o
e

IS
H

3
o

Canning

TJ
OS p
MO

•d
£

3
o

S3,2
t*

Not in selected departments

5,101 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing—Continued

Total reported 2....... . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
20 and less than 25 cents__
25 and less than 30 cents__
30 and less than 35 cents__
35 and less than 40 cents__
40 and less than 45 cents__
45 and less than 50 cents__
50 and less than 55 cents__
55 and less than 60 cents__
60 cents and more....... ........

.6
.6 1.2
3.3 4.3 2.8 12.0 27.7 6.2 7.6 31.9 4.0 2.4 3.9
2.2
54.2 91.3 41.9 37.8 61.4 26.7 34. 7 27.7 37.4 22.0 32.6 35. 9 7.4 42.1
20.6 4.3 27.4 22.5 3.6 36.6 29.0 11.8 30.9 37.8 32.2 32.4 48.5 26.1
13.1
21.2 17.5 3.6 22.4 16.0 22. 7 15.7 8.5 16.4 15.9 25.0 18.2
5.6
6.7 4.4
5.6 7.5 4.2 6.6 19.5 8.8 8.6 16.2 6.8
2.0
2.2 ”L2 1.9 3.4 .8 3.5 6.1 3.2 4.1 1.5 2.5
1.3
1.8 1.2
.9
.9 2.4 1.9 2.2 1.5 1.0
1.8 1.2
.9 1.0
.4 ~’".~8 .4
1.2

1 Per cent not shown where base is less than 50.
2 See Table VII for numbers.

150 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table IX.—Relation of bonus to total week’s earnings of women employed in four

selected departments and in all departments
[Source: Current week's pay rolls]

Women whose bonus formed specified proportion of week’s earnings
Week's earnings (including
bonus)

Total
report
ed

Less
than
5 per
cent

30
40
5
10
15
20
25
and
and
and 50 per
and
and
and
and
less
less
less
less
less
less
less
cent
than than than than than than than
and
10 per 15 per 20 per 25 per 30 per 40 per SO per more
cent cent cent cent cent cent cent

ALL DEPARTMENTS
Total

$25 and less than $40

______

2.800

383

514

564

506

409

245

174

96
551
767
515
680
200

22
158
118
55
27
3

18
206
150
77
56
7

19
108
186
94
145
12

13
47
167
124
126
29

9
20
107
95
149
29

9
6
29
38
117
46

4
6
10
32
57
65

3
9

1
1
1
8
30

2
2

PORK TRIM
Total..................... ........

404

3
7
15
16

$25 and less than $40- ---------

13
25
67
76
147
76

2
7
12
13
7
1

2
6
21
9
23
6

4
2
13
22
35
8

2
4
14
37
11

FRESH-SAUSAGE MANUFACTURING
Total.
Less than $10.
$10 and less than $15.
$15 and
than $18
$18 and loss than
$20 and less than $25.
$25 and less than $40.
SLICED BACON
Total.
than $10.
$10 and
than $15.
$15 and less than $18.
$18 and less than $20.
$20 and less than $25.
$25 and less than $40.
CANNING
Total
Less than $10.
$10 and less than $15.
$15 and less than $18.
$18 and less than $20.
$20 and less than $25.
$25 and less than $40.

2
1
1
31
14

_____

151

GENERAL TABLES

Table X.—Percentage distribution by relation of bonus to total week’s earnings of
women employed in four selected departments and in all departments
[Source: Current week’s pay rolls]

Per cent of women whose bonus formed specified proportion of week’s
earnings
Week’s earnings (including
bonus)

and 10 and 15 and 20 and 25 and 30 and 40 and
Less 5less
Total than
less
less
less
less
less
less 50 per
5 than than
than than than than than cent
reported1
per 15 per 20 per 25 per 30 per 40 per 50 per and
cent 10
cent cent ' cent cent cent cent cent more
ALL DEPARTMENTS

Total............... ......... . _
$10
$15
$18
$20
$25

100.0

13.6

18.3

20.1

18.0

14.6

8.7

100. 0
and less than $15______
100. 0
and less than $18................ 100.0
and less than $20
100.0
and less than $25________ 100. 0
and less than $40........ ........ 100.0

22. 9
28.7
15.4
10.7
4.0
1.5

18. 8
37.4
19.6
15.0
8.2
3.5

19.8
19. 6
24.3
18.3
21.3
6.0

13. 5
8.5
21.8
24.1
18.5
14.5

9 4
3.6
14.0
18.4
21.9
14.5

9 4
1.1
3.8
7. 4
17.2
23.0

1.1
1.3
6.2
8.4
32.5

.4
4.5

16.8

12.1

10.1

0.7

(2)
1.5
1.3
5.4
39.5

3.9

0.4

6.2

0.4

0.1
2.1

PORK TRIM
Total____ ___________

100.0

Less than $10.............................
$10 and less than $15
$15 and less than $18_____ _
$18 and less than $20........ ........
$20 and less than $25________
$25 and less than $40.. _

(2)
(2)
100.0
100. 0
100.0
100.0

12.4

10.4

16.6

20.8

(2)
(2)
17.9
17.1
4.8
1.3

(2)
(2)
19.4
28.9
23.8
10.5

22.4
21.1
4.1
3.9

31.3
11.8
15.6
7.9

(2)
6.0
18.4
25.2
14.5

(!>
1.5
1.3
21.1
18.4

FRESH-SAUSAGE MANUFACTURING
Total............
Less than $10........ .
$10 and less than $15.
$15 and less than $18.
$18 and less than $20.
$20 and less than $25.
$25 and less than $40.

100.0

100.0
100.0

SLICED BACON
Total____ ___________
$10 and
$15 and
$18 and
$20 and
$25 and

less than $15 _ ......... .
less than $18 ................
less than $20
less than $25
less than $40

100.0

18.6

18.8

15.6

18.6

11.3

8.7

8.0

(2)
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
(2)

(2)
37.5
9.6
7.2

(2)
32.0
15.7
7.2
4.3

(2)
15.5
21.9
11.6
10.0

(2)
9.0
32.6
17.4
17.1

(2)
4.5
10.1
20.3
27.1
(2)

(2)
.5
6.7
14.5
22.9
(2)

(2)
1.0
3.4
21.7
15.7
(2)

21.4

10.9

9.3

10.9

8.2

1.6

(2)
15.3
35.4

«
6.6
16.7

2.8
10.4
(2)
(2)

<>>
1.4
3.1
(!)
C)
’)

2.8
2.1
(!)
(!)
(■)

(!>
«

2.9

CANNING
Total................................ 100.0
Less than $10
«
$10 and less than $15................ 100.0
$15 and less than $18
100.0
$18 and less than $20................
«
$20 and less than $25
(!>
(!)

14.8
26.4
14.6

1 See Table IX for numbers.
* Per cent not computed; base less than 50.

23.0
45.8
17.7
(2)

0.2
«

hours worked, by location of establishment and size of city
[Source: Current week’s pay rolls]
5,101 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Weekly hours reported

Location of establishment and size of city 1
Total Total Less
re
port than
40
ed

Total -------- ------- -------- --------------- 5,101
10,000 and less than 50,000 population: Ot50,000 and less than 100,000 population:
East St. Louis
100,000 and less than 200,000 population:
Kansas City.................... ..................

_ .

St. Paul
500,000 and less than 600,000 population: Los
1,000,000 population'and more: Chicago
* Population as of 1920.

823

391

572

More
than
48
and 49 H
less
than
49H

More
than
44
and
less
than
48

174

1,155

363

220

Mere
than
50
and
less
than
54

More
than
54
and
less
than
56

112

606

182

More
than
56
and
less
than
58

Weekly
More
than
hours
58
60 not re
and and ported
less more
than
60

141

5
2
13
7

210

164

444
158
271

419
158
266

96
21
30

30
4
5

85
14
24

12
5
6

85
23
27

50
21
17

25
8
10

1
2
13

9
4
21

14
51
60

1
5
7

2
29

232
908
587

230
895
580

45
147
109

7
31
18

53
72
42

10
53
9

39
296
159

5
21
28

11
54
32

21
8

1
16
24

45
58
107

14
84
44

83
367

7
73

3
30

15
67

1
11

56
66

1
9

237
1, 604

219
1, 579

22
256

10
249

6
184

36
30

51
312

94
75

243

18
25

AND MEAT PACKING

200,000 and less than 300,000 population:

4,960

More
than
40
and
less
than
44

152 W OMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING

Table XI.-—Weekly

Table XII.—Percentage distribution of women by weekly hours worked, by location of establishment and size of city
[Source: Current week’s pay rolls]
5,101

women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Per cent with weekly hours as specified

Location of establishment and size of city 1
Total Less
report than
ed 2
40

More
than
44 and
less
than
48

More
than
48 and
less
than
49M

49M

1.4

2.3

More
than
50 and
less
than
54
12.2

3.7

100.0

16.6

7.9

11.5

3.5

23.3

7.3

4.4

100.0

10.4

2.4

6.1

25.0

25.6

18.9

3.0

6.1

11.9
13.3
6.4

6.0
5.1
3.8

.2
1.3
4.9

2.1
2.5
7.9

3.3
32.3
22.6

.2
3.2
2.6

0.6

1.0

1.1

1.5

3.0

8.7

6.1
9.4
7.6

1.1

4.9

1.9

3.8

2.2

15.4

1.6

3.2

2.9

100.0
100.0

16.4
18.8

3.5
3.1

S.O
7.2

5.9
1.6

33.1
27.4

2.3
4.8

6.0
5.5

2.3
1.4

1.8
4.1

19. 6
6.5
18.4

ioo!o

19.9

8.2

18.3

3.0

18.0

1. 2
2.5

2.7

1.9

23. 3
19.8

42.9
4.7

2.5

1.3

2.0

0.8

1.2

1.9

2.9
3.2
2.3

11.7

0.5

20.3
8.9
9.0

More
than
60
58 and and
less
than more
60

1.5

1.9

7.2
2.5
1.9

15.8

0.6

22.9
13.3
11.3

1&2

1.9

More
than
56 and
less
than
58

10.9

100.0
100.0
100.0

20.3
14.6
10.2

loolo

More
than
54 and
less
than
56

1.8

GENERAL TABLES

Total....................... ...........................—■
10.000 and less than 50,000 population:
Ottumwa and Austin___________ ____ -.
50.000 and less than 100,000 population:
East St. Louis............ .............................
St. Joseph.____ ____________________
Sioux City___________ ____-..........—
100.000 and less than 200,000 population:
Fort Worth......... .................... ..................
Kansas City
Omaha_________ ______ _____ ______
200.000 and less than 300,000 population:
Denver___________________________
St. Paul________ __________________
500.000 and less than 600,000 population: Los
Angeles and San Francisco.--------------1,000,000 population and more: Chicago------

More
than
40 and
less
than
44

1 Population as of 1920.
2 See Table XI for numbers.

Ctt

154 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table XIII.—Week's

earnings and hours worked by women employed in jour
selected departments
[Source: Current week’s pay rolls]

2,721 women employed in selected departments in slaughtering
and meat packing
Earnings reported
Pork trim
$18 and less than $20

$20 and less than $25

$25 and more

Total

Less than $10

$10 and less than $15

$15 and less than $18

$18 and less than $20

$20 and less than $25

$25 and

112

196

147

894

360

268

30
3
8
1
9

15
11
31
5
21
3
6
3
11

5
4
20
3
24
9
6
2
13
3
8

2
7
24
3
32
13
15
3
65
14
18

1
2
2
2
13
2
4
2
26
36
55
2

211
100
119
58
224
40
27
2
97
9
7

112
58
63
9
84
7
19

22
34
34
31
96
18
3
1
26
3

3
5
18

6
1

7
1

25
7
1
12
5

$15 and less than $18

Total--.......................... 666
Less than 40............................ 109
40__________________ _____ 27
More than 40 and less than 44. 85
44....... ...................... ................
14
More than 44 and less than 48. 99
48
27
More than 48 and less than 50. 37
50
10
More than 50 and less than 54. 116
54________________ _____ _ 53
More than 54 and less than 60
87
60 and more
2

Total

$10 and less than $15

Sliced bacon

Less than $10

Hours worked during week

2
3
41
19
7
3
1
41

2,721 women employed in selected departments in slaughtering
and meat packing—Continued
Earnings reported—Continued
Fresh-sausage manufacturing

160

432

143

141

31
39
15
2
35
11
8

6
14
13
1
72

3
9
2

1
7
7

53
70
34
4
167
16
51
11
23
2
1

$25 and more

19
6
26
16
6
1
7
5
8

$20 and lass than $25

22
3
88
27
13
2
39
6
3

$18 and less than $20

$15 and less than $18

$10 and less than $15

216

43
8
25
5
55
21
2

Less than $10

$18 and less than $20

159

36
1

Total

$15 and less than $18

$25 and more

$10 and less than $15

729

Less than 40. .......... .............. . 95
40
11
More than 40 and less than 44
74
44___ ___________________ 27
More than 44 and less than 48. 198
48_________ _____-........ ..... 81
More than 48 and less than 50
52
50
8
More than 50 and less than 54
85
54
31
More than 54 and less than 60. 40
60 and more
27

$20 and less than $23

Total--.........................

Canning

Less than $10

Hours worked during week

2
8
13
28
10
24
5
26
18
21
5

13
2
8
22

18
6
9
2

4
1
33
3
13
3
8

21
2
12
2
3
1

Table XIV.—Hours

of weeks worked by women for whom records of 44 weeks or more were secured, by firm
[Source: Year’s pay rolls]

Weekly hours

Women 1

Weeks
worked2

Women 1

Weeks
worked2

Women 1

Weeks
worked 2

Women 1

Weeks
worked 2

Other firms

Firm IV

Firm III

Firm II

Firm I

All firms

Women 1

Weeks
worked 2

Women 1

Wet ks
work ed2

Per
Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num
ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent
Total 3....... ...........................- 1,924 100.0 97,014 100.0
Less than 21................................ ......
21 and less than 24---------------------24 and less than 21..--------------- -27 and less than 30..... .......................
30 and less than 33------ ---------- ----33 and less than 36------- -------------36 and less than 39_______ ______39 and less than 40--------- ---------More than 40 and less than 42---42 and less than 44........ .................. 44..._____ ___________________
More than 44 and less than 48------48_____________________ _____
More than 48 and less than 49J4—
49^2-------------- ------ ------------------More than 49 and less than 50—
50______ ______________________
More than 50 and less than 52------52
More than 52 and less than 54.........
54
More than 54 and less than 55------55____________ ________________
More than 55 and less than 56------56_________________ _______ — More than 56 and less than 58.. ...
58__________ _____ ____________
More than 58 and less than 60------60
More than 60 and less than 70-------

932
405
580
681
1,016
1,367
1,620
1,218
1,546
1, 689
1,830
1,402
1,912
1,435
1,579
1,029
33
1,239
1,508
982
1,376
917
432
459
302
354
531
297
405
159
328
5
96

48.4 1, 724 1.8
537
21.0
.6
816
.8
30.1
1,072
1.1
35.4
52.8 1.986 2.0
71.0 3,389 3.5
84.2 5,164 5.3
63.3 2, 435 2.5
80.4 6,154 6.3
87.8 6, 364 6.6
95.1 9, 558 9.9
72.9 2,878 3.0
99.4 19,974 20.6
74.6 5, 670 5.8
82.1 4,810 5.0
53.5 2, 063 2.1
1.7
41 (0
64.4 2, 620 2.7
78.4 5, 2G7 5.4
51.0 1,988 2.0
71.5 4, 518 4.7
47.7 2,229 2.3
.7
22. 5
635
745
.8
23.9
.4
15.7
406
489
18.4
27.6 1,151 1.2
429
.4
15.4
.7
671
21.0
.3
8.3
279
17.0
823
.8
.3
5 (4)
5.0
124
.1

237 100.0 11,971 100.0
92
50
54
83
145
169
210
192
187
198
218
146
232
175
180
94

38.8
131 1.1
55
,6
21.1
71
.6
22.8
130 1.1
35.0
319 2.7
61.2
458 3.8
71.3
88.6 905 7.6
427 3.6
81.0
706 5.9
78.9
744 6.2
83.5
92.0 1,116 9.3
331 2.8
61.6
97.9 2,173 18.2
784 6.5
73.8
480 4.0
75.9
170 1.4
39.7

152
166
134
160
108
54
74
29
61
76
63
63
39

64.1
70.0
56.5
67.5
45.6
22.8
31.2
12.2
25.7
32.1
26,6
26.6
16.5

394
592
285
520
346
67
114
35
87
219
100
108
104

3.3
4.9
2.4
4.3
2.9
.6
1.0
.3
.7
1.8
.8
.9
.9

1 Includes women who worked at least 44 weeks, including paid vacation.
»Includes actual weeks worked only.

442 100.0 22,082 100.0
195
86
129
135
180
242
300
217
340
393
411
328
438
356
376
257
28
287
356
245
333
220
144
178
94
106
144
71
86
22
61
1
1

44.1
19.5
29.2
30.5
40.7
54.8
67.9
49.1
76.9
88.9
93.0
74.2
99. 1
80.5
85.1
58.1
6.3
64.9
80.5
55.4
75.3
49.8
32.6
40.3
21.3
24.0
32.6
16.1
19.5
5.0
13.8
.2
.2

330 1.5
109
.5
165 .7
177
.8
302 1.4
498 2.3
719 3.3
374 1.7
1, 448 6.6
1,511 6.8
2,239 10.1
645 2.9
4,340 19.7
1, 216 5. 5
1,284 5.8
685 3.1
34
.2
607 2.7
1,314 6.0
590 2.7
1,227 5.6
535 2.4
245 1.1
356 1.6
129
.6
167
.8
340 1.5
121
.5
162
.7
35
.2
176
.8
1 (4)
1

338 100.0 17,185 100.0

720 100.0 36,306 100.0

52.7
396 2.3
170 1.0
29.6
42.6
228 1.3
270 1.6
45.0
453 2.6
59.8
590 3.4
69.5
996 5.8
87.9
456 2.7
64.5
783 4.6
78.4
92.9 1,251 7.3
98.2 1,608 9.4
71.3
464 2.7
100.0 3,568 20.8
755 4.4
70.7
87.0 929 5.4
59.5 407 2.4

375
142
211
257
385
578
649
469
598
641
702
567
717
510
565
354

52.1
19.7
29.3
35.7
53.5
80.3
90.1
65.1
83.1
89.0
97.5
78.8
99.6
70.8
78.5
49.2

707
174
300
423
753
1, 592
2, 055
961
2,845
2,508
3,883
1,229
7, 335
1,601
1,559
534

1.9
.5
.8
1.2
2.1
4.4
5.7
2.6
7.8
6.9
10.7
3.4
20.2
4.4
4.3
1.5

437 2.5
992 5.8
317 1.8
771 4.5
329 1.9
70
.4
.4
75
74
.4
67
.4
164 1.0
.2
40
130
.8
34
.2
293 1.7
4 (4)
64
.4

450
562
365
507
375
132
120
91
119
194
122
158
68
163

943
62.5
78.1 1, 727
50.7
688
70.4 1,675
953
52.1
18.3
196
16.7
164
118
12.6
147
16.5
362
26.9
160
16.9
21.9
224
104
9.4
327
22.6

2.6
4.8
1.9
4.6
2.6
.5
.5
.3
.4
1.0
.4
.6
.3
.9

178
100
144
152
202
235
297
218
265
314
332
241
338
239
294
201
219
279
169
251
165
57
60
58
53
81
33
76
28
87
4
36

64.8
82.5
50.0
74.3
48.8
16.9
17.8
17.2
15.7
24.0
9.8
22.5
8.3
25.7
1.2
10.7

8.2

187 100.0 9,470 100.0
160 1.7
49.2
29
.3
14.4
22.5
52
.5
72
.8
28.9
159 1.7
55.6
251 2.7
76.5
87.7
489 5.2
217 2.3
65.2
83.4
372 3.9
76.5
350 3.7
712 7.5
89.3
64.2
209 2.2
100.0 2,558 27.0
82.9 1,314 13.9
87.7
558 5.9
65.8
267 2.8
.1
2.7
7
70.1
239 2.5
77.5
642 6.8
36.9
108 1.1
66.8
325 3.4
.7
26.2
66
57
24.1
.6
36
.4
14.4
16.0
50
.5
8.0
21
.2
.7
19.3
66
4.3
8
.1
11.8
47
.5
1.1
2 (4)
17 9.1
27
.3

92
27
42
54
104
143
164
122
156
143
167
120
187
155
164
123
5
131
145
69
125
49
45
27
30
15
36
87
22

O
[3
fcrj
>
tr1
t-3
>
W
C
tel
®

3 Details do not total, as many women worked different hours in different weeks.
* Less than one-tenth ol 1 per cent.

Or
Or

were secured, by city and by department
[Source: Year’s pay rolls]
Wome a for whom recor Is of 44 weeks or
more were secured in firms in which a
guanmty was paid
Women in de
partments in
which a guar
anty was paid

City and department
Total

Total,............... .........
50,000 and less than 100,000 population—
Total.......... ........
East St. Louis__....... .
St. Joseph_____
Sioux City...................
100,000 and less than 200,000 population—
Total...................

200,000 and less than 300,000 population, St.
Paul_______
1,000,000 population and over, Chicago
Kill..................
Offal..................
Casings:
Beef-.......................
Hog and sheep___
Pork trim______
Presh-sausage manufacturing__
Other....... ............. .

Weeks in which Average
a guaranty was number
paid
of weeks

Women receiv
ing a guaranty

Per cent
Per cent Total
Num of all
Num of all
women
women
ber
ber in
in the
the de
firm
partment

1,402

523

332

190

126
157

43
37
110

37.3

352

34.1
75.5
70.1

43
31
75

100.0

Hours worked by women in departments in which
a guaranty was paid

Num
ber

a guaran
Per cent ty was
of aU
paid per
weeks
woman
worked receiving

X, 14o

1,811

9,468

683

7.2

2,107
1, 875
5,486

192
115
376

9.1
6.1
6.9

6,068

385

6.3

2.694
3,374

44
341

1.6
10.1

Total

Hours in which a
guaranty was paid Average
number of
hours in
which a
Per cent guaranty
Num
of all
was paid
ber
hours per woman
worked receiving

5.14 1,143, 561%

7,794%

4.58

407,590)4

4.47
3.71
5.01

90, 70054
79, 879 %
237,010)4

5.13

265,403%

1,554

1.69
6.96

120,483%
144,919%

131)4
1,422%

Average
number
of hours
per week
in which
a guaran
ty was
paid

0.7

22.14

4.30

2,888%

19.38

4.23

507%
699)4
1, 681

.6
.9
.7

11.81
22.56
22.41

2.64
6.08
4.47

20.72

4.04

.1
1.0

5.06
29.03

2.99
4.17

493

120

307
186

53
67

17.3
36.0

227
350

79
134

38.3

59.7

3,914
6.695

349
394

8.9
5.9

7.27
4.93

167, 684%
302,884

2,182
1,170

1.3
.4

45.46
14.63

6.25
2.97

39
113

39
108

95.6

92.3

1,945
5, 310

252
677

13.0
12.7

7.00
7.96

78, 33254
230,572)4

956
3,424%

1.2
1.5

26.56
40.29

3.79
5.06

45
86
239
198
682

64
142
30
95

74.4
59.4
15.2

2,284
3,230
7,064
1, 541
4, 771

190
98
523
27
44

8.3
3.0
7.4
1.8
.9

5.28
3. 77
4. 51
1.35
1.33

98. 57254
450
150, 302%
362
300, 593% 2,442)4
68, 381)4
41%
216, 806% 2
117)4

.5
.2
.8
.1
.1

12.50
13.92
21.06
2.08
3.56

2.37
3.69
4.67
1.54
2.67

26
20

66.7

AND MEAT PACKING

Kansas City___________
Omaha........ .................... .

Weeks worked by women in de
partments in which a guaranty
was paid

1 5 6 W OM EN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING

Table XV.—Number of weeks and number of hours in which guaranteed pay was received by women for whom records of U weeks or more

Table

XVI.—Number of animals slaughtered under Federal inspection in four cities, by month, June, 1927, to May, 1928, inclusive 1
[Source: See footnote 1]
Number of animals slaughtered in specified month

Monthly average
Animals

Total
Number

Per
cent

Monthly
variation 2
(percent)

1928

1927
June

Decem January Febru
October Novem
August Septem
ber
ber
ary
ber

July

March

April

May

SIOUX CITY
2,589,438

Total.

31, 718
146,083
37,985

100.0
14.7
67.7
17.6

37.0
70.5
22.5
17.6

211,171

206, 917

158,515

126,169

135,593

171,335

252,903

311,632

341,146

321,734

163,709

188,614

36,687
162,007
12,477

27, 282
167,089
12,546

27,779
110,597
20,139

26,189
72,632
27,348

30,579
56,880
48,134

30,659
78,908
61,768

35,152
146, 974
70, 777

30,885
216,705
64,042

32,057
253,172
55,917

33,425
248,068
40, 241

32,784
105,148
25,777

37,143
134, 816
16, 655

ST. PAUL
4,397, 4&

Total.

542,382
2,776, 626
1,078, 436

Cattle..
Hogs...
Other..

366,454
45,199
231,386
89,869

100.0
12.3
63.1
24.6

39.1
49.4
24.9
35.4

304,828
34,228
205,786
64,814

269,698

214,063

262, 534

443,711

547, 715

527,511

497,141

400,305

371, 597

269,654

288,687

36,905
175,622
57,171

43,819
100,464
69,780

46,181
113, 761
102, 592

66,628
215,632
161,451

69,345
320, 892
157,478

41,869
404,189
81,453

39,497
360, 771
96, 873

42,052
281,385
76,868

43,404
258, 331
69,862

37, 513
167,030
65, 111

40,941
172, 763
74,983

168,351

176,245

170,068

200,995

220,033

218,379

224,001

149,837

173,239

16,544
110, 804
41,003

15,994
117,126
43,125

13,824
122, 777
33, 467

12,912
179,035

11,343
201,346
7,344

9,976
199,970
8,433

9,656
204, 353
9,992

9,075
130, 424
10,338

11,261
148, 500
13,478

309,815

285,403

282, 224

366,466

463, 622

533,504

542,370

350,290

425, 618

67,242
246, 657
149, 723

69,468
301, 687
162, 349

70,748
300,476
171,146

63,058
155, 086
132,146

88,564
191, 022
146| 032

ST. LOUIS
2,406, 303

Total

Other---------

159,393
1,884, 767
362,143
------------

200,525
13,283
157,064
30,178

100.0
6.6
78.3
15.0

55.2
50.3
54.2
9.7

271,443
14,728
199,361
57, 354

216,467
16,046
147, 880
52,541

217,245
18,034
123,191
76,020

GENERAL TABLES

380,621
1,752,996
455,821

CattleHogs.-.
Other..

215, 786

OMAHA
Total........... ........... 4, 802,033
886,543
2, 231, 340
Other-------- ------ ---------- 1,684,150

400,169
73,879
185,945
140,345

100.0
18.5
46.5
35.1

52.0
70.4
31.0
60.9

439, 738
89,622
217, 663
132, 453

415, 582
69, 369
207, 218
138, 995

i Source: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Crops and Markets, voi. 4, vut
i Minimum divided by maximum number slaughtered during the month.

387,401
70,260
165,719
151,422

68,726
100,815
140,274

81, 741
93, 454
110,208

75,256
102, 717
104, 251

72,489
148,826
145,151

158 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table XVII.—Number

of women employed in representative departments in three
cities, by week, June, 1927, to May, 1928, inclusive
[Source: Year’s pay rolls]
Number of women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Sioux City

St. Paul

Department

Week

Average for 52 weeks.
June to August, 1927:
1_________________
2____ ______ •____
3___ _________________
4___________ ____ _____
5__________ ______ ...
6....... ......... .........................
9______ _________
10--------------------- ---------11______________
12.................. ..................
13
September to November, 1927.
14_______________
15________________

19________ _
20------------------------------

25___ ___________r__
December, 1927, to February,
1928:
27.....................................
29________ ____
31______________ ____ __

35______________
38____ _ _
March to May, 1628:
40__________

50_ _____________
Total variation—per cent1___
Coefficient of variation—per
cent2............. .

All
de
part
ments

Department
OtllUIlFresh
All
wa,
all
Fresh
Cas
Cas
de
de
ings Pork sau
ings Pork sau
part
part
Sliced
sage
(hog trim
(hog trim sage
manu ments and
manu bacon ments
and
facfacsheep)
sheep)
turing
turing

282.8

26.0

77.7

39.2

420.8

25.5

74.6

50.4

36.8

111.2

286
323
316
258
300
318
314
313
303
299
280
266
260

29
30
28
22
27
28
29
28
31
29
27
22
23

81
91
88
73
90
97
98
99
89
90
79
73
70

38
40
44
40
43
45
44
44
42
42
45
46
45

376
394
392
390
406
407
422
424
428
413
402
377
379

14
15
15
16
18
18
22
21
23
21
19
18
17

63
65
66
70
75
80
77
75
69
68
61
57
56

41
46
51
47
50
50
51
53
51
46
50
50
49

32
31
31
28
32
34
36
38
38
35
35
35
35

106
113
119
123
127
124
127
126
126
122
120

243
236
242
249
211
204
206
205
216
219
213
213
224

22
21
19
20
14
14
14
14
16
17
15
16
17

64
65
67
68
51
48
51
51
55
57
56
53
55

42
40
41
42
40
41
41
38
37
36
35
36
37

362
370
382
380
367
373
395
435
471
488
480
486
504

17
51
20 , 53
20
57
21
57
20
56
18
60
23
66
29
78
31
90
36
95
36
94
36
95
40
102

52
52
52
51
49
50
48
49
46
46
46
46
46

37
41
44
42
34
35
38
39
40
39
39
37
38

117
118
119
125
126
127
124
134
135
132
121
118
114

233
241
280
284
273
278
306
321
339
374
367
362
363

20
22
32
33
32
32
34
36
37
41
40
37
40

57
62
81
82
81
84
86
92
100
108
105
103
97

36
36
36
36
36
36
37
36
35
36
38
39
39

502
478
482
472
448
456
479
494
514
517
472
483
466

40
37
35
33
32
31
29
28
33
33
34
32
33

100
96
93
95
87
88
94
98
92
89
86
89
80

44
43
47
46
41
43
47
49
50
51
53
55
55

\
41
39
39
39
37
38
37
42
64
70
40
40
35

116
110
97
97
95
96
94
95
92
91
98
99
98

370
362
358
354
348
327
291
254
248
269
268
268
257

40
39
36
33
33
32
30
17
14
19
17
18
16

102
39
99
38
94
41
93 % 41
91
40
84
40
72
39
66
37
63
36
69
37
70
36
71
35
70
37

433
391
385
388
377
389
364
359
351
373
374
365
368

29
28
25
25
25
26
24
23
22
23
24
20
20

75
69
68
72
70
69
58
62
61
61
64
65
63

53
52
51
51
51
51
51
53
54
62
63
65
70

33
27
31
31
30
32
32
33
32
32
31
30
33

103
101
100
102
98
99
100
105
108
113
110
110
111

54.5

34.1

44.4

76.1

67.9

35.0

50.0

58.6

38.6

67.4

17.9

32.3

21.8

7.4

11.8

27.8

19.6

10.5

19.3

11.4

> Minimum divided by maximum number employed during year.
- nlLard de™tion divided by the average number employed during the year
deviation is the range about the average within which two-thirds of'the observations1 fall,

The standard
'

159

GENERAL TABLES
Table XVIII.—Index

of weekly variation in number of women employed in repre
sentative departments in three cities, June, 1927, to May, 1928, inclusive
[Source: Year’s pay rolls]
Average for 52 weeks= 100
Index of number of women' employed in slaughtering and meat packing
St. Paul

Sioux City
Week

Ot
tum
wa, all
de
All
Fresh
Fresh All
part
Cas- 1
Cas
de
de
sau
sau
ments
part tags Pork sage part ings Pork sage Sliced
ments (hog trim
ments (hog trim manu
manu bacon
and
and
fac
fac
sheep)
sheep)
turing
turing
Department

Department

100.0

101.1
114.2
111.7
91.2
106.1
112.4
111.0
110.7
107.1
105.7
99.0
94.1
91.9

111.5
115.4
107.7
84.6
103.8
107.7
111.5
107.7
119.2
111.5
103. 8
84.6
88.5

104. 2
117.1
113.3
94.0
115.8
124.8
126.1
127.4
114.5
115.8
101. 7
94.0
90.1

96.9
102.0
112.2
102.0
109.7
114.8
112.3
112.3
107.1
107.2
114.8
117. 3
114.8

89.4
93.6
93.2
92.7
96.5
96.7
100.3
100.8
101.7
98.1
95.5
89.6
90.1

54.9
58.8
58.8
62.7
70.6
70.6
86.3
82.4
90.2
82.4
74.5
70.6
66.7

84.5
87.1
88.5
93.8
100.5
107.2
103.2
100.5
92.5
91.2
81.8
76.4
75.1

81.3
91.3
101.2
93.3
99.2
99.2
101.2
105.2
101.2
91.3
99.2
99.2
97.2

87.0
84.2
84.2
76.1
87.0
92.4
97.8
103.3
103.3
95.1
95.1
95.1
95.1

95.3
92.6
89.9
101.6
107.0
110.6
114.2
111.5
114.2
113.3
113.3
109.7
107.9

September to November, 1927:
14
15................ ........... ..........16 ______ ___________
17....... .................. ......... .
18
19
20 ____ ______________
21...................... ................22_____ ____ ________
23
24
25
26____ _______________

85.9
83.5
85.6
88.0
74.6
72.1
72.8
72. 5
76.4
77.4
75.3
75.3
79.2

84.6
80.8
73.1
76.9
53.8
53.8
53.8
53.8
61.5
65.4
57.7
61.5
65.4

82.4
83.7
86.2
87.5
65.6
61.8
65.6
65.6
70.8
73.4
72.1
68.2
70.8

107.2
102.0
104.6
107.1
102.0
104.6
104.6
96.9
94.4
91.8
89.3
91.8
94. 4

86.0
87.9
90.8
90.3
87.2
88.6
93.9
103.4
111.9
116.0
114.1
115.5
119.8

66.7
78.4
78.4
82.4
78.4
70.6
90.2
113.7
121.6
141.2
141.2
141.2
156.9

68.4 103.2
71.0 103.2
76.4 103.2
76.4 101.2
97.2
75.1
99.2
80.4
88.5
95.2
97.2
104.6
91.3
120.6
91.3
127. 3
91.3
126. 0
127.3
91.3
136.7
91.3

100.5
111.4
119.6
114.1
92.4
95.1
103.3
106.0
108.7
106. 0
106.0
100.5
103.3

105.2
106.1
107.0
112.4
113.3
114.2
111.5
120.5
121. 4
118.7
108.8
106.1
102.5

December, 1927, to February,
1928:
27....... ............. .................
28..................... ........... ........
29
......... ...... ...... ........
30_____________ _____
31
32____________________
33..................... ....................
34 .
____________
35.........................................
36_______________ ____
37................ ........... ..........38____________________
39____________________

82.4
85.2
99.0
100.4
96.5
98.3
108.2
113.5
119.9
132.2
127.7
128.0
128.4

76.9
84.6
123.1
126.9
123.1
123.1
130.8
138.5
142.3
157.7
153.8
142.3
153.8

73.4
79.8
104.2
105.5
104. 2
108.1
110.7
118.4
128.7
139.0
135.1
132.6
124.8

91.8 119.3
91.8 113.6
91.8 114.5
91.8 112.2
91.8 106. 5
91.8 108.4
94.4 113.8
91.8 117.4
89.3 122.1
91.8 112.9
96.9 112.2
99.5 114.8
99.5 110.7

156.9
145.1
137.3
129.4
125. 5
121.6
113.7
109.8
129.4
129.4
133.3
125. 5
129.4

134.0
128.7
124.7
127.3
116.6
118.0
126.0
131.4
123.3
119.3
115.3
119.3
107.2

87.3 111.4
85.3 106.0
93.3 106.0
91.3 106.0
81.3 100.5
85.3 103.3
93.3 100.5
97.2 114.1
99.2 173.9
101. 2 190.2
105.2 108.7
109.1 108.7
109.1
95.1

104.3
98.9
87.2
87.2
85.4
86.3
84.5
85.4
82.7
81.8
88.1
89.0
88.1

March to May, 1928:
40
41_____ _______________
42-____________________
43 _________ ____-........
44
45
46
47
48___________________
49 __________ _______
50
51_____ ______________
52.............. ................... .

130.8 153.8
128.0 150.0
126. 6 138.5
125.2 126.9
123.1 126.9
115.6 123.1
102.9 115.4
89.8
65.4
87.7
53.8
73.1
95.1
94. 8
65.4
69.2
94.8
90.9
61.5

131. 3
127.4
121.0
119.7
117. I
108.1
92.7
84.9
81.1
88.8
90.1
91.4
90.1

99.5
96.9
104.6
104.6
102.0
102.0
99.5
94.4
91.8
94.4
91.8
89.3
94.4

113.7
109.8
98.0
98.0
98.0
102.0
94.1
90.2
86.3
90.2
94. 1
78.4
78.4

100.5
92.5
91.2
96.5
93.8
92.5
77.7
83.1
81.8
81.8
85.8
87.1
84.5

105.2
103.2
101.2
101.2
101. 2
101.2
101. 2
105. 2
107. 1
123.0
125.0
129.0
138.9

89.7
73.4
84.2
84.2
81.5
87.0
87.0
89.7
87.0
87.0
84.2
81.5
89.7

92.6
90.8
89.9
91.7
88.1
89.0
89.9
94.4
97.1
101.6
98.9
98.9
99.8

Average for 52 weeks---- 100.0
une to August, 1927:
1...........................................
2
__________________
3___ ______ ______ ___
4_________________ ____
5
....... ........... ...........
6
.
__________
7________________ ____
8
.............. ...............
9
_______________
10
_______ ______
ii
12
___ _______
13 ...................................

1 See Table XVII for numbers.

102.9
92.9
91.5
92.2
89.6
92.4
86. 5
85.3
83.4
88.6
88.9
86.7
87.5 |

160 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table XIX.—Number of women employed in representative departments in East St.

Louts and Omaha, by week, June 1927, to May, 1928, inclusive
_________________________

[Source: Year’s record i]
Number of women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
East St. Louis

Omaha

Department

Week
All de
part
ments

Average for 62 weeks....

Pork
trim

Sausage
manu
factur
ing

Department
Sliced
bacon

/All de
part
ments

Pork
trim

Sausage
manu
factur
ing

Sliced
bacon

110.7

22.7

38.0

23.3

203.1

25.5

45.2

46.4

107
112
109
105
101
102
112
114
111
111
110
109
121

24
27
27
27
27
25
25
20
21
21
21
20
20

37
38
38
36
34
35
41
42
40
42
41
41
46

18
20
18
17
15
15
17
23
22
22
23
20
25

215
218
210
212
225
232
223
222
213
210
209
221
203

26
28
27
27
30
31
28
27
26
24
23
21
20

51
49
48
51
53
53
53
54
50
48
49
48
45

49
49
41
44
47
48
44
45
45
46
44
59
47

120
121
121
111
113
105
113
113
108
108
109
112
112

20
21
21
16
17
15
15
17
14
17
18
21
20

45
44
46
44
44
42
42
41
40
39
41
40
41

24
25
24
23
23
19
23
22
22
22
19
19
19

201
204
207
196
183
179
179
176
188
194
184
180
175

21
21
21
22
18
13
14
12
13
13
12
14
12

43
44
47
47
48
47
45
46
49
53
49
48
48

47
58
61
53
44
46
45
45
46
47
46
42
41

109
109
106
95
93
94
97
112
123
123
123
129
126

20
22
22
22
22
22
21
26
25
25
32
38
39

39
38
38
31
30
28
33
35
37
37
33
34
34

18
17
17
16
16
21
22
30
39
38
36
34
30

171
170
172
170
166
164
185
203
222
222
219
227
238

16
19
19
18
19
19
21
28
31
33
36
41
47

39
39
38
40
38
39
40
39
42
41
41
41
44

41
34
38
38
37
32
40
48
52
52
46
50
46

115
111
105
106
105
101
99
104
108
121
121
117
114

33
32
27
26
25
22
22
22
16
21
21
19
20

34
33
32
33
33
33
32
35
41
42
42
42
39

24
23
24
24
24
25
23
24
27
30
30
30
29

229
224
230
229
231
208
197
187
183
205
211
217
221

46
45
45
45
49
32
31
20
22
24
24
24
26

41
40
37
37
38
39
38
43
42
48
51

45
43
45
50
50
45
45
44
45
51
57
56
55

72.1

35.9

60.9

38.5

68.9

24.5

7.3

22.9

12.1

23.6

10.1

38.4

June to August, 1927:

1_______
__
2____
__________
3.............. ...............

4_____________

5_________

6
___ ________
___
7—_____
8__________

9_________ _____
10—................... .
11..........................
12______________
13______________
September to November,
1927:
14.............. .................
15
16
17.............. ......................
18-____ _________ ___
19_________ _____
20_____ ____
21_________

22________ ___
23_______ ____ ______
24....... ............... ..........
25_________________
26__________ ______

December, 1927, to February,
1928:
27—.............................
28___________ ______""
29___________ ______
30......
*
31______________
"
32______________ _____
33....... ............. .
34_________
‘

35
36:::
________

"
37
_____
38__________ ____
39______________
"
March to May, 1928:
40_____________
41_________
42_____ ________
43____________
44___________
45_____________
46_____________
47— _________
48. —......... ..........
49____________
50_____ ________
51_____________
52_____________
Total variation—per cent2...
Coefficient of variation—per
cent3

57
64.9
12.2 |

52.6
12.7

1 Employment record only.
J Minimum divided by maximum number employed during year.
devbitfo^isthe?h'/ided hy th® average number employed during the year.
deviation is the range about the average within which two-thirds of the observations fail.

The standard

161

GENERAL TABLES
Table XX.—Index

of weekly variation in number of women employed in represent
ative departments in East St. Louis and Omaha, June, 1927, to May, 1928,
inclusive
[Source: Year’s record ']
Average for 52 weeks = 100
Index of number of women employed 3 in slaughtering and meat packing
Omaha

East St. Louis

All de
part
ments

Average for 52 weeks.__
June to August, 1927:
3

7
8.............. ........... ............
10 .
12___ ___________ ____
13
September
1927: i.
17
18
19

_____ ___________
...
______
.......................... .
____

____ -

..................-

26____ _______________
December, 1927, to February,
1928:
27
-29
____ ________
30
.....................
31
_________
32
______ •
33
|
34
._
35
____ __________ i
36
_________
37 ______________
38
____ -......... .
39
...............................
March to May, 1928:
40
___________
41
42
_______________
43
______________
44
_____ ________
45
______________
47

................ ........

_
.
.
_
52___ _______________ .

49
50

Pork
trim

Sausage
manu
factur
ing

Sliced
bacon

All de
part
ments

Pork
trim

Sausage
manu
factur
ing

Sliced
bacon 9

100.0

100.00

96.7
101.2
98.5
94.9
91.2
92.1
101.2
103.0
100.3
100.3
99.4
98.5
109.3

105.7
118.9
118.9
118.9
118.9
110.1
110.1
88.1
92.5
92.5
92.5
88.1
88. 1

97.4
100.0
100.0
94.7
89.5
92.1
107.9
110.5
105.3
110.5
107.9
107.9
121.1

77.3
85.8
77.3
73.0
64.4
64.4
73.0
98.7
94.4
94.4
98.7
85.8
107.3

105.9
107.3
103.4
104.4
110.8
114.2
109.8
109.3
104.9
103.4
102.9
108.8
100.0

102.0
109.8
105.9
105.9
117.6
121.6
109.8
105.9
102.0
94.1
90.2
82.4
78.4

112.8
108.4
106.2
112.8
117.3
117.3
117.3
119.5
110.6
106.2
108.4
106.2
99.6

105.6
105.6
88.4
94.8
101.3
103.4
94.8
97.0
97.0
99. 1
94.8
127.2
101.3

108.4
109.3
109.3
100.3
102.1
94.9
102.1
102.1
97.6
97.6
98.5
101.2
101.2

88.1
92.5
92.5
70.5
74.9
66.1
66.1
74.9
61.7
74.9
79.3
92.5
88.1

118.4
115.8
121.1
115.8
115.8
110.5
110.5
107.9
105.3
102.6
110.5
105.3
107.9

103.0
107.3
103.0
98.7
98.7
81.5
98.7
94.4
94.4
94.4
81.5
81.5
81.5

99.0
100.4
101.9
96.5
90.1
88. 1
88.1
86.7
92.6
95.5
90.6
88.6
86.2

82.4
82.4
82.4
86.3
70.6
51.0
54.9
47.1
51.0
51.0
47.1
54.9
47.1

95.1
97.3
104.0
104.0
106.2
104.0
100.0
101.8
108.4
117.3
108.4
106.2
106.2

101.3
125.0
131.5
114.2
94.8
99.1
97.0
97.0
99.1
101.3
99.1
90.5
88.4

98.5
98.5
95.8
85.8
84.0
84.9
87.6
101.2
111. 1
111.1
111. 1
116.5
113.8

88.1
96.9
96.9
96.9
96.9
96.9
92.5
114.5
110.1
110.1
141.0
167.4
171.8

102.6
100.0
100.0
81.6
78.9
73.7
86.8
92.1
97.4
97.4
86.8
89.5
89.5

77.3
73.0
73.0
68.7
68.7
90.1
94.4
128.8
167.4
163.1
154.5
145.9
128.8

84.2
83.7
84.7
83.7
81.7
80.7
91.1
100.0
109.3
109.3
107.8
111.8
117.2

62.7
74.5
74.5
70.6
74.5
74.5
82.4
109. 8
121.6
129.4
141.2
160.8
184.3

86.3
86.3
84. 1
88.5
84.1
86.3
88.5
86.3
92.9
90.7
90.7
90.7
97.3

88.4
73.3
81.9
81.9
79.7
69.0
86.2
103.4
112.1
112.1
99.1
107.8
99.1

103.9
100.3
94.9
95.8
94.9
91.2
89.4
93.9
97.6
109.3
109.3
105.7
103.0

145.4
141.0
118.9
114.5
110.1
96.9
96.9
96.9
70.5
92.5
92.5
83.7
88.1

89.5
86.8
84.2
86.8
86.8
86.8
84.2
92.1
107.9
110. 5
110.5
110.5
102.6

103.0
98.7
103.0
103.0
103.0
107.3
98.7
103.0
115.9
128.8
128.8
128.8
124.5

112.8
110.3
113.2
112.8
113.7
102.4
97.0
92.1
90.1
100.9
103.9
106.8
108.8

180.4
176.5
176.5
176.5
192. 2
125.5
121.6
78.4
86.3
94.1
94.1
94. 1
102.0

90.7
88.5
81.9
81.9
84.1
86.3
84.1
95.1
92.9
106. 2
112.8
119.5
126.1

97.0
92.7
97.0
107.8
107.8
97.0
97.0
94.8
97.0
109.9
122.8
120.7
118.5

November,
'

Department

Week

1 Employment record only.

3 See table XIX for numbers.

162 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

Average weekly hours worked by women employed in representative
departments m Sioux City and St. Paul, by week, June, 1927, to May 1928
inclusive
’
______
______________
[ Source: Year’s pay rolls}
Table XXI.

Average weekly hours worked by women in slaughtering and meat
packing
Sioux City
Week

St. Paul

Department
All de
part Casings
ments hog and
sheep

Average for 52 weeks:

Pork
trim

Freshsausage
manufacturin

Department
All de
Freshpart Casings, Pork
sausage
ments hog and
trim
manu
sheep
facturing

42.7

45.4

42.9

46.1

43.1

45.3

41.8

46.4

41.4
45. 9
38. 2
42.3
48.3
40. 6
45. 3
42.0
43.1
43. 3
41. 0
41. 7
39.4

43.5
52.9
37.0
45.3
46.4
43.0
47.3
43.1
44.2
45.8
35.3
43.2
38.3

42.7
50.5
37.4
41.1
51.9
43.8
46.0
41.4
43.0
40.0
39.2
36.4
35. 4

42.9
48.7
47.0
47.4
53.3
42.6
50.9
46.8
48.7
51.1
50.5
48.7
44.9

40.6
44.1
43.7
45.0
48.2
38.8
44.4
43.3
43.9
43.2
42.0
43.9
41.6

43.9
45.6
46.3
46.0
47.7
41.9
39.0
44.7
40.2
34.2
33.7
32.9
40.1

41.6
44.6
45. 2
44.4
51.4
36.6
40.6
42.0
39.0
33. 6
32.3
35.0
30.5

39.7
46.2
43.1
46.0
49.9
42.6
50.0
46.1
48.0
51.2
49.3
49.1
48.1

23_________
‘ '
24_________
25_____________ _______
26..........................

40.8
37. 8
40. 9
34.3
37.0
38.0
37.9
38.7
41.1
36. 5
38. 6
40. 2
36.0

39.0
36.3
38.0
26.8
29.8
35.5
34.3
37.3
46.8
36.6
41.9
44.7
44.1

36.1
31.6
33.2
26.0
27.4
29.9
29.9
31.5
37.7
28.9
31.2
33.5
36.1

48.3
45. 5
48. 2
46.5
48.3
47. 1
46. 4
47.8
48.9
47.0
45.6
43.3
36.3

42.6
37.9
42.9
40.3
42.1
43.6
43.3
44.6
48.2
46.3
46.0
48.1
41.5

37.2
38.2
43.6
40.1
43.4
48.4
42.1
46.3
54.5
53.4
53.6
53.6
44.2

31. 2
31.1
35.4
34.0
33.7
37.5
39.9
42.1
50.9
48.8
43.4
51. 2
43.9

48.0
40.6
45.0
42.4
50.9
46.5
48.4
47.6
51.5
51.7
51.8
48.7
42.5

December, 1927, to February,
1928:
27...............
28_________
29___________ _______
30_____________
31___________
32_____________ ______
33_________
34...___ ______
35_____________ ______
36_________
37...____ ______
38___________________
39___________

42.3
44. 6
43. 7
41. 7
36.8
38. 0
44. 8
48. 4
52.5
48. 1
48. 0
48. 1
46.8

48.1
49.5
42.4
50.1
41.5
41.5
49.9
54.6
63.0
53.9
58.6
56.9
53.4

42.0
44.7
42.5
44.7
38.5
39.4
46.6
52.8
57.3
54.2
51.5
54.3
55.5

41.3
43.3
46.6
41.2
38.0
40.4
47.6
43.4
48.7
48.5
47.3
48. 1
44.8

44. 5
42.4
45.7
41.4
37.8
39. 1
48.0
43.4
42.2
42.3
43.0
42.7
41.3

52.3
48.6
49.5
50.3
42.7
43.0
50.1
50.4
46.0
46. 2
44.4
48.5
49.0

47. 7
44. 3
48.7
44. 5
41. 7
39. 2
50.3
42.6
40.3
44.6
43.1
43.1
40.8

45.0
42.3
42.9
37.7
37. 1
44.0
47.0
46.7
47.9
51.3
44.9
46.0
44. 7

March to May, 1928:
40..........................
41......................
42_________
43......... ............. .
44_________
45___________
46________ ____
47___________
48_____________
49_________
50___________
51______
52_________ Hi-

48.3
45. 9
43.6
45. 3
43.0
38.1
37.1
38. 5
42.5
43. 2
43.3
42.8
48.6

56.2
49.6
45.1
52.5
45.9
37.6
29.8
31.4
40.6
40.1
42.1
39.4
48.5

55.6
51.9
48. 1
50.7
43.5
39.6
35.6
33.6
38.8
42.8
41.8
40.0
47.4

42.7
45.6
45.6
41.8
40.8
42.9
46.1
42.4
44.1
46.5
47.5
50.4
52.7

39.2
42.8
42.2
42.9
45.1
41.5
39. 1
41.7
42.4
43.2
43.7
44.6
44.0

44.6
44.2
48.0
45.7
44.0
43.1
36.4
38.7
43.6
44.9
40.3
44. 1
39.9

37.6
44.7
42.0
39.7
43.6
39.2
36. 2
38.7
40.9
41.5
42.1
41.2
37.8

43.2
41.3
48.2
45. 2
47.4
46.5
44.8
44.5
47.4
45.4
47.4
49.4
52.7

65.3

42.5

45.4

68.1

78.4

60.4

59.3

70.4

9.5

17.6

19.6

6.5

5.6

11.2

12.4

•June to August, 1927:
1____ ______
2_____________
3______ ______
4_________ ____
5_____ ______
6_________ '
7...’_________

8______
9____ ____
10.___ ________
11________
12_________
13_______ _____

September to November.
1927:
14________
15________
16
___..........
____
17.........

18___________
19_________

...........
'
____

________
20.............
21
.....................
'
22_________ ____

Total variation—per cent1...
Coefficient of variation—per
cent2___________

jMmuiiuiu
uivmeu
oy maximum
employed
duringemployed
year.
, ?V.e
standard
deviation
divided numoer
by the average
number
during the year
deviation is the range about the average within which two-thirds of the observations fall.

The standard

163

GENERAL TABLES

XXII.—Index of average weekly hours worked by women employed in repre
sentative departments in Sioux City and St. Paul, June, 1937, to May, 1938,
inclusive

Table

[Source: Year’s pay rolls]
Average for 52 weeks= 100
Index of average weekly hours worked1 by women in slaughtering and
meat packing
Sioux City

St. Paul

Department

Week

All de
part
ments Casings,
hog and
sheep

Pork
trim

Department

All de
Freshpart Casings,
sausage ments hog and
manu
sheep
facturing

Pork
trim

Freshsausage
manu
facturing

Average for 52 weeks

100.0

June to August, 1927:
1......... .....................
2____ _______________
3__________
4______________
5
6
7
8________________ _ .
9_________
10......... ..............................
11_______________
12______________
13_________________

97.0
107.5
89.5
99.1
113.1
95.1
106.1
98.4
100.9
101.4
96.0
97.7
92.3

95.8
116.5
81.5
99.8
102.2
94.7
104,2
94. 9
97.4
100.9
77.8
95.2
84.4

99.5
117.7
87.2
95.8
121.0
102.1
107.2
96.5
100.2
93. 2
91.4
84.8
82.5

93.1
105.6
102.0
102.8
115. 6
92.4
110.4
101.5
105.6
110.8
109. 5
105. 6
97.4

94.2
102.3
101.4
104.4
111.8
90.0
103.0
100.5
101.9
100.2
97. 4
101.9
96.5

96.9
100.7
102.2
101.5
105.3
92.5
86.1
98.7
88.7
75.5
74.4
72.6
88.5

99.5
106. 7
108.1
106.2
123.0
87.6
97. 1
100.5
93.3
80.4
77.3
83.7
73.0

85.6
99.6
92.9
99.1
107.5
91.8
107.8
99.4
103.4
110.3
106. 2
105.8
103.7

September to November,
1927:
14_________________
15.____ ____________
16_______ ____________
17______ ____________
18
19__________
20
21______________
22______________ ____
23____________ ____
24______________
25________________
26___________ _____

95.6
88.5
95.8
80.3
86.7
89.0
88.8
90.6
96.3
85.5
90.4
94.1
84.3

85.9
80.0
83.7
59.0
65. 6
78.2
76.6
82.2
103. 1
80.6
92.3
98.5
97.1

84.1
73.7
77.4
60.6
63.9
69.7
69.7
73.4
87.9
67.4
72.7
78.1
84.1

104.8
98.7
104.6
100.9
104.8
102.2
100.7
103.7
106.1
102.0
98.9
93.9
78.7

98.8
87.9
99.5
93.5
97.7
101.2
100.5
103.5
111.8
107.4
106.7
111.6
96.3

82.1
84.3
96.2
88.5
95.8
106.8
92. 9
102.2
120.3
117.9
118.3
118.3
97.6

74.6
74.4
84.7
81.3
80.6
89.7
95.5
100.7
121.8
116.7
103.8
122.5
105.0

103.4
87.5
97.0
91.4
109.7
100.2
104.3
102.6
111.0
111.4
111.6
105.0
91.6

December, 1927, to February,
1928:
27___________________
28
29____ _______________
30_________________
31_................. ..................
32.-.-___ ___________
33
34______________
35__________ _______
36___________________
37____________________
38
39

99.1
104.4
102. 3
97.7
86.2
89.0
104. 9
113.3
123.0
112.6
112.4
112.6
109.6

105.9
109.0
93.4
110.4
91.4
91.4
109. 9
120.3
138.8
118.7
129.1
125.3
117.6

97.9
104.2
99.1
104.2
89.7
91.8
108.6
123.1
133.6
126.3
120.0
126.6
129.4

89.6
93.9
101.1
89.4
82.4
87.6
103.3
94.1
105.6
105.2
102.6
104.3
97.2

103.2
98.4
106.0
96.1
87.7
90.7
111.4
100.7
97.9
98. 1
99.8
99.1
95.8

115.5
107.3
109.3
111.0
94.3
94.9
110.6
111.3
101.5
102.0
98.0
107.1
108.2

114.1
106.0
116.5
106.5
99.8
93.8
120.3
101.9
96.4
106.7
103.1
103.1
97.6

97.0
91.2
92.5
81.2
78.0
94.8
101.3
100.6
103.2
110.6
96.8
' 99.1
96.3

March to May, 1928:
40__________________
41__________ _____
42.______ ____________
43____________________
44
45
46
47
48
49________________
50-.- _
_ _______ 51
52............ .
______

113.1
107.5
102.1
106. 1
100.7
89.2
86.9
90.2
99.5
101. 2
101.4
100.2
113.8

123.8
109.3
99.3
115.6
101. 1
82.8
65.6
69.2
89.4
88.3
92.7
86.8
106.8

129.6
121.0
112.1
118.2
101.4
92.3
83.0
78.3
90.4
99.8
97.4
93.2
110.5

92.6
98.9
98.9
90.7
88.5
93.1
100.0
92.0
95.7
100.9
103.0
109. 3
114.3

91.0
99.3
97.9
99.5
104.6
96.3
90.7
96.8
98.4
100.2
101.4
103.5
102.1

98.5
97.6
106.0
100.9
97.1
95.1
80.4
85.4
96.2
99.1
89.0
97.4
88.1

90.0
106.9
100.5
95.0
104.3
93.8
86.6
92.6
97.8
99.3
100.7
98. 6
90.4

93.1
89.0
103.9
97.4
102.2
100.2
96.6
95.9
102.2
97.8
102.2
106.5
113.6

1 See Table XXI for hours.

64051°—32----- 12

164 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
XXIII.—Average weekly earnings of women employed in representative
departments in Sioux City and St. Paul, by week, June, 1927, to May, 1928, in
clusive

Table

[Source: Year’s pay rolls]
Average weekly earnings of women employed in slaughtering and
meat packing
Sioux City
Week

St. Paul

Department
All de
part Casings,
ments hog and
sheep

Pork
trim

Department

de
Fresh- All
part Casings,
sausage ments hog and
manu
sheep
facturing

Pork
trim

Freshsausage
manu
facturing

$16.85

$17.67

$19.10

$18.16

$16.84

$16.60

$17.69

$17. 65

June to August, 1927:
1_____________________
2
3
4................ .................. .
5....................... ..................
6
7
8____________ ________
9
10_________________
11___________
12. _____ ______________
13_______________

16.80
18.91
15.43
10. 81
19.87
16.96
18. 35
16.91
17. 34
17. 53
16.63
16.52
15.82

17.37
21.25
15.01
18. 67
18.74
17. 21
18. 98
16. 71
17. 50
17. 95
14. 34
16. 73
15.02

19.47
24.27
17. 39
18.87
24. 57
21.21
21. 56
18. 56
19. 84
18. 52
17. 72
16. 46
16.49

17.28
19.26
18.13
18.51
21.55
17.07
20.01
18.69
19.26
20.67
21.18
19. 69
18.23

15.90
17.36
17. 25
17.69
19.03
15. 32
17.52
17.17
17.52
17.46
16.97
17.40
16.50

15.68
16. 94
16. 81
16.17
16. 48
14.14
12. 95
16. 26
14. 73
13. 39
13. 06
12. 50
15.20

16.60
19.18
19.88
19.21
23.09
16.16
18.10
19.29
17.75
15. 21
14. 71
16.45
14.34

15. 35
17.79
16. 27
17.69
18. 79
15. 36
18.48
17. 53
18.55
19.88
19.00
19.14
18.23

September to November,
1927:
14_____________
15
16______ ____ _________
17_________________
18___________ ________
. 19_________________
20
21__________
22_______________
23..___ ______________
24______________
25_____________ ______
26

16.46
15.15
16.05
13.94
14.65
14. 79
14.86
15.19
15.94
14.31
14.67
15.35
13.83

15.52
14.15
15.56
11.23
12.88
14.88
14. 68
14.84
18.44
14.01
16.17
17.07
16.93

17.19
14.75
15.05
12. 39
12. 29
12. 64
13.05
13.57
15. 77
12. 80
13. 36
14. 35
15.33

19.61
18.52
19. 37
18.87
19.03
18. 34
18.09
18.67
19.03
19. 03
17. 49
16.41
13.77

16. 76
15.25
16.57
15.52
16.38
17.09
16.89
17.39
18.87
17.88
17. 64
18.79
16.17

14. 68
14. 48
16.12
14.70
16. 21
17. 69
15.07
16. 27
20.00
19.20
19.05
19.23
15.07

14.13
14.34
15.03
14.25
13.88
14.84
16.60
17.92
21. 23
19.90
17.56
21.62
18.03

18.34
15.90
17.67
16.32
19.92
18.39
19.62
19.18
20.92
20.23
19.64
18. 62
16. 77

December, 1927, to February,
1928:
27_................................
28
29
30________________
31
32
33______________
34_____________ ____
35
36
37
38
39...___ _____________

16.01
17.20
17.10
16.56
14.61
15.12
17. 53
19. 32
20.89
18. 76
18. 24
18.68
18.01

19.17
19.26
16.70
19.55
16.58
16.39
19.32
21.04
23.89
20.11
22.01
21. 20
19.87

17.41
19. 25
18. 26
18.08
16.49
16.46
19. 74
23.56
26.04
23.15
21.90
23.46
23.44

15. 40
16.62
18.15
19.25
14.34
16.12
17. 98
16.70
18. 57
19. 00
18. 56
18.89
17.14

17.13
16.55
17.84
15.92
14.83
15.01
18. 70
16.53
16.12
16.31
16.38
16.20
15.74

19. 35
18.09
18.03
18.35
15. 41
16. 07
18.54
19.12
16. 56
16. 27
15.95
17. 64
18.02

18.86
18.52
20. 47
18.44
17.93
16.10
21.05
17.77
16.38
18.72
17.35
17.33
16.93

17.13
16.22
16.26
14.31
14.34
16.16
18.16
17.92
18.01
19.26
18. 75
16.84
15. 73

March to May, 1928:
40______________ _____
41
42
43_____________ _____
44.___ _______________
45
46
47
48
49
50
51___ ________________
52......... .......................... .

18.98
18. 08
17.19
17. 73
16.64
14.95
14.57
15.23
16.41
16.87
16.71
16. 33
19.11

20.82
18.33
17.08
19.77
17.60
15. 21
11.77
12.35
15.78
15.73
16.11
15. 22
18.68

24.50
23.67
21. 70
22.72
19.20
17. 53
15.80
16.06
17.16
18.81
18.42
16. 73
21. 73

16.44
17.25
17.64
16.23
15.95
15. 86
17. 73
16. 51
17. 36
17.98
18.91
20. 57
21.02

15.24
16.66
16.54
16.48
17.64
16.55
15.56
16.58
16.91
17.13
17.20
17. 70
17.49

16.40
16.39
18.04
16.74
16.40
16.06
13.11
14.17
15. 76
16.19
13.92
16.81
14.45

16.24
18.44
17.18
16.31
17.76
16.34
15.05
16.65
17.59
18.62
17. 74
17.23
16. 32

15.59
15.22
17.65
16.37
17.55
16.99
16.59
16.47
17.94
17.18
18.07
19.10
20.73

66.2

47.0

47.2

63.9

77.9

62.5

60.1

68.4

9.7

15.5

19.6

9.1

5.8

11.2

11.5

7.7

Average for 52 weeks

Total variation—per cent
Coefficient of variation—per
cent 12__...............................

1 Minimum divided by maximum number employed during year.
2 The standard deviation divided by the average number employed during the year. The standard
deviation is the range about the average within which two-thirds of the observations fall.

165

GENERAL TABLES

XXIV.—Index of average weekly earnings of women employed in represent
ative departments in Sioux City and St. Paul, June, 1927, to May, 1928, inclusive

Table

[Source: Year’s pay rolls]
Average for 52 weeks=100
Index of average weekly earnings of women1 employed in slaughtering
and meat packing
Sioux City
Week

St. Paul

Department
All de
part
ments Casings,
hog and
sheep

Pork
trim

Department

All de
Freshpart Casings,
sausage ments hog and
manu
sheep
facturing

Pork
trim

Freshsausage
manu
facturing

Average for 52 weeks

100.0

June to August, 1927:
1__________ _________
23.........
_____...........
______________
..................
4
5 _ __

100.0

99.7

112.2
91.6

98.3
120.3
84.9
105.7
106.1
97.4
107.4
94.6
99.0

101.9
127. 1
91.0
98.8
128.6

95.2
106.1
99.8
101.9
118.7
64.0

94.4
103.1
102.4
105.0
113.0
91.0
104.0

93.8
108.4
112.4
108.6
130.5
91.4
102.3
109.0
100.3

100.8
103.3
98.0

95.0
102.7
101.9
98.0
99.9
85.7
78.5
98.5
89.3
81.2
79.2
75.8
92.1

86.0
83.2
. 93.0
81.1

112.6
107.6
108.4
103.3

99.5
90.6
98.4
92.2
97.3
101.5
100.3
103.3

89.0
87.8
97.7
89.1
98.2
107.2
91.3
98.6

79.9
81.1
85.0
80.6
78.5
83.9
93.8
101.3

103.9
90.1

112.1
106.2

121.2
116.4

120.0
112.5

67
89____________________
10............................ ............
11---------------- ------ ------12
________________
13........................................

99.8
117.9
100.7
108.9
100.4
102.9
104.0
98.7
98.0
93.9

September to November,
1927:
14
15-----------------------------16
• 17
18
19__......... ....... ............. .

97.7
89.9
95.3
82.7
86.9
87.8

20
21
22
.........................._______
23____________
24
25.....................................
26

December, 1927, to February,
1928:
27......... ........ ......................
28
29_____________
30___ ____ _
31_______________
32_____________
33 ___________ _
34______________
35....... ............. . ...........
36
37
38
39_______ _________
March to May, 1928:
40
41_______ ____________
42
43
44
45-------------------------- .
46__________ ______ _
47
48
49___ ______________
50_____ _____ _____
51
52_..................... ............ .

1 See table XXIII for amounts.

88.2
90.1

94.6
84.9
87.1
91.1
82.1
95.0

102.1
101.5
98.3
86.7
89.7
104.0
114.7
124.0
111.3
108.2
110.9
106.9
112.6
107.3
102.0
105.2

98.8
88.7
86.5
90.4
97.4

100.1
99.2

96.9
113.4

101.6
81.2

94.7
85.0

87.8
80.1

88.1
63.6

111.0
112.9
97.2
103.9
97.0
92.8
86.2
86.3
90.0
77.2
78.8
64.9
64.3

108.0

66.2
68.3

101.0
99.6
102.8
104.8

72.9
84.2
83.1
84.0
104.4
79.3
91.5
96.6
95.8

71.0
82.6
67.0
69.9
75.1
80.3

108.5
109.0
94.5

100.8
95.6

110.6
93.8

110.2
102.9
106.1
113.8
116. 6
108.4
100.4

91.2
94.7
86.3

102.0
106.7

103.9
104.8

104.8
96.3
90.4
75.8

122.2
101.9

84.8
91.5
99.9
106.0
79.0

101.7
98.3
105.9
94.5

117. 3
109.6
109.3

100.0
104.7

88.8
99.0

111.0

92.0
102.3
104.6

120.0
112.5

122.8
122.7

94.4

117.8
103.7
96.7
111.9
99.6

128.3
123.9
113.6
119.0
100.5
91.8
82.7
84.1
89.8
98.5
96.4
87.6
113.8

86.1
105.7

104.8

115.5
116.5
91.3

86.24
103.
123.4
136.3
121. 2
114.7

89.3
89.0
91.2

103.7

111.6
96.0

92.8
109.3
119.1
135.2
113.8
124.6

86.1
66.6
09.9

102.0
104.0

102.2
104.0

90.5
95.0
97.1
89.4
87.8
87.3
97.6
90.9
95.6
99.0
104.1
113.3
115.7

88.1
89.1

98.2
95.7
96.9
97.3
96.2
93.5
90.5
98.9
98.2
97.9
104.8
98.3
92.4
98.5
100. 4
101.7

102.1
105.1

103.9

99.3

97.4
112.4
115.9
100.4
98.6
96.7
106.9
109.2

115.7
104.2
101.4
91.0
119.0
100.5
92.6
105.8
98.1
98.0
95.7

99.4
99.3
109.3
101.5
99.4
97.3
79.5
85.9
95.5
98.1
84.4
101.9
87.6

91.8
104.2
97.1
92.2
100.4
92.4
85.1
94.1
99.4
105.3
100. 3
97.4
92.3

111.2
93.4

100.0
87.0

100.8
92.2
100.2
106.5
87.0
104.7
99.3
105.1

100.1
92.5

112.9
104.2

111.2
108.7
118.5
114.6
111.3
105.5
95.0
97.1
91.9
92.1
81.1
81.2
91.6
102.9
101.5

102.0
109.1

106.2
95.4
89.1
88.3

86.2
100.0
92.7
99.4
96.3
94.0
93.3

101.6
97.3

102.4
108.2
117.5

166 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table XXV.—Number

of lay-offs and other breaks in employment of all women
employed during year in specified departments in Sioux City and St. Paul, June,
1927, to May, 1928, inclusive
[Source: Year’s pay rolls]
Sioux City

Number of breaks in em Women
ployment with cause re employ
ed in
ported
slaugh
tering
and meat
packing

St. Paul

Breaks in employment
with cause reported

Total

Lay-offs

Women Breaks in employment
with cause reported
employ
ed in
slaugh
tering
Other and meat Total Lay-offs Other
packing

ALL DEPARTMENTS
Total_______________
Total reported—Number
1
2....... ................... .............
3.........................................
4
5
7..........................................

734

984

554

809
100.0

426
52.7

383
47.3

629

782
100.0

369
47.2

413
52.8

374
122
46
9
2
1

374
244
138
36
10
7

166
128
98
21
6
7

208
116
40
15
4

515
85
23
2
4

515
170
69
8
20

214
99
40
4
12

301
71
29
4
8

KILL
Total.
Total reported—Number.
Per cent.

100.0

OFFAL
Total..............................

Total reported—Number ..
Per cent___

54
34
12
3
4
1

1
2_____________________
3...................................... .
4____ ________________
5

167
88
100.0

50
56.8

38
43.2

111

137
100.0

70
51.1

67
48.9

34
24
9
16

15
19
5
7
4

19
5
4
9
1

88
20
3

88
40
9

42
25
3

46
15
6

CASINGS (BEEF, HOG, AND SHEEP)
Total.
Total reported—Number.
Per cent.

100.0

PORK TRIM
Total
Total reported—Number
1______________ _____
2......... ................................
3......... ................................
4....... .................... .............

176

171

130

184
100.0

121
65.8

63
34.2

134

160
100.0

60
37.5

100
62.5

91
25
13
1

91
50
39
4

55
28
34
4

36
22
5

114
14
6

114
28
18

41
11
8

73
17
10

1 Per cent not computed; base less than 50.

167

GENERAL TABLES
Table XXV.—-Number

of lay-offs and other breaks in employment of all wom,en
employed during year in specified departments in Sioux City and St. Paul, June,
1927, to May, 1928, inclusive—Continued
[Source: Year’s pay rolls]
Sioux City

Women
Number of breaks in em employ
ployment with cause re ed in
reported
slaugh
tering
and meat
packing

St. Paul

Breaks in employment Women
employ
with cause reported
ed in
slaugh
tering
Total Lay-offs Other and meat
packing

Breaks in employment
with cause reported
Total

Lay-offs

Other

SAUSAGE CASINGS
Total____ _____ _____
24

Per cent___
1____________________
2.___ ______ _________

16
SAUSAGE MANUFACTURING

Total........ .....................
Total reported—Number
1.......................................
2 __
3______ ______________
5......... ................... _.........

59
29

177
p>

24
4
1

24
8
3

7
3

116
100.0

50
43.1

66
56.9

78
12
3
1

78
24
9
5

31
11

47
13

SMOKED MEAT (OTHER THAN SLICED BACON)
Total___ ____________

Total reported—Number...
Per cent___

1
2......... .............................
3__________ _____ ____

41
8
4

42
69
100.0

44
63.8

25
36.2

41
16
12

23
12
9

18
4
3

18
5
1

18
10
3

5
6
2

13
4
1

SLICED BACON
Total

Total reported—Number.._ .
1____________________
2......... ........................ ......
3___ _________ _____ _

100

17
5
2

33
17
10
6

12
7
5

76
100.0

39
51.3

37
48.7

10
5
6

53
7

53
14

21
9
9

32
5

LARD, BUTTER, BUTTERINE, AND CHEESE
Total.
Total reported—Number.
Per cent.

100.0

OTHER
Total.
Total reported—Number.
Per cent.

100.0

i Per cent not computed; base less than 50.

168 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table XXVI.—Number of breaks in employment of women employed during year

in selected departments in East St. Louis and Omaha, June, 1927, to May, 1928,
inclusive
[Source: Year’s record *]
739 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing during
year
With number of breaks in employment
reported

Department
Total

Total
reported

More
than 3

No
breaks
reported

EAST ST. LOUIS
234

186
100.0

129
69.4

39
21.0

13
7.0

5
2.7

51
27
68
28
60

49
25
49
20
43

29
12
34
19
35

9
9
13
1
7

8
3
2

3
1

505

392
100.0

286
73.0

65
16.6

18
4.6

23
5.9

113

73
122
32
104
174

67
84
19
80
142

42
69
11
50
114

9
10
6
16
24

3
3
2
9
1

13
2

6
38
13
24
32

48
2
19
8
17

OMAHA

5
3

1 Employment record only.
2 Includes 61 women in beef, hog, and sheep casings; 45 in kill and offal; 29 in offal cooler; 5 in glue; 20 in
lard; 14 in smoked meat.

169

GENERAL TABLES
Table XXVII.—Duration

of breaks in employment of women employed during
year in selected departments in East St. Louis and Omaha, June, 1927, to May,
1928, inclusive
[Source: Year's record ']
849 breaks in employment during year of 739 women employed
in slaughtering and meat packing
Duration of breaks in employment reported
Department
Total

More
than 1
4 and
12 and
24 and 36 weeks
1 week and less less than less than less than
and
than 4 12 weeks 24 weeks 36 weeks longer
weeks

EAST ST. LOUIS
Total—Number_________
Per cent

Sausage manufacturing........... ..........
Sausage pack......... ............................
Sliced bacon

271
100.0

110
40.6

26
9.6

35
12.9

38
14.0

24
8.9

38
14.0

84
47
66
21
53

49
27
26
4
4

3
9
8
2
4

4
1
16

10
6
12

1
3
11
5
4

7
8
7
3
13

OMAHA
Total—Number......................
Per cent

578
100.0

176
30.4

65
9.5

123
21.3

71
12.3

55
9.5

98
17.0

Pork trim--------------- --------------Sausage manufacturing---------------Sausage pack_____
_______
Sliced bacon______ _____________
Other *______ _________________

134
106
29
131
178

69
25
8

7
7
3
17
21

32
16
7
23
45

9
9
4
13
36

4
18
6
10
17

13
31
1
20
33

1 Employment record only.
2 See note to Table XXVL

170 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table XXVIII.—Duration of lay-offs and other breaks in employment during year

of all and of new women employees in Sioux City and St. Pauly June, 1927, to
May, 1928, inclusive
[Source: Year’s pay rolls]1 2
Sioux City

St. Paul

Number of breaks in
employment with
cause reported

Women
Duration of breaks in
employment

With
cause
of
Total break
Total
re
ported

Number of breaks in
employment with
cause reported

Women

With
cause
Lay Other Total
of
offs
break Total
re
ported

Lay Other
offs

ALL EMPLOYEES
Total................................

734
134

With breaks.............................

600

4 and less than 9 weeks..
9 and less than 14 weeks...
14 and less than 27 weeks..
27 and less than 40 weeks..
40 weeks and longer_____

984

____ __

155

1564

809

426

383

43
90
83
133
86
157
72
93

46
101
90
145
88
174
72
93

40
69
46
84
39
73
33
42

6
32
44
61
49
101
39
51

829

1629

782

369

413

45
64
88
106
166
139
88

48
73
63
92
111
168
139
88

49
75
69
39
32

43
36
99
100
56

i 326

398

222

176

16
33
33
40
46
110
77
30

17
39
37
41
46
111
77
30

10
36
22
27
35
55
24
13

3
15
14
11
56
53
17

NEW EMPLOYEES2
Total................................

295

With no breaks.........................

With breaks............... ..............

264

Less than 1 week.._____
1 and less than 2 weeks__
2 and less than 4 weeks__

403
42
1260

353

209

25
33
27
61
45
83
26
33

25
41
29
64
46
89
26
33

25
34
20
39
23
38
12
18

144
7
9
25
23
51
14
15

1 Details do not total, as women had breaks of different duration.
2 Those hired for the first time dining the year.

361

171

GENERAL TABLES
Table XXIX.—Percentage

distribution1 by duration of lay-offs and other breaks in
employment of all and of new women employees in Sioux City and St. Paul, June,
1927, to May, 1928, inclusive
[Source: Year’s pay rolls]

Duration of breaks in
employment

Sioux City

St. Paul

Per cent duration of
Per cent breaks in employment
of wom
en with
Cause reported
cause of
break re
ported
Total Lay-offs Other

ALL EMPLOYEES
Total-...................................

2100.0

100.0

2100.0

100.0

Less than 1 week______ ______
1 and less than 2 weeks
2 and less than 4 weeks
4 and less than 9 weeks_____ _ _
9 and less than 14 weeks...
14 and less than 27 weeks.
27 and less than 40 weeks__ ___
40 weeks and longer, ___ _ ... __

7.8
16.2
15.0
24.0
15.5
28.3
13.0
16.8

5.7
12.5
11.1
17.9
10.9
21.5
8.9
11.5

9.4
16.2
10.8
19.7
9.2
17.1
7.7
9.9

1.6
8.4
11.5
15.9
12.8
26.4
10.2
13.3

7.2
10.2
8.7
14.0
16.9
26.4
22.1
14.0

6.1
9.3
8.1
11.8
14.2
21.5
17.8
11.3

6.2
12.5
9.8
13.3
20.3
18.7
10.6
8.7

6.1
6.5
6.5
10.4
8.7
24.0
24.2
13.6

100.0

2100.0

100.0

4.9
6.2
17.4
16.0
35.4
9.7
10.4

4.9
10.1
10.1
12.3
14.1
33.7
23.6
9.2

4.3
9.8
9.3
10.3
11.6
27.9
19.3
7.5

4.5
16.2
9.9
12.2
15.8
24.8
10.8
5.9

40
1.7
8.5
8.0
6.2
31.8
30.1
9.7

NEW EMPLOYEES »
Total__________ ________

2100.0

100.0

1 and less than 2 weeks..__ _
2 and less than 4 weeks.......... ...
4 and less than 9 weeks
9 and less than 14 weeks___ ____
14 and less than 27 weeks
27 and less than 40 weeks..
40 weeks and longer.______ ...

9.6
12.7
10.4
23.5
17.3
31.9
10.0
12.7

7.1
11.6
8.2
18.1
13.0
25.2
7.4
9.3

12.0
16.3
9.6
18.7
11.0
18.2
5.7
8.6

1 See Table XXVIII for numbers.
3 Details do not total, as women had breaks of different duration.
* Those hired for the first time during the year.

Duration of lay-offs of all women employed during year in specified departments in Sioux City and
May, 1928, inclusive

[Source: Year’s pay rolls]

Total

Num
ber

—

Lay-offs of women employed in slaughtering and meat packing

With lay-offs
reported

Department

Per
cent

’

Duration of absence following lay-off
Total

and 2 and 4 and 6 and 8 and 10 and 12 and 16 and 20 and 24 and
5 days 1 less
36
less
less
less
less
less
less
less
less
less
and
weeks
than 2 than 4 than 6 than 8 than 10 than 12 than 16 than 20 than 24 than
less
36
and
weeks weeks weeks weeks weeks weeks weeks weeks weeks weeks longer
SIOUX CITY

Total—Number
Per cent-____ ____________
Kill. .......................... ..................
Offal________________________
Casings (beef, hog, and sheep) ______
Pork trim______________________ ..
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon)__

734

293

39.9

426
100.0

110
76
96
176
59
60

48
32
38
85
10
33

14
22

43.6
42.1
39.6
48.3
16.9
55.0
0)
(l)
24.7

74
50
62
121
10
44
12
18
35

6
3
9

1
3

1
5

4
10

4
8

43
10.1

23
5.4

21
4.9

22
5.2

30
7.0

20
4.7

38
8.9

48
11.3

8
6

3
4
4
8
1
1

10
1
2
6

2
4
9

3
5
2
6

3
4
7
3

3
5
4
11

12
4
3
19

1
1

4
1

42
11.4

13
6

2
5

2
4

13
1
1
3
1

21
5.7

16
4.3

18
4.9

55
14.9

35
9.5

11
3.0

1
4
1
2

3
6
2
2

2
5
2
7

1
25
4
6

3
1
10

3
4

2
1

1
6
1

3
1
5
7
2

13
5

ST. PAUL
Total—Number_____________
Per cent__________________
Kill
Offal.—..................... ............. ........
Sausage casings..............................
Sausage manufacturing..............
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon)
Other......... ..................
1 Per cent not computed; base less than 50.

984

303

30.8

369
100.0

167

62
19
53
8
42
10
30
57
10

C1)
37.1
23.5
31.0
12.5
23.7
0)
30.0
59.4
17.5

70
24
60
8
50
13
39
78
11

64
177
42
100
96
57

23
1
2
3
3
2
3
5

3
3
9
1
5
3
16

5
4
2

63
3
12

2
4
3

5
4
1

8
2
4
12

42
11.4
7
1
3
2
15
4
6

W OMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

Women

1927

Paul June
’
’

172

Table XXX.

173

GENERAL TABLES
Table XXXI.—Number

of lay-offs during past year as reported by 159 women
[Source: Home visits]
Women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Laid off during past year

Department

With number of lay-otis reported
Total

Offal

____________________

7 and
more

11
7.0

1
0.6

157
100.0

124
79.0

21
13.4

10
13
15
27
10
22

10
12
15
27
10
21
9
38
15

5
9
9
22
8
19
6
32
14

5
2
3
4
1
1
1
4

38
15
Table XXXII.—Duration

Total
report 1 and 2 3 and 4 5 and 6
ing

159
Per cent........................................

Not re
porting
num
ber

3
1
1
1
2
2
1

of lay-offs during past year as reported by 159 women
[Source: Home visits]
308 lay-offs reported by 159 women employed in slaughtering and
meat packing
Duration of absence following lay-off

Department

Total—N umber
Per cent...............
Kill
..........................................Offal_______________________
Casings (beef, hog, and sheep)--.
Pork trim.-------------- -----------Sausage manufacturing
Smoked meat (other than sliced
Sliced bacon-------------------------Other________________ ____

Dura
tion
6 and 12 and
not
1 and 2 and
4
less
less
Total Total Less
re
less months port
less
than
than
re than 12 days 24 days than 2 than 4 and
ed
ported 6 days (or 2
(or 1 months months longer
weeks) month)
308

284
100.0

38
13.4

67
.23.6

52
18.3

55
19.4

46
16.2

i 26
9.2

24
2 29
36
51
20
233

17
26
34
48
20
30

2
3
6
4
4
3

1
2
7
14
6
13

5
6
8
8
6
4

5
4
9
9
3
2

2
7
3

2
4
1

7
3
2

1
6

23
68
24

21
65
23

4
12

5
15
4

2
7
6

6
15
2

4
9
5

7
6

1 The longest period was 10 months, for 1 woman in “sliced bacon” and 1 in “other.”
2 Excludes those for 1 woman for whom number of lay-offs was not reported.

174 WOMEN EMPLOYED

in slaughtering and meat packing

Table XXXIII.—Procedures in relation to lay-offs during past year as reported by

125 women
[Source: Home visits]

Women

Procedures in relation to lay-offs reported by 125 women
employed in slaughtering and meat packing

lay-offs
Procedures reported

Department

Sent
Re
by
port Total Total for
firm
ing
Total
re
or
pro
ported told
ce
toredure
turn

Got
new
job or Tried
did but
tem could
got no
po work
rary
work

Total. .............. ...........

159

125

211

163

Kill
Offal___________ ______ _
Casings (beef, hog, and
sheep)
Pork trim..
Sausage casings_____ __
Sausage manufacturing___
Smoked meat (other than
sliced bacon)
Sliced bacon
Other.....................................

10
13

6
12

13
17

8
15

3
6

1
3

15
27
10
22

10
22
7
19

23
3b
12
29

15
27
8
25

7
10
2
6

2
3

1
2

9
38
15

5
32
12

10
53
19

5
45
15

7
5

18
4

Did
not
try
for
other
work

Avoided
Went indefi
lay
to em nite
ploy off by
Not
ment members
re
gang ported
office of
taking
and
turns at
were
taken volun
tary
on
again 1 absence
from
work

3
4

3
7
4
3

2
2
2
6

1
8
2

2
4
3

2
8
1

8
8
4
4

5
8
4

1 Sometimes this occurred shortly after the lay-off, sometimes at a period considerably later and after
repeated visits to the office.

Over-all employment with present or Last firm as reported by 159
women
[Source: Home visits]

Table XXXIV.—

159 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing laid
off during past year
Over-all employment reported

Department

Total—Number
Kill
Offal......................... ............... ..................

Sausage manufacturing. _______ ___ _.
Smoked meat (other than sliced bacon).
Sliced bacon..........................................
Other _____ _____

Total

Total
reporting

159

154
100. 0

18
11.7

10
13
15
27
10
22
9
38
15

10
11
15
27
10
22
9
36
14

1
2

Not

Less
1 and
5 and 10 years
than less than less than and
1 year 5 years 10 years longer

1
1

3
9
1

ing

39
25.3

i 16
10.4

3
11
9
7
11
8
22
8

4
3
9
3
7

3
4

2
1

11 woman, in “pork trim,” had worked 23 years with the firm; and 3 women, 1 each in “offal,” “sausage
manufacturing,” and “other,” had worked 15 years.

175

GENERAL TABLES
Table XXXV.—Age of 159 women laid off during past year
[Source: Home visits]

159 women employed in slaughtering and meat
packing
Department
Total

17 and
under
20 years

20 and
under
30 years

30 and 40 years
under
40 years and over

Total—Number
Per cent___________________ _____

159
100.0

35
22.0

50
31.4

57
35.8

Kill
___________________ ________________
Offal____
Casings (beef, hog, and sheep).......
...
.........
Pork trim------ ------------- -----------------------------

10
13
15
27
10
22
9
38
15

1
2
1
3
5
2
18
3

5
4
5
5
4
5
4
15
3

5
6
6
15
3
7
3
6
7

Sausage manfacturing------Other------ -----

------------ -------- -------

----------------------------------- ----------

117
10.7
2
2
6
5
2

I 1 woman in “offal” was 54, and 1 in “pork trim” was 45.
Table XXXVI.—Number of new women employees with breaks in employment

during year and duration of employment prior to first break, Sioux City, St. Paul,
and Ottumwa, June, 1987, to May, 1928, inclusive
[Source: Year’s pay rolls]
New women employees with breaks in employment reported

Duration of employment prior to
first break

Total___________ _______ _

Total

7
3
4
5
6
1
2
break breaks breaks breaks breaks breaks breaks

661

506

116

148
198
134
77
80
24

110
154
97
56
68
21

28
32
28
16
9
3

6
10
5
4
3

2
2

3
1

1
1

176 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table XXXVII.—Number and cause of breaks in employment during year and

duration of employment prior to first break for all new women employees in Sioux
City, St. Paul, and Ottumwa, June, 1927, to May, 1928, inclusive
[Source: Year’s payrolls]
875 breaks in employment of 661 new women
employees
Duration of employment prior to first break

Cause reported
breaks

Total
reported

Lay-offs

Other

not re
ported

BREAKS OF ALL WOMEN DURING YEAR
Total_________________
Less than 2 weeks____
2 and less than 4 weeks___________
4 and less than 8 weeks______
8 and less than 12 weeks.......................
12 and less than 24 weeks____ ________
24 weeks and longer ______________ _

875

786

449

337

205
258
186
104
95
. 27

192
236
169
90
83
16

90
143
106
53
48
9

102
93
63
37
35
7

13
22
17
12
11

ONE BREAK DURING YEAR
Total.......................

506

472

238

234

Less than 2 weeks_____
2 and less than 4 weeks _ _
4 and less than 8 weeks. _
8 and less than 12 weeks.
12 and less than 24 weeks
24 weeks and longer____

110
154
97
56
68
21

103
148
93
53
61
14

28
84
54
28
35
9

75
64
39
25
26
5

7
6
4
3
7
7

TWO BREAKS DURING YEAR
Total......................

232

197

118

Less than 2 weeks. .........
2 and less than 4 weeks..
4 and less than 8 weeks..
8 and less than 12 weeks.
12 and less than 24 weeks
24 weeks and longer____

56
64
56
32
18
6

53
56
46
25
15
2

35
36
27
14
6

18
20
19
11
9
2

3
8
10
7
3
4

THREE BREAKS DURING YEAR

Total..________ ________ __________ ___
2 and less than 4 weeks ____________________ _
4 and less than 8 weeks............................. ........
8 and less than 12 weeks_______ ________ _____
12 and less than 24 weeks

18
30
15
12
9

24
15
9
7

19
13
g
7

10
3

7
3

6
3

FOUR BREAKS DURINO YEAR

2 and less than 4 weeks.. ________________________
8 and less than 12 weeks.................................................

177

GENERAL TABLES

Table XXXVII.—Number and cause of breaks in employment during year and

duration of employment prior to first break for all new women employees in Sioux
City, St. Paul, and Ottumwa, June, 1927, to May, 1928, inclusive—Continued
875 breaks in employment of 661 new women
employees—Continued
Cause reported

Duration of employment prior to first break

Total
breaks

Total
reported

Lay-offs

Cause
not re
ported

Other

FIVE BREAKS DURING YEAR
20

10
10

10
8

3
4

7
4

SIX BREAKS DURING YEAR
6

SEVEN BREAKS DURING YEAR
7

178 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table XXXVIII.—Employment status and breaks in employment of all women
[Source: Year’s
Women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Sioux City
Total

Department

Kill

*3
m
o

Beef

Hog and sheep

Pork trim

Manufacturing,
fresh

dry, and kind
not reported
Smoked meat (other
than sliced bacon)

Sliced bacon

Lard, butter, butterine, and cheese

Other

Employment status and breaks
in employment

110

176

19
4
15
2
8
5

51
1
50
4
35
11

14
2
12

4
3

31
2
29
5
16
8

17
5
12
5
6
1

32
1
31
2
25
4

21
6
15
2
10
3

18
2
16
2
11
3

39
8
31
4
18
9

17
2
15

4
1
3

4
3
1
1

8
1
7
3
3
1

1
2

4
1
3
2
1

5
2
3

11
4

36
8
28
6
16
6

12
1
5
6

40
8
32
1
16
6

13
4
9

29
6
23

89
19
70

41
22
19

5
3
1

2
8

32
9
1
1
22

10
5
1
1
2

Casings

Total............................................ 734
New employees (hired for first time
during year)______ ____________
No break____ _______ ________
With breaks
During year
At end of year
During and at end of year__
Old employees called “new” (not on
books for 6 weeks or more prior to
pay roll on which name first ap
pears in 12 months studied)
No break..___ _______________
With breaks
During year................. .........
At end of year
During and at end of year__

295 100.0
31 10.5
264 89.5
26
8.8
180 61.0
58 19.7

37
9

128 100.0
21 16.4
107 83.6
18 14.1
59 46.1
30 23.4

22
3
19
1
12
6

Old employees___________________ 311 100.0
No break
82 26.4
With breaks
229 73.6
At beginning of year only___
1
.3
During year............... ............. 88 28.3
At end of year____ _______
57 18.3
At beginning and end of year. 10
3.2
At beginning and during year.
4
1.3
During and at end of year...
59 19.0
At beginning, during, and
at end of year
10
3.2

42
6
36

8
11
3
11

1
12

P a c k , fresh ,

Per cent

Number

Sausage

10
2

10
3
3
4

11
4
7

18
4
14

9
2
7

7
3
4

12
4
8

3
3

6
5
1

3
3

1
1

2
3
3

1
1

6
4

179

GENERAL TABLES

employed, during year in Sioux City and St. Paul, June, 1927, to May, 1928, inclusive
pay rolls]
Women employed in slaughtering and meat packing—continued
St. Paul

Sliced bacon

Lard, butter, butterine, and cheese

Casings

Smoked meat (other
than sliced bacon)

Department

Total

100

13
2
11
5
6

47
3
44
5
36
3

71
6
65
6
42
17

7
2
5
1
2
2

3
]
2
2

21
1
20
3
14
3

9
1
5
3

29
11
18

22
5
17

32
8
24
^ 13
5
4
6
2

16
1
15

10
1
9

7
4
1

5
4

dry, and kind
not reported

Hog and sheep

Pork trim

Fresh

Dry

Kind not
reported

P a c k , fresh ,

Beef

dry, and kind
not reported

Casings, fresh,

Offal

984

Kill

Per cent

Number

Sausage

167

171

29
5
24
5
17
2

14
3
11
4
6
1

26
10
16
8
5
3

8
2
6
2
4

71
8
52
11

5
2
3

33
5
28
6
18
4

12
3
9
2
6
1

19
9
10
6
4

8
4
4
1
3

Manufacturing

403
42
361
50
254
57

100.0
10.4
89.6
12.4
63.0
14.1

18
2
16
1
12
3

66
7
59
2
44
13

188
28
160
26
107
27

100.0
14. 9
85.1
13.8
56.9
14.4

5
1
4

48
4
44
3
31
10

16
1
12
3

393
85
308

100.0
21.6
78.4

9
3
6

53
6
47

9
4
5

15
3
12

67
8
59

38
13
25

42
18
24

24
4
20

128
90
7
4
75

32.6
22.9
1.8
1.0
19.1

15
16

2
2

6
2

13
7
1

19
5

4
9
1

1
14

29
10
1
3
16

1.0

64051°—32----- 13

7
1
6

19
2

2
2

9
4
1
1
3

7
]
5
1

5
M
6

—

1928, inclusive

Duration of bonus, guaranteed
pay, and vacation

Sioux City

St. Paul

Women employed in slaughtering and meat packing

Over-all employment reported

Total

Num
ber

Per
cent

44 weeks and longer

Total

Less
than
44 and 46 and 48 and
44
less
less
less
50
51
52 Num
weeks Total than than than
46
48
50 weeks weeks weeks ber
weeks weeks weeks

Per
cent

44 weeks and longer
Less
than
44 and 46 and 48 and
44
less
less
less
50
51
52
weeks Total than than than
46
48
50 weeks weeks weeks
weeks weeks weeks

BONUS
Total number affected.

282

100.0

212

No bonus received........ .........

22.7

Bonus received—Number___
Per cent___

218
100. 0

77.3

150
68.8

68
31.2

1 and less than 12 weeks..
12 and less than 24 weeks.
24 and less than 36 weeks.
36 and less than 44 weeks.
44 and less than 48 weeks.
48 and less than 52 weeks.
52 weeks..........................

95
39
30
14
8
23
9

33.7
13.8
10.6
5. 0
2.8
8.2
3.2

87
32
23
8

8
7
7
6
8
23
9

1
3

1
1
1

7
1
1
2
1
2

15
2
1
1
2
1
8

1
2
8
1

798

1
11

643
100.0

2
1

3
4
2

266
108
76

2
6

2
1
8

31
91
20

100.0

603

19.4

155

80.6

448
69.7

33.3
13. 5
9.5
6.4
11.4
2.5

263
100
52
33

195
195
30.3
.

3
8
24
18
91
20

3
2
11

4
4

6
5
6

W O M EN EM PLO Y ED IN SLA U G H TER IN G AND M EA T PA C K IN G

[Source: Year’s pay rolls]

180

Table XXXIX.—Bonus, guaranteed pay, and vacation by over-all employment during year in Sioux City and St. Paul, June, 1927 to May

GUARANTEED PAY
Total number affected---------

734

100.0

577

157

984

100.0

757

227

81.1

619

179

No guaranteed pay received---------

555

75. 6

473

798

Guaranteed pay received—Number,

179

24.4

104
58.1

75
41.9

186

18.9

138

8.7

4-1
24

20
6

1
1

53
17
17
28
14
9

7
14
11

2
2
1

6.4
2.3
1.7
3.6
2.8
2.0

2
1

3
6
1
2

63
23
17
35
28
20

10
6

15
8

4
2
1
2
5
1

2
3
2
2
2
1

2
1

1
1

3
3
3

1
6
4

4 and less tban / weeks,, ——— —
11 and less than 14 weeks--------

23
8

2. 5
1.1

2
1
1

5
5
3

Total number affected------ ,,

734
679

Per cent..........

100.0
92.5

55
100.0

7.5

6.4
1.1

577

157

798

100.0

603

196

570

109

724

90.7

581

143

48
87.3

74
100. 0

9.3

22
29.7

52
70.3

40
8

2
1

7
3

9
4

73
1

9. 1
.1

51
1

9
1

7
12.7

■

GENERAL TABLES

VACATION WITH PAY

182 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table XL.—Number

of rooms and number of persons in household by nativity and
race of interviewed woman, in eight cities
[Source: Home visits]
Households of 897 i women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Number of rooms reported

Number of persons in
household 2
Total

7 to 10
inclu
sive

Total
reported

Number
of rooms
not re
ported

TOTAL
Total_____ __________
Total reported
1
2
3
4
5____________ _______
6
7_____
8______
9

852

776

102

278

174

847

772

102

276

173

73
165
134
138
106
102
42
42
23
22

35
150
130
132
105
90
40
41
22
21

17
8'
2

10
30
11
4
3
1
2

4
39
19
11
8
11
3
6

2
48
62
62
45
30
10
11
2
4

■1
22
27
32
31
30
15
3
8
4

1
2
6
15
13
21
6
13
7
5

1
3
8
5
3
4
8

38
15
4
6
1
6
2
1
1
1

1
1

NATIVE WHITE
Total........ .......................

270

237

Total reported........ ..................

269

236

1r
2_______________ ...........
3______ _______________
4__
5__
6
7_______ ____ __________
8
9__

23
50
36
37
24
37
12
20
12
18

6
43
34
34
24
35
12
19
12
17

2
2
1

1
9
2
2

2
11
9
4
2
8

1
14
12
11
13
8
3
5
1
4

6
7
10
4
10

1
1
2
1
2
4
2
5

2
3

2
6
3

1
2
6
3
8
2
4
3
4

4
1

2
1
1

FOREIGN BORN
Total............... ................
Total reported_____ ______
1
2________________ _____
S
4
5
6__
7_________________ ____
8
9

426

391

176

424

390

175

21
74
73
81
65
62
27
18
9
4

5
69
71
78
64
48
25
18
8
4

2
1
1

1
12
7
2
3

15
4
7
3
3
1

1
12
11
18
22
18
8
1
2
1

1
2
6
6
9
4
7
3
1

1
2
4
2

1
27
44
41
28
21
7

16
5
2
3
1
4
2

1
1

1 In 45 cases more than 1 woman was interviewed in the same household.
2 Includes lodgers.

1
4
2
2

1
1

183

GENERAL TABLES

Table XL.—Number of rooms and number of persons in household by nativity and

race of interviewed woman, in eight cities—Continued
Households of 897 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Number of rooms reported
Number of persons in
household

Total
Total
reported

NEGRO
Total.
Total reported

10 to 13 inclusive.
Not reported.
NATIVITY AND RACE NOT REPORTED
Total.

7 to 10
inclu
sive

Number
of rooms
not re
ported

184 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table XLI.—Number

of rooms and number of persons in household, by city
[Source: Home visits]

Households of 8971 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Number of rooms reported

Number of persons in
household2
Total
Total
reported

7 to 10
inclu
sive

Number
of rooms
not re
ported

CHICAGO
Total
Total reported.

10 to 13 inclusive.
Not reported.
EAST ST. LOUIS
Total.
Total reported

10 to 13 inclusive.
Not reported______
KANSAS CITY
Total.
Total reported.

10 to 13 inclusive.more than 1 woman was interviewed in the same household.

> Includes lodgers.

185

GENERAL TABLES
Table XLI.—Number

of rooms and number of persons in household, by city—
Continued
Households of 897 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Number of rooms reported

Number of persons in
household
Total

Total
reported

•

7 to 10
inclu
sive

Number
of rooms
not re
ported

OMAHA

Total......................... ......

Total reported--------------------

2
15
10
9
12
16
7
4
9
5

1
13
9
8
12
15
7
4
9
4

2
1
1
1
2

5
2
3
3
5
3

6
3
4
6
2
2
2
5

1
2
1
1

2
5
2

2
3
4

3
6

FOUR OTHER CITIES
Total............................. -..........

186 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTEKING AND MEAT PACKING
Table XLII.

Number of lodgers in family, by nativity and race of interviewed
woman and by city
[Source: Home visits]
Families of 897i women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Reporting on lodgers

Nativity and race of inter
viewed person
Total

No lodgers
Total
report
ing
Num
ber

Per
cent

Number of lodgers

' Total

Not re
port
ing on
lodgers
and
3 to 6 living
inclu alone
sive

ALL CITIES
Total—...........
Total reporting___
Native white___
Foreign born_._ _
Negro............. .

852

773

670

86.7

103

846

768

666

86.7

102

270
432
144

248
401
119

225
353

90.7

23
48
31

35
14

11
10
10

4
3
7

31
25

Not reporting___

88.0

73.9
(2)

CHICAGO
Total................
Total reporting___
Native white___
Foreign born___
Negro........
Not reporting__

373

320

263

371

318

261

67
217
87

202

53
174
34

82.2
82T
91.4

86.1

58.6

5
28
24

25
8

53
53
9
15
29

(2)

EAST ST. LOUIS
Total...................
Total reporting...
Native white____
Foreign born..........

90.2

90.0

42
30

39
29

2
2

1
1

(2)
Not reporting..........

(?)

KANSAS CITY
Total____

208

196

171

87.2

Total reporting..

207

195

171

87.7

77
98
32

70
93
32

60
83
28

85.7
89.2
«

10
10

5
3
4

2
1

Native white.
Foreign born.,
Negro.............
Not reporting.

2 Per cent not computed; base less than 50.

187

GENERAL TABLES
Table XLII.—Number

of lodgers in family, by nativity and race of interviewed
woman and by city—Continued

Families of 897 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing— Con.
Reporting on lodgers
Nativity and race of inter
viewed person

Total

Number of lodgers

No lodgers
Total
report
ing
Num
ber

Per
cent

Total

Not report
ing on
lodgers
and
3 to 6 living
inclu alone
sive

OMAHA
Total—................ ..........
Total reporting____ ______

89.7

42
35
12

42
33
12

38
28
12

(2)
(2)
«

4
5

3
2

FOUR OTHER CITIES
Total................ ....... ...........

2 Per cent not computed; base less than 50.

95.5

188 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTEHING AND MEAT PACKING
Table XLIII.— Type

and tenure of house, by nativity
\ Source:

Families of 8971 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Type of house reported
Nativity and race of
interviewed person Total
Total

All types

1-family

Tenure reported

Owned
Total

Total Rent
ed

Owned
Total Rent
ed

bered

ALL CITIES
Total______

852

762

757

399

141

217

394

390

123

119

148

Total reporting__

846

759

754

398

140

216

393

389

123

119

147

270
426
150

236
395
128

235
391
128

116
177
105

59
75
6

60
139
17

1
4

158
178
57

157
175

56
32
35

51
62

50
81

1
3

Native white__
Foreign born___
Negro. ___...
Not reporting

CHICAGO
Total-----------

373

318

223

Total reporting____

371

317

222

Native white__
Foreign born__
Negro

67
217
87

56
195
66

33
124
65

8
12

15
59
1

6
14
5

1
2

5
10
1

Not reporting

EAST ST LOUIS
Total

Total reporting____

Native white__
Foreign born___
Negro_ _____

42
30
14

37
28
13

18
9
8

10
8
1

9
11
4

28
19
8

9
2
3

Not reporting

C
O
C
O

KANSAS CITY'
Total. ........... .

208

193

170

Total reporting____

207

192

169

Native white__
Foreign born___
Negro

77
98
32

67
93
32

31
20
18

23
38
5

13
35
9

54
85

19
17
17

22
36

13
32

Not reporting....... .

Total
Total reporting........
Native white__
Foreign born__
Negro__ ____

89
89
42
35
12

85
85
40
33
12

84
84
39
33
12

82
82~ ‘
39
32
11

81
sT

28
28~

14
IT

38
32
11

12
7
9

OMAHA
31
31
13
8
10

14
14
9
5

39
39
17
20
2

1
.

—

1
—

39
39~

1
r

20
2

FOUR OTHER CITIES
Total........ ........

...

i In 45 cases more than 1 woman was interviewed in the same family.

189

GENERAL TABLES

and race of interviewed woman and by city—Numbers
Home visits]
Families of 897 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing—Continued
Type of house reported—Continued
2-family

Multifamily
Tenure reported

Tenure reported
Owned
Total

Other types

Rent
ed Free En
cum
bered

Total

Tenure reported

Owned
Rent
ed
Free

Total

En
cum
bered

Owned
Total Rent
ed

Free

En
cum
bered

Ten- Type
not
ure
re
not port
re
port ed
ed

ALL CITIES
139

211

196

138

211

196

95
7

20
43
7

6
8

10
44

39
113
59

37
100
59

2
5

3
9
5

3
8
5

3
2
4

6
1

34
31
22

CHICAGO
100

190

177

190

177

21
74
4

6
28
4

5
5

10
41

29
105
56

27
94
56

2
5

2
1

11
22
21

1
EAST ST. LOUIS

KANSAS CITY

OMAHA
2
2
1
1

2
2
1
1

1
1

4
4
2
2
FOUR OTHER CITIES

190 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table XLIV.—Tenure

and type of house, by nativity and race of interviewed woman
and by city—Per cent distribution
[Source: Home visits]
Families of 8971 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Reporting type of house

Total re
porting

Nativity and race of
interviewed person

Reporting tenure of house

Per cent reporting type

Total re
porting

Per cent reporting
tenure
Owned

Num Per
ber
cent

1-fam 2-fam Multi
Num Per
ily
ily family Other ber
cent

Rent
ed

Free

En
cum
bered

ALL CITIES
Total........ .

762

100.0

51.7

18.2

27.7

2.4

757

100.0

52.7

18.6

28.7

759

100.0

51.8

18.2

27.8

2.2

754

100.0

52.8

18.6

28.6

Native white. .
Foreign born____
Negro_____ ___

236
395
128

100.0
100.0
100.0

66.9
45.1
44.5

15.3
24.1
5. 5

16.5
28.6
46.1

1.3
2.3
3.9

235
391
128

100.0
100.0
100.0

49.4
45.3
82.0

25.1
19.2
4.7

25.5
35.5
13.3

Total reporting ...

Not reporting

3
CHICAGO

Total

318

100.0

7.9

31.4

59.7

0.9

318

100.0

70.1

6.3

23.6

Total reporting

317

100.0

7.9

31.2

59.9

317

100.0

70.0

6.3

23.7

Native white.
Foreign born.._ ._
Negro... ____

56
195
66

100.0
100.0
100.0

10.7
7.2
7.6

37.5
37.9
6.1

51.8
53.8
84.8

1.0
1.5

56
195
66

100.0
100.0
100.0

58.9
63.6.
98.5

14.3
6.2

26.8
30.3
1.5

79 100.0
78~ 100.0

44.3

25.3

30.4

44.9

24.4

30.8

(2)
V2)

(2)
(2)
m

(2)
(2)
(‘>

Not reporting. _

1
EAST ST. LOUIS

Total
Total reporting
Native white
foreign born
Negro____

Not reporting

100.0

69.6

15.2

8.9

6.3

100.0

70.5

15.4

9.0

5.1

37
28
13

0)
(!)
(*)

<>)
(2)
(>)

«
V)

(*)

37
28
13

(2)
(!)
(’)

1
KANSAS CITY

Total_________

193

100.0

88.1

7.8

2.1

193

100.0

35.8

34.2

30.1

Total reporting

192

100.0

88.0

7.8

2.1

192

100.0

35.9

34.4

29.7

Native white.. ...
Foreign born___
Negro____
__ .

67
93
32

100.0
100.0
(2)

80.6
91.4
(2)

11.9
6.5
(2)

6.0

1.5
2.2
(2)

67
93
32

100.0
100.0
(2)

46.3
21.5
(2)

34.3
40.9
(2)

19.4
37.6
(2)

Not reporting

1 In 45 cases more than 1 woman was interviewed in the same family.
2 Per cent not computed; base less than 50.

191

GENERAL TABLES

Table XLIV.—Tenure and type of house, hy nativity and race of interviewed woman

and by city—Per cent distribution—Continued
families of 897 women employed in slaughtering and meat packing
Reporting type of house

Nativity and race of
interviewed person

Total re
porting

Reporting tenure of house

Per cent reporting type

Total re
porting

Per cent reporting
tenure
Owned

Num Per
ber
cent

1-fam 2-fam Multi Other Num Per
ily
ily family
ber
cent

Rent
ed

Free

En
cum
bered

OMAHA
Total_________ - 85
Total reporting

100.0

96.5

2.4

1.2

100.0

36.9

16.7

100.0

96.5

2.4

1.2

100.0

36.9

16.7

40
33
12

(2)
(2)
(')

(2)
(2)
«

(2)
m

(2)
(2)
(*>

(2)
0)
c)

(2)
(!)

39
33
12

100.0

49.4

25.3

FOUR OTHER CITIES
Total1

100.0

71.3

1 Per cent not computed; base less than 50.

11.5

10.3

6.9

25.3

of rooms and rent paid by families of interviewed women

192

Table XLV.—Number

[Source: Home visits]

Reporting amount of rent paid
Number of rooms
Total

Not
report
$5
and
$10
and
$15
and
$20
and
$30
and
$25
and
$35
and
$40
and
$50
and
Less
than less than less than less than less than less than less than less than less than $60 and ing rent
than $5 less$10
more
$15
$20
$25
$30
$35
$50
$40
$60
Number Per cent
Total reporting

ALL CITIES
Total...........................................

392

377

Total reporting—Number............. ...
Per cent_________

387

373
100.0

2......................................................
3
4
5___________________________
6...______ _________________
7____________________
8.___________ ______________
9................................. ....................

46
65
169
64
31
6
5
1

Not reporting.................. ....................

Total_____________________

219

212

Total reporting—Number___ ___
Per cent_____ ____

219

212
100.0

100.0

2.................................
3._________ ____
4_____________
5______ ____ _
6--.___ _________________
7_____________
8..___ ___________ _____
9.......................... .

19
21
114
37
22
3
2
1

18
20
112
36
22
3
1

8.5
9.4
52.8
17.0
10.4
1.4
.5

42
62
166
63
30
6
4'

100.0
11.3
16.6
44.5
16.9
8. 0
1.6
1.1

136

1
0.3

17
4.6

85
22.8

136
36.5

54
14.5

28
7.5

10
2.7

18
4.8

12
3.2

2
0.5

10
2.7

10
1
6

23
32
26
3
1

85
21

31
14

1
12
1

1
2

CHICAGO

_______ [

2.8

17.5

34.0

15.1

9.4

3.3

7.1

5.2

0.9

4.7

10
12
15

2
4

1
1

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

392 1 families living in rented homes

EAST ST. LOUIS
Total--------- ---------- -----------Total reporting—Number............... Per cent_________

2........... ................................ ..........
3
4
5------------------ --------------------6

6
19
6
2
1

(2)

5
19
6
2
1

(’)

Not reporting--------- --------------------

Total_____________________

Total reporting—Number........ ..........
Per cent—............

65
100.0

2---------------- -----------------------3___________________________
4.____ ___ _______
- 5________ _________ ________
6
7---------- ----------- -------------------

13
11
33
9
1

11
10
33
9
1
1

(2)

(3)

1
—
0

1
l

4
6

3
4
1

10
1
1

(!)
(!)
(!>

1
1

1
KANSAS CITY
19

100.0

6
9.2

19
29.2

28
43.1

7
10.8

2
3.1

1
1.5

16.9
15.4
50.8
13.8
1.5
1.5

2
1
3

5
7
6
1

2
1
20
4
1

4
2

..........

2
1

2
1
—

OMAHA
Total................ -------- -----------

Total reporting—Number--------------

2_______ _____ _____________
3___________________________
4
5___------------------------------------6------------ ----------- ---------------7.....................—...........................
8-_......................................... ........

2
3
9
8
3
1
2

2
2
9
8
2
1
2

Not reporting

------------------------

2
i

1
2
5

0)
0)

2
7
1
1

...

I
1

GENERAL TABLES

5 |_......... ~|

(!)

FOUR OTHER CITIES
Total__________________________

_______ |

i Excludes families that are rooming.

1 Per cent not computed; base less than SO.

CO
CO

194 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table

XLVI.

Occupations other than in slaughtering and meat packing of female
wage earners in families of interviewed women
[Source: Home visits]
Niimber of fe male relat ves
Occupation

Relation o interviewved person
Total
Mother

Total............................
Total reporting............. ...........
Clerical.....................
Domestic and personal service__ _
Hotel and restaurant______
.
Laundry..........................
Mercantile____ __
Telephone and telegraph___________
Manufacture:
Bag-_______ _________________
Box. _______
Candy.................. ...........
Clothing_____________
Food............ __
Jewelry______
Metal____ ______...
Paper__________
Shoe_____
___
Textile_______ ____
Tile________ ...
Other_____________ _

Daughter

10
1
1

1
1

Not reporting. ___________

Sister

8
1

195

GENERAL TABLES

Table XLVII.—Occupations other than in slaughtering and meat packing of male

wage earners in families of interviewed women
[Source: Home visits]

Fj umber of male relatives
Relation to interviewed person

Occupation

Total
Husband

Father

Brother

Son

Total------- ---------- ------- ----------------------------

360

191

otal reporting.......................................................... ..

343

186

16
32
13
23
6
12
1
40

4
16
8
17
1
7

6
5
1

6
2
4
1
2

43
14

25
10

7
2

5
2

1
2
5

1
I
4
5

l
1

1
3
1
2
2
1
2
2

Domestic and personal service 1____ . -------

Transportation.. _ ...................... - ....... .........
General labor, not otherwise specified:
Manufacture—
Manufacture:

Food______ _______

______

Metal___ _______________________
Railroad and machine shop__ _

________

Wood- _ __ ___ _____ ___ - _ - __
Other manufacture. ......... ..................... .........
■Jot reporting... _
1 Includes hotel and restaurant.

64051.°—32----- 14

___ ________ ___

10
3
1
45
4
3
24
2
2
21
15
17

5
4

3
1
1
5

1
1

29
1

17
2

9
1
3
3

4
9

1
4
2

1
11
1

2
3

196 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table

XLVIII.—Number and sex of all wage earners in families of inter[Source:

Number of wage earners in family in addition to interviewed person
Total
Sex of wage earners

Employed
steadily
Total
Num
ber

Per
cent

1 wage earner

Not em
ployed Total
steadily

Employed
steadily
Num
ber

Per
cent

Not em
ployed
steadily

ALL CITIES
Total________

_________

Male______________ _ _
Female_________________

863

630

73.0

233

465

341

73.3

124

698
165

499
131

71.5
79.4

199
34

424
41

305
36

71.9
(*>

119
5

CHICAGO
Total_____ ______________
Male................ .................
Female-___ ____

348

248

71.3

100

178

119

66.9

269
79

179
69

66.5
87.3

90
10

153
25

97
22

63.4
w

56
3

EAST ST. LOUIS
Total___

. ...................

Male________________
Female_______________

105

70.5

82
23

57
17

69.5

25
6

46
3

36
3

(l)
(0

KANSAS CITY
Total_____ ________
Male.... ........ ........ .......
Female_________

217

160

73.7

113

75.2

179
38

132
28

73.7
(>)

47
10

105

77
8

73.3
(>)

OMAHA
Total____________

Male_____________ ___________
Female______ __ _ -

72.4

77.0

88
10

66
5

75.0
o

22
6

60
1

78.3

FOUR OTHER CITIES
Total.............. . ..................

81.1

79.7

Male___________ _____________
Female__ _____________ _____

80
15

65
12

81.3
(■)

15
3

60
4

48
3

80.0
w

12
1

1 Per cent not computed; base less than .50.

197

GENERAL TABLES
viewed, women, according to whether steadily or not steadily employed
Home visits]
Number of wage earners in family in addition to interviewed person—Continued

Employed
steadily
Total
Number

Per
cent

4 to 6 wage earners

3 wage earners

2 wage earners

Employed
steadily

Not em
ployed Total
steadily

Num
ber

Per
cent

Employed
steadily

Not em
ployed Total
steadily

Num
ber

Per
cent

Not em
ployed
steadily

ALL CITIES
254

179

70.5

108

75.0

172
82

114
65

66.3
79.3

58
17

76
32

60
21

78.9
w

16
11

26
10

20
9

(>)
w

6
1

CHICAGO
116

74.1

77
39

51
35

66.2
0

26
4

32
14

24
11

(>)
c1)

8
3

7
1

EAST ST. LOUIS
28

17
11

10
9

(0
«

7
2

10
7

8
4

2
3

9
2

3
1

KANSAS CITY
64

67.2

46
18

32
11

14
7

22
8

17
5

(>)

5
3

6
4

0
0

OMAHA
31

23
8

15
5

8
3

5
1

1
1

FOUR OTHER CITIES

-i
15
%

9
6

6
5

4
3
1

9
7
2

7
1

0
0

4
3

7
V

6
I

198 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
Table

XLIX.—Age of children and number at home, at school, and at work, by
nativity and race of mother
[Source: Home visits]

Number of children under 18 years of age
Mothers
with
Age reported
Status reported
chil
City and nativity and race
Aver
dren un
of mother
der 18
age
years of Total per Under 7 and 14 and Total
fam
under under
At
At
At
age
7
re home school work
ily
18
14
years years years ported
Total............................

424

1,002

2.4

155

537

310

944

132

773

Chicago
East St. Louis,.
Kansas City ................ ........
Omaha_______ _________
St. Joseph_____ _ .
Other cities______________

177
i 39
110
54
27
17

404
73
260
154
62
49

2.3
1.9
2.4
2.9
2.3
2.9

36
8
39
51
12
9

232
40
135
66
33
31

136
25
86
37
17
9

369
69
245
151
61
49

29
11
39
' 35
10
8

322
55
195
112
50
39

18
3
11
4
1
2

Native white—All cities
Eoreign white—All cities.__ _
Negro—All cities____ _
Nativity and race not reported—All cities

80
285
58

162
731
104

2.0
2.6
1.8

52
86
16

72
409
53

38
236
35

157
685
97

38
75
18

115
578
77

4
32
2

1 Includes 2 women with the care of children but not mothers.
Table

L.—Percentage distribution of children by age and proportion at home, at
school, and at work, by nativity and race of mother
[Source: Home visits]
Per cent of children under 18 years of age
Age reported

City and nativity and race
of mother

Total

Total
Num
ber

Per
cent

Status reported

Total
Under 7 and 14 and
under under
7
18
14
years years years Num Per
ber
cent

At
At
At
home school work

1,002

100.0

15.5

53.6

30.9

944

100.0

14.0

81.9

4.1

Chicago._________________ _
East St. Louis___________
Kansas City
Omaha ... . ................. ........
St. Joseph
Other cities ____

404
73
260
154
62
49

100.0
100.0
100.0
100. 0
100.0
14

8.9
11.0
15.0
33.1
19.4
w

57.4
54.8
51.9
42.9
53.2
«

33.7
34.2
33.1
24.0
27.4
«

369
69
245
151
61
49

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

87.3
79.7
79.6
74.2
82.0

7.9
15.9
15.9
23.2
16.4
(0

4.9
4.3
4.5
2.6
1. 6
TO

Native white—All cities__
Foreign white—All cities
Negro—All cities
Nativity and race not reported—All cities

162
731
104

100.0
100.0
100.0

32.1
11.8
15.4

44.4
56.0
51.0

23.5
32.3
33.7

157
685
97

100.0
100.0
100.0

24.2
10.9
18.6

73.2
84.4
79.4

c>)

1 Per cent not computed; base less than 50.

2.5
4.7
2.1

199

GENERAL TABLES
Table LI.—Number

of non-wage-earning sons and daughters and employment of
husband, by nativity and race of interviewed woman
[Source: Home visits]

Nativity and race of interviewed
person and employment of
husband

4351 mothers employed in slaughtering and
meat packing

Number of
non-wage
earning
sons and
daughters

Total

Total..................... ............... 1,023

Reporting specified number of non-wage-earning
sons and daughters

Aver Total
age
per
fami
ly

2.4

435

155

117

Husband employed steadily___
Husband not employed steadily.
Husband dead, divorced, or
deserting
Other____ __________________

512
213

2.5
2.6

206
83

64
25

58
23

36
14

28
11

13
5

4
4

2
1

240
58

2.0
2.1

119
27

53
13

30
6

22
3

10
2

3
2

1
1

Native white____ ______

170

2.1

78
35

2.2
2.1

35
17

13
6

12
6

6
3

1
2

48
9

1.8
(2)

27
3

14
1

730

2.6

283

Husband employed steadily___
Husband not employed steadily.
Husband dead, divorced, or
deserting...... ..............................
Other_____ _________________

385
156

2.6
2.9

147
54

38
13

43
13

27
11

23
7

12
5

2
4

1
1

141
48

2.4
2.1

59
23

18
11

15
5

16
3

6
2

3
2

Negro.................. ................

119

1.7

Husband employed steadily___
Husband not employed steadily.
Husband dead, divorced, or
deserting_____ ____ ________
Other__________ _______ _____

49
18

2.0
1.6

24
11

13
6

3
4

4
1

51
1

1.5
(2)

33
1

21
1

Husband employed steadily___
Husband not employed steadily.
Husband dead, divorced, or
deserting............. ................... .
Other
Foreign born................... .

Nativity not reported—
Husband not employed steadily.

111 mothers have only children 18 years of age and over.
2 Not computed, owing to the small number involved.

200

Table

LII.—Average weekly earnings and number of persons supported, interviewed women who were entirely self-supporting
[Source: Year’s pay rolls and home visits]

Sole support of others
Supporting children only

Average weekly earnings i

Sup
port
Total ing
self
only Total

Reporting specified number of
children supported

Total................. .

Supporting other relatives

Supporting husband
Reporting specified number
of children supported
Hus
band
only

Reporting support of specified
relatives
1 par 2 par Uncle
1 par 2 par ent
ents and 2 1 broth
ent
ents and 1 and 1 chil
er
child sister dren

253

152

101

191

114

less than $13.
less than $14.
less than $15.
less than $15.
less than $17.
less than $18.
less than $19.
less than $20..
less than $21.
less than $22.
less than $23.
less than $24.
less than $25.
less than $30.

1
11
12
14
22
24
24
25
18
11
8
8
5
8

1
6
8
8
14
17
12
15
11
3
6
4
3
6

5
4
6
8
7
12
10
7
8
2
4
2
2

1
1
1

Information not reported.

Total reporting.............. .
$12 and
$13 and
$14 and
$15 and
$16 and
$17 and
$18 and
$19 and
$20 and
$21 and
$22 and
$23 and
$24 and
$25 and

1 Year’s earnings divided by weeks worked.

2
2
4
2
2
3
2
1
1
1
2
8

1
1
3
2
2
2
1
2
1
3

1
2
1
1

3
1

1
3

1
1

1
1
1

2
1
1
1

1
2

1
1
1
]

1
1

W OMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

253 women who were entirely self-supporting

Table LIII.— Year’s

earnings and number of persons supported, interviewed women who were entirely self-supporting
[Source: Year's pay rolls and homo visits]
253 women who were entirely self-supporting
Sole support of others

Year’s earnings

Sup
port
Total ing
self
only Total

1 par 2 par
ents
ent

1 par 2 par Uncle
ents and 2 1 broth
ent
and 1 and 1 chil
er
child sister dren

253

152

101

Total reporting------------------------

191

114

$300 and less than $350---------

$700 and less than $750............
$750 and less than $800---------$800 and less than $850....... ...
$850 and less than $900___ _.
$900 and less than $1,000------$1,000 and less than $1,100----$1,100 and less than $1,200----$1,200 and less than $1,300----$1,300 and less than $1,400----$1,400 and less than $1,500-----

1
1
1
6
14
15
22
15
53
29
22
7
3
2

1
1
1
4
9
6
16
9
30
16
12
5
2
2

2
5
9
6
6
23
13
10
2
1

1
4
2
3
5
3
1
2
1

1
1

Information not reported-----------

$600 and less than $650----------

2
3
4
1
6

3
2

1
3

4
1
2

1
1
3

1
1

GENERAL TABLES

Hus
band
only

Reporting support of specified
relatives

Reporting specified number
of children supported

Reporting specified number of
children supported

Supporting other relatives

Supporting husband

Supporting children only

1
1

___

2
1

202 WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

Week’s income of family and proportion of income earned by inter
viewed women not the sole support of the family

Table LIV.—

[Source: Home visits]
173 women who were not the sole support of family
Earning specified proportion of family’s income
Week’s income of family
Total

Total______________________

173

Less than $30______________
$30 and less than $40______________
$40 and less than $.50_____________
$50 and less than $75_____ _______
$75 and more______ __

5
43
83
39
3

10 and 20 and 30 and 40 and 50 and 75 and
less
less
lass
less
less
less
than
than
than
than
than
than
20 per 30 per 40 per 50 per 75 per 100 per
cent
cent
cent
cent
cent
cent
13

10
1

24
18

27
39
9

1
1

10
18

.—Size of family and proportion of family’s week’s income earned by inter
viewed women not the sole support of the family

Table LV

[Source: Home visits]
173 women who were not the sole support of family

Size of family

Average
per cent
of family
income
earned
by inter Total
viewed
person

Total____ ________

40.6

3 persons._ ... . _____
4 persons. _ ______
5 persons_____ _____ _
6 persons......... .. _____
7 persons
8 persons_____ ________
9 persons_____ _________
10 persons

42. 1
43. 1
43.3
42.4
37.3
39.0
39.9
28.3
26.3

173
27
38
23
20
8
5
5
4

Earning specified proportion of family’s week’s income
10 and 20 and 30 and 40 and 50 and
less than less than less than less than lass than 75 and less
than 100
20 per
30 per
40 per
50 per
75 per
per cent
cent
cent
cent
cent
cent
2

1
1

1
5
1
1

4
1

203

GENERAL TABLES

.—Size of family and assistance with household duties reported by 578
wives
and mothers
[Source: Home visits]

Table LVI

578 wives and mothers reporting on assistance with house
hold duties
Assistance with household duties

Total

Reporting size of family

Num Per
ber cent

5 | 6
2

8
7

9
10

ALL WIVES AND MOTHERS i
578 100.0

No assistance with cooking, laundry,
Assistance only with laundry and sewAssistance in all except cooking and
Assistance in all except cooking and

173

112

116

3.6

187

32.4

27
50

4.7
8.7

2
34

9
10

7
3

3
3

10.2

3.8

19
10

3.3
1.7

1
4

1
2

6
2

2
1

122
51
71

21.1
8.8
12.3

19
5
14

33
11
22

29
11
18

22
15
7

10
6
4

8
3
5

248

42.9

2
1

WIVES AND MOTHERS AND MOTHERS ONLY
441 100.0

No assistance with cooking, laundry,
Assistance only with laundry and sewing
Assistance in all except cooking and
Assistance in all except cooking and

105

116

2.5

22.2

26
15
19

5.9
3.4
4.3

1
3
5

9
6
8

7
3
6

3
3

2.9

19
6

4.3
1.4

1
2

6
2

2
1

110
46
64

24.9
10.4
14.5

29
11
18

22
15
7

10
6
4

8
3
5

33
11
22

222

50.3

WIVES ONLY

No assistance with cooking, laundry,
Assistance only with laundry and sewAssistance in all except cooking and

Assistance in various household duties - -

137 100.0

130

7.3

65.0

1
35

.7
25. 5

1
31

29.2

9
4

6.6
2.9

9
4

12
7

8.8
3. 6
5.1

12
5
7

19.0

1 Excludes 6 mothers whose children lived away from home.

1
5

*
*

APPENDIX B.—SCHEDULE FORMS

Schedule I.—Used for firm’s employment data and 52-week record
of woman’s employment, earnings, and bonus receipts.
[Front]

Woman’s name Address
Native F. B. Country Race
Years in U. S------------Date birth
Worked for this co Not worked

S. M. W. D_____________________________

[Here was entered the firm’s employment record for the woman, showing lay-offs and other separations.]
[Back]

Department
Occupation _

Name
Hours

Bonus

Hours

Bonus

Hours

Wage

Bonus

Hours

Bonus

*
Firm.................................................................................

City.

205

206

Schedule II.—Used for home interviews.
City........................ ........ Firm.................................
Name................................. Address................ ............. Woman boarding..............................

Family, Total no...............

Wage e............... Non w. e............... Lodgers

Total............. Housing: Own home............. Buying............. Rent $............. Number of rooms ............. Plbg..............
Interviewed person: Family relationship________

S. M. W. D.---------- Age---------- Race------------

Meat pkg: Industrial history: Pres, dept--------------------Length of time present firm (date) {

Daily irregularities
Other industrial experience

Comments on present job.

Pres, job-------------------------

Comments..--------------------------- -------- -

Country of birth-----------------

Speak Eng........ ............

Otherjneat-pkg. jobs...............................------------- -----------------------------

} Length of time industry {°etu!d —} plant re00rd: June’1927’to May'1938: Employment (dates and reasons)

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

[Front]

Other wage earners in family
Part-time employment or unemployment
during year, June, 1927, to May, 1928
Belationship to woman
interviewed

Age

Industry

—
—

Husband’s employer: Pkg.|house_-...................
Change in number of wage earners during year.

____
_____
__„__
_____

SCHEDULE FORMS

.......................... -......................-

Cause of unemployment or part time

Occupation

to
o

-I

II—Continued

208

Schedule

l Back]

Relationship

Age

Status

Relationship

Home duties
Age

Status

Assistance

No assist
ance

Assistance

Cooking..
Laundry..
Cleaningcare___
Economic and social status of family during year_____________
Income: Wages_______________________

Other .

To what extent has family resorted to extended credit for rent, food, clothing, etc?
Name of dealer extending credit_______
Is family carrying installment contracts?
Has family had outside assistance—free clinics, relief, etc?

Why is woman working?
Notes:_______________

Agent.

Date

No assist
ance

WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING

Non-wage-earners

PUBLICATIONS OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU
[Any of these bulletins still available will be sent free of charge upon request]

*No.
*No.
No.
No.
*No.
No.
No.
*No.
*No.
*No.
No.
*No.
No.
*No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
*No.
No.
*No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
*No.
No.
No.
No.

1. Proposed Employment of Women During the War in the Industries of
Niagara Falls, N. Y. 16 pp. 1918.
2. Labor Laws for Women in Industry in Indiana. 29 pp. 1919.
3. Standards for the Employment of Women in Industry. 8 pp. Fourth
ed., 1928.
4. Wages of Candy Makers in Philadelphia in 1919. 46 pp. 1919.
5. The Eight-Hour Day in Federal and State Legislation. 19 pp. 1919.
6. The Employment of Women in Hazardous Industries in the United
States. 8 pp. 1921.
7. Night-Work Laws in the United States. (1919.) 4 pp. 1920.
8. Women in the Government Service. 37 pp. 1920.
9. Home Work in Bridgeport, Conn. 35 pp. 1920.
10. Hours and Conditions of Work for Women in Industry in Virginia. 32
pp. 1920.
11. Women Street Car Conductors and Ticket Agents. 90 pp. 1921.
12. The New Position of Women in American Industry. 158 pp. 1920.
13. Industrial Opportunities and Training for Women and Girls. 48 pp.
1921.
14. A Phvsiological Basis for the Shorter Working Day for Women. 20 pp.
1921.
15. Some Effects of Legislation Limiting Hours of Work for Women. 26
pp. 1921.
16. (See Bulletin 63.)
17. Women’s Wages in Kansas. 104 pp. 1921.
18. Health Problems of Women in Industry. 6 pp. Revised, 1931.
19. Iowa Women in Industry. 73 pp. 1922.
20. Negro Women in Industry. 65 pp. 1922.
21. Women in Rhode Island Industries. 73 pp. 1922.
22. Women in Georgia Industries. 89 pp. 1922.
23. The Family Status of Breadwinning Women. 43 pp. 1922.
24. Women in Maryland Industries. 96 pp. 1922.
25. Women in the Candy Industry in Chicago and St. Louis. 72 pp. 1923.
26. Women in Arkansas Industries. 86 pp. 1923.
27. The Occupational Progress of Women. 37 pp. 1922.
28. Women’s Contributions in the Field of Invention. 51 pp. 1923.
29. Women in Kentucky Industries. 114 pp. 1923.
30. The Share of Wage-Earning Women in Family Support. 170 pp. 1923.
31. What Industry Means to Women Workers. 10 pp. 1923.
32. Women in South Carolina Industries. 128 pp. 1923.
33. Proceedings of the Women’s Industrial Conference. 190 pp. 1923.
34. Women in Alabama Industries. 86 pp. 1924.
35. Women in Missouri Industries. 127 pp. 1924.
36. Radio Talks on Women in Industry. 34 pp. 1924.
37. Women in New Jersey Industries. 99 pp. 1924.
38. Married Women in Industry. 8 pp. 1924.
39. Domestic Workers and Their Employment Relations. 87 pp. 1924.
40. (See Bulletin 63.)
41. Family Status of Breadwinning Women in Four Selected Cities. 145
pp. 1925.
42. List of References on Minimum Wage for Women in the United States
and Canada. 42 pp. 1925.
43. Standard and Scheduled Hours of Work for Women in Industry. 68
pp. 1925.
44. Women in Ohio Industries. 137 pp. 1925.
45. Home Environment and Employment Opportunities of Women in Coal
Mine Workers’ Families. 61 pp. 1925.
46. Facts about Working Women—A Graphic Presentation Based on Cen
sus Statistics. 64 pp. 1925.
47. Women in the Fruit-Growing and Canning Industries in the State of
Washington. 223 pp. 1926.
48. Women in Oklahoma Industries. 118 pp. 1926.
49. Women Workers and Family Support. 10 pp. 1925.
50. Effects of Applied Research upon the Employment Opportunities of
American Women. 54 pp. 1926.
51. Women in Illinois Industries. 108 pp. 1926.

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WOMEN EMPLOYED IN SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING
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53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.

Lost Time and Labor Turnover in Cotton Mills. 203 pp. 1926.
The Status of women in the Government Service in 1925. 103 pp. 1926.
Changing Jobs. 12 pp. 1926.
Women in Mississippi Industries. 89 pp. 1926.
Women in Tennessee Industries. 120 pp. 1927.
Women Workers and Industrial Poisons. 5 pp. 1926.
Women in Delaware Industries. 156 pp. 1927.
Short Talks About Working Women. 24 pp. 1927.
Industrial Accidents to Women in New Jersey, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
316 pp. 1927.
.
No. 61. The Development of Minimum-Wage Laws in the United States, 1912
to 1927. 635 pp.
1928.
No. 62. Women’s Employment in Vegetable Canneries in Delaware. 47 pp.
1927.
No. 63. State Laws Affecting Working Women. 51 pp. 1927. (Revision of
Bulletins 16 and 40.)
No. 64. The Employment of Women at Night. 86 pp. 1928.
*No. 65. The Effects of Labor Legislation on the Employment Opportunities of
Women. 498 pp. 1928.
No. 66. History of Labor Legislation for Women in Three States; Chronological
Development of Labor Legislation for Women in the United States.
288 pp. 1929.
No. 67. Women Workers in Flint, Mich. 80 pp. 1929.
No. 68. Summary: The Effects of Labor Legislation on the Employment
Opportunities of Women. (Reprint of Chapter 2 of bulletin 65.)
22 pp. 1928.
No. 69. Causes of Absence for Men and for Women in Four Cotton Mills.
24 pp. 1929.
No. 70. Negro Women in Industry in 15 States. 74 pp. 1929.
No. 71. Selected References on the Health of Women in Industry. 8 pp. 1929.
No. 72. Conditions of Work in Spin Rooms. 41 pp. 1929.
No. 73. Variations in Employment Trends of Women and Men. 143 pp. 1930.
No. 74. The Immigrant Woman and Her Job. 179 pp. 1930.
No. 75. What the Wage-Earning Woman Contributes to Family Support.
21 pp. 1929.
No. 76. Women in 5-and-10-cent Stores and Limited-Price Chain Department
Stores. 58 pp. 1930.
No. 77. A Study of Two Groups of Denver Married Women Applying for Jobs.
11 pp. 1929.
No. 78. A Survey of Laundries and Their Women Workers in 23 Cities. 166
pp. 1930.
No. 79. Industrial Home Work. 20 pp. 1930’. ;
No. 80. Women in Florida Industries. 115 pp. 1930.
No. 81. Industrial Accidents to Men and Women. 48 pp. 1930.
No. 82. The Employment of Women in the Pineapple Canneries of Hawaii.
30 pp. 1930.
No. 83. Fluctuation of Employment in the Radio Industry. 66 pp. 1931.
No. 84. Fact Finding with the Women’s Bureau. 37 pp. 1931.
No. 85. Wages of Women in 13 States. 213 pp. 1931.
No. 86. Activities of the Women’s Bureau of the United States. 15 pp. 1931.
No. 87. Sanitary Drinking Facilities, with Special Reference to Drinking
Fountains. 28 pp. 1931.
No. 88. The Employment of Women in Slaughtering and Meat Packing. 211
pp. 1931.
No. 89. The Industrial experience of Women Workers at the Summer Schools,
1928 to 1930. 62 pp. 1931.
No. 90. Oregon Legislation for Women in Industry. 40 pp. 1931.
No. 91. Women in Industry—A Series of Papers to Aid Study Groups. 79
pp. 1931.
.
. .
No. 92. Wage-Earning Women and the Industrial Conditions of 1930—A
Survey of South Bend. (In press.)
No. 93. Household Employment in Philadelphia. (In press.)
Pamphlet. Women’s Place in Industry in 10 Southern States. 14 pp. 1931.
Annual Reports of the Director, 1919*, 1920*, 1921*, 1922, 1923, 1924*, 1925,
1926, 1927* 1928*, 1929, 1930*, 1931.
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Full text of The Employment of Women in Slaughtering and Meat Packing : Women's Bureau Bulletin, No. 88

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