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1952
HANDBOOK OF FACTS
Women
BULLETIN
UNITED
STATES
NO.
DEPARTMENT OF L A B O R
Maurice J. Tobin, Secretary
W O M E N ' S B U R E A U , F r i e d a S . Miller, Director
Washington : 1952
242
United States Government Printing Office, Washington : 1952
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office
Washington 25, D. C. - Price 30 cents
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
U N I T E D STATES D E P A R T M E N T OF L A B O R ,
Women's Bureau,
Washington, June 6, 1952.
SIR: I have the honor of transmitting a handbook of facts relating
to women workers. It brings up to date the Handbook issued in
1950, which has been in great demand as a source book, and which
has permitted the Women's Bureau to reply promptly to the frequently recurring requests for information of many types. Present
demand and plans call for issuing the handbook biennially. All divisions of the Bureau contributed to this year's revision; new material
is primarily the work of Mary E. Pidgeon, Economic Consultant.
Respectfully submitted.
FRIEDA S. M I L L E R ,
Director.
H o n . MAURICE J. TOBIN,
Secretary of Labor.
in
Note on Figures Used
Figures on labor force, employment, and income are based chiefly on
census data, in a few cases including unpublished census material.
Figures adjusted by the United States Department of Commerce,
Bureau of the Census, to make those of different periods comparable
are used where necessary and available. In accordance with the practice of the Bureau of the Census, detailed figures from sampling are
not adjusted to totals, nor are rounded percents in a distribution
adjusted to exactly 100. Data on women include women 14 years of
age and over unless stated otherwise.
For the most part, census data shown over a series of years are
taken for a spring month (March or April); this is the usual period of
the decennial census, though decennials of 1870-1900 and 1920 were
taken in January or June. A spring month is the time of appearance
of quarterly and certain annual figures, and avoids some of the extreme
summer or midwinter seasonal influences that affect various industries.
In a few cases an autumn month is used, generally October, which is
the month of the Census of Manufactures.
In current census materials the noninstitutional civilian population
is used as a base unless stated otherwise. For more detailed discussion
of occupational trends, see Women's Bureau Bulletin 218, Women's
Occupations Through Seven Decades.
IV
CONTENTS
PART I. EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN
Page
Increases in Number of Women Workers, 1870 to 1952
Chief Occupation Groups Employing Women
Chief Industry Groups Employing Women
Ages of Women Workers
Marital Status of Women Workers
Women as Heads of Families
Nonwhite Women Workers
Women Members of Unions
Women Part-Time Workers
.Women Injured in Industry
Tables:
1. Women workers, 1870-1952
2. Employed women in each occupation group, 1940 and 1952
3. Women in each industry group, 1940 and 1951
4. Women wage and salaried workers in chief manufacturing industries, 1949 and 1951
5. Women as production workers in manufacturing industries, 19476. Women workers, by age group
7. Ages of employed women in each occupation group, 1951
8. Marital status of women in population and in labor force
9. Marital status and age of women workers, 1950
10. Occupation grouping of women 18 to 64 with and without children,
1950
— — 11. Occupations of employed nonwhite women, 1940 and 1950
12. Women in local labor organizations, two States
Summaries:
Women as percent of all workers in each occupation group before,
during, and after World War II
Occupations in which women were half or more of the workers, 1940.
Women teaching in higher educational institutions
Women teachers by type of school, 1947-48
Women in selected professional and technical occupations
Women in service industries, 1951
Women in the executive branch of the Federal service
Median age of women in the labor force
Labor force participation of women of various ages before, during, and
and after World War II
Labor force participation of women in various marital groups before,
during, and after World War II
Occupations of employed women in various marital groups, 1950
Labor force participation of women ever married, by whether or not
having own children under 18, 1951
Labor force participation of women ever married, with or without
children, by presence or absence of husband, 1951
Family status of women claimants for nonfatal injuries in industry,
Washington State, 1949
*
Charts:
I. All workers and women workers, 1870-1952
II. Occupations of women workers, April 1952
III. Women in the labor force, by marital status, 1951
IV. Percent of all workers who were women, 1870-1952
V
1
3
8
12
16
24
24
27
28
28
1
3
8
9
10
13
15
17
20
22
25
27
4
5
7
7
7
11
12
13
15
18
19
21
21
29
x
2
16
23
VI
CONTENTS
PART II.
WOMEN'S INCOME, WAGES, AND SALARIES
The Income of Women
Factors Influencing Women's Earnings
Earnings of Women Factory Production Workers
Earnings of Women in Service Occupations and Industries,.
Earnings of Women "White-Collar" Workers.
Women Benefiting from Old-Age and Survivors Insurance
Tables:
13. Income of women and men in various years
14. Income of women and men, by age group, 1950, —
15. Income of women and men, by family relationship, 1950—
16. Income of employed women in 1950, by occupation group in 1951.
17. Weekly earnings of women and men plant workers in manufacturing industries, 1938-1951
18. Hourly earnings of women and men plant workers in selected
nondurable manufacturing industries
— ,,,
19. Examples of variations in women's earnings in different occupations within an industry
—
20. Hourly earnings of women sewing-machine operators in two
clothing industries, single-hand (tailor) system, selected cities,
1950-1951
---------21. Hourly earnings of women in chief service industries, New York
State, 1951
---22. Hourly earnings of women in selected occupations in power
—
—
laundries in 31 cities, 1951_
23. Hourly earnings of women receiving or not receiving tips in
restaurants, New York State, 1951
—
24. Hourly earnings of women in year-round hotels, New York State,
1951
25. Hourly earnings of women in selected building service occupations,
New York State, 1951
26. Average weekly earnings of women in selected office occupations,
by metropolitan area, 1951 and 1952,
27. Average weekly earnings of women in selected occupations in
department and women's ready-to-wear stores in 17 cities, 195028. Annual salaries of teachers, by type of school and size of city,
1950-51---29. Earnings of nurses, reported from two sources..
...
30. Annual salaries of social workers, 1950
.
Summaries:
Income of women and men, total and nonwhite, 1950
—
Income of women and men by residence, 1 9 5 0 . —
Weekly earnings of women and men production workers in selected
industries, New York State, March 1952Hourly earnings of employees of Class A telephone carriers, selected
occupations, 1950___
—.
—
Annual salaries of women library employees, 1949
Annual salaries of women medical technologists, 1950
Annual earnings in scientific fields/ 1948---—
Selected women beneficiaries of old-age and survivors insurance,
Dec. 31, 1951
Page
30
35
36
42
48
58
31
32
33
34
37
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
49
50
53
53
55
31
32
38
51
54
55
56
59
CONTENTS
VII
PART III. ECONOMIC RESPONSIBILITIES
WOMEN WORKERS
OF
Page
Women's Contributions to Family Income or Support
Women with Dependents
Working Women's Budgets
Summaries:
Family support responsibilities of 10,500 women who lived in family
groups, by marital status, 1944-45
Sole family earners, among 6,000 union women who lived in family
groups, by marital status, 1950
Wife's 1951 participation in labor force and 1950 income of husband
and wife
________
Income of husband-wife families, 1950, and wife's labor force status,
1951
----Women who contribute to support of dependents
PART IV.
PART V.
•
.
61
62
63
64
68
68
70
70
71
71
—
:
SUMMARY OF STATE
FOR WOMEN
Maximum Daily and Weekly Hours
Day of R e s t . - .
Meal Periods
Rest Periods
Night Work
Seating
Occupational Limitations
Weight Lifting
Industrial Home Work
Employment Before and After Childbirth
Equal Pay
Minimum Wage
Coverage
Coverage
Coverage
Coverage
Effect
61
STANDARDS FOR EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN
Need for Standards for Women Workers
Development of Standards.
Wage Standards
Emplovment Standards
Other Standards.
Industrial Home Work
PART VI.
60
64
66
LABOR
LAWS
74
75
76
76
76
77
77
78
79
79
80
80
__
—
LEGISLATION
AFFECTING
EMPLOYEES
HOUSEHOLD
of Domestic Workers by State Labor Laws for Women
of Domestic Workers by State Workmen's Compensation Laws_.
of Domestic Workers by Wage Payment Laws
of Domestic Workers by Social Security Legislation Now in
PART VII.
84
THE
POLITICAL AND
WOMEN
Political Status.
Civil Status—Family Relations
Civil Status—Contract and Property Law
81
82
84
CIVIL
STATUS
OF
—
85
87
S9
VIII
CONTENTS
PART VIII.
WOMEN'S EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL
TRAINING
Page
Education Completed by Women
Enrollment in Schools and Colleges
Women Taking Federally Aided Vocational Training
Women Served by Vocational Rehabilitation Programs
Tables:
31. Years of school completed by women and men in the population
25 years of age and over, by color, 1950 and 1940
32. Increase from 1940 to 1950 in numbers of women and men 25
years of age and over in population-and with college education,
by color
33. Students enrolled in and graduates of educational institutions,
various years
34. Ratio of college graduates to college enrollees, by sex
35. College and professional degrees earned by women and men
36. Women and girls in federally aided vocational training, 1950-51__
37. Women and girls in federally aided vocational programs, various
years
Summaries:
Education of employed women and men 18 to 64 years old in major
occupation groups, 1948
—
School enrollment of population aged 5 to 24
Distribution of students by type of school (estimates for 1 9 5 0 - 5 1
Women enrolled in trades and industries classes
PART IX.
AMERICAN WOMEN—A
BIBLIOGRAPHY
93
96
97
97
100
101
94
95
)95
99
______—
---
102
104
108
109
WOMEN'S NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Organizations Having Social, Civic, or Religious Purposes
Professional and Business Organizations
Educational Organizations
—
Political and Legislative Organizations
—
Patriotic Organizations
Farm and Rural Organizations
Labor Organizations
1
92
SELECTED
Women as Citizens
Women as Workers
Women as Homemakers
General.
PART X.
92
94
98
101
____________-
110
112
118
119
119
120
121
HIGHLIGHTS
WOMEN IN THE LABOR FORCE (APRIL 1952)
Number—About 19 million.
This is one-third of all women 14 and over.
Thirty percent of the labor force are women.
Occupation—About half ore clerical workers or operatives.
Over one-fifth are service workers.
One-tenth are professional or technical workers.
Age—Half are 37 years of age or oldsr.
Forty-five percent are under 35 years.
Thirteen percent are 55 or older.
Marital status (April 1951)— Of all single women, half are in the labor force.
Of all married women, 27 percent are in the labor force.
Over half the women in the labor force are married.
About 25 percent of all women workers have children under 13.
WOMEN'S EARNINGS
Women's earnings vary widely with occupation, experience of worker, locoliiy, period of
time, method of pay, and other influences.
WOMEN'S EDUCATION (1950-51)
Half of all women 25 years of age and over have had 9 or more years of schooling; over
one-tenth have had some college education.
One-third of all college students and one-fourth of those receiving degrees in 1950 were
women.
LABOR LAWS FOR WOMEN (1952)*
43 States limit working hours for women; in 24 States the maximum is an 8-hour day,
48-hour week or less.
19 States limit the employment of women at night.
26 States have minimum-wage laws applying to women.
13 States have equal-pay laws.
6 States prohibit employment of women immediately before and after childbirth.
24 States limit employment of adult women in specified dangerous or injurious
occupations.
*For similar laws in Territories or the District of Columbia, see pp. 72-SO.
IX
Chart I.
All
H
workers and
women
workers,
1870-1952
Millions
Millions
19
18
MEN AND W
OMEN^^^
17
16
15
14
I
13
'40_ '41 '42 '43 '44 '45 '46 '47 '48 '49 '50 '51 '52
1/
" WOMEN'"""
1870
1880
1890
1900
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce/ Bureau of tfie Census.
1910
1920
1930
1,1 I I I „L1.,LL 1
1940
1950
1
f
/
/
1960
PART I
EMPLOYMENT O F WOMEN 1
INCREASES IN NUMBER OF WOMEN WORKERS, 1870 TO 1952
In 1952 the civilian labor force included some 19 million women.
This was almost half again as great as the entire number of all workers,
men and women, in 1870, the year of the first census that fully reported on women's employment. At that time fewer than 2 million
women were in gainful employment. Every decade thereafter, however, the census showed a rise in their numbers.
In each generation, women have entered the labor force in increasing proportions. In 1870 less than 14 percent of them were gainful
workers; in 1952, 33 percent were members of the labor force. More
than 40 percent of the women in the population in early 1951 had
worked at some time during the preceding year.
Of all workers in the United States (men and women), women have
constituted increasing proportions from decade to decade. In 1870
women were less than 15 percent of this country's workers, and in
1952 they were more than 30 percent of all the workers. (See table 1,
and chart IV, p. 23.)
TABLE 1 . — W O M E N WORKERS,
1870-1952
Women workers
Year
Number
Aged 10 years
and over:
1870.
1880....
1890....
1900.
1910....
1920.
1930
1,9*17, 446
2,647,157
4,005, 532
5,319, 397
7, 444, 787
8, 636, 512
10, 752,116
Percent
of all
workers
14.8
15.2
17.2
18.3
19.9
20.4
22.0
Women workers
Percent
of all
women
13.3
14.7
17.4
18.8
21.5
21.4
22.0
Year
Number
Aged 14 years and
over:—
1920.
1930.
1930 i
1940 i
1940 2
1945.
1947.
194 9
195 0
195 1
195 2
8, 429, 707
10, 679,048
10,396,000
13,015,000
13,840,000
19,570,000
16,320,000
17,167,000
18,063,000
18, 607,000
18, 798,000
Percent
of all
workers
Percent
of all
women
23.3
24.3
23.6
25.7
27.4
36.8
29.8
30.9
32.2
32.7
32.7
20.4
22.0
21.9
24.4
25.4
36.1
27.6
28.2
29.0
30.1
30.4
1 Labor forcefiguresfor 1930 estimated and for 1940 adjusted by the Census Bureau to make them comparable.
2 Civilian labor forcefiguresfor 1940 adjusted by the Census Bureau to make them comparable with those
for later years.
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Figures 1870 through 1940 are shown
in Women's Bureau Bull. 218, Women's Occupations Through Seven Decades, p. 34. Later figures from
Census Bureau current sampling reports.
1
For notes onfiguresused, see p. IV.
1
2
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN WORKERS
As the number of women workers has increased, there also have
been other notable changes in the character and distribution of the
woman labor force, caused primarily by changes in the population and
in the economy. These will be discussed more fully in the pages
following. Outstanding among them are the increase in the age of
women workers and the increase in proportion who are married.
Occupational changes feature a marked increase in the proportion of
women employed in clerical and factory work and a decline in the
proportion in services and hand trades*
Chart II.
Occupations of women workers, April 1952
CLERICAL AND
KINDRED WORKERS W W l f l x i
OPERATIVES A N D
KINDRED WORKERS
SERVICE WORKERS
EXCEPT PRIVATE
HOUSEHOLD
iflWrlTl
JUifciAiJ
X f l x f l x l Y l T l x ! XHJ
wmv
PROFESSIONAL,
TECHNICAL AND
KINDRED WORKERS
PRIVATE HOUSEHOLD WORKERS
SALESWOMEN
lift
MANAGERS RS,
PROPRIETORS^
OFFICIALS
«
reprints
350,000 women.
^
FARMERS AND
FARM WORKERS
OTHER OCCUPATIONS
!I
Source: U. S. Deportment of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
EMPLOYMENT
3
CHIEF OCCUPATION GROUPS EMPLOYING WOMEN
Many more women are in clerical work than in any other major
group of occupations. Next in size is the group of operatives, the
majority of them in factory production. These two occupation
groups employ nearly half of all employed women in the labor force.
Their numbers may be seen in table 2 and chart II. Next come those
in services (other than private household service) and in professional
or 'technical work, two groups that employ similar numbers of women.
However, a combination group of those in household employment
and in other services would considerably outnumber the operatives.
The remaining women—-about a fifth of the total—are chiefly salespersons or farm workers or are in the group of proprietors, managers
and officials. Very few are craftswomen, and still fewer women are
laborers.
Increases have occurred since 1940, some of them very great, in
the number of women in every occupation group except household
employment, which has declined. The greatest expansions have been
in clerical work, which has increased by 2% million women, and in
the operative group, which has grown by about 1% million. Notable
also are the additions of about % to % million women to each of four
groups—-professional and technical workers, service workers (except
private household), sales workers, and the smaller managerial group.
TABLE 2.—EMPLOYED
W O M E N IN E A C H OCCUPATION G R O U P ,
Number of women
1 9 4 0 AND
1952
Percent distribution
Occupation group
1940
—
11,920,000
18, 234,000
Clerical, kindred workers
Operatives, kindred workers.
Private household workers
Professional, technical, kindred workers.
Service workers (except private household)..
Sales workers
Farmers, farm workers
Managers, officials, proprietors (except farm)
Craftsmen, foremen, kindred workers.
Laborers (except farm)
2, 530,000
2,190, 000
2,100,000
1,570, 000
1,350,000
830,000
690,000
450,000
110, 000
100,000
5, 284, 000
3,496,000
1,748,000
2,026, 000
2,134, 000
1, 416,000
780,000
978, 000
244,000
128,000
All groups.
—
1045
1947
1952
29
10
11
12
8
4
5
1
1
i Employed women whose occupations were not reported, a small proportion of all employed women,
were apportioned according to the distribution of those whose occupations were reported.
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
Current sampling reports.
PROPORTION OF WORKERS IN EACH OCCUPATION
W H O ARE W O M E N
GROUP
Women constituted over 95 percent of the private household workers in 1952, 65 percent of the clerical workers, about 35 to 45 percent
each of the professional, the sales, and the service (other than private
4
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN WORKERS
household) workers, and 30 percent of the operatives. In other
occupation groups, women were smaller proportions of the employees.
During World War II the proportion of workers who were women
increased in all occupation groups except that of private household
workers, and in some groups increased quite markedly. After the
war, the proportion of workers who were women declined in every
occupation group, but in most groups still remained larger than in
the prewar period. Exceptions were the professional workers, the
small group of craftsmen, foremen, and laborers, and the private household workers; each of these had a smaller proportion of women after
than before the war.
Following the immediate postwar declines, the proportions of
women again increased in most occupation groups. The professional
group is the only one in which the proportion of women in the total
has continued well below that of 1940. Some explanation of this
may be found in the current stress on scientific professions, in which
women usually constitute a rather small minority; pressure for jobs
for returned veterans, many of whom have been receiving college
training; and a slowed-up entrance of women to their largest profession—teaching—which requires a longer training period than, for
example, many clerical occupations greatly in demand, and than other
nonprofessional jobs that offer wage rates frequently higher than in
traditional women's occupations. Although the number of women
in the teaching profession has increased, the increase has been far
less in proportion than in woman employment as a whole.
W O M E N AS P E R C E N T OF A L L W O R K E R S IN E A C H OCCUPATION
DURING,
AND A F T E R
WORLD
WAR
Occupation group
All groups
_
Clerical, kindred workers
Operatives, kindred workers
Private household workers
i
Professional, technical, kindred workers
Service workers (except private household)
Sales workers
Farmers, farm workers
Managers, officials, proprietors (except farm)
Craftsmen, foremen, kindred workers, laborers (except farm)
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
GROUP
BEFORE,
II
1940
26
53
26
94
45
40
28
8
12
1945
36
70
38
94
46
48
54
22
17
1947
28
59
28
92
40
44
40
12
14
1952
30
65
29
98
39
46
38
13
16
3
5
2
3
Current sampling reports.
IMPORTANT INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN
In the foregoing discussion, it has been noted that women were
concentrated to a major extent in certain occupation groups. Women
also have been concentrated largely in certain individual occupations.
For example, the great majority of those in the professions have been
either teachers or nurses, and among factory operatives the textile,
clothing, and food industries have employed by far the largest num-
EMPLOYMENT 15
bers of women. Nevertheless, women are continually entering new
lines of work, and some women are found in almost every occupation.
It is a striking fact that several of the same occupations have continued for many decades to be included among the 10 that employ
the largest numbers of women. Data on numbers employed in
individual occupations are not available for 1950 at the time this
Handbook goes to press. Of the 10 which headed the list in 1940
(and which together employed half of all women workers), 8 also
had been among the first 10 in three or more decennial periods—of
these 2 were professional, 3 clerical, and 2 service occupations, the
eighth being sales work.
A look at these 10 occupations indicates the effect on women's
work of the changing economy since 1870. Two of them, teachers
and "servants" were in this upper group in every decade, 1870 through
1940. These two with the stenographer, general clerical, and saleswomen groups employed the largest numbers of women in 1940.
From 1870 through 1890, the first 10 included textile-mill operatives.
Through 1910, sewing trades were included—dressmakers, seamstresses, tailoresses, milliners, variously combined in different years—
and in 1940 operatives in apparel appeared. Through 1930 various
farm workers were included, two or three such groups at each decennial from 1890 through 1920. Beginning in 1890 a "clerk and copyist"
group first came to the fore, followed in 1910 by a "stenographer and
typist" group, which with two additional clerical groups were among
the top 10 occupations 1920-1940. Saleswomen, first appearing in
the upper group in 1900, continued there through 1940. (For further
data see Women's Bureau Bull. 218, pp. 52-61.)
In certain individual occupations, most, or a very large proportion,.
of all the workers are women. The list that follows shows the occupations in which half or more of the workers were women in 1940.
Though the proportions of women in some of these may have changed
considerably by 1950, it is probable that women still constitute large
proportions of the workers in these occupations.
O C C U P A T I O N S IN W H I C H W O M E N W E R E
Occupations with 100,000 or more
women
HALF
OR M O R E
OF T H E W O R K E R S ,
1940
Occupations with less than 100,000
women .
W O R K E R S N I N E - T E N T H S OR MORE W O M E N
Boardinghouse, lodginghouse keepers
Dressmakers, seamstresses (not in factory)
Housekeepers, private family
Laundresses, private family
Servants, private family
Stenographers, typists, secretaries
Telephone operators
Trained nurses, student nurses
Attendants, physicians' and
offices
Librarians
Milliners (not in factory)
Practical nurses, midwives
dentists'
HANDBOOK
6
OCCUPATIONS
IN
WHICH
OF FACTS ON WOMEN
WOMEN
WERE
HALF
1940—Continued
Occupations with 100,000 or more
women
OR
WORKERS
MORE
OF
THE
WORKERS,
Occupations with less than 90}000
women
WORKERS OVER FOUR-FIFTHS WOMEN
Dancers, dancing teachers, chorus girls
Demonstrators
Office machine operators
WORKERS ABOUT THREE-FOURTHS WOMEN
Laundry operatives, laundresses (except Attendants, assistants, library
private family)
Housekeepers, stewards, hostesses (exOperatives, apparel, accessories
cept private family)
Teachers (not elsewhere classified)
Keligious workers (except clergymen)
WORKERS ABOUT TWO-THIRDS WOMEN
Operatives, knit goods
Waitresses (except private family)
Social and welfare workers
W O R K E R S ABOUT HALF WOMEN
Barbers, beauticians, manicurists
Bookkeepers, accountants, cashiers
Operatives, cotton manufactures
Servants (except private family)
Attendants, professional and personal
service (not elsewhere classified)
Charwomen, cleaners
Fruit, vegetable graders, packers (except in cannery)
Musicians, music teachers
Women as teachers.—Fairly recent information is available as to the
numbers of women at work in one of the two occupations that have
been among those employing the most women at every decennial
since the Census Bureau began reporting women's occupations in
1870—teaching. Estimates from the most recently available figures
indicate that there are well over 850,000 women teachers, an increase
of more than a tenth from the 772,000 in 1940, and that women
constitute about three-fourths of the teachers. The proportional
increase in number of women teachers has been far less than among
employed women as a whole.
Institutions of higher education had about 60,500 women teachers,
who were about a fourth of all such teachers, according to a report of
the Office of Education for 1949-50. Their numbers and proportions
in 1945-46 were much above 1939-40, due to conditions that arose
during the war; in 1949-50, the number of women teaching at the
college level still was increasing, and was almost half again as great
as in 1939-40, but the proportion women constituted of all college
teachers was less in 1949-50 than before the war. Many individual
teachers do part-time work. The time spent in teaching by all the
women in higher educational institutions was the equivalent of about
52,600 full-time teachers. The summary following shows further
details.
EMPLOYMENT
7
W O M E N T E A C H I N G IN H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N A L INSTITUTIONS
Year
1939-40
1945-46
1949-50
Source: U. S. Federal Security Agency, Office of Education.
and No. 263, November 1949.
Number
of women
Percent of
total
40, 601
49, 190
60, 533
28
30
25
Statistical Circular No. 326, August 1951,
About two-thirds of the women teachers were in kindergartens and
schools, where women constituted more than nine-tenths
of all teachers in 1947-48, according to the latest data available from
the Office of Education as this Handbook goes to press. In secondary
schools, women were considerably less than two-thirds of all teachers.
The summary following gives further details.
elementary
W O M E N T E A C H E R S BY T Y P E OF SCHOOL,
Type of school
Total
Kindergarten, elementary
Secondary
Higher
Other
1947-48
844, 658
73
Percent
distribution
100
578, 961
211,964
43, 506
1 10, 227
93
60
25
66
69
25
5
2
Number
»
p
^erceni oj
totaL
i Estimates and earlier figures for teachers in schools for exceptional children, for Alaskans and Indians,
and in private commercial and business schools.
Source: U. S. Federal Security Agency, Office of Education.
Statistical Summary of Education, 1947-48.
Other professional or technical occupations.—The group of professional women next in size to teachers is that of nurses. The following
estimates have been made in recent years of the number of women
who are in nursing and several other important professional or
technical occupations.
W O M E N IN SELECTED PROFESSIONAL AND T E C H N I C A L OCCUPATIONS
1
Women (<estimated)
,,
,
Number
Nurses
Social workers
Librarians
Library attendants
Medical technologists
Dietitians
Hospital dietitians
322,500
56,800
26,400
18,200
16,500
15,000
8,000
Percent of
all workers
.
'
in the
occupation
98
75
88
91
94
99
99
Year of
estimate
1950
1950
1949
1949
1951
1949
1949
i Based on data from American Nurses' Association; Women's Bureau Bull. 235-8; study by American
Library Association and Bureau of Labor Statistics; American Society of Clinical Pathologists; and Women's
Bureau Bull. 234-1.
210767°—52
3
HANDBOOK
8
OF FACTS ON W O M E N
WORKERS
CHIEF INDUSTRY GROUPS EMPLOYING WOMEN
Almost two-thirds of the women employed in 1951 were in three
industry groups—manufacturing, retail trade, and personal services.
Each of these employed 3 million or more, manufacturing over 4%
million. The number of women employed in the various industries
and their proportion among all workers in the group may be seen from
table 3. Any industry group may employ women in a wide variety
of occupations, as for example, salespersons of several types, clerical
office forces, manufacturing operatives, and so forth. (For occupational data see table 2 and also chart II on p. 2.)
T A B L E 3 . — W O M E N IN E A C H INDUSTRY G R O U P , 1 9 4 0 AND 1 9 5 1
Industry group
All groups
Manufac curing
Retail trade
Personal services
Professional and related services
Agriculture, forestry., and fishing
Finance, insurance, and real estate
Public administration
Transportation, communication and other public utilities.
Wholesale trade—
Business and repair services
Entertainment and recreation services.
Construction
Mining
1
Percent of
all workers
Percent distribution
1940
1951
1940
17,888,000
26
30
100
100
4,543,000
3,526,000
2,994,000
2, 787,000
859,000
843,000
751,000
744,000
425,000
171,000
136,000
82,000
26,000
23
31
73
57
6
32
20
12
16
9
21
2
1
27
39
69
58
13
44
28
16
18
13
24
2
3
21
17
26
17
25
20
17
16
5
5
4
4
2
1
1
Number in
4
4
3
3
2
1
1
0)
0)
1951
0)
0)
Less than 1 percent.
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
Current sampling reports.
WOMEN EMPLOYED IN FACTORIES
Factories employ a fourth of all women workers, more than are in
any other industry group. More than 4 million women in the United
States were employed in manufacturing in 1951. According to current reports of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 45 percent of
the 4 million were at work on apparel, textiles, or foods. Together
with those in several other industries that long have employed many
women—the electrical machinery industry, printing and publishing,
and leather plants—these accounted for over 60 percent of all women
in factories. Most of these industries are in the nondurable group,
which always employs by far the greatest number of women—in 1951
nearly two-thirds of all those in manufacturing. In 2 years, from 1949
to 1951, the number of women in the manufacture of nondurable
goods increased by almost 50,000.
In recent years, the durable goods industries have shown a striking increase for women, and in 1951 they employed over 350,000 more
women than in 1949. Important employers of women that are in
EMPLOYMENT
9
this group of industries are electrical and other machinery, metals,
and ordnance.
Several of the durable goods industries that formerly were not
thought of as large employers of women have grown so that in 1951
they employed 14 percent of women in factories, as compared to 12
percent in 1949. These industries are machinery (except electrical),
transportation equipment, and fabricated metals. The number of
women in each of the various industry groups, and the proportions
women constituted of all employees in each group, in 1949 and 1951,
are shown in the following table. Figures include all women employed
in the factories, office as well as production workers.
T A B L E 4.- - W O M E N W A G E AND S A L A R I E D W O R K E R S IN C H I E P
I N D U S T R I E S , 1 9 4 9 AND 1 9 5 1
MANUFACTURING
Women (in September)
Industry
Percent of
all workers
Number
1951
All groups
Nondurable goods...
Apparel, other finished textile products
Textile-mill products
Food, kindred products
Printing, publishing, allied industries
Leather, leather products
Chemicals, allied products
Paper, allied products
Rubber products
Tobacco manufactures
Products of petroleum, coal
-
Durable goods
Electrical machinery.
Machinery (except electrical)
Transportation equipment
Fabricated metal products (except ordnance, machinery, transportation equipment)
Instruments, related products...
Stone, clay, glass products
—
Primary metal industries
Furniture, fixtures
Lumber, wood products (except furniture)
Ordnance, accessories
Miscellaneous manufacturing industries
Source: U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(data by sex, quarterly).
1949
3,806,300
4,208,400
2,620, 700
893,300
523,500
469,100
193,700
182,500
122,100
107,500
56, 200
61,300
11, 500
2,669, 600
872,500
529,100
479,000
212,100
176,000
140,400
114, 200
74, 500
58,100
13,700
37
76
43
28
1,185,600
250,000
161,000
120,000
1,538,800
352,000
226, 400
185,900
17
37
14
12
157,300
78,200
77,300
57,000
51,500
52, 500
4, 000
176,800
185,300
106,900
96,000
77,900
57,900
54,000
13,800
182, 700
19
35
17
6
17
7
25
39
27
18
23
27
61
5
Reports on Employment and Payrolls
Of all factory employees in 1951, women were just over a fourth.
In each of the following 11 manufacturing industries they made up
one-fourth to three-fourths of the employees:
Apparel
Tobacco
Leather
Textiles.
Electrical machinery
Instruments
Women as
percent of
all workers
76
61
48
43
37
-35
Food
Printing, publishing
Rubber
Ordnance
Paper.!
Women as
percent of
all workers
28
28
27
25
23
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN
10
WORKERS
Earlier data indicate that four-fifths of all women in factories are
production workers. The remainder are for the most part in factory
offices, and in smaller numbers in administrative, supervisory, technical, and sales occupations. The proportion of employees who are
production workers differs markedly from industry to industry. For
example, over nine-tenths of the women employees in 1947 in tobacco,
apparel, textile, and leather factories were production workers. On
the other hand, only about half or fewer of the women employees in
printing and publishing, primary metals, and machinery (except
electrical) plants were engaged on production processes. Data on
woman production and nonproduction workers in factories are shown
in table 5 from the Census of Manufactures in 1947. (The next
Census of Manufactures is planned for 1953.)
T A B L E 5 . — W O M E N AS PRODUCTION W O R K E R S IN M A N U F A C T U R I N G
C E N S U S OF M A N U F A C T U R E S , 1 9 4 7
Women production
workers
Industry
All groups
Apparel, related products.
Textile mill products
Food, kindred products
Electrical machinery
Printing, publishing industries
Machinery (except electrical)
Leather, leather products...
Fabricated metal products
Chemicals, allied products
Paper, allied products
Transportation equipment
Instruments, related products
Stone, clay, glass products
Tobacco manufactures..
Rubber products
Primary metal industries.
Furniture and fixtures
Lumber and products (except furniture)
All other
Total
number of
women
3,835,218
810,800
549,903
402, 526
311,039
- 200, 672
200, 627
182, 909
178, 597
120,126
115,116
114, 376
81,366
80, 711
74, 495
66,158
58, 965
54, 245
36,162
196, 425
Number
Percent
of all
production
workers
in the
industry
INDUSTRIES,
Other women workers
in factories 1
Number
Percent
of all
women
in tho
industry
3,094,805
26
740,319
1
760, 457
518,663
325, 483
255, 542
88,885
106,355
167,816
131, 520
71,336
95, 473
66, 230
63, 473
65,384
72, 485
51,655
26, 941
40,200
25,808
161,099
75
45
28
40
22
10
46
16
15
24
7
36
16
63
24
3
14
5
28
50,339
31,239
77,024
55, 497
111, 785
94,269
15,093
47,075
48, 790
19,638
48,146
17,866
15,317
2,007
14,497
32,024
14,041
10,349
35,323
S
5
39
18
56
47
8
26
41
17
42
22
19
3
22
54
26
29
18
J Includes administrative, supervisory, sales, technical, office, and all other personnel.
Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census.
Census of Manufactures: 1947.
Vol. 1.
General Summary.
W O M E N EMPLOYED IN SERVICE INDUSTRIES
About 40 percent of all employed women are in service industries.
This classification includes personal service industries, which account
for more than two-fifths of the entire group; professional services,
which account for another two-fifths; and financial, business and
repair, and entertainment services.
Almost two-thirds of the women in personal services are household
employees. Of those in professional services, not far from half are
EMPLOYMENT
11
teachers, and over a fourth are nurses. Women constitute large proportions of the workers in all the service industries, as the following
summary shows.
WOMEN
IN S E R V I C E I N D U S T R I E S ,
1951
Women
Industry
Number
All service industries
Personal services
Private household
Other
Professional services
_
Educational
Hospital
Other
Finance, insurance, real estate services
Business, repair services
Entertainment, recreation services
Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census.
Percent
of all
persons
Percent
distribution
6, 9 3 1 , 0 0 0
54
100
2, 9 9 4 , 0 0 0
69
43
28
1, 9 6 0 , 0 0 0
87
1, 0 3 4 , 0 0 0
50
15
2, 787, 0 0 0
58
40
1, 2 7 7 , 00(J
67
18
791, 000
68
11
719, 000
43
10
843, 000
44
12
171, 0 0 0
13
3
136, 0 0 0
24
2
Current sampling reports.
WOMEN EMPLOYED IN THE FEDERAL- GOVERNMENT
In 1951 somewhat more than half a million women were at work in
the executive branch of the Federal Government. These women
were a fourth of all such workers. About a fifth of them were located
in Washington, D. C.
As compared to a postwar low point in late 1947 and early 1948, the
employment of women in the Federal Government has advanced.
However, their numbers in late 1951 were one-fourth less than just
after the war, and they were a much smaller proportion of all Federal
workers than at the close of 1945 or 1946. A larger proportion than in
wartime were located in the District of Columbia.
The most recent information on the general status of women
Federal employees is from a study of those coming under the Civil
Service Retirement Act (about three-fourths of the total), made by
Civil Service Commission soon after World War II (1947). This
shows the median age of the women employees included to be 36.9
years (almost 2 years older than for all women in the labor force in
the same year). Only a tenth of the women, compared to a fourth
of the men, had been in the Federal service as long as 15 years (thus
entering in the early 1930's or before). Two in five of the women
had less than 5 years' service, and thus were wartime entrants.
Though salary scales in the same classification are the same regardless
of sex, at the peak for each sex (the age-group 45 to 49 years), women's
salary was three-fourths of the men's. This would be accounted for
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN WORKERS
12
partly by women's shorter service records; women also may have
advanced in grade somewhat less rapidly than men. The following
summary shows the number of women in Federal employment in the
Continental United States in December of each postwar year. Further
details, and data for earlier years will be found in Women's Bureau
Bull. 230-1.
WOMEN
IN THE E X E C U T I V E
BRANCH
OF THE F E D E R A L
SERVICE
Women
Percent
Number of all employees
*778, 856
35
1 497, 559
28
415,035
24
437,854
23
408, 627
23
471,073
23
578,034
25
586, 500
25
Year
194 5
194 6
194 7
194 8
194 9
195 0
195 1
195 2
i Full-time employees only.
1946, excluding post office.
There were about 8,000 women part-time workers in 1945 and 8,500 in
Source: U. S. Civil Service Commission.
Figures used are for December of each year.
A G E S O F WOMEN WORKERS
The striking development in the age distribution of women workers
is the marked increase in the number who are in the older age brackets.
This trend, which was evident to some extent in earlier decades, has
been particularly notable since 1940. The labor force in the spring
months included about 3 million more women 45 years of age and
older in 1952 than in 1940. About 60 percent of the increase in the
woman labor force was in the older-age groups—45 and over. On
the other hand, the labor force in 1952 as compared to that in 1940
included only a very few more women aged 20 to 34, when the responsibility of rearing a family is likely to be heaviest—in fact, the number
aged 20 to 24 had declined. (See table 6.)
It is well known that women 45 years of age and older entered the
labor force in increasing numbers in wartime. In recent postwar
years (1948 and after) their numbers continued to grow. Of the'
entire 1940-52 increase in the number of women 45 and over in
the labor force, a third came in the last 4 years.
The median age of women in the 1952 labor force was 37 years as
compared to about 32 years in 1940 (the median is the midpoint,
half being older, half younger). In the last decade the median age
of women in the labor force has advanced almost as much as in the
preceding four decades, as the following figures show:
EMPLOYMENT
13
M E D I A N A G E OF W O M E N IN T H E L A B O R F O R C E
Median age
37. 2
36. 8
35. 0
33. 5
Date
1952_
1950_
1947.
1945_
Date
19401930_
1920_
1900.
Median age
31. 9
30. 3
29. 5
26. 2
As a result of this trend, in 1952 about a third of all women workers
were 45 or older, a proportion not much greater being 20 to 34. In
1940, on the other hand, nearly half were 20 to 34, and but little
more than a fifth were 45 or older.
T A B L E 6 . — W O M E N W O R K E R S , BY A G E
GROUP
Number of women
Percent distribution
Age group (in years,;
All ages.
14-19
20-24 . . .
25-34.
35-44.
45-54.
55-64
65 and over
—
— -
—
1940
1952
1940
1945
1947
13,840,000
18, 798,000
100
100
100
100
1,460,000
2,820,000
3,820,000
2,680,000
1,830,000
920,000
310,000
1, 768,000
2,442,000
4,226,000
4,360,000
3,558,000
1,920,000
524,000
11
20
28
19
13
7
2
14
17
23
21
15
8
3
11
17
22
22
16
9
3
9
13
22
23
19
10
3
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
1952
Current sampling reports.
The continuing increase in the number of women 45 and over who
are in the labor force results partly from the growing number of
women of these ages in the population. It is a part of the general
upward shift in the age level of the population. However, this is
not the whole explanation, for in recent years these women have
entered or remained in the labor force in much larger numbers than
formerly. The result is, as the following figures indicate, that the
increase in the proportion of women 45-64 has been considerably
greater in the labor force than in the population.
Percent women 45-64 were of
all women 14 and over in—•
Population (14 years and over)
Labor force (14 years and over)
1940
25
20
1951
28
29
1952
28
29
Women 45-64 are now found in the labor force in as high a proportion as in the population 14 years of age and over.
Even though the number of women 20 to 34 in the labor force has
increased but slightly, women of these ages still constitute larger proportions in the labor force than in the population 14 and over, as the
following figures for 1952 show:
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN WORKERS
14
Age group Cin years)
All ages, 14 and over
14-19
20-24.
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65 and over
Percent distribution of women in—
Population
100. 0
Labor
force
100. 0
11.0
9.8
21. 2
19. 0
15. 7
12. 3
11. 1
9.4
13.0
22. 5
23. 2
18. 9
10. 2
2. 8
PROPORTION OF WOMEN IN EACH A G E GROUP WHO ARE WORKERS
The women in the population in every age group, except those 20 to
34, were participating in the labor force to a greater extent in 1952
than in 1940. A particularly substantial increase in labor force participation is found in the group 35 to 44, and a still larger increase
among those 45 to 54. (See the summary on page 15.) When the
demand for war workers arose, women of these ages were less likely
than those 20 to 34 years old to be workers already, or to have household and family cares requiring their full attention, and consequently
more of them were in a position to enter the labor force than was the
case with 20- to 34-year olds. After World War II, many of the older
women remained in the labor force, and others reaching these ages
also continued to work, or newly took jobs. Among women in all
groups of 35 and over, proportions in the labor force in 1952 were
similar to those at the war peak.
Among women 20 to 34, on the other hand, the proportions in the
labor force in 1952 were smaller than in 1940. Some explanation of
this may be found in the changes in family status tending to affect
labor force status of women of these ages. Many of the women of 20
to 34 had delayed marriage during the war, or if married had remained
at work until husbands returned from the services. In the postwar
period, the increases in marriages and births, and the setting up of
households by young wives and their returned service husbands were
perhaps the greatest forces tending to lessen or slow up participation
in the labor force by women 20 to 34.
In 1952, the smallest age group in the labor force (except for those
65 and older) was that of girls under 20. However, in comparison
with their numbers in the population they were in the labor force in a
notably greater proportion than in 1940, though in a smaller proportion than at the war peak.
EMPLOYMENT
L A B O R FORCE PARTICIPATION
15
OF W O M E N OF V A R I O U S
AND A F T E R
WORLD
WAR
AGES
BEFORE,
DURING,
II
Percent of all women in each age
group who were workers
Age group {in years)
1940
All groups
28
20
48
36
29
24
18
7
14-19
20-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65 and over
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
1945
37
40
55
40
41
37
27
10
1952
33
28
43
35
40
39
27
8
1947
30
28
44
31
35
32
23
8
Current sampling reports.
AGES A N D OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN
The age distribution of women workers differed considerably by
occupation, according to figures available for 1951. The discussion
here will be limited for the most part to the six chief occupation groups.
Reference to table 7 will show further details for these and certain
smaller groups.
Girls under 20 constitute almost a tenth of those employed. They
were a notably larger proportion than this of the household employees
and sales workers. Women 20 to 34 were somewhat more than a third
of those employed; they were a much larger proportion than this of the
clerical workers, and notably smaller proportions in the sales, household employee, and manager groups. Women 35 to 44 were between a
fifth and a fourth of the employed, and were in similar proportions in
each occupation group. Women 45 to 64 were well over a fourth of
all employed; they were a much larger proportion than this of the
management group and the household workers, and a notably smaller
proportion of the clerical workers.
T A B L E 7 . — A G E S OF E M P L O Y E D W O M E N IN E A C H OCCUPATION G R O U P , 1 9 5 1
Percent in each age group
Type of work
All occupations 1
Clerical
Operative
Household
Professional.
Service (except household)
Sales
Management (except farm)
Farm labor
All age
65 and
groups 14 to 19 20 to 24 25 to 34 j35 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64 over
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
(2)
9
11
6
16
3
10
16
8
14
24
12
6
16
10
10
4
8
22
26
25
14
24
20
17
17
21
23
19
27
19
24
21
24
28
25
18
14
18
21
19
19
20
27
22
11
5
10
17
11
15
10
16
13
3
1
2
7
3
4
3
8
4
1 The following small groups not shown in detail: Laborers, less than 1 percent; craftswomen, not over
1.5 percent except that it constitutes 2.7 percent of those 65 and over; farm managers, not over 2 percent
except that it constitutes 3.4 percent of those 65 and over.
2 Less than 1 percent.
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
reports.
210767
° r — — i
Unpublished data from current sampling
16
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN
WORKERS
Half of the women in clerical work were 20 to 34, half those in professional and operative occupations 25 to 44, and half those in the
management group 35 to 54. In each of these except clerical a tenth
or more were 55 to 64; of the clerical workers a tenth were under 20.
Women in the sales and service groups were somewhat more widelydistributed. Well over half the sales, household, and other service
workers were 25 to 54, and in each of these groups a tenth or more
were under 20 and a tenth or more were 55 to 64.
MARITAL STATUS OF WOMEN WORKERS
WOMEN OF EACH MARITAL STATUS GROUP W H O ARE WORKERS
In 1951 half the single women 14 and over were in the labor force,
as were more than a third of the widowed and divorced women, and a
fourth of the married women.
Chart III.
Women in the labor force, by marital status, 1951
Millions
20
Women in
the labor force
Women not in
the labor force
Single women
Married women
Women, widowed or divorced
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
MARITAL STATUS OF A L L WOMEN A N D OF WOMEN WORKERS
Single women constituted 19 percent of the adult woman population
in 1951 but were 29 percent of the women in the labor force. Married
women with husbands present were 63 percent of the female population and 49 percent of the women in the labor force. Of married
women with husbands absent, a relatively small group, more than half
were in the labor force. Widows and divorced women were 14 percent
of the woman population and 16 percent of the woman labor force.
Details are shown in table 8 and in chart III.
EMPLOYMENT
TABLE 8.—MARITAL
STATUS OF W O M E N
17
IN P O P U L A T I O N AND IN L A B O R
Number of women
Marital status
1940
1951
FORCE
Percent distribution
1940
1944
1947
1951
POPULATION
All groups
50,549,176
57, 354,000
100
100
100
100
Single
Married (total)
Husband present
Husband absent.
Widowed or divorced
13, 935,866
30,090, 488
28,516, 937
1,573,551
6,522,822
10,946,000
38,124,000
35, 998,000
2,126,000
8,284,000
28
59
56
3
13
24
62
54
8
13
22
64
61
3
14
19
66
63
4
14
13,840,000
18,602,000
100
100
100
100
6, 710,000
5,040,000
4,200,000
840,000
2,090,000
5, 430,000
10,182,000
9,086,000
1,096,000
2,990,000
48
36
30
6
15
41
46
34
12
13
38
46
41
5
16
29
55
49
6
16
LABOR FORCE
All groups
Single
Married (total)
Husband present
Husband absent
Widowed or divorced
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
Current sampling reports.
MARITAL STATUS IN WARTIME A N D POSTWAR PERIODS
Before World War II, in 1940, about half the nearly 14 million
single women and a sixth of the 30 million married women were already in employment.
During the war great pressure was exerted to bring additional
numbers of women into the labor force. At the same time, the
number of married women in the population was increasing markedly,
the number of single declining. Furthermore, many of the older
married women were beyond the years when family care absorbs most
of a woman's time and energy, husbands of the more recently married
were in the armed forces, and the desire to be of service in the country's
emergency was general. Consequently, very many more married
than single women were available to meet the wartime needs for
labor-force increases.
The proportion of the country's single women who were workers
increased from 48 percent in 1940 to 59 percent during the war (1944)
and the proportion of all married women who were workers, from 17 to
26 percent. In view of the far greater number of married women in
the population, their numerical increase was greater than that of single
women. Also, the proportional increase of married women was much
greater in the labor force than in the population. On the other hand,
though the single woman population declined notably, their increase
in the labor force was considerable. Even at the peak of war needs,
the proportion of all married women who were employed was not half
so great as the proportion of all single women who were workers, as the
summary following shows.
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN WORKERS
18
Since the war, the proportion of single women in the labor force has
declined, and is currently similar to that before the war. On the
other hand, the proportion of married women in the labor force has
continued to increase since the war.
L A B O R F O R C E P A R T I C I P A T I O N OF W O M E N IN V A R I O U S M A R I T A L G R O U P S B E F O R E ,
D U R I N G , AND A F T E R W O R L D
Marital status
All groups
Single
Married (total) J
Husband present
Husband absent
Widowed and divorced
WAR
II
Percent of all women of each
marital status who were workers
mo
27
48
17
15
53
32
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
1944
35
59
26
22
52
36
1947
30
51
21
20
50
35
1951
32
50
27
25
52
36
Current sampling reports.
In 1951 the population included over 8 million more married women,
and nearly 3 million fewer single women than in 1940. (Table 8, p. 17.)
The labor force included 1% million fewer single women and some 5
million more married women (of these % million had husbands absent).
Thus, numerically, both the loss of single women and the gain of
married women were less great in the labor force than in the population.
Proportionally, however, the increase in married women in the
labor force, where they had more than doubled, far outran their increase of 27 percent in the population, while the proportional decline
in single women was similar in both population and labor force—about
20 percent.
WORKING COUPLES
The number of married couples in the population has increased
greatly since the prewar period, and in many more cases than formerly
both husband and wife are in the labor force. The number of couples
in the population with husband the head of the family increased
from 26% million in 1940 to almost 34 million in 1950. Of these
couples, the proportion with both spouses in the labor force increased
from 11 percent (almost 3 million couples) in 1940 to 22 percent
(over 7% million couples) in 1950. Actually, there were more than
8 million couples with husband and wife in the labor force in 1950;
but for about % million of these couples the husband was not
the family head (as, for example, among young couples living with
parents).
MARITAL STATUS A N D OCCUPATION OF WOMEN WORKERS
Regardless of marital status, women workers tend to concentrate
in certain occupation groups. More than three-fourths of those in
EMPLOYMENT
19
each marital group were clerical, sales, operative, or service workers
in 1950. Almost half the single and a third of the married women
workers (with husband present) were in clerical or sales occupations.
Similar proportions of both married and single (about a fifth) were
service workers. A considerably larger proportion of the married
than of the single women were operatives. Sixteen percent of the
single but only 10 percent of the married were in professional or
technical occupations.
Numerically, the single women exceed the married in the professional
group; the married outnumber the single markedly as operatives and
service workers and to a lesser extent in all other groups.
The following summary shows occupational distribution of the
women of each marital status.
OCCUPATIONS OF E M P L O Y E D W O M E N IN V A R I O U S M A R I T A L G R O U P S ,
1950
Percent distribution of—
Married
(husband
present)
100
Occupation
All
women
100
Clerical, sales, kindred workers
Operatives, kindred workers
_ _
Service workers
Professional, technical workers
Farmers, farm workers
Proprietors, managers, officials (except
farm)
_
Craftsmen, foremen, kindred; laborers (except farm)
35
19
23
11
4
47
13
19
16
2
32
23
20
9
6
24
21
37
7
3
6
3
7
7
1
1
2
2
Total
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
Single
100
Other
100
Series P-50, No. 29, May 2, 1951.
MARITAL STATUS A N D A G E OF WOMEN WORKERS
Of the single women in the labor force in 1951, over half were
under 25 years of age. At the same time, almost 60 percent of the
married women and 70 percent of all other women in the labor force
(widowed, divorced, separated) were 35 and under 65. The median
ages of the women in the population and labor force were as follows:
Median age in—
Marital status
All women.
Single
Married (husband present)
Other
PopulaHon
39. 1
20. 1
39.4
56.9
Labor
force
36. 9
24. 3
38.2
47.7
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN
20
WORKERS
Participation of single women in the labor force was greatest at
ages 25 to 44, when over 80 percent were workers. Married women
were workers to the greatest extent at ages 20 to 24 and 35 to 44 when
about 30 percent were in the labor force. Women of other marital
status participated most fully in the labor force at ages 25 to 44,
when 70 percent were workers. Among the older women (45 to 64),
about 65 percent of the single, 27 percent of the married (husband
present), and 50 percent of others were in the labor force. Table 9
shows further details.
T A B L E 9 . — M A R I T A L S T A T U S AND A G E OF W O M E N W O R K E R S ,
1950
A. Number of women in labor force, and percent they form of woman population
All women
Age
(in years)
Number
All women
14 to 19
20 to 24
25 to 34
35 to 44
45 to 64—
65 and over
Married women
(husband present)
Single women
Percent
of population
Number
Percent
of population
Number
Percent
of population
Other women
Number
17,795,000
31
5,621,000
51
8,550,000
24
3,624,000
1,662,000
2,584,000
4,011,000
3,968,000
5,013,000
558,000
26
44
33
37
32
9
1,417,000
1,389,000
1,117,000
750,000
833,000
116,000
26
75
85
84
71
24
209,000
1,053,000
2,356,000
2,446,000
2,353,000
133,000
24
29
24
29
22
6
36,000
143,000
538,000
772,000
1,826,000
309,000
Percent
of population
38
0)
46
62
65
50
9
B. Percent distribution of women in population and in labor force
All women
Age
(in years)
All women
14 to 19
20 to 24
25 to 34
35 to 44.
45 to 6 4 65 and over
Married women
(husband present)
Single women
Other women
In population
In labor
force
In population
In labor
force
In population
In labor
force
In population
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
11
10
21
19
28
11
9
15
23
22
28
3
48
17
12
8
11
4
25
25
20
13
15
2
2
10
28
24
30
6
2
12
28
29
28
1
1
3
9
12
38
37
1
4
15
21
50
9
i Percent not shown where base is less than 100,000.
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
In labor
force
Series P-50, No. 29, May 2,1951.
MOTHERS IN THE L A B O R FORCE
The exact number of working women responsible for the care of
young children is difficult to ascertain. Available data report on
married women with children of their own and take no account of
women responsible for the care of children other than their own. The
number of such women may be considerable, especially since the war,
and includes single women and women widowed or divorced, as well
as married women.
Of all women in the labor force in 1951 just over 5% million (over
one in four) were married and had children under 18 years of age. The
EMPLOYMENT
21
majority of these had children of school age. About 2 million had
children under 6; these constituted about 1 in 10 of all employed
women. Of the women who ever had been married, 60 percent of
those in the labor force and 50 percent of those not in the labor force
had no children under 18. The summary that follows gives further
detail.
L A B O R F O R C E P A R T I C I P A T I O N OF W O M E N E V E R M A R R I E D , BY W H E T H E R OR N O T
H A V I N G O W N CHILDREN UNDER 18, 1 9 5 1
_ ,
Status as to children
All women
Women ever married
With no own children under 18
Total with own children under 18___
With children 6-17 only
With children under 6 only
With children both 6-17 and
under 6
Total with own children under 6
Number of women in—
Population
Labor force
57, 354, 000
18, 602, 000
46, 408, 000
13, 172, 000
24, 265, 000
7, 910, 000
22, 143, 000
5, 262, 000
9, 259, 000
3, 222, 000
7, 104, 000
1, 096, 000
5, 780, 000
12, 844, 000
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
Percent
in labor
force
32
28
33
24
35
15
944, 000
2, 040, 000
16
16
Series P-50, No. 39, May 28,1952.
Mothers pf children who have not yet reached school age (that is,
of children under 6 years of age) are considerably less free to accept
employment than mothers whose children have attained school age
(6 to 17 years). In 1951, 16 percent of all women who had children
of preschool age but none of school age were in the labor force. In
contrast, 35 percent of those with children of school age but none of
preschool age were working mothers.
The absence of the husband from the family tends to increase
markedly the necessity for the mother to seek employment, as the
summary following shows. Among all mothers with own children
under 18, of those with husbands present, 21 percent were in the labor
force, but of those with husbands absent 51 percent had gone to work.
L A B O R F O R C E P A R T I C I P A T I O N OF W O M E N
EVER
MARRIED,
WITH
C H I L D R E N , BY P R E S E N C E OR A B S E N C E OF H U S B A N D ,
OR
WITHOUT
1951
Percent of women in labor force
Status as to children
All women ever married
With no own children under 18
With own children under 18
With children 6-17 only
With children under 6 only
With children both 6-17 and under 6
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
Total
28
33
24
35
15
16
With
husband
present
25
31
21
30
14
15
Widowed
or with
husband
absent
39
36
51
62
37
38
Series P-50, No. 39, May 28, 1952.
22
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN
WORKERS
Where all children were under school age, only 14 percent of the
mothers were in the labor force if the husband was at home, but 37
percent of those with husbands absent had to work.
The presence of children in the family undoubtedly has some influence on types of occupations in which women are engaged. For
example, very much larger proportions of women with children than
of those without are in operative and farm occupations, according to
census data for 1950. Of the women with children under 6 years
of age, a fifth are operatives; another fifth are in farm work, and many
of these are likely to be unpaid family workers. A slightly larger
proportion of the women with children than of those without are
salespersons, work that often can be done on a part-time basis. Considerably smaller proportions of women with children than of those
without are clerical workers. Table 10 gives further details.
TABLE 10.—OCCUPATION
GROUPING
OF W O M E N
CHILDREN,
1 8 TO 6 4 W I T H
AND W I T H O U T
1950
Married women
Occupation group
Total i
With no
children
l otai
All occupations
Clerical, kindred workers
Operatives, kindred workers
Service (except private household)
Professional, technical workers
Farmers, farm workers.
Sales workers
Private household workers
Managers, officials, proprietors (except
farm)
Other (craftsmen, laborers)
With children under 18
None
under 6
Total
Percent distribution
Some
under 6
100
100
100
100
100
100
25
20
12
10
10
9
8
22
22
11
8
14
9
7
26
21
11
9
10
9
7
17
24
12
8
17
10
6
16
25
12
8
15
11
6
18
22
12
8
20
8
6
4
2
5
2
5
2
4
2
5
2
4
2
i All women 18 to 64 in labor force, including single, widowed, separated, divorced.
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Series P-50, No. 35, October 26, 1951.
EMPLOYMENT
Chart I V .
Percent of a l l workers w h o were w o m e n , 1 8 7 0 - 1 9 5 2
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
210767°—52
5
23
24
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN
WORKERS
WOMEN AS HEADS OF FAMILIES
In sharp contrast to the popularly envisioned picture of the "average" family, consisting of father, mother, and children, stands the
fact that in 1950, a woman was the head in about 4 million of this
country's families (two or more related persons living together).
Before the war, the number of families with a woman head was
increasing. Constituting 9.4 percent of all families in the country
in 1930, such families were 11.0 percent of all families by 1940. It
is not surprising that in spite of the accelerated marriage rate, the
number of families with women heads increased sharply during the
war, for men in the armed services were not counted as members
of families unless living at home off post. In the postwar period,
accompanying the return home of men from the war and the continuing increases in numbers of married couples in the population,
there was a decline in the extent to which women headed the family.
In 1950 women were about a tenth of all family heads—a smaller
proportion than in 1940, but nevertheless considerable. Data for
1949 show that not far from a third of the women family heads had
families of four or more persons.
Evidence on prewar years showed that the percent of women
family heads was appreciably higher among the underprivileged than
in the Nation as a whole. The standard of living in families headed
by women is lower than the average for all families. In 1950, families
headed by a woman had a median income of $1,922, whereas for every
Other type of family the median was over $3,100.
Not all family heads, be they men or women, are in the labor
force. In 1949, about 45 percent of the women family heads were
in the labor force, most of them undoubtedly working not only for
their own support but also toward the family's maintenance. (For
data on women's financial contribution to the family, see part III,
Economic Responsibilities of Women Workers, pp. 60 to 67.)
In 1950 about a third of the families headed by a woman contained
children under 18. Earlier data (1946) show that nearly a tenth of
the women family heads were in the labor force and had preschool
children (not necessarily their own) in their homes. Thus about
% million women workers may be heads of families and responsible
for young children.
NONWHITE WOMEN WORKERS
Nonwhite women were 10 percent of the woman population and
13 percent of the woman labor force in 1950. (Most nonwhites in
the population were Negro—97 percent.)
Of all the nonwhite women in the 1950 population, 37 percent were
in the labor force. These women were about 35 percent of all nonwhite workers in the labor force. The number of nonwhite women
in the labor force increased by over a tenth from 1940 to 1950.
EMPLOYMENT
25
Among all women workers, the proportion who were 35 years of
age and over increased markedly from 1940 to 1950, though less
for nonwhite women than others, as the following summary shows:
Percent who were 35
years or older
1940
41
46
All women workers
Nonwhite women workers
1950
53
54
DISTRIBUTION OF EMPLOYED NONWHITE WOMEN
BY OCCUPATION GROUP
Marked occupational changes occurred from 1940 to 1950 for employed nonwhite women, as may be seen from table 11. The proportion of all nonwhite women who were in professional, clerical, or
sales occupations rose from 6 percent in 1940 to 11 percent in 1950.
Another notable increase was among operatives and similar workers;
of all the nonwhite women 7 percent were in such occupations in 1940
and 14 percent in 1950.
Private household employment, which accounted for nearly threefifths of the nonwhite women workers in 1940, declined to little more
than two-fifths in 1950, and there was also a substantial reduction in
the number of women so employed. By contrast, other service
workers increased from one-tenth of the total to nearly one-fifth, and
more than doubled in number.
About 45 percent of the nonwhite women at work on farms in
1950 were unpaid family workers, but this was a considerably smaller
proportion than in 1940 when 53 percent of the nonwhite women
working on farms were unpaid family workers.
T A B L E 1 1 . — O C C U P A T I O N S OF E M P L O Y E D N O N W H I T E W O M E N , 1 9 4 0 AND 1 9 5 0
Occupation group
All occupations
Private household workers..
Service workers (except private household)
Operatives, kindred workers
Farm workers—total..
Unpaid family workers...
Other laborers, foremen
Farmers, managers
Professional, technical, kindred workers..
Clerical, kindred workers.
Sales workers
Laborers (except farm)
Craftsmen, foremen, kindred workers
Managers, officials, proprietors (except
farm)
Occupation not reported
1
Number of
nonwhite
women
workers,
1950
Percent distribution of nonwhite women
1940
1950
Percent women
were of all nonwhite workers
1940
1950
Percent
change in
number of
nonwhite
women
employed,
1940-1950
1, S67,000
100
100
34
35
785,000
59
42
93
97
—15
332,000
273,000
202,000
90,000
75,000
37,000
115,000
74,000
24,000
21,000
19,000
10
7
16
18
14
11
30
21
17
43
27
19
+103
+162
-20
4
1
1
1
6
4
1
1
1
54
29
24
2
2
60
39
31
3
7
+71
+392
+152
+59
+632
1
1
1
1
19
13
-18
+18
10,000
13,000
0)
+19
Less than 1 percent.
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
Census.
Preliminary reports of Decennial
26
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN WORKERS
PROPORTION OF NONWHITE WORKERS IN EACH OCCUPATION
WHO ARE WOMEN
Most private household workers are women, hence it is to be expected that this also would be the case with nonwhite household
workers—97 percent of whom are women. Of the nonwhite professional or technical workers 60 percent are women; teachers and nurses
probably make up the great majority of these. About 40 percent of
all nonwhites in services (other than private household) and in
clerical occupations are women. About 30 percent of all nonwhite
salesworkers and operatives are women, and about 20 percent of the
nonwhite farm workers.
From 1940 to 1950, women gained in proportion among all nonwhite workers in almost all of the occupation groups. This gain for
women workers was most marked in the service occupations (other
than household) and in the clerical group. Women's gain among the
nonwhite workers also was notable for salespersons, operatives, and
professional or technical workers. For further details see table 11.
In most occupation groups, the proportion of women among nonwhite workers is very similar to the proportion of women among all
workers. However, two groups are exceptional. Women constitute
much larger proportions of the nonwhite professional workers than of
all professional workers. This probably is due in large measure to
the important group of Negro women teachers. Women are a much
smaller proportion of nonwhite clerical workers than of all clerical
workers. (For further comparative details on women as proportion
of all workers in the various occupations, see p. 25.)
MARITAL STATUS OF NONWHITE WOMEN WORKERS
A much smaller proportion of nonwhite single women than of all
single women in the population are in the labor force. In other marital-status groups, the opposite is the case—a much larger proportion
among nonwhite women than among all women in the population are
in the labor force. The following summary shows details.
Percent in the labor force
Marital status
Total
Single
Married (husband present)
Other marital status
All
women
Nonwhite
women
32
41
50
41
25
36
39
51
EMPLOYMENT
27
WOMEN MEMBERS OF UNIONS
Complete information on the number of women workers who are
union members is not available. Many unions keep no separate record
of woman membership. Some organizations count only paid-up
members, others report a wider count. Officers of unions can make
rough estimates, often on a local rather than a Nation-wide basis. It
is estimated that about 3% million women are union members.
The State labor departments in California and Massachusetts give
pertinent information on membership of women in unions, from a
questionnaire sent out to the locals of all unions in the State. Reports
of these in recent years are shown in table 12. As the Massachusetts
report points out "membership by sex followed the expected pattern
that is, the unions in industries known to be large employers of women,
T A B L E 1 2 . — W O M E N IN L O C A L L A B O R ORGANIZATIONS, T W O S T A T E S
California
Massachusetts
Industry
All industries-.
Manufacturing.
Food products.
Textile
Clothing, garment
Metals, machinery
Boot, shoe
Transportation equipment..
Rubber
Paper
Printing...
Lumber...
Miscellaneous.
Nonmanufacturing
Miscellaneous services
Trade, wholesale, retail
Hotels, restaurants
...
Motion picture production, distribution, services, theaters
Public utilities
Telephone
Gas, electric
Government
Railroad...
Teaming, trucking.
Women in 2,280
Women
local unions reWomen
as
as
porting, 1949
percent
percent
of all
of all
Percent members,
Percent members,
Number
1950
1950
of all
Number
of all
members
members
Women in unions
reporting, 1951
i 167, 675
(2)
31, 779
25,558
28,913
12,186
(2)
5,804
3,074
2, 473
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
* 8, 656
2, 789
(2)
9, 862
1,323
615,234
1,122
869
28
(2)
(2)
C2)
C2)
(2)
C2)
41
74
24
47
34
25
17
39
28
(2)
26
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
38
59
21
41
32
23
19
41
26
(2)
62
13
44
5
3
59
13
39
5
5
i 184,325
17
19
78,030
39, 737
} 12,413
5,900
(2)
5,800
3 3.097
(2)
2, 203
2,152
i 6, 728
i 106, 295
25, 533
23, 087
, 5 31, 509
23
41
75
9
23
42
76
8
C2)
10
3 11
2
()
13
6
30
14
35
21
41
7,031
6,871
5, 728
(2)
' 5,346
(2)
(2)
19
18
(2)
15
4
9
39
13
8
26
17
43
19
41
19
35
(2)
15
7
1 Total exceeds details as a few with small groups not shown in detail.
Not reported.
Grouped with petroleum, chemicals.
4 Clerks only.
« Eating, drinking places, hotels, lodging.
6 Specified as State and municipal.
The State classes union members with industry affiliation; for example, machine workers in Navy Yards would be in Government.
7 Transportation, warehousing.
2
2
Source: Massachusetts Department of Labor and Industries; and California Department of Industrial
Relations.
28
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN
WORKERS
such as the textile, clothing, telephone, and shoe industries, consistently had larger numbers and proportions of women members than
did such industries as teaming and trucking, railroading, gas and
electric, in which women are much smaller percentages of the employees.
WOMEN PART-TIME WORKERS
Work on a part-time basis brings into use the skills of a considerable
number of women who would be unable to take full-time jobs because of family and household responsibilities or for other reasons.
In 1951 the labor force included 3M million women who could not
accept or did not desire full-time employment. The Census Bureau
defines part-time employment as work for less than 35 hours a week.
The largest numbers of part-time workers usually are found in
stores, household employment, restaurants, or agriculture. However,
there are some part-time employees in most cities in social agencies,
hospitals, educational and library services, insurance, and numerous
other types of work. Information on kinds of part-time jobs women
are doing, skills required, hours worked, earnings, and advantages
and disadvantages in such employment can be obtained from a special
study recently made by the Women's Bureau (Bull. 238). This
reports on more than 9,000 women part-time workers and over 1;000
employers of such workers, in 10 cities.
WOMEN INJURED IN INDUSTRY
Most States have some provision for compensation of workmen
killed or seriously injured on the job. No recent over-all data exist
as to the extent of injuries to women (see Women's Bureau 1950
Handbook for latest comprehensive data, 1945). Industrial accident
commissions in some States report injuries separately for women,
giving varied types of information as to the women affected. For
example, the most recent biennial report of Washington State Department of Labor and Industries shows that compensation was claimed
for 1,307 nonfatal injuries to women in 1949. The average time lost
per injury was about 51 days, the total being over 66,000 days. The
average compensation paid per injury was over $192. In a third of
EMPLOYMENT
29
the cases the women injured had children. This report shows the
family status of the women claimants for injuries as follows:
F A M I L Y S T A T U S OF W O M E N
C L A I M A N T S FOR N O N F A T A L I N J U R I E S IN
WASHINGTON
Family status
Total.
STATE,
Percent distribution
Number of
claims for
injuries
All claims
1,307
100
374
933
497
436
217
133
56
30
29
71
38
33
17
10
4
2
Single.
Married
With no children
With children
1 child
2 children
3 children
4 or more
INDUSTRY,
1949
Claims
of married
women
100
53
47
23
14
6
3
Source: Washington State 12th Report of Department of Labor and Industries, 1948-49.
Another State report, that of California, shows the ages of women
who suffered nonfatal injuries at work. Half these injuries in 1950
affected women 25 to 44, the age group of greatest number of working
women. However, over 700 injuries occurred to girls under 20, and
over 4,700 to women 45 to 64. In the same year the State of California reported that 8 women lost their lives by industrial injury, 4 of
them 45 years old or over. Details on age of those affected by nonfatal
injuries were as follows:
,,
/•
„ \
Age group (m years)
All ages
Under 20
20, under 25
25, under 35
35, under 45
45, under 55_
55, under 65
65 and over___
Age not reported
-
Number of
Percent
distribution
16, 390
100
728
1, 585
3, 734
3, 984
3,045
1, 688
341
1,285
4
10
23
24
19
10
2
8
PART II
WOMEN'S INCOME, WAGES A N D SALARIES
Over-all information on women's income from all sources is reported annually by the United States Department of Commerce,
Bureau of the Census, from its current sampling of the population.
There are no reports made regularly that give over-all data on the
wages or salaries of women in all types of occupations. Any single
or average figure on women's earnings would be unrealistic because
of the marked differences in occupation, experience, geographic location, and so forth. The most important of these reasons will be more
fully discussed later. Such information as exists on women's earnings
thus is largely from many special and limited studies of particular
industries, occupations, or areas. The pages that follow will summarize the most recent census findings of women's income and available data on women's wages and salaries in various occupations that
employ many women.
THE INCOME O F WOMEN
Of all the women in the population 14 years of age and older, 43
percent have some income, as compared to about 90 percent of all
men. The discussion that follows refers only to persons with income.
Income is defined as money income from all sources. About twothirds of the women who have any income derive it entirely from
wages or salaries earned by their own labor.
The median income of women was $953 at the latest report (for the
year 1950). This was only 37 percent of men's median income,
which was $2,570, as the following summary shows. Over half of
all women and a fifth of all men had incomes of less than $1,000.
At the other end of the scale, only 3 percent of the women, but 29
percent of the men, had incomes of $3,500 or more. Incomes of
nonwhite women and men were considerably below the totals for
the respective sexes. The percentages with income were about the
same for white and nonwhite men, but differed considerably for white
and nonwhite women—43 and 56 percent, respectively. The women
with incomes of as much as $2,000 were only about a tenth of all
women in the population and a fourth of all with income, while men
receiving $2,000 or more were nearly 60 percent of the male population and 63 percent of the men with incomes.
30
INCOME, WAGES, SALARIES
I N C O M E OF W O M E N AND M E N ,
Annual money income
-
Number with income
Percent of population 14 and
over.
31
T O T A L AND N O N W H I T E ,
Total
•
1950
Nonwhite
Women
24,651,000
Men
47,585,000
Women
Men
43
90
58
90
Percent distribution
32
20
11
12
12
7
3
3
Under $500
$500, under $1,000
$1,000, under $1,500
$1,500, under $2,000
$2,000, under $2,500
$2,500, under $3,000
$3,000, under $3,500
$3,500 and over
Median income of persons
with income
of persons with income
53
11
23
9
8
10
8
8
4
11
2
10
1
13
29
o
$2, 570
$953
$474
21
16
14
13
15
9
7
5
$1, 471
i Less than 1 percent.
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
Series P-60, No. 9, Mar. 25,1952.
Moreover, the discrepancy in the incomes of women and men has
increased in recent years, as will be shown by reference to the figures
in table 13. The median income of men increased by over 25 percent
from 1944 to 1950, while that of women increased by less than 5 percent. As a result women's median income, which was 44 percent of
men's in 1944, was only 37 percent of men's in 1950.*
T A B L E 1 3 . — I N C O M E OF W O M E N AND M E N IN V A R I O U S Y E A R S
1947
1944
1949
1950
Annual money income
Women
Men
Women
Men
Women
Men
Women
Men
Percent distribution of persons with income
Under $500.
$500, under $1,000
$1,000, under $2,000
$2,000, under $3,000
$3,000 and over
Median income of persons with income
31
24
32
10
3
14
12
23
26
26
30
19
32
14
5
10
11
22
26
31
32
20
26
16
6
12
11
19
23
35
32
20
24
18
6
11
9
16
22
41
$909
$2,046
$1,017
$2,230
$960
$2,346
$953
$2, 570
Souroe: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
WOMEN'S INCOME BY A G E
The income of women and men of various ages is shown in table 14.
Fewer than half the women had any income except in two age groups
EDITOR'S NOTE—While this Handbook was in press, the Bureau of the Census released its first figure on
1951 income. Women's median was $1,045, or 35 percent of men's median of $2,952. In 1951, 49 percent of
the women and 18 pecrent of the men received under $1,000, a slight decrease from 1950 in the proportion for
each sex. In 1951, 37 percent of the men but only 5 percent of the women received as much as $3,500, a considerable increase from 1950 in the proportion for men but only a small increase for women.
210767°—52
6
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN WORKERS
32
(20-24 years and 65 and over), although nine-tenths of the men had
income at every age group from 20 years on.
Young women 20 to 24 had the highest median income, and for all
those who were older the median declined progressively. For men, on
the other hand, the decline in income did not begin until age 45.
TABLE
14.—INCOME
OF W O M E N AND M E N ,
BY A G E
GROUP,
With annual moneyincome
1950
Percent distribution
of—
Percent
of all in
population
Median
income
Population
24,651,000
43
$953
100
100
2,043,000
3,158,000
5,083,000
4,433,000
3,841,000
2,765,000
3,328,000
33
55
42
41
43
40
54
392
1,400
1,355
1,308
1,242
918
531
11
10
21
19
16
12
11
8
13
21
18
16
11
14
47,585,000
90
$2, 570
100
100
2,476,000
4,520,000
10,851,000
9,935,000
8, 410, 000
6, 482, 000
4, 911,000
42
93
99
99
98
96
90
394
1,933
2, 961
3, 254
3, 091
2, 494
986
11
9
21
19
16
13
10
5
9
23
21
18
14
10
Age group
Number
Persons
with
income
WOMEN
Total
14, under 20 years
20, under 25 years..
25, under 35 years.
35, under 45 years
45, under 55 years
55, under '65 years
65 years and over
.
MEN
Total.
14, under 20 years
20, under 25 years
25, under 35 years
35, under 45 years
45, under 55 years
55, under 65 years...
65 years and over
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
Series P-60, No. 9, Mar. 25,1952.
INCOME OF WOMEN LIVING IN URBAN A N D RURAL AREAS
Both women and men living in urban areas had much higher incomes
than those in rural districts. Those living on farms had the lowest
money incomes of all, as the following summary shows:
INCOME OF W O M E N AND M E N , BY R E S I D E N C E ,
Revdenrp
tcesiaence
Median
annual
money
income
Urban:
Women with income
Men with i n c o m e . . . — Rural nonfarm:
Women with income
Men with income
Rural farm:
Women with income
Men with income
Percent with income of—
$s,000
Under —
$1,500
and over
$1, 178
58
8
2, 8 9 4
23
48
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census .
1950
706
72
3
2, 4 5 4
29
38
417
85
2
1,328
54
19
Series P-e>0, No. 9, Mar. 25, 1952.
INCOME,
WAGES,
SALARIES
33
FAMILY RELATIONSHIP OF WOMEN WITH INCOME
Table 15 shows the incomes of women and men in 1950 according
to their relationship to their families. There were marked variations
in the extent to which women holding different positions in the family
had income. Three-fourths of the women who were family heads, a
third of the wives, and half the other relatives (chiefly daughters) had
income. The extent to which wives entered the labor force, distributed according to the income of their husbands or of their families,
is shown in part III of this Handbook, page 62.
Of the individual w^omen not living in families, almost nine-tenths
had some income. (This group constituted almost a fifth of all the
women with income.)
The medians for women with incomes were similar regardless of
their family status, and about half the women had incomes below
$1,000, whether they were heads of families, wives, other relatives
in the family, or individuals not living with relatives. However, the
differences were somewhat greater at the upper end of the scale.
Incomes as high as $3,000 were received by about a tenth of the women
family heads and unrelated individuals, but by much smaller proportions of the wives and other relatives. Among men, in comparison
with women, much larger proportions had income—well over ninetenths in every group except the "other" relatives (including sons),
T A B L E 1 5 . — I N C O M E OF W O M E N AND M E N , BY F A M I L Y R E L A T I O N S H I P ,
1950
Persons with income
Family relationship
Number
Percent
of all in Median
popu- income
lation
Percent with income of—
Under
$1,000
$1,000,
$2,000,
$2,000
$3,000
under
under
$3,000
and
over
WOMEN
Total
In family
Head..
Wife of head.
Other relative of head
Unrelated individuals
....
24,651,000
43
$953
52
24
18
20,200,000
39
944
52
24
18
7
6
3,134,000
10,782,000
6,284,000
78
31
48
1,028
926
926
49
53
52
25
24
24
16
18
19
10
5
5
4, 4 5 2 , 0 0 0
86
981
51
20
17
12
MEN
Total
In family
HeadMarried, wife present
Other marital status
Relative of head
Unrelated individuals
4 7 , 5 8 5 , 000
90
$2,570
21
16
22
41
43,702,000
90
2,643
20
16
22
43
35,239,000
34,099,000
1,140,000
8,463,000
98
99
93
66
2,965
2,994
2,109
1,172
13
13
28
46
15
15
20
20
23
23
23
19
49
50
30
15
3,882,000
96
1,657
35
22
19
24
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
Series P-60, No. 9, Mar. 25, 1952.
HANDBOOK
34
OF FACTS ON WOMEN
WORKERS
of whom nearly two-thirds had income. The median incomes of
different groups varied much more among men than among women.
In every family-relation group, women's income was far less than
men's. Women family heads had little more than a third as much
income as men family heads. Women living as individuals outside a
family group had incomes considerably less than two-thirds as great
as those of men in a similar situation. Women's median most nearly
approached men's in the lowest income group for men, the "other"
relatives living in the family (including sons and daughters).
INCOME OF WOMEN IN CHIEF OCCUPATION GROUPS
Table 16 shows the great differences in the incomes of employed
women according to the occupations in which they are engaged.
The median income was as high as $1,700 a year only for clerical and
professional women; for women in all service occupations it was considerably below $1,000, and among saleswomen it was slightly over
$1,000. Only in the professional and managerial groups did any
considerable proportion of women (a fourth and a fifth) receive as
much as $3,000 (including, of course, income from all other sources
as well as salary). These two occupation groups employ only about
4 percent of all women in the population, 16 percent of the employed
women with income. In the small management group, more women
received under $1,000 than received $2,500 or over, which gave them a
lower median than that of the professional group. This may reflect
low earnings of women carrying on small independent businesses and
relatively high earnings of those in salaried official or managerial jobs.
TABLE
16.—INCOME
OF
EMPLOYED W O M E N
IN 1 9 5 1
IN
1950,
BY
OCCUPATION
GROUP
Women with income
Occupation group
Total
Clerical and kindred workers..
Operatives and kindred workers
Service, except household
Household employees.,.
Professional
Saleswomen
Proprietors, managers, officials.
All other
1
2
3
Number of
employed Median
women
income
Percent with income ofUn$500, $1,000, $1,500, $2,000, $2,500, $3,000
der , under under under under under and
$500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 $2,500 $3,000 over
15, 275,000
$1,559
20
16
13
16
17
10
9
4, 427,000
2,074
8
9
10
20
25
15
13
3,368,000
1,837,000
1,623,000
1,627,000
1,000,000
850,000
3 541,000
1,661
913
427
2,175
1,109
1,674
11
27
59
12
29
18
15
28
26
10
17
15
17
18
8
8
18
13
23
12
5
14
18
10
20
10
2
17
11
15
11
3
0)
15
5
9
3
2
Less than 1 percent.
In the managerial group, 8 percent earned $5,000 or more.
Includes groups too small to report median and percent: Farmers, farm laborers, craftsmen, etc.
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
Series P-60, No. 9, Mar. 25, 1952.
<9
24
2
3 19
INCOME, WAGES,
SALARIES
35
FACTORS INFLUENCING WOMEN'S EARNINGS
It has been noted that 43 percent of the women in the population
have some income, and that about two-thirds of these receive no income except from their wages or salaries.
An average figure is sometimes sought to indicate women's usual
earnings. A single figure of this type would conceal very great variations in the earnings of individual women. Wages and salaries, the
only source of income for the great majority of women, vary widely
with the types of industries and occupations in which the workers are
employed. They vary with the skills required in these occupations,
with the training, experience, and proficiency of the workers, and
with numerous other factors. Moreover, general economic conditions
in any period of time have the most powerful effect on the wage and
salary levels of all workers. Earnings also are affected by differences
in the season of the year or locality in which the work is done.. Because of these many influences, no average figure will give a very
representative idea of the current earnings or the wage or salary rates
of all workers.
The best information on earnings or on standards of wages and
salaries relates to particular industries or occupations at a given
period of time, and often in particular localities. Thus it is likely to
come from various special studies. Some of these show separate data
on women's wages, and information taken from them will be shown
later.
PAY RATE, TIME WORKED, A N D EARNINGS
Many wage and salary reports show the rate of pay for a given
period, say a week, of a specified number of hours of work. But if the
full hours that are scheduled by the plant as the basis for the weekly
rate have not been worked, the earnings the employee actually
receives are less than the full weekly rate. Because of differences in
the time the employee works, her pay may vary even from week to
week. This is true for the factory and the service worker, in particular, but also for any other employee whose pay varies with time
worked.
Moreover, the employee may be a regular part-time worker, employed only for certain days in the week or for certain hours in the
day. In this case also she receives only the hourly rate multiplied by
the number of hours worked, which of course is less than the rate for
the full weekly schedule.
P A Y BY PIECEWORK A N D BONUS
Many factory and some white-collar workers are paid, not by
time worked, but by piece rates, that is, according to the number of
items processed or tasks completed. In such cases, the same em-
36
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON W O M E N
WORKERS
ployee's earnings may differ from day to day and even from hour to
hour, since they are affected to a large extent by differences in the
way in which the employer or the worker organizes the work, as well
as by variations in speed of the worker.
In some instances a special bonus is paid to individuals as an incentive to achieve a high rate of production (as on factory processes) or
a large volume of sales (as in a store or other sales job). The wage
figure reported then differs according to whether it includes or omits
the amounts of such bonuses.
TAKE-HOME PAY
The wage or salary shown in reports usually is either the basic rate
of pay or earnings on the job. The actual amount in the worker's
pay envelope or check usually is considerably less than this, because
before it is received deductions are made for various purposes, such
as taxes, social security, union dues, pension, or health insurance.
Most of these deductions are eventually advantageous to the worker,
though they reduce the amount available for living expenses, including
the building up of savings. The amount that the worker receives
after these deductions have been made is called "take-home" pay.
EARNINGS O F WOMEN FACTORY PRODUCTION WORKERS
Manufacturing industries employ a fourth of all women workers.
Current and continuing information representative of the earnings of
all women who are production workers in factories is difficult to obtain.
This can be understood better by recalling how great is the variety in
factory industries, occupational skills, methods of payment, working
time, and local wage standards and customs. The two chief sources
of data that show wages of women factory workers with considerable
frequency and with wide geographic and industrial coverage are the
Bureau of Labor Statistics in the United States Department of Labor,
reporting for many localities in the United States, and the New York
State Department of Labor for New York State.
Reports used from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show for the
manufacturing industries included the averages and distributions of
the hourly earnings of workers employed in particular occupations in
individual localities. Average hourly earnings are shown separately
for women in occupations performed to any notable extent by women.
Earnings for various occupations are given from this source on
pages that follow. These are straight-time average hourly earnings, omitting any premium pay received for overtime or night work.
The New York State Department of Labor reports monthly on the
average weekly earnings of women production workers in factories.
These averages are based on a sample that is carefully constructed to
represent each industry included in the State. Table 17 gives the
INCOME, WAGES, SALARIES
37
average for all manufacturing industries from these figures and the
summary on page 38 shows earnings in a recent month in the various
groups.
As would be expected, the greatest dollar increases in the average
earnings of women factory workers were made during the war years,
notably in 1943; another great increase occurred in 1947. The significance to women of increases in earnings in any period depends on
the extent to which costs of goods and services have increased at the
same time. It should be remembered that great increases in living
costs occurred in the war and postwar years.
TABLE
1 7 . — W E E K L Y E A R N I N G S OF W O M E N AND M E N P L A N T
M A N U F A C T U R I N G INDUSTRIES, 1 9 3 8 - 1 9 5 1
WORKERS
IN
[Averages for the year]
Average weekly earnings reported by—
National Industrial Conference Board
Year
New York
Illinois
Men
Women
Women
All men
$15. 69
17. 02
17. 43
20. 29
23. 96
28. 82
31.19
32.20
34.13
38. 97
3 41.86
(4)
(4)
(4)
1938.
1939.
1940.
1941.
1942.
1943.
1944.
1945.
1946.
1947.
1948.
1949.
1950.
1951.
$26.07
28. 97
30.64
36.16
43. 43
51.05
54.60
53. 59
50.65
57. 73
3 60. 99
(4)
(4)
(4)
Men
Women
Men
Unskilled
$15.61
$20.67
22.81
23.88
28.17
33.48
38.89
41.06
. 41.14
40.81
46. 77
3 49.88
(4)
(<)
(4)
16. 66
17.06
19.18
22. 58
28.31
32. 79
33.20
34.48
39.18
42. 41
43.39
(4)
(4)
$27.48
29.45
30.33
34. 58
41.25
49. 34
54.39
53. 51
52.45
58.98
63. 42
63.49
(4)
(4)
$16. 57
117. 52
(2)
(2)
23. 53
30.33
33.46
34.14
36.56
39.60
42.08
41. 74
42.64
45.68
$29. 71
1 30. 49
(2)
(2)
44.72
52.86
56.16
55. 79
55. 51
60.34
64. 45
65. 01
68. 29
74.82
1 Figures are for 5 months only.
2 Wages were not reported by sex in 1940 and 1941.
3 Average for 7 months. Reporting by sex was discontinued after July 1948.
* Reporting by sex discontinued.
In 1948 men's average weekly earnings were about half again as
high as women's averages, but even this large difference was markedly
less than that of 10 years earlier, as the following summary shows. By
1951, the only remaining source of information showed men's averages
above women's to a considerably greater extent than in 1948. This
may be largely due to increases for men in the heavier industries where
women are less extensively employed.
Year
Percent men's average weekly earnings
were above women1s in reports from—
NICB
1938
1948
1951
1
Average for 7 months only.
1
Illinois
New
York
66
76
79
46
50
53
64
38
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN WORKERS
Earnings of women in New York industries, 1952.—Earnings of the
women factory production workers reported by New York State for a
week in March 1952 averaged $47.80. Averages in the 12 industries in which women constituted at least a fifth of the labor force are
listed below. The proportion of women in the labor force is greatest
in the apparel and tobacco, next in the leather and textile industries.
Electrical machinery and skilled instrument work continue, as
formerly has been true, to pay women an average considerably above
other industries. The production of leather goods paid women an
average less than in other industries, and textiles also paid low, as
often in the past.
Average earnings for women in all manufacturing industries combined were two-fifths less than men's. In one industry (printing and
publishing) men's average earnings were more than double women's.
In this and six other industries listed, men's earnings for the week
averaged more than $25 above women's.
WEEKLY
E A R N I N G S OF W O M E N AND M E N PRODUCTION
INDUSTRIES, N E W Y O R K S T A T E , M A R C H
Industry or group
All manufacturing 2
Instruments, photographic and optical goods;
watches, clocks
Electrical machinery, equipment, supplies
Rubber products
Chemicals, allied products
Stone, clay, glass products
Apparel, other finished fabric products
Tobacco manufactures
Food, kindred products
Printing, publishing, allied products
Paper, allied products
Textile-mill products
Leather, leather products
W O R K E R S IN SELECTED
1952
Average weekly
earnings of-
as
Women
P.er™nt
Women
$47. 80
Men
$78. 23
workers1
34
60. 04
50. 75
50. 12
49. 46
48. 63
47. 68
47. 03
46. 23
45. 91
44. 89
44. 00
38. 96
85. 60
82. 79
75. 95
73. 95
69. 14
82. 27
62. 55
72. 19
92. 95
71. 82
65. 36
58. 52
30
31
30
27
21
64
58
25
33
27
45
48
1 Employment data by sex relate to all wage and salary workers, but earnings cover only production
workers.
2 Includes industries other than those shown here in which women were less than 20 percent of all employees.
Source: New York State Department of Labor, Labor Market Review, May 1952.
State as a whole.
Figures are for the
EARNINGS IN SELECTED NONDURABLE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES
More than 60 percent of the women in manufacturing are in the
nondurable goods (or consumer) industries. The largest factory
employment of women is in the various apparel industries. Table 18
shows hourly earnings of plant workers in several of these industries,
INCOME,
WAGES,
SALARIES
39
as reported recently by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The amounts
women can earn differ considerably among the apparel industries,
reflecting variations in skills required as well as wage standards in
the industry, availability of workers, and other factors. In most of
the industries reported here, only small proportions of the women
received less than 80 cents an hour, and in most of them at least a
fifth earned $1.50 an hour or more. Further unpublished details
show that almost a fifth of the women making dresses and well over
a third of those making women's and misses' coats and suits earned
$2 or more an hour. However, a different situation is found in making
men's shirts and nightwear—a fourth of the women reported received
less than 80 cents an hour and only a small proportion received as
much as $1.50.
Men's earnings in all these industries averaged considerably above
women's. In making women's and misses' coats and suits, for example, where about the same numbers of men and of women were
at work, women's average earnings were only about two-thirds as
much as men's. The processes performed by the women and the
men in the industry are likely to differ, of course, and this may go
far in explaining differences in earnings. But the data illustrate a
rather widespread situation—that women workers in an industry
often receive much less pay than men to meet rising living costs. In
the making of dresses and of full-fashioned hosiery, men's earnings
averaged over 95 cents an hour more than women's. Thus, for a
workweek of 35 hours (very usual in apparel industries) men's pay
envelopes contained at least $33 more than women's.
TABLE
1 8 . — H O U R L Y E A R N I N G S OF W O M E N AND M E N P L A N T W O R K E R S
SELECTED N O N D U R A B L E M A N U F A C T U R I N G I N D U S T R I E S
Percent of
women
receiving—
Median hourly
earnings of—
Number reported
IN
Industry
Men's dress shirts and nightwear (1950)
Women's and misses' dresses (1950)
;
Women's and misses' coats and suits (1951)
Men's and boys' coats and suits (1951)
Hosiery (1951): 2
Full-fashioned
Seamless,.Footwear (1951)2-.
Cotton textile (1952)
Carded yarn or fabric - Combed yarn or fabric
Woolen and worsted textile (1952)
Men
0)
67,342
67, 534
29, 404
24, 710
8,227
17,838
29,512
28,564
$0.95
1.37
1.78
1.34
$1.11
2. 34
2. 66
1.94
25
7
2
2
5
42
66
32
10,065
7,181
7,024
2,893
6,337
9,861
3156,400 3234,600
1.28
.95
1.20
1.15
1.13
1.19
1.38
2.24
1.26
1. 74
1.22
1.20
1.27
1.49
3
12
5
26
1
20
5
4
14
40,000
60,000
Men
1 Data from 42 States.
2 Data for selected plant occupations only.
s Estimated number of production workers in the industry.
« Data from 26 States.
Source: U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
3 1 0 7 6 7 ° — 52
7
$1.50
and
over
Women
11
12
10
Women
Under
$0.80
Areas
Industry wage studies.
40
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN
WORKERS
EARNINGS IN SELECTED FACTORY OCCUPATIONS
The variations in women's earnings in different occupations have
been mentioned. An illustration of the way in which these occupational differences may affect the pay envelopes of women in manufacturing industries can be seen in table 19, which shows for two
industries data on earnings in several occupations that are characteristically performed by women. In seven occupations in the
making of dress shirts and nightwear, women's average hourly earnings ranged from 96 cents to $1.08, a variation of 12 cents, which
would amount to a difference of $4.20 in the pay envelope for a
week's work of 35 hours or $4.80 for a workweek of 40 hours. Similarly, in machine industries in Chicago, women's average hourly
earnings in three occupations varied by 8 cents, which would make
a difference of $3.20 in the pay envelope for a 40-hour week.
TABLE
1 9 . — E X A M P L E S OF V A R I A T I O N S IN W O M E N ' S E A R N I N G S
OCCUPATIONS W I T H I N AN INDUSTRY
H E N ' S AND BOYS' DRESS SHIRTS AND NIGHTWEAR.
Occupation
Button sewers (machine)
Buttonhole makers (machine)..
Inspectors, final (examiners)...
Pressers, finish (hand)
Sewing - machine operators
(dress shirts)
Sewing-machine operators
(nightwear)
Thread trimmers
IN
DIFFERENT
1950
Percent of women receiving—
Number
of
women
reported
Average
hourly
earnings
1,468
1,628
1,840
7,603
$1.03
1.02
.96
1.08
17
18
24
19
17
16
20
14
17
16
25
14
15
16
11
12
13
14
10
10
17
16
8
22
3
3
33,379
1.03
22
16
14
14
11
18
5
2,837
2,282
.99
.93
22
28
21
25
14
20
15
12
11
7
15
8
3
Under
$0.80
$0.80, $0.90,
$1.10, $1.20,
$1,
under under under under under
$1
$0.90
$1.20
$1.50
$1.10
$1.50
and
over
4
9
1
MACHINERY INDUSTRIES IN CHICAGO, 1951
Occupation
Assemblers (class C):
Women.
Men
Drill-press operators, single and multiple spindle (class C):
Women
Men
Inspectors (class C):
Women
Men
Number
reported
Percent
on time
work
Average
hourly
earnings
2,052
2,959
61
66
335
1,165
320
496
Percent of women whose hourly
average was—
Under
$1
$1,
under
$1.50
$1.50,
under
$1.75
$1.29
1. 41
10
69
76
17
15
10
28
44
1.27
1.47
7
84
61
5
28
6
11
54
1.35
1.45
87
68
9
27
4
5
Source: U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
$1.75
and
over
3
Industry wage studies.
Even in the same occupation in an industry earnings often show
wide differences. This may be illustrated by the data in table 20
on earnings of women doing much the same type of sewing-machine
operation in making dresses or women's suits in several localities.
INCOME,
WAGES,
SALARIES
41
Similar variations also could be shown for hand sewers in the same
industries, or for other occupations. Such differences in earnings
may arise from many causes. There may be considerable differences
in the requirements of the job performed by sewing-machine operators
according to differences in the materials to be worked on, the more
simple or more complicated pattern of the garments being made, the
types of machines or of work organization in the plant, and so forth.
Some of these causes may operate with especially marked effect where
pay is by piecework, as it frequently is in the apparel industries.
Furthermore, the general wage standards in a locality are quite likely
to have a notable influence on the earnings in a given occupation.
Whatever the reason, these differences have a determining influence
on the amount the worker receives. For example, the median earnings of the sewing-machine operators making women's and misses'
dresses differed by 26 cents an hour as between St. Louis and Chicago
and by 27 cents an hour as between New York and Boston—a difference of over $9 in the pay envelope for work during 35 hours.
The sewing-machine operators making dresses in 1950 received 52
cents an hour less in New York and 91 cents an hour less in Los Angeles
than the sewing-machine operators working on women's coats and
suits in 1951. This would be a difference in the pay envelope received
by workers in these two industries for a 35-hour week of over $18 in
New York and of nearly $32 in Los Angeles.
T A B L E 2 0 . — H O U R L Y EARNINGS
TWO
C L O T H I N G INDUSTRIES,
CITIES, 1 9 5 0 - 5 1
OF W O M E N S E W I N G - M A C H I N E O P E R A T O R S IN
SINGLE-HAND
(TAILOR)
SYSTEM,
SELECTED
Women's coats and
suits, 1951
Women's and misses' dresses, 1950
Hourly earnings
«
Number of women reported
Under $1
$1, under $1.20
$1.20, under $1.40.
$1.40, under $1.60.
$1.60, under $1.80
$1.80, under $2
$2, under $2.20
$2.20, under $2.40
$2.40, under $2.60
$2.60 or over
Median hourly earnings
Boston
Chicago
1,015
1,980
5.9
13.9
20.1
19.4
15.9
9.5
7.2
5.5
1.4
1.3
10.0
14.0
15.7
16.4
14.8
11.5
6.6
5.3
2.5
3.3
$1.51
$1.53
Los
Angeles
St. Louis
Los
Angeles
New
York
23,828
1,741
1,177
Percent distribution
20.0
5.1
14.5
8.7
20.0
14.4
25.2
20.9
12.7
12.5
15.7
18.1
12.1
10.3
12.8
10.4
4.1
7.0
8.2
5.1
2.5
8.9
1.4
2.5
6.1
1.4
.5
15.2
3.4
.4
352
1,016
0.3
2.3
6.5
6.2
8.8
12.2
7.4
11.4
11.4
33.5
2.2
4.9
11.1
16.9
3.3
10.5
20.7
7.0
23.3
$1.78
$2.31
$2.30
$1.40
Source: U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
New
York
$1.27
Industry wage studies.
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN
42
WORKERS
EARNINGS O F WOMEN IN SERVICE OCCUPATIONS A N D
INDUSTRIES
Service occupations employ somewhat over a fifth of all women
workers. Nearly half of these are in household employment (see
p. 47 for earnings), although the number of women so employed has
declined markedly since the prewar period. Large proportions of the
remainder are in restaurants, hotels, and beauty parlors—all expanding fields of employment. For most of these workers, there
have been no regular reports on earnings of women similar to the
reports available for factory workers. Some relatively recent information on women's earnings is available, however, from special studies
of several of these service industries and also for laundry workers.1
These services, unlike some manufacturing industries, are carried
on in every State and are conducted largely on a local basis. The
distribution of hourly earnings shown for New York State in table
21 gives striking evidence that many women employed in these services are paid below the wage standard of 75 cents an hour provided
for workers in interstate commerce under the Federal Fair Labor
Standards Act. If New York City were excluded, the averages would
be even lower.
TABLE
21.—HOURLY
E A R N I N G S OF W O M E N IN C H I E F
N E W Y O R K STATE, 1 9 5 1
Industry
Restaurant
Hotel (year round)
Building service 3
Laundry,..
Cleaning and dyeing
Beauty service
Number
of
women
reported
or estimated
88,290
28, 950
19,920
8,706
3,452
1,787
SERVICE
INDUSTRIES,
Percent of women receiving—
Median
weekly
hours
37
40
34
40
43
40
Median
hourly
earnings
i $0. 78
1.84
1.07
.88
.89
1.05
Under
$0.75
$0.75,
under
$1
$1,
under
$1.20
44
(2)22
31
13
15
47
17
21
33
(2)
4
10
19
7
63
47
» 33
$1.20
and
over
12
10
27
9
13
27
1 For workers not receiving tips, median hourly earnings were higher: 87 cents in hotels and 91 cents in
restaurants.
2 In year-round hotels, earning? were under 70 cents an hour for 19 percent, and between 70 cents and
$1 for 56 percent.
3
Includes office workers in central offices and telephone operators in apartment houses.
Source: New York State Department of Labor, Division of Research and Statistics.
EARNINGS IN LAUNDRIES
Average weekly earnings of laundry workers are reported monthly
by the New York State Department of Labor. The average for
women in the first half of 1952 ranged from $35.20 to $38.25, and the
average workweek from about 37% to 39% hours. From special studies
of various service industries made in June 1951 by the New York
i Although laundry operatives are included in the occupational group of "operatives and kindred
workers" by the Census Bureau, the laundry industry is here regarded as one of the service industries.
INCOME, WAGES, SALARIES
43
State Department of Labor, distributions of women's hourly earnings
are shown in table 21. In laundries and dyeing and cleaning establishments the largest groups of women received 75 cents but less than
$1.00 an hour. Less than 75 cents an hour, the minimum in the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, was received by about a tenth of the
women in laundries and almost a fifth of those in cleaning and dyeing.
Earnings of women in various occupations in laundries in cities in all
parts of the country were reported in 1951 by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. From these reports, table 22 shows the hourly averages
of women in six chief laundry occupations in 31 cities. These are
straight-time earnings, omitting premium pay for overtime and
night work. Taking these cities together, the laundry occupations
employing the largest numbers of women were flatwork machine
finisher, machine shirt presser, and marker. No men were reported
in these occupations. In some cities men were employed as bundlewrappers, identifiers, or receiving clerks, though usually these occupations had larger numbers of women than of men.
In 12 cities reported in the South and Middle West, average earnings
in all or most of the six occupations were below 75 cents an hour.
On the other hand, women's average earnings were above 90 cents
in all or most occupations in 6 cities—those on the west coast and in
Chicago and New York.
T A B L E 2 2 . — H O U R L Y E A R N I N G S OF W O M E N IN SELECTED OCCUPATIONS IN P O W E R
L A U N D R I E S IN 3 1 C I T I E S , 1 9 5 1
Clerks, Finishers,
retailflatwork,
receiving machine
City
Atlanta
Baltimore
Birmingham..
Boston
Buffalo...
Chicago
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver..
Detroit
Houston
Indianapolis.
JacksonvilleKansas City
Los Angeles..
Louisville
Memphis
Milwaukee
Minneapolis-St. Paul
Newark-Jersey City
New York
Philadelphia...
Pittsburgh
Portland, Oreg.
Providence
Richmond...
St. Louis
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington, D. C
1
-
-
-
$0. 67
.67
.52
0)
.77
.93
.81
(0
.81
.70
.91
.71
.84
.71
.81
.99
0)
0)
.89
.86
0)
.83
.76
.77
0)
(»)
.68
.71
1.15
0)
.86
$0.39
.65
.43
.73
.83
.85
.74
.69
.47
.66
.82
.44
.71
.43
.66
.87
.62
.45
.84
.76
.79
.85
.71
.76
1.01
.74
.47
.65
.99
.99
.76
Identifiers
$0. 59
.67
.63
.85
0)
1.03
0)
.84
.61
.72
.88
.55
.86
.61
.72
1.03
.72
0)
.89
.78
.92
.96
.81
.78
1.04
0)
0)
.67
1.17
1.11
0)
Markers
$0.57
.64
.52
.77
.86
.95
.78
.83
.65
.78
.88
.65
.81
.59
.74
1.05
.71
.52
.87
.80
.87
.98
.80
.83
1.05
.98
.51
.72
1.19
1.14
.85
Pressers,
machine Wrappers,
bundle
(shirts)
$0. 53
.71
.50
.93
.98
1.06
.79
.88
.57
.72
1.01
.56
.88
.49
.73
1.01
.82
.52
.89
.81
.97
1.04
.85
.83
1.04
1.02
.59
.75
1.09
1.04
.85
No women employed, or insufficient data to present average.
Source: U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Industry wage studies.
$0.45
.62
.45
.80
.85
.87
.73
.68
.54
.66
.83
.58
.76
0)
.67
.98
.65
.47
.83
.77
.84
.90
.77
.76
1.03
.84
.46
.67
1.20
1.04
.77
44
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN
WORKERS
Best paid of these occupations usually was machine presser of shirts
or marker, but even these workers averaged below 75 cents in about a
third of the cities. Lowest paid were finishers operating flatwork
machines, who averaged less than 75 cents in over half the cities and
66 cents or less in over a third of the cities.
In most of these occupations, workers were paid time rates, except
in a few cities; but machine shirt pressers (occupation second in size for
women) were paid chiefly by incentive systems in about two-thirds of
the cities. In about a third of the cities, workers in all these occupations were paid chiefly time rates; incentive rates predominated in
more occupations in Washington, D. C., Buffalo, and Baltimore
than in the other cities.
EARNINGS IN RESTAURANTS
The earnings of women in New York State restaurants are shown
in table 21 from a special survey made in 1951 by the New York State
Department of Labor. Forty percent earned less than 70 cents an
hour, and 12 percent received $1.20 or more. Average earnings of
women in different occupations are shown in table 23 by whether or
not receiving tips. Three-fourths of the table waitresses received
tips; their average earnings, exclusive of tips, were much lower than
the average of those not given tips. Of the counter waitresses, well
over a third received tips. Their earnings (exclusive of tips) averaged
much the same whether or not tips were received, and ran far below
the average of table waitresses who had no tips. The remaining
employees, over 45 percent of the total, rarely received tips, and their
hourly average was well above that of any of the workers who might
expect tips.
T A B L E 2 3 . — H O U R L Y E A R N I N G S OF W O M E N R E C E I V I N G OR N O T R E C E I V I N G T I P S
IN R E S T A U R A N T S , N E W Y O R K S T A T E , 1 9 5 1
Occupation
All occupations
Receiving tips
Not receiving tips.
Table waitress
Receiving tips
Not receiving t.ips__
Counter waitress
Receiving tips
Not receiving tips..
All other
Not receiving tips._
Number
of
women
reported
C, 942
1,937
1,730
3,275
Percent of women receiving—
Percent
distribution
Median
weekly
hours
100
31
69
100
77
23
100
37
63
100
99
37
33
40
40
Median
hourly
earnings
Under
$0.70
$0.70,
under
$1
$1,
under
$1.20
$0.62
.91
65
21
32
44
3
17
<9
.57
.91
78
30
20
33
2
17
V)
.76
.74
37
37
59
50
3
9
1
.97
14
43
20
23
i Less than 1 percent.
Source: New York State Department of Labor, Division of Research and Statistics.
$1.20
and
over
18
20
4
INCOME,
WAGES,
SALARIES
45
RNINGS IN HOTELS
Earnings of women in year-round hotels in June 1951 also are shown
a New York State Department of Labor report. About 40 percent
these women were chambermaids, about 10 percent waitresses, and
arly half were in other occupations. Average hourly earnings of
aitresses were 57 cents, of chambermaids 78 cents, m each case less
ran, or but little more than, the minimum of 75 cents established in
le Federal Act previously mentioned. Of the chambermaids, nearly
ine-tenths received no tips; three-fourths received neither meals nor
odging. Not far from nine-tenths had hourly cash earnings of 70
*,ents to $1, whether or not they received tips, and where meals were
'urnished a fifth received less than 70 cents. Of the waitresses, nearly
line-tenths had tips, and about the same proportion were given meals.
Ibout three-fourths had hourly cash earnings of less than 70 cents,
a,nd of those receiving tips or furnished with meals about four-fifths
earned less than 70 cents. In the other occupations, of which probably the major proportion would be kitchen help, tips rarely were received and less than half the women were furnished meals. The
median was $1 an hour; a fifth received $1.20 or more and over a
tenth received less than 70 cents an hour. Further details are shown
in table 24.
T A B L E 2 4 . — H O U R L Y E A R N I N G S OF W O M E N IN Y E A R - R O U N D H O T E L S , N E W
STATE,1951
Women reported 1
Occupation
Number
Total reported
Receiving tips
Not receiving tips.
No meals or lodging
Meals only
Meals and lodging.
Waitresses—total
Receiving tips
Meals only
Chambermaids—total
Not receiving tips
No meals or lodging
Meals only
All other occupations—totalNot receiving tips
No meals or lodging
Meals only
9,918
Percent
distribution
Percent of women receiving—
Median
weekly
hours
100
37
87
87
3,950
100
87
74
~4~949"
22
100
98
53
42
Under
$0.70,
under
$1
$0.84
.67
.87
3
100
Median
hourly
earnings
$0.70
15
85
1,019
40
.85
.84
.76
.57
.55
.56
.78
.78
.79
.79
1.00
.99
1.01
1 Totals exceed details, as details not shown for the smaller groups.
2 Less than 1 percent.
Source: New York State Department of Labor, Division of Research and Statistics.
YORK
$1,
under
$1.20
HANDBOOK
46
OF FACTS ON W O M E N
WORKERS
EARNINGS OF BUILDING SERVICE EMPLOYEES
The median of hourly earnings for all building service employf
shown in table 21 does not typify service occupations alone, since
includes over 5,300 office workers in central offices of building mana£
ment agencies and over 300 telephone operators in apartment houst
Table 25 shows'the earnings of women in the two service occupation
of charwoman and elevator operator. For each of these the media
of hourly earnings was just over $1. Of the charwomen only sma
proportions received either less than 75 cents, or as much as $1.20, a
hour. Of the elevator operators a fifth received under 75 cents, two
fifths $1.20 or more an hour. Highest median was in office buildings
where three-fourths of the charwomen received $1 but under $1.20 ar
hour and two-fifths of the elevator operators received more than $1.20
Lowest median was in apartment houses, where roughly a fifth ii
both these occupations received less than 60 cents an hour, thougl
almost two-fifths received as much as $1 an hour.
TABLE
25.—HOURLY
E A R N I N G S OF W O M E N IN SELECTED
OCCUPATIONS, N E W Y O R K S T A T E , 1 9 5 1
Number
of
women
estimated
Type of establishment
BUILDING
SERVICE
Percent of women receiving—
Median
weekly
hours
Median
hourly
earnings
Under
$0.75
$0.75,
under
$1
$1,
under
$1.20
$1.20
and
over
CHARWOMEN
All building service
Office buildings
Building service contractors..Apartment houses
110,700
28
$1.04
4
26
64
5
7,370
2,410
520
29
25
35
1.05
.98
.87
3
5
20
19
48
43
75
39
15
3
8
22
—
ELEVATOR OPERATORS
All building service
Office buildings
Apartment houses _ -
-
* 790
40
$1.02
21
27
12
40
580
110
40
48
1.04
.94
19
32
28
30
9
38
44
i Total exceeds details.
Source: New York State Department of Labor, Divirion of Research and Statistics.
EARNINGS IN BEAUTY SHOPS
The earnings of women in beauty shops were higher than in most
other service industries, as shown from the New York State studies
given in table 21. About 60 percent of these women earned $1 or
more an hour, a third earned 75 cents to $1, another third $1 to $1.20,
and a fourth $1.20 or more.
INCOME,
WAGES,
SALARIES
47
EARNINGS IN HOUSEHOLD EMPLOYMENT
Until recently little information has been available on earnings of
household employees. Average earnings of household employees for
whom quarterly reports are made to the Bureau of Old Age and
Survivors Insurance are now available on a Nation-wide basis for the
first two quarters of 1951, when household employees were first eligible
for coverage. Cash earnings of the workers reported, including both
full-time and part-time workers, averaged $238 per quarter, or about
$80 per month. Most of these workers are women.
A special study was made in New York in 1948, from newspaper
advertisements for such workers, reports from employment offices,
and interviews with a small number of the workers seeking jobs. The
median weekly rate the advertisements offered full-time resident
workers in New York City was $35 a week plus food and lodging, with
a range of from $11.50 to $50 a week. When pay over $35 was offered
those interviewed, specialized services were required, such as those of
cooks, housekeepers, or nursemaids. Wages were practically the
same for nonresident as for resident workers; sleep-in arrangements
were considered more to the interest of employer than worker, and
work hours were longer than for nonresidents. Wages offered workers
in up-State areas were much lower than in New York City, averaging
$20 a week. Work hours of nonresident workers in New York City
averaged 10^ a day for a week of 5% or 6 days; they ranged from 8 to
13 % a day. Of the women who worked by the day or the hour, nearly
half those interviewed in New York City reported hourly earnings of
75 to 85 cents, with a range from 55 cents to $1.15. Up-State, the
most frequently reported hourly rate offered general houseworkers was'
75 cents, with a range of from 55 cents for a nursemaid to $1.25 for
cooks.
210767®—52
8
48
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON W O M E N
WORKERS
EARNINGS OF WOMEN "WHITE-COLLAR" WORKERS
For the widely varying groups that often are referred to under the
term "white-collar workers" (including, for example, those in professional, technical, clerical, and sales occupations), no monthly reports
on women's earnings exist. A few agencies report clerical earnings
annually and special reports show office workers7 earnings, but not all
give separate data for women. Salary scales of teachers are reported
annually for men and women combined. Occasionally the earnings
of women in some particular " white-collar" occupation are reported
in a special study made by some professional group for its own membership, or by a research organization, a college alumnae association,
a women's organization, or the like.
EARNINGS OF CLERICAL WORKERS
More than a fourth of all women workers are in clerical occupations.
A major source of data on their salaries is in the reports of the Bureau
of Labor Statistics on office workers' occupations in various large
cities in the country. The New York State Department of Labor in
October of each year tabulates, by sex, the average weekly earnings
of the factory office forces in the industries covered in its monthly wage
surveys. Eeports on salary rates of office workers also are made by
the National Industrial Conference Board; these are not by sex, but
women constitute probably two-thirds of the workers in the selected
occupations reported here.
Earnings of women in office occupations in large cities.—Average
weekly earnings of women office workers are shown in table 26 for
several of the 25 office occupations as reported by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics for 42 large cities in 1951 and 1952. The general stenographer, secretary, accounting clerk, and class B typist groups, for which
the earnings are shown here, usually contain especially large numbers
of women.
It is not surprising to find that in clerical as well as in industrial
work the occupations requiring the greatest skill paid the best salaries.
The reports indicate that the girl who hopes to reach the higher salary
ranges in an office occupation should look first toward perfecting herself as a general stenographer, and then use her initiative and intelligence to develop the added versatility needed in the job of secretary.
Other occupations with the better pay, not shown in detail here and
usually employing smaller numbers of women, are those of hand bookkeeper, class A bookkeeping machine operator, and technical stenographer. Lowest median salaries (except those paid office girls in
some cities) were those paid class B file clerks and class B typists, who
are among the larger groups of women office workers and would include
beginning clerical employees with less experience than those in the
class A grades.
49
INCOME, WAGES, SALARIES
T A B L E 2 6 . — A V E R A G E W E E K L Y E A R N I N G S OF W O M E N IN SELECTED O F F I C E O C C U PATIONS, BY M E T R O P O L I T A N A R E A , 1 9 5 1 AND 1 9 5 2
Metropolitan area, by
population
Accounting
clerks
File clerks
B
A
Secretaries
Stenographers,
general
Typists
A
B
1952
Over 1,000,000
New York
Chicago..
Los Angeles
Detroit
Boston
San Francisco-Oakland
St. Louis
Buffalo
$50. 50
53.50
54.50
65.00
45.50
55.00
48.50
46.50
$52. 50
53.00
49.50
0)
43.50
53.00
43.00
47.50
$41. 00
42.00
42.50
48.00
36.50
43.00
38.00
40.50
$65.00
65.00
65.00
72. 50
56.00
65.00
58.00
59.50
$52.00
55.50
55.50
62. 50
46. 50
57.00
47.50
49.00
$51.00
54. 50
51.50
58.00
46.50
53.00
48.00
49.50
$44.00
46.50
46.00
48.00
39.50
47.00
41.00
41.00
48.00
49.50
50.50
46.00
49.00
46.00
37.00
40.00
41.50
60. 50
62.00
61.00
49.00
48.50
51.50
46.50
50.50
49.00
40.00
41. 50
42.00
49.00
46.00
48.50
47.00
46.50
45.00
0)
47.00
38.50
36.00
45.00
39.00
60.00
56.50
61.50
57.50
50.00
48.50
50.00
49.00
46.00
42.00
51.50
47.50
38.50
37.00
44.00
42.00
50.00
43.00
44.50
46.00
52.50
(0
39.00
36.50
37.50
59.50
56.50
54.50
51.50
48.00
46.00
47.50
44.50
46.00
42.50
41.50
38.50
44.50
48.00
50.00
46.00
36.00
36.50
55.50
57.00
45.00
48.50
48.00
47.50
39.00
40.00
800,000 to 1,000,000
Cincinnati
Milwaukee
Houston
500,000 to 800,000
Atlanta.
Birmingham
Albany-Schenectady-Troy
Columbus
800,000 to 500,000
Rochester
Norfolk-Portsmouth
Allentown-Bethlehem
m,000
to 300,000
Worcester
Trenton
1951
Over 1,000,000
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Cleveland
Baltimore
Minneapolis-St. Paul
$45. 50
47.00
52.00
44.50
45.50
$45.50
44.50
49.00
40.00
42.50
$35.50
39.00
40.00
33.00
36.50
$58.00
59.50
61.50
54.00
55.50
$47.00
51.00
52.50
45.00
45.50
$44.50
48.50
51.00
42.00
45.00
$38.00
39.50
42.50
36.50
39.00
48.00
44.50
36.00
57.00
49.00
46.00
39.00
48.50
43.00
51.50
53.00
43.00
46.00
46.00
48.50
46.50
44.50
51.50
44.00
39.50
40.50
44.50
47.00
30.00
34.00
43.00
39.00
35.50
35.00
36.50
38.50
62.00
52.00
62.50
60.50
54.00
56.50
53.50
61.00
49.50
43.00
53.00
51.50
45.00
48. 50
48.00
52.50
47.50
43.50
48.00
48.00
41.50
42.00
43.00
50.00
42.00
37.00
41.50
41.00
35.00
36.50
39.50
41.50
43.50
48.50
47. 50
47. 50
44.00
42.00
50.50
45.00
41.50
38.00
37.00
41.50
37.00
33.50
33.00
53.50
63.00
61.00
53.00
55.00
46.00
55.00
47.50
47.00
45.50
42.50
55.00
51.00
42.50
43.50
36.50
44.00
42.50
38.00
39.00
44.00
48.50
39.50
41.00
47.50
C1)
35.00
40.00
35.00
53.50
58.00
47.50
45.50
50.50
41.00
39.50
47.50
48.00
37.50
43.50
35.50
800,000 to 1,000,000
Kansas City, Mo
600,000 to 800,000
Newark-Jersey Oity
Providence
.
Seattle
Portland, Oreg
New Orleans..
Dallas.
Denver
Indianapolis
300,000 to 500,000
Memphis
Dayton.
Hartford
Richmond, Va
Oklahoma City.
W0,000 to 300,000
Salt Lake City
Bridgeport..
Scranton
•
1 Insufficient data to permit average.
Source: Compiled by Women's Bureau from Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage reports.
50
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON W O M E N
WORKERS
Amounts paid to clerical workers differ considerably according to
city. This may be attributed partly to differences in requirements
of the job, and partly to general wage standards in the area. In most
of the 25 office occupations, Detroit and the San Francisco-Oakland
area paid higher rates than other cities, and Dayton (Ohio), Chicago,
Portland (Oreg.), and New York also were relatively high paying.
Lowest pay in these clerical occupations was most frequently in
Scran ton; other frequently low-paying areas were Baltimore, Boston,
New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, and Denver.
EARNINGS OF WOMEN IN STORES
Earnings of women in various occupations in department and
ready-to-wear stores were reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
for 17 large cities in 1950. In most of these cities, the highest average
of weekly earnings in any occupation was over $40 but under $60.
Table 27 shows average weekly earnings in each city for occupations
in which the largest numbers of women were reported from all cities
combined. Averages were over $40 in most of these occupations in
Chicago, Denver, New York, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, and
Toledo. In about half the cities the lowest average of weekly earnings in any occupation was under $30. For a 40-hour week, this
is below the standard minimum of 75 cents an hour established for
industries in interstate commerce under the Federal Fair Labor
Standards Act. However, averages so low were not reported for
women in selling occupations, except for one or two occupations in
perhaps two or three cities. The average was less than $35 in most
occupations reported in Atlanta, Boston, Baltimore, Buffalo, and
T A B L E 2 7 . — A V E R A G E W E E K L Y E A R N I N G S OF W O M E N IN SELECTED O C C U P A T I O N S
IN D E P A R T M E N T AND W O M E N ' S R E A D Y - T O - W E A R STORES IN 1 7 C I T I E S , 1 9 5 0
City
Atlanta
Baltimore
Boston
Buffalo
Chicago..
Dallas
Denver
Minneapolis-St. Paul
New Orleans
New York.__
—
Philadelphia.
Pittsburgh.
Providence
San Francisco-Oakland.
Seattle
Toledo
Washington, D. C
Cashierwrappers
Sewers
(alteration,
women's)
$27. 59
27.43
29.29
28.31
40.52
29.99
0)
32.45
0)
40.94
30. 59
40.82
30.71
42. 65
38.16
36.17
0)
$30.45
31.58
34. 41
29. 54
41.04
0)
35.99
35.15
26. 66
47.80
42.08
46. 36
35. 41
47.02
40.95
41.39
38. 47
Stock
girls
(selling
section)
$22. 22
27.75
(0
V)
34. 07
27.32
(*)
32.28
0)
37.79
27.12
43. 77
«
0)
0)
0)
27.21
Sales clerks, sellingDresses
AccesSuits,
(women's,
sories
coats
misses') (women's) (women's)
$37. 72
35. 47
34.90
36. 86
49. 22
44.47
44. 23
40.74
38.20
46. 73
44. 41
48. 56
34.40
51.09
44. 94
45.18
40.46
0)
$31. 68
33. 51
32.12
43.96
39.81
40.16
38.68
34.18
42.76
38. 61
43. 35
34. 29
48. 44
38. 50
43. 28
36.16
$42.08
39.63
41.59
40.96
57.79
70. 57
48.81
45.99
44.69
51.37
54. 73
63.15
36.85
57.02
53.06
56. 70
.43.26
i Data not available.
Source; U. S. Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Monthly Labor Review. February
1951.
INCOME, WAGES, SALARIES
51
Providence. These are averages for full-time workers, excluding any
premium pay for overtime; earnings of regular commission workers
were averaged over the year.
The best-paying occupation was selling women's and misses' coats
and suits, in which average weekly earnings often were over $50.
Lowest-paid selling occupation listed here was in the accessories
department, in which the average of weekly earnings w^as under $35
in about a third of the cities reporting the occupation. Other lowpaying departments, not listed here but employing considerable numbers of women, were blouses and neckwear, and notions and trimmings.
The nonselling occupation of cashier-wrapper usually had average
earnings less than in the lowest-paid selling occupation. Stock girls
(selling section) usually had the lowest averages of all—below $30
in over half the cities reporting the occupation.
EARNINGS OF TELEPHONE EMPLOYEES
From a special study of class A telephone carriers made by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics late in 1950, earnings were reported as
follows for experienced switchboard operators and employees in other
occupations that included large proportions of women.
H O U R L Y E A R N I N G S OF E M P L O Y E E S OF C L A S S A T E L E P H O N E C A R R I E R S ,
OCCUPATIONS,
Hourly earnings
Number of men and women reported
Women as percent of all workers._
Under $1
$1, under $1.20
$1.20, under $1.40
$1.40, under $1.60
$1.60, under $1.80
$1.80, under $2.00
$2.00 and over
_ _
Experienced
switchboard
operators
2
174, 650
100
__
__
Average hourly earnings (men and
women)
(3)
20
37
25
10
6
2
$1.19
SELECTED
1950
Nonsupervisory
Business
Clerical
office and
sales
94, 381
24, 460
92
77
Percent distribution
15
8
25
21
24
28
17
17
12
8
,4
5
4
13
$1.31
$1.48
• Building
service 1
15, 867
51
(3)
(3)
34
31
22
11
4
$1.14
1 Except foremen, mechanics, supply, and motor vehicle employees.
2 Includes only 70 men.
3 Less than 1 percent.
Source: U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, from figures collected by the Federal
Communications Commission.
EARNINGS IN SELECTED PROFESSIONS
About a tenth of all employed women are in professional or technical occupations. Various special studies report data of some type
indicating earnings in a recent year in several of these occupations.
52
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN
WORKERS
Of special importance for women, both because of the numbers employed and because of the large proportions women constitute of all
persons in the profession, are those of the teacher, nurse, social worker,
and library worker. Among smaller professional or technical occupations also engaged in chiefly by women are those of medical technologist and dietitian. (See p. 7 for estimated numbers.) The salaries
shown for these occupations often are not by sex, but indicate women's
earnings where a very large proportion of the workers are women.
Salaries of school teachers.—School teachers are about half of all
women in the professional and technical occupations. Data on their
salaries, taken from a research report of the National Education
Association and applicable to the 1950-51 school year, are shown in
table 28. They are not reported by sex, but they show salaries for
cities of different sizes and give separate information for elementary,
junior high, and senior high schools. They are based on reports from
over 2,400 city school systems, estimated to include 85 percent of
all employees in city school systems in the country.
In each type of school (elementary, junior, or senior high) teachers'
salaries were considerably higher in large than in small cities. Greatest difference was between the two largest groups of cities. Teachers
in cities of over 500,000 averaged more than $750 above those in cities
of 100,000 to 500,000. The distributions of earnings, however, show
some overlapping, and the report states that in some types of jobs in
larger cities many individuals receive lower salaries than some persons
in like jobs in smaller cities. Differences in experience and training
of the individuals involved and the salary schedules of particular
localities are among factors influencing the averages.
Average salaries of senior high-school teachers exceed those in the
junior high school by from $164 in the smallest places to $446 in the
largest cities. Averages for junior high teachers exceeded those in
elementary schools by from $174 to $338. However, the report gives
evidence that this gap is lessening somewhat as more cities adopt the
single salary schedules; that is, the same schedule for teachers with
comparable training and experience, regardless of whether in elementary or high school.
Earnings of nurses.—Nurses are the group of professional women
second in size. Their earnings are shown in table 29 as recently
reported by two agencies—the American Nurses' Association and, for
industrial nurses, the Bureau of Labor Statistics. These earnings
data apply primarily to women, since 98 percent of the nurses are
women. The earnings reported by the American Nurses' Association
varied for six geographic ateas. Above the average was the Pacific
region for all types of nurses, the Southwest for all institutional
nurses, and the Great Lakes area for public health and industrial
nurses.
INCOME,
WAGES,
SALARIES
53
T A B L E 2 8 . — A N N U A L S A L A R I E S OF T E A C H E R S , BY T Y P E OF SCHOOL AND S I Z E OF
CITY, 1 9 5 0 - 5 1
(Figures for men and women combined *)
Annual salaries in cities with population of—
Annual salaries
Over
500,000
100,000
to
500,000
30,000
to
100,000
10,000
to
30,000
5,000
to
10,000
2,500
to
5,000
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND KINDERGARTENS
Number reported
53,793|
(2)
Under $2,000.
$2,000, under $2,500
$2,500, under $3,000
$3,000, under $4,000
$4,000, under $5,000
$5,000 and over
Median salary
48,720 |
1
12
28
48
10
1
9
18
50
20
2
" $4,172
3 $3,395
42,940 |
38,887
21,109
14,875
11
26
34
27
2
Percent d istribution
2
11
23
48
14
1
4
15
31
42
7
1
6
20
34
35
4
1
3 $3,231
$2,998
$2,831
12,982
7,666
(2)
$2,683
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS
10,924 I
Number reported..
(2)
(2)
Under $2,000..
$2,000, under $2,500.
$2,500, under $3,000.
$3,000, under $4,000.
$4,000, under $5,000.
$5,000 and over
Median salary..
11,509 I
(»)
1,329
Percent distribution
8
24
37
30
5
14
47
32
3
1
6
16
51
24
3
2
11
25
49
12
1
$4,501
$3,719
$3,569
$3,204
21,375
23,391
4
14
31
45
5
3
18
37
39
$3,005
$2,903
(2)
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS
29,246
Number reported..
Under $2,000..
$2,000, under $2,500.
$2,500, under $3,000.
$3,000, under $4,000.
$4,000, under $5,000.
$5,000 and over
(a)
Percent distribution
10,923
2
15
36
47
4
a
37
43
7
1
5
11
45
32
6
1
7
18
48
22
4
2
11
24
47
14
2
2
14
29
45
10
1
$4,947
$3,995
$3,782
$3,490
$3,220
$3,067
(2)
Median salary..
22,049 |
1 Women constitute over nine-tenths of the elementary, and over two-thirds of the junior high and senior
high school teachers.
2 Less than 1 percent.
3 Median for teachers in elementary schools only.
Source: National Education Association. Research Bulletin, April 1951.
T A B L E 2 9 . — E A R N I N G S OF N U R S E S , R E P O R T E D F R O M T W O SOURCES
Registered industrial nurses, 1951
(Bureau of Labor Statistics reports)
Professional registered nurses, September 1949
(survey by American Nurses' Association)
Type of duty
Institutional (living outside hospital) :
All positions..
Head nurses
General staff
Public health nurses:
All positions...
Staff nurses
Industrial..
Office
Nurse educators
Number
reported
Average
monthly
earnings
2,440
664
1,203
$211
218
205
791
378
371
719
112
238
219
239
207
256
City
Atlanta
Baltimore
Boston..
Chicago
Dallas
Dayton.
New York.
Portland, Oreg
San Francisco-Oakland
Number
reported
26
120
206
578
40
69
503
27
31
Average
weekly
earnings
$53.50
59.50
57. 50
62.00
60.50
68.00
64. 50
59. 50
62.00
Source: The American Journal of Nursing, June 1950, p. 330; and U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau o*
Labor Statistics, occupational wage studies.
54
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
Not shown in the table are the earnings reported to the American
Nurses' Association by private-duty nurses, the group next in size to
those in institutions. Private-duty nurses most frequently received
$10 for an 8-hour day ($11 on the Pacific Coast), and had worked on
the average about 14 days in the month. Institutional nurses usually
had a workweek of 44 hours or longer, while the majority of public
health and industrial nurses had a week of 40 hours or less.
Salaries of library workers.—About nine-tenths of the library
workers are women. Their earnings were reported, as shown below,
by a special 1949 study made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It
will be noted that over a tenth of the professional and more than half
of the nonprofessional workers earned less than $2,000. At the upper
end of the scale, just over a tenth of the professional and practically
none of the nonprofessional workers received as much as $4,200. The
small proportion of men professional librarians had an annual salary
average $1,000 above that of the women. This may indicate that a
larger proportion of the men than the women were in the higher
administrative posts.
A N N U A L S A L A R I E S OF W O M E N L I B R A R Y E M P L O Y E E S ,
Annual salary
Total reported
Under $1,600
$1,600, under $2,000
$2,000, under $2,400
$2,400, under $3,000
$3,000, under $3,600
$3,600, under $4,200
$4,200, under $5,000
$5,000 and over.
Average 2
.
_ _
_
_
Percent
1949
distribution
All women
Proemployees fessional
100
100
11
4
17
6
16
10
25
30
24
15
9
15
5
8
2
3
$2, 975
$2, 500
of—
—
Nonprofessional
100
21
33
23
19
3
1
0)
0)
$1, 950
1 Less than 1 percent.
2 Corresponding averages for men were $3,975 for professional and $2,225 for nonprofessional library
employees.
Source: American Library Association and Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Personnel, 1949. Chicago, 1950.
Economic Status of Library
Salaries of social workers.—Salaries are shown in table 30 from a
special survey of more than 50,000 social workers, made in 1950 by
the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The difference of over $600 in the
median salaries of women and men may be attributed partly to
differences in pay for the same type of position, and partly to employment of men in the more responsible positions in greater proportions than women.
The Federal Government paid the highest salaries for all social
work positions. Private agencies paid their social workers on the
average about $1,000 less than the Federal Government. Lowest
salaries were found in State, county, and other local government j
INCOME, WAGES, SALARIES
55
T A B L E 3 0 . — A N N U A L SALARIES OF SOCIAL W O R K E R S ,
1950
Median annual salaries
Range (by region) in
women 's medians
Position
All
workers
All positions.
Case or group workers—.
Supervisors of case or group workers
Executives
-Other (teaching, research, etc.)
$2,960
2,730
3,610
3,700
3,710
Women
Men
Low
(South,
Midwest,
or New
England)
High
(Pacific)
$2,800
2,660
3,550
3,180
3,710
Source: U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
$3, 430
2,860
3,790
4,430
3,700
$3,170
3,040
3,730
3,690
4,060
Monthly Labor Review, April 1951
agencies. About 60 percent of all the social workers in the
are case or group workers, and a large proportion of the case
are women. The ranges in average salaries of case or group
(men and women combined) in various types of programs
follows:
$2,400$27,00 -
$2,900-
$3,600 -
$2,440
2,280
3,100
2,760
3,110
country
workers
workers
were as
$2,600—Public assistance
—Work with aged in institutions
$2,800—Noninstitutional child welfare (except court)
—Institutional child welfare
-—Other services to individuals
—Group work
$3,200—Family services
—Court services for children
~-Work with mentally ill in hospitals
—Medical social work
$3,800—School social work
—Work with physically handicapped
—Work in mental hygiene
—Work with adult offenders
Salaries of medical technologists.—Two-thirds of the women medical
technologists received salaries of $2,400 but less than $3,300 in 1950,
according to a sample survey of about a tenth of those registered,
made by the Registry of Medical Technologists.
A N N U A L S A L A R I E S OF W O M E N M E D I C A L TECHNOLOGISTS,
1950
Annual salary
Total reported
Under
$2,100
3
under $ 2 , 4 0 0
$ 2 , 4 0 0 , under $ 2 , 7 0 0
$ 2 , 7 0 0 , under $ 3 , 0 0 0
$ 3 , 0 0 0 , under $ 3 , 3 0 0
$ 3 , 3 0 0 , under $ 3 , 9 0 0
$3,900 and over
$2,100,
7
23
22
23
17
6
Source: American Society of Clinical Pathologists. Registry of Medical Technologists.
210767°—52
Percent
distribution
100
9
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
56
Salaries of dietitians.—A special study of dietitians made by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics in cooperation with the American Dietetic Association estimates 1949 salaries for over 6,000 in the largest
group of dietitians, those in hospitals, on the basis of questionnaires
sent to association members and reported in the Monthly Labor
Review for February 1950. Though data are not shown by sex, most
dietitians are women. About 20 percent of the hospital dietitians
earned less than $2,400 a year, 8 percent receiving less than $2,000.
About 40 percent received $2,400 to $3,000, another 40 percent $3,000
or over, with only 4 percent earning as much as $5,000. Almost
three-fourths of these dietitians lived outside the hospitals where
they worked.
The median salaries were as follows:
Total reported
Living in hospitals
Living outside
$2, 820
2, 400
2, 970
Median salaries were somewhat higher for other groups of reporting
American Dietetics Association members—$3,000 for college foodservice dietitians and $3,800 for industrial food-service dietitians.
At about the same period, a Women's Bureau study reported that
salaries of home economics graduates when entering the field of public
health nutrition would be about $2,100 to $2,400.
Salaries in selected scientificfields.—Sincescientific fields of work are
now so greatly to the fore, the following data may be significant. These
are taken from a Bureau of Labor Statistics report that included over
2,500 women, most of them doing scientific research. Ten scientific
fields were covered, and in four of these, women constituted about a
tenth or more of those reported. Over three-fourths of the women had
obtained the doctor's degree. Median salaries are shown for those
with the doctor's degree, but not separately for women. The four
fields that had the largest proportions of women showed also the
lowest median salaries. In three of the four groups under discussion,
scientists aged 60 to 64 (for mathematicians 65 to 69) had the highest
median salaries, only about 4 to 6 percent of the total being in these
age groups. Further details are shown in the following summary.
ANNUAL
E A R N I N G S IN
SCIENTIFIC F I E L D S ,
1948
Women reported
Fields of scientific work
All fields i.
Biology
Psychology
Related to medicine
Mathematics, statistics
Number
2, 520
679
323
226
186
Percent of
total
6
12
20
9
10
Median earnings
Percent with of men and
doctor's
women with
degree
doctor's degree
75
$5, 720
74
4,940
90
5, 320
69
5, 420
82
5,060
i Total includes 6 additional sciences cr.cli of which had a small proportion of women.
Source: U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bull. 1027. 1951.
INCOME, WAGES,
SALARIES
57
Important professions with small proportions of women.—Three
professions that have a tradition of high prestige are those of the
physician, the lawyer, and the engineer. Both the numbers and the
proportions of women in these occupations have been relatively small.
The median net income of nonsalaried lawyers in 1948 was shown by
a Department of Commerce report to have been $5,719 a year; data
for 1947 show that more than a fourth received less than $3,0G0.2
Salaried lawyers, who are located chiefly in large cities, had a somewhat
higher median. Independent lawyers in small places had a median
considerably below the average. The same agency reported the
median net income of nonsalaried physicians (after deduction of
business expense, but before taxes) as $9,561 in 1949; salaried physicians received less and, of course, there were wide individual variations.2
About 40 percent were general practitioners, 40 percent fully specialized, the remainder did both types of work. Somewhat surprisingly,
general practitioners had highest median earnings if in localities of
2,500 to 10,000; as would be expected, specialists received most if they
practiced in much larger cities. Beginning salaries of engineers in 1950
were reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to be about $225 a
month for persons with a bachelor's degree, $320 a month for those with a
master's degree, and $445 for those with a doctor's degree.3 However,
median starting rates varied widely with type of industry, engineer,
and employer.
2 Sludies by "William Weinfeld, U. S. Department of Commerce.
Office of Business Economic National
Income Division. In Survey of Current Business: August 1949, Income of Lawyers, 1929-48; July 1951,
Income of Physicians, 1929-49. Figures for 1951, published in Survey of Current Business, July 1952, after
this Handbook went to press, show substantial increases in income for both lawyers and physicians.
3 U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook. 1951.
Earnings of Engineers, pp. 81-83.
58
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
WOMEN BENEFITING FROM OLD AGE AND SURVIVORS
INSURANCE
The old-age and survivors insurance system is a family insurance
plan under the social security law, which is operated by the Federal
Government. It enables gainfully employed people to provide an
income for themselves and their families when their usual income
from employment is cut off by old age or death. Through contributions based on the amount of their wages or self-employment income,
they establish rights to future benefits. This Federal system is
supplemented by old-age assistance for those not having" other resources. An important measure of progress may be seen in the fact
that by early 1951 more aged persons were provided benefits under
old-age and survivors insurance than were aided under old-age assistance. In mid-1951, women were more than a third of all those
receiving benefits under old-age and survivors insurance.
Some 22.9 million women workers were fully insured under the
old-age and survivors insurance system by early 1952. This is about
40 percent of all women in the population 14 years of age and over.
Of the insured women, about two-thirds were under 35 years of age.
Toward the older end of the age range, about a tenth were 45 to 54,
and a somewhat smaller proportion were 55 or older.
The median of earnings of women covered by old-age insurance
was $1,200 in 1950, or $1,900 if they had worked 4 quarters in the
year. The median for 4-quarter women workers was 60 percent of
that for 4-quarter men workers. Median earnings began to decline
for both women and men workers after they were 50 years of age.
Men's earnings declined in greater proportion than women's, but in
the oldest group (65 and over) women's median still was far below
men's.
W O M E N RECEIVING BENEFITS
Eligible for old-age benefits at the close of 1951 were 628,000 women
workers; of these 73 percent (459,000 women) were currently receiving
old-age benefits, averaging $33.03 a month (which would be $396.36
a year). All these, of course, were 65 years old or over. More than
a sixth of them were 75 or older, a small proportion being 80 or more.
Women were about 15 percent of the retired workers receiving benefits.
The 27 percent not currently receiving were those who were still
working or who had not filed for benefits.
Besides those who were receiving old-age insurance built up in their
own right, women dependent on insured persons, or surviving them,
INCOME, WAGES, SALARIES
59
are paid benefits. Women are at least two-thirds of the persons
receiving such benefits. Women currently being paid benefits at the
end of 1951 included the following:
SELECTED
WOMEN
BENEFICIARIES
OF
OLD-AGE
AND
SURVIVORS
INSURANCE,
DEC. 31, 1951
Nonwhite
All women
Type of benefit
Wife's
Widow's
Mother's
Parent's (women)
Number
Monthly
average
Number
643,901
384,011
203, 782
15,768
$22. 75
36. 04
33. 25
37. 11
21, 882
11, 781
21, 302
1,443
Percent
of all
women
3
3
10
9
Monthly
average
$16.
28.
26.
31.
91
74
04
92
Source: Federal Security Agency.
All these widows and parents, and 95 percent of the wives, were 65
years of age or older. Of the mothers, however, four-fifths were 30 to
54 years of age.
NEW GROUPS BROUGHT UNDER THE SYSTEM IN 1950
Amendments to the Social Security Act in 1950 extended old-age
and survivors insurance to many new groups of workers including
household and farm workers, most persons in urban self-employment,
employees of nonprofit institutions that elected to come under the
system, and to employees of the Federal Government who were not
under a government retirement program. These amendments also
made coverage possible for employees of the States and their political
subdivisions who were not in positions covered by a retirement system.
In order to be eligible for coverage in any calendar quarter of the
year, household workers must meet tests specified in the law as showing that they are regularly employed by an employer. A household
worker is covered in a calendar quarter if, during the quarter, she is
paid $50 in cash wages by an employer in whose household she is
employed on some part of at least 24 different days or for whom she
had worked on 24 different days in the preceding quarter.
It is estimated that slightly more than 2% million gainfully employed women were newly covered by old-age and survivors insurance
beginning Jan. 1, 1951. Over half of the newly covered women were
either self-employed or worked in household employment.
Only about 14 percent of the Nation's paid workers have no coverage
under any public retirement program. The persons without such
protection are chiefly farmers, farm and household workers not
classified as regularly employed under old-age and survivors insurance,
and self-employed professional people.
PART III
ECONOMIC RESPONSIBILITIES OF WOMEN WORKERS
WOMEN'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAMILY INCOME OR SUPPORT
The extent to which women support dependents and the portions of
their earnings that go to support others or to general family expenses
are subjects of continual interest. There are many evidences, resulting from numerous investigations, that women's earnings are a substantial asset in maintaining and advancing the standard of living of
American families. A large number of studies reporting on the economic responsibilities of women workers indicate that among those
who live with their families over nine-tenths usually make regular
contributions to the family upkeep. Among women who live apart
from their families, about a fifth contribute regularly to the support
of relatives.
PART OF FAMILY INCOME WOMEN FURNISH
Women furnish half or more of the entire income of nearly 5 million
families of two or more related persons, or 13 percent of all families in
the country. This information comes from a Census Bureau sample
for 1947, the only over-all report ever made that gives data on this
particular subject. (Of course, income includes other receipts in
addition to wages, but the data show that only about a tenth of all
women who are not earners have income.)
WOMEN A S SOLE, PRINCIPAL, A N D CONTRIBUTING FAMILY EARNERS
About a fifth of all women workers were either the only earners or
the principal earners contributing to the support of their families,
according to a Census Bureau sampling study for 1946, the only overall report ever made on this phase of the subject. Women were the
only earners or principal earners in 12 percent of the country's families.
More than 1 % million women were the sole earners, and about 2%
million the principal earners, in their families. The principal earner
in a family is the one who receives the highest money earnings in that
family; if there are several earners contributing, this may not be as
much as half of the family's entire income.
The findings of numerous special studies of various types correspond
with this in showing that considerably more than a tenth of the women
workers are the only earners in their families. Two of the largest
recent studies affording such information were made by the Women's
* 60
ECONOMIC RESPONSIBILITIES
61
Bureau. One of these shows results of interviews with some 10,500
women who were employed in the war period 1944-45, in various types
of industry (except household work), and who lived in family groups.
More than a tenth of the married and single women and over a third
of those who were widowed or divorced were the only earners in their
families, as the following summary shows.
FAMILY
SUPPORT RESPONSIBILITIES
OF 1 0 , 5 0 0
WOMEN
G R O U P S , BY M A R I T A L STATUS,
WHO
L I V E D IN
FAMILY
1944-45
Percent distribution of—
All
women
reported
100
Extent of family support
All women reported
Sole support of the family group
Contributed regularly to family expenses
as—
One of two wage earners
One of three or more wage earners
Made no regular contribution
Source: Women's Bureau Bull. 209.
Single
100
Widowed
or
divorced
100
100
Married
14
12
11
34
49
29
8
40
40
8
58
22
9
39
23
4
1946.
The second of these studies included about 9,000 women members
of seven different union groups. The following summary for some
6,000 women who lived with their families shows the percent who
were sole family earners, by marital status.
SOLE FAMILY
EARNERS,
AMONG 6 , 0 0 0
UNION
WOMEN
G R O U P S , BY M A R I T A L STATUS,
WHO
L I V E D IN
FAMILY
1950
Percent who were sole family earners among—
All
women
reported
Union
Brotherhood of Railway and
Steamship Clerks
Communication Workers of America
Hotel and Restaurant Employees
Union
International Ladies'
Garment
Workers' Union
International Association of Machinists
Textile Workers Union of America.
Women's Trade Union League
1
Not computed; base too small.
Source: Women's Bureau Bulletin 239.
1952.
Single
Married Widowed
47
Separated
or
divorced
14
16
3
16
21
5
21
23
7
45
49
14
12
9
30
46
15
13
19
20
14
12
6
7
13
34
46
40
54
48
P)
45
45
p)
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
62
Several reports on mothers who use public child-care centers indicate that especially large proportions of these workers are the only
earners in their families. One of the largest of these included more
than 11,500 working mothers in California, of whom over 50 percent
were the only earners in their families. For professional women, two
reports in the wartime and prewar periods showed that, respectively,
a tenth of 3,600 women reported and a fourth of 7,200 women reported
were the only earners in their families. For further information on
the many reports on women's economic responsibilities, see Women's
Bureau Bulletin No. 239.
FAMILY INCOME LEVEL A N D INCOME OF WOMEN MEMBERS
Of all women who live with their families about 40 percent have som e
income, the Bureau of the Census reports. Of these over half are
wives, almost a third are other relatives of the family head (chiefly
daughters), and 16 percent are themselves the heads of the families.
Wives are much more likely to enter the labor force when the husband's income is low than when it is more adequate, as the summary
following shows. When the husband's income is below $3,000, wives
in urban areas are especially likely to enter the labor force. When
the husband's income is low, the wife's income also averages less than
the income of wives whose husbands have higher income. However,
the median income of wives is very low compared to their husband's
income in all groups above $2,000.
WIFE'S
1951
P A R T I C I P A T I O N IN L A B O R
AND
Income of husband, 1950
Under $1,000
$1,000, under $2,000
$2,000, under $3,000
$3,000, under $4,000
$4,000, under $5,000
$5,000, under $6,000
$6,000, under $10,000
$10,000 and over
F O R C E AND 1 9 5 0
INCOME
OF
HUSBAND
WIFE
-
Percent of wives in
labor force, 1951
United States Urh
™
areas
28
34
29
34
28
32
27
28
21
21]
16
171
11
11J
12
llj
Median income
of wives in paid
work•
1960
$908
1,094
1,548
1,718
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Series P-60, No. 9, Mar. 25, 1952.
ECONOMIC RESPONSIBILITIES
63
The substantial part the wife's employment plays in lifting the
family income level (not including savings due to her household
management and services) is indicated in the summary shown below,
which reports on families with both husband and wife present. The
median income in families where the wife is in the labor force is about
a fifth above that in families where the wife is not in the labor force.
Incomes below $2,000 a year were received by 23 percent of the
families where the wife was not in the labor force, but by only 15 percent of those with working wives. About a third of the families
where wives were not in the labor force, but half those with working
wives had incomes of as much as $4,000.
I N C O M E OF H U S B A N D - W I F E F A M I L I E S , 1 9 5 0 , AND W I F E ' S L A B O R F O R C E
STATUS,
1951
Family income
All incomes
Under $1,000
$1,000, under $3,000
$3,000, under $4,000
$4,000 or more.
Median income of families
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
sumer Income. Series P-60, No. 9, Mar. 25,1952.
Percent distribution of
families with—
—
Wife in labor
force
100
5
24
20
50
$4, 003
Wife not in
labor force
100
11
32
22
36
$3, 315
Current Population Reports, Con-
The more frequent employment of the wife where the husband's
income is low than where it is high is a situation found both in families
with and in those without children. Whatever the income level,
much larger proportions of the wives without children than of the
wives with children are in the labor force. Furthermore, of wives
with children much larger proportions are at work where all children
are of school age than where there are children under 6. (See Part I,
pp. 20 to 22.)
The earnings of daughters are of great importance in many families.
They were among the family earners and contributors in about half
of some 2,000 Cleveland workers' families whose incomes were studied
by the Women's Bureau shortly before World War II. In about a
third of the families with working daughters, these girls and women
were the only family earners.
64
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
WOMEN WITH DEPENDENTS
Interest in women's financial responsibilities often takes the form
of a question as to how many women are supporting dependents.
Women's share in the support of their families often is given in such a
way as to make it very difficult to assess the full extent to which the
individual is supporting dependents. For example, many women put
a par,t of their earnings into the general family fund. Others regularly
pay certain of the family's expenses, such as those for groceries, rent,
medical care.
Information on the proportions of working women who have dependents is afforded by a great variety of special studies made at
different times and places and including workers in differing occupation groups. An examination of a large number of these indicates
that half or well over half the employed women consider themselves
in some degree responsible for the support of dependents. The following summary shows the results of some of these investigations:
WOMEN
WHO
C O N T R I B U T E TO SUPPORT
OF
DEPENDENTS
, . . .
T
Industrial women:
Women members of seven unions, 1950
Women war workers living in family, 10 areas, 194445
Women war workers, Dallas, 1944
Women workers, Chicago, 1941-42
Women workers, Duluth, 1945_
Women aircraft workers, Kansas City, 1943-44
Women workers, electrical union, New York, 1944-45
Professional and business women:
Professional nurses, 1949
Business, professional women, 1937
University women, 1935
Rural teachers, 20 States, 1936-37:
White
Negro
School teachers, Connecticut, 1941-42
Urban teachers, 42 States, 1944
Professional women, 1943
Number
of women
reported
Percent
with dependents
9, 000
48-64
10,500
3, 300
3,000
1, 500
1, 200
1, 100
92
40
33
51
48
91
300, 500
10, 900
8, 800
30
48
41
6,300
1, 100
5,000
3, 400
3, 100
57
92
65
52
42
Source: For references and details of these and many additional studies, see Women's Bureau Bull. 239.
The study of nurses was not by sex, but 99 percent are women.
DEPENDENTS OF WOMEN UNDER UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION
Under the unemployment compensation provisions administered
by State employment services, 11 States (or Territories) provide unemployed women with added benefits if they have dependents. The
definitions of dependents vary among the States, and records from
this source give only a partial indication of the full extent to which
ECONOMIC
RESPONSIBILITIES
65
women included have dependents. Some adult dependents are provided for in 4 of these jurisdictions—Alaska, Arizona, District of
Columbia, and Nevada. Of the women receiving unemployment
compensation in these States in the last quarter of 1950, the proportions who had dependents were, respectively, 9, 37, 23, and 9. Of all
those receiving compensation in Arizona in 1949-50, who had dependents, a fourth had adult dependents.
In the other 7 States, the benefits allowed for women's dependents
apply only to children, and no benefits are allowed for women's adult
dependents. These States are Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wyoming. In 4 of them
only from 3 to 6 percent of the women receiving unemployment compensation had children dependent on them and thus were entitled to
the added benefits. In Ohio the proportion with child dependents
was 8 percent, in Wyoming 12 percent, and in North Dakota as high
as 29 percent. In Oregon, where dependents are not provided for, a
special study of women receiving unemployment compensation in
1948 showed that of those with dependents 40 percent had adult dependents.
DEPENDENTS OF WOMEN UNDER O A S I
The old-age and survivors insurance provisions of the Social Security
Act were amended in 1950, giving significant recognition to the responsibility of married women for their dependents. One of the
amendments provides that children under 18 who lose their mother
can receive benefits based on her earnings, regardless of the father's
contributions to their support, provided the mother worked at least
half of the time in the 3 years before her death in occupations covered
by the act, or was fully insured (a more lenient requirement based on
work at any time since 1936). In these cases, benefits would be payable if the mother had been furnishing at least half of the support of
the children; or if the father were neither living with the children nor
contributing toward their support, and she had been furnishing any
part of their support.
Another amendment provides that if an insured woman's husband
is receiving at least half his support from her at the time she retires or
dies, he can receive benefits on the basis of her record of wages and
self-employment income. To receive these he must be 65 or older,
and must be the father of her children or have been married to her for
at least 3 years.
66
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
WORKING WOMEN'S
BUDGETS
Estimates for working women's budget requirements usually have
been based on field surveys that priced the necessities of living at a
given time. Estimates sometimes are later revised to bring them up
to date, not by a complete repricing, but by making use of current costof-living indexes.
Most of the budgets listed below were prepared by State labor
departments for use in the administration of minimum-wage laws.
All but two set a minimum-adequate standard of living for a selfsupporting woman without dependents; these two, Maine and Massachusetts, consider the needs of an employed man as well. The budgets
priced include board and lodging, clothing and its upkeep, personal
care, medical care, transportation, recreation (including vacation),
reading matter, educational and other miscellaneous expenses; with
one exception, Massachusetts, they also make allowances for taxes,
insurance, and savings. The purpose of a savings allowance is to provide for the unusual contingencies that are not included in the commodity and service list covering customary expenditures. Variations
in the budgets reflect not only differences in way of living (as in furnished room, boarding house, or family group), but also differences in
quantity and quality of other commodities and services allowed. The
cost of food and housing in most of the budgets is based on ayerage
prices for a furnished room and three restaurant meals a day. However, the California, District of Columbia, and Utah budgets provide
for living and eating in a boarding house, and in New York food and
housing costs were determined in terms of living as a member of a
family group. Except for Utah's, these four budgets provide for
lunches to be eaten in restaurants, and the California budget makes
an additional allowance for Sunday dinner.
ECONOMIC RESPONSIBILITIES
67
The budgets listed below were the latest available at the time this
Handbook went to press. Revisions are made from time to time to
keep the money amounts up to date. The commodity and service
specifications and other pertinent facts about these budgets are contained in Women's Bureau Bulletin 226, revised 1951, "Working
Women's Budgets in Thirteen States," and latest mimeographed
supplements issued for the various States. Caution should be used in
comparing the money amounts of the various budgets because the
goods and services allowed differ somewhat from State to State and
the dates of pricing also differ.
State
Arizona
California
Colorado
;
Connecticut^
District of Columbia.
Kentucky
Maine
Massachusetts
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Utah
Washington
Total
budget
amount
$1, 953
2, 004
1, 813
1, 867
2, 149
11, 992
2, 236
21, 527
2, 492
2, 340
2, 121
2, 230
2, 231
1948
1950
1949
1949
1951
1949
1950
1950
1950
1951
1949
1950
1949
Date
(Apr.)
(Oct.)
(Jan.)
(Mar.)
(Aug.)
(Feb.)
(Dec.)
(Aug.)
(Oct.)
(Sept.)
(Nov.)
(Oct.)
(May)
i An alternate budget of the same date, based on living and eating in a boarding house, amounts to $1,839.
a A commodity and service budget only; no provision is made for taxes or savings.
PART IV
STANDARDS FOR EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN
NEED FOR STANDARDS FOR WOMEN WORKERS
T H E GREAT changes in women's work, speeded up by World War II,
have been developing for about a century and a half as the result of
transferring industry from the home to the factory. In gradually
increasing numbers, women have become wage workers outside their
homes, either manufacturing goods or performing services for the public—working in factories, offices, stores, hotels, restaurants, and laundries. They are a large and important part of the labor force in the
country. Many thousands of women also are employed by the Federal,
State, and local governments, and other thousands work in private
households.
Working conditions vary widely as to adequacy, even where legal
regulations exist. Collective bargaining in many instances has established high standards for working conditions, wages, and hours.
In other instances, employers themselves have set up good working
conditions. But when standards depend wholly on voluntary action,
they often do not apply to all workers and vary in their adequacy.
For this reason, the States have quite generally set up standards for
women's employment covering certain occupations and industries
and relating to a variety of working conditions such as daily and
weekly hours, night work, health and safety conditions, equal pay,
and minimum wages. The Nation's best interests demand good
labor standards for women, many of whom are mothers and homemakers as well as wage earners.
DEVELOPMENT O F STANDARDS
What are adequate standards for women workers? How are these
developed?
Labor standards are not stationary but are influenced by continuously changing conditions. Minimum-wage standards are adjusted
as prices rise and as new items come into the accepted minimum
standard of living. Historically, hours of work have been reduced as
factory processes have been mechanized and also as fatigue has come
to be recognized as detrimental to the worker's health and efficiency.
The development of industrial hygiene has provided a basis for regu68
STANDARDS FOR
EMPLOYMENT
69
lating the use of industrial materials or processes that endanger the
health of workers. Thus standards change as a result of advancing
scientific knowledge and as a result of growing recognition by both
workers and employers of the need for good working conditions.
Good labor standards should be maintained for all workers without
discrimination. Certain standards, such as those relating to plant
equipment and plant environment, affect men and women equally and
obviously are not subject to discriminatory application. With respect to such matters as hours of work, rest periods and lunch periods,
and seating, labor legislation in many States is responsible for the
existence, in many industries, of better standards for women than for
men. However, discrimination against women sometimes exists in
regard to promotion, seniority, training, and particularly in regard
to wages. Women frequently are hired for beginning jobs on an
equal basis with men but do not get equal consideration for promotion.
They are often not given the same training opportunities and, even if
trained, are not given a chance at the better jobs. Equality in maintaining the right to a job through seniority, and in payment for work
done, is too often lacking.
Labor standards are developed through many channels—emploj^ers,
unions, governmental and private agencies. The following pages
present standards which refer mainly to industrial and office workers.
(Somewhat different standards are essential to safeguard women workers in various other fields, such as household employment, agriculture,
technical and scientific work, but these standards require special consideration.) Outlined here are the broad basic recommendations for
any program concerned with the health and efficiency of women employees. These recommendations do not attempt to deal with details,
but they indicate the direction in which the development of good
standards should move.
Federal labor laws and social security provisions affect both men
and women workers and therefore lie for the most part outside the
scope of this Handbook. They relate to labor-management relations,
wage and hour standards, social security, employment security, job
training and education, workmen's compensation, and so forth. An
analysis of Federal labor laws is contained in Federal Labor Laws
and Agencies: A Layman's Guide (U. S. Department of Labor,
Bureau of Labor Standards, Bull. 123).
70
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
W A G E STANDARDS
Workers' standards of living are determined by their earnings. The
least they should be assured is a minimum rate of pay adequate to
meet the cost of living. But there must also be the assurance that
this wage will continue throughout the year. The standard of living
depends primarily on an adequate wage rate, plus the guarantee of an
adequate annual wage. Such earnings are essential, not only because
they maintain a secure and healthy level of living for individual
workers, but also because they sustain the Nation's economic stability.
To aid in accomplishing these objectives, Federal and State governments to some extent are providing by law for a floor to wages as well
as a ceiling to hours. Wage standards should include the following:
1. The principle of "equal pay": Wage rates based on the job, and
not on the sex of the worker or other factors not related to ability to
perform the job.
2. Minimum-wage rates established through legislation; tips not
considered as wages.
3. All protective clothing and other safety equipment, and all uniforms required, furnished and cared for by the employer as part of
the cost of production; no worker required to contribute, directly or
indirectly, to the cost of supplying or maintaining such clothing or
equipment; if the worker does contribute, she is to be reimbursed for
any such necessary expenditure by the employer.
4. Wages paid regularly and in full, on a weekly or semimonthly
basis, and on a fixed day; assistance by the appropriate government
agency in collection of wages due.
EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS
Schedules of 10 and 12 hours a day have given way to fewer daily
hours. The 5-day week of 40 hours or even less is now a schedule
widely used. Standards for working hours should include:
1. Not more than 8 hours of work a day, and not more than 48 a
week; work time over 40 hours to be paid for at time and one-half the
worker's regular rate.
2. At least 1 day of rest in 7.
3. Meal periods of at least 30 minutes. No work period of more
than 5 hours without a break for meal or rest.
4. A rest period of at least 10 minutes in the middle of each halfday work period, to be given in addition to the lunch period and without lengthening the workday.
5. Some vacation with pay after 6 months on the job; a longer vacation after longer service.
6. Sick leave and maternity leave without loss of job or seniority
rights. Maternity leave should cover a minimum of 6 weeks before
STANDARDS FOR
EMPLOYMENT
71
and 2 months after confinement, with extension of either period on
advice of the worker's physician.
7. Time off with pay on chief legal holidays.
8. Night work, except in continuous process industries and essential
services, kept to a minimum; a guarantee of an uninterrupted rest
period of 11 consecutive hours, including an absolute "barred period"
of 7 hours between 12 midnight and 7 a. m.
OTHER
STANDARDS
Standards adequate to protect the health and safety of workers are
essential in all workplaces. The standards should include:
For Health
1. Working environment: Adequate ventilation, lighting, and
heating, to preserve health and reduce strain and fatigue.
2. Plant facilities: Washrooms, toilets, rest rooms and dressing
rooms, and drinking water should be convenient and available to all
workers. Where the size of the plant makes it practicable, lunchrooms with nourishing food available at reasonable prices should be
provided. These facilities should meet the needs of the workers and
conform to high standards of health and sanitation.
3. Medical services in the plant commensurate with needs of the
workers.
4. A program of industrial hygiene to discover and protect against
occupational hazards arising from the use of dangerous substances
or processes.
5. Provision for mechanical aids in lifting weights and elimination
of undue physical strain wherever possible.
6. Suitable seats, in adequate numbers, and freedom for workers to
use them while working—at all times if the nature of the job permits,
and in any event during periods when not actively engaged in performance of duties that require a standing position.
For Safety
1. Equipment and machinery in good working condition, with
adequate guards against injury.
2. Safety equipment and clothing, such as goggles, safety shoes,
protective gloves, as needed, maintained in good condition.
3. Safe and uncrowded work space; stairways, floors, halls, rooms,
and passageways kept in good condition and adequately lighted.
4. A continuing safety program and training in safety on the job
for all workers.
INDUSTRIAL H O M E
WORK
Efforts to abolish industrial home work, with its long and irregular
hours, low earnings, and child labor, should be continued. Strict
regulation of hours, wages and working conditions in industries where
it exists is recommended until prohibitory laws can be passed.
PART V
SUMMARY OF STATE LABOR LAWS FOR WOMEN 1
Basic standards as of July 1,1952
The basic purpose of labor legislation for women is protection of
the health of the woman worker. Various factors, such as the concentration of women in the low-paid, unskilled occupations and their
lack of effective trade-union organization, in the early days led to
the exploitation of women workers. In many industries and areas
their employment was characterized by inadequate wages, excessively long hours, and unhealthful conditions of work. Women's
dual role as homemaker and wage earner made the elimination of
such conditions a matter of social importance and laid the basis for
the comprehensive system of women's labor laws that exists today.
Each of the 48 States, the District of Columbia, Alaska, Hawaii,
and Puerto Rico now has on its statute books laws establishing standards for the employment of women. Principal subjects of regulation are: (1) Hours of work; including maximum daily and weekly
hours, day of rest, meal and rest periods, and night work; (2) plant
facilities, such as seating; (3) limitations on certain hazardous or
unheal thful types of employment; (4) regulation of industrial home
work; (5) limitations on employment before and after childbirth;
(6) wages, including minimum wages and equal pay. In most such
laws the coverage is expressly limited to women or to women and
minors. Not every State has enacted legislation on each of these
subjects, and the standards established vary widely from State to
State.
The first women's laws to be adopted were those establishing maximum hours of employment. Ohio enacted a 10-hour law for women
as early as 1852. The first enforceable law was that of Massachusetts,
as amended in 1879. The standard of a 10-hour maximum workday
was gradually replaced by the 9-hour and then by the 8-hour day.
Today all except 5 States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico have laws in effect
setting a legal limit to the hours of employment of women in one or
more industries. In about half the States, the limit so established is
8 hours a day and/or 48 hours a week.
i The Territories are included in this summary.
the present time.
72
No information is available for the Virgin Islands at
STATE LABOR
LAWS
73
Other major fields of labor legislation for women are minimum wage
and equal pay. The first minimum-wage law in the United States
was enacted by Massachusetts in 1912. Today 26 States, the District
of Columbia, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico have minimum-wage
laws. Seven such laws now cover men as well as women and minors.
Equal-pay laws originated at the end of the First World War with
the passage of bills in Michigan and Montana. The Second World
War gave new impetus to such legislation with the result that 11
additional States and Alaska enacted equal-pay laws from 1943 to
the present date.
After a series of conflicting court decisions involving major types
of labor legislation for women—maximum hour and minimum wage—
the courts finally upheld the constitutionality of such laws, finding
that the health and well-being of women workers are matters of public
concern and that legislation can properly take such factors into account. The constitutionality of maximum-hour legislation, a subject
of contest for nearly two decades, was finally established in 1908 by
a United States Supreme Court decision upholding the Oregon 10-hour
law (Muller case). With respect to minimum-wage legislation, the
Court held the District of Columbia law unconstitutional in 1923
(Adkins case) and later expressly reversed itself, upholding the constitutionality of the Washington State law (Parrish case) in 1937.
The constitutionality of the Michigan equal-pay law was upheld by
the State supreme court in the first such case ever to reach the highest court in any State (General Motors case). No equal pay law
has come before the United States Supreme Court.
During three-quarters of a century of development, the field of labor
legislation for women has seen a tremendous increase in the number
of laws and a notable improvement in standards they established.
Notable among laws passed in 1951 was an amendment to the Connecticut minimum-wage law establishing a statutory minimum of 75
cents an hour. Connecticut was the first State to attain the basic
hourly minimum of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Equal-pay legislation included strengthening of the Massachusetts law by a 1951
amendment which bases the application of the principle of equal
pay on "comparable" work and the adoption of an equal-pay law by
New Jersey in 1952. Hours of work legislation enacted since Korea
(June 1950-Jan. 1, 1952) includes some temporary relaxation of maximum hour standards in a few States.
HANDBOOK
74
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
MAXIMUM DAILY AND WEEKLY HOURS
Forty-three States, the District of Columbia, and one Territory
have laws limiting women's daily and/or weekly hours of employment
in one or more industries.
Five States—Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, and West Virginia—
do not have such laws. The laws of Hawaii and Puerto Rico set no
maximum but require payment of premium rates for time worked beyond specified daily and/or weekly hours.
One-half of the States (24) and the District of Columbia, listed
below, have set 8 hours a day and/or 48 hours a week or less as the
maximum time a woman may be employed in one or more industries.2
In all but one of these jurisdictions (Kansas is the exception), manufacturing establishments are covered. In Connecticut the maximum
workweek is 48 hours for several industries, but daily hours may not
exceed 8 in mercantile establishments or 9 in other types of employment, including manufacturing. Ohio's law sets 8-48 hours as the
maximum for industries other than manufacturing and 9-45 hours as
the maximum for manufacturing. The 8-48 hours law in Kansas
applies to public-housekeeping occupations and telephone exchanges;
in manufacturing establishments, the maximum is 9 hours a day, 49%
hours a week.
Arizona
Arkansas....
California
Colorado
Connecticut
District of Columbia
Illinois
Kansas
Louisiana
Massachusetts
Montana
Nevada
New Hampshire
1
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
9
8
8
__10
-48
-C1)
-48
-0)
-48
-48
-48
-48
-48
-48
-48
-48
-48
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota. _
Ohio..___
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Utah
Virginia
Washington
Wyoming
8 -48
8 -48
9 -48
8^-48
8 -48
8 -44
10 -48
9 -48
8 -48
9 -48
8
8 -48
Day-of-rest law provides, in effect for a 48-hour week.
Nine States, listed below, have set a maximum 9-hour day for women,
and all but one of these (Idaho) have a weekly maximum of 50 or 54
hours. Maine's law sets 50 hours for manufacturing and 54 for a number of other establishments and industries.
Idaho
Maine
Michigan
Missouri
Nebraska
9
9-50
9-54
9-54
9-54
Oklahoma
Texas
Vermont
Wisconsin
9-54
9-54
9-50
9-50
2 If a State has set different legal maximum-hour standards for different industries, the4aw establishing the
highest standard, i. e., the lowest maximum hours, is shown.
STATE LABOR LAWS
75
Nine States, listed below, have set a maximum day of 10 hours and
a week of from 50 to 60 hours. All cover manufacturing, though in
Georgia and South Carolina the law is limited to one type of manufacturing only—cotton and woolen goods.
Delaware
Georgia (men and women)
Kentucky
Maryland
Mississippi (men and women)
10-55
10-60
10-60
10-60
10-60
New Jersey
South
Carolina
women) 1
South Dakota
Tennessee
(men
and
10-54
10-55
10-54
10-50
1 A 1949 amendment to the previous 8- and 40-hour law for workers in textile mills provides that work in
excess of 8 and 40 hours shall be permissible when provisions of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act are
complied with.
Minnesota has fixed no daily limit in its statute, having only a 54hour weekly limitation for manufacturing and several other industries.
Alaska has set 60 hours as the maximum week for household or
domestic employees.
DAY OF REST
Nearly half the States (22) and the District of Columbia prohibit
employment of women for more than 6 days a week in some or all
industries.3 In 2 of these States—Colorado and Utah—the law does
not apply to manufacturing establishments. In 7 States both men
and women employees are covered.
Arizona
Arkansas
California (men and women)
Colorado
Connecticut (men and women)
Delaware
District of Columbia
Illinois (men and women)
Kansas
Louisiana
Massachusetts (men and women)
Nevada
New Hampshire (men and women)
New Jersey
New York (men and women)
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Utah
Wisconsin (men and women)
A number of States still have the so-called "blue laws" on their
statute books. These laws usually penalize a worker who labors on
Sunday at works other than those of necessity or charity. The Sunday
or blue laws, since they are not labor laws, are not included here.
1 In 1945, Rhode Island reenacted an earlier law covering employment on certain holidays and added
Sundays to the list of days when employment not absolutely necessary is prohibited. Kentucky law
requires payment of time and a half for work on the 7th consecutive day, and Puerto Rico requires that
double time be paid for such work. In none of these, however, does the law establish a 6-day week.
HANDBOOK
76
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
MEAL
PERIODS
Over half the States (27), the District of Columbia, and one Territory, listed below, have provided that meal periods varying from %
hour to 1 hour must be allowed to women in some or all industries.
This provision applies to manufacturing establishments in all but 3
of these States—Colorado, Illinois, and North Carolina.
New Jersey (men and women)
New Mexico
New York (men and women)
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Utah
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Puerto Rico
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Delaware
District of Columbia
Illinois
Indiana (men and women)
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Nebraska (men and women)
Nevada
REST P E R I O D S
Rest periods are provided for in 8 States. Two—Nevada and
Wyoming—provide rest periods for a variety of industries by statute,
and 6 States—Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, and
Washington—provide rest periods for one or more industries by minimum-wage order. The great majority set a 10-minute period within
the half-day's work; some set 15 minutes, and one, 5 minutes.
NIGHT
WORK
Nineteen States and Puerto Rico place some limitation on the hours
adult women may be employed at night. In addition, 3 States limit
the night work of persons 18 to 21 years of age only.
In 13 States and Puerto Rico night work for adult women is prohibited in certain industries or occupations. In North Dakota and
Washington the prohibition applies only to elevator operators; in
Ohio, only to taxicab drivers.
Connecticut
Delaware
Indiana (suspended until 1961)
Kansas
Massachusetts
Nebraska (except on permit)
New Jersey
New York
North Dakota
Ohio
South Carolina
Washington
Wisconsin
Puerto Rico (except on permit)
STATE LABOR LAWS
77
In 6 additional States—California, Maryland, New Hampshire,
New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Utah—as well as in several of the
States already listed, the employment of adult women at night, while
not prohibited, is regulated either by provision for a lower maximum
hour limit for night work than for day work or by the establishment
of specific working-conditions standards.
In the District of Columbia and 3 States that do not prohibit or
regulate night work for adult women—Arizona, Rhode Island, and
Virginia—night work is prohibited for persons under 21 in messenger
service (in Virginia for girls under 21). Of the 13 States listed as
prohibiting night work for women, 2—Massachusetts and Ohio —
prohibit the employment of girls under 21 in numerous industries or
occupations.
SEATING
Forty-six States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have
seating laws—all but one of them applying exclusively to women.
Florida's law applies to both males and females. Illinois and Mississippi have no seating laws.
OCCUPATIONAL
LIMITATIONS
The majority of States have occupational limitation laws for women
and minors—24 of them having one or more such limitations on the
employment of adult women. In the 24 States the occupations in
which such employment is usually prohibited are in mines and in
liquor establishments.
In 17 of the States women's employment in mines is prohibited, and
in 10 they may not be employed to mix, sell, or dispense alcoholic liquors
in establishments where such beverages are sold for on-premises consumption. The laws of 10 States prohibit a woman's employment in
occupations or places considered hazardous or injurious to health or
safety, such as operating polishing wheels or belts, cleaning moving
machinery, employment as a bellhop, or in basements of establishments specified.
HANDBOOK
78
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
The following summary shows the few industries or occupations in
which the employment of adult women is prohibited by State law.
Mines
Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
Colorado
Illinois
Indiana
Maryland
Missouri
New York
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Utah
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Barrooms
California
Connecticut
Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Louisiana
Michigan
Ohio .
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Other places and occupations
Arizona—Constant standing (all industries).
Louisiana—Cleaning moving machinery.
Michigan—Operating polishing wheels, belts,
etc., in room wholly or partly underground.
Constant standing (all industries).
Foundries.
Handling certain harmful substances.
Hazardous occupations.
Minnesota—Core rooms.
Cleaning moving machinery.
Missouri—Cleaning, or working between,
moving machinery.
New York—Operating polishing wheels, etc.
Basement of a mercantile or restaurant
establishment.
Ohio—Lists 15 occupations (in addition to
mines, smelters, barrooms) in which
women's employment is prohibited.
Examples are bell-hops, express drivers,
operation of freight or baggage elevators,
work in shoe-shining parlors, pool rooms,
etc.
Pennsylvania—Dangerous or injurious occupations.
Washington—Bell-hop.
Wisconsin—Disorderly house.
WEIGHT LIFTING
Ten States and one Territory have some regulation regarding the
lifting or carrying of heavy weights by women. They are:
California
Maryland (foundries only)
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota (core rooms only)
New York (core rooms only)
Ohio
Oregon
Utah
Washington
Alaska
STATE LABOR LAWS
INDUSTRIAL H O M E
79
WORK
Twenty States and one Territory have industrial home-work laws
or regulations. In all but 3—Colorado, Oregon, and Utah—the law
applies to all persons; in these 3 jurisdictions the law applies to women
and minors only.
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Illinois
Indiana
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Missouri
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
E M P L O Y M E N T BEFORE A N D AFTER
Rhode Island
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Puerto Rico
CHILDBIRTH
Six States and one Territory have laws prohibiting the employment
of women immediately before and after childbirth. Except in Puerto
Rico, their provisions are limited to prohibiting employment. Puerto
Rico, in addition, requires the employer to pay to the working mother
during the 8-week period one-half of her regular salary or wage
and provides for job security during the required absence. The
jurisdictions and the periods during which women may not be
employed are:
Connecticut
Massachusetts
Missouri
New York
Vermont
Washington
Puerto Rico
4 weeks before and 4 weeks after.
4 weeks before and 4 weeks after.
3 weeks before and 3 weeks after.
4 weeks after.
2 weeks before and 4 weeks after.
4 months before and 6 weeks after.1
4 weeks before and 4 weeks after.2
4 weeks before and 4 weeks after.
i Applies to women in manufacturing, food processing, and fresh fruit and vegetable packing industries,
a Applies to women in the laundry, dry cleaning and dye works industry.
Rhode Island's Temporary Disability Insurance Act (formerly
Cash Sickness Compensation Law) expressly provides that employed
women who are pregnant are entitled to cash benefits during the 6
weeks before, and the 6 weeks after, childbirth.
80
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
EQUAL
PAY
Thirteen States and one Territory, listed below, have enacted
statutes which prohibit discrimination in rate of pay because of sex.
Two of these—Illinois and Michigan—apply to manufacturing only.
Massachusetts in 1951 amended its law to base application of the
principle of equal pay on "comparable work". In 1952 New Jersey
became the thirteenth State to enact such legislation.
California
Connecticut
Illinois
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
Montana
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
MINIMUM
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Washington
Alaska
WAGE
Twenty-six States, the District of Columbia, and three Territories
have minimum-wage laws. Most of these apply to women and both
male and female minors; variations from this pattern of coverage are
indicated below. These laws are broad in their coverage of industries, most of them being all-inclusive with a few listed exemptions,
usually domestic service and agriculture. The Maine law, however,
applies only to fish packing.
Arizona
Arkansas (women and girls)
California
Colorado
Connecticut (all persons)
District of Columbia
Illinois
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana (women and girls)
Maine
Massachusetts (all persons)
Minnesota
Nevada (women and girls)
New Hampshire (all persons)
New Jersey
New York (all persons)
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma (women)
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island (all persons)
South Dakota (women and girls)
Utah
Washington
Wisconsin
Alaska (women)
Hawaii (all persons)
Puerto Rico (all persons)
Connecticut in 1951 amended its minimum-wage law to establish
a statutory minimum of 75 cents an hour (requiring a modification of
wage orders to provide the basic minimum). Application of the law
was broadened to cover all but a few occupations. Minnesota, New
Hampshire, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii also enacted amendments to
their laws in 1951.
PART VI
LEGISLATION AFFECTING HOUSEHOLD EMPLOYEES
As of January 1, 1952
C O V E R A G E O F DOMESTIC WORKERS BY STATE L A B O R
FOR W O M E N
LAWS
MAXIMUM-HOUR LAWS
State maximum-hour laws of general coverage in effect in 43 States
do not cover domestic workers. However, the State of Washington
and Alaska have maximum-hour laws applicable to domestic workers
only:
1. Washington has a special maximum-hour law for domestic workers which:
Covers both male and female employees.
Prohibits their employment over 60 hours a week, including all the time the
employee is on call and not free to follow own pursuits.
Provides that in cases of emergency such employees may be employed longer
than 60 hours.
Makes violation of the law a misdemeanor.
2. Alaska has a law establishing a 60-hour maximum workweek for
female household or domestic workers.
MINIMUM-WAGE LAWS
1. State minimum-wage laws that do not expressly exclude domestic
workers are in effect in the following 8 States and 1 Territory:
California
Colorado
Kansas
Oklahoma
Oregon
Utah
Washington
Wisconsin
Alaska
2. Alaska and Wisconsin are the only jurisdictions with minimumwage rates now in effect for domestic workers. The Alaska minimumwage law sets a minimum wage of $18 a week, applicable to a workweek
of 6 days, 48 hours, and a minimum part-time wage of 45 cents an
hour. Wisconsin's minimum-wage order provides for adult women
81
82
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
and minors employed in domestic service in private homes the following:
The minimum wage for
hours or more a week:
In cities and villages with a population of 3,500 or more:
If board only is furnished, $12 a week.
If board and lodging are furnished, $8 a week.
In cities and villages with a population between 1,000 and 3,500:
If board only is furnished, $10.75 a week.
If board and lodging are furnished, $7.25 a week.
Elsewhere in the State:
If board only is furnished, $10.25 a week.
If board and lodging are furnished, $7 a week.
The minimum wage for less than
hours a week:
In cities and villages with a population of 3,500 or more: 45 cents an hour.
In cities and villages with a population between 1,000 and 3,500: 40 cents
an hour.
Elsewhere in the State: 38 cents an hour.
Allowance for board and lodging:
Where board and lodging are furnished by the employer as part payment of
wages, an allowance may be made therefor as follows:
In cities and villages with a population of 3,500 or more:
Of not more than $8.25 a week for board.
Of not more than $4 a week for lodging.
In cities and villages with a population between 1,000 and 3,500:
Of not more than $7.25 a week for board.
Of not more than $3.50 a week for lodging.
Elsewhere in the State:
Of not more than $6.75 a week for board.
Of not more than $3.25 a week for lodging.
COVERAGE
O F DOMESTIC WORKERS BY STATE
COMPENSATION LAWS
WORKMEN'S
STATES IN WHICH COVERAGE IS COMPULSORY
California: Compulsory for domestic workers employed over 52
hours a week by one employer; voluntary for others.
New York: Domestic workers (except those employed on farms)
employed by the same employer for a minimum of 48 hours a week
in cities of at least 40,000 population are covered by a 1947 amendment to the Workmen's Compensation Law. The law extends to fulltime regularly employed domestic workers the same protection,
medical care, and compensation in the event of an accidental injury
while at work which the law gives to other workers, but the penal
provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Law were made inapplicable to household employers. However, should the household employer who is required by law to carry workmen's compensation
insurance fail to provide such insurance, the employer becomes personally responsible and liable to pay any award that may be rendered
LAWS AFFECTING HOUSEHOLD
EMPLOYEES
83
in favor of the employee. This award can be entered in the Supreme
Court as a regular judgment. Furthermore, the employer can be
subjected to a civil suit for negligence, in which action the defenses of
"contributory negligence" or "risks of the j o b " cannot be urged by
the employer, thus rendering the domestic worker's chance for recovery
of damages extremely favorable.
STATES IN WHICH COVERAGE IS ELECTIVE 1
Connecticut: Employers are presumed to come under the act if
they regularly employ three or more employees unless a written stipulation to the contrary is made; law is voluntary for those employing less
than three.
New Jersey: If the employer or employee does not accept the act,
he must give written notice to that effect to the opposite party, with
the result that common-law defenses are abrogated.
Vermont: Coverage for domestic workers was provided in 1951 by
the deletion of a previous exemption. The law is voluntary for those
employing seven or fewer employees.
STATES IN WHICH COVERAGE IS V O L U N T A R Y 2
Arizona
Arkansas
Colorado
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Mexico
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Utah
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin
STATES WHICH EXCLUDE DOMESTIC WORKERS
Alabama
Delaware
District of Columbia
Iowa
Mississippi
Montana
Tennessee
Texas
West Virginia
Wyoming
1 Elective coverage means that the employer has the option of either accepting or rejecting the act, but if he
rejects it and the worker brings a suit for damages the employer cannot claim the traditional common-law
defenses, i. e., that the worker assumed the risk of the employment, that the injury was due to negligence
of a fellow servant, or that the worker himself was guilty of contributory negligence.
2 Voluntary coverage means that the employer may come under the act voluntarily but failure to do so
does not result in a loss of the common-law defenses.
84
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
C O V E R A G E O F DOMESTIC WORKERS BY W A G E P A Y M E N T L A W S
STATES REQUIRING REGULAR PAYMENT OF WAGES
A. Law applies to domestic workers expressly:
California (monthly if boarded and lodged by employer;
semimonthly if not)
B. Law applies to all workers; thus sufficiently broad to include
domestic workers:
Connecticut
Georgia
Indiana
Massachusetts
Montana
Nevada
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
West Virginia
Alaska
STATES REQUIRING PAYMENT IMMEDIATELY OR WITHIN A SPECIFIED
PERIOD UPON DISCHARGE
A. Law applies to domestic workers expressly:
California (if not boarded and lodged by employer)
B. Law applies to all workers; thus sufficiently broad to include
domestic workers:
Connecticut
Idaho
Illinois
Louisiana
COVERAGE
OF
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Montana
Nevada
Rhode Island
West Virginia
Wyoming
Alaska
DOMESTIC WORKERS BY S O C I A L
L E G I S L A T I O N N O W IN EFFECT
SECURITY
OLD-AGE A N D SURVIVORS INSURANCE
Under the amended Federal Social Security Act, effective January
1, 1951, old-age and survivors insurance protection is provided for
"regularly employed" domestic workers in private homes if the
worker :
(1) Works on some part of at least 24 days in the calendar
quarter for an employer (or had worked for this employer
on some part of 24 days in the preceding quarter).
(2) Is paid cash wages of at least $50 during the quarter for these
services.
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
1. The Social Security Act exempts employers of domestic workers
from payment of the tax but it does not prohibit States from covering
such workers under State legislation.
2. Domestic service in a private home is specifically excluded in all
State unemployment insurance laws except New York.
New York includes such service if the employer employs four or
more domestic workers in his home for 15 days in a calendar year.
Claims for unemployment insurance should be filed with the local
public employment security office.
PART VII
THE POLITICAL AND CIVIL STATUS OF WOMEN
Including principal sex distinctions as of January 1, 1952 1
POLITICAL STATUS
NATIONALITY
Citizenship in the United States is acquired in the same way by men
and women; that is, by birth within the domain, by birth abroad of a
parent who is a citizen, or by being naturalized. Mothers, as well as
fathers, confer citizenship on their minor children. A married
woman's citizenship does not automatically follow that of her husband.
An alien wife may become a citizen whether or not her alien husband
desires or qualifies for that privilege. If a woman citizen marries an
alien, she retains her citizenship until she renounces it by declaring
allegiance to another government.
VOTING A N D PUBLIC OFFICE
Federal.—Any woman who has the qualifications required for voting
in the State of her residence has full right of suffrage in the election
of National Government officials and on proposals for change in the
Federal Constitution, that is, in the basic law.
Likewise, any woman who meets the established qualifications for
official positions in the National Government is eligible either for election or appointment to posts in the executive and legislative branches
or for appointment to the judiciary, including the Supreme Court of
the United States.
State— Any woman who meets the general qualifications established
for voting in the State in which she has legal residence has full right
of suffrage in the election of State and local officials and in determination of public issues within the State, such as amendment of the State
constitution, legislative proposals where the referendum procedure is
operative, and on local matters such as special tax assessments for
public improvements, school administration, and the like.
Also, any woman who has the qualifications required for elected
officials of State and local governments is eligible for election to these
positions.
1 Material has been brought up to date as far as possible, but there has not been an opportunity for exhaustive research of new State legislation.
85
HANDBOOK
86
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
Civil service positions.—Appointive positions in both Federal and
State civil services are open generally to qualified women; that is, there
are few legal barriers to the appointment of women. Appointing
agencies for the Federal Government may designate whether male or
female employees are preferred, when requesting a list of eligibles
from the Civil Service Commission for selection of new personnel.
Some States by statute specify the sex of appointees for certain minor
positions, such as superintendents, wardens, matrons, or attendants in
institutions operated by the State.
Courts—Jury service.—Women are entitled by law to serve on juries
in 42 States, the District of Columbia, Alaska, Canal Zone, and the
Virgin Islands; by this fact they are eligible also for Federal jury
service in these jurisdictions. [Three States—New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Tennessee—enacted jury service laws in 1951.] 2
In about half of these jurisdictions,3 jury duty is compulsory for
qualified women; and in about half, it is optional for women.
There are now only six States 4 remaining in which women are not
permitted to serve on State juries. Women are also barred from
Federal juries in these jurisdictions by virtue of the provision of the
Federal Judicial Code of 1948 which requires Federal juror qualifications to conform to those in effect in the State where the Federal jury
is sitting.
DOMICILE
Private domicile of a married woman depends on that of her husband,
normally. The general rule is that when the interests of husband and
wife become hostile so that dissolution of the marriage becomes
necessary, an aggrieved wife may establish a separate domicile. Separate existence, interests, and rights are recognized in cases of this sort.
Public domicile.—Most of the States limit husband and wife to the
same marital domicile during marriage for voting, serving on juries,
and holding public office.
However, at least 12 States under specified conditions allow a
married woman to establish a separate domicile for voting:
California
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
Nevada
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Virginia
Wisconsin
2 Since January 1, 1952, Hawaii and Puerto Rico have made women eligible for jury service.
3 In a few jurisdictions where jury service for women has only recently been permitted, the Women's
Bureau has not yet obtained information showing whether it is compulsory or optional.
4 Ala., Ga., Miss., S. C., Tex., W. Va.
POLITICAL AND CIVIL
STATUS
87
Five States permit separate domicile for eligibility to public office:
Maine
Michigan
Nevada
New Jersey
New York
At least four States permit separate domicile for jury service qualification:
Maine
Michigan
Nevada
New Jersey
Three States (Nevada, New Jersey, Virginia) recognize separate
domicile for the personal property tax obligation of a married woman.
CIVIL S T A T U S - F A M I L Y
RELATIONS
MARRIAGE
The marriage laws of the various States generally do not distinguish
between the sexes, except in establishing minimum ages. Most States
set a lower age for women. The same minimum age applies to both
sexes in 6 States 5 when parental consent is required, and in 17 States 6
when parental consent is not required. Other legal distinctions found
are of minor importance, both as to number and character; for example, 2 States (Louisiana, Wisconsin) require pre-marital health tests
of men applicants only. One State (Louisiana) bars remarriage of a
woman for a 10-month period after dissolution of her marriage.
DIVORCE
Sixteen States 7 may grant a divorce to the husband on grounds that
are exclusive to him. The principal ground in this group is the wife's
undisclosed pregnancy by another at the time of marriage. Twentyone States 8 may grant a divorce to the wife on grounds that are exclusive to her, generally the husband's desertion or nonsupport.
PARENT A N D CHILD
Thirty-four States 9 give both parents the same rights of natural
guardianship. Fourteen States 10 and the District of Columbia prefer
the father as natural guardian during the marriage, giving him the
first right to custody of his minor child's person, services, and earnings. If the marriage is broken by divorce or legal separation, neither
parent has any legal advantage over the other as to custody of the
minor children. The best interests of the child guide the court's disposition of its custody.
Conn., Idaho, Mo., N. C., Pa., Tenn.
e Conn., Fla„ Idaho, Ky., La., Mont., Nebr., N. C., Ohio, Pa., R. I., S. C., S. Dak., Tenn., Va., W. Va.,
Wyo.
t Ala., Ariz., Ga., Iowa, Kans., Ky., Miss., Mo., N. H., N. Mex., N. C., Okla., Tenn., Va., Wis., Wyo.
8 Ala., Ariz., Colo., Del., Ind., Ky., Maine, Mass., Mich., Mo., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N. H., N. Mex.,
R. I., Tenn., Vt., Wash., Wis., Wyo.
» Ariz., Calif., Conn., Del., Fla., Idaho, 111., Ind., Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Miss., Mo., Mont.
Nebr., Nev., N. H., N. J., N. Mex., N. Dak., Ohio, Oreg., Pa., R. I., S. C., S. Dak., Tenn., Tex., Utah'
Wash., W. Va.. Wis.
w Ala., Ark., Colo., Ga., Iowa, Mass., Mich., Minn., N. Y., N. C., Okla., Vt., Va., Wyo.
8
88
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
Six States 11 and the District of Columbia by statute prefer the father
when a guardian of property is to be appointed for his child.
Nine States 12 authorize the father to appoint a guardian, by deed or
last will, to have charge of the person of his minor child after the
father's death, subject, however, in each of these States, to the mother's
right to succeed the father as natural guardian of their minor children
if she is the survivor. No State permits a father to will his child to a
stranger without the mother's valid consent.
Seven 13 of the thirteen 14 States that authorize the surviving parent
to appoint a testamentary guardian for a minor child's property provide that during the marriage the father may make the appointment
with the mother's written consent.
Unmarried parents.—The mother is considered the natural guardian
entitled to the custody of the child. The father becomes a natural
guardian according to the law of the State only if he legally acknowledges his relationship to the child.
Inheritance by parents from children.—No distinction exists between
the rights of the father and mother to inherit from legitimate children.
Most States allow the unmarried mother to inherit from her child.
Nine 15 States permit the unmarried father to share the inheritance
when he has legally acknowledged or adopted the child.
FAMILY SUPPORT
Generally, the States under community-property law (see footnote
20) make the common estate of husband and wife liable for family
support, without relieving the husband as head of the family from
his liability for its proper care. The remaining States and the District of Columbia, under common-law rule in this respect, hold the
husband and his property primarily liable for family support. In
21 of these States 16 the wife and her property are declared liable
also for family necessaries, but without changing the husband's primary obligation.
Ten States 17 require the wife to support her husband out of her
separate property when he has no property and because of infirmity is
unable to support himself.
" Ala., Colo., La., Mont., Oreg., Tex.
12 Ariz., Idaho, Mont., N. Dak., Okla., Oreg., S. Dak., Utah, Vt.
« Ariz., Idaho, Mont., N. Dak., Okla., S. Dak., Utah.
" Ariz., Calif., Del., Idaho, La., Mont., Nev., N. Y., N. Dak., Okla., Pa., S. Dak., Utah.
»Idaho, Kans., La., Mont., Nev., N. Mex., N. Dak., Okla., S. Dak.
i® Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Conn., Idaho, 111., Iowa, La., Mass., Minn., Mo., Mont., N. Dak., Oreg.,
Pa., S. Dak., Utah, Wash., W . Va., Wyo.
" Calif., Idaho, Mont., Nev., N. Mex., N. Dak., Ohio, Okla., S. Dak., Wis.
POLITICAL AND CIVIL
STATUS
89
Unmarried 'parents.—In general, the mother is primarily liable for
support of her child born out of wedlock. Most States have legal
procedure for establishing paternity if satisfactory proof is submitted.
Until the paternity is established or voluntarily assumed, the father
has no legal obligation to support the child, or to contribute to the
expenses of the mother at childbirth. Four States18 have no statutory
provision of this type.
CIVIL S T A T U S - C O N T R A C T A N D PROPERTY
LAW
POWER TO MAKE CONTRACTS
All States apparently recognize a married woman's legal capacity to
contract her personal services in employment outside her home duties,
and to collect her earnings from such work without the formal consent
of her husband.
Three States 19 have limitations on the power of a married woman
of legal age to make enforceable contracts with third persons that do
not concern her separate property or the common property of herself
and husband.
The eight 20 community-property States do not ordinarily empower a
wife to contract alone concerning the common marital property,
though the husband has extensive powers of sole contract, particularly
over the personal property owned in common.
Five States 21 forbid a wife to obligate herself as surety for her
husband.
Five States 22 limit to some extent because of sex the appointment
of a woman to positions of trust, such as executor or administrator.
Six States 23 may impose special restrictions on a woman who
marries while serving in these offices of trust.
OWNERSHIP, CONTROL, A N D USE OF PROPERTY
Separate property.—In property management and control, inheritance, and freedom of enjoyment of earnings, unmarried women and
unmarried men stand equal under the law. Married women in most
States have the same degree of control over their separate property
that married men have over their separate property. Personal earnings of married women are made their separate property by specific statute in most of the States not under the community-property
regime. In the 15 States 24 without such specific law, general statutes
are interpreted to have the same effect.
« Idaho, Mo., Tex., Va.
» La., Nebr., Tex.
® Ariz., Calif., Idaho, La., Nev., N. Mex., Tex., Wash.
21 Ala., Ga., Idaho, Ky., N. H.
22 Idaho, Nev., Okla., Oreg., S. Dak.
23 Del., Nev., N. H., N. C., S. C., Utah.
» Del., Ky., Md., Mass., Miss., Mont., N. Y . , N. Dak., Ohio, Okla., Oreg., S. Dak., Tenn., V t . , V a .
90
HANDBOOK
OF
FACTS
ON
WOMEN"
WORKERS
Six States 25 still require the husband's signature, as a matter of
form, to give validity to the wife's deed conveying her own land;
only Texas still requires a special form of acknowledgment for the
married woman's deed or mortgage of her lands; and only Texas
denies a wife full individual status in the courts, requiring her husband to be made a party to certain actions which involve the wife.
Three States 26 and the District of Columbia retain the form of
property ownership called "estate by the entirety as at common law,"
applicable only to husband and wife. Urfder it, the .wife has only
a contingent interest in the property unless she survives her husband,
no matter what amount she has contributed to the estate. The husband controls the property and receives the income during the marriage.
Five States 27 still have the so-called Free-Trader statutes, under
which court sanction, and in some cases the husband's consent, is required for a wife's legal venture into an independent business, if she
is to keep the profits for her own account.
Community or communal property.—Eight States .(see footnote 20)
have the community system of ownership between husband and wife
applied to property acquired by their joint efforts during the marriage.
In these States the husband has principal control of most of the
communal property while the spouses live together. Two of the
community-property States 28 give the wife control over her earnings,
even as part of the communal estate. ^
In the 40 States 29 and the District of Columbia where the commonlaw background exists as distinguished from the civil-law tradition,
the property accumulated during the marriage by the cooperative
efforts of both husband and wife belongs to the husband and is under
his control, except as the effect of this rule is overcome by private
settlement. This is accomplished through voluntary .agreement or
other arrangement, such as joint ownership of lands, joint bank accounts, prenuptial agreements, and the like. But in the absence of
some valid private adjustment, or a valid will, the common law governs.
However, in most of these States by express provision of law, and in
others by interpretation, policy, and practice, the wife's earnings in
outside employment are her separate property, The husband's earn
ings are primarily liable for support* of his family, as' those of the
wife are not (nor any of her separate property) unless she voluntarily
makes them so by her personal contract.
28 Ala., Fla., Ind., N , C., Pa., Tex.
26 Mass., Mich., N. C.
27 Calif., Fla., Nev., Pa., Tex.
28 Idaho, Nev.
Ga., 111., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich.,
2» Ala., Ark., Colo., Conn., Del.,
Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., Nebr., N. H., N. J., N. Y., N. C., N. Dak., Ohio, Okla., Ore., Pa., R. I., S. 0 . ,
S. Dak., Tenn., Utah, Vt., Va., W . Va., Wis., Wyo.
POLITICAL AND CIVIL
STATUS
91
Wills.—Married women dispose of their separate property by will
as freely as married men dispose of their separate property. As to
the communal property, ordinarily Nevada and New Mexico deny a
wife testamentary rights over her half of the community estate.
Inheritance between spouses.—A widow or surviving husband inherits similar portions from the deceased spouse in most of the States.
In a few States, the advantage is sometimes with the wife, sometimes
with the husband, according to circumstances incident to the case,
such as the surviving number of children, election under the will of
the deceased spouse, and the like.
Two States (Nevada and New Mexico) favor the husband over
the wife in the division of community property after the death of
one spouse.
Allowance during estate settlement.—Practically all the States require maintenance for the widow from the husband's estate during
the period of its settlement. At least one-third of them provide support from solvent estates under administration for either spouse who
survives.
PART VIII
WOMEN'S EDUCATION A N D VOCATIONAL TRAINING
EDUCATION COMPLETED BY
WOMEN
Of the women in the population 25 years of age and over, half
had completed more and half had completed less than 9.6 years in
school, according to Bureau of the Census reports for 1950. Over
40 percent of these women had attended high school, 13 percent had
had some college education, and 5 percent had completed 4 years of
college or more. Women were about half of all persons who had
gone to college, and 43 percent of those with 4 years of college or more.
Among men in the population, the median of years of education
was a little bSlow women's, and a somewhat larger proportion of
men than of women had no high-school education. However, slightly
larger proportions of men than of women had attended college, and
had completed 4 years of college. Table 31 shows further details.
T A B L E 3 1 . — Y E A R S OF SCHOOL C O M P L E T E D BY W O M E N AND M E N IN THE
LATION 2 5 Y E A R S OF A G E AND O V E R , BY C O L O R , 1 9 5 0 AND 1 9 4 0
POPU-
Percent distribution of population 25 years of age and over
Men
Women
School attainment
Total
White
Nonwhite
Total
White
Nonwhite
1950
Total
100
100
100
100
100
100
No high school-.
1 to 3 years of high school
45
18
43
18
67
14
49
17
47
17
71
12
Completed high school or more
High school only
Attended college
4 years or more of college
No report..
35
23
13
5
2
37
24
13
5
2
15
8
6
2
4
32
18
14
7
2
34
19
15
7
2
11
7
5
2
6
Median years of school completed
9.6
10.0
7.4
9.0
9.3
6.5
100
100
100
100
100
100
-
57
16
55
16
80
10 :
62
14
60
16
84
7
Completed high school or more
High school only
Attended college
4 years or more of college.
No report.
26
16
10
4
1
28
17
10
4
1
8
5
3
1
2
22
12
10
5
2
24
13
11
6
2
7
4
3
1
2
Median .years of school completed
8.7
8.8
6.1
8.6
8.7
5.4
*
1940
Total
No high school
1 to 3 years of high school
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
92
Decennial, 1950.
EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL
TRAINING
93
The number of women who had some college education increased
by almost 2 million from 1940 to 1950, and the number who had
completed 4 years of college increased by well over % million. (See
table 32.) Though in this period the woman population had increased,
the increase in education was not due entirely to this. The proportion of women in the population who had 4 years of college increased
slightly from 1940 to 1950. (See table 31.) The proportion of
women who had 4 years of high school or more increased notably
from 1940 to 1950, being 26 percent in 1940 and 35 percent in 1950.
Nonwhites constituted about 9 percent of the woman population,
and were 4 percent of the women with college education in 1950,
and about 3 percent of those with 4 years' high school (but no college).
Among nonwhite women, the proportion who had 4 years of college
increased from 1 percent in 1940 to 2 percent in 1950; the proportion
with 4 years of high school increased from 5 percent in 1940 to 8
percent in 1950.
T A B L E 3 2 . — I N C R E A S E PROM 1 9 4 0 TO 1 9 5 0 IN N U M B E R S OF W O M E N AND M E N 2 5
YEARS OF A G E AND O V E R IN P O P U L A T I O N AND W I T H C O L L E G E E D U C A T I O N , BY
COLOR
Number of persons 25 years
of age and over
College attendance
1940
1950
Percent
increase,
1940 to
1950
WOMEN
Population:
Total
White
Nonwhite
-
Attended college:
Total
37,312,749
33,885,551
3,427,198
44,636,000
40,634,000
4,002, 000
20
3,637,306
5,620,000
5,370,000
250,000
55
3,523,357
113,949
White.
Nonwhite
Completed 4 years or more of college:
Total
1,386,103
1,344,490
41,613
White...
Nonwhite
2,258,000
2,176,000
82,000
20
17
52
119
63
62
97
MEN
Population:
Total
White.—
Nonwhite
.
Attended college:
Total
White—
Nonwhite
Completed 4 pears or more of college:
Total.
WhiteNonwhite
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
37,463,087
43,039,000
15
34,113,972
3,349,115
39,132,000
3,907,000
15
17
3,845,209
5,921,000
54
3,745,109
100,100
5,738,000
183,000
53
83
2,021,228
2,968,000
47
1,975, 295
45, 933
2,886,000
82,000
46
79
Decennial Census reports for 1950.
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
94
SCHOOLING COMPLETED BY EMPLOYED WOMEN
Among employed persons 18 to 64, women have a median of 11.7
years of schooling, men 10.2 years. The proportions with 4 years of
high school or more education were greater for women than men among
clerical and sales, professional, and crafts workers, according to a
special Census Bureau study in 1948. Larger proportions of men than
women had at least 4 years of high school among service and farm
workers, operatives, and proprietors. The summary following shows
details. The census data further show that among professional
workers, most of whom had at least a high-school education, a slightly
larger proportion of women than of men had entered college, but a
considerably larger proportion of men than of women had 4 years of
college or more.
EDUCATION
OF E M P L O Y E D W O M E N AND M E N 1 8 TO 6 4 Y E A R S
IN M A J O R O C C U P A T I O N G R O U P S , 1 9 4 8
Percent with
4 years of high
school or more
Occupation group
Women
48
95
75
53
36
22
22
18
11
All occupations
Professional, semiprofessional workers
Clerical, sales, kindred workers
Proprietors, managers, officials (except farm)
Craftsmen, foremen, kindred workers
Operatives, kindred workers
Service workers
Farmers, farm managers
Farm laborers and foremen
Laborers (except farm)
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
OLD
Men
37
90
66
54
30
24
26
20
16
14
Series P-50, No. 14, May 23, 1949.
E N R O L L M E N T IN S C H O O L S A N D
COLLEGES
The foregoing discussion refers to schooling completed by adults in
the population at a given time. In the younger group—5 to 24 years—
about 60 percent of the women and girls are enrolled in schools and
colleges, according to census reports. This includes regular schools
only, and does not include kindergartens nor "special" schools outside
the regular system (such as trade schools and business colleges), nor
correspondence courses, nor training on the job. As the following
summary shows, the proportion of girls and young women enrolled
in schools has been somewhat higher in recent years (1948-51) than
before the war. The proportion in schools is somewhat higher among
the male than the female population, and the difference is somewhat
greater in postwar years than in 1940, perhaps owing to a considerable
extent to the veterans' training program.
EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING
SCHOOL E N R O L L M E N T
OF P O P U L A T I O N
95
A G E D 5 TO
24
Women and girls enrolled in schools
—-—
Percent of
Percent
of
Number
1940
194 6
194 7
194 8
194 9
1950_
1951
-
—
__
Percent of
male
%
13,144,514
12, 983, 000
13,070,000
13, 352, 000
13,705,000
14,311,000
14,632,000
aged 5 to 24
57
58
57
58
59
61
62
Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.
and No. 37, Feb. 18,1952.
enrouees
49
48
48
48
48
48
48
in schools
59
65
64
65
66
67
70
Series P-20: No. 34, July 26, 1951,
TYPES OF SCHOOLS IN WHICH STUDENTS ENROLLED
It is not surprising that, as the following summary shows, by far
the largest proportion of the students are in elementary schools
(which include kindergartens).
D I S T R I B U T I O N OF STUDENTS BY T Y P E
OF SCHOOL
(Estimates for 1950-51)
Girls and women
^
All schools
Kindergartens and elementaryschools
Secondary schools
Institutions of higher learning
Boys and men
Number
15, 365, 500
Percent
100
Number
16, 962, 500
Percent
100
11,457,000
3, 117, 000
791, 500
75
20
5
12,229,000
3, 025, 000
1, 708, 500
73
17
10
Source: U. S. Federal Security Agency, Office of Education.
Girls and young women constitute about half the elementary and
high-school students, and slightly over half of the high-school graduates. In the colleges, on the other hand, young men predominate.
Table 33 shows that in recent years, though more women than in 194546 have attended college and been graduated, women have constituted
a much smaller proportion, both of the college students and of graduates than in 1945-46. This was to be expected, because veterans
were given broad educational opportunity and assistance, and the
numbers of men attending college and graduated from college increased
enormously during the postwar period. Estimates for 1950-51 indicate that women are somewhat less than a third of the college students,
and a still smaller proportion of the graduates.
96
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
T A B L E 3 3 . — S T U D E N T S E N R O L L E D IN AND G R A D U A T E S OF E D U C A T I O N A L I N S T I T U TIONS, V A R I O U S Y E A R S 1
Enrollments
Number
Typ.e of school and school
year
Kindergarten and elementary
schools:
1945-46..
1947-48
1949-50
1950-51
Secondary schools:
1945-46
1947-48-.
1949-50..
1950-51
Institutions of higher education:
1945-46....
1947-48
1949-50
1950-51
Graduates
Percent
females
are of
total
Total
Girls and
women
20,051,408
20,828,958
3 22, 760,000
3 23,686,000
9, 755,270
10,118, 991
311,000,000
3 11, 457,000
48.7
48.6
48.3
48.4
6,237,133
6,305,168
3 6,240,000
3 6,142,000
3,320,028
3,240,889
3 3,165,000
3 3,117,000
53.2
51.4
50.7
50.7
1,676,851
2, 616,262
2,659,021
3 2,500,000
749,189
779, 923
805,953
3 791,500
44.7
29.8
30.3
31.7
Total
Girls and
women
Percent
females
are of
total
(2)
(22)
(2)
()
(2)
(22)
(2)
()
(2)
(22)
()
(2)
Number
1,080,033
1,189,909
31, 200,000
31,181,000
136,174
271,019
432,058
3 384,352
613,107
627,046
3 633,000
3 622,000
56.8
52.7
52.8
52.7
77,510
95,563
103, 217
3105,009
56.9
35.3
23.9
27.3
1 Includes only regular session students in full-time day schools.
Not reported because of differences in elementary school organization,
s Estimated figures, unpublished when this Handbook went to press.
2
Source: U. S. Federal Security Agency, Office of Education.
WOMEN COMPLETING COLLEGE A N D EARNING DEGREES
More than 100,000 women were graduated from institutions of
higher education in 1951, according to figures of the U. S. Office of
Education. Women graduated from college in a given year constitute
from a tenth to an eighth of the number attending; the proportion has
increased slightly in recent years, as table 34 shows. A smaller proportion of men than of women attending college graduated in 1945-46.
The situation was reversed in more recent years, when men taking
advantage of the educational aids to veterans were reaching the period
of graduation. The 1951 men graduates, numbering over 279,000,
were a larger proportion of men students than were women graduates
among the women students.
EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING
TABLE 34.—RATIO
OF C O L L E G E
97
G R A D U A T E S TO C O L L E G E E N R O L L E E S ,
1945-46.
1947-48
1949-50.. .
1950-51 i
Graduates
Graduates
Number
of
enrollees
Number
749,189
779,923
805,953
791,500
77,510
95,563
103,217
105,009
—
SEX
Men
Women
Year
BY
Number
of
enrollees
Number
10
927,662
12 1,836,339
13 1,853,068
13 1, 708,500
58,664
175, 456
328,841
279,343
Percent
of
enrollees
Percent
of
enrollees
6
10
18
16
i Estimated figures, unpublished when this Handbook went to press.
Source: U. S. Federal Security Agency, Office of Education.
1949; and No. 326, August 1951.
Statistical Circular No. 263, November
The number of degrees (other than honorary) conferred on women
in the 1949-50 term had increased by more than a third from those in
1939-40, according to figures of the U. S. Office of Education. The
increase in higher degrees was much greater—two-thirds for the
master's or second professional, and one-half for the doctor's. Women
received about a fourth of the bachelor's or first professional degrees,
a somewhat larger proportion of the master's degrees, and about a
tenth of the doctor's degrees in 1949-50.
Though the number of degrees conferred on women has increased
markedly, the increases for men were very much greater than for
women in every type of degree. Much of this probably is due to the
veterans' educational opportunities already mentioned. There also
have been new types of scholarships, as for example, in the postgraduate field under the Fulbright plan, and it is well known that
men much more frequently than women receive such educational
grants.
T A B L E 3 5 . — C O L L E G E AND P R O F E S S I O N A L D E G R E E S E A R N E D BY W O M E N AND M E N
1939-40
Degree
All degrees
Bachelor's and first professional
Master's and second professional
Doctor's
1
1949-50
Women
Total
number
Number
Women
Percent Percent
of
distritotal
bution
Total
number
Number
Percent Percent
of
distritotal
bution
216,521
87,606
40
100 496,874 120,823
24
100
186,500
26, 731
3,290
76,954
10, 223
429
41
38
13
88 432,058 103,217
12 58,183 16,963
6,633
643
0)
24
29
10
85
14
1
Less than 1 percent.
Source: U. S. Federal Security Agency, Office of Education.
Statistical Circular No. 326, August 1951*
98
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
W O M E N TAKING FEDERALLY AIDED V O C A T I O N A L
TRAINING
Over 1% million women and girls were enrolled in federally aided
vocational courses in 1950-51, according to provisional figures of the
Office of Education, as shown in table 36. This does not include
persons in agricultural courses, for which data on women are not
available.
The vocational training includes education in trade and industrial,
home economics, and distributive occupations, as well as agricultural.
It is designed to meet the needs of persons 14 or over, either those
who have left school and wish to prepare for a trade, or those who are
employed and desire to extend their skill and knowledge in their work.
It is based in the first instance on the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917
(39 Stat. 929), with later acts and modifications of the program as
needed, especially by the Vocational Education Act of 1946, also
known as the George-Barden Act (60 Stat. 775).
Current needs for increased national production emphasize the
great importance of this training program. Its importance to the
Nation's girls and women scarcely can be overestimated, since for the
most part they do not benefit from publicly supported training programs open to veterans or those given to men and boys in the military
services.
Instruction in trades and industries was taken in 1950-51 by more
than 75,600 women and girls, who were a tenth of all persons in such
courses, according to the provisional figures cited. The list given
below shows that the subjects for which women and girls were enrolled
in notable numbers were of a wide variety, though they also were
concentrated to a considerable extent in certain industrial groups.
Over a third of these women and girls were in courses for garment
and textile trades, the largest groups taking dressmaking (including
alterations) and power-sewing-machine operation. Another third
were training in household and personal services, nearly two-thirds
of these being in nursing classes and another considerable group in
cosmetology. In addition to the instruction in trades and industries
under this program a smaller number of women were enrolled in parttime general continuation classes, which may cover any subjects
related to the civic or vocational needs of teen-age workers.
EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL
TRAINING
99
W O M E N E N R O L L E D IN T R A D E S AND I N D U S T R I E S C L A S S E S
Federally aided classes in trades and industries in which women were enrolled as classified by U. S. Office
of Education, year ending June 30,1951 1
Garment and textile tradesDressmaking
Power-sewing-machine operation
Men's tailoring
Millinery..
Textiles
Laundering, cleaning, dyeing,
and pressing
Upholstering..
Fur cutting and making
Garment and textile trades,
other
Domestic
trades..
and
Enrollment of
women .
Enrollment of
women
Total AU-day
75,675 28,961 Mechanical service and hand trades.
Total All-day
1,551
165
27,347
12,929
12,645
8,791
5,936
1,174
1,041
922
2,739
130
452
36
264
221
64
5,080
personal service
! 26,559
Nursing
—
16,868
Cosmetology6,185
Household service and manage946
ment..
_
526
Hotel service and management.
495
Interior decoration
426
Janitor service—
43
Barbering
Domestic and personal services
1,070
trades, other
Food trades
—
Food service
Cooking—
Baking
Meat cutting
Food trades, otherAircraft manufacturing and mainte.
nance trades.
Assembly and riveting
Sheet metal
Mechanics (other than engines).
Electricity and radio
Welding
Engine and propeller mechanicsInstruments
Aircraft manufacturing and
maintenance trades, other
Printing and publishing trades
Commercial art
Photography.
Printing..Bookbinding
Printing and publishing trades,
other
!
1
Jewelry and watchmaking
Shoemaking and repair
Dental mechanics
Auto mechanics
Pattern-making
Industrial maintenance
Mechanical service and hand
73 Electrical trades
67
Radio
2
Telegraphy and telephony.
639
Electric wiring
Air-conditioning and refrigeration
—
Elcctric motors
9,639
Electrical trades, other.
3,759
4,771 Metal trades
423
26
270
0
33
357
Machine shop.
Welding and frame cuttingSheet metal
Foundry
Iron and steel millwork
Metal trades, other
Building and construction trades.
4,731
1,979
1,848
1,042
514
40
1,287
875
532
106
0
466
3,163
995 Shipbuilding trades .
1,091
786
177
112
28
19
17
933
2,370
1,621
459
203
73
Provisionalfiguresas of April 23,1952.
14
Carpentry and woodworking-_.
Painting and decorating
Plumbing and pipe fitting.
Structural and ornamental metal
work
n
trades, o t h e r -
Sheet metal
171
Electricity
332
Welding and cutting68
25
0 Miscellaneous trades
3
Public service0
Foremanship
396
Drafting..
Paper making
1,416
Furniture making
Petroleum processing
Gardening and landscaping..
1,121
Mining
179
Miscellaneous trades, other..
77
39
Unclassified.
0
205
141
132
53
14
2
1,004
1,276
559
341
213
15
2
146
1,238
692
453
74
6
1
12
196
137
28
17
3
11
32
61
58
6
6
0
9
640
417
114
87
lfi
0
7
564
296
268
0
0
0
a
24
5
6
12
0
1
75
41
42
32
1
41
6, 781
547
2,211
1,368
474
129
33
25
23
9
2, 509
0
0
119
0
0
0
0
0
19
0
409
Excludes enrollments in general continuation
The great majority of the women and girls benefiting from federally
aided vocational, training were in home economics classes, a field for
which the demand runs far above the supply of workers. (See table
36.) Teaching of home economics is limited by law to 20 percent of
the funds allotted to a State for vocational purposes. The second
largest group of women and girls (a tenth of the total, excluding agriculture) took courses for distributive occupations, and they consti-
HANDBOOK
100
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
tuted half the persons in these classes, a branch of work added by
an act of 1946. These courses deal with buying and selling trades,
merchandising activities in general.
In agricultural classes women constituted only a very small proportion, probably about 1 to 2 percent, of some 771,000 persons estimated to be enrolled in 1950-51. The numbers of women are not
recorded separately. Proportions of women may run slightly higher
in some of the short-unit intensive courses, especially those on certain
subjects, for example, horticulture or poultry raising.
Both in home economics and in trades and industries courses, over
half the women and girls enrolled were in part-time and evening classes.
Those taking work in distributive occupations and the very small proportion in the general continuation classes were all on the part-time
or evening basis. The law provides that at least a third of the funds
allotted a State must be used for part-time classes, which may be
held by day or may include evening classes for workers 16 or over.
Instruction must be supplementary to employment, broadly construed
so that it may include some instruction in such aspects, for example,
as training in safety, socio-economic problems, or labor law, as related
to the workers' occupations. Some courses are organized especially
to provide alternate periods of work and class attendance. If used
in connection with industrial-plant training these must be under
public supervision to assure that actual vocational training is being
given; those who take them are referred to as "student-learners" to
distinguish them from the learners under plant supervision, whose
minimum wage and learning time are specified by the U. S. Department of Labor.
TABLE
36.—WOMEN
AND
G I R L S IN F E D E R A L L Y
1950-51 I
AIDED
VOCATIONAL
TRAINING,
Women and girls in
part-time and evening class;es
All women and girls
Type of program
Number
Three programs
Home economics.
Distributive
Trade and industrial:
Trades and industries
General continuation.
.
-
-
Percent
of all
students
Percent
distribution
Number
1,681,130
65
100
970, 668
58
1,393,287
171,623
96
50
S3
10
711, 786
171,623
51
100
75, 675
40,545
11
51
5
2
46, 714
40,545
62
100
i Provisional figures. Agricultural training not included, as data not available by sex.
Source: U. S. Federal Security Agency, Office of Education.
Percent
of all
women
EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL
TRAINING
101
The woman and girl students in federally aided vocational programs
had increased considerably in number from the late war and immediate
postwar period to 1950-51, as may be seen from table 37. That the
numbers in trades and industries fell off after the war (from 1945-46
to 1947-48) is understandable, though students in distributive occupations and home economics continued to increase. By 1950-51
the number of women and girls enrolled in all these branches of training was considerably larger than at the end of the war.
TABLE 37.—WOMEN
AND G I R L S IN F E D E R A L L Y A I D E D V O C A T I O N A L
VARIOUS Y E A R S 1
PROGRAMS,
Trade and industrial
Home
economics
Year
1945-46
1947-48
1949-50
1950-51 2
880,086
1,085,892
1,360,030
1,393,287
Distributive
101, 740
137,034
172,129
171,623
Trades and Continuaindustries tion classes
70,632
65,156
74,406
75,675
44,896
37,496
42,349
40,545
Total of
three programs
1,097,354
1,325, 578
1,648,914
1,681,130
1 Agricultural training not included, as data not available by sex.
Provisional figures.
2
Source: U. S. Federal Security Agency, Office of Education.
WOMEN
SERVED
BY
VOCATIONAL
PROGRAMS
REHABILITATION
The number of women receiving service from Federal and State
vocational rehabilitation agencies in the fiscal year ending June 30,
1951, was 20,762, or 31.4 percent of the total number of persons rehabilitated under these agencies, according to the Office of Vocational
Rehabilitation in the Federal Security Agency.
PART IX
AMERICAN WOMEN
A selected bibliography of basic sources of current and historic interest
The following brief bibliography lists, under subject heading, some
basic source materials on American women, as well as recently issued
publications. This list does not include works devoted to educational theory; to community organization; to instruction in home
management, nutrition, etc.; to occupational or career guidance; to
study of a particular industry or occupation; or to the situation of
women in countries other than the United States (though an occasional foreign reference may be included if published recently and
analyzing women's situation in a manner having general application).
A number of the books listed (including both early and some later
Women's Bureau bulletins) are available only in libraries. A few
works, designated with an asterisk (*), seem of especially comprehenr
sive or timely importance.
WOMEN AS
CITIZENS
American Academy of Political and Social Science—Annals. Philadelphia:
*May 1947:
Allen, Florence E. Participation of Women in Government.
Beard, Mary R. Woman's Role in Society.
Fisher, Marguerite J. Women in Political Parties.
Stone, Kathryn H. Women as Citizens.
May 1929: Howes, Ethel Puffer. The Meaning of Progress in the Woman
Movement.
November 1914' Women in Public Life.
May 1910: Significance of the Woman Suffrage Movement. Supplement.
Beard, Mary R.:
America Through Women's Eyes. New York, N. Y., Macmillan, 1933.
A collection of documents and quotations from women themselves in
various periods of American history.
Woman as Force in History: A Study in Traditions and Realities. New
York, N. Y., Macmillan, 1946.
Woman's Work in Municipalities. New York, N. Y., Appleton, 1915.
Blackwell, Alice Stone. Lucy Stone, Pioneer of Women's Rights. New York,
N. Y., Little, Brown and Co., 1930.
102
BIBLIOGRAPHY
103
Breckinridge, Sophonisba P. Women in the Twentieth Century: A Study of
Their Political, Social, and Economic Activities. New York and London,
McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1933. Part III, Women and Government.
Catt, Carrie Chapman, with collaboration of Shuler, Nettie R. Woman Suffrage
and Politics. New York, N. Y., Scribner's, 1923.
History of Woman Suffrage (Vols. I to VI): Vol. I (1848-61) was published in
1881. This and Vols. II and III were written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
and Susan B. Anthony, with collaboration of Matilda Joslyn Gage, later
joined by Mrs. Stanton's daughter Harriot. Vol. IV was prepared by Mrs.
Ida Husted Harper working with Susan B. Anthony. Vols. V and VI were
written by Mrs. Harper. First 4 vols, published by Fowler and Wells, New
York, N. Y., last 2 by National American Suffrage Assn., New York, N. Y.
Irwin, Inez H. Angels and Amazons: A Hundred Years of American Women.
New York, N. Y., Doubleday, Doran, 1933.
Lutz, Alma. Created Equal: A Biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 18151902. New York, N. Y., John Day Co., 1940. This deals with the early
history of the woman suffrage movement, and is a fascinating human story
of the pioneer women leaders of the mid- and late-nineteenth century.
Paxton, Annabel. Women in Congress. Richmond, Va., The Dietz Press, Inc.,
1945.
Peck, Mary Gray. Carrie Chapman Catt. New York, N, Y., H. H. Wilson Co.,
1944. This is written in several sections, which deal with early life and development of leadership, work for women's international organizations (earlier and
later periods), the Federal Amendment campaign, and later work for peace and
disarmament.
Shaw, Dr. Anna Howard, with collaboration of Jordan, Elizabeth. The Story of
a Pioneer. New York, N. Y., Harper and Bros., 1915. Written in the vigorous
and scintillating style of Dr. Shaw's speech, this is a fitting companion volume
to Elizabeth Cady Stanton's biography.
Thurston, Lucy M. Mistress Brent: A Story of Lord Baltimore's Colony in 1638.
- 1901. The earliest colonial advocate of women's right to vote. (This book
will be found in few libraries.)
Whitney, Janet. Abigail Adams. Boston, Mass., Little, Brown and Co., 1947.
Women's Bureau Publications:
The Legal Status of Women in the United States of America, January 1, 1948.
Bull. 157 Revised. Separate bulletin for each State and Territory;
general summary for the United States.
Reply of United States Government to Questionnaire of United Nations
Economic and Social Council on the Legal Status and Treatment of Women,
Part I. Public Law. In 6 sections: A and B, Franchise and Public
Office; C, Public Services and Functions; D, Educational and Professional
Opportunities; E, Fiscal Laws; F, Civil Liberties; and G, Nationality.
(Documented; separates; mimeograph.)
Young, Louise M. Understanding Politics: A Practical Guide for Women.
New York, N. Y., Pellegrini & Cudahy, 1950.
104
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
WOMEN
AS
WORKERS
EMPLOYMENT A N D OCCUPATIONS
Abbott, Edith:
Women in Industry: A Study of American Economic History. New York
and London, Appleton, 1910. An important source study, embodying
many interesting stories of women's work and wages in America in the
Colonial period and the early years of the Republic to the mid-19th century.
Traces the beginning of the factory system and deals at length with women's
work in the textile, boot and shoe, cigar making, clothing, and printing
industries.
Harriet Martineau and the Employment of Women, 1836. In Journal of
Political Economy, Vol. XIV, 1906. Pages 614 ff. Discusses the occupations of women in this period, which was before the earliest U. S. Census of
Occupations.
Anderson, H. Dewey, and Davidson, Percy E. Occupational Trends in the
United States. Stanford University, Calif., Stanford University Press, 1940.
Annals of the American Academy (cited also under Women as Citizens).
May 1947:
Kyrk, Hazel. Who Works and Why.
Miller, Frieda S. Women in the Labor Force.
Zapoleon, Marguerite Wykoff. Education and Employment Opportunities for Women.
Breckinridge, Sophonisba P. Women in the Twentieth Century: A Study of
Their Political, Social, and Economic Activities. New York and London,
McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1933. Part II, Women and Gainful Employment.
Clark, Alice. The Working Life of Women in the Seventeenth Century. New
York, N. Y., Harcourt, Brace, 1920.
Dexter, Elisabeth W. Colonial Women of Affairs. New York, N. Y., Houghton,
Mifflin, 1924.
Durand, John D. The Labor Force in the United States, 1890-1960. New York,
N. Y., Social Science Research Council, 1948. See especially chs. 2, 3, and 5.
International Labor Office. The War and Women's Employment. Part II,
United States. See especially chs, I, II, IV. Montreal, the Office, 1946.
Jaffe, A. J., and Stewart, Charles D. Manpower Resources and Utilization:
Principles of Working Force Analysis. New York, N. Y., John Wiley & Sons,
1951.
Josephson, Hannah. The Golden Threads: New England's Mill Girls and
Magnates. New York, N. Y., Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1949. The women
who worked in the textile mills of Lowell, Mass., 1822 to 1850.
*Josselyn, Irene M., M. D., and Goldman, Ruth Schley. Should Mothers Work?
In the Social Service Review, March 1949. The University of Chicago Press,
Chicago, 111.
Labor Yearbook. Vol I. Thirty-ninth Annual Report of the Secretary of Labor.
1951.
Larcom, Lucy (1824-93). A New England Girlhood: Outline from Memory.
New York, N. Y., Houghton, Mifflin. Reprint. 1924. A vivid picture of the
young woman cotton-mill wrorker in New England.
Meyer, Annie Nathan (Editor). Woman's Work in America. New York, N. Y.,
Henry Holt, 1891.
Monthly Labor Review, U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Pidgeon, Mary Elizabeth. Women Workers and Recent Economic Change.
December 1947.
Robinson, Mary V. Woman Workers in Two Wars. October 1943.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
105
Spruill, Julia Cherry. Women's Life and Work in the Southern Colonies. Chapel
Hill, N. C., University of North Carolina Press, 1938.
Tryon, Rolla. Household Manufactures in the United States, 1640-1860: A
Study in Industrial History. Chicago, 111., University of Chicago Press, 1917.
Van Kleeck, Mary. Women in Industry. In Encyclopaedia of the Social
Sciences, Vol. 15. New York, N. Y., Macmillan, 1935.
Women1 s Bureau Bulletins:
Changes in Women's Employment During the War. Sp. Bull. 20. 1944.
Community Household Employment Programs. Bull. 221. 1948.
The Economic Status of University Women in the U. S. A. Bull. 170. 1939.
Employment of Women in the Early Postwar Period. Bull. 211. 1946.
The Occupational Progress of Women, 1910-30. Bull. 104. 1933.
Outlook for Women:
Home Economics Occupations. Bull. 234. Nos. 1-2. 1950, 1952.
Occupations in the Medical and Other Health Services. Bull. 203. Nos.
1-12. 1945, 1946.
Police Work. Bull. 231. 1949.
Science. Bull. 223. Nos. 1-8. 1948, 1949.
Social Work Occupations. Bull. 235. Nos. 1-8. 1950-51.
Part-Time Jobs for Women. Bull. 238. 1951.
The Woman Wage Earner. Bull. 172. 1939. Part II, Women's Place in
Industry.
Women in Higher-Level Positions. Bull. 236. 1950.
Women in the Economy of the United States. Bull. 155. 1937. Part /,
Ch. 1. The Trend in the Occupations of Women.
Women in the Federal Service. Bull. 230. Part I, Trends in Employment,
1923-47. 1949. Part II, Occupational Information. 1950.
Women's Jobs, Advance and Growth. Bull. 232. 1949.
•Women's Occupations Through Seven Decades (1870-1940). Bull. 218.
1947.
WAGES A N D E Q U A L P A Y
Annals of the American Academy (cited also under Women as Citizens).
May
1947: Brady, Dorothy S. Equal Pay for Women Workers.
International Labor Office:
The War and Women's Employment. Part II, United States. Wages in
Wartime, in Ch. II, Women in Industry. Montreal, the Office, 1946.
Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal
Value. Thirty-fourth Session of International Labor Conference.
Geneva. Reports VII-1 (1950) and VII-2 (1951).
Monthly Labor Review, U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Effects of War Casualties on Economic Responsibilities of Women. February 1946.
Legislative Changes in State Minimum-Wage Laws: 1950-51. December 1951.
Progress of State Minimum-Wage Legislation:
1949-50. October 1950.
1948-49. August 1949.
1947-48. September 1948.
1946. June 1947.
1943-45. May 1946.
Recent Occupational Trends. August 1947.
106
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
U. S. Congress. Hearings on Bills providing equal pay, before Subcommittees of
the Committees on Education and Labor, respectively, of the Senate and the
House of Representatives. (Testimony of Frieda S. Miller; exhibits prepared in
the Women's Bureau; and testimony of various representatives of labor unions
and women's organizations.)
81st Congress. On H. R. 1584 and H. R. 2438. May 17, 18, 19, 1950.
80th Congress. On H. R. 4273 and H. R. 4408. Feb. 9, 10, 11, 13, 1948.
79th Congress. On S. 1178. Oct. 29, 30, 31, 1945.
Webb, Beatrice (Mrs. Sidney). Minority Report of the British War Cabinet
Committee on Women in Industry [World War I]. London, His Majesty's
Stationery Office, Cmd. 135, 1919. Includes the classic pioneer discussion of
the various problems surrounding the entire subject of equal pay for women.
Women's Bureau Bulletins:
Case Studies in Equal Pay for Women. 1951.
Earnings of Women in Selected Manufacturing Industries, 1946. Bull. 219.
1948.
Equal Pay for Women. Leaflet 2 Revised. 1952.
Equal Pay for Women in War Industries. Bull. 196. 1942.
State Minimum-Wage Laws and Orders, 1942. Bull. 191. 1942. Supplements: (1) July 1, 1942-July 1, 1950. Bull. 227 Revised. 1950.
(2) July 1, 1950 to January 1, 1952. Mimeo. {See also Monthly Labor
Review articles cited.)
Women in the Economy of the United States. Bull. 155. 1937. Part /,
Ch. 3. Compensation of Women.
Working Women's Budgets in 13 States. Bull. 226 Revised. 1951. Also
see mimeographed supplements.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR FAMILY SUPPORT
Women's Bureau Bulletins:
The Share of Wage-Earning Women in Family Support. Bull. 30. 1923.
A summary of 22 studies.
Women Workers and Their Dependents. Bull. 239. 1951. A summary
of findings in over 200 studies.
Women Workers in Ten War Production Areas. Bull. 209. 1946.
Women Workers in Their Family Environment. Bull. 183. 1941.
HEALTH, PHYSICAL WELFARE, CONDITIONS OF WORK
Baetjer, Dr. Anna M. Women in Industry: Their* Health and Efficiency.
Philadelphia and London, W. B. Saunders Co., 1946.
Brandeis, Elizabeth. Labor Legislation. Vol. IV of History of Labor in the
United States 1896-1932. New York, N. Y., Macmillan, 1935.
Hamilton, Dr. Alice:
Exploring the Dangerous Trades'. Boston, Mass., Little, Brown and Co., 1943.
Autobiography of the great Harvard pioneer in the field of industrial medicine and hygiene.
Women Workers and Industrial Poisons. Washington. 1926.
Industrial Poisons in the United States. New York, N. Y., Macmillan, 1925.
International Labor Office:
Facilities for Women Workers with Home Responsibilities. In International
Labor Review, March 1951.
The War and Women's Employment. Part II, United States. Conditions of
Work, in Ch. II, Women in Industry, Montreal, the Office, 1946.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
107
McElroy, Frank S., and Moros, Alexander. Illness Absenteeism in Manufacturing Plants, 1947. In Monthly Labor Review, September 1948. A study of
extent and causes of absence through a year. Includes about 9,500 women.
Webb, Beatrice (Mrs. Sidney). (Work cited under Wages.)
Woman and Child Wage Earners in the United States. Report of the comprehensive pioneer national investigation of this subject which was ordered by Act
of Congress in 1907 to be conducted by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor.
Published in 19 volumes.
Women's Bureau Bulletins:
Effective Industrial Use of Women. Sp. Bull. 1. 1940. A brief summary
of current knowledge as to the work women do best, effective hour and wage
standards, industrial poisons and other hazards. See also other bulletins
in the wartime series, especially Nos. 2 to 7.
Industrial Injuries to Women:
(1) Series, presenting and interpreting State data (1920 to 1934). Bulls.
81, 102, 129, 160.
(2) Special Studies. Bulls. 60 (1927), 151 (1938), 212 (1945).
The Industrial Nurse and the Woman Worker. Sp. Bull. 19. 1944. (Reprinted with minor revisions as Bull. 228. 1949.)
Maternity Protection: Bibliography. 1951.
Maternity Protection of Employed Women. Bull. 240. 1952.
Occupational Diseases of Women. Series, presenting and interpreting State
data (1920 to 1938). Bulls. 114, 147, 181.
Proceedings of the Women's Industrial Conference. Bull. 33. 1923. Addresses by Florence Kelley, Mrs. Raymond Robins, Maud Swartz, Mary
McDowell, and others.
Recommended Standards for Employment of Women. Leaflet. 1950. Latest
revision of the Bureau's earliest advices on standards, first published in 1918.
State Labor Laws for Women, December 1944. Bull. 202. Part I, Hour
Laws; Part II, Plant Facilities Laws; Part III, Regulatory, Prohibitory
and Maternity Laws; Part IV, Industrial Home-Work Laws; Part V Explanation and Appraisal (of Wartime Modifications). 1945 and 1946.
Various earlier bulletins deal with historic developments. See also mimeographed annual summaries of State Legislation of Special Interest to Women
Workers, 1945-1951; and Digest of State Labor Laws for Women, 19481951 (separates for individual States). (See also Women's Bureau complete list of publications; includes studies of conditions in particular
industries and special problems such as lost time and labor turn-over,
irregular employment, night work, piecework, etc.)
Women's Wartime Hours of Work: The Effect on Their Factory Performance
and Home Life. Bull. 208. 1947. A study of 13 war-production plants.
O R G A N I Z A T I O N INTO UNIONS
Abbott, Edith. Women in Industry (cited under Employment and Occupations).
Gives interesting incidents of early activities of women in unions.
Anderson, Mary. Woman at Work. Minneapolis, Minn., University of Minnesota Press, 1951. Recollections of a woman who pioneered in organizing women
in 20th century.
Annals of the American Academy (cited also under Women as Citizens).
May 194-7: Dickason, Gladys. Women in Labor Unions.
September 1904: Yudelson, Sophie. Women's Place in Industry and Labor
Organizations.
118
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
Boone, Gladys. The Women's Trade Union League in Great Britain and the
United States of America. New York, N. Y., Columbia University Press, 1942.
Dreier, Mary E. Margaret Dreier Robins, Her Life, Letters, and Work. Island
Press Cooperative, N. Y., 1950. Valuable records of movement to organize
women in 20th century.
Gliick, Elsie. Women in Industry: Problems of Organization. In Encyclopaedia
of Social Science, Vol. 15. New York, N. Y., Macmillan, 1935.
Henry, Alice:
The Trade Union Women. New York and London, Appleton, 1915.
Women and the Labor Movement. Workers' Bookshelf, Vol. IV. New
York, N. Y., Macmillan, 1927.
^International Labor Office. The War and Women's Employment. Part II,
United States. Ch. I l l , Women in Trade Unions. Montreal, the Office, 1946.
Women's Bureau Bulletin:
The Woman Wage Earner. Bull. 172.
tion in Labor Organizations.
WOMEN
AS
1939.
Part IV, Women's Participa-
HOMEMAKERS
Annals of the American Academy (cited also under Women as Citizens);
May 1947:
Daggett, Harriet S. Reflections on the Law of the Family.
Gruenberg, Sidonie Matsner. Changing Conceptions of the Family.
Reid, Margaret G. The Economic Contribution of Homemakers.
March 1932:
Boothe, Viva. Gainfully Employed Women in the Family.
Bonde, Ruth L. Management in Daily Living. New York, N. Y., Macmillan,
1944.
Brown, Harriet Connor. Grandmother Brown's Hundred Years (1827-1927).
New York, N. Y., Little, Brown and Co., 1929.
Gross, Irma Hannah, and Crandall, E. W. Home Management in Theory
and Practice. New York, N. Y., Crofts & Co., 1947.
Women's Bureau Bulletin:
The Employed Woman Homemaker. Bull. 148. 1936.
Consult especially the Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics,
U. S. Department of Agriculture, for information on various phases of
home economics such as nutrition, meal planning and food budgets, textiles
and clothing, housing and household equipment.
Consult the Women's Bureau on subjects relating to household employment and
conditions of work for household employees.
See also certain items listed elsewhere:
*Groves (work cited under General).
Women in the Economy of the United States (cited under Wages). Section
on Women as Homemakers.
Women's Bureau report on Conference, 1948—The American WToman, Her
Changing Role—Worker, Homemaker, Citizen (cited under General).
Women's Bureau bulletins on responsibility of women for the support of
others (cited under Wages).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
109
GENERAL
Annals of the American Academy (cited also under Women as Citizens).
May 1947: Women's Opportunities and Responsibilities. Ed. by Louise M.
Young. See article by Taeuber, Irene B., and Eldridge, Hope T. Some
Demographic Aspects of the Changing Role of Women.
May 1929: Women in the Modern World. Ed. by Viva B. Boothe.
American Association of University Women:
Beard, Mary R. A Changing Political Economy as It Affects Women.
Washington, D. C., the Association, 1934. A study outline, with questions
for investigation and discussion and an extensive bibliography.
Summaries of Studies on the Economic Status of Women. Women's Bureau
Bull. 134. 1935. Lists studies up to 1935 that deal with college women,
business and professional women, women in industry, women in all occupations.
American Women: The Standard Biographical Dictionary of Notable Women.
Vol. 3, 1939-40. Ed. by Durward Howes. Los Angeles, Calif., American
Publications, Inc., 1939.
Benson, Mary Sumner. Women in 18th Century America: A Study of Opinion
and Social Usage. New York, N. Y., Columbia University Press, 1935.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. Women and Economics. Boston, Mass., Small,
Maynard, 1900. This work still raises challenging questions as to women's
status.
•Groves, Ernest R. The American Woman: The Feminine Side of a Masculine
Civilization. New York, N. Y., Emerson Books, Inc., Revised ed. 1944. An
important and basic work that considers many aspects of the changing status of
women, from colonial times to our modern society, and gives an informed and
sympathetic discussion.
Haslett, Caroline. D. B. E. Problems Have No Sex. London, Hodder and
Stoughton, 1949. An analysis of woman's situation in the postwar world.
Klein, Viola. The Feminine Character. London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner
and Co., Ltd., 1946. A small book presenting a careful exploratory survey of
the various aspects of woman's position—historical, psychological, biological,
anthropological, sociological.
Mead, Margaret, and Stern, Bernhard J. Woman, Position in Society, In
Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences. Vol. 15. New York, N. Y., Macmillan,
1935.
•Mead, Margaret. Male and Female: A Study of the Sexes in a Changing World.
New York, N. Y., William Morrow and Co., 1949.
New York Public Library-—Women in the Making of America. 1941. A bibliography that lists books dealing with women in political life, in the community, in
letters, in education, in business and professions. Included also are biographies
of pioneer women and references to books about their work.
Women's Bureau Bulletin:
Women's Bureau Conference 1948—The American Woman, Her Changing
Role—Worker, Homemaker, Citizen. Bull. 224. See especially:
Kyrk, Hazel. Family Responsibilities of Earning Women,
*Tead, Ordway. Social Patterns for Women, The Present and the
Prospects.
Thompson, C. Mildred. Women's Status, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.
PART X
WOMEN'S NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
List as of January 1952
Following is a list of women's national organizations grouped according to fields of interest. Membership is noted if recent figures
are available. Individual national and international unions, collegiate and collegiate alumnae associations, and women's organizations
affiliated with fraternal orders have been omitted.
ORGANIZATIONS
H A V I N G S O C I A L , CIVIC, O R
RELIGIOUS
PURPOSES
American Women's Voluntary Services, Inc., 500 Park Avenue, New York 22,
N. Y. Founded in 1940. Its purpose is to make available to all women of
America the opportunity to work actively on a voluntary basis for their
country through constructive service to their community, and to instruct
and guide these volunteers towrard the achievement of this end. Membership: 27,100.
Association of the Junior Leagues of America, Inc., The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel,
New York 22, N. Y. Founded in 1901. Its purpose is to foster interest among
its members in the social, economic, educational, cultural, and civic conditions of the community, and to make efficient their volunteer service. Membership: 177 Leagues in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Hawaii, with
approximately 57,000 members.
General Federation of Women's Clubs, 1734 N Street, NW., Washington 6, D. C.
Established in 1890. Its objective is to unite women's clubs and like organizations throughout the w^orld for the purpose of mutual benefit and for the
promotion of their common interest in education, philanthropy, public welfare, moral values, civics, and fine arts. Membership includes 803,400 individual members, in addition to State, National, and international organizations
affiliated with the General Federation.
League of Women Voters of the United States, 1026 Seventeenth Street, NW.,
Washington 6, D. C. Founded in 1920. Its purpose is to promote political
responsibility through informed and active participation of citizens in government. Membership: 100,300 in 800 local and college Leagues organized in
45 States, Hawaii, and Alaska.
National Association of Colored Women, Inc.y 1114 O Street, NW., Washington 5,
D. C. Established in 1896. Its purpose is the betterment of the home and
civic life and moral standards of the race. It also sponsors the National
Association of Colored Girls, Inc., and a national scholarship fund. Membership: 50,000.
110
ORGANIZATIONS
111
National Consumers League for Fair Labor Standards, 348 Engineers' Building,
Cleveland 14, Ohio. (Not restricted to women.) Established in 1899. Its
purpose is "to awaken consumers' interest in their responsibility for conditions
under which goods are made and distributed; and through investigation,
education, and legislation, to promote fair labor standards. Its legislative
program includes minimum wage, child labor, hours of work, and social security.
It is currently concentrating its efforts on improvement of the conditions of
migrant workers in agriculture. There are six State branches and individual
members in every State of the Union.
National Council of Catholic Women, 1312 Massachusetts Avenue NW., Washington 5, D. C. Established in 1920. Its purpose is to federate existing organizations of Catholic women in order that they may speak and act as a unit when
the welfare of the church or the country demands such expression.. Through
special committees, it endeavors to stimulate interest in the welfare of all
workers. Affiliated with the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations.
Membership: 7,000,000 (approximately) through more than 6,800 National,
State, diocesan, and local affiliated groups.
National Council of Jewish Women, Inc., 1 West Forty-seventh Street, New York
36, N. Y. Established in 1893. Its purpose is to afford its members an
opportunity to assume a constructive role in the American community through
its programs of social legislation, contemporary Jewish affairs, international
understanding for peace, service to foreign born, community welfare; and to
help in reconstruction of Jewish communities overseas through providing training in educational and social welfare fields, and sending material aid. Membership: 94,000.
National Council of Negro Women, 1318 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington 5,
D. C. Organized in 1935. The Council seeks the cooperation and membership
of all races and works for the integration of Negroes into the economic, social,
cultural, civic, and political life of every community. Membership: 900,000.
National Council of Women of the United States, Inc., 501 Madison Avenue, Suite
905, New York 22, N. Y. Founded in 1888. Its purpose is to achieve, through
the unity of women, world peace, security, and equal opportunity for all.
Affiliated with the International Council of Women. Membership: 5,000,000
(approximately) through combined membership of affiliated groups.
National Jewish Welfare Board, 145 East Thirty-second Street, New York 16, N. Y.
Founded in 1917. It is the national association of Young Women's Hebrew
Associations as well as Young Men's Hebrew Associations and Jewish Community Centers. It is also the recognized Jewish community agency for meeting
the religious, welfare, and moral needs of Jewish personnel in the armed forces,
and is a constituent agency of the United Service Organizations (USO). The
Women's Organizations' Division of the National Jewish Welfare Board coordinates the work of eight National Jewish women's organizations united for
services to hospitalized veterans, military personnel in army camps, and
chaplains.
National Woman's Forum, Inc., 266 Fulton Avenue, Hempstead, N. Y. Founded
in 1944. Under the motto "For a United Community—For a Stronger Democracy," it serves as a clearinghouse of organizations (primarily women's) on the
local level, coordinating their activities in common projects, for the betterment
of the community and the strengthening of democracy at the grassroots.
National Women's Christian Temperance Union, 1730 Chicago Avenue, Evanston,
111. Established in 1874. Its purpose is to unite the Christian women of the
United States for the education of the public to a standard of total abstinence
from alcoholic beverages and abolition of liquor traffic; for youth training in
habits of total abstinence and sobriety; and for the promotion of good citizenship, peace, and the general welfare.
112
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
United Church Women (Protestant), 156 Fifth Avenue, New York 10, N. Y.
Organized in December 1941. It is a General Department of the National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the U. S. A. Its purpose is to unite church
women in their allegiance to their Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, through a
program looking to their integration in the total life and work of the church and
the building of a world Christian community. Membership: 50 State councils
and approximately 1,800 active local councils of church women.
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Administrative Headquarters United States Section, 2006 Walnut Street, Philadelphia 3, Pa.; Legislative
Office, 1734 F Street, N W , Washington 6, D. C. Established in 1915 in The
Hague. Its purpose is to unite those in all countries who oppose every kind of
war, exploitation, and oppression, and who want to work for the peaceful solution of .conflicts by establishment of justice for all, without distinction as to
sex, race, class, or creed.
Young Women's Christian Association of the United States of America, 600 Lexington Avenue, New York 22, N. Y. Founded in 1858. Its purpose is "to
build a fellowship of women and girls devoted to the task of realizing in our
common life those ideals of personal and social living to wiiich we are committed
by our faith as Christians. . .
It works to advance the mental, physical,
and spiritual' growth of young women. Affiliated with the World's Y W C A .
Membership: 3,000,000.
PROFESSIONAL
AND
BUSINESS
ORGANIZATIONS
National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc., 1819
Broadway, New York 23, N. Y. Established in 1919. Its purpose is to elevate
the standards and promote the interests of business and professional women; to
extend opportunities to business and professional women through education
along lines of industrial, scientific, and vocational activities. Affiliated with the
International Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs. Membership: 160,000 in 2,700 Clubs in United States, Alaska, and Hawaii.
National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs, 1011 U
Street NW., Washington 1, D. C. Founded in 1935. Its purpose is to promote
and protect the interest of Negro business and professional women and create
good fellowship among them; to direct their interests toward united action for
improved social and civic conditions; to encourage the training and development
of women; to aid business in general by patronage; and to inspire and train
young women for leadership. Membership: 3,500.
National Secretaries' Association, 1005 Grand Avenue, Kansas City 6, Mo. Organized in 1942. Its purpose is to elevate the standards of the secretarial profession.
Membership: 11,000 members in 300 chapters.
ACCOUNTANCY
American Society of Women Accountants, 342 Madison Avenue, New York 17, N. Y.
Founded in 1938. Its purpose is to offer technical and educational programs
to improve the efficiency of its members, to provide opportunity for exchange
of ideas, and to encourage its members to become certified public accountants.
Membership: 1,517.
American Woman's Society of Certified Public Accountants, 342 Madison Avenue,
New York 17, N. Y. Founded in 1933. Its purpose is to advance the professional interest of women certified public accountants and to promote a greater
interest among women in the higher attainments of the accounting profession.
Membership: 250..
ORGANIZATIONS
113
BANKING
Association of Bank Women, 60 East Forty-second Street, New York 17, N. Y.
Founded in 1921. Its purpose is to bring together women executives engaged
in the profession of banking for exchange of ideas and experiences for their
mutual benefits; to promote the interests of its members; and to further the
interests of all women in the banking profession. It is the only national organization of women in banking, with members from national, State, and savings banks, and trust companies. Membership: 1,383.
ENGINEERING
Society of Women Engineers, 4 Washington Square North, New York 3, N. Y.
Established in 1950. Its purpose is to contribute to the professional advancement of women engineers; to inform industry and the public of the availability
of qualified women for engineering positions; to encourage young women with
suitable aptitudes to enter the engineering profession. Membership: 300.
FASHION
The Fashion Growp, Inc., 9 Rockefeller Plaza, New York 20, N. Y. Founded in
1931. It is a noncommercial association of women engaged in fashion work,
formed to advance the principles of applied art in industry and to foster good
taste in fashion; to encourage the cooperation of those engaged in conceiving,
designing, and executing fashions; and to inspire a keener interest in fashion
industries so that those engaged in the field of fashion may better serve themselves and the public. Membership: 2,321.
FINANCE
Federation of Women Shareholders in American Business, Inc., 247 Lexington
Avenue, New York 16, N. Y. Founded in 1947. Its purpose is to educate
women on the importance of their vote as stockholders and their responsibilities
as employers of management and labor. Also to give women financial education. It stands for equal pay for equal work and for equal opportunity in
business.
GEOGRAPHY
The Society of Women Geographers, 1216 Connecticut Avenue NW., Washington
6, D* C. Founded in 1925. Its purpose is to create avenues of contact between
traveled women engaged in geographical work and allied arts and sciences;
to further geographical work in all its branches; to spread geographical knowledge; and to encourage geographical research. Membership: 300.
H E A L T H SERVICES
American Association of Industrial Nurses, 654 Madison Avenue, Room 909,
New York 21, N. Y. Founded in 1942. Its purpose is to establish sound
standards of education, practice, and policies in industrial nursing; to create
rapport and promote mutual understanding with industrial management,
medicine, safety, and allied groups; to effect the inclusion of industrial nursing
participation in industrial and community health programs. Membership:
3,000.
American Association of Medical Record Librarians, 510 North Dearborn Street,
Chicago 10j 111. (Not restricted to women, but membership is primarily
women.) Founded in 1928. Its purpose is to elevate the standard of clinical
records in hospitals, dispensaries, and other strictly medical institutions.
Membership: 2,716.
114
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
American Association of Medical Social Workers, 1834 K Street NW., Washington
5, D. C. (Not restricted to women, but membership is primarily women.)
Founded in 1918. Its purpose is to'improve the quality and effectiveness of
social work in relation to health and medical care. Membership: 2,350.
American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, 116 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago
3, 111. Founded in 1931. Its purpose is to develop educational standards and
techniques in the administration of anesthetics; to facilitate cooperation between nurse anesthetists and the medical profession; to promote an educational
program on the importance of the proper administration of anesthetics. Membership: 5,750.
American Dental Assistants Association, Inc., 410 First National Bank Building,
LaPorte, Ind. Established in 1924. Its purpose is to encourage women employed as dental assistants to form societies through which they can obtain
the educational advantages of lectures, clinical demonstrations, discussions,
and instruction in the details of their duties; to inspire its members to render
more efficient service; to promote fellowship, cooperation, and a desire for
mutual improvement among its members. Membership: 6,500.
American Dental Hygienists' Association, 1735 Eye Street NW., Washington 6,
D. C. Established in 1923. Its purpose is to elevate and sustain the professional character and education of dental hygienists; to promote among them
mutual improvement, social intercourse, and good will; to inform and direct
public opinion in relation to dental hygiene and the promotion of pertinent
legislation; and to represent and safeguard the common interests of members of
the profession. Membership: Approximately 3,000.
American Medical Women's Association, Inc., 52 Gramercy Park North, New
York 10, N. Y. Founded in 1915. Its purpose is to encourage social and
cooperative relations inside and outside the profession; to further relier work;
and to assist women medical students and women physicians in their undergraduate and postgraduate work, respectively. Affiliated with the Medical
Women's International Association.
American Nurses' Association, Inc., 2 Park Avenue, New York 16, N. Y. Organized in 1896 as the Nurses' Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada. Its purpose is to promote the professional and educational advancement
of nurses; to elevate the standard of nursing education; and to establish and
maintain a high code of ethics among nurses. Affiliated with the International
Council of Nurses. Membership: 173,201.
American Occupational Therapy Association, 33 West Forty-second Street, New
York 36, N. Y. Founded 1917. (Not restricted to women, but membership
is primarily women.) Its objectives are to promote the use of occupational
therapy; to advance standards of education and training in this field; to conduct a national registration examination; to maintain a registry of qualified
occupational therapists; to promote research; and to engage in other activities
advantageous to the profession and its members. Membership: 4,000.
American Physical Therapy Association, 1790 Broadway, New York 19, N. Y.
(Not restricted to women, but membership is primarily women.) Founded
in 1921. Its purpose is to promote the understanding and utilization of physical therapy in the prevention and treatment of human ailments; to establish
and maintain adequate professional and scientific standards for physical
therapists; to aid in establishing educational standards and in scientific research
in physical therapy; and to maintain a register of qualified physical therapists.
Membership: 4,800.
ORGANIZATIONS
115
American Society of Medical Technologists, Suite 25, Hermann Professional Bldg.,
Houston 25, Tex. (Not restricted to women, but membership is primarily
women.) Founded in 1933. Its purpose is to promote higher standards in
clinical laboratory methods and research, and to raise the status of those
specializing in medical laboratory technique. Membership: 5,500.
American Society of X-Ray Technicians, c/o Genevieve J. Eilert, Executive Secretary, 16 Fourteenth Street, Fond du Lac, Wis. (Not restricted to women,
but membership primarily women.) Founded in 1920. Its purpose is to
promote radiography; to assist in establishing approved standards of training
and recognized qualifications for those engaged in technical work in radiological
departments. Membership: 4,100.
Association of American Women Dentists, c/o Dr. Cornelia Thompson, President,
Brown Building, 101 South Meramee Avenue, Clayton 5, Mo. Founded in
1921. Objectives are to promote good fellowship and cooperation among
its members and aid in the advancement of women in dentistry. Membership:
Approximately 250.
National Federation of Licensed Practical Nurses, Inc., 250 West Fifty-seventh
Street, New York 19, N. Y. Organized in 1949. Its major objectives are to
associate all licensed practical nurses and to protect their welfare; to further
the highest ethical principles; to interpret the standards of licensed practical
nursing and to promote the most effective use of their services.
National League for Nursing, 2 Park Avenue, New York 16, N. Y. Organized in
1952. Open to nurses and others interested in the development and improvement of nursing education and community nursing services.
HOME ECONOMICS
American Dietetic Association, 620 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago 11, 111.
(Not restricted to women, but membership is primarily women.) Founded
in 1917. The objective of this Association is to improve the nutrition of
human beings, to raise the standards of dietetic service, to protect the status
of the profession, and to foster cooperation among members and their associates
in allied fields. Membership: 9,500.
American Home Economics Association, 1600 Twentieth Street NW., Washington
9, D. C. (Not restricted to women, but membership is primarily women.)
Established in 1908. Its purpose is to promote standards of home living
beneficial to the individual and to society. Membership: 19,590 individual
members; 19,805 affiliated through college clubs; approximately 1,500 affiliated
through homemakers' groups. Three foreign home economics associations are
affiliated with American Home Economics Association.
INSURANCE
Women Underwriters, the National Association of Life Underwriters, c/o Elsie
Doyle, National Chairman, 1703 Union Central Building, Cincinnati 2, Ohio.
Founded in 1934. Its purposes are to develop and extend the contributions
of women underwriters to life insurance; to encourage wider participation
on the part of women in the Association's affairs; to stimulate professional
interest and growth; to develop cooperative effort and understanding among
women of the same profession. Membership: 1,500.
116
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
LAW
National Association of Women Lawyers, c/o Mary H. Zimmerman, President, 1700
United Artists Building, Detroit 26, Mich. Founded 1899. Its purpose is to
promote the welfare and interests of women lawyers; to maintain the honor and
integrity of the profession; to aid in the enactment of legislation for the common
good and in the administration of justice; and to undertake actively whatever is
necessary to promote and advance the purposes of the Association. Membership: 1,000.
LIBRARY SCIENCE
American Library Association, 50 East Huron Street, Chicago 11, 111. (Not
restricted to women, but personal membership is primarily women.) Founded
in 1876. Its objective is to increase the usefulness of books and reading as a
working educational force in American life, through improvement and extension
of library services easily accessible to all the people. Membership: 20,000.
Special Libraries Association, 31 East Tenth Street, New York 3, N. Y. (Not
restricted to women, but membership is largely women.) Organized in 1909.
Its purpose is to promote the collection, organization, and dissemination of
information in specialized fields and to improve the usefulness of special libraries
and information services. Membership: 5,000.
MUSIC
National Federation of Music Clubs, 455 West Twenty-third Street, New York
11, N. Y. (Not restricted to women but membership is primarily women.)
Founded in 1898. Its purpose is to bring into working relation musical organizations and individuals associated with musical activity, for the purpose of
aiding and encouraging musical education and developing and maintaining high
musical standards throughout America and other countries. Membership:
500,000.
RADIO A N D TELEVISION
American Women in Radio and Television, Inc., 70 East Forty-fifth Street, New
York 17, N. Y. Established in 1951. Its objectives are to provide a medium
of exchange of ideas that will help women to become greater commercial assets
to their stations, networks, and employers; to encourage greater cooperation
among women in radio and television and those in closely allied fields; to
increase women's opportunities to be of service to the broadcasting industry as
a whole. Membership: 650.
REAL ESTATE
National Association of Real Estate Boards, Women's Council, 22 West Monroe
Street, Chicago 3, 111. Established in 1939. Its purpose is to promote women's
active participation in local Board activities and to present programs to all
women realtors within local and State groups which offer an opportunity for
leadership, education, and fellowship. Membership: 1,000.
TEACHING
See Educational Organizations.
ORGANIZATIONS
117
WRITING
American Newspaper Women9s Clubs, Inc., 1604 Twentieth Street NW., Washington 9, D. C. Founded in 1932. Its purpose is to maintain a meeting place for
members; to promote professional pursuits and good fellowship among the members; and to encourage friendly understanding between the members and the
people with whom they deal in their profession. Membership: 186 professional
members; 96 associate members.
National League of American Pen Women, Inc., 1300 Seventeenth Street NW.,
Washington 6, D. C. Founded in 1897. Its purpose is to conduct and promote
among its members creative and educational activities in art, letters, and
music. Membership: 5,000.
Women's National Press Club, 1367 National Press Building, Washington 4, D. C.
Founded in 1919. Its purpose is to promote good fellowship among women
engaged professionally in gathering and disseminating news; to promote the
welfare of its members; and to foster the ethical standards of the profession.
Membership: 350.
GENERAL SERVICE O R G A N I Z A T I O N S OF BUSINESS A N D PROFESSIONAL
WOMEN
Altrusa International, Inc., 332 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago 11, 111. Established in 1917. Pioneer of women's service clubs. It channels its service work
through four committees: International Relations, Public Affairs, Vocational
Information, and Altrusa Information; it also helps women establish themselves
successfully in suitable occupations. Membership: 10,500.
Pilot Club International, 514-520 Persons Building, Macon, Ga. Organized in
192i. Its objectives are to develop friendship as a means of encouraging and
promoting international peace and cultural relations; to inculcate the ideal of
service as the basis of all worthy enterprises; to encourage high ethical standards
among business and professional women; to promote active participation in any
movement that will tend to improve the civic, social, industrial, and commercial
welfare of the community. Membership: 8,000.
Quota Club International, Inc., 1737 H Street NW., Washington 6, D. C. Established in 1919. A classified civic service club of women executives. Among
its objectives are service to country and community, developing good fellowship
and enduring friendship, and emphasizing the worth of useful occupation. It
promotes international understanding through club programs and the granting
of an international fellowship. Membership: 7,500 in 243 clubs in 4 countries.
Soroptimist International Association, c/o American Federation of Soroptimist
Clubs, 1530 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia 2, Pa. Founded in 1921. Its
purpose is to promote the spirit of service; to foster high ethical standards in
business and the professions; to develop interest in community, national, and
international affairs; and to promote the economic advancement of women.
Membership: 23,000 in 800 clubs in 18 countries.
Zonta International, 59 East Van Buren Street, Chicago 5, 111. Established in
1919. Its main objectives are the encouragement of high ethical standards in
business and the professions; the improvement of the legal, political, economic,
and professional status of women; and the advancement of international understanding, good will, and peace through a world fellowship of executive women.
Membership: 8,500 in 250 clubs in 12 countries.
118
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
EDUCATIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS
Adult Education Association of the United States of America, 1201 Sixteenth
Street NW., Washington 6, D. C. Founded May 14, 1951. Its purpose is to
further the concept of education as a process continuing throughout life by
affording to educators of adults and to other interested persons opportunities
to increase their competence; by encouraging organizations and agencies to
develop adult educational services; by providing the balanced development of
educational services needed by the adult population in the United States; and
by cooperating with adult education agencies internationally. Membership:
4,000.
American Association of University Women, 1634 I Street NW., Washington 6,
D. C. Founded in 1882. Its purpose is to raise standards in education generally; to enlarge opportunities for college women; and to help members extend
their education and use their abilities and training in building better communities and meeting national and international problems. Affiliated with
the International Federation of University Women. Membership: 118,000.
National Association of Deans of Women, 1201 Sixteenth Street NW., Washington
6, D. C. Established in 1916. Its purpose is to increase the effectiveness of
deans, counselors, and other personnel workers, by strengthening their professional status, by formulating standards for their professional training, by
studying changing trends in education, and by research and study pertinent to
their work. It is a department of the National Education Association. Membership: 1,550.
National Congress of Parents and Teachers, 600 South Michigan Boulevard,
Chicago 5, 111. (Not restricted to women.) Founded in 1897. Its purpose
is to promote the welfare of children and youth in home, school, church, and
community; to raise the standards of home life; to secure adequate laws for
the care and protection of children and youth; to bring home and school into
closer relationship so that parents and teachers may cooperate intelligently in
the training of the child. Membership: 6,589,516.
National Association of College Women, c/o Mrs. Lottie Gordon, Executive Secretary, 2645 Fifteenth Street NW., Washington 9, D. C. Founded in 1924. Its
purpose is to secure equal opportunity for women in Negro institutions; to
arouse among college women a consciousness of their responsibility in helping
to solve local and national problems; and to create an awareness of international
issues that demand study by and the cooperation of all thoughtful Americans.
Membership: 900.
National Council of Administrative Women in Education, c/o Miss Kathryn
Steinmetz, 4257 North Tripp Avenue, Chicago 41, 111. Founded in 1915.
Its purpose is to promote the advancement of qualified women to administrative positions in the field of education; to foster growth in educational leadership; to afford opportunity for each member to become articulate in carrying
out the broad purposes of education. It is a department of the National
Education Association. Membership: 1,000.
National Education Association of the United States, 1201 Sixteenth Street NW.,
Washington 6, D. C. (Not restricted to women, but a majority of the members
are women.) Established in 1857 as the National Teachers Association. Its
purpose is to elevate the character and advance the interests of the teaching
profession and to promote the cause of education. Membership: 465,266
individual personal memberships and 880,156 affiliated through State, territorial, and local groups.
ORGANIZATIONS
POLITICAL A N D
LEGISLATIVE
119
ORGANIZATIONS
democratic National Committee, Women's Division, 1200 Eighteenth Street NW.,
Washington 6, D. C. Founded in 1916. Its purpose is to strengthen Party
organization throughout the country and disseminate educational material on
the issues, thus aiding and stimulating participation of women in support of
the policies of the Democratic Party.
National Federation of Women's Republican Clubs, 923 Fifteenth Street NW.,
Washington 5, D. C. Founded in 1938. Objectives are "to foster and encourage loyalty to the Republican Party and to promote its ideals; to facilitate
cooperation among the women's Republican clubs of the Nation; to support
objectives and policies of the Republican National Committee; to collect,
analyze, report upon and disseminate information concerning governmental
and political affairs; to cooperate in the election of the Republican Party's
nominees; and in general, to promote the principles of freedom, equality and
justice on which is founded the government of this country." Approximately
4,000 clubs affiliated with the National Federation, representing a membership
of 500,000 women throughout the country.
National Woman's Party, 144 Constitution Avenue NE., Washington 2, D. C.
Established in 1913 for suffrage; reorganized in 1921 for equal rights. Its
particular purpose is t o secure the adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment
to the National Constitution and of the Equal Rights Treaty. It is affiliated
writh the World Woman's Party.
Republican National Committee, Women's Division, 923 Fifteenth Street .NW,,
Washington 5, D. C. Its purpose is to cooperate with the various State committees in all phases of Party organization work among women.
Woman's National Democratic Club, 1526 New Hampshire Avenue NW., Washington 6, D. C. Founded in 1923. Its purpose is to furnish Democratic
women with a clearing house for Democratic ideals and practical programs; to
afford its members an opportunity to hear and meet the Nation's lawmakers,
leaders, and men and women of international reputation. Membership: 800.
PATRIOTIC
ORGANIZATIONS
American Legion Auxiliary, 777 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis 7, Ind.
Established in 1921. Its purpose is to assist the American Legion in the promotion of Americanism, patriotism, and world peace; and in its program for the
benefit of veterans and their families. Membership composed of wives,
widows, mothers, daughters, and sisters of veterans of World Wars I and II and
the ICorean conflict, and women veterans of said hostilities. The veteran, if
living, must be a member of the American Legion. Membership: Approximately 1,000,000.
Daughters of the American Revolution, Seventeenth and D Streets NW., Washington 6, D. C. Established in 1890. Objectives of the Society are patriotic,
historical, and educational. Membership: 170,760 in 2,699 chapters.'
Daughters of Union Veterans of Civil War, 1861-65, 524 South Second Street,
Springfield, 111. Organized in 1885. (Membership restricted to women whose
ancestors sided with the North during the Civil War.)
Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, 406 West
Thirty-fourth Street, Kansas City 2, Mo. Founded in 1914. Its purpose is
to foster patriotism; to maintain and extend institutions of American freedom;
and to defend the United States from enemies. Membership: 375,000.
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9
120
HANDBOOK
OF FACTS ON WOMEN" WORKERS
Service Star Legion, Inc., c/o Mrs. Maurice M. Price, Jr., Executive Secretary,
2907 Rosalie Avenue, Baltimore 14, Md. Founded in 1917. Its objectives
are to serve God, country, and humanity; to promote peace and brotherhood
among men and nations; to guard the welfare of soldiers, sailors, and marines
who served in the World War and give aid and comfort to their families; and
to foster a spirit of sisterhood and democracy among women. Membership:
10,000. .
United Daughters of the Confederacy, 5330 Pershing Avenue, St. Louis, Mo.
Established in 1894. (Membership restricted to women whose ancestors
sided with the South during the Civil War.) Membership: 40,000.
Women's Overseas Service League, c/o Mrs. Gertrude Bannister, 264 Wordsworth
Street, Ferndale 20, Mich. Established in 1921. Its purpose is to maintain
the ties of comradeship created during service overseas in World Wars I and II.
Membership: 3,000.
FARM AND
RURAL
ORGANIZATIONS
Associated Women of the American Farm Bureau Federation, 221 North LaSalle
Street, Chicago 1, 111. Its purpose is to promote, protect, and represent the
business, economic, social, educational, and spiritual interests of the farm
families of the Nation; to develop agriculture and to provide a means whereby
the rural women of the United States may participate in national and international councils of women. Membership: 1,500,000.
Country Women's Council, U. S. A., c/o Mrs. George Apperson, Chairman, Mocksville, N. C. This Council is the U. S. Branch of the Associated Country Women
of the World (ACWW). Founded in 1939. Its purpose is to effect closer
association between the United States members of The Associated Country
Women of the World in order to carry out more efficiently the aim and objectives of the parent organization in furthering friendship and mutual understanding among the rural women of every land and in promoting interest in
international relations in every way consistent with the aims of the ACWW.
Membership: 4,000,000.
National Home Demonstration Council, c/o Miss Jennie Williams, President, Banner,
Wyo. Founded in 1936. Its purpose is to strengthen and develop adult
education in home economics through the Extension Service of the U. S.
Department of Agriculture; to provide opportunity for homemakers to pool
their judgment for the improvement of home and community life; and to offer
a means by which homemakers may promote extension projects important in
the protection and development of the American home. Membership: 960,877.
Woman's National Farm and Garden Association, Inc., c/o Mrs. Henry P. Williams,
President, 344 Provencal Road, Grosse Pointe Farms 30, Mich. Founded in
1914. Its purpose is to stimulate interest in the conservation of national
resources and an appreciation of country life; to work for improvement of rural
conditions; to promote good relationships between farm and city women; to
help women through scholarships and expert advice to obtain the best available
training in agriculture, horticulture, and related professions, and to develop
opportunities for women so trained; to stimulate and make available to members opportunities for the marketing of farm and garden products; to cooperate
with national and international groups of women with similar interests. Membership: 5,500.
ORGANIZATIONS
LABOR
121
ORGANIZATIONS1
American Federation of Women's Auxiliaries of Labor, AFL Building, 901 Massachusetts Avenue NW., Washington 1, D. C. Established in May 1938. Its
membership is composed of women from families of men who are in a trade
union affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. Its objective is to
encourage the formation of local auxiliaries of labor for purposes of coordinating
collective bargaining and collective buying and of promoting legislation in the
interests of the working population.
Congress of Women's Auxiliaries of the C. I. 0., 2123 West Market Street, Warren,
Ohio. Established in 1941. Its purpose is to further the program of the
Congress of Industrial Organizations; to unite all wives, mothers, sisters, and
daughters of CIO members for their mutual aid, protection, and improvement;
to foster the organization of unorganized women and to educate them and their
families to the benefits of trade unionism; to work for the abolition of child
labor; and to promote social and cultural activities. Membership: 10,000.
1 These labor groups are strietly women's organizations.
In addition to these, many women belong to
'ndividual trade unions having men and women members. It has been estimated that approximately
SH million women are members of trade unions.
@FedFRASER