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PASADENA PUBLIC LIBRARY

REFERENCE
JAN 3 0 las'

Women’s Bureau 1950
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON

Women
Workers
BULLETIN NO. 237

UNITED

STATES

DEPARTMENT

LABOR

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH IN THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR A
BUREAU TO BE KNOWN AS

THE WOMEN’S BUREAU
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That there shall be established in the Department of Labor
a bureau to be known as the Women’s Bureau.
S'bc. 2. That the said bureau shall be in charge of a direc
tor, a woman, to be appointed by the President, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate, who shall receive an
annual compensation of $5,000.1 It shall be the duty of said
bureau to formulate standards and policies which shall
promote the welfare of wage-earning women, improve their
working conditions, increase their efficiency, and advance
their opportunities for profitable employment. The said
bureau shall have authority to investigate and report to the
said department upon all matters pertaining to the welfare
of women in industry. The director of said bureau may
from time to time publish the results of these investigations
in such a manner and to such extent as the Secretary of
Labor may prescribe.
Sec. 3. That there shall be in said bureau an assistant
director, to be appointed by the Secretary of Labor, who
shall receive an annual compensation of $3,5001 and shall
perform such duties as shall be prescribed by the director
and approved by the Secretary of Labor.
Sec. 4. That there is hereby authorized to be employed by
said bureau a chief clerk and such special agents, assistants,
clerks, and other employees at such rates of compensation
and in such numbers as Congress may from time to time
provide by appropriations.
Sec. 5. That the Secretary of Labor is hereby directed to
furnish sufficient quarters, office furniture, and equipment
for the work of this bureau.
Sec. 6. That this act shall take effect and be in force from
and after its passage.
Approved, June 5, 1920.
Public No. 259, 66th Congress (H. R. 13229).
1 Amount increased by Reclassification Act of March 4, 1923, as amended
and supplemented.

1950
HANDBOOK Of FACTS ON

Women
Vvorkers
BULLETIN

UNITED

STATES

DEPARTMENT

NO.

OO7

LABOR

Ma urice J. Tobin, Secretary
WOMEN’S BUREAU, Frieda S. Miller, Director

United States Government Printing Office, Washington : 1950

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office
Washington 25, D. C. - Price 30 cents

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

United States Department

Labor,

Women’s Bureau,

Washington, May 29,1950.
: I have the honor of transmitting a handbook of facts
relating to women workers. It brings up to date the Hand
book issued 2 years ago, which has been in great demand as
a source book, and which has permitted the Women’s Bureau
to reply, promptly and without the need for individual han
dling, to many recurring requests for information of a gen
eral nature. Present demand and plans call for issuing the
handbook biennially. All divisions of the Bureau contrib
uted to this year’s revision; new material is primarily the
wTork of Mary E. Pidgeon of the Economic Studies Branch.
Respectfully submitted.
Frieda S. Miller, Director.
Hon. Maurice J. Tobin,
Secretary of Labor.
Sir

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN
Page

Increases in Number of Women Workers, 1870 to 1949_________________
Chief Occupation Groups Employing Women__________________________
Changes in numbers employed, 1940 to 1949_______________________
Distribution in occupation groups
Proportion of workers in each occupation group who are women____
Important Individual Occupations
Chief Industry Groups Employing Women
Important Individual Industries
10
Employment in Factories
11
Ages of Women Workers
13
Marital Status of Women Workers
15
Women of each marital status group who are workers______________
Marital status of all women and of women workers________________
Marital status in wartime and postwar periods'____________________
Working couples
16
Mothers in the labor force
17
Women as heads of families
18
Selected References to Basic Data on Employment of Women___________
Summaries:
Occupations employing 100,000 or morewomen, 1940_______________
Occupations in which women are a large proportion of the workers,
1940
Women in each industry group, 1940
Individual industries employing 100,000 or more women, 1940______
Women wage and salaried workers in chief manufacturing industries,
September 1949•____
Labor force participation of women ever married, by whether or not
having own children under 18, 1949
Labor force participation of women ever married, by presence or
absence of husband, 1949_______________________________________
Tables:
1. Women workers, 1870-1949
2. Changes in number of women in each occupation group, 1940 to
1949_______________________________________ ________________
3. Status of women in each occupation group before, during, and after
World War II
4. Women in manufacturing industries, 1947______________________
5. Changes in number of women workers in each age group, 1940 to 1949.
6. Age groupings of women workers before, during, and after World
War II_______________
7. Changes in number and distribution of women in each marital status
group, in population and in labor force, 1940 to 1949__________
8. Marital status of women workers before, during, and after World
Warll_____________________________________

1
3
3
3
5
6
8

15
15
15

21
6
7
9
10
H
17
18
2
3
5
12
13
14
15
16

Charts:
Women workers and all workers, 1870-1949_______________________
Occupations of women workers, October 1949_____________________
Proportion of all workers who are women, 1870-1949_______________

Page

x
4
20

II. WAGES, SALARIES, AND INCOME
Introduction_____________________________________
Factors influencing wages and salaries__
Take-home pay
23
How wages and salaries arereported
23
Census Reports on Women’s Income and Earnings_____________________
Sources of women’s income
24
Women’s income, 1948
Employed women’s income, by chief occupation groups, 1948_______
Women’s income, by age group and by race, 1948__________________
Changes in women’s income over four years
27
Reports on Earnings of Women Factory Production Workers___________
Current reporting
28
Earnings of women in manufacturing, 1938-49____________________
Reports on Earnings of Women “White-Collar” Workers_______________
Earnings of clerical workers
31
Earnings in selected professions
36
Summaries:
Women’s income, 1948
Average weekly earnings of women and men production workers in
selected industries or industry groups in New York State, November
1949___________________________
Average weekly earnings of women and men in factory offices in New
York, 1940-49, October of each year
34
Annual salaries of library employees, 1949
Median annual salaries of women and men in social work positions, by
level of responsibility, in Michigan,November 1948_______________
Tables:
1. Sources of income, 1948
2. Employed women’s income in 1948, by occupation group in 1949_
3. Median income of women and men, total and nonwhite, by age,
1948_______ __________________________ _________ _____ _____
4. Income of women and men in various years___________ ________
5. Average weekly earnings of women and men production workers
in manufacturing industries reported by the National Industrial
Conference Board, Illinois, and New York State, 1938-49____
6. Average weekly earnings, average hourly earnings, and average
weekly hours worked, of women and men production workers, in
all and in selected manufacturing industries or industry groups
in Illinois, November 1949
7. Median weekly salaries of women in selected office occupations in
17 large cities, 1949
8. Median weekly salary rates in selected clerical occupations in 21
cities, October of each year, 1944-49
9. Yearly salaries of teachers, by type of school and size of city,
1948-49_____ _____ ______ -....................... .........................................10. Monthly earnings of nurses,October 1946_____________________

22
22

24
25
25
26
28
28
31

39
39
24
26
27
27

30
32
35
37
38

III. ECONOMIC RESPONSIBILITIES OF WOMEN WORKERS
Page

Women Workers and Family Finances
Women’s Contributions to Family Income or Support__________________
Part of family income women furnish
41
Women as sole, principal, and contributing family earners__________
Part of women’s earnings that goes to family support______________
Dependents of women receiving unemployment benefits____________
Working Women’s Budgets
43
Summaries:
Family support responsibilities of some 7,500 women interviewed
who lived in family groups
42
Part of earnings given to family support by some 7,500 women inter
viewed who lived in family groups______________________________

41
41
41
42
43

IV. INDUSTRIAL INJURIES TO WOMEN
Industrial Injuries to Women
45
Tables:
1. Distribution of employment and injuries by sex in 9,154 manufac
turing establishments, classified by industry, for one quarter of
1945
2. Distribution of employment and injuries by sex in 10,665 non
manufacturing establishments, classified by industry, 1945_____

40
49

V. STANDARDS FOR EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN
Need for Standards for Women Workers
51
Development of Standards
51
Standards on Working Time
52
Standards on Wages_____________________________________
Standards on Other Conditions
For health
54
For safety
54
Industrial Home Work _

53
54

VI. SUMMARY OF STATE LABOR LAWS FOR WOMEN
Maximum Daily and Weekly Hours___________ ______ _________ _____ 57
Day of Rest
Meal Periods;____________________________________________
_ __
Rest Periods _
Night Work
Seating--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Occupational Limitations
Weight Lifting
_______________________________________________
_
Industrial Home Work _ _
Employment Before and After Childbirth______________________________
Equal Pay----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- --------Minimum Wage
_

gg
gg
59
50
60
01
02
02
02
03
03

VII

VII. LEGISLATION AFFECTING HOUSEHOLD EMPLOYEES
Page

Coverage of Domestic Workers by State Labor Laws for Women________
Maximum-hour laws
64
Minimum-wage laws-------------------------------------------------------------------Coverage of Domestic Workers by State Workmen’s Compensation
Laws
Coverage of Domestic Workers by Wage Payment Laws-----------------------Coverage of Domestic Workers by Social Security Legislation Now in
Effect
67
Unemployment insurance
67
Old-age insurance
67

64
64
65
67

VIII. THE POLITICAL AND CIVIL STATUS OF WOMEN
Political Status
Nationality
Voting and public office
Domicile
Civil Status—Family Relations
Marriage
Divorce
Parent and child
Family support---------------------------------------------------------------------------Civil Status—Contract and Property Law-------------------------------------------Power to make contracts
72
Ownership, control, and use of property-----------------------------------------

68
68
68
69
70
70
70
71
71
72
73

IX. WOMEN’S EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING
Student Enrollments in and Graduates of Educational Institutions---------Women Enrolled in Vocational Training Programs--------------------------------Women Served by Rehabilitation Programs-------------------------------- .-------X. AMERICAN WOMEN—A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF
BASIC SOURCES
General-------------------------Women as Citizens
80
Women as Workers
82
Employment and occupations
82
Wages
84
Health and physical welfare
85
Organization into unions
87
Women as Homemakers
88

75
76
77

XI. WOMEN’S NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS—LIST
Organizations Having Social, Civic, or Religious Purposes---------------------Professional and Business Organizations-----------------------------------------------Accountancy
92
Art________________________________ --------------- ------------------- -------Banking
92

VIII

89
91
92

Professional and Business Organizations—Continued
Engineering
92
Fashion'
Geography-------------------------------------Health services
93
Home economics
95
Insurance
95
Law
96
Library science
96
Music______________________
Radio
96
Real estate_______
Teaching,
Writing
97
General service organizations of business and professional women___
Educational Organizations
98
Political and Legislative Organizations
99
Patriotic Organizations-Farm and Rural Organizations
101
Labor Organizations-

Page

92
93

96
97
97
97

100
102

XII. CURRENT PUBLICATIONS OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU

880859°—5'

-2

WOMEN WORKERS AND ALL WORKERS

1870-1949
MILLIONS

MILLIONS

TOTAL

WOMEN.

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census.

I
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN1

INCREASES IN NUMBER OF WOMEN WORKERS, 1870 TO 1949

first full census of women workers in this country was taken in
1870. At that time less than 2 million women were in gainful employ
ment. Every decade thereafter, however, the census showed a rise in
their numbers. In 1919 the labor force contained over 17 million
women—a figure a third or more above the entire number of all
workers, men and women, in 1870.
The proportion women constituted of all workers increased from
decade to decade. In 1870 women were less than 15 percent of this
country’s workers, and in 1949 they were more than 28 percent of all
the workers. (See chart, p. 20.)
Increasing proportions of all the women of working age have en
tered the labor force. In 1870 less than 14 percent of them were
gainful workers; in 1949 more than 30 percent were members of the
labor force.

The

1 Notes on figures used: Figures are based chiefly on census data, in a few cases including
unpublished census material. Figures adjusted by the Census to make those of different
periods comparable are used where necessary and available. Figures refer to women 14
years of age and over, except in the section of table 1 that reports on women 10 years of
age and over. For the most part, census data are for the spring of the year. (The excep
tions occur (1) in table 1: decennial censuses for 1870-1000 and 1920 were taken in
January or June, and data for October 1349 are included; and (2) in table 4, which uses
data for October, the month the Census of Manufactures was taken.) Figures on factory
employment are from a Bureau of Labor Statistics report (for September 1949) and from
the Census of Manufactures. For a more detailed discussion of occupations, see Women’s
Bureau Bull. 218, Women’s Occupations Through Seven Decades.

Table 1.—Women workers, 1870—1949
Women workers
Year
Number
Aged 10 years and over:
1870
____________ -_____ ______ ____
1880_____________________ _______________________
1890 ___________________________ -.............-...............
1900 _________________________ _________________
1910..................... ......................................... ..........................
1920 _______________________ _________-..................
1930____________________ _____ __________________
Aged 14 years and over:
1900
________ ______ _____ ________ ___ ________
1910 _______________________ ___________-..............
1920____ _________________ ______________________
1930 ................................................-.....................................
1930 1 _________________________________ _______
1940 1 ....................—..................................... ..................... .
1940 2____________________ ____ __________________
1945............. ............................................... ...........................
1947 .......... .........................................................................1949:
April-.............................................................................

Percent of all
workers

Percent of all
women

1,917,446
2, 647,157
4,005, 532
5,319,397
7', 444', 787
8, 636, 512
10, 752,116

14.8
15.2
17.2
18.3
19.9
20.4
22.0

13.3
14.7
17.4
18.8
21.5
21.4
22.0

6,114,461
7,788,826
8,429, 707
10, 679,048
10, 396,000
13, 015, 000
13, 840, 000
19, 570, 000
16,320, 000

18.1
20.9
20.4
22.0
21.9
24.4
25.4
36.1
27.6

20.4
25.2
23.3
24.3
23.6
25.7
27.4
36.8
29.8

17,167,000
18, 588,000

28.2
29.7

30.9
33.2

1 Labor force figures for 1930 estimated and for 1940 adjusted by the Census Bureau to make them com
parable.
2 Civilian labor force figures for 1940 adjusted by the Census Bureau to make them comparable with those
for later years.
Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census reports. Figures 1870 through 1940 are shown in Women’s Burejau
Bull. 218, Women’s Occupations Through Seven Decades.

CHIEF OCCUPATION GROUPS EMPLOYING WOMEN
CHANGES IN NUMBERS EMPLOYED, 1940 TO 1949

In most occupation groups the number of women increased from
1940 to 1949. The greatest increases were those of more than 2 million
among clerical and kindred workers and of over 1 million among
operatives and kindred workers. The number of sales workers and of
service workers (except domestic) increased each by more than y2
million, farm workers by about 1/3 million. Two relatively small oc
cupation groups also showed increases—proprietors, managers, and
officials (except farm), and craftsmen and foremen.
The number of women decreased from 1940 to 1949 in three occu
pation groups. The greatest decline, approaching y2 million, oc
curred among the domestic service workers. The professional and
semiprofessional group also showed some decline, and the small group
of laborers declined.
Table 2.—Changes in number of women in each occupation group, 1940 to 1949
Number of women

Change, 1940 to 1949

19401

Number

Occupation group

All groups_____________
Clerical, kindred workers____ _
Operatives, kindred workers.........
Domestic service workers. _
Professional, semiprofessional workers..
Service workers (except domestic)..
Sales workers_____
Farmers, farm workers.
Proprietors, managers, officials (except farm)
Craftsmen, foremen, kindred workers.
Laborers (except farm)_____

1949

Percent

11,920,000
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

4,542, 000,
3,199, 000
1, 666,000
1, 477, 000
1, 911, 000
1, 386, 000
1, 057, 000
867, 000
165, 000
85, 000

+80
-434,000
-93,000
+561,000
+417,000
+55,000
-15,000

+67
+53
+93
+50
-15

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. Bureau of the Census reports.

DISTRIBUTION IN OCCUPATION GROUPS

In 1949 nearly half the women workers were in the clerical and
operative groups, nearly a fourth were in service groups, and almost
a tenth were in the professional and semiprofessional group. Smaller
fractions wTere in each of the other groups.
The proportion who were in the clerical and in the operative groups
combined increased from 39 percent of all women workers in 1940 to 48
percent in 1949. The proportion in the combined service groups de
clined from 29 percent of the total in 1940 to 22 percent in 1949. A

OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN WORKERS, OCTOBER 1949

CLERICAL AND
KINDRED WORKERS

OPERATIVES AND
KINDRED WORKERS

SERVICE WORKERS
EXCEPT DOMESTIC
PROFESSIONAL AND
SEMIPROFESSIONAL
WORKERS

DOMESTIC SERVICE
WORKERS

SALESWOMEN

FARMERS AND
FARM WORKERS
MANAGERS,
PROPRIETORS,
OFFICIALS

EACH SYMBOL REPRESENTS 350.000 WOMEN

OTHER OCCUPATIONS
SOURCE': BUREAU OF THE CENSUS

smaller proportion than in 1940 was in the professional group in 1949,
and a slightly larger proportion than in 1940 was in the group of sales
women, as well as in that of proprietors and managers. Farm workers
were in the same proportion both years, as was the craftsmen group.
PROPORTION OF WORKERS IN EACH OCCUPATION GROUP WHO ARE WOMEN

Women constituted over 90 percent of the domestic service workers
in 1949, over 60 percent of the clerical workers, about 40 percent each
of the professional, of the sales, and of the service (other than domes
tic) workers, and nearly 30 percent of the operatives. In other groups
smaller proportions of the workers were women.
Uuring World War II the proportion of workers who were women
increased in all occupation groups save that of domestic service work
ers, 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. The excepted groups were the domestic service, the profes
sional, and the small group of craftsmen, foremen, and laborers; each
of these had a smaller proportion of women among its workers after
than before the war.
Table 3.—Status of women in each occupation group before, during, and after World War II
Women employed
Occupation group

All groups............................
Clerical, kindred workers____________
Operatives, kindred workers____
Domestic service workers______
Professional, semiprofessional workers__
Service workers (except domestic). _
Sales workers________ _____
Farmers, farm workers_____
Proprietors, managers, officials (except farm)
Craftsmen, foremen, kindred; laborers (except farm).

Percent of all persons in
the occupation group

Percent distribution

1940

1945

1947

1949

1940

1945

1947

100

53
26
94
45
40
28
8
12
3

70
38
94
46
48
54
22
17
5

59
28
92
40
44
40
12
14
2

61
28
92
37
44
38
14
14
2

21
18
18
13
11
7
6
4
2

25
24
9
8
10
8
10
4
2

26
22
11
10
11
8
6
5
1

28
20
10
9
12
8
6
5
2

1949

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census reports.

IMPORTANT INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONS

Of course the 451 individual occupations reported in the Census
of 1940 could be considered in an almost endless variety of ways.
Various types of groupings or rearrangements of these occupations
continually are made for one use or another, or special kinds of occu
pations are selected for some particular use. The present discussion
is limited to pointing out those individual occupations that employ
the largest numbers of women, and those in which women constitute
the larger proportion of the workers (in 1940, the latest date for which
a detailed occupation list is available).
Occupations employing 100,000 or more women. 1940

Women employed
Occupation

Rank

1 Servants,1 private family

2
3
4
5
6

9
10
11
12

13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

Percent of
all persons
in the occu
pation
1, 420, 469
91
988, 081
94
772, 044
76
Number

Stenographers, typists, secretaries
Teachers (not elsewhere classified)
Clerical, kindred workers (not elsewhere classi
fied)
Saleswomen (not elsewhere classified)
Bookkeepers, accountants, cashiers
Operatives, apparel, accessories
Housekeepers, private family
Waitresses (except private family)
Trained nurses, student nurses
Farm laborers (unpaid family workers)
Barbers, beauticians, manicurists____ ________
“Clerks” in stores
Telephone operators
Laundresses, private family
Servants (except private family) 1
Laundry operatives, laundresses (except private
family)
Operatives, cotton manufactures
Farmers (owners and tenants)
Dressmakers, seamstresses (not in factory)
Cooks (except private family)
Operatives, knit goods
Boarding house, lodginghouse keepers

630,
515,
446,
425,
362,
356,
348,
223,
206,
201,
189,
186,
174,

471
539
205
534
431
036
277
279
592
281
002
183
724

36
41
52
78
99
68
99
19
50
43
95
98
55

167,
167,
151,
133,
116,
115,
100,

967
155
087
627
310
106
355

78
47
3
98
42
67
91

1 The Census classification term necessarily is used here. The Women’s Bureau has been working with
the Census to develop a classification term to supplant ‘‘servants.” Accordingly, in the 1950 Census,
“household workers” will be used.
Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census.
1, United States Summary, table 58.

Census of 1940.

Population.

Vol. III. The Labor Force.

Part

In each of 23 occupations reported in 1940, more than 100,000
women were employed. Taken together, these 23 occupations included
three-fourths of all the employed women (exclusive of women workers
6

in the labor force who were not employed at the time the census was
taken).
Among the five occupations that employ the largest numbers of
women, that of “servants, private family,” with almost iy2 million
women, ranks first. Nearly 1 million women were stenographers,
typists, or secretaries, and almost two-thirds million were in other
clerical work. Over three-fourths million were teachers, and one-half
million were saleswomen.
In eight of the occupations that employed 100,000 or more women,
women constituted over nine-tenths of all the workers; in three they
constituted about three-fourths of the workers; and in five others,
about a half.
There -also were a number of occupations in which considerably
fewer than 100,000 women worked but in which women were practi
cally half or over half of the employees. In two of these, women were
nine-tenths or more of the workers, in six others they were threefourths but less than nine-tenths of the workers.
Occupations in which women are a large proportion of the workers, 1940
I. Occupations Employing

100,000

More Women 1

Percent of all
persons in the
occupation

Women are more than nine-tenths of these workers:
Housekeepers, private family
99
Dressmakers, seamstresses (not in factory)_____________
Laundresses, private family
98
Trained nurses, student nurses
98
Telephone operators!___________________ __________________________
Stenographers, typists, secretaries94
Servants, private family___________________
Boardinghouse, lodginghouse keepers
91
Women are about three-fourths of these workers:
Laundry operatives, laundresses (except private family)_>_______
Operatives, apparel, accessories
78
Teachers (not elsewhere classified)
76
Women are about two-thirds of these workers:
Waitresses (except private family)
68
Operatives, knit goods____ ___________________________

Women are about half of these workers:
Servants (except private family)
55
Bookkeepers, accountants, cashiers
52
Barbers, beauticians, manicurists_____________ ___;_________________
Operatives, cotton manufactures
47

95
91

1 Excludes two occupations in which women arc a small proportion of the workers :
farmers (3 percent) and farm laborers (19 percent).

889859°—50------ 3

Percent of all
persons in the
Women are about two-fifths of these workers:
occupation
“Clerks” in stores_____________________________
43
Cooks (except private family)-----------------------------------------------------42
Saleswomen (not elsewhere classified)-----------------------------------------41
Clerical, kindred workers (not elsewhere classified)_______________
36
II. Selected 2 Occupations Employing Less Than 100,000 Women
Practical nurses, midwives (87,200)
Attendants, physicians’ and dentists’ offices (27,900)___________________
Milliners (not in factory) (10,500)
Librarians (32,500)Office machine operators (51,500)
Demonstrators (7,400)
Dancers, dancing teachers, chorus girls (9,000)--------------------------------------Housekeepers, stewards, hostesses (except private family) (62,400)------Attendants, assistants, library (7,000)------------------------------------------------Religious workers (25,900)
Social, welfare workers (44,800)-----------------------------Fruit and vegetable graders, packers (exceptcannery) (12,800)---------------Attendants, professional and personal service (not elsewhere classified)
(13,800)
Charwomen, cleaners (36,900)
Musicians, music teachers (59,500)------------------------------------------------------

96
95
94
90
86
83
81
79
78
75
64
58
57
54
46

2 Excludes all occupations in which women were less than half the workers. Excludes
also occupations under “operatives and kindred workers in manufacturing,” in some of
which over 50,000 women were employed, and/or in some of which women were over half
the workers. Included is the occupation “musicians and music teachers,” because it is
one professional occupation that employs a sizable number of women who are also a large
percentage of all the workers.
Source : U. S. Bureau of the Census. Census of 1940.
Force, Part 1, United States Summary, table 58.

Population, Vol. Ill, The Labor

CHIEF INDUSTRY GROUPS EMPLOYING WOMEN

Of the 10 chief woman-employing industry groups, the one that
employed the largest number of women was domestic and personal
service, with nearly 3 million women (in 1940, the latest date for
which data on chief industry groups are available). Each of two
other groups—manufacturing and trade (wholesale and retail to
gether)—employed over 2 million, and the professional group em
ployed not far from 2 million. Each of these four groups employed
about four to six times as many women as any other. The domestic
and personal services, manufacturing, and trade taken together ac
counted for almost two-thirds of all employed women.
Next in size were two industry groups each of which employed
about one-half million women—agriculture; and finance, insurance,
8

and real estate. Two other groups each employed over one-third
million—transportation, communication, and other public utilities;
and government. All other groups taken together employed only a
very small proportion of the women workers.
Of course the workers in each of the various industry groups are
engaged in a wide range of occupations, as for example those of sales
persons, laborers of various types, clerical office forces, manufacturing
operatives, and so forth. (For occupational data see tables 2 and 3
and also summaries pp. 6-8.)
Women in each industry group, 1940

Women employed
Percent of all Percent
persons in the dist-riindustry group bution
11, 138, 178
25
100

Industry group

Number

All groups
Domestic, personal services
Manufacturing_ _ _.
Trade (wholesale, retail)
Professional, related services
Agriculture
Finance, insurance, real estate
Transportation, communication, other pub
lic utilities
Government
Other services:
Amusement, recreation, related services..
Business, repair
All other 1
Industry not reported_______________

2,
2,
2,
1,

875,
322,
029,
845,
485,
454,

762
252
540
128
373
300

72
22
27
56
6
31

26
21
18
17
4
4

345, 086
339, 418

11
19

3
3

79,
76,
46,
238,

20
9
2
35

1
1

279
877
897
266

(2)
2

1 Includes construction, mining, forestry, and fishing.
1 Loss than one-half of 1 percent.
Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census.
United States Summary, table 74.

Census of 1940,

Population, Vol. III.

The Labor Force.

Part 1,

IMPORTANT INDIVIDUAL INDUSTRIES

In only 3 of 23 individual industries, each of which employed over
100,000 women in 1040, did the proportion women constituted of the
work force approach two-thirds. In domestic service nearly ninetenths of the workers were women, and in educational services and in
the manufacture of apparel and clothing accessories about two-thirds
of the workers were women. In 8 other individual industries from
about half to three-fifths of the workers were women.
Individual industries employing 100,000 or more women, 1940

Women employed
Industry

Number

Domestic service
Educational services__ .______________________ ___
Medical, other health services
Apparel, accessories manufacturing
Eating, drinking places___________
General merchandise stores
Miscellaneous personal services
Hotels, lodging places
Food stores (except dairy products)
Laundering, cleaning, dyeing services
Apparel, accessories stores (except shoes)
State, local government (not elsewhere classified)___
Telephone (wire and radio)
Insurance
Cotton manufactures_____
Wholesale trade
Banking, other finance
Charitable, religious, membership organizations____
Printing, publishing, allied industries
Knit goods manufacturing
Real estate
Footwear manufacturing (except rubber)
Electrical machinery, equipment manufacturing___
Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census.
United States Summary, table 74.

Census of 1940.

Population.

2, 059, 936
1, 020, 891
593, 244
488, 807
478, 640
422, 213
313, 056
285, 900
266, 217
216, 870
208, 582
199, 625
189, 919
186, 137
183, 571
181, 847
145, 996
135, 241
129, 094
127, 263
122, 167
107, 436
101, 201
Voi. III.

Percent of all
persons in the
industry
89
65
58
67
43
59
46
52
20

49
50
24
60
36
38
15
31
35
21

59
26
43
27

The Labor Force. Part 1,

EMPLOYMENT IN FACTORIES

Figures later than those of the 1940 Census are available for one
major industry group, manufacturing, and for various individual in
dustries that compose this group. Factories employed over a fifth
of all women workers in 1940, more than are in any other industry
except domestic and personal service.
Nearly 4 million women in the United States wTere employed in
factories in 1949, according to current reports of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. About half of the 4 million were at work on apparel,
textile-mill products, or foods; together with women workers in the
electrical machinery industry, in printing and publishing, and in
leather plants, they account for nearly two-thirds of all women in
factories. The number of women in each of the various industry
groups, and the proportion women constitute of all employees in each
group, are shown in the following list. Figures include all women
employed in the factories, office as well as production workers.
Women wage and salaried workers in chief manufacturing industries, September 1949

Women in factories
Industry
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
Tobacco manufactures____________
Rubber products_______________
Products of petroleum, coal
Durable goodsi
Electrical machinery________________________
Machinery (except electrical)_________ _____
Fabricated metal products (except ordnance,
machinery, transportation equipment)
Transportation equipment______ ____________
Instruments, related products
Stone, clay, glass products________ __________
Primary metal industries____________________
Lumber, wood products (except furniture)
Furniture, fixtures______________ ____________
Ordnance, accessories_______________________
Miscellaneous manufacturing industries

Percent of all
persons in the
industry
3, 810, 200
27
Number

2, 614,
891,
523,
46G,
192,
182,
121,
108,
61,
56,
11,

900
800
100
200
100
700
400
000
400
700
500

38
75
43
27
27
46
19
24
61
27
5

1, 195, 300
251, 400
162, 800

16
34
13

154,
128,
78,
77,
57,
51,
51,
4,
177,

800
100
500
100
100
900
900
100
600

18
10
34
16
5
7
16
18
41

Source: U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

Of all factory employees in 1949, women were well oyer a fourth.
In each of the following 10 manufacturing industries they made up
from nearly one-fourth to three-fourths of the employees:
Percent
women
were of
all
workers
Instruments___________________
34
27
61 Food
Rubber
27
27
43 Printing and publishing________
34 Paper24

Percent
women
were of
all
workers
Apparel
75
Tobacco______________________
Leather
46
Textile mill products__________
Electrical machinery___________

Earlier data from the Census of Manufactures of 1947 (released
in August 1949) indicates that four-fifths of all women in factories
are production workers. The remainder are probably in factory of
fices for the most pant, and in administrative, supervisory, technical,
and sales occupations in small numbers. The proportion of employees
wTho are production workers differs markedly from industry to in
dustry. For example, over nine-tenths of the women employees in
1947 in tobacco, apparel, textile, and leather factories were produc
tion workers. On the other hand, only about half or fewer of the
women employees in printing and publishing, primary metals, and ma
chinery (except electrical) plants were engaged on production proc
esses. Data on women production and nonproduction workers in
factories in 1947 are shown in table 4.
Table 4.—Women in manufacturing industries, 1947
Women production
workers

Other 1 women workers
in factories

Total
number
of
women
in
factories

Number

All groups ----------------------------------

3,835, 200

3,094,800

740,400

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

810, 800
549, 900
402, 500
311,000
200, 700
200, 600
182, 900
178, 600
120,100
115,100
114, 400
81.400
80, 700
74,500
66, 200
59,000
5’4, 200
36, 200
196, 400

760, 500
518, 700
325, 500
255, 500
88,900
106,400
167, 800
131, 500
71, 300
95, 500
66, 200
63, 500
65, 400
72, 500
51, 700
26, 900
40, 200
25, 800
161,100

75
45
28
40
22
9
46
16
15
24
7
36
16
63
25
3
14
5
28

50,300
31, 200
77. 000
55, 500
111, 800
94,200
15,100
47,100
48, 800
19,600
48,200
17,900
15, 300
2,000
14, 500
32,100
14,000
10. 400
35, 300

6
6
19
18
56
47
8
26
41
17
42
22
19
3
22
54
26
29
18

Industry

Percent of
all produc
tion work
ers in the
industry

Number

Percent of
all women
in the
industry

i Includes administrative, supervisory, sales, technical, office, and all other personnel.
Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census. Census of Manufactures: 1947.
by Type, by Sex, and by Month. Series MC 100-7. Aug. 12, 1949.

Preliminary report: Employment

AGES OF WOMEN WORKERS

The striking development in the age distribution of women workers
is the marked increase in the number of those 35 years of age and
older. It is well known that the number of women workers in this age
group grew greatly in wartime, but less well known that it continued
to grow- in the postwar years. This continuing increase results partly
from the fact that the number of women of 35 and over in the popula
tion as a w'hole has increased, but also from the fact that larger pro
portions of the women of these ages have entered the labor force than
formerly.
The 1949 labor force included nearly 2yz million more women 35 to 54
years old than did the 1940 labor force, nearly one-third million more
girls under 20, and about one-third million fewer women 20 to 34
years old. Women aged 35 to 54 were almost three-fourths of all the
women workers added to the labor force from 1940 to 1949.
In terms of the proportion of their number in the labor force, the
greatest increase from 1940 to 1949 occurred in the group of women
45 to 64 years of age. When the war demand for workers arose, these
women 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 they v'ere in a position to enter the labor
force to a larger extent than were the 20- to 34-year olds.
Table 5.—Changes in number of women workers in each age group, 1940 to 1949

Age group

All groups__ _______ __________
14-19_________________ _____________
20-24________________________________
25-34________________________________
35-44.............. ...........................
45-54____________________................
55-64_____________________
65 and over___________ ________

Number of women
workers
1940

1949

13,840,000

17,167, 000

1, 460,000
2, 820,000
1 3,840, 000
1 2, 660, 000
1, 830,000
920,000
310, 000

1,767, 000
2,484, 000
3, 880,000
3, 898, 000
3, 027, 000
1, 605,000
509,000

Change, 1940 to 1949
Number

Percent
+24

+307,000
-336,000
+40, 000
+685, 000

+21
+1
+47
+65
+75
+64

i Census adjusted figures did not break down the 25-44 age group into 25-34 and 35-44 age groups: figures
here are a distribution based on the breakdown reported in earlier Census unadjusted figures.
Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census reports.

Women 20 to 34 years old were nearly half the female labor force in
1940 but were less than two-fifths of it in 1949. On the other hand,
the proportion who were 35 to 54 years old increased from less than a

third in 1940 to over two-fifths in 1949. Both in 1940 and 1949 about
a tenth of the women workers were under 20, and in 1949 a somewhat
larger proportion than this were 55 or older.
Women of all ages except those 20 to 34 were participating in the
labor force to a greater extent in 1949 than in 1950; particularly great
increases in labor force participation are found among those 35 to 54,
and among girls under 20. In most age groups, the proportions of the
women who were at work in 1949 were smaller than they had been at
the war peak but larger than before the war. In the 20- to 34-age
groups, however, the proportion at work in 1949 was smaller than in
the prewar period; and in the small group 65 and over, the proportion
at work was as great as during the war. Many of the women of 20 to
34 had delayed marriage or had remained at work until husbands re
turned from the services, and in the postwar period they desired to
give their full time to household and family affairs rather than to
paid employment.
Table 6.—Age groupings of women workers before, during, and after World War II
Percent of all women in each
age group who were workers

Percent distribution of women
■ workers

Age group
1940
All groups-----------------------14-19
20-24_______ ______ _______________
25-34
35-44________ _____ _______________
45-54______ _______ ____ ____ ______
55-64__________________ ___________
65 and over___........................................_

1947

1949

1940

1945

1947

1949

100

20
48
35
29
24
18
7

40
56
41
41
37
27
9

28
44
31
36
33
23
8

28
42
33
37
35
24
9

11
20
28
19
13
7
2

14
17
23
20
15
8
3

11
17
22
22
16
9
3

10
14
23
23
18
9
3

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census reports.

1945

MARITAL STATUS OF WOMEN WORKERS
WOMEN OF EACH MARITAL STATUS GROUP WHO ARE WORKERS

In 1949 over half the single women in this country were in the labor
force, as were more than a third of the widowed and divorced women,
and nearly a fourth of the married women.
MARITAL STATUS OF ALL WOMEN AND OF WOMEN WORKERS

Single women constituted 20 percent of the woman population in
1949 but were 33 percent of the women in the labor force. Married
women were 66 percent of the adult female population and 51 percent
of the women in the labor force. Widows and divorced women were
14 percent of the woman population, 16 percent of the female labor
force.
Table 7.

Changes in number and distribution of women in each marital status group, in
population and in labor force, 1940 to 1949
Number of women
Marital status

Percent
change,
1940 to
1949

Percent distribution

1940

1949

50,140,000

56,001,000

+12

100

Single....................... ............................... .................. 13, 733, 000
Married________ ... __
...
29, 973,000
Widowed and divorced_________________
6, 434,000

11,174, 000
37, 013, 000
7, 815, 000

-19
+23
+21

27
60
13

20
66
14

13, 840, 000

17,167,000

+24

100

6, 710, 000
5,040,000
2,090, 000

5, 682, 000
8, 739, 000
2, 746,000

-15
+73
+31

49
36
15

33
51
16

1940

1949

Population
All groups_______ _________________

Labor Force
All groups....................................................
Single..
___ ______________________
Married. _ .. ____ ________ ______
Widowed and divor led._____ _ ...

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census reports.

MARITAL STATUS IN WARTIME AND POSTWAR PERIODS

About half the nearly 14 million single women and a sixth of the
nearly 30 million married women were already in employment in
1940, before the war.
.
During the war great pressure was exerted to bring additional num
bers of women into the labor force. At the same time, the number of
married women in the population was increasing markedly, the num
ber 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
889859”—50

-4

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 49 percent in 1940 to 55 percent during the war (1944)
and the proportion of the married women who were workers, from
17 to 23 percent. In view of the far greater number of married women
in the population, theirs was a much more significant numerical
increase. (See table 8.)
Table 8.—Marital status of women workers before, during, and after World War II

Marital status

Percent of all women of each
marital status who were
workers
1940

All groups______________ ____
Single__________________ ________
Married
Widowed and divorced. -------------

1944

1947

1949

Percent distribution of women
workers
1940

1944

1947

1949

100

49
17
33

55
23
32

52
22
36

51
24
35

49
36
15

43
44
13

38
46
16

33
51
16

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census reports.

In the postwar period, as compared with the war period, a smaller
proportion both of the single and of the married women, and a larger
proportion of the widowed and divorced, were in the labor force.
(The last-mentioned group, of course, would include those widowed
during the war.) However, the labor force participation of each
marital status group was greater after than before the war.
The 1949 increase over 1940 in the number of married women in the
population was 23 percent, but in the labor force was much greater—
73 percent. The number of single women declined 19 percent in the
population but only 15 percent in the labor force.
WORKING COUPLES

The number of married couples in the population has increased
greatly since the prewar period, and many more couples than formerly
have both spouses 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 over 33 million in 1949. Of these couples, the pro
portion with both spouses in the labor force increased from 10 percent
(almost 3 million couples) in 1940 to 20 percent (over 6% million
couples) in 1949. Actually, more than 7 million couples had both
spouses in the labor force in 1949; but for about % million of these
couples the husband was not the family head (as, for example, among
young couples living with parents).
16

MOTHERS IN THE LABOR FORCE

The exact number of working women responsible for 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 probably is considerable, especially since the war, and includes
both married and single women.
Census data for 1949, presented in the summary below, show that
of 44% million women in the population who ever have been married,
somewhat over half had no children of their own who were under 18
years of age. The remainder, nearly 2iys million women, had own
children under 18, and 12y2 million of these had children under 6
years of age.
Of the 44% million women ever married, nearly liy2 million were
in the labor force. Of these, over 7 million had no own children under
18, and 4y3 million had children under 18.
The iy3 million mothers (with children under 18) who were in the
labor force were:
Less than 1 in 10 of all women ever married in the population.
Somewhat more than 1 in 3 of all working women ever married.
About 1 in 4 of all women workers.
Labor force participation of women ever married, by whether or not having own children
under 18, 1949

Percent
Status as to children

Number of women in—
-------------------------------------Population Labor force
All women.............................................. 56, 001, 000 17, 167, 000
Women ever married _ __
__ _ _
With no children under 18
__ _
Total with own children under 18
With children 6-17 only.
With children under 6 _ .
With children both 6-17 and
under 6.__
With children under 6 only____
Source: TJ. S. Bureau of the Census.
Apr. 19, 1950. Tables 3 and 4.

44,
23,
21.
8,
12,

828,
520,
308,
816,
492,

000
000
000
000
000

5, 498, 000
6, 994, 000

11,
7.
4,
2,
1,

485,
152,
333,
710,
623,

labor
force
31

000
000
000
000
000

26
30
20
31
13

760, 000
862, 000

14
12

Current Population Reports, Labor Force.

Series P-50, No. 22,

Mothers of 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). Similarly, mothers of children of elementary school
age (6 to 11 years) do not as readily accept jobs as mothers of older
children (12 to 17 years). These statements, as well as the discus
sion which follows, relate to mothers living in the same households
with their husbands.

In 1949 only about 10 percent of all women living with their hus
bands who had children of preschool age but none of school age were
in the labor force. In contrast, about 27 percent of those with chil
dren of school age but none of preschool age were working mothers.
Mothers whose children were all of elementary school age (6 to
11 years) were members of the labor force in about 25 percent of the
cases. This percentage rose to 31 among those whose children were
all beyond elementary school age (12 to 17 years). Mothers of older
children, in fact, were just as likely to be workers as married women
with no children under 18. This fact, however, does not necessarily
mean that the presence of children of beyond elementary school age
has no etfect on the labor force participation of the mother. Women
without children under 18 may be concentrated to a larger extent than
those with children 12 to 17 years of age in the older age groups
where labor force participation tends to decline for other reasons.
Mothers of preschool-age children were more likely to be in the
labor force if older children were also present. Further, it is likely
that labor force participation of mothers with preschool-age children
is significantly greater only if the other children in the household are
all children who are beyond elementary school age.
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 18 percent were in the
labor force, but of those with husbands absent 51 percent had gone
to work. Where all children were under school age, only 10 percent of
the mothers were in the labor force if the husband was at home, but
half those whose husbands were absent had to work.
.
Labor force participation of women ever married, by presence or absence of husband,

1949
Percent of women in labor force
Total

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 both 6-17 and under 6___
With children under 6 only
_
Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census.
Apr. 19, 1950. Table 4.

26
30
20
31
14
12

Widowed or
With
husband with husband
absent
present
37
23
29
18
27
12
10

Current Population Reports, Labor Force.

34
51
57
39
47

Series P-50, No. 22,

WOMEN AS HEADS OF FAMILIES

In sharp contrast to the popularly envisioned picture of the “aver
age” family, consisting of father, mother, and children, stands the
18

fact that in 1949, a woman was the head of about 3% 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, hand
in hand with the return home of men from the war and the continuing
increases in numbers of married women in the population, there was
a decline in the extent to which women headed the family. In 1949
women were about a tenth of all family heads—a smaller proportion
than in 1940. In 1949, also, 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.
Not all family heads, be they men or women, are in the labor force.
In 1949, about 45 percent of the women family heads wTere in the labor
force, most of them undoubtedly working not only for their own sup
port but also toward the family’s maintenance.
Evidence of women’s monetary contribution to keeping up family
living levels lies in the fact that, among families with incomes below
$2,000 in 1948, only about a third of the women heads were earners
in 1949, while among those with incomes of $3,000 or more, nearly half
the women heads worked and thus helped materially to increase the
family income. (For further data on women’s financial contribution
to the family, see III, Economic Besponsibilities of Women Workers,
pp. 41 to 44.)
The most recent report as to children in families headed by a woman
gives data for 1946. It shows that nearly a tenth of the women family
heads were in the labor force and had preschool children (not neces
sarily their own) in their homes. Thus about (4 million women may
be workers who are the heads of families and are responsible for young
children.
-

19,

PROPORTION OF ALL WORKERS WHO ARE WOMEN

1870-1949
PERCENT

1949

1947

26.2

.-,4

;'*•

27.6

1945

1940

25.4

1930

22.0

1920

20.4

1910

1900

18.3

1890

1880

J870?

. .■

SOURCE: U.S. BUREAU OF THE CENSUS

SELECTED REFERENCES TO BASIC DATA ON EMPLOYMENT
OF WOMEN2
1. U. S. BUREAU OF THE CENSUS:

a. 16th Census, 1940. Population. Vol.III. Labor Force. Parti,
United States Summary. Tables 58 and 74.
b. Current Population Reports, Labor Force. Series P-50. Also
current monthly reports on labor force (Series P-57), and on popula
tion characteristics (Series P-20).
c. Census of Manufactures, 1947. Preliminary Report: Employ
ment by Type, by Sex, and by Month. Series MC 100-7, Aug. 12,1949.
2. JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE ECONOMIC REPORT:

Low-Income Families and Economic Stability. Materials on the
Problem of Low-Income Families Assembled by the Staff of the Sub
committee on Low-Income Families. Eighty-first Congress, First
Session, Joint Committee Print, 1949.
3. WOMEN’S BUREAU:

a. Special Bull. No. 20. Changes in Women’s Employment During
the War. 1944.
b. Bull. No. 211. Employment of Women in the Early Postwar
Period. 1946.
c. Bull. No. 218. Women’s Occupations Through Seven Decades.
1947.
4. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS:

a. Monthly Labor Review, August 1947. Recent Occupational
Trends in the United States.
b. Monthly Labor Review, December 1947. Labor Force Changes
and Employment Outlook—Women Workers and Recent Economic
Change.
c. Women in Factories, October 1939-May 1947. (Mimeograph.)
d. Employment and Payrolls, Detailed Report, October 1949. By
sex; quarterly, for September, December, March, June, beginning
September 1949.
.
.
2 See also X. American Women—A Selected Bibliography of Basic Sources, pp. 78 to 88.

II
WAGES, SALARIES, AND INCOME

INTRODUCTION

FACTORS INFLUENCING WAGES AND SALARIES

Skill requirements and economic conditions.—Workers are employed
in many different industries and occupations in which the types of
skills required vary widely. These factors in themselves cause wages
or salaries to vary widely and explain why no average figure will give
a very representative idea of the current earnings or the wage or salary
rates of all workers.
Of course general economic conditions have the most powerful effect
on the wage and salary levels of workers. Additional factors that
affect the levels of wages and salaries include differences in season of
the year or locality in which the work is done.
The figures that most accurately show earnings or standards of
wages and salaries are those that apply to particular occupations or
industries and that take full account of various other features in given
wage situations. Reports that show women’s wages separately from
men’s are, however, few. Those that are available often show an
average wage, which hides the many variations that exist and their
causes, and which fails to throw light on numerous other points nec
essary to a full understanding of the true wage situation.
Pay rate, time worked, and earnings.—Many wage and salary reports
show the rate of pay for a given period, say a week, of a specified num
ber 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 earn
ings 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, em
ployed 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
22

by the number of hours worked, which of course is less than the rate
for the full weekly schedule.
Pay by piecework and bonus.—Many factory and some white-collar
workers are paid, not by the time worked, but by piece rates, that is,
according to the number of items processed or tasks completed. In
such cases, the same employee’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 incen
tive 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, but the actual amount in the worker’s
pay envelope or check often 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.
HOW WAGES AND SALARIES ARE REPORTED

Reports on wages and salaries ordinarily show the average1 rates
or earnings (whether hourly, weekly, or monthly) for a group of
workers in a given industry or occupation. A more complete knowl
edge of the wage situation of such a group is given when the single
figure showing the average wage or salary is supplemented by a dis
tribution showing what proportions of the workers receive various
amounts (in higher, lower, or middle ranges). However, such infor
mation ordinarily cannot be collected and reported at frequent inter
vals because of the size and cost of the undertaking; hence the infor
mation usually is available only when a special survey is made to collect
data that can be tabulated more completely.
The discussion here will be followed by several tables showing the
earnings of women employed in some of the more important industries
and occupations. The figures are taken from the most recent sources
of such data known to be available.
1 Reference is to the arithmetic average, which is well understood, by most people; and
to the average known as the median, which seems to tell more for individuals in the group :
one-half the workers receive more and one-half less than the median. In the present report,
the average most frequently shown is the median.
880259°—50-

-5

CENSUS REPORTS ON WOMEN’S INCOME AND EARNINGS
SOURCES OF WOMEN'S INCOME

In the last years of the war and early in the postwar period the
Bureau of the Census reported on the income of civilians, whether from
wages and salaries, from self-employment in a business or profession,
or from other sources such as pensions, dividends, etc. The latest
census survey of this type was made for 1948. The report on the survey,
issued February 14,1950, shows that about 41 percent of the women in
the civilian population, compared to approximately 90 percent of the
men, had income. (Reference here and throughout the discussion on
income is to money income.) Nearly TO percent of the women who
had income had none except from their own wages or salaries, 5 percent
had none except from self-employment, and nearly 20 percent, none
except income from other than earnings. About 7 percent had income
from more than one source.
For all women with income, the median was only a little over $1,000;
that of men was about 2y3 times as high. Median income was greatest
for women who had wages or salaries and some other income besides,
but this group included only 5 percent of all women with income. For
further details, see table 1 .
Table 1.—Sources of income, 1948
Median income
Source of income

Women

Men
Women

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

22, 725,000

47,370,000

Men

$1, 009

$2,396

1,216
1,679
871
1,310
0)
609
o

2,541
2,715
2,334
2,491
2,010
813
2,538

Percent distribution
With wage or salary but no other income_________ _____ ..
With wage or salary and income other than earnings
Self employed with no other income______ ____ __________
Self employed with income other than earnings___________
With wage or salary and self-employment income..
(2)

69
5
5
1
1
19

62
10
14
3
3
7
1

1 Median not shown where there were fewer than 100 cases in the sample reporting on income.
2 Less than half of 1 percent.
Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Reports, Consumer Income. Series P-60,
No. 6, Feb. 14, 1950. Table 16.

WOMEN’S INCOME, 1948

The following summary shows ranges of income of all women who
had income in 1948, as well as ranges of income derived by women
from wages or salaries, from self-employment, and from sources other
than earnings. Seven percent of all women who had income derived
it from more than one source. Medians of income from wages and
salaries, self-employment, and income other than earnings were re
spectively $1,189, $756, and $556.
The year’s income from the specified source amounted to less than
$500 for one-fourth of the women with wage and salary income, for
over two-fifths of the women with self-employment income, and for
over two-fifths of those with income other than earnings. As much
as $2,000 was received from the specified source by one-fourth of the
women reporting wage and salary income and by a similar proportion
of those with income from self-employment, but by only 6 percent of
those with income other than earnings. Self-employment earnings of
$3,000 and over were reported for a tenth of the women with such
income.
Women’s income, 1948

Year’s income

All women
with income

Number _

* 22, 725, 000

Under $500_________
$500, under $1,000 _
$1,000, under $2,000_
$2,000, under $3,000$3,000 or over______

Median income_____

$1, 009

28
17
5

Women who derived income from—
Sources
Wage or
Self-em
salary
ployment other than
earnings
16, 969, 000 1, 497, 000 5, 675, 000
Percent distribution
27
42
17
15
31
20
20

46
33
15
3
3

$1, 189

$756

$556

1 Horizontal details exceed total because about 7 percent of all women with income had income from
more than one source.
Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Reports, Consumer Income. Series P-60,
No. 6, Feb. 14, 1950. Tables 15 and 20.

EMPLOYED WOMEN’S INCOME. BY CHIEF OCCUPATION GROUPS, 1948

The median income of employed women was highest for profes
sional workers, who constituted only about 8 percent of all employed
women with income. Next high medians were those of the clerical
workers and proprietors, managers, and officials. From 16 to 22
percent of the women in these three groups had incomes below $1,000
in the year; as much as $3,000 (or more) was received by only 8 per
cent in the clerical and roughly a fifth in the other two occupation
groups. Medians were lowest for domestic service workers and for
the relatively small group of women farmers and farm managers.

Table 2 shows further details as to the income of women in the various
occupation groups.
Table 2.—Employed women’s income in 1948, by occupation group in 1949

Occupation group

Number of
employed
women
with in
come

Percent with income—
Median
in
come

Total

Un $500, $1,000, $2,000, $3,000
der under under under and
$500 $1,000 $2,000 $3,000 over

13,940,000 $1,522

100

1,944
1,590
1,052
425
2,191
1,208
1,941
743

100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100

6
9
19
59
8
24
11
35

10
15
28
27
10
16
11
31

37
49
40
13
25
44
29
19

39
25
11
1
36
14
26
12

8
2
2

4,173,000
2,990, 000
1,665, 000
1, 404, 000
1,146, 000
1,097, 000
745, 000
196, 000
2 524,000

21
2
23
4

1 Less than one-half of 1 percent.
2 Includes groups too small to report median and percent: Scmiprofessional, farm laborers, other laborers,
and craftsmen.
Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Reports, Consumer Income. . Series P-60,
No. 6, Feb. 14, 1950. Table 14.

WOMEN’S INCOME, BY AGE GROUP AND BY RACE, 1948

About two-thirds of the women with income were from 20 to 54
years of age. Median income of the women in each age group between
these ages was over $1,300 a year and was highest for women in the
group aged 25 to 34. Each successive older age group experienced a
decline, that was sharpest for the groups aged 55 to 64 and 65 and
over. It is not surprising, however, that girls under 20 had the low
est median income of all.
The median income of non white women was less than half the
median income of all women in each age group except the group of
very young and the groups of older women. Median earnings of all
women in the youngest and in the older age groups were already so
low that a great difference in the median for all women and for non
white women was hardly possible. The income decline for nonwhite
women began at a later age span than for all women—not until the
45-54 age group was reached.
Men’s median income was well above women’s in every age group
except that of young boys and girls (under 20). In the age groups
25 to 54 men’s median was twice as high as women’s. Nor did the
income of men (both all men and nonwliite men) decline at so early
an age span as women’s—not until the age group 45-54 was reached.
In most age groups, the median income of nonwhite men, though far
below all men’s, was not so far below as nonwhite women’s income was
below all women’s. Table 3 below gives further details.
26

Table 3.—Medium income of women and men, total and nonwhite, by age, 1948
Median income of—
Number of
women
with
income

Age group

Women
Total

Total............. ........................................
14 to 19________________________
20 to 24________ ___________
25 to 34__________________ _
35 to 44_____________
...____
45 to 54 _ ______ ______________
55 to 64---------------------------------------65 and over____________________
• U. S. Bureau of the Census.
Hon. 14. Iwofl. rPnnlA 14

Men

Nonwhite

Total

Nonwhite

22,725,000

$1,009

$492

$2, 396

$1,363

2,086,000
3,011.000
4, 644. 000
4, 304, 000
3,376, 000
2,452, 000
2,853, 000

479
1,319
1.349
1,333
1,310
857
589

307
615
606
640
546
474
338

449
1,849
2,724
3, 046
2, 828
2,412
998

402
1, 254
1,655
1,874
1,585
1,275
571

Current Population Reports, Consumer Income.

Series P-60, No.

CHANGES IN WOMEN’S INCOME OVER FOUR YEARS

Women’s median income in 1948 was somewhat less than in 1947,
.though it was over a tenth above that of the war year, 1944. Men’s
income, however, was greater in 1948 than in 1947, and had also in
creased more than women’s over the war year, 1944. Some advance
in income for women in 1948 is indicated by the fact that, while
nearly 80 percent of all women with income received less than $2,000,
a slightly larger proportion than formerly received $2,000 or more.
Further details are shown in table 4.
Table 4.—Income of women and men in various years
1944

1945

1947

1948

Year’s income

Percent earning all amounts..
Under $500___ _______
$500, under $1,000______
$1,000, under $2,000
$2,000, under $3,000....
$3,000 and over________
Median income___ ..

Women

Men

Women

100
31
24
32
10
3
$909

100
13
12
23
26
26
$2,048

100
31
24
33
10
2
$901

No?6^FebUi4Si960lreT1ablfet17e 0ensus'

Men

Women

Men

Women

100
12
16
26
24
22
$1,811

100
30
19
32
14
5
$1,017

100
10
11
22
26
31
$2, 230

100
29
21
28
17
5
$1,009

Current Population Reports, Consumer Income.

Men
100
10
10
19
25
36
$2, 396

Series P-60,

REPORTS ON EARNiNGS OF WOMEN FACTORY PRODUCTION
WORKERS

CURRENT REPORTING

Tlie labor departments of two States issue current reports on the
earnings of women production workers in factories. These reports
are based on a sample for each industry included. Table 5 shows
weekly earnings from these sources for the years 1938 through 1949.
The Illinois Department of Labor reports by sex the averages of
both weekly and hourly earnings in all the principal manufacturing
industries in the State. Illinois also reports by sex the average hours
worked in a week. Table 6 shows these averages for a late month
in 1949 for industries employing large numbers of women.
The New York State Department of Labor reports average weekly
earnings of women and men in the major groups of manufacturing
industries and of women in laundries, as well as the proportions
women constitute of all workers in each industry. The summary on
page 30 shows these figures for a late month in 1949 for industries
in which women constituted 20 percent or more of the labor force.
The National Industrial Conference Board, an organization of large
manufacturers, reported earnings of women and men in some 25
manufacturing industries but discontinued the break-down by sex
after July 1948. Table 5 includes reports from this agency.
EARNINGS OF WOMEN IN MANUFACTURING, 1938-49

The average weekly earnings of women manufacturing workers
have much more than doubled over the past 12 years, according to the
few available regularly reporting sources. However, in considering
this apparently large advance, it must be remembered that, as many
studies repeatedly show, women’s earnings in relation to their ex
penses have tended to remain low.
If the significance to women of the increase in earnings were to be
adequately evaluated, it would be necessary to know the extent to which
costs of goods and services have increased over this period—a difficult
thing to determine accurately.
Every year has shown some advance in average earnings of women.
As would be expected, the greatest dollar increases were made during
the war years, notably in 1943; and another peak occurred in 1947.
It should, of course, be remembered that these were periods of great
increases in living costs.
23

Table 5.—Average weekly earnings of women and men production workers in manufac
turing industries reported by the National Industrial Conference Board, Illinois, and New
York State, 1938-49
[Averages for the year]
Average weekly earnings reported by—
N. I. C. B.

Illinois

New York

Year
Men
Women

Women

Men

Women

Men

All men Unskilled
1938.
1939.
1940.
1941.
1942.
1943.
1944.
1945.
1946.
1947.
1948.
1949.

$15. 69
17.02
17. 43
20. 29
23. 9(5
28. 82
31.19
32.20
34.13
38. 97
3 41.86
(*)

$26. 07
28. 97
30. 64
36.16
43. 43
51. 65
54. 60
53. 59
50. 65
57. 73
2 60. 99
w

$20.67
22. 81
23. 88
28.17
33. 48
38.89
41.06
41.14
40.81
46. 77
3 49.88
(*)

$15. 61
16.66
17. 06
19.18
22. 58
28. 31
32. 79
33. 20
34. 48
39.18
42.41
43. 39

$27.48
29.45
30. 33
34. 58
41.25
49. 34
54. 39
53. 51
52. 45
58. 98
63.42
63. 49

$16.57
i 17. 52
c2)
m
23. 53
30. 33
33.46
34.14
36. 56
39. 60
42. 08
41. 74

$29. 71
1 30. 49
(?)
«
44. 72
52. 86
56.16
55. 79
55. 51
60.34
64. 45
65. 01

1 Figures are for 5 months only.
2 Wages were not reported by sex in 1940 and 1941.
2 Average for 7 months. Reporting by sex was discontinued after July 1948
4 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 shows:
Year
1938...............
1948_________________

Percent men's average weekly earnings
were above women’s in reports from—
NICE
66
146

Illinois
76
50

New York
79
53

1 Average lor 7 months only.

Earnings of women production workers in Illinois, 7949.—Earnings
of women factory production workers reported in Illinois in November
1949 averaged $1.16 an hour and $43.84 a week. Averages for a
week’s work were above $40 in 9 and below $35 in 3 of the 14 manu
facturing industries reported.
Men’s average hourly earnings in all manufacturing industries
combined were considerably more than one-third above women’s. In
all but one of the industries reporting hourly earnings, men averaged
at least 30 cents an hour more than women; in two, more than 80
cents. Since, in addition, men worked at least 2 hours longer in the
week than women in most industries, men’s average weekly earnings
v ere fai above women’s. Men worked more than 5 hours a week
longer than women in the confectionery, paper box, textile, and men’s
furnishings industries, and in the first three of these men’s hourly
averages were 35 cents an hour or more above women’s.

Table 6.—Average weekly earnings, average hourly earnings, and average weekly hours
Worked, of women and men production workers in all and in selected manufacturing
industries or industry groups in Illinois, November 1949
Average weekly
earnings of—

Average hourly Average weekly
earnings of— hours worked by—

Industry or industry group
Women

Men

Women

$43.84
49.14
49. 09
47. 24
44. 64
42. 50
41.63
40.64
40. 27
39. 94
39. 25
37.20
31.30
30. 38
29.35

$63.25
91.20
66.16
64.55
67.11
61.75
65.63
62.19
55.28
55. 71
(2)
54.96
49. 06
60. 30
49.89

$1.16
1.36
1.24
1.22
1.13
1.08
1.05
1.09
1.05
1.03
1.08
1.05
.89
.90
1.12

Men
$1.59
2. 25
1.63
1.52
1.48
1.53
1.46
1.45
1.37
1.37
(2)
1.44
1.18
1. 73
1.70

Men

Women

39.8
40.6
40.5
42.5
45.7
40.3
44.8
43.3
40.5
40.7
<!)
38.1
41.1
34.9
30.9

37.9
36.2
39.6
38.8
40.3
39.3
39.5
37.5
38.3
38.8
36.7
35.4
35.2
33.7
28.0

i Includes other reported industries that employ relatively few women.
3 Not reported for men.
Source: Illinois Department of Labor. The Illinois Labor Bulletin, January-February, 1950.

Earnings of women production workers in New York State, 1949.—

Earnings of the women factory production workers reported by New
York State for a week in November 1949 averaged $41.21. Averages
were above $40 a week for women in 6 of 13 industries (those in which
women constituted at least a fifth of the labor force) and below $35
a week in 3 (leather, tobacco, and laundries).
Average weekly earnings of women and men production workers in selected industries or
industry groups in New York State, November 1949

Industry or industry group

Average weekly
earnings of—
Women
Men

Women as
workers 1

All manufacturing 2______________ _____
Instruments, photographic and optical goods;
watches, clocks
Electrical machinery, equipment, supplies-------Chemicals, allied products----------------------------Stone, clay, glass products----------------------------Apparel, other finished fabric products-----------Printing, publishing, allied products---------------Rubber products------------------------------------------Paper, allied products-----------------------------------Textile-mill products---------------- --------------------Food, kindred products---------------------------------Tobacco manufactures
Leather, leather products

$41. 21

$65. 01

48. 44
43. 83
43. 01
42. 81
42. 08
40. 01
39. 83
39. 62
39. 59
38. 48
34. 56
33. 52

65. 95
62. 69
66. 14
63. 42
75. 10
81. 61
61. 95
61. 36
58. 77
62. 77
45. 85
51. 80

27
31
25
21
60
30
29
28
43
28
55
45

Laundries 3

32. 43

(4)

i Employment data by sex relate to all wage and salary workers, but earnings cover only production
workers.
3 Includes industries other than those shown here in which women were less than 20 percent of
all employees.
3 Only nonmanufacturing industry in which women’s wages were reported separately.
* Not reported.
Source: New York State’Department of Labor. Labor Market Review, December 1949.

Average earnings for men in all manufacturing industries combined
were about 58 percent above women’s. In one industry (printing and
publishing) men’s average earnings were more than double women’s;
and in this and six other industries listed, men’s average for the
week was more than $20 above women’s.

REPORTS ON 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 pro
fessional, technical, clerical, and sales occupations), no monthly re
ports on women’s earnings exist. A few agencies report clerical earn
ings annually and special reports show office workers’ earnings, but
not all give separate data for women.
Occasionally the earnings of women in some particular “whitecollar occupation are reported in a special study made by some pro
fessional group for its own membership, or by a research organization,
a college alumnae association, a women’s organization, or the like.
Some of these may show earnings only in a few localities. Those for
teachers or librarians, for example, are likely to show current salary
scales for various cities and to be further limited by the facts that
salary scales may apply alike to women and men and may not show
how many persons receive the amounts cited.
EARNINGS OF CLERICAL WORKERS

lhe reports of the Bureau of Labor Statistics on office workers’
occupations in various large cities in the country are a major source
of data on salaries of women clerical workers; and 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 indus
tries covered in its monthly wage surveys. Beports 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, 1949.—Me
dian weekly salaries of women office workers reported by the Bureau
of Labor Statistics have been tabulated by the Women’s Bureau for
17 large cities. The general stenographer, clerk-typist,, and account
ing clerk groups usually contain especially large numbers of women.
Occupations in which the week’s pay averaged highest were those
of hand bookkeeper, technical stenographer, and class A bookkeepingmachine operator; in most cities these occupations employed relatively
S898590—50

-G

Table 7.—Median weekly salaries of women in selected office occupations in 17 large cities, 1949

hO
Median weekly salaries in—

Occupation
Atlanta

Billers, machine (billing machine).......................................................
Billers, machine (bookkeeping machine)______________
Bookkeepers, hand................................................................................
Bookkeeping machine operators, class A--------------------------------Bookkeeping machine operators, class B................. ...........................
Calculating machine operators (comptometer type)------------------Calculating machine operators (other than comptometer type)----Clerks, accounting------------ ------ -----------------------------------------Clerks, file, class A____________________________________ _______
Clerks, file, class B_.----- ---------- -----------------------------------------Clerks, general-----------------------------------------------------------------Clerks, order------------------------------------------------------ -------------Clerks, payroll. ............................... ....................-........ ........ ........ ......
Clerk-typists--------- ----------------------------------------------------------Office girls-------------------- ---------------------------------------------------Stenographers, general------------------------------------- ------ -............. Stenographers, technical
Switchboard operators----------- ----------------------------- --------------Switchboard operator-receptionists---------------------------------------Transcribing machine operators, general---------------------------------Typists, class A----------------------------------------------------------------Typists, class B.......................... —......................................................

$37. 50
35.00
49.00
43. 50
36.50
40.50
40. 50
39.00
37.00
32.00
40. 00
42.00
40.00
37.00
32.00
42.50
42.50
37.00
37. 00
40.50
40.00
34.00

Boston

$35.00
34.00
46.00
48.00
37.00
36.00
36.00
37.00
39.50
29.00
45.50
39. 00
40.00
32. 50
30. 50
38.00
45. 50
38.00
37.00
35. 50
41.00
31.00

Chicago

$44. 00
42.50
53. 00
50.00
44.00
46.00
43.00
44.50
42. 50
36.00
47. 00
42. 50
49.00
40.00
34.50
47.00
54.00
43.50
44.00
45.00
45.00
40.50

Cincinnati

Cleveland

$37.00
37.00
55.00
49. 50
35.00
37. 50
34.50
40. 00
38.00
29.50
45.00
34.00
42.00
33.50
28.50
40.00

$41.00
42. 50
56.00
49.50
41.50
42.50
46.00
44.00
43.50
33.50
49. 50
49. 50
49. 00
40.50
34.00
46.00
52.50
42. 50
42.00
44.00
42.50
39.00

38.00
37. 50
37.00
41.00
32.00

Dallas

$40.00
40. 50
46.00
48.50
38.00
42. 50

36.00
44.00
48.00
39.50
37. 50
35.50
33.50

Hartford

$40.50
50.00
44.00
35. 50
40.50
42.00
44.00
32.00
48.00
39.00
43. 50
36.00
32.00
42.00
54. 50
38. 50
39.50
38.00
44. 00
34.00

Los Angeles

$44.00
45.00
60.00
52.00
43. 50
49. 50
46.00
47. 50
41.50
35.00
46.00
49. .50
50.00
42.00
38.00
48.00
54.00
47.00
46.00
42. 50
39.00
38.00

MinncapolisSt. Paul
$37.00
34.00
46.00
46.00
37.00
38.00
37.00
39. 50
39.00
31.00
42. 50
39. 50
41.00
34.50
29.00
40.50
46.00
37.00
37.00
37.00
38.00
32.00

Median weekly salaries in
Occupation
New
Orleans
Billers, machine (billing machine)___
Billers, machine (bookkeeping machine) _
Bookkeepers, hand____
Bookkeeping machine operators, class A. _
Bookkeeping machine operators, class B-_
Calculating machine operators (comptometer type)
Calculating machine operators (other than comptometer type) _
Clerks, accounting.. ..._______
Clerks, file, class A '______
Clerks, file, class B__
Clerks, general_______
Clerks, order........ .
C lerks, payroll____________
Clerk-typists______ _____ _
Office girls______
Stenographers, general- ______
Stenographers, technical _____
Switchboard operators-_
Switchboard operator-receptionists.
Transcribing machine operators, general___
Typists, class A____________
Typists, class B___ ___
Source: U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

CO
CO

$34.50

44.50
37.00
35. 50
35. 50
33. 50
36.00
31.50
29.00
30.' 50
36.50
25. 50
39. 50
55 00
35.50
32. 00
35.00
34. 00
30.00

New York

Philadel
phia

Portland,
Oreg.

Richmond

St. Louis

$42.00
48.00
60.00
50.00
42.00
45.00
40.50
43. 50

$40.00
38.50

$42.00

$39.00

$38.00

$41.50

50.00

46.00
46.00
38.00
42.00
36. 50
40.00
39.00
31.00
38.00
42.00
41.00
35.00
30.00
40. 50
42. 50
39. 00
36.00
38.00

53.00
46. 50
40.50
43.50
41. 50
43.50
48.00
34. 50
45. 50
43. 50
48. 50
39.00
34. 50
46.00
53.00
42.50
41.50
40. 50
41.50
38.00

43.00
34.50
41.00
38.00

45.00
40. 50

33.00
42.00
46.50
45.00
51.00
45.00
44.00
44.50
42.00
35.50

39.00
46.00
38.00
39.00
37.00
32l 50

34.50
40.00
37.00
30.00
37.00
38.00
43.50
42. 50

44.00
37.00

08. 00

37.00
37.50
34.00

Bull. No. 960, Salaries of Office Workers in Large Cities, 1949, Pts. I-IV, 1949, 1950.

34.00

Seattle

Washing
ton, D. C.
$40.00
47.00
57.50
40. 50
45.00
40.00
46.00
46.00
36.00
46.00
36.50
45.00
38.00
33.50
48.00
52.00
40.00
40.00
43.00
44.00
37.00

Percent
highest
median is
above
lowest
28
41
35
41
28
37
32
52
24
38
46
37
35
49
26
29
32
44
29
32
35

few women. In some cities general clerks (a relatively large group)
also had average pay nearly as high. Lowest median salaries (except
those paid office girls in some cities) were those paid class B file clerks
and class B typists, two groups that were among the larger groups
of women office workers. Clerk-typists also received relatively low
pay.
.
#
Occupations which showed the widest variation from city to city
in median week’s earnings were those of class A file clerk, office girl,
and order clerk, whose duties might differ greatly from place to
place. Least variations among cities occurred in the week’s medians
for class B file clerks and general stenographers.
Among the cities here tabulated, the highest median wage for an
occupation was sometimes reported for more than one city and the
lowest for more than one city; Los Angeles paid the highest in the
greatest number of instances (12), and New Orleans paid the lowest in
the greatest number (18).
Earnings of women in New York factory offices, 1940—49.—The
weekly earnings of women in the offices of New York State factories
averaged $45.42 in October 1949, according to the report on such
earnings made annually by the New York State Department of Labor.
The women clerical workers were averaging nearly $3 a week more
than women production workers in these factories; however, in the
same month the men averaged 78 cents less per week as clerical than as
production workers. Women were averaging $19.77 less than men
in the New York factory offices, and $23.54 less than men as production
workers, in October 1949.
Average weekly earnings of women and men in factory offices in New York, 1940—49,
•
October of each year

Year

Average weekly
earnings of—
Women

1940_
1941 _
1942 t
1943..
1944 2
1945 3
1947 3
1948
1949-

$22.

25.
30.
32.
33.
33.
40.
44.
45.

16
00
27
83
23
76
31
42

Men
$45. 25
49. 99
56. 17
57. 83
56. 32
51. 38
59. 10
64. 61
65. 19

1 In 1942 the list of sample firms and the classification scheme were revised. Supervisory employees
were Included in 1942, though excluded in other years, both earlier and later than 1942.
2 Revised figures.
2 Unpublished data. No survey was made in 1946.
Source: New York State Department of Labor Industrial Bulletin, November of each year, and recent
unpublished data furnished by the Department. Firms ordinarily were requested to omit, executives and
salesmen and to include clerks, stenographers, bookkeepers, and other clerical employees in both production
and nonproduction departments, and also technical employees—such as draftsmen, chemists, and other
laboratory assistants—doing routine work.

In the decade 1940-49, the average earnings of women in New York
factory offices had nearly doubled, but it must be remembered that the
starting point for this comparison (women’s 1940 earnings) was very
low. Some gain appears for women as compared with men in New
York factory offices; while in October 1940 men’s averages had been
twice as hig'h as women’s, they were only half again as high as women’s
in October 1949.
.
Earnings of clerical workers, 1944-49.—The National Industrial
Conference Board semiannual reports on median salary rates of
clerical workers do not show women’s earnings separately from men’s
but are included here because women are a large proportion of the
workers in the selected clerical occupations. The reports are based
on questionnaires returned by a number of firms that vary somewhat
from year to year.
Table 8.—Median weekly salary rates in selected clerical occupations in 21 cities, October
of each year, 1944—49 1
[Figures for men and women combined]
Median weekly “salary rates in—
Occupation
1944
Number of firms reportings
Number of employees. _
Billing machine operator
Bookkeeping machine operator
Calculating machine or comptometer
operator______
File clerk____ _
Key punch operator ...
Office boy or girl...
_
Receptionist. __
Stenographer____
Telephone switchboard operator
Junior copy typist..
Senior copy typist____

(2)

1945

344
$29
28
30
24
28
21
29
31
30
24
29

(2)

381

1946

1947

1948

1949

$30
30

437
(2)
$36
34

500
45,164
$39
38

547
46, 914
$43
40

592
45, 714
$45
42

32
26
30
22
32
33
33
25
30

37
31
35
27
37
38
37
30
36

41
33
37
30
40
42
42
33
39

44
35
41
32
43
45
46
35
41

46
36
42
33
45
46
48
36
43

1 Though these data are not reported by sex, they are included here because women are a very large
proportion of the workers in these occupations.
y
s
2 Not reported.
Source: National Industrial Conference Board Management Record. Based on questionnaires Be
cause reports are returned by a varying number of companies in different years, comparisons of one period
with another cannot be made. Only regularly employed, full-time workers are included. Salary rates
11?clude overtime, but do include incentive, cost-of-living, and production bonuses earned during
legulat hours. They also reflect earned-experience rates and accruals due to length of service, and may
be affected by nonfinancial benefits given employees
y

Among 11 characteristic office occupations reported by the National
Industrial Conference Board, the median weekly salary rates for men
and women combined were, in general, highest for switchboard opera
tors, stenographers, and calculating or comptometer operators, and
lowest for office boys and girls and for file clerks and junior copy
typists.
In October 1949 the median weekly salary rates for office workers
in 3 of these 11 occupations were below the average weekly earnings of
women factory production workers in New York in November of the
same year.

Because of the differences in the number of firms reporting, accurate
comparisons from year to year cannot be made. Though the figures
indicate that clerical employees had increases from the war to the
postwar period, they do not show the exact extent of such increases,
nor relate them to the increases in living costs.
EARNINGS IN SELECTED PROFESSIONS

Professions of special importance in the employment of women,
both because of the numbers engaged in them and because of the
large proportions women constitute of their labor force, are teaching,
nursing, social work, and library work. Various special studies report
data of some type indicating earnings in each of these professions in
a postwar year. Salaries are not usually shown by sex but, in profes
sions in which women constitute very large proportions of the workers,
are indicative of women’s earnings. The number of women in each
of these professions (and one semiprofession), according to the 1940
Census, and the year for which earnings data are available, are as
follows:
Women
Percent of
all workers
in the
profession
75
802, 264
98
83 }
16, 668
64
48, 369

Number 1
School teachers 2---------------------------------Nurses
362, 897
Librarians
34, 546
Library attendants andassistants 3--------Social and welfare workers------------

Year for
which
earnings
reported
1948-49
1946
1949
1948

1 Figures from 1940 Census.
2 Excludes teachers in colleges and teachers specializing in music and art.
3 Library attendants’ and assistants’ wort is clerical rather than professional in nature. They are included
in the report on librarians, pp. 38-39, and therefore also here.

Salaries of school teachers.—Data on salaries of school teachers,
taken from a research report of the National Education Association
and applicable to the 1948-49 school year, are shown in table 9. 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.
In cities whose population was 500,000 and over, median salaries in
elementary schools and in junior high schools did not differ widely
from each other but were about $600 a year less than median salaries
in senior high schools. In cities of most other sizes, differences between
median salaries in high schools and those in junior high schools were
not much greater than between those in junior high and those in
elementary schools.

Differences in median salaries usually were greater as between
smaller and larger cities than as between types of schools in the larger
cities. The median salary of teachers in high schools, for example,
was some $900 a year greater in cities of 500,000 and over than in cities
of 100,000-500,000, and some $900 a year greater in the latter cities than
in cities of under 5,000.
Table 9.—Yearly salaries of teachers, by type of school and size of city, 1948-49
[Figures for men and women combined
Yearly salaries in cities with population of—
Yearly salaries
500,000 and
over

100,000,
under
500,000

30,000,
under
100,000

10,000,
under
30,000

5,000,
under
10,000

2,500,
under
5,000

Elementary Schools
Number reported
«.

44, 254

39, 286

36, 970 .

30,093

19, 214

13,928

6.5
24.5
32.7
32.4
3.8
.1
$2, 778

10.8
31. 7
30. 5
24.3
2.3
.4
$2, 609

$2, 483

7,253

2,350

1, 334

Percent distribution
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 or over_________ _
Median salary.___________

0.2
3.8
9.5
34.1
48.3
4.1
$4, 019

1.6
10.9
22.0
52.9
12.4
.2
$3, 265

5.0
17.8
30.6
38.1
8.2
.3
$2, 955

Junior High Schools
Number reported_____

9,317

9,998

11,801

Percent distribution
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 or over_______ ______
Median salary. ... ..._____

0.4
1.8
8.7
28.8
37.8
22.5
$4,092

0.5
7.0
14.3
53.2
24.3
.7
$3, 537

1.7
10.2
22.0
49.1
15.2
1. 8
$3, 280

2.6
16.6
29.9
43. 5
7.1
.3
$3,014

4.1
22. 7
30.9
38.4
3.8

29 2
34 2

$2, 874

$2, 677

19,136

13, 966

11, 051

3.8
15.7
29.4
41.7
8.4
1.0
$3, 017

3. 4
20.0
34.2
36.0
6.0
.4
$2, 877

1.6

Senior IIigh Schools
Number reported-

27,273

19, 338

19, 212

Percent distribution
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 or over__ _
Median salary_____ ____

0.1
.6
2.2
15.5
53.5
28.1
$4, 689

0.5
5.2
9.0
50.0
32.6
2.7
$3, 793

1.7
7.4
17.1
48.8
20.5
4.5
$3, 444

2.1
10.2
22.1
48.4
15.2
2.0
$3, 269

1 Women constitute over nine-tenths of the elementary, and over two-thirds of the junior high and
senior high school teachers.
Source: National Education Association.

Research Bulletin, April 1949.

Earnings of nurses.—October 1946 data on nurses’ earnings are
shown in a special study of some 10,000 nurses made by the Bureau
of Labor Statistics. Since 98 percent of nurses are women, the data,
though not reported by sex, are applicable to women. Table 10 sum
marizes the data on earnings of nurses, almost two-thirds of whom were
institutional or private-duty nurses. Ninety percent lived outside hos
pitals and had median earnings of $176 a month. A third of the
nurses living outside hospitals and two-fifths of those living in hos
pitals earned less than $155 a month; and a fifth of all nurses earned
$215 or over. Highest median earnings were those of nurse educators,
industrial nurses, and public health nurses, groups whose work is
likely to include administrative responsibilities to a considerable
degree.
Table 10.—Monthly earnings of nurses, October 19461
Percent earning—
Living arrangements and field

Number Average
reported earnings2

Total

Under
$155

$155,
under
$185

$185,
under
$215

$215 or
over

Living Outside Hospital
All fields *
Institutional-------------------------Private duty__........................... .
Public health
Industrial. Office
Nurse educator____________

9,182

$176

100

3,443
2,155
1,243
876
814
' 257

172
153
184
196
167
207

100
100
100
100
100
100

34
52
20
13
39
8

29
17
32
28
29
20

20
14
23
30
19
27

17
17
25
29
13
45

1,114

168

100

899
122

160
194

100
100

47
14

20
29

13
29

20
28

Living in Hospital
All fields 3-......................Institutional
Nurse educator..........................

1 Includes cash paid in lieu of maintenance hut excludes cash equivalent of maintenance provided by
employers.
2 Median.
3 Total exceeds details as not all details shown separately.
Source: U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bull. No. 931, the Economic Status of Registered Profes
sional Nurses, 1946-47, 1948.

Salaries of library workers.—A source of data on the earnings of
library workers—both professional librarians and nonprofessional
library workers—is a special 1949 study made by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. The data are not reported by sex but are indicative of the
earnings of women library workers since, according to the 1940 census,
nine-tenths of all professional librarians and over four-fifths of all
nonprofessional library assistants and attendants are women. The
survey gives the median salary of professional librarians in 1949 as
$3,050 and reports that nearly a tenth of them earned under $2,000
and a somewhat smaller proportion $5,000 or over. Nonprofessional
library workers had a median salary of $1,975; over half earned under
$2,000, and less than half of 1 percent earned $5,000 or over.
38

Annual salaries of library employees, 1949

Salaries 1
All amounts. _
. .
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 _
__ _

____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____

Median salary __

____

Percent of employees earning speci
fied amounts
All
Pro
Nonpro
fessional
employees
fessional
100
100
100
10
4
20
16
5
32
15
9
24
25
28
19
24
16
4
14 1
9
9;
5
4
7
(2)
$2, 575

$3, 050

$1, 975

1 Salaries do not include cash equivalent of any maintenance provided by employer.
2 Less than one-half of 1 percent.
Source: U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Salaries and Working Conditions of Library Employees,
1949. Preliminary data. (Multilith.)

Salaries of social workers.—Salaries of social workers are shown in
the report on a special survey made in Michigan by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics in November 1948. Data on salaries are reported by
sex: the median for all workers was $3,100, but for men alone, $3,700,
and for women alone $2,880—a difference of over $800, “traceable
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 following summary presents details.
Median annual salaries of women and men in social work positions, by level of responsi
bility, in Michigan, November 1948 1

Level of responsibility

Median annual salaries

All workers
All agencies
$3, 100

Workers providing:
Direct services to individuals
Services to groups
Workers with other nonsupervisory duties__
Supervisors
Executives
Government agencies:
Workers providing:
Direct services to individuals
Services to groups
Workers with other nonsupervisory du
ties
Supervisors
Executives
Private agencies:
Workers providing:
Direct services to individuals
Services to groups
Workers with other nonsupervisory du
ties
Supervisors
Executives

2,
2,
3,
3,
4,

700
900
800
540
100

Women
$2, 880
2,
2,
3,
3,
3,

640
700
850
420
680

Men
$3, 700
3,
3,
3,
3,
4,

320
400
800
910
500

2, 730
3, 200

2, 640
(2)

3, 360
(2)

3, 800
3, 420
4, 020

(2)
3, 420
4, 000

3, 500
3, 960
4, 020

2, 700
2, 800

2, 640
2, 700

3, 180
3, 420

3, 740
3, 820
4, 200

(2)
3, 820
3, 620

3, 800
3, 770
4, 600

1 Salaries do not include cash equivalent of any maintenance provided by employer.
2 Insufficient number of replies to justify presenting a median.
Source: David, Lily Mary. Salaries of Social Workers in Michigan, 1948. In U. S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Monthly Labor Review, April 1949, pp. 398, 399.

889859°— 50-

-7

Three important professions with small proportions of women.—

Three occupations that have a tradition of high prestige among the
professions 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 1940 Census reported 7,708 women
physicians and surgeons, who were less than 5 percent of the persons
in this occupation; 4,447 women lawyers, judges, and justices, who
were less than 3 percent of this profession; and fewer than 1,000
women engineers of all types, far below 1 percent of such workers.
A 1947 report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics on physicians’ average
income showed that it netted, after business expenses, $9,900 a year,
though there were very wide individual variations.2 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 $3,000.3 Beginning salaries
of various types of engineers were reported by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics to be about $240 a month in 1946, and salaries of engineers
with 10 years’ experience, from $350 to over $400 a month.2 As in
other professions, individual earnings varied.
2 U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook. 1948. Earnings
of Physicians, p. 45, of Engineers, p. 63 tt.
3 Weinfeld, William. Income of Lawyers, 1929-48. In U. S. Department of Commerce
Survey of Current Business, August 1949.

Ill
ECONOMIC RESPONSIBILITIES OF WOMEN WORKERS

WOMEN WORKERS AND FAMILY FINANCES

extent to which women support dependents, their financial re
sponsibilities, and the portions of their earnings that go to support
others or to general family expenses are subjects of continual interest.
There is no doubt that women’s earnings are a substantial asset in
maintaining and advancing the standard of living of American fami
lies. The contribution women make to this end lias not been fully
determined. There are several sources that afford some partial infor
mation as to its extent, and summaries of these will be given below.
It must be remembered that most of the available material on this
subject is from specialized studies or census samples showing particular
types of information. However, all the available studies point to
similar situations, and, taken together, these fragments give an impres
sive showing of the extent to which working women today are contrib
uting to the upkeep and to maintaining the living standards of their
families.

The

WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAMILY INCOME OR SUPPORT
PART OF FAMILY INCOME WOMEN FURNISH

The Census Bureau reported on the income received in 1947 by over
3714 million families (defined as two or more related persons living
together). In nearly 5 million (13 percent) of these, women fur
nished half or more of the entire family income. (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 AS SOLE, PRINCIPAL, AND CONTRIBUTING FAMILY EARNERS

In April 1946 the Census Bureau reported that 1V2 million women
were the sole civilian earners in families in this country. In addition,
2% million women were principal civilian earners in their families,
although these families had also one or more other earners. (The

principal civilian earner in a family is the one who receives the
highest civilian money earning in that family.)
The Women’s Bureau obtained extensive information on women’s
economic responsibilities by interviewing over 13,000 women workers
in all types of industry (except household work) in 10 war-congested
areas in 1944 and 1945. Almost 90 percent of these women had no
income other than wages or service allotments. Of all the women
interviewed, three-fourths (about 10,000) planned to remain in the
labor force. Of those who planned to remain in the labor force, about
four-fifths (about 7,500) lived in family groups of two or more persons.
Well over a tenth of these were the only earners in their families; over
90 percent contributed regularly to the family expenses; and some of
them also made regular contributions to the support of persons outside
the immediate family.
Family support responsibilities of some 7,500 women interviewed who lived in family groups

Distribution by extent of family support of—Extent of family support
All women reported__ _
Sole support of the family group. _
Contributed regularly to family
expenses as—
1 of 2 wage earners _
1 of 3 or more wage earners..
Made no regular contribution___

All women
reported
100

Single
100

Widowed
or divorced
100
100

Married

47
31
7

43
38
7

58
21
9

39
23
3

Among both single and married women, over a tenth of those living
with their families were the sole support of their families. However,
in the group composed largely of widows (smaller than either the
group of the married or of the single), more than a third of the women
were the only support of their families. The preceding summary
shows, by marital status, the extent of responsibility for family support
carried by the women who lived with their families and planned to
continue in the labor force.
PART OF WOMEN’S EARNINGS THAT GOES TO FAMILY SUPPORT

In the Women’s Bureau interviews with 13,000 women, already
referred to, over nine-tenths of those living with their families and
planning to continue in the labor force contributed regularly to the
family expenses. Practically all who lived apart from their families
were dependent on their own resources for self support.
I he women living in family groups who regularly contributed to
expenses and who planned to continue work gave, as a group, nearly
two-thirds of their entire earnings for family expenses. Over a third
42

of these women gave all tlieir earnings to their families. More than
10 percent of the single and 60 percent of the married women gave
all their earnings to their families. The extent of earnings going
to family expenses is shown for all marital status ‘groups in the
summary following.
Pari of earnings given to family support by some 7,500 women interviewed who lived in
family groups

Part of take-home earnings con
tributed regularly to household

Total reporting___
All of earnings__________
Half or more (but not all)
Less than half__________

Percent who contributed specified share of
their earnings
Total
reporting
100
35
22
43

Single

Married

100

14
22
64

61
19
20

Widowed
or divorced
100
46
22
32

DEPENDENTS OF WOMEN RECEIVING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

In the first part of 1949 only four States and the District of Co
lumbia allowed additional amounts for dependents under unemploy
ment insurance benefits. Nevada and the District of Columbia were
the only areas that included additional amounts for dependents other
than minor children.
In Nevada about 7 percent of the unemployed women who received
benefits, and in the District of Columbia about 15 percent, were entitled
to these added allowances for dependents in the first quarter of 1949.
In Nevada about 6 percent and in the District of Columbia over 20
percent of the women receiving allowances for dependents had hus
bands, parents, or others who required their support.
Amendments to unemployment insurance laws in 1949 have brought
up to 11 the number of States or Territories that allow added benefits
for dependents of the unemployed. Two of these (Arizona and
Alaska) allow additional amounts for dependents other than children.

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
cost-of-living indexes.
Most of the budgets listed below were prepared by State labor de
partments for use in the administration of minimum-wage laws. All

but one set a minimum-adequate standard of living for a self-sup
porting woman without dependents; one, that of Massachusetts, con
siders the needs of an employed man as well. Besides board and
lodging,1 the budgets priced include clothing and its upkeep, personal
care, medical care, transportation, recreation (including vacation),
reading matter, educational and other miscellaneous expenses; with one
exception, they also make allowances for taxes, insurance, and savings.
The purpose of a savings allowance is to provide for the unusual contin
gencies 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 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 specifica
tions and other pertinent facts about these budgets are contained in
Women’s Bureau Bulletin 226, “Working Women’s Budgets in Twelve
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

TotaI budget
Date
amount
Arizona----------------------------$1, 953
1948 (Apr.)
Colorado
813
1949 (Jan.)
Connecticut
1; 867
1949 (Mar.)
District of Columbia
1, 870
1949 (Mav)
Kentucky------------------------------ ----------------- ----------1 l, 992
1949 (Fob.)
Massachusetts
2 1, 339
1946 (Oct.)
New Jersey..................................... ---............ ........ ..........
2, 163
1946 (Dec.)
New York
2, 038
1950 (Jan.)
Pennsylvania
2! 121
1949 (Nov.)
Utah----------------------------------------------------------2,032 (Sept.)
1947
Washington
2, 231
1949
(May)
Heller Committee (San Francisco)__________________
2,’236 1949 (Sept.)
1 An alternate budget of the same date, based on living and eating in a boarding house , amounts to $1,839.
s A commodity and service budget only. No provision is made for taxes or savings. ’
1 The cost of food and housing in most of the budgets is based on average prices for a
furnished room and three restaurant meals a day. However, the District of Columbia,
Utah, and Heller Committee budgets provide for living and eating in a boarding house, and
New York determined food and housing costs in terms of living as a member of a family
group. These four budgets, except Utah’s, provide for lunches to be eaten in restaurants,
and the Heller budget makes an additional allowance for Sunday dinner, which is usually
pot furnished by operators of boarding houses in San Francisco.

IV
INDUSTRIAL INJURIES TO WOMEN x

injuries that have occurred to workers in the course of
their occupations are preventable. State compensation authorities,
employers’ and workers’ safety organizations, and numerous inde
pendent agencies have made considerable progress both in devising
and installing methods for preventing accidents and in securing some
money payment for persons injured.
The development of adequate safety programs in industry and the
control of accidents to workers require a firm basis of factual infor
mation. Extensive reports on the occurrence of industrial injuries
have provided much of the information on which to build such pro
grams. Injury frequency rates in various industries have been deter
mined on the basis of a large body of data concerning the numbers
of injuries and the extent to which workers are exposed to hazards.
Systematic reporting of injuries has permitted the study of trends and
fluctuations in industrial injury experience. Relatively little statis
tical information has been available, however, on injuries to men and
women workers separately.
For many years a chief source of information on employment in
juries has been the records of claims for workmen’s compensation that
are kept by State authorities. Of the figures published on these
claims, some include only closed claims, others show all those com
pensable, and still others all the claims filed. Some 25 States have
afforded data by sex at one time or another, certain of them in regular
periodic reports.*2 The Women’s Bureau has from time to time ana
lyzed these data in the light of preventive needs for women and has
made a few special investigations on this subject.3
About half the States that have issued reports on injuries by sex
have shown the age or the extent of disability of the injured women,
some reported the industries in which they were working, or the causes
of the injuries, and a few gave information on other points, such as
the weekly wages of the injured women, or the work time lost by them
because of their injuries.
Many

of the

‘This section is based in large part on Women's Bureau Bulletin 212, Industrial Injuries
to Women, prepared by Jennie Mohr.
2 See Women’s Bureau Bulletins 81, 102, 129, 160.
s See Women’s Bureau Bulletins 60,151, 212.

Table 1.—Distribution of employment and injuries by sex in 9,154 manufacturing establishments, classified by industry, for one quarter of 1 945

Injuries

Employment

Industry

Apparel:
Clothing and accessories______ _____
Trimmings and fabricated textile prod
ucts, not elsewhere classified
Chemicals:
Drugs, toiletries, and insecticides....... ..
Paints, varnishes, and colors
Synthetic textile fibers......................... .......
Other
Electrical equipment:1
Electrical equipment for industrial use..
Radios and phonographs, communica
tion and signaling equipment -. ............
Insulated wire and cable----- ------------Other............ ...................... .............................
Food:
Baking and confectionery
Canning and preserving. ____________
Slaughtering and meat packing.............. .
Other_____________________ __________
Furniture and lumber products:
Furniture, wood.. .
Wooden containers................................... .
Other. _ _________ _______________ .
Iron and steel:1
Fabricated structural steel and ornaFabricated metal products
Forgings and foundries. _ _ ------------Heating equipment and plumbers’ supIron and steel____ ____________________
Metal coating, engraving, and vitreous
enamel products ... - Plate fabrication and boiler-shop prodStamped and pressed metal products—
Other..........

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

Num
ber of
estab
lish
ments
report
ing

Number of women

Number of injuries to— Injury frequency rates for— Percent
women
Pro
Nonare of all
duc
workers
pro
Total Wom Men
tion duction Total Wom Men
en
en
work work
ers
ers

Number of men

Percent
injuries
to wom
en are
of all
injuries

Total

Pro
Nonduc
pro
tion duction Total
work work
ers
ers

68,940

63, 944

4,996

17,833

14,758

3,075

223

148

4.7

4.0

7.7

79.4

66.4

9, 613

8, 533

1,080

7,861

6,735

1,126

150

14.4

10.0

19.7

55.0

37.3

72
48
10
291

13, 353
2, 278
6,300
11,658

9, 600
950
5,112
6,191

3, 753
1.328
1,188
5, 467

10, 493
7,483
10,798
48, 044

7, 304
5, 790
8,986
38, 981

3,189
1,693
1,812
9, 063

228
119
131
558

80
7
53
44

148
112
78
514

16.1
20.2
13.6
15.2

10.2
5.3
15.1
6.3

23.4
24.5
12.8
17.3

56.0
23.3
36.8
19.5

35.1
5.9
40.5
7.9

229

59,299

42, 974

16, 325

96, 664

74, 394

22, 270

695

192

503

7.8

5.7

9.1

38.0

27.6

153
18
19
50

35, 718
3, 213
2, 923
8,270

28, 246
2,848
2. 361
6, 688

7, 472
365
562
1,582

33,113
3, 443
7, 068
9, 218

22, 594
2, 943
6, 033
6,948

10,519
500
1, 035
2,270

227
74
93
87

81
24
11
27

146
50
82
60

6.0
17.9
15.5
8.7

4.1
11.9
6.3
5.7

8.1
23.7
18.3
11.5

51.9
48. 3
29. 3
47. 3

35.7
32.4
11.8
31.0

32
36
377
89

6,342
3,976
10,931
10,475

5, 603
3. 401
8. 894
8,435

739
575
2. 037
2, 040

7,762
3. 952
29,188
14,684

6,717
3,125
24,598
12, 692

1,045
827
4, 590
1,992

148
130
842
240

40
29
165
53

108
101
677
187

17.1
26.7
35.5
15.5

10.4
11.9
25.9
8.3

22.5
41.5
39.0
20.5

45.0
50. 2
27. 2
41. 6

27.0
22.3
19.6
22.1

64
245
138

2,763
3.089
2,371

2,074
2, 631
1,827

689
458
544

7,912
13, 913
9,900

6, 980
12. 932
8, 985

932
981
915

174
315
153

35
36
19

139
279
134

28.4
31.1
20.9

22.8
19.9
13.7

30.3
33. 5
22.6

25.9
18. 2
19.3

20.1

212
412
564

3,196
31.105
13, 663

1,838
23, 835
8,042

1, 358 25,614 22, 246
7, 270 77,385 68. 267
5, 621 120, 716 109, 486

3, 368
9,118
11,230

462
1, 269
2,856

12
201
119

450
1,068
2, 737

25.8
18.4
34.6

6.4
10.5
14. 6

28.1
21.4
36.8

11.1
28.7
10. 2

15.8
4.2

67
140

4,489
26, 285

2, 874
18, 635

1, 615 18, 448 16, 343
7,650 190, 588 172, 501

2,105
18, 087

256
1, 395

30
111

226
1,284

17.7
10.3

10.9
6.9

19.3
10.8

19.6
12.1

11.7

2, 436

2,102

334

3,628

3,290

338

23.2

12.7

29.9

40.2

21.4

136
198
126
94

4, 261
15,443
8, 472
6,836

2,497
13, 005
6, 759
5, 475

1,764
2, 438
1,713
1, 361

23,377
25,890
22,180
22, 271

20,119
22, 652
19. 400
20, 277

3, 258
3, 238
2, 780
1, 994

541
564
396
389

30
203
76
47

511
361
320
342

30.8
21.9
20.7
21. 4

11.5
21.5
14.7
11.0

34.1
22.1
22. 9
24. 6

15.4
37.4

5.5
36.0
19.2
12.1

707
75

23. 5

11.4
12.4
2.6

8.0

Leather:
Boots and shoes..
Other_________

889858 — 50

mills, and veneer mills______________
Machinery, except electrical:1
Agricultural machines, tractors_____
Construction and mining machinery.
Engines and turbines_______
General industrial machinery..
Special industrial machinery..
Other_________________ _
Nonferrous metals:
Other_______
Ordnance:
Ammunition..
Guns_______
Other__________ ____________
Paper:
Paper and pulp_______________
Paper boxes and other products.Printing: Printing, book and job____
Rubber:
Tires and tubes_________ ___________
Rubber boots and shoes, and other rub
ber products ................ .........................
Stone, clay, and glass:
Glass.____________________________
Pottery and related products
Other.........................................................
Textiles:
Textiles and cotton yams
Dyeing and finishing
Knit goods___________________ _____
Other____ _______________________ _
Transportation equipment:
Aircraft
Aircraft parts_____ ________________
Motor vehicles
Motor vehicles parts_________ ______
Railroad equipment___________ ______
Miscellaneous manufacturing:
Scientific instruments and supplies,
optical and related products
Miscellaneous manufacturing, not else
where classified

240
39

26,164
2,634

425

3,977

3,016

.
-

45
98
47
42
853
91
184

7,969
7, 078
10, 647
6,132
44, 442
4,500
10,829

4,844
3, 717
6,447
2, 680
24, 471
2, 521
7,307

15
313

3,222
10, 559

2,712
7, 812

510
2,747

3, 51.0
34, 697

76
17
14
29

10, 463
2,175
993
1,857

7,953
1, 335
398
795

2,510
840
595
1, 062

316
336
25

19, 558
15, 444
1. 821

14, 998
13,100
1, 387

23,852
2,334

2,312
300

23,051
6,047

21, 037
5, 644

961

30, 949

2,014
403

270
139

135
22

135
117

9.7
26.1

28, 243

2,706

708

648

3,125 38, 887 31, 269
3, 961 41, 362 35,105
4, 200 29, 489 22, 941
3, 452 31, 036 24, 938
19, 971 183, 478 154, 919
1,979 20.184 16, 851
3,522 29, 557 22,448

7, 618
6, 257
6, 548
6,098
28, 559
3, 333
7,109

509
602
335
265
2,245
287
340

52
26
38
17
197
16
46

457
576
297
248
2,048
271
294

3, 022
30, 514

488
4,183

34
539

15
66

26,451
12. 559
6,366
9, 545

22, 632
10, 935
4. 794
7, 459

3, 819
1, 624
1, 572
2,086

347
141
60
85

4,560
2,344
434

81, 735
18, 450
2,938

73,107
16.121
2,445

8, 628
2,329
493

1, 425
392
27

9.1
14.5

10. 3
30.8

53. 2
30.3

34.4

26.0

35.5

11.4

8.5

17.3
19.7
13.5
12.5
16.1
18.8
14.5

10.5
5. 7
6.0
4.9
7.5
6.0
7.4

18. 7
22. 2
16.1
13.9
18.0
21.5
17.0

17. 0
15. 7
26.5
16. 5
19.5
18 2
26.8

10.2
4.3
11.3
6.4

19
473

8.7
20.2

10. s

8.1

9. 3
23. 2

47.9
23.3

44.1

47
6
2
2

300
135
58
83

16.2
17.5
12.6
13.4

7.6
5.0
(2)
2.0

19. 6
19.7
14.0
15.6

28. 3
14. 8
13. 5
16.3

13.5
4.3
3.3
2.4

104
88
6

1,321
304
21

22.9
19.4
9.6

9.0
9.8
5.6

26. 2
27. 2
12.1

19.3
45.6
38.3

7.3
22.4
22.2

8.8

5.6
13.5
12.2

9,071

6,472

2,599

25, 734

21, 794

3,940

255

233

11.8

3.9

14.5

26.1

19, 313

16, 024

3,289

29,362

25, 070

4,292

372

290

12.5

7.0

16.0

39.7

22.0

25
26
65

5,933
2, 680
5, 512

4,976
2,526
4, 240

957
154
1,272

12, 505
3, 675
12, 775

11,106
3. 326
11, 017

1, 399
349
1, 758

167
73
226

26
16
19

141
57
207

15.6
20.8
20.3

7.6
11.0
5.7

19.4
27.7
26.5

32. 2
42. 2
30.1

15.6
21.9
8.4

325
43
65
25

88, 543
4, 534
15, 732
3,021

83, 368
3, 537
14, 034
2,677

5,175
997
1, 698
344

99,390
14,148
5,701
4,292

92,144
12, 899
4, 667
3, 749

7,246
1, 249
1,034
543

1,418
153
91
62

475
18
48
25

943
135
43
37

12.9
14.0
7.5
14.2

9.2
6.9
5.4
14.0

16. 2
16. 2
13. 2
14.4

47.1
24.3
73. 4
41.3

33.5
52.7
40.3

18
133
75
55
35

31, 920
26,973
11, 487
10, 560
4, 709

20,294
19,110
4, 482
6, 794
2,803

11, 626
7, 863
7, 005
3, 766
1,906

61,141
78,167
52, 962
37,779
32, 667

38, 087
59, 722
37. 728
31, 839
27, 914

23, 054
18, 445
15, 234
5, 940
4, 753

315
643
509
522
324

89
125
24
90
33

226
518
485
432
291

5.5
10.2
13.2
17.5
14.2

4.5
7.8
3.6
13.8
11.7

6.1
11.1
15.3
18. 6
14.5

34.3
25.7
17.8
21.8
12.6

28.3
19.4
4.7
17.2
10.2

11.8

11, 964

8,354

3,610

17, 382

13, 262

4,120

109

6.3

3.3

8.5

40.8

21.1

201

16, 039

13, 254

2,785

19, 438

16,377

3,061

275

210

13.0

6.9

17.9

45.2

23.6

1 LesTth™ 1 mmionfh™rsUofexposureqUarter ^ S°me f°r another' For pllrpose! of this stu<Jythe records of the two quarters were combined.

50.0
15.8

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of
Labor regularly collects and publishes injury information from a
representative group of manufacturing firms, although such data are
not secured for men and women separately. At the request of the
United States Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau and of the
Industrial Division of the Children’s Bureau (now Child Labor
Branch of the Wage and Hour and Public Contracts Divisions), the
Bureau of Labor Statistics asked the group of manufacturing firms,
which periodically give information on injuries, to report this infor
mation by sex and age (minors and adults) for one quarter of the
year 1945. Soon afterward information on injuries by sex and age
was also asked for by the Bureau of Labor Statistics from a group of
nonmanufacturing firms for the year 1945 as a whole.
The injury experience of women in industry in 1945 has been re
ported as it is shown in table 1 and table 2, below, for some 20,000
establishments employing about 3)4 million workers. Of these work
ers over a million, or about 30 percent, were women. These figures
represent a larger coverage of injuries by sex of the worker than has
hitherto been available.
The actual number of injuries sustained by women and the occur
rence of serious injuries point to certain industries as having par
ticular need for safety programs. During one quarter of the year,
for example, the 11,000 women working in the slaughtering and meat
packing industry received 165 injuries, or 1 for every 67 women. In
stamped and pressed metal production, the quarter’s record was 1
injury for every 76 women workers; in fabricated metal production,
1 in 155; and in textiles and cotton yarns, 1 in 186. The annual record
in nonmanufacturing industries shows 1 injury for every 22 women
in chain groceries; 1 for every 26 in drug stores; 1 in 42 in variety and
limited-price stores; 1 in 44 in hotels; 1 in 82 in laundries; and 1 in
94 in department and general merchandise stores. These figures
represent a serious accumulation of injuries, a loss of working time
and production, and particularly an amount of human distress, that
call for remedy.
About 4 percent of the injuries in manufacturing resulted in death
or permanent disability. In nonmanufacturing, the proportion was
smaller, being less than 1 percent for women and about 2 percent for
men. These small percentages, however, represent 91 lives lost and
over 1,000 people permanently disabled in manufacturing industries
during one quarter of 1945; and in nonmanufacturing, 54 workers
who died and 160 who were permanently disabled during the year.
Based on records covering only a sample of the establishments through
out the country, these figures give but a partial picture of the national
loss in lives and productivity.
48

Table 2.—Distribution of employment and injuries by sex in 10,665 nonmanufacturing establishments, classified by industry, 1945
Employment
Industry

Number
of estab
lishments
reporting

Total

Injuries

Number Number
of women of men

Number of injuries to—
Total

Retail trade:
Apparel............................. ................................
Automotive dealers
Building and household supplies and equipment.
Department and general merchandise stores__
Drugstores...... ............................ ................ ........
Dairy products..____________________ _____
Grocery, meat, and vegetable stores—Chain__
Grocery, meat, and vegetable stores—Independ
ent.......................................................................
Fuel and ice dealers__________________
Furniture stores______ _________ ___________
Lumber and budding materials, not metal.
Mail-order houses_______ ____ ______________
Variety, limited-price stores..___ ______ HI”’
Other........... ......................... ........................ ........
Wholesale trade:
Automotive______________________ ________
Chemical, drugs and related productsIHH
Dry goods and apparel
Farm products and supplies
Groceries and food specialties________________
Industrial and household building material,
equipment, and supplies.................... .................
Paper and paper products______________
Other............................. ........ ................................
Other nonmanufacturing industries:
Laundries, power______________ ____________
Cleaning and dyeing_______________ ________
Hotels, year-round_______ ____ _____________
Banks and brokerage _
Electric light and power
Manufactured gas production and distribution..
Natural gas distribution........................................

4*
"O

Women

Men

Injury frequency rate for—
Total

836
1,077
550
414
352
117
52

36,452
20,128
7, 203
67, 252
11,120
12,340
13, 966

23,169
2,113
1,697
49,893
6,461
2,017
4,765

13,283
18, 015
5,506
17,359
4, 659
10, 323
9,201

233
798
172
938
373
796
684

136
14
9
533
247
22
212

97
784
163
405
126
774
472

3.2
17.4
11.0
7.0
15.5
26.9
24.5

445
391
510
424
5
63
909

6,340
9, 306
11, 318
7,330
3,605
5,100
19,565

2,207
1, 029
3, 556
828
2,891
4, 248
8, 484

4,133
8, 277
7. 762
6,502
714
852
11, 081

232
762
231
399
31
161
346

57
0
20
3
14
101
72

175
762
211
396
17
60
274

191
143
362
303
623

5, 578
5, 575
8,111
12, 932
16, 902

1,461
2,187
2, 994
3, 592
3,5.17

4,117
3,388
5,117
9,340
13,385

156
81
57
573
752

16
28
11
50
39

644
174
519

21,144
5,058
12,866

6,150
1,648
3,620

14,994
3, 410
9, 246

545
114
600

244
178
648
319
39
42
31

20,912
6,166
56, 817
7,988
18, 956
4,025
10,827

14, 089
4,013
29,495
2,874
3,333
855
1,986

6,823
2,153
27,322
5,114
15,623
3,170
8,841

365
94
1,602
29
473
212
286

Women

3.0
3.3
2. 6

Men

Percent Percent
injuries
women
women
are of all to
are
of all
workers injuries

17.8
4.9
22.5

3.6
18.8
13.4
11.4
12.3
30.8
25.6

63 6
10. 5
23. 6
74. 2
58.1
16.4
34.1

56 8
66.3
2 8
31.0

18.3
38.6
9.1
25.7
4.5
18.1
9.1

13.7
0
2.6
1.8
2.5
13.7
4.6

20.5
43.1
12.0
28.6
12.5
38.9
12.4

34.8
11.1
31.4
11.3
80. 2
83.3
43.4

24.5
0
8. 7
.7
45.1
62. 7
20.8

140
53
46
523
713

12.2
7.2
3.6
25.2
20.5

4.9
6.4
1.9
11.4
5.6

14.7
7.7
4.6
28.5
24.0

26.2
39.3
37. 0
27. 8
20.8

10.3
34. 6
19. 3
8 7
5.2

46
7
51

499
107
549

12.1
10.8
21.7

3.6
2.1
6.8

15.5
14.8
27.1

29.1
32.6
28.1

8. 4
6.1
8.5

172
45
674
11
18
5

193
49
928
18
455
207
278

8.2
7.1
12.9
1.8
11.6
23.7
12.3

5.7
5.3
10.5
2.0
2.5
2.8
1.9

13.4
10.4
15.3
1.7
13.6
28.9
14.6

67.4
65.1
51. 9
35. 9
17. 6
21.3
18.3

47.1
47 9
42.1
37 9
3.8
2.4
2.8

5.4

1.8

In general, the frequency of injuries in various industries is con
siderably lower for women than for men. It is also lower for women
working in nonmanufacturing than for those in manufacturing plants;
and in manufacturing, lower among nonproduction than among pro
duction workers. In the absence of occupational classifications of the
workers who were injured, one can only infer from general knowledge
of the work of men and women the comparative risks that men and
women face. It is probable that in the industries in which rates of
injury are found to be comparable for men and women—such as the
manufacture of stamped and pressed metal products, jewelry and
silverware, and boots and shoes in manufacturing, chain food stores
and brokerage and banking firms in nonmanufacturing—the actual
jobs and working conditions, with attendant exposure to hazards, are
also similar.
The stamped and pressed metal products industries show a high rate
of injury for both men and women, indicating special need for a pro
gram for improved safety methods. Other industries also call for
special attention—slaughtering and meat packing, furniture and
lumber products, and lumber mills—where rates of injury are less com
parable but still very high for both men and women; and those indus
tries in which, though rates for women are low, they are seriously
high for men.
In all such industries particular efforts are needed to develop a pro
gram that will reduce the material and personal losses incurred
through industrial injury.

V
STANDARDS FOR EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN

NEED FOR STANDARDS FOR WOMEN WORKERS

The great changes in women’s work, speeded up by World War II,
have been developing for a little more than a century 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 pub
lic—working in factories, offices, stores, hotels, restaurants, and laun
dries. 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 es
tablished 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, minimum standards should be established by law.
The Nation’s best interests demand good labor standards for women,
many of whom are mothers and homemakers as well as wage earners.

DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS

What are adequate standards for women workers ? How are these
developed?
Labor standards are not stationary but are influenced by continu
ously 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 a major factor in the worker’s health and efficiency.
The development of industrial hygiene has provided a basis for regu
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 re
spect 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 main
taining the right to a job through seniority, and in payment for work
done, is too often lacking.
Labor standards are developed through many channels—employers,
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 work
ers in various other fields, such as household employment, agriculture,
technical and scientific work, but these standards require special con
sideration.) Outlined here are the broad basic recommendations for
any program concerned with the health and efficiency of women em
ployees. These recommendations do not attempt to deal with details,
but they indicate the direction in which the development of good stand
ards should move.

STANDARDS ON WORKING TIME

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.
52

4. A rest period of at least 10 minutes in the middle of each half
day work period, to be given in addition to the lunch period and with
out lengthening the workday.
5. Some vacation with pay after 6 months on the job; a longer vaca
tion 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
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.

STANDARDS ON WAGES

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 govern
ments 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 uni
forms 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.

STANDARDS ON OTHER CONDITIONS

Standards adequate to protect the health and safety of workers are
essential in all workplaces. These standards should include:
FOR HEALTH

1. Working environment: Adequate ventilation, lighting, and heat
ing, to preserve health and reduce strain and fatigue.
2. Plant facilities: Washroom, toilets, rest rooms and dressing
rooms, drinking facilities, and lunchrooms where nourishing food is
available at reasonable prices. 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 per
formance of duties that require a standing position.
FOR SAFETY

1. Equipment and machinery in good working condition, with ade
quate 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 HOME WORK

Efforts should be made to abolish the industrial home-work system,
with its long and irregular hours, low earnings, and child labor. In
nonindustrial States, legislation should prohibit home work. In in
dustrial States where it is now extensive there should be strict regula
tion of hours of work and wages until prohibitory laws can be passed.
54

VI
SUMMARY OF STATE LABOR LAWS FOR WOMEN1
Basic standards as of January 1, 1950

The basic purpose of labor legislation for women is protection of the
health and well-being 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, ex
cessively long hours, and unhealthful conditions of work. Woman’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 law 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 stand
ards for the employment of women. Principal subjects of regula
tion 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
unhealthful 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. Rot 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 maxi
mum 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
1 The Territories are included in this summary.
Virgin Islands at the present time.

No information is available for the

more industries. In about half the States, the limit so established is
8 hours a day and/or 48 hours a week.
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 2G 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 10 addi
tional 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 is a matter of public
concern and that legislation can properly take such factors into ac
count. 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 con
stitutionality 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 high
est court in any State. It has never 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.
The record made during the 1949 legislative sessions furnishes a cur
rent example: Two States—Maine and Tennessee—improved their
maximum-hour law standards; Wyoming enacted a rest-period pro
vision; Maine enacted a home-work law; and 3 States—California,
Connecticut, Maine—and Alaska enacted equal-pay laws. Two
States—Massachusetts and New Hampshire—amended their mini
mum-wage laws to establish statutory rates, retaining, however, exist
ing wage-board provisions and New Hampshire’s amendment extended
the State’s minimum-wage coverage to adult males.

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 Vir
ginia—do not have such laws. The laws of Hawaii and Puerto Kico
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), manu
facturing 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 employ
ment, 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 8^8 hours law in Kansas
applies to public-housekeeping occupations and telephone exchanges;
in manufacturing establishments, the maximum is 9 hours a day,
49!4 hours a week.
New Mexico 8-48
Arizona 8-48
New York_______
8-48
Arkansas
38
North Carolina 9-48
California 8-48
Colorado____________ ___________
38 North Dakota8%-48
Ohio________
8-48
Connecticut 8-48
District of Columbia------------------ 8-48 Oregon____________ ___________ 8-44
Illinois 8-48
Pennsylvania 10-48
Rhode Island 9-48
Kansas 8-48
8-48
Louisiana
8-48 Utah..... ............
Massachusetts 9-48
Virginia 9-48
Washington___________________
8
Montana 8-48
Wyoming 8-48
Nevada 8-48
New Hampshire 10-48

Nine States, listed below, have i
and all but one of these (Idaho)

a maximum 9-hour day for women,
ive a weekly maximum of 50 or 54

2 If a State has set different legal maximum-hour standards for different industries, the
law establishing the highest standard, i. e., the lowest maximum hours, is shown.
* 3 Day-of-rest law provides, in effect, for a 48-hour week.

hours. Maine’s law sets 50 hours for manufacturing and 54 for a num
ber of other establishments and industries.
Idaho.J__
Maine__
Michigan.
Missouri _
Nebraska.

9
9-50
9-54
9-54
9-54

Oklahoma 9-54
Texas 9-54
Vermont 9-50
Wisconsin 9-50

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 manu
facturing only—cotton and woolen goods.
Delaware 10-55
Georgia (men and women)10-60
Kentucky 10-60
Maryland 10-60
Mississippi (men and women)__ 10-60

New Jersey 10-54
South
Carolina
(men
women) 4 10-55
South Dakota 10-54
Tennessee 10-50

and

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 REST5

Nearly half the States (22) and the District of Columbia, listed
below, prohibit employment of women for more than 6 days a week
in some or all industries. 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)

4 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.
c In 1945, Rhode Island reenacted an earlier law covering employment on certain holi
days 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 con
secutive 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.

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.
MEAL PERIODS

Over half the States (27), the District of Columbia, and one Terri
tory, listed below, have provided that meal periods varying from y3
hour to 1 hour must be allowed to women in some or all industries.
This provision applies to manufacturing establishments in all but 4
of these States—Colorado, Illinois, North Carolina, and Washington.
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Delaware
District of Columbia
Illinois
Indiana (men and women)
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Nebraska (men and women)
Nevada

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

REST PERIODS

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

Twenty-three States, the District of Columbia, and one Territory
place some limitation on the hours of night-work employment of
women or of persons between 18 and 21 years of age.
Thirteen States and one Territory, listed below, prohibit night
work for adult women in certain industries or occupations. In North
Dakota and Washington, elevator operators only are covered.
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Indiana
Kansas
Massachusetts
Nebraska (except on permit)

New Jersey
New York
North Dakota
South Carolina
Washington
Wisconsin
Puerto Rico (except on permit)

In four additional States—Arizona, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island—and the District of Columbia, a night-work prohibition ap
plies only to persons under 21 years of age in messenger service. In
another State—Virginia—similar limitations apply only to girl mes
sengers. In Ohio, girls under 21 may not be employed for night work
in the numerous industries or occupations listed in the statute.
In four additional States—Maryland, New Hampshire, New’ Mex
ico, and Utah—as well as in several of the States already listed, the
laws do not prohibit the employment of adult women at night but
regulate such employment either by limiting the number of hours that
may be worked at night or by requiring the employer to meet specific
working-conditions standards. Puerto Rico’s law makes a specific
exception for the canning, packing, and fruit and vegetable refrigera
tion industries and textile plants.

SEATING

Forty-six States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have
seating lawTs—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.
60

OCCUPATIONAL LIMITATIONS

Twenty-nine States have occupational limitation laws for women
and minors—23 of them having one or more such limitations on the
employment of adult women. In these 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 8 they may not be employed to mix, sell, or dispense alcoholic liquors
in establishments where such beverages are sold for on-premises con
sumption. The laws of 10 States prohibit a woman’s employment in
certain occupations (e. g., operating polishing wheels or belts, clean
ing moving machinery, bellhop) or places (e. g., basements of speci
fied establishments) considered hazardous or injurious to health or
safety.
The following summary shows the few establishments, occupations,
or operations 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
Kentucky
Louisiana
Michigan
Ohio
Pennsylvania

Other places, occupations, or operations
Arizona—Constant standing (all industries).
Louisiana—Cleaning moving machinery.
Michigan—Foundries. Hazardous occupations.
Operating polishing wheels, belts, etc., in
room wholly or partly underground; handling
certain harmful substances.
Minnesota—Core rooms. Cleaning moving ma
chinery.
Missouri—Cleaning, or working between, moving
machinery.
New York—Basement of a restaurant or mer
cantile establishment. Operating polishing
wheels, etc.
Ohio—16 occupations (in addition to work in
mines, barrooms, smelters), for example, bell
hop, express driver, freight or baggage elevator
operator, work in shoe-shining parlors, pool
rooms, etc.
Pennsylvania—Dangerous or injurious occupa
tions.
Washington—Bellhop.
Wisconsin—Disorderly house.

WEIGHT LIFTING

Nine States and one Territory have some regulation regarding the
lifting or carrying of heavy weights by women. They are:
California
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota (core rooms only)
New York (core rooms only)

Ohio
Oregon
Utah
Washington
Alaska

INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK

Twenty-one States and one.Territory, listed below, have industrial
home-work laws or regulations. In all but three—Colorado, Oregon,
and Utah—the law applies to all persons; in these three jurisdictions
the law applies to women and minors only.
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Illinois
Indiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts

Michigan
Missouri
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island

Tennessee
Texas
Utah
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Puerto Rico

EMPLOYMENT BEFORE AND AFTER CHILDBIRTH

Six States and one Territory, Puerto Rico, have laws prohibiting
the employment of women immediately before and after childbirth.
Except in Puerto Rico, the provisions of these laws are limited to pro
hibiting employment. Puerto Rico, in addition, requires the em
ployer to pay to the working mother during the 8-week period onehalf of her regular salary or wage. None of these laws provides for
job security during the required absence. The jurisdictions and the
periods during which women may not be required to work are:
Connecticut-------------------------------- 4
Massachusetts---------------------------- 4
Missouri------------------------------------- 3
New York---------------------------------- 4
Vermont------------------------------------- 2
Washington--------------4
Puerto Rico---------------------------------- 4

weeks before and 4 weeks after.
weeks before and 4 weeks after.
weeks before and 3 weeks after.
weeks after.
weeks before and 4 weeks after.
months before and 6 weeks after.
weeks before and 4 weeks after.

EQUAL PAY

Twelve 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. Three
States—California, Connecticut, Maine—and Alaska enacted equalpay laws in 1949.
California
Connecticut
Illinois
Maine
Massachusetts

Michigan
Montana
New Hampshire
New York

Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Washington
Alaska

MINIMUM 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 in the listing below. These laws are broad in their cov
erage of industries; most of them are all-inclusive except for 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)

Both Massachusetts and New Hampshire amended their minimumwage laws in 1949 to establish statutory rates in addition to retaining
existing wage-board provisions.

VII
LEGISLATION AFFECTING HOUSEHOLD EMPLOYEES
As of January 1, 1950

COVERAGE OF DOMESTIC WORKERS BY STATE LABOR LAWS FOR
WOMEN

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:
Covers botli male and female employees.
Prohibits their employment over 60 hours a week, including all time the em
ployee 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.
Violation of the law is a misdemeanor.

2. The Alaska law establishes 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, effective February 10, 1947,

provides for adult women and minors employed in domestic service in
private homes the following:
The minimum wage for 45 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 45 hours a week:
In eities 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 hoard 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 OF DOMESTIC WORKERS BY STATE WORKMEN’S
COMPENSATION LAWS
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: After a 10-year campaign, the Condon bill was ap
proved March 30,1946, and became effective January 1,1947. The bill
amends the law by including among the hazardous occupations and
employments, for which workmen's compensation is mandatory, cer
tain domestic employment. The household employees who come under
the amendment are all those who work for the same employer 48 or
more hours per week and are employed in cities or villages of at least
40,000 population. (Domestic workers on farms are excepted.) The
law extends to full-time 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 industrial
workers. 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 in favor of the employee. This award can be entered in
the Supreme Court as a regular judgment. Furthermore, the em
ployer can be subjected to a civil suit for negligence, in which action
the defenses of “contributory negligence” or “risks of the job” cannot
be urged by the employer, thus rendering the domestic worker’s chance
for recovery of damages extremely favorable.

Ohio: Compulsory for employers of 3 or more employees; voluntary
for less than 3.
STATES IN WHICH COVERAGE IS ELECTIVE '

Connecticut: Employers are presumed to come under the act if
they regularly employ 3 or more employees unless a written stipula
tion to the contrary is made; law is voluntary for those employing less
than 3.
New Jersey: If the employer or employee does not accept the act,
lie must give written notice to that effect to the opposite party, with
the result that common-law defenses are abrogated.
STATES IN WHICH COVERAGE IS VOLUNTARY2

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
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Khode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Utah
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin

WHICH EXCLUDE DOMESTIC WORKERS

Alabama
Delaware
District of Columbia
Iowa

Mississippi
Montana
Tennessee
Texas

Vermont
West Virginia
Wyoming

1 Elective coverage means that the employer has the option of either accepting or reject
ing 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.

COVERAGE OF DOMESTIC WORKERS BY WAGE PAYMENT LAWS
STATE HAVING LAW THAT SPECIFICALLY COVERS DOMESTIC WORKERS

California (if boarded and lodged by employer).
STATES AND TERRITORY HAVING LAWS OF BROAD GENERAL COVERAGE
APPLICABLE TO DOMESTIC WORKERS

Georgia
Idaho3
Illinois3
Indiana
Louisiana
Massachusetts

Minnesota
Montana
Nevada
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania

Rhode Island
West Virginia
Wyoming3
Alaska

COVERAGE OF DOMESTIC WORKERS BY SOCIAL SECURITY
LEGISLATION NOW IN EFFECT
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 4 or more
domestic workers in his home for 15 days in a calendar year.
OLD-AGE INSURANCE

The Federal old-age and survivors’ insurance law does not cover
domestic workers.
3 Provision of the law relates only to payment of wage in case of employee's discharge.

VIII
THE POLITICAL AND CIVIL STATUS OF WOMEN
Including principal sex distinctions as of July 1, 1949

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 AND PUBLIC OFFICE

Federal.—Any woman who has the qualifications required for vot
ing 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 elec
tion or appointment to posts in the executive and legislative branches
or for appointment to the judiciary, including the Supreme CoiLrt of
the United States.
Slate.—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 determina
tion 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.
68

Also, any woman who has the qualifications required for elected
officials of State and local governments is eligible for election to these
positions.
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 (as of Jan. 1, 1948) are entitled by
law to serve on juries in 38 States and the District of Columbia; by
this fact they are eligible also for Federal duty in these jurisdictions.
[Virginia’s 1950 Assembly admitted women to trial jury duty if they
wish to qualify for service.]
Twenty States1 require compulsory duty of qualified women; 18
States12 3and the District of Columbia permit optional service from
women.
Ten States8 have not yet removed the ancient English commonlaw “defect of sex” which bars women from all jury duty in these
jurisdictions. (It should be noted in this connection that in England
women now are eligible generally for jury duty, by virtue of the law
reforms of the present century, particularly the Sex Disqualification
Eemoval Act of 1919.)
DOMICILE

Private domicile of a married woman depends on that of her hus
band, 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. Sepa
rate 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.
1 Calif., Colo., Conn.. Del., Hi, Ind., Iowa, Maine, Md., Mich., Mont., Nebr., N. J., N. C.,
Ohio, Oreg., Pa„ S. Dak., Vt., Wyo.
2 Ariz., Ark., Fla., Idaho, Ivans., Ivy., La., Mass., Minn., Mo., Nev., N. H., N. Y. N. Dak.
K. I„ Utah, Wash., Wis.
3 Ala., Ga., Miss., N. Mex., Okla., S. C., Tenn., Tex., Va., W. Va.

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

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 qualifi
cation :
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 STATUS—FAMILY 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 females. The same minimum age applies to both
sexes in 8 States4 5when parental consent is required, and in 16 StatesB
when parental consent is not required. Other legal distinctions found
are of minor importance, both as to number and character; for exam
ple, 2 States (Louisiana, Texas) require pre-marital health tests of
male applicants only. One State (Louisiana) bars remarriage of a
woman for a 10-month period after dissolution of her marriage.
DIVORCE

Sixteen States6 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 7 may
*
grant a divorce to the wife on grounds that are exclu
sive to her, generally the husband’s desertion or nonsupport.
4 Colo., Conn., Maine, Mo., N. J., N. C., Pa., Tenn.
5 Conn., Fla., Ga., Idaho, Ky., La., Nebr., N. C., Ohio, Pa., R. I., S. C., Tenn., Va., W. Va.,
Wyo.
6 Ala., Ariz., Ga., Iowa, Kans., Ky., Miss., Mo., N. H., N. Mex., N. C., Okla., Tenn., Va.,
Wis., Wyo.
7 Ala., Ariz., Colo., Del., Ind., Ky., Maine, Mass., Mich., Mo., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N. EL,
N. Mex., R. I., Tenn., Vt., Wash., Wis., Wyo.

PARENT AND CHILD

Thirty-four States8 give both parents the same rights of natural
guardianship. Fourteen States9 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 earn
ings. 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 dis
position of its custody.
Six States10 and
11 the District of Columbia by statute prefer the father
when a guardian of property is to be appointed for his child.
Nine States11 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.
Seven12 of the thirteen13 14
States that authorize the surviving parent
to appoint a testamentary guardian for a minor child’s property pro
vide 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 acknowl
edges Ids 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.
Nine11 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
28) 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 Dis
trict of Columbia, under common-law rule in this respect, hold the
* 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., E. I., S. C., S. Dak.,
Tenn., Tex., Utah, Wash., W. Va., Wis.
0 Ala., Ark., Colo., Ga„ Iowa, Mass., Mich., Minn., N. Y., N. C., Okla., Vt., Va., Wyo.
10 Ala., Colo., La., Mont., Oreg., Tex.
11 Ariz., Idaho, Mont., N. Dak., Okla., Oreg., S. Dak., Utah, Vt.
12 Ariz., Idaho, Mont., N. Dak., Okla., S. Dak., Utah.
M Ariz., Calif., Del., Idaho, La., Mont., Nev., N. Y., N. Dak., Okla., Pa., S. Dak., Utah.
14 Idaho, Iians., La., Mont., Nev., N. Mex., N. Dak., Okla., S. Dak.

husband and his property primarily liable for family support. In
21 of these States 15 the wife and her property are declared liable
also for family necessaries, but without changing the husband’s pri
mary obligation.
Ten States16 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.
Unmarried parents.—In general, the mother is primarily liable for
support of the child. Most States have legal procedure for establish
ing 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 States 17 have
18 no statutory provision of this type.

CIVIL STATUS—CONTRACT AND 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 13 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 eight19 community-property States [as of July 1, 1950] 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 20 forbid a wife to obligate herself as surety for her
husband.
Five States21 limit to some extent because of sex the appointment
of a woman to positions of trust, such as executor or administrator.
Six States22 may impose special restrictions on a woman who
marries while serving in these offices of trust.
15 Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Conn., Idaho, 111., Iowa, La., Mass., Minn., Mo., Mont., N. Dak.,
Orcg., Pa., S. Dak., Utah, Wash., W. Va., Wyo.
16 Calif., Idaho, Mont., Nev., N. Mex., N. Dak., Ohio, Okla., S. Dak., Wis.
17 Idaho, Mo., Tex., Va.
18 La., Nebr., Tex.
10 Ariz., Calif., Idaho, La., Nev., N. Mex., Tex., Wash.
20 Ala., Ga., Idaho, Ky., N. II.
21 Idaho, Nev., Okla., Oreg., S. Dak.
22 Del., Nev., N. II., N. C., S. C., Utah.

OWNERSHIP, CONTROL, AND USE OF PROPERTY

Separate property.—In property management and control, inheri
tance, 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 earn
ings of married women are made their separate property by spe
cific statute in most of the States not under the community-property
regime. In the 15 States23 without such specific law, general statutes
are interpreted to have the same effect.
Six States 24 *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; only one State 26
denies a wife full individual status in the courts, requiring her hus
band to be made a party to certain actions which involve the wife.
Three States26 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. Under 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 hus
band controls the property and receives the income during the
marriage.
Five States27 still have the so-called Free-Trader statutes, under
which court sanction, and in some cases the husband’s consent, is re
quired for a wife’s legal venture into an independent business, if she
is to keep the profits for her own account.
r
Community or communal property.—Eight States 28 have the com
munity 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 communityproperty States 29 give the wife control over her earnings, even as part
of the communal estate.
[Four States (Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon) have
adopted the community system within recent years, principally for
the purpose of dividing the burden of taxation between husband and
23 Del., Ky., M<J„ Mass., Miss., Mont., N. Y., N. Dak., Ohio, Okla., Oreg., S. Dak., Tenn.,
Vt., Va.
« Ala., Fla., Ind., N. C„ Pa., Tex.
* Tex.
“ Mass., Mich., N. C.
21 Calif., Fla., Nev., Pa., Tex.
28 Ariz., Calif., Idaho, La., Nev., N. Mex., Tex., Wash.
29 Idaho, Nev.

wife; but each of these States has repealed the law since passage of
the 1948 Federal Revenue Act which permits division of family income
for tax returns.]
In the 40 States30 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 pi'ivate
settlement. This is accomplished through voluntary agreement or
other arrangement, such as joint ownership of lands, joint bank ac
counts, 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.
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 in
herits 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 re
quire maintenance for the widow from the husband’s estate during
the period of its settlement. At least one-third of them provide sup
port from solvent estates under administration for either spouse who
survives.
30 Ala., Ark., Colo., Conn., Del., Fla., Ga., 111., Ini].. Iowa, Kans., Ky., Maine, Me!., Mass.,
Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., Nebr., N. II., N. J., N. Y., N. C„ N. Dak., Ohio, Okla., Ore.,
Pa., K. I., S. C., S. Dak., Tenn., Utah, Vt., Va„ W. Va„ Wis., Wyo.

IX
WOMEN’S EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING

STUDENT ENROLLMENTS IN AND GRADUATES OF EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS1

Enrollments
Type of school and
school year

Number
Total

Kindergarten and elementary
schools:
1945-46________ _______
20, 051, 408
1947-48
20, 828, 958
Secondary schools:
1945-46
6, 237,133
1947-48
6, 305,168
Institutions of higher education:
1,676,851
1945-46
1947-48....... ............................ 2, 616, 262
1948-49_________________

Females

Graduates
Percent
females
are of
total

Number
Total

Females

Percent
females
are of
total

(2)
p)

(a)
(2)

9, 755, 270
10,118, 991

48.7
48.6

(*>
0

3, 320.028
3, 240,889

53.2
51.4

1, 080,033
1,189,909

613,107
627. 046

56.8
52.7

749,189
779, 923

44.7
29.8

136,174
271, 019
365,428

77, 510
95, 563
101, 874

56.9
35.3
27 9

1 Includes only regular session students in full-time day schools. Latest year for which complete figures
are available is 1947-48; only available comparable figures for 1948-49 are for graduates in institutions of
higher education.
2 Not reported because of differences in elementary school organization.
Source: (U. S.) Federal Security Agency, U. S. Office of Education.

WOMEN ENROLLED IN VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMS
Federally aided all-day trade and industrial programs in which women were enrolled for
the year ending June 30, 1949 1

Enrollment of women
Total___________________________ ______ __________________1 28,745
Garment and textile trades: 14, 225
Dressmaking 8, 445
Power sewing-machine operation 2, 624
Millinery
663
Textiles
501
Men’s tailoring
109
Upholstering
Laundering, cleaning, dyeing, and pressing_______________________
Garment and textile trades, other 1, 755
Domestic and personal service trades
Cosmetology 7, 325
Nursing-------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------Household service and management-±____________________________
Interior decoration
173
Hotel service and management__________________________________
Barbering._____________________________________________________
Domestic and personal service trades, other
221

64
64

9, 669

1, 541
377
23
9

Food trades

2, 400

Food service______________________________________________ _____
Cooking________________________________________ _________ :_____
Baking
Meat cutting
Food trades, other__ ___________________________________________

1, 233
535
67
18
547

Printing and publishing trades

1, 233

Commercial art:________________________________________________
Photography__________________
Printing_________________________________
Bookbinding________________
Printing and publishing trades, other_____________________________

905
204
104
15
5

1 Provisional figures.

Source: (U. S.) Federal Security Agency, U. S. Office of Education.

Enrollment of women
_____________
170

Electrical trades.
Telegraphy and telephony__________
Radio
Electric wiring___________________
Electrical trades, other
Mechanical service and hand trades

133
34
2
1

124

Dental mechanics
112
Jewelry and watchmaking
Auto mechanics (including Diesel mechanics)_____________________
Building and construction trades
Bricklaying, stone masonry, and tile setting______________________
Carpentry and woodworking
Painting and decorating
Metal trades
Machine shop

8
4
67
39
17
1'
48
48

Aircraft manufacturing and maintenance_____________________________

Aircraft instruments
Aircraft engine and propeller mechanics__________________________

2
1

Miscellaneous trades________________________________ ________________

816

Drafting____________________________________
General industrial
Gardening and landscaping
Miscellaneous trades, other
630

102
76
8

WOMEN SERVED BY REHABILITATION PROGRAMS

The number of women rehabilitated under Federal and State re
habilitation agencies in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1949, wTas
18,200 or 31.4 percent of the total number of men and women re
habilitated under these agencies.
Source: (U. S.) Federal Security Agency, Statistical Division of the Office of Vocational
Rehabilitation.

X
AMERICAN WOMEN
A selected bibliography of basic sources of current and historic interest

The following brief bibliography lists, under subject headings, the
more outstanding basic source materials on American women, as well
as recently issued publications. This list does not include works de
voted to educational theory; to community organization; to instruc
tion on 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. A num
ber of the books listed (including both early and some later Women’s
Bureau bulletins) are available only in libraries.

GENERAL

American Academy of Political and Social Science—Annals. Phila
delphia :
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 Chang
ing 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. Yol. 3, 1939-40. Ed. by Durwarcl Howes. Los Angeles,
Calif., American Publications, Inc., 1939.
Benson, Mary Sumner. Women in 18tli Century America: A Study
of Opinion and Social Usage. New York, N. Y., Columbia Uni
versity 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 K. The American Woman: The Feminine Side of
a Masculine Civilization. New York, N. Y., Emerson Books, Inc.,
Eevised ed. 1944. An important and basic work that considers
many aspects of the changing status of woman, from colonial times
to our modern society, and gives an informed and sympathetic
discussion.
Mead, Margaret, and Stern, Bernhard J. Woman, Position in Society.
In Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences. Yol. 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 profes
sions. Included also are biographies of pioneer women and refer
ences to books about their work.
'Women’s Bureau Bulletin:
Women s Bureau Conference 1948—The American Woman, Her
Changing Kole—Worker, Homemaker, Citizen. Bull. 224.
See especially :
Kyrk, Hazel. Family Responsibilities of Earning Women.
lead, Ordway. Social Patterns for Women, The Present
and The Prospects.
Thompson, C. Mildred. Women’s Status, Yesterday, Today,
and Tomorrow.

WOMEN AS CITIZENS

Annals of the American Academy (cited also under General) :
May 19.ft:
Allen, Florence F. Participation of Women in Government.
Beard, Mary K. Woman’s Role in Society.
Fisher, Marguerite J. Women in Political Parties.
Stone, Kathryn H. Women as Citizens.
May 19&9: Howes, Ethel Puffer. The Meaning of Progress in
the Woman Movement.
November 191U: 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., Macmil
lan, 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 Reali
ties. 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.
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 (Yols. I to VI) : Vol. I (1848-61) was
published in 1881. This and Vols. II and III were written by Eliza
beth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, with collaboration of
Matilda Joslyn Gage, later joined by Mrs. Stanton’s daughter Har
riot. 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.
80

Lutz, Alma. Created Equal: A Biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
1815-1902. New York, N. Y., John Day Co., 1940. This deals with
the early history of the woman suffrage movement, and is a fascinat
ing 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:
Buchanan, Sara Louise:
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 Pro
fessional Opportunities; E, Fiscal Laws; F, Civil Liber
ties ; and G, Nationality. (Documented; separates; mimeo
graph.)
Young, Louise M. Understanding Politics: A Practical Guide for
Women. New York, N. Y., Pellegrini & Cudahy, 1950.

WOMEN AS WORKERS
EMPLOYMENT AND 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 print
ing industries.
Harriet Martineau and the Employment of Women, 1836. In
Journal of Political Economy, Yol. XIV, 1906. Pages 614 ff.
Discusses the occupations of women in this period, which wras
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 Uni
versity Press, 1940.
Annals of the American Academy (cited also under General):
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 Cen
tury. 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 espe
cially 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.
82

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.
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 worker 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 Eco
nomic Change. December 1947.
Robinson, Mary V. Woman Workers in Two Wars. October
1943.
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.
Women’s Bureau Bulletins:
Benham, Elisabeth D. The Woman Wage Earner. Bull. 172.
1939. Part //, Women’s Plane in Industry.
Dempsey, Mary V. The Occupational Progi’ess of Women,
1910-30. Bull. 104. 1933.
Ewing, Eloise; Payne, Ethel; and Mohr, Jennie. Community
Household Employment Programs. Bull. 221. 1948.
Hooks, Janet M. Women’s Occupations Through Seven Decades
(1870-1940). Bull. 218. 1947.
Kingsbury, Susan M. The Economic Status of University Women
in the U. S. A. Bull. 170. 1939. Report of Committee on
Economic and Legal Status, American Association of Univer
sity Women, in cooperation with the Women’s Bureau.
Moore, Louise. Occupations for Girls and Women: Selected
References. July 1943—June 1948. Bull. 229. 1949.

Women’s Bureau Bulletins—Continued
Pidgeon, Mary Elizabeth:
Employment of Women in the Early Postwar Period. Bull.
211. 1946.
Changes in Women’s Employment During the War. Sp.
Bull. 20. 1944.
Women in the Economy of the United States. Bull 155.
1937. Part I. Ch. 1. The Trend in the Occupations of
Women.
Pidgeon, Mary Elizabeth, and Hooks, Janet M. Women in the
Federal Service. Bull. 230. Part T, Trends in Employment,
1923-47. 1949. Part II, Occupational Information. 1950.
Zapoleon, Marguerite Wykoff:
The Outlook for Women in Occupations in the Medical and
Other Health Services. Bull. 203. Nos. 1-12. 1945,1946.
The Outlook for Women in Science. Bull. 223. Nos. 1-8.
1948, 1949.
The Outlook for Women in Police Work. Bull 231. 1949.
The Outlook for Women in Home Economics Occupations.
Bull. 234. No. 1. 1950. Others in series in preparation.
The Outlook for Women in Social Work. Bull. 235. Nos.
1 and 2. 1950. Others in series in preparation.
WAGES

Annals of the American Academy (cited also under General). 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.
Monthly Labor Review, U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Angus, Alice, and Sullivan, Mary Loretta. Progress of State
Minimum Wage Legislation, 1948-49. August 1949.
-------- Progress of State Minimum Wage Legislation, 1947-48.
September 1948.
-------- Progress of State Minimum Wage Legislation, 1946.
June 1947.
■--------Progress of State Minimum Wage Legislation, 1943-45.
May 1946.
U. S. House of Representatives. 80th Congress. Hearings on H. R.
4273 and H. R. 4408. (Bills providing equal pay.) Before a Sub
committee of the House of Representatives Committee on Educa
tion and Labor. February 9, 10, 11, and 13, 1948. Testimony of
Frieda S. Miller; exhibits prepared in the Women’s Bureau; and
testimony of various representatives of labor unions and women’s
organizations.
84

U. S. Senate. 79th Congress. Hearings on S. 1178. (Bill providing
equal pay.) Before a Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on
Education and Labor. October 29, 30, and 31, 1945. Testimony
of Frieda S. Miller; exhibits A to F, prepared in the Women’s
Bureau; and testimony of various representatives of labor unions
and women’s organizations.
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:
Equal Pay for Women. Leaflet No. 2, 1947. (Rev. 1949.)
Kefauver, Hazel. Working Women’s Budgets in 12 States.
Bull. 226. 1948. (Supplements have also been issued.)
Pidgeon, Mary Elizabeth:
Earnings of Women in Selected Manufacturing Industries,
1946. Bull. 219. 1948.
Equal Pay for Women in War Industries. Bull. 196. 1942.
Women in the Economy of the United States. Bull. 155.
1937. Part I. Ch. 3. Compensation of Women.
Smith, Florence P. State Minimum Wage Laws and Orders,
1942. Bull. 191. 1942.
Sullivan, Mary Loretta, and Angus, Alice. State Minimum
Wage Laws and Orders, July 1, 1942-July 1, 1950. (Supple
ment to Bull. 191.) Bull. 227. (Revised.) 1950.
Bulletins on Family Responsibility:
Peterson, Agnes L. What the Woman Wage Earner Con
tributes to Family Support. Bull. 75. 1929. A sum
mary of 22 studies.
Pidgeon, Mary Elizabeth, and Mettert, Margaret Thompson.
Employed Women and Family Support. Bull. 168. 1939.
Smaltz, Rebecca. Women Workers in Their Family En
vironment. Bull. 183. 1941.
Weissbrodt, Sy 1 via R. Women Workers in Ten War Produc
tion Areas. Bull. 209. 1946.
Women in the Economy of the United States (cited). Part I.
Ch. J. Responsibility of Employed Women for the Sup
port of Others. Bull. 155. 1937.
HEALTH AND PHYSICAL WELFARE

Baetjer, Dr. Anna M. Women in Industry: Their Health and Effi
ciency. 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., Macmil
lan, 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. The War and Women’s Employment.
Part II. United States. Conditions of Work, and Health and
Welfare Problems. In Ch. II, Women in Industry. Montreal, the
Office, 1946.
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.
Worn,on’s Bureau Bulletins:
Anderson, Margaret K. 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.
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).
Mohr, Jennie. The Industrial Nurse and the Woman Worker.
Sp. Bull. 19. 1944. (Reprinted with minor revisions as Bull.
228. 1949.)
Occupational Diseases of Women. Series, presenting and in
terpreting 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.

Standards for Employment of Women, Leaflet. 1950. Latest revi
sion 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, Regu
latory, Prohibitory and Maternity Laws; Part IV, Industrial
Home-Work Laws; Part V, Explanation and Appraisal (of
Wartime Modifications). 1945 and 1946. Various earlier bul
letins deal with historic developments. See also mimeo
graphed annual summaries of State Legislation of Special In
terest to Women, 1945-49, and Summary of State Labor Laws
for Women, 1950.
(See also Women’s Bureau complete list of publications; includes
studies of conditions in particular industries and special prob
lems such as lost time and labor turn-over, irregular employ
ment, piecework, etc.)
ORGANIZATION INTO UNIONS

Abbott, Edith. Women in Industry (cited under Employment and
Occupations). Gives interesting incidents of early activities of
women in unions.
Annals of the American Academy (cited also under General) :
May 1947: Dickason, Gladys. Women in Labor Unions.
September 1904: Yudelson, Sophie. Women’s Place in Industry
and Labor Organizations.
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.
Gluck, Elsie. Women in Industry: Problems of Organization. In
Encyclopaedia of Social Science. Vol. 15. New York, N. Y., Mac
millan, 1935.
Henry, Alice:
The Trade Union Woman. New York and London. Appleton,
1915.
Women and the Labor Movement. Workers’ Bookshelf. Vol. IV.
New York, N. Y., Macmillan, 1927.
Wolfson, Theresa. The Woman Worker and the Trade Unions. New
York, N. Y., International Publishers, 1926.
'Women’s Bureau Bulletin:
Benham, Elisabeth D. The Woman Wage Earner. Bull. 172.
1939. Part IV, Women’s Participation in Labor Organizations.

WOMEN AS HOMEMAKERS

Annals of the American Academy (cited also under General) :
May 19]+'/:
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 Home
makers.
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:
Pidgeon. Mary Elizabeth. The Employed Woman Homemaker.
Bull. 148. 1936.
Consult especially the Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Eco
nomics, 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 em
ployment and conditions of work for household employees.
See also certain items already listed:
Groves (work cited under General).
■
Pidgeon, 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
Woman, 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).

XI
WOMEN’S NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
List as of January 1950

Following is a list of women’s national organizations grouped ac
cording 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 affili
ated with fraternal orders have been omitted.

ORGANIZATIONS HAVING SOCIAL, CIVIC, OR RELIGIOUS PURPOSES

Association of the Junior Leagues of America, Inc., The WaldorfAstoria Hotel, New York 22, N. Y. Founded in 1901. The purpose
of the Junior League is to foster interest among its members in the
social, economic, educational, cultural, and civic conditions of the
community, and to maintain desirable standards of efficiency in their
volunteer service. Membership: 172 Leagues in U. S. A., Canada,
Mexico, and Hawaii with approximately 53,350 members.
General Federation of Women’s Clubs, 1734 N Street NW., Washing
ton 6, D. C. Established in 1890. Its objective is to unite women’s
clubs and like organizations throughout the world 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 750,000 per capita paying members,
in addition to State, national, and international organizations
affiliated with the General Federation.
National Association of Colored Women, Inc., 1114 O Street NW.,
Washington 5, D. C. Established in 1896. Its purpose is the better
ment 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.

National Consumers League for Fair Labor Standards, 348 Engineers’
Building, Cleveland 14, Ohio. (Not restricted to women.) Estab
lished in 1899. Its purpose is “to awaken consumers’ interest in their
responsibility for conditions under which goods are made and dis
tributed, and through investigation, education, and legislation, to
promote fair labor standards.”
National Council of Catholic Women, 1312 Massachusetts Avenue NW.,
Washington 5, D. C. Established in 1920. Its purpose is to feder
ate existing organizations of Catholic women in order that they may
speak and act as a unit when the welfare of the church or of the
country demands such expression. Membership: 6,000,000 through
federated groups.
National Council of Jewish Women, Inc., 1819 Broadway, New York
23, N. Y. Established in 1893. Its purpose is to afford its members
“an opportunity to assume a constructive role in the American com
munity through its programs of social legislation, contemporary
Jewish affairs, international understanding for peace, service to
foreign born, and community welfare.” Membership: 88,000.
National Council of Negro Women, 1318 Vermont Avenue NW., Wash
ington 5, D. C. Organized in 1935. The Council seeks the cooper
ation 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 Inter
national Council of Women. Membership: 5,000,000 (approxi
mately) 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. Member
ship: 500,000.
National Women’s Christian Temperance Union, 1730 Chicago Ave
nue, 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.
90

United Council of Church Women (Protestant),1 156 Fifth Avenue,
New York 10, N. Y. Organized in December 1941. Its purpose
is “to unite church women in their allegiance to their Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ, through a program looking to their integra
tion in the total life and work of the church and the building of a
world Christian community.” Membership: 50 State Councils and
1,582 active local groups.
Young Women’s Christian Association of the United States of Amer
ica, 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 per
sonal and social living to which 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
YWCA. Membership: 3,000,000.
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Administra
tive Headquarters, United States Section, 2006 Walnut Street, Phil
adelphia 3, Pa.; Legislative office, 1734 F Street NW., Washington 6,
D. C. Established in 1915 in The Plague. 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.
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 afford women opportunities for participation in the
solution of social and economic problems of importance to women,
and to promote their preparation for advancement in business and
professional life. Affiliated with the International Federation of
Business and Professional Women’s Clubs. Membership: 155,000.
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: 1,200.
1 Most of the separate Protestant denominations have established a women’s section in
their national organization.

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: More
than 1,000.
American Woman's Society of Certified Public Accountants, 342 Madi
son Avenue, New York 17, N. Y. Founded in 1933. Its purpose is
to advance the professional interest of women certified public ac
countants and to promote a greater interest among women in the
higher attainments of the accounting profession. Membership: 215.
ART

National Association of Women Artists, 42 West Fifty-seventh Street,
New York 19, N. Y.
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 inter
ests of its members; and to further the interests of all women in the
banking profession. Membership: 993.
ENGINEERING

Society of Women Engineers, % Drexel Institute of Technology,
Philadelphia 4, Pa. Established in 1949. Its purpose is to estab
lish a code of ethics for women engineers; to educate the public to
the need for women engineers; to foster congenial relationships be
tween women engineers and industry; to help undergraduates to
find their place in industry; to encourage and assist all women who
show an aptitude and desire to study engineering; to sponsor laws
beneficial to women engineers. Membership: 200.
FASHION

The Fashion Group, Inc., 9 Rockefeller Plaza, New York 20, N. Y.
Founded in 1931. It is an 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. Membership:
2,087.
92

GEOGRAPHY

The Society of Woman Geographers, 1706 G Street NW,, Washing
ton 6, D. C. Founded in 1925. Its purpose is to create avenues
of contact between traveled women engaged in geographical work
and its allied arts and sciences; to further geographical work in
all its branches; to spread geographical knowledge; and to en
courage geographical research. Membership: 300.
HEALTH 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 un
derstanding with industrial management, medicine, safety, and
allied groups; to effect the inclusion of industrial nursing par
ticipation in industrial and community health programs. Mem
bership: 3,000.
American Association of Medical Record Librarians, 22 East Division
Street, Chicago 10, 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: 2,300.
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 im
prove the quality and effectiveness of social work in relation to
health and medical care. Membership: 2,300.
American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, 22 East Division Street,
Chicago 10, 111. Founded in 1931. Its purpose is to develop edu
cational standards and techniques in the administration of anes
thetics ; to facilitate cooperation between nurse anesthetists and the
medical profession; to promote an educational program on the im
portance of the proper administration of anesthetics. Membership:
4,950.
American Dental Assistants Association, Inc., 410 First National Bank
Building, La Porte, 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 lec
tures, clinical demonstrations, discussions, and instruction in the
details of their duties; to inspire its members to render more effi
cient service; to promote fellowship, cooperation, and a desire for
mutual improvement among its members. Membership: 6,500.

American Dental Hygienists Association, 1612 Eye Street NW., Wash
ington 6, D. C. Established in 1923. Its purpose is to elevate and
sustain the professional character and education of dental hygien
ists ; 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: 2,800.
American Medical Women’s Association, Inc., P. O. Box 64, Plane
tarium Station, New York 24, N. Y. Founded in 1915. Its purpose
is to encourage social and cooperative relations inside and outside the
profession; to further relief work; and to assist women medical
students and women physicians in their undergraduate and post
graduate work, respectively. Affiliated with the Medical Women’s
International Association.
American Nurses Association, 1790 Broadway, New York 19, 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: 171,341.
American Occupational Therapy Association, 33 West Forty-second
Street, New York 18, N. Y. Founded in 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 promote research; and to
engage in other activities advantageous to the profession and its
members. Membership: 3,000.
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 under
standing 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: 3,964.
American Society of Medical Technologists, 6544 Fannin Street, Hous
ton 5, 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: 4,500.
94

American Society of X-Ray Technicians, % Genevieve J. Eilert, Ex
ecutive Secretary, 16 Fourteenth Street, Fond du Lac, Wis. (Not
restricted to women, but membership is primarily women.) Founded
in 1920. Its purpose is to promote radiography ; to assist in estab
lishing approved standards of training and recognized qualifications
for those engaged in technical work in radiological departments;
to arrange meetings for the reading of papers and discussion of prob
lems pertaining to the work of X-ray technicians; and to encourage
and facilitate a similar program among technicians affiliated with
this Society. Membership: 2,976.
Association of American Women Dentists, % Dr. Muriel K. G. Robin
son, President, 4906 Walnut Street, Philadelphia 9, Pa. Estab
lished in 1921.
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 as well as
the opinions of these nurses with respect to their work; and to
promote the most effective use of their services.
HOME ECONOMICS

The American Dietetic Association, 620 North Michigan Avenue,
Chicago 11, 111. (Not restricted to women, but membership is pri
marily women.) Founded in 1917. Its purpose is to improve the
nutritional status of human beings; to raise the standards in dietetic
service; to protect the status of the profession; and to foster co
operation between the members and workers in allied fields. Mem
bership: 8,200.
American Home Economics Association, 700 Victor Building, Wash
ington 1, D. C. (Not restricted to women, but membership is pri
marily women.) Established in 1908. Its purpose is to promote
standards of home living beneficial to the- individual and to society.
Membership: 19,382 individual members; 19,666 affiliated through
college clubs; 1,000 affiliated through homemakers’ groups.
INSURANCE

National Association of Insurance Women, % Miss Catherine F. Cook,
Corresponding Secretary, P. O. Box 261, Coconut Grove 33, Fla.
Founded in 1940. Its purpose is to encourage and foster practical
and coordinated educational programs designed to broaden the
knowledge of its members concerning the business of insurance; to
cultivate and promote good fellowship and loyalty among them; to
make them more responsive to the business requirements and neces
sities of their associates. Membership: 10,000.

Women Underwriters, The National Association of Life Underwriters,
% Helen A. Pendergast, National Chairman, 421 Southern Build
ing, Washington 5, D. C. 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 association affairs; to stimulate professional interest and
growth; to develop cooperative effort and understanding among
women of the same profession. Membership: 2,500.
LAW

National Association of Women Lawyers, % J. Helen Slough, Presi
dent, 600-6 B. F. Keith Building, Cleveland 15, Ohio. Founded in
1900. 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 membership is primarily women.)
Established in 1876. Its objective is to increase the distribution
and usefulness of books through improving and extending library
service. Membership: 19,800.
Special Libraries Association, 31 East Tenth Street, New York 3, N. Y.
(Not restricted to women, but membership is largely women.) Or
ganized in 1909. Its purpose is to promote the collection, organiza
tion, 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, % Mrs. Guy Patterson Gannett,
President, Press-Herald Building, Portland, Maine. (Not re
stricted to women, but membership is primarily women.)
RADIO

Association of Women Broadcasters, National Association of Broad
casters, 1771 N Street NW., Washington 6, D. C. Founded in 1942.
Its purpose is to promote the interests of women broadcasters and
executives; to encourage closer cooperation and to clear information
relating to the work of women broadcasters throughout the United
States in all fields of activity; and to further the principles and ob
jectives of the National Association of Broadcasters. Membership:
1,500.
96

REAL ESTATE

National Association of Real Estate Boards, Women's Council, 22
West Monroe Street, Chicago 3, 111. Established in 1939. Its pur
pose is to promote women’s active participation in local Board activi
ties and to present programs to all women realtors within local and
State groups which offer an opportunity for leadership, education,
and fellowship. Membership: 700.
TEACHING

See Educational Organizations.
WRITING

American Newspaper Women’s Clubs, Inc., 1604 20th 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 their professional contacts.
Membership: 225.
National League of American Pen Women, Inc., 814 National Press
Building, Washington 4, 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, Wash
ington 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: 325.
GENERAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS OF BUSINESS AND 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 In
formation; it also helps women establish themselves successfully
in suitable occupations. Membership: 9,600.
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: 11,000. Affiliated with the Soroptimist
International Association.
Pilot Club International, 1001 Persons Building, Macon, Ga. Organ
ized in 1921. Membership (1946) : 6,000.

Quota Club International, Inc., 1719 I Street NW., Washington 6,
D. C. Established in 1919.
Zonta International, 59 East Van Buren Street, Chicago 5, 111. Es
tablished in 1919. Its main objectives are the encouragement of
high ethical standards in business and the professions; the improve
ment 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: 7,500 in 225 clubs in 11 countries.

EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

American Association of University Women, 16341 Street NW., Wash
ington 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 Fed
eration of University Women. Membership: 110,000.
National Association of Deans of Women, 1201 Sixteenth Street NW.,
Washington 6, D. C. Established in 1916. Its purpose is to in
crease 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: 1,450.
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 stand
ards of home life; to secure adequate laws for the care and pro
tection 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: 5,774,358.
National Association of College Women, % Mrs. Esther P. Shaw,
Corresponding Secretary, 2645 Fifteenth Street NW., Washington
9, D. C. Founded in 1924. Its purpose is to secure equal oppor
tunity 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 inter
national issues that demand study by and the cooperation of all
thoughtful Americans. Membership: 30 branches.
98

National Council of Administrative Women in Education, % Mrs.
Carolyn Patterson, President, Linden School, Pittsburgh 8, Pa,
Founded in 1920. Its purpose is to promote the advancement of
qualified women to administrative positions in the field of educa
tion; to foster growth in educational leadership; to afford oppor
tunity for each member to become articulate in carrying out the
broad purposes of education. It is a department of the National
Education Association. Membership: 1,200.
National Education Association of the United States, 1201 Sixteenth
Street NW., Washington 6, D. C. (Not restricted to women, but
membership is primarily women.) Established in 1857 as the Na
tional 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: 427,527 and 824,395 affiliated
through State, territorial, and local associations.

POLITICAL AND LEGISLATIVE ORGANIZATIONS

Democratic National Committee, Women’s Division, 1200 Eighteenth
Street NW., Washington 6, D. C. Founded in 1916. Its purpose
is to aid and stimulate participation of women in support of the
ideas and policies of the Democratic Party.
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 partic
ipation of citizens in government. Membership: 89,000.
National Federation of Women’s Republican Clubs, 1337 Connecticut
Avenue NW., Washington 6, D. C.
National Woman’s Party, 144 B Street NE., Washington 3, D. C.
Established in 1913 for suffrage; reorganized in 1921 for equal
rights. Its particular purpose is to secure the adoption of the Equal
Bights Amendment to the National Constitution and of the Equal
Bights Treaty. It is affiliated with the World Woman’s Party.
Republican National Committee, Women's Division, 1337 Connecticut
Avenue NW., Washington 6, 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 Chib, 1520 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: 750.
PATRIOTIC ORGANIZATIONS

American Legion Auxiliary, 777 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis,
Ind. Established in 1921. Its membership is composed of women
from families of men who belong to the American Legion. The
Legion is made up of male veterans of World Wars I and II.
American Women’s Voluntary Services, Inc., 500 Park Avenue, New
York 22, N. Y. Founded in 1940. This is “a voluntary organiza
tion which recruits and trains women without regard to race, creed
or color, for voluntary service to the veteran, the community and
our country.” Membership: 20,000.
Daughters of the American Revolution, Seventeenth and D Streets
NW., Washington 6, D. C. Established in 1890,
Daughters of Union Veterans of Civil War, 1861-65,1326 Eighteenth
Street NW., Washington 6, D. C. Organized in 1885. (Member
ship 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 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.
Service Star Legion, Inc., % Mrs. Maurice M. Price, Jr., Executive
Secretary, 2907 Kosalie 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.)
100

Women's Overseas Service League, 1026 Fifteenth Street NW., Wash
ington 6, D. C. Established in 1921. Its purpose is to maintain
the ties of comradeship created during service overseas in World
Wars I and II.

FARM AND RURAL ORGANIZATIONS

Associated Cou/n.try Women of the World, % Mrs. Raymond Sayre,
President, Ackworth, Iowa. Founded in Stockholm in 1983. Its
objective is to promote and maintain friendly and helpful relations
between country women’s and homemakers’ organizations of all
nations and aid in their development; to further their common
interests; to stimulate interest in the international aspects of rural
life; and to work together for the betterment of rural homes and
communities. Membership: 5,000,000 in 21 countries.
Associated Women of the American Farm Bureau Federation, 109
North Wabash Avenue, Chicago 2, 111. Founded in 1934. Its
purpose is to assist in programs of the American Farm Bureau
Federation that are of interest to farm women; to strengthen and
support Home Demonstration work; to represent farm women in
councils of urban women; and to cooperate with other agencies
promoting better rural life. Membership: 1,409,798.
Country Women’s Council, U. S. A., % Mrs. Spencer Ewing, Chair
man, 1706 East Washington Street, Bloomington, 111. Founded
in 1939. This Council is the U. S. Branch of the Associated
Country Women of the World (ACWW). Its purpose is to effect
closer association between the United States members of the
ACWW in order to carry out more efficiently the aim and objec
tives of the parent organization.
National Home Demonstration Council, % Mrs. Malcolm Byrnes,
President, Ethel, La. 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 Agri
culture; 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 Ameri
can home. Membership : 3,000,000.

101

Woman's National. Farm and Garden Association, Inc., % Mrs. Hubert
Lazell Carter, 170 Otis Street, Newtonville 60, Mass. Founded in
1914. Its purpose is to stimulate an interest in and a fondness for
country life; 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 study the problems involved and encourage the estab
lishment of direct marketing standards. Membership: 5,000.

LABOR ORGANIZATIONS 2

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
AFL. Its objective is to encourage the formation of local aux; diaries of labor for purposes of coordinating collective bargaining
and collective buying and of promoting legislation in the interests
of the working population. Membership: Approximately 2,000,000.
Congress of Women’s Auxiliaries, 2123 W. Market Street, Warren,
Ohio. Established in 1941. Its purpose is to further the program
of the CIO; 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 and is affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations.
National Women’s Trade Union League, 317 Machinists’ Building,
Washington 1, D. C. Established in 1903. Its purpose is to or
ganize women wage workers into trade unions and to develop lead
ership among union women. Life and Labor Bulletin is its official
monthly publication. (Disbanded in the Spring of 1950.)
2 These labor groups are strictly women’s organizations. In addition to these, many
women belong to individual trade unions having men and women members. It has been
estimated that approximately 3,000,000 women are members of trade unions.

102

XII
CURRENT PUBLICATIONS OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU

FACTS ON WOMEN WORKERS—issued monthly.

4 pages. (Latest statistics on
employment of women; earnings; labor laws affecting women; news items of
interest to women workers; women in the international scene.)

1950 HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN WORKERS. Bull. 237. (Instant publication.)
THE AMERICAN WOMAN—Her Changing Bole as Worker, Homemaker, Citizen.

(Women’s Bureau Conference, 1948.)

Bull. 224.

210 pp.

1948.

EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK AND TRAINING FOR WOMEN

The Outlook for Women in Occupations in the Medical and Other Health Services
Bull. 203:
1. Physical Therapists. 14 pp. 1945. 100.
2. Occupational Therapists. 15 pp. 1945. 100.
3. Professional Nurses. 66 pp. 1946. 150.
4. Medical Laboratory Technicians. 10 pp. 1945. 100.
5. Practical Nurses and Hospital Attendants. 20 pp. 1945. 100.
6. Medical Record Librarians. 9 pp. 1945. 100.
7. Women Physicians. 28 pp. 1945. 100.
8. X-Ray Technicians. 14 pp. 1945. 100.
9. Women Dentists. 21 pp. 1945. 100.
10. Dental Hygienists. 17 pp. 1945. 100.
11. Physicians’ and Dentists’ Assistants. 15 pp. 1945. 100.
12. Trends and Their Effect Upon the Demand for Women Workers. 55 pp
1946. 150.
The Outlook for Women in Science, Bull. 223 :
1. Science. [General introduction to the series.] 81 pp. 1949. 200.
2. Chemistry. 65 pp. 1948. 200.
3. Biological Sciences. 87 pp. 1948. 250.
4. Mathematics and Statistics. 21 pp. 1948. 100.
5. Architecture and Engineering. 88 pp. 1948. 250.
6. Physics and Astronomy. 32 pp. 1948. 150.
7. Geology, Geography, and Meteorology. 52 pp. 1948. 150.
8. Occupations Related to Science. 33 pp. 1948. 150.
The Outlook for Women in Police Work. Bull. 231. 31 pp. 1949. 150.
Home Economics Occupations Series, Bull. 234. The Outlook for Women in:
1. Dietetics. 80 pp. 1950. 250. (Others in preparation.)
Social Work Series, Bull. 235. The Outlook for Women in:
1. Social Case Work In a Medical Setting. 59 pp. 1950. 250.
2. Social Case Work in
in preparation.)

a Psychiatric Setting.

60 pp.

1950.

250.

(Others

103

Your Job Future After College. Leaflet. 1947. (Rev. 1948.)
Your Job Future After High School. Leaflet. 1949.
Occupations for Girls and Women—Selected References. Bull. 229. 105 pp.
1949. 300.
Training for Jobs—for Women and Girls. [Under public funds available for
vocational training purposes.] Leaflet 1. 1947.
EARNINGS

Earnings of Women in Selected Manufacturing Industries.
14 pp. 1948. 100.

1946.

Bull. 219.

EMPLOYMENT AND OCCUPATIONS

Women’s Occupal ions Through Seven Decades. Bull. 218. 260 pp. 1947. 450.
Popular version, Women’s Jobs: Advance and Growth. Bull. 232. 88 pp.
1949. 300.
Employment of Women in the Early Postwar Period, with Background of Pre
war and War Data. Bull. 211. 14 pp. 1946. 100.
Changes in Women’s Employment During the War. Sp. Bull. 20. 29 pp.
1944. 100.
Women Workers in Ten War Production Areas and Their Postwar Employment
Plans. Bull. 209. 56 pp. 1946. 150.
Women In Higher-Level Positions. Bull. 236. 86 pp. 1950. 250.
Baltimore Women War Workers in the Postwar Period. 61 pp. 1948. Mimeo.
INDUSTRY

Women Workers in Power Laundries. Bull. 215. 71 pp. 1947. 200.
The Woman Telephone Worker [1947], Bull. 207. 28 pp. 1946. 100.
Typical Women’s Jobs in the Telephone Industry [1944]. Bull. 207-A. 52 pp.
1947. 150.
Women in the Federal Service. Part I. Trends in Employment, 1923-1947.
Bull. 230-1. 81 pp. 1949. 250. Part II. Occupational Information. Bull.
230-11. 87 pp. 1950. 250.
Night Work for Women in Hotels and Restaurants. Bull. 233. 59 pp. 1949.
200.
HOUSEHOLD EMPLOYMENT

Old-Age Insurance for Household Workers. Bull. 220.
Community Household Employment Programs. Bull. 221.

20 pp. 1947.
70 pp. 1948.

100.
200.

WOMEN IN LATIN AMERICA

Women Workers in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Bull. 195. 15 pp. 1942.
50.
Women Workers in Brazil. Bull. 206. 42 pp. 1946. 100.
Women Workers in Paraguay. Bull. 210. 16 pp. 1946. 100.
Women Workers in Peru. Bull. 213. 41 pp. 1947. 100.
Social and Labor Problems of Peru and Uruguay. 1944. Mimeo.
Women in Latin America: Legal Rights and Restrictions. (Address before the
National Association of Women Lawyers.)

104

LABOR LAWS

Summary of State Labor Laws for Women. 8 pp. 1950. Mimeo.
State Legislation of Special Interest to Women. Mimeos for 1948 and 1949.
Minimum Wage

State Minimum-Wage Laws and Orders, 1942; An Analysis. Bull. 191. 52 pp.
1942. 200. Supplement, July 1, 1942-July 1, 1950. Bull. 227. Revised.
(In press.)
State Minimum-Wage Laws. Leaflet 1. 1948.
Model Bill for State minimum-wage law for women. Mimeo.
Map showing States having minimum-wage laws. (Desk size; wall size.)
State Minimum-Wage Orders Becoming Effective Since End of World War II.
1950. Multilith.
Equal Pay

Equal Pay for Women. Leaflet 2. 1947. (Rev. 1949.)
Chart analyzing State equal-pay laws and Model Bill. Mimeo.
Texts of State laws (separates). Mimeo.
Model Bill for State equal-pay law. Mimeo.
Selected References on Equal Pay for Women. 10 pp. 1949. Mimeo.
Movement for Equal Pay Legislation in the United States. 5 pp. 1949. Multilith.
Hours of Work and Other Labor Laws

State Labor Laws for Women, with Wartime Modifications, Dec. 15, 1944. Bull.
202:
I. Analysis of Hour Laws. 110 pp. 1945. 150.
II. Analysis of Plant Facilities Laws. 43 pp. 1945. 100.
III. Analysis of Regulatory Laws, Prohibitory Laws, Maternity Laws.
12 pp. 1945. 50.
IV. Analysis of Industrial Home-Work Laws. 26 pp. 1945. 100.
V. Explanation and Appraisal. 66 pp. 1946. 150.
Working Women and Unemployment Insurance. Leaflet. 1949.
Maps of United States showing State hour laws, daily and weekly. (Desk size;
wall size.)
LEGAL STATUS OF WOMEN

International Documents on the Status of Women. Bull. 217. 116 pp. 1947.
250.
Legal Status of Women in the United States of America, January 1, 1948:
United States Summary. Bull. 157. (Revised.) (In preparation.)
Reports for States, Territories and possessions (separates). Bulls. 157-1 through
157-54. (Revised.) 50 and 100 each.
The Political and Civil Status of Women in the United States of America.
Summary, including Principal Sex Distinctions as of January 1, 1948. Leaflet.
1948.
Women’s Eligibility for Jury Duty. Leaflet. July 1, 1950.
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. Mimeo.

105

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RECOMMENDED STANDARDS for women’s working conditions, safety, and health.

Standards for Employment of Women. Leaflet. 1950. (In press.)
When You Hire Women. Sp. Bull. 14. 16 pp. 1944. 100.
The Industrial Nurse and the Woman Worker. Bull. 228. (Partial revision of
Sp. Bull. 19. 1944.) 48 pp. 1949. 150.
Women’s Effective War Work Requires Good Posture. Sp. Bull. 10. 6 pp
1943. 50.
Washing and Toilet Facilities for Women in Industry. Sp. Bull. 4. 11 pp
1942. 50.
Lifting and Carrying Weights hy Women in Industry. Sp. Bull. 2. (Rev. 1946.)
12 pp. 50.
Safety Clothing for Women in Industry. Sp. Bull. 3. 11 pp. 1941. 100. Sup
plements : Safety Caps; Safety Shoes. 4 pp. each. 1944. 50 each.
Poster—Work Clothes for Safety and Efficiency.
WOMEN UNDER UNION CONTRACTS

Maternity-Benefits Under Union-Contract Health Insurance Plans.
19 pp. 1947. 100.

Bull. 214

COST OF LIVING BUDGETS

Working Women’s Budgets in Twelve States.

Bull. 220.

THE WOMEN’S BUREAU—Its Purpose and Functions.

Leaflet.

36 pp.

1948.

1950.

For complete list of publications available for distribution, write—
The Women’s Bureau

U. S. Department of Labor
WASHINGTON 25, D. C.

106

150.

Full text of Handbook of Facts on Women Workers : Bulletin (United States. Women's Bureau) : Handbook of Facts on Women Workers : Women's Bureau Bulletin, No. 237

FRASER