The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
\%i,r 3 V\-^ i , .) 4=*0 — 4s l\V\ ^ UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR FRANCES PERKINS, Secretary WOMEN’S BUREAU MARY ANDERSON, Director + (4, U . A: " ° Hours and Earnings in Certain Men’s-Wear Industries CAPS AND CLOTH HATS NECKWEAR WORK AND KNIT GLOVES HANDKERCHIEFS Bulletin of the Women’s Bureau, No. 163-6 * ► f 33/4 Un3 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE Yioj £>£—£> WASHINGTON : 1939 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. Price 5 cents REPORTS ON MEN’S-WEAR INDUSTRIES IN THIS SERIES Bulletin Work Clothing; Work Shirts; Dress Shirts------------------------------ 163 1 Knit Underwear; Woven Cotton Underwear 163 -2 Seamless Hosiery___________ 163 3 Welt Shoes______ ___________ _______ ______________________ Raincoats; Sport Jackets 163-5 Caps and Cloth Hats; Neckwear; Work and Knit Gloves; Handkerchiefs 163 6. ii 163- 4 CONTENTS Letter of transmittal Caps and cloth hats " Introduction ________ I!!!!!!! Earnings and hours____ _______ ___________________________2 Week’s earnings____ _______________________________ !.!!!!! Hours worked __________________________________________ """" Hourly earnings__ _ Hourly earnings in union and nonunion establishments__________ Neckwear _ Introduction!!!!!!!!!!!!! Earnings and hours_________ ______________________________ " Week’s earnings7 Hours worked ’ Hourly earnings " Hourly earnings in union and nonunion establishments _ Work and knit glovesMfc __ Introduction________ !!!!!!!!!!!! Earnings and hours. Week’s earnings'___________________________________________ " Hours worked _ Hourly earnings__________________________ ~ Handkerchiefs! " Introduction_~ Earnings and hours..!!!!!!!!! Week’s earnings ~ Hours worked____________________________ ____________ ” " Hourly earnings!!!!!!!!!_ Hourly earnings and occupation 22 Page v 1 4 2 3 4 5 g 6 7 g 9 10 42 12 43 43 45 49 43 4g 10 49 20 20 TABLES CAPS AND CLOTH HATS 1. Number of establishments and number of men and women they employed by State_ ’ 2. Average and distribution of week’s earnings, by sex and State 3. Hours worked in the week recorded, by sex and State” 4. Average and distribution of hourly earnings, by sex and State!!! 5. Average and distribution of hourly earnings in establishments having and and not having union contracts_______ . 4 2 3 4 5 NECKWEAR 1. Number of establishments and number of men and women they employed by State‘ ’ Average and distribution of week’s earnings, by sex and State!!!!!!!!!.!! Hours worked in the week recorded, by sex and State! Average and distribution of hourly earnings, by sex and State____ !" Average and distribution of hourly earnings in establishments having and not having union contracts___ ________________ 2. 3. 4. 5. g 7 9 9 44 WORK AND KNIT GLOVES 1. Number of establishments and number of men and women they employed by State___________________________________________________ 42 2. Average and distribution of week’s earnings, by State!!!! 13 3. Week’s earnings of men and women, by State!!!!_ 14 4. Hours worked in the week recorded, by sex and State!! __ 15 5. Average and distribution of hourly earnings, by sex and State! .!.!!!!! _!16 HANDKERCHIEFS 1. Number of establishments and number of men and women they employed by State ___ 2. Average and distribution of week’s earnings by sex and State_____ _______ 3. Hours worked in the week recorded, by sex and State!.!!!! 20 4. Average and distribution of hourly earnings, by sex and State!!!!!! hi IS 19 21 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL United States Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, Washington, July 24, 1939. I have the honor to transmit a report on earnings and hours in 4 of the 13 men’s-wear industries surveyed by the Women’s Bureau in order to supply wage data for the use of the Division of Public Contracts in determining prevailing minimum wages. Data for 7 of the industries have been published in earlier pamphlets of the series, printed in these separate parts as a measure of economy in distribution. The reports were written by Arthur T. Sutherland, of the editorial division. Respectfully submitted. Madam: . Hon. Mary Anderson, Director. Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor. v HOURS AND EARNINGS IN CERTAIN MEN’S-WEAR INDUSTRIES CAPS AND CLOTH HATS INTRODUCTION In 1936 and 1937 the Women’s Bureau surveyed a number of men’swear industries at the request of the Division of Public Contracts of the United States Department of Labor, which required the current •wages and hours in its administration of the Public Contracts Act. The group discussed here comprises establishments producing men’s and boy’s uniform caps, dress and work caps, and stitched hats of cloth, leather, leatherette, or a combination of these materials.1 According to the 1935 Census of Manufactures, there were 315 estab lishments, employing 3,796 workers, in that year. Though separate employment figures are not given by State, it is known that the in dustry centers around a few large cities—New York, Chicago, Phila delphia, and St. Louis. In the Women’s Bureau survey, data were obtained in 64 establish ments in 6 States, as follows: Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. These employed 1,585 workers, of whom 49 percent were women. Practically two-fifths (39 percent) of the workers were in New York, three-tenths were in Illinois, and threetenths were in the other States. Because of the small number reported in Indiana—less than 3 percent of the total—the figures for this State have been combined with those for Ohio. Women formed only 33 percent of the workers in New York, but in the other States they con stituted from 53 to 62 percent. The scope of the survey is shown in table 1. Table 1.—Number of establishments and number of men and women they employed, by Stale State Number of Number of Number of establish employees men ments Women Number Percent of total 64 1,585 817 768 48.5 12 12 3 30 7 480 155 91 616 243 183 65 38 416 115 297 90 53 200 128 61.9 68 1 58 2 32 5 62.7 i A minimum-wage determination of the Secretary of Labor, which took effect August 2,1937, states that ■67^ cents an hour, or $27 for a 40-hour week, shall be the minimum wage for employees on Government con tracts in the men’s hat and cap industry. A determination effective February 11,1938, permits that auxili ary workers, limited to 20 percent of the productive employees, may be paid Z7H cents an hour, or $15 a week tor a 40-hour week. This group specifically excludes cutters or workers in cutting rooms, machine workers or workers on any kind of machines, blockers, pressers, or hand sewers. 1 2 HOURS AND EARNINGS IN MEN’S WEAR Week's earnings were reported for all the 1,585 employees covered; hours worked were reported for 1,223. All but 1 of the 50 establish ments reporting hours worked stated whether or not they were operat ing under union contract. Thirty-one firms, in all the States but Indiana and New Jersey and employing 744 workers, were operating under union contract, and 18 firms, in all the States but Pennsylvania and with 471 employees, were not operating under union contract. EARNINGS AND HOURS Week’s earnings. The average week’s earnings of the 1,585 workers in the cap and cloth hat industry were $20.70. Workers in New York had the highest average, $24.85, and those in the neighboring State of New Jersey had the lowest, $13.05. Approximately midway were the averages in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, and Pennsylvania, $18.15 to $19.45. . In all States combined the concentration of week’s earnings was at $10 and under $20, 46 percent being so reported, but there were substantial proportions at less than $10 (13 percent) and at $20 and under $25 (12 percent), and the wage classes of $25 and over had an aggregate of almost three-tenths (29 percent). Table 2.—Average and distribution of week’s earnings, by sex and State Week’s earnings Total Illinois Indiana and Ohio New Jersey New York Penn syl vania Total women Number of employees-------Average earnings 1.............. 1.585 $20. 70 480 $18.15 155 $18. 55 91 $13.05 616 $24. 85 213 $19.45 768 $14.00 817 $26.95 0.3 6.0 15.7 16.7 15.7 14.6 15.3 5.2 3.2 4.1 3.1 2.5 24.7 26.7 9.9 7.4 3.7 9.5 5.8 5.8 4.1 2.1 20.3 42.2 23.2 9.4 2.0 .5 .3 .1 0.61 3.2 10. 2 17. 4 14.9' 15.9 15.8 8. 2 6.1 5.5 2.2 Total men Percent of employees Under$5. ............................. $5, under $10 ......... ............ $10, under $15-................... . $15, under $20...................... . $20, under $25... _________ $25, under $30 $30, under $35____________ 1.3 11.5 25.7 20.2 12. 2 9.1 8.4 4.4 3.2 2.8 1.2 0.6 10.8 34.4 26.2 11.7 6.5 2.3 3.5 2.1 1.9 1.9 7.7 28.4 33.5 11.0 6.5 2.6 3.9 3.9 .6 7.7 23.1 39.6 16.5 6.6 5.5 1.1 Cumulative percents Under $10_...........................Under $12-............................ Under $14______ ________ Under $16----- ------ ---------- 12.8 21.5 33. 5 43.2 11.4 22.1 38.3 51.9 9.6 15.4 30.3 50.3 30.8 49.5 63.7 79.1 6.3 12.7 18.8 24.5 27.2 35.9 51.9 55.6 22.4 36.1 56.8 70.4 3.8 7.7 11. ft 17.6 $16 and over........................ $20 and over.... ........... ......... $30 and over...................— 56.8 41.3 20.0 48.1 28.0 9.8 49.7 28.5 11.0 20.9 13.2 1.1 75.5 61.2 30.9 44.4 36.3 25.2 29.6 12.3 .9 82.4 68.6 37.8 i The mean—the simple arithmetic average. Wages in New York were at higher levels than those in the other States. Just over three-tenths of the workers were paid $30 or more, and practically as many were paid $20 and under $30. Even in this State, however, 6 percent were paid less than $10. The lower wage standard in New Jersey is apparent in the table; 63 percent of the workers in that State earned $5 and under $15, and only 1 percent had 3 CAPS AND CLOTH HATS earnings as liigh as $30. In Pennsylvania, where short hours were general and 51 percent of the workers earned $5 and under $15, a high hourly average (see p. 4) made this State rank next to New York. Twenty-five percent of the workers earned $30 or more. The concentration of earnings in Indiana and Ohio and in Illinois was in the wage intervals of $10 and under $20, 62 percent in the two States first named and 61 percent in Illinois receiving such amounts; and larger proportions (18 and 16 percent, respectively) earned above $25 than had earnings of less than $10 (10 and 11 percent, respectively). The average earnings of women were $14, and the most usual earn ings, reported for 42 percent of the women, were $10 and under $15. Twenty-three percent earned $15 and under $20, and 20 percent earned $5 and under $10. Earnings as high as $25 were very infre quent; only 3 percent of the women had such earnings. Men’s earnings were less concentrated than women’s, and much larger proportions had earnings at the higher levels. The average for men was $26.95, or 93 percent above the women’s average. Almost one-seventh of the men earned $40 or more, and two-fifths earned $25 and under $40. The largest group in any 5-dollar inter val, 17 percent, had earnings of $15 and under $20. Only 14 percent of the men, compared to 65 percent of the women, had earnings below $15. Hours worked. The number of hours worked in the week recorded was reported for 1,223 workers. The vast majority of these worked 40 hours or less; 27 percent worked 40 hours and 40 percent worked less than 40 hours. In Pennsylvania, which had the second highest average week’s earn ings and much the highest average hourly earnings, more than fourfifths of the employees worked less than 40 hours and only about oneeleventh worked more than 40 hours. New Jersey and Illinois, where average week’s earnings were lowest, had the highest propor tions of employees working over 40 hours; in Illinois more than onefifth (22 percent) worked as long as 48 hours, and in New Jersey nearly two-fifths (37 percent) worked 44 and under 48 hours. Less than 10 percent in New York and Pennsylvania, and 19 percent in Indiana and Ohio, worked as long as 44 hours. In Indiana and Ohio combined three-fifths worked 40 hours even. Table 3.—Hours worked in the week recorded, by sex and State State i Includes all over 40 hours. 171205°—39----2 Percent of employees who worked Number of employees with hours Over 40, 44, under 48 hours worked Under 40 40 hours under 44 48 hours and over reported hours hours 1,223 39.7 26.7 11.8 10.0 11.9 400 134 83 445 95 35.4 15.7 47.0 40.9 82.1 20.6 00.4 13.3 29.2 9.5 9.4 4.5 2.4 20.2 2.1 12.4 10.4 37.3 3.6 3.2 22.1 9.0 594 629 35.0 44.0 29.6 24.0 i 35. 4 132.0 6.0 3.2 4 HOURS AND EARNINGS IN MEN’S WEAR The week worked was somewhat longer for the women than for the men, as 35 percent of the women, compared to 32 percent of the men, worked over 40 hours. Unpublished data show that the proportion of women working over 40 hours was larger than the proportion of men in New York, and smaller than the proportion of men in Illinois and in Indiana and Ohio. Hourly earnings. Hourly earnings were computed for the 1,223 workers with hours worked reported. The average was 54.8 cents for the entire group, though it varied widely in the different States, from 32.4 cents in New Jersey to 84.3 cents in Pennsylvania. New York, with an average of 65.3 cents, also was well above the general average. The table following classifies the hourly earnings of the individual workers. Table 4.—Average and distribution of hourly earnings, by sex and State Hourly earnings (cents) Number of employees with hours worked reported__ Average earnings 1 (cents).. Total 1,223 54.8 Illinois Indiana and Ohio New Jersey 466 44.9 134 47.6 83 32.4 New York Penn sylvania Total women Total men 445 65.3 95 84.3 594 37. 4 629 71.3 0.2 7.0 14.2 14.4 11.2 11.5 14.8 26.8 4.2 6.3 8.4 4. 2 9.5 3. 2 64.1 3.7 22.2 38.0 20.9 10.3 2.9 .5 1.6 0.8 4.6 10. 1 10.8 11.4 13. 4 12.9 35.9 Percent of employees 20, under 30.......... ............... 30, under 40...................... . 40, under 50_______ ______ 60, under 60.......................... 60, under 70......... .............. . 80 and over............................ 2.2 13.1 23.7 15.7 10.9 8.3 6.9 19.2 3.0 19.3 30.4 17.8 11.8 6.2 2. 1 9.2 0.7 3.7 44.0 20. 1 11.9 6.7 3.7 8.9 13.3 37.4 24.1 12.0 9.6 3.6 Cumulative percents Under 30............................... Under 40. .............. ............ Under 50............................ . Under 60.............................. 15.3 39.0 54.7 65.7 22.3 52.7 70.5 82.4 4.4 48.4 68.5 80.6 50.7 74.8 86.8 96.4 7.2 21.4 35.8 47.0 4.2 10.5 18.9 23.2 25.9 64.0 84.8 95.1 5.4 15.6 26.4 37.8. 60 and over........................... 65 and over......... ....... .......... 34.3 30.5 26.1 23.4 17.6 14.6 i 1.4 10.9 19.4 17.2 12.7 10.4 3.6 1.2 53.0 47.4 41. 6 35.3 76.8 73.7 67.4 67.4 4.9 3.5 2.0 1.9 62.2' 56. 0! 48. 8 43.7 37.4 35.9 39.2 28. 5 40.7 (>) 71.3 . 60.1 60.6 c) 78. 4 90. 4 75 and over.......................... Average earnings1 of Average earnings1 of men i The mean—the simple arithmetic average. * Not computed; base less than 50. There was very little concentration of hourly earnings when the group was considered as a whole; in each of three 5-cent intervals— 40 and under 45, 35 and under 40, and 30 and under 35—there were from 10 to 13 percent of the workers, and in each of four others there were from 5 to 7 percent of the workers. Nearly one-fourth (23 per cent) averaged as much as 75 cents. There was a considerable varia tion by State, however, with earnings in Pennsylvania concentrating rather heavily at 60 cents and over, in New York at 50 cents and over, and in New Jersey at below 35 cents. Over three-fourths of the workers in Pennsylvania and more than half of those in New York 5 CAPS AND CLOTH HATS earned 60 cents or more; in the three other States the proportion with such high earnings was less than one-fifth. In New Jersey less than 5 percent of the workers had earnings so high; more than half were paid less than 30 cents and none were paid so much as 70 cents. The most common earnings of women were 30 and under 40 cents, with 38 percent pi the women. Only 5 percent were paid as much as 60 cents. Among men, on the other hand, 62 percent were paid 60 cents or more, 44 percent 75 cents or more, and only 5 percent were paid less than 30 cents. Hourly earnings in union and nonunion establishments. The cap and cloth-hat industry is well organized by labor unions, particularly in the larger centers, and all but 1 of the 50 establish ments that reported the hours worked reported also as to union affiliation. Of these, 31 with 744 workers were operating under union contracts and 18 with 471 workers were not. All but 3 of the union firms were in New York, Illinois, or Pennsylvania. In 3 States— Illinois, Ohio, and New York—both union and nonunion firms were reported; the union group employed 657 workers and the nonunion 344. As shown in the accompanying table, wage standards were materially higher in the union establishments. The average in all union firms was 64.5 cents, or 61 percent above the average of 40 cents in the nonunion establishments. In the 3 States, with both union and nonunion establishments reported, the difference favoring the union ''knits was 20 cents, the 61.5 cents average for the union establishments being in marked contrast to the 41.5 cents for the nonunion establishments. Considering the employees in all union establishments, less than two-fifths had hourly earnings below 50 cents and only one-tenth earned less than 30 cents; corresponding groups in the nonunion plants were much larger, nearly four-fifths and almost one-fourth, respec tively, having such earnings. Approximately half of the union workers, but only one-ninth of the nonunion workers, were paid as much as 60 cents. Table 5.—Average and distribution of hourly earnings in establishments having and not having union contracts Hourly earnings (cents) Establishments operat ing under union con tract Total 744 64.5 3 States 1 Nonunion establish ments Total 3 States1 657 61.5 471 40.0 344 41,5 6.5 9.8 20.0 27.2 33.7 39.4 7.3 10.5 21.5 29.3 36.1 42.3 11.4 24.4 42. 4 58.5 74.4 79.4 8.2 19.3 36.4 55.9 73.3 77.9 60.6 63.8 48.7 57.7 50.3 44.8 20.6 13.3 11.2 22.1 14.6 13. 1 Cumulative percents of employees 1 3 States with both union and nonunion establishments are Illinois, New York, and Ohio, i The mean—the simple arithmetic average. NECKWEAR INTRODUCTION The survey of the men’s neckwear industry by the Women’s Bureau, like the others reported in this series on men’s-wear indus tries, was made to furnish factual data for the Division of Public Contracts in the United States Department of Labor.1 The survey covered 101 establishments whose major or only product was men’s and boy’s neckwear, exclusive of knitted ties. The States surveyed were Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Because of the small number of establishments scheduled in Indiana and Maryland, the figures for these States have been combined in the report. Data on hours and earnings were copied from company pay rolls by agents of the Women’s Bureau or were sent in by firms in coopera tion with organized labor. The effort was made to secure data for a pay period selected by the employer as representative of normal conditions. Information was requested also as to whether or not the firm was operating under a union contract. Exclusive of men in the Illinois plants, whose number was not reported, the number of employees in the 101 plants totaled 4,357. Approximately half of the establishments, but over half (54 percent) of the workers, were in New York; nearly one-seventh of the workers were in Illinois and nearly one-eighth were in Pennsylvania. In each of the other States were less than one-tenth of the workers. Table 1.—Number of establishments and number of men and women they employed, by State State Total........................................................ ...... Women Number of Number of Number establish employees of men ments Number Percent of total 101 4,357 20 3 4 6 60 18 597 224 364 294 2,364 514 721 (J) 15 24 30 595 57 3,636 597 209 264 457 (>) (*) 93.3 93.4 89.8 74.8 88.9 i Not obtainable. Data for men not secured in all cases. * Data for men not obtained. The very great majority of the workers were women. As shown in table 1, they constituted from 75 percent of the workers in New York to 93 percent of those in Missouri and in Indiana and Maryland combined. i A minimum-wage determination of the Secretary of Labor, which took effect August 2,1937, states that 50 cents an hour, or $20 for a 40-hour week, shall be the minimum wage for employees on Government con tracts in the men’s neckwear industry. 6 NECKWEAR 7 Week’s earnings were reported for 4,340 employees, and hours worked for 2,292. Fifty-one of the establishments, with 2,316 workers, reported on union organization; 32, with 1,149 workers, were operating under union contract; and 19, with 1,167 workers, were not unionized. In each of 5.States—Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylva nia—both union and nonunion firms were reported; in Indiana, data were obtained in nonunion plants only. EARNINGS AND HOURS Week’s earnings. Data on week’s earnings were secured for 4,340 workers in the 101 establishments. The average earnings of the* entire group amounted to $21.60, and ranged, by State, from $15.05 in Indiana and Maryland combined to $24.75 in New York. Relatively low earnings, shown by an average of $16.80, were found also in New Jersey. In the re maining 3 States—Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Illinois—average earnings varied only from $18 to $18.80. Table 2.—Average and distribution of week’s earnings, by sex and State Week's earnings Total Number of employees......... 4, 340 Average earnings *...... ........ $21. 60 Indi and Illinois1 ana Mary land 597 $18. 80 224 $15.05 Mis souri New Jersey New York Penn syl vania Total women Total men 363 $18. 00 292 $16. 80 2,349 $24. 75 $18. 55 $18. 60 $36. 80 2.4 13.0 29.5 30.1 15.1 5.8 1.0 1.7 1.4 1.4 6.2 18.1 23.0 15.5 10.6 6.5 3.7 15.0 1.6 12.0 26.2 21.9 20.2 8.7 4.5 2.7 2.1 1.5 8.5 24. 1 30.7 18.8 9. 2 4.2 1.3 1.8 0.7 3.5 8.7 10.4 5.8 7.4 8.8 11.1 43.5 Percent of employees Under $5..... ............... ...... $5, under $10.............. ........ $10, under $15-_................... $15, under $20..................... $20, under $25....................... $25, under $30....................... $30, under $35....................... $35, under $40...................... $40 and over........................ 1.4 7.7 21.6 27.4 16.6 8.9 4.9 2.9 8.7 0.8 5.0 20.4 37.2 22.4 9.4 3.9 .3 .5 2.2 17.4 29.5 39.3 4.5 3.6 2.2 .9 .4 0.6 5.8 28.4 37.5 18.2 2.5 1.9 3.9 1.4 Cumulative percents Under $10........................... Under $12__................... Under $14__................ .......... Under $16.............................. Under $18-..................... ...... Under $20........................ 9.1 15.6 25.6 37.1 48.1 58.0 5.8 12.1 22.2 33.7 47.4 63.5 19.6 27.2 40.1 64.6 82.5 88.3 6.4 14.7 30.2 46.2 61.4 72.2 15.4 24.3 38.0 51.7 63.7 75.0 7.6 12.8 21.1 30.4 40.0 48.6 13.6 23.5 34.4 45.8 54.0 61.8 10.0 17.3 28.5 41.3 53.9 64.8 4.2 6.7 11.0 16.2 19. 1 23.3 $20 and $25 and $30 and $35 and 42.0 25.4 16.5 11.5 36.5 14.1 4.7 .8 11.7 7.2 3.6 1.3 27.8 9.7 7.2 5.2 25.0 9.9 4.1 3.1 51.4 35.8 25.2 18.7 38.2 18.0 9.3 4.9 35.2 16.4 7.2 3.1 76. 7 70.9 63. 5 54. 6 Average earnings of women 2_______ ____ _ $18. 60 Average earnings of men 2__ 36. 80 $18.80 $14.40 $16.80 (*) $15. 70 (>) $20.10 38. 65 $17. 55 26.80 over...................... over-............ ......... over........................ over.................. ...... 1 Data for men not obtained. 1 The mean—the simple arithmetic average. * Not computed; base Jess than 50. 8 HOURS AND EARNINGS IN MEN’S WEAR Though there was an extremely wide range in week’s earnings, in every State but Pennsylvania the largest group of employees earned $15 and under $20. In New Jersey practically as many were in the wage class just below this ($10 and under $15), and in Pennsylvania more employees earned $10 and under $15 than were in any other class. Less than one-tenth (9 percent) of the workers had earnings below $10, and at the other extreme were one-sixth with earnings of $30 or more. _ _ New York had the largest proportion with earnings of $25 or more, 36 percent of its workers, and Pennsylvania ranked next with 18 percent. In the other States the proportion earning as much as $25 varied from 7 percent in Indiana and Maryland to 14 percent in Illinois. Important groups in Indiana and Maryland (20 percent), New Jersey (15 percent), and Pennsylvania (14 percent) had earnings of less than $10, and in Illinois, Missouri, and New York 6 to 8 percent of the workers had such low earnings. From table 2 it is apparent that women’s wages were at a level only about half that of men’s wages. The average week’s earnings of women were $18.60, and the largest group had earnings of $15 and under $20. Men, on the other hand, had an average of $36.80, and their largest group earned $40 or more. As many as 10 percent of the women, but only 4 percent of the men, earned less than $10. In several of the States the number of men was too small for the computing of average earnings, but in New York and Pennsylvania, where such figures were available, the men’s average was respectively 92 percent and 53 percent above the women’s average. Hours worked. Because of incomplete or inadequate time records, the number of hours worked usually is not available for all employees. In the recent survey, hours worked w’ere reported for 2,292 workers in 53 establishments. A short week was prevalent, and half the employees worked less than 40 hours. Only 23 percent worked as long as 44 hours. As shown in table 3, States with one-half or more of the employees working less than 40 hours were New York (56 percent), Missouri (60 percent), and Illinois (60 percent). With such large proportions as these working less than 40 hours, it would appear that long hours would be unnecessary, but these 3 States were found to have larger proportions working 48 hours or more than were found in the other States—8 percent in New York, 12 percent in Illinois, and 15 percent in Missouri. Pennsylvania had the largest proportion with a week of 40 hours or less, only 17 percent exceeding 40. It is interesting to note that New Jersey, which had next to the lowest average week’s earnings, had the largest proportion of employees working over 40 hours; 39 percent worked over 40 and under 44 hours, and 26 percent worked 44 hours or longer. Somewhat larger proportions of the women than of the men worked the short hours, but the difference was slight. Fifty percent of the women and 48 percent of the men worked less than 40 hours, but a larger proportion of the men (37 percent) than of the women (31 percent) worked more than 40 hours. 9 NECKWEAR Table 3.—Hours worked in the week recorded, by sex and State State Percent Number of employees with hours worked re Under 40 40 hours ported hours of employees who worked— Over 40, under 48, under 52 hours under 44 44, 48 hours 52 hours and over hours Total.............................. i 2,292 49.8 18.0 9.7 14.2 5.6 2.7 New Jersey______ ________ Pennsylvania . s 270 247 229 1,151 254 60.4 59.5 18.3 56.0 38.2 6.3 3.6 16.2 16.9 45.3 6.3 8.1 39.3 7.3 3.5 14.8 13.8 20.5 11.5 9.8 12.2 13.4 3.1 3.8 3.2 1.6 2.6 4.6 Total women........................... Total men................................ 1,923 369 60.2 47.7 18.6 14.9 8 31.3 8 37.4 1 Total includes Indiana, not shown separately. 3 Data for men not obtained. 8 Includes all over 40 hours. Hourly earnings. The earnings of the 2,292 workers with hours worked reported have been reduced to an hourly basis. The average hourly earnings of all workers were 55.1 cents, this being influenced by the great prepon derance of women. New York had an average of 64.7 cents, next came Pennsylvania with 50.5 cents, and Illinois and Missouri with 47 and 46.4 cents, respectively. Lowest earnings were in New Jersey, with an rverage of 40.3 cents. The heaviest concentration of employees was in the intervals that combined make 30 and under 50 cents, with from 40 to 57 percent so ■classed. More than one-fourth (26 percent) of the workers covered ■earned 60 cents an hour or more, and less than one-eighth (12 percent) had an average below 30 cents. Tabi.e 4.—Average and distribution of hourly earnings, by sex and State Hourly earnings (cents) Total Number of employees with hours worked reported___ Average earnings3 (cents)... 8 2, 292 55.1 Illinois i 270 47.0 Mis souri 247 46.4 New Jersey 229 40.3 New York Pennsyl Total vania women Total men 1,151 64.7 254 50.5 1,923 46.9 369 97.7 1.0 7.5 18.2 21.8 14.0 8.2 29.4 2.0 13.0 22.8 18.5 18.5 7.9 17.3 2.3 10.5 25.9 25.7 17.9 8.3 9.4 0.3 6.2 8.7 7.6 6.4 4.1 67.8 Percent oj employees Under 20_.............................. 20, under 30_________ ____ 30, under 40-._____ ______ 40, under 50 50, under 60 _.......................... 4)0, under 70„................... . 70 and over......................... . 2.0 9.8 23.1 22.8 15.9 7.6 18.8 A verage earnings3 of women (cents).. ________ _____ Average earnings 3 of men (cents)____________ 46.9 47.0 44.8 37.7 97.7 0) (<) (*) 1.1 7.8 25.1 25.9 26.3 8.9 4.8 2.0 9.7 28.3 20.6 21.1 10.1 8.1 5.7 17.9 29.3 28.0 10.9 3.9 4.4 50.9 106.0 47.4 (0 1 Data for men not obtained. * Total includes Indiana, not shown separately. Hours for Maryland not reported. 8 The mean—the simple arithmetic average. 4 Not computed; base less than 50. 10 HOURS AND EARNINGS IN MEN’S WEAR The workers in New Jersey had relatively low earnings, 53 percent, in contrast to 27 percent in New York and 34 to 40 percent in the other States, being paid less than 40 cents. Fifteen percent in New Jersey and 10 percent in Pennsylvania, but not more than 6 percent in any other State, were paid less than 25 cents an hour. In New York more than half the workers were paid 50 cents or more. The average hourly earnings of women were only 48 percent of those of men, and only 18 percent of the women averaged as much as 60 cents. The most usual earnings were in the groups that combined make 30 and under 50 cents, with more than 50 percent of the women. This is in contrast to the figures for men, more than two-thirds of whom averaged 70 cents or more, and 45 percent of whom earned over $1. Only 23 percent of the men had earnings below 50 cents. The average hourly earnings of women varied, by State, from 37.7 cents in New Jersey to 50.9 cents in New York. The average for men could be computed only in New York, and there the figure was $1.06. Hourly earnings in union and nonunion establishments. Hourly earnings were tabulated for 1,131 workers in 32 establish ments operating under union contracts, and for 1,152 workers in 19 nonunion establishments. The average earnings in the plants with union contracts were 68.3 cents an hour, or 61 percent above the average for the workers in the nonunion plants covered. Of 22 New York establishments reporting, 16 with 617 workers were unionized and 6 with 534 workers were not; average earnings were 83.2 cents for the union workers, compared to only 43.4 cents for the nonunion group. In Illinois, 192 workers in 7 union establishments had an aver age of 48.2 cents an hour, compared to 43.2 cents for 69 workers in 5 nonunion plants. Comparison of average earnings of union and non union establishments in the other States is not possible because of the small number of firms reporting. In table 5 is shown the dis tribution of the earnings of the workers in union and nonunion plants in the States in which this information was available. The distribution table shows clearly the higher wage standards that are maintained in the union establishments. Practically half (49 percent) of the nonunion workers, but less than one-fifth (19 per cent) of the union workers, averaged less than 40 cents an hour. On'y 6 percent of the union workers, compared to 18 percent of the nonunion workers, were paid less than 30 cents. At the other extreme of the wage scale were over two-fifths (42 percent) of the union work ers, but only about one-ninth of the nonunion workers, with earnings of 60 cents or more. Seventeen percent of the union workers were paid as much as $1, but only 5 percent of the nonunion workers earned as much as 75 cents. NECKWEAR 11 Table 5.—Average and distribution of hourly earnings in establishments having a?id not having union contracts Hourly earnings (cents) Number of establishments____ _________ Number of employees - -_________ Average earnings 2 (cents)__________ Establish Nonunion ments op establish erating ments in under union con all States reported2 tract 1 32 1,131 68.3 19 1,152 42. 5 Under 30_____________ _______ Under 35............... .......... Under 40. - _ ________ Under 45 ______ _____ _______ Under 50_____________ Under 55________ __ Under 60___________________ 5.7 11.7 19.0 27.5 39.1 50.5 57.8 17.8 60 and 65 and 70 and 75 and 36.4 . Cumulative percents of employees over.................................... over__.................................... . over...................................... over................................... . Establishments in Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Establishments in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. •The mean—the simple arithmetic average. . 89.2 WORK AND KNIT GLOVES INTRODUCTION The Women’s Bureau’s survey of the men’s work- and kniGglove industry, made in order to supply wage figures for the Division of Public Contracts, covered establishments whose major products were men’s leather work gloves, leather-palm cotton gloves, all-canvas or canton-flannel work gloves, wool knit lined gloves, and officers white cotton gloves.1 The Census of Manufactures reports include fabric or fabric and leather work gloves with all types of men’s and women s fabric gloves, and leather work gloves with all types of leather gloves, so the size of the work-glove industry is not ascertainable. According to the Work Glove Institute, important States in the production of work gloves are Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. New York, which is the center of the knit-glove industry, also ranks high in the pro duction of work gloves. . .... In the Bureau’s survey, data were obtained from 42 establishments in 9 States, as follows: Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. 01 the 42 firms scheduled, 33 made cotton work gloves, some of these pro ducing also all-leather work gloves or cotton and leather gloves. The other firms, 8 in New York and 1 in Ohio, produced men’s and women’s knit doves. On the basis of number of employees, New York ranked first with 1,535, followed by Indiana with 807, Illinois with 745, and Ohio with 645. In each of the other States fewer than 300 workers were scheduled. The data obtained m Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Tennessee have been combined because too few firms were scheduled in each for separate tabulation. Table 1.—Number of establishments and number of men and women they employed, by Stale Women State Total_____________ _____-....................... Number Number of Number of estab of men lishments employees 42 9 8 10 8 3 4 4,642 745 807 1,535 645 171 739 Number Percent of total 919 3,723 80.2 253 169 227 112 43 115 492 638 1,308 533 128 624 66.0 79.1 85.2 82.6 74.9 84.4 I Includes 1 firm each in Missouri, Now Jersey, North Carolina, and Tennessee. i A minimum-wage determination of the Secretary of Labor, which took effect August 2’1(|37, states that 35 cents an hour, or $14 for a 40-hour week, shall be the minimum wage for employees on Government con tracts in the work-glove industry. 12 WORK AND KNIT GLOVES 13 The wage and hour data secured were for a pay period selected by the plant management as representative of normal working conditions. With the exception of Illinois, this information was recorded for each employee engaged in, or connected with, the actual manufacture, handling, supervision, or shipment of materials, supplies, products, or equipment. In Illinois data were obtained for women employees only. From these figures it is apparent that women comprised the great majority of the work force in this industry. Four-fifths of all workers reported were women. By State, their proportion ranged from 66 to 79 percent in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, and from 83 to 85 percent in the remaining States. In New York 4 firms making knit gloves reported that they sent some types of work into homes to be done, and at the time of the survey were employing 278 home workers. As earnings data were not obtained for the home workers, the 278 are not included in this study. EARNINGS AND HOURS Week’s earnings. The details as to week’s earnings of employees in the work-glove industry indicate that in general the wage level for this industry was low and that wages paid in the week recorded varied widely in the different States. Regardless of time worked, the week’s earnings for 4,376 employees reported had an average of $13.95. As many as 38 percent of the workers had earnings of less than $12, 15 percent of less than $8, and only 13 percent were paid as much as $20. Pennsylvania, with the smallest number of employees reported, had the highest average earnings, $17.70. This was well above the second highest average, $15.45 in Ohio, and must have been due to the fact that almost all the Pennsylvania group, in contrast to less than onethird of the Ohio group, exceeded 40 hours of work. Reference to table 5 will show that average hourly earnings were about 7 cents higher in Ohio than in Pennsylvania. Table 2.—Average and distribution of week’s earnings, by State Week’s earnings Number of employees..... ........ . Average earnings •:.................._ Total 4,376 *13.95 Illinois Indiana M92 $11.95 807 $13.75 New York Ohio 1,522 $14 . 20 645 $15.45 171 $17.70 739 $12.70 3.7 16.4 42.8 25.1 7.6 4.6 2.3 15.3 35.0 30.4 8.8 8.0 1.2 7.6 29.8 29.8 20.5 11.1 6.2 23.7 40. 5 21.9 6.5 1.2 10.8 20.0 33.9 51. 5 73.1 26.9 18.6 12.1 8.1 17.6 31.1 44.8 61.2 38.8 25.1 16.9 5.4 8.9 15.3 31.1 43.3 56.7 43.3 31.6 19.9 29.9 43.3 62.7 78.3 21.7 12.9 7.7 Pennsyl Other vania States1 Percent of employees Under $5....... ............................ $5, under $10- - ......... ...... .......... $10, under $15............................. $15, under $20_______ _______ $20, under $25_________ ____ $25 and over___ ____________ 5.4 19.3 38.0 24.2 8.3 4.7 17.3 21.7 31.7 20.1 6. 1 3.0 4.2 25.0 34.7 20.9 9.7 5.4 Cumulative percents Under $8__ ____ ___________ Under $10 Under $12................................... Under $14 Under $16-_............................. $16 and over............................... $18 and over_______________ $20 and over________ ______ 14.8 24.6 37.6 53.8 71.0 29.0 19.3 13.0 28.7 39.0 49.4 62. 0 76.8 23.2 13.6 9.1 1 Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Tennessee. 3 Data for men not obtained. * The mean—the simple arithmetic average. 17.1 29.1 42.8 58.0 70.3 29.7 20.5 15.1 14 HOURS AND EARNINGS IN MEN’S WEAR On the basis of $5 intervals, the most common earnings were $10“ and under $15; in each State the largest group of workers, ranging from 30 to 43 percent, had such earnings. In Pennsylvania a group of equal size had earnings of $15 and under $20; in New York and Ohio these were the earnings of the second largest proportions, but the second largest in the other States earned $5 and under $10. Groups with the extremely low earnings of less than $8 were 5 percent in Pennsylvania, 8 percent in Ohio, and 11 percent in New York, and were 17, 20, and 29 percent, respectively, in Indiana, thegroup “Other States,” and Illinois (women only). The proportions with earnings of $20 or more also showed substantial differences in the various States. More than three-tenths of the workers in Penn sylvania, but only from 12 to 17 percent in New York, Indiana, and Ohio, and 8 and 9 percent in the group “Other States” and in Illinois, had such earnings. . In the various States from two-thirds to five-sixths of the workers were women, and it is clear from table 3 that there were great differ ences between the earnings of the two sexes. The average week’s earnings of women were $12.80. The range by State was from $11.95 in Illinois and $12 in Indiana to $16.60 in Pennsylvania. The most common earnings of women were $10 and under $15, and if to these are added the $5 intervals immediately above and below, nearly nine-tenths (87 percent) are found to have had earnings of $5 and under $20. Large groups of women were paid less than $10: From 32 to 39 percent in the group “Other States,” Indiana, and Illinois; 21 and 22 percent, respectively, in Ohio and New York; but onlv 10 percent in Pennsylvania were paid so little. In comparison with these large groups with low earnings there were 27 percent in Pennsylvania, but only from 4 to 9 percent in the other States, who received earnings of $20 or more. Table 3.—Week’s earnings of men and women, by State State Percent of employees who earned— Number Average of em $5, $10, $15, $20, $25, ployees earnings1 Under under under under under under $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 $30 Women Total................................. 3, 721 $12.80 6.0 21.7 41.7 23.9 6.5 1.0 Illinois..............*....................... . Indiana.___ _____ _________ New York. __ ____________ Ohio_____ ______ _____ ___ Pennsylvania............................. Other States 1............................. 402 638 1,306 533 128 624 11.95 12.00 13. 00 13. 80 16.60 12.15 17.3 5.0 3.8 2.6 1.6 6.6 21.7 30.3 18.5 18.0 8.6 25.3 31.7 39.8 47.8 39.4 34.4 42.1 20.1 20.7 24.8 31.7 28.1 20.5 6.1 3.3 4.4 6.9 21.1 5.3 2.4 .9 .6 1. 1 4.7 .2 Men Total............................... . »655 $20. 45 2.3 6.0 17.3 26.1 24.0 13.6 Ohio............................................ 169 216 112 115 20. 45 21.45 23. 25 15. 55 1.2 3.2 .9 4.3 5.3 3.7 2.7 14.8 15.4 13.0 14.3 31.3 21.9 26.9 24.1 29.6 33.7 26.4 17.9 13.0 16.6 14.4 17.9 3.5 i The mean—the simple arithmetic average. * Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Tennessee. 8 Includes 43 in Pennsylvania, not shown separately. Data for men in Illinois not obtained. $30 and over WORK AND KNIT GLOVES 15 contrast with women’s earnings, men’s earnings averaged '$20.45. Almost one-half of the men were paid as much as $20 slightly more than one-tenth being paid $30 or more. Among the Mates (excluding Pennsylvania because too few men were reported for separate tabulations), Ohio showed the highest average, $23.25 followed by A ew York with $21.45 and Indiana with $20 45 Only 8 percent of the men, in contrast to 28 percent of the women, were paid less than $10. At the other extreme of the wage scale, with earnings of $25 or more, were 24 percent of the men, the State figures ranging from 7 percent for the group “Other States” to 40 percent in Ohio. Hours worked. Because of incomplete hour records in many firms, particularly for workers on a piece-rate basis, it is rarely possible to get hour data for all workers for whom wage data are reported. In the week recorded hour data were obtained for 3,431 makers—2,920 women and 511 me“-T wofked were not reported for the workers in New Jersey and l\orth Carolina. Hours of over 40 were much the most common being reported for nearly three-fifths of the workers (57 percent) - not far from one-fifth (18 percent) worked 40 hours. It is important to note that many workers who were paid less than $12 must have worked 40 hours or more, since only 25 percent worked less than 40 hours but as many as 38 percent were paid less than $12. Table 4.—Hours worked in the week recorded, btj sex and State —■ ~ U1 employees State Total1....... . Illinois.......... .......... Indiana_______ New York.............. Ohio______ Pennsylvania.......... Women ~ Men Per cent who w orked— Percent who Percent who worked— worked— Num Num Num ber Under Over ber Under Over ber Under Over 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 hours hours hours hours hours hours hours hours hours 3,431 24.7 18.3 56.9 2,920 25.9 18.7 55.5 511 18.4 16.4 65.2 2 488 580 1,494 250 128 44.9 14.7 20.3 26.4 5.5 6.6 16.4 9.0 42.0 48.6 69.0 70.6 31.6 94.5 488 441 1, 290 190 94 44.9 15.6 20.6 30.5 6.4 6.6 21.1 6.9 51.1 48.6 63.3 72.5 18.4 93.6 (2) 139 204 60 34 II. 5 18.6 13.3 (3) 1.4 22.5 13.3 87.1 58.8 73.3 (8) > Data fo?meneno9t obtUniX™’ 74 men) Missouri and Tennessee, not shown separately. 3 Not computed; base less than 50. That the variations in week’s earnings are due only in part to the variations in hours worked becomes apparent when earnings and hours are considered together. Pennsylvania workers, 95 percent of whom worked over 40 hours, had the highest week’s earnings, but Ohio workers, only 32 percent of whom worked over 40 hours, had the second highest earnings. However, that long hours do not always result in high wages is shown by a comparison of the data for Indiana, New York, and Ohio. Ohio ranked above Indiana and New York in regard to average week’s earnings, but the proportion of employees who worked 40 hours or more was less in Ohio (74 percent) than in Indiana (85 percent) or New York (80 percent). HOURS AND EARNINGS IN MEN’S WEAR 16 In general, a larger proportion of the women than of the men worked a short week; 19 percent of the women worked 40 hours and 26 percent worked less than 40, whereas 16 percent of the men worked 40 hours and only 18 percent worked less than 40. In the total and each State with comparable figures except New York, a larger proportion of men than of women worked over 40 hours. Hourly earnings. The accompanying table 5 shows the hourly earnings of 3,431 em ployees for whom hours worked were reported. The average for the entire group was 33.3 cents. By State, the average varied from 30.1 cents in Illinois (women only) to 44.5 cents in Ohio. Other relatively low averages were 32.3 cents in Indiana and 33.4 cents in New York. Approximately midway between high and low was Pennsylvania, with 37.6 cents. That Pennsylvania’s place at the head of the States in week’s earning was due to its longer hours is apparent from these hourly earnings, with Ohio’s average practically 7 cents above that of Pennsylvania. Table 5.—Average and distribution of hourly earnings, by sex and State State Percent of employees who earned Number Average hourly 35, 50 25, 30, 40, 45, 20, of em Under under under under under under under cents ployees earnings1 (cents) 20 and 40 45 50 30 35 25 cents cents cents cents cents cents cents over Total---....... — - a 3,431 33.3 11.3 12.2 15.5 23.8 13.3 9.3 6.1 8.5' 30.1 32.2 33.4 44.5 37.6 23.2 14.8 5.8 Ohio ________ ____ Pennsylvania-.-....... - 3 488 580 1,494 250 128 3.9 15.2 13.3 13.3 2.0 7.0 11.1 18. 4 18.3 4.4 11.7 15.8 18.3 29.6 16.0 21.1 12.7 11.4 12.2 20.8 18.8 9.4 8.4 7.9 19.2 12.5 5.5 6.6 5.7 10.0 14.0 7.2' 8. 8 7. 2 * 27. 6 11.0 Total women___ ____ _ Total men............ ...... 2,920 511 31.1 45.7 13.0 1.6 13.7 3.9 17.3 5.3 25.7 12.7 13.1 14.5 8.7 12.9 4.5 15.5 4.1 1 33. 8 i The mean—the simple arithmetic average. * Includes Missouri and Tennessee, not shown separately. * Data for men not obtained. * 11.6 percent earned 60 cents or more. * 11.3 percent earned 60 cents or more. Thirty-eight percent of the workers in Illinois (women only) and 28 percent in Indiana, as against 19 percent in New York, 11 percent in Pennsylvania, and only 2 percent in Ohio, earned less than 25 cents an hour. In fact, more than one-fifth of the women in Illinois earned under 20 cents, though no employee in Ohio was paid so little as this. At the other extreme of the wage scale there were from 21 to 24 per cent in New York, Illinois, and Indiana, compared to 38 percent in Pennsylvania and as many as 57 percent in Ohio, with earnings of 40 cents or more. Nearly three-tenths (28 percent) of the Ohio workers, but only small proportions of those in other States, were paid 50 cents or more. _ The differences in hourly earnings of women and men also are indi cated in table 5 and in the summary following, the latter showing women’s and men’s averages by State. The average for all women was 31.1 cents. On the basis of 5-cent intervals, the largest group (26 percent) earned 30 and under 35 cents, but 17 percent earned 25 and WORK AND KNIT GLOVES 17 under 30 cents, and 27 percent averaged less than 25 cents. Only 17 percent of the women were paid as much as 40 cents. The women in Ohio had the best average hourly earnings, 40.5 cents, followed by Pennsylvania with an average of 36.2 cents. In the other States average earnings were substantially lower—28 8 cents m Indiana and 30.1 and 31.1 cents, respectively, in Illinois and New York. Women State Number Total»__________ Illinois ............ . Indiana........................ New York___________ _ Ohio_____________ Pennsylvania_______ Men Average hourly earningsi (cents) 2,920 31.1 488 441 1,290 190 94 30.1 28.8 31.1 40.5 36.2 Number Average hourly earnings! (cents) 511 45.7 139 204 60 34 43.2 47.8 56.8 (3) (4) 1 The mean—the simple arithmetic average. 1 Includes Missouri and Tennessee, not shown separately. * Data for men not obtained. 4 Not computed; base less than 50. The average hourly earnings of the 511 men were 45.7 cents Ex cluding Pennsylvania, the averages ranged, by State, from 43.2 in Indiana to 56.8 cents in Ohio. The distribution of men’s hourly earnings, in table 5, shows no concentration at any 5-cent interval. Just over one-tenth earned less than 30 cents, but more than three-fifths earned 40 cents or more over one-third averaging at least 50 cents. HANDKERCHIEFS INTRODUCTION This survey of earnings and hours in the handkerchief industry, one of several surveys of men’s-wear industries that come within the scope of the Public Contracts Act, was made by the Women’s Bureau in order to furnish wage and hour data to the Division of Public Contracts set up to administer the act.1 The data were copied from the firms’ pay rolls by agents of the Women’s Bureau. In every case a pay period was selected that was considered by the management as representative of normal factory operation. In 1935, according to the United States Census of Manufactures, there were 89 establishments, with 4,889 employees, in the machinemade handkerchief industry. Though employment data for 1935 were not shown by State, the industry is in the Eastern States, particularly New Jersey, in which State more than half the workers in 1933 were employed. The products of the plants in this industry include both men’s and women’s plain and embroidered handkerchiefs made from cotton and linen fabrics. . ,.. , In the Women’s Bureau survey data were obtained m 21 establish ments in New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. These establishments employed 2,395 workers, or approximately onehalf as many as were reported by the census for 1935. More than half the workers (54 percent) were in New Jersey, nearly one-fifth (18 percent) were in New York, and the remainder were m North Carolina and Pennsylvania, combined in this report because too few firms were scheduled in each State for separate tabulation. Table 1.—Number of establishments and number of men and women they employed, by State State Total.. ...................................................... Number of estab Number of employees lish ments Women of men Number Percent of total 21 2,395 104 2,291 95.7 8 9 4 1,298 440 657 46 34 24 1,252 406 633 96.5 92.3 96.3 i 2 establishments each in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The information recorded includes the week’s earnings, the number of hours worked, and the occupation of each worker engaged in, or connected with, the manufacture, handling, supervision, or shipment of materials, equipment, or product. 1 A minimum-wage determination of the Secretary of Labor, which took effect January 26,1938, states that 35 cents an hour, or $14 for a 40-hour week, shall be the minimum wage for employees on Government con tracts in the handkerchief industry. 18 HANDKERCHIEFS 19* The important operations in the production of handkerchiefs of cutting the cloth, hemming or hemstitching the sides, and embroider ing or ornamenting usually are done on machines, and the workers are paid on a piece-work basis. Other auxiliary operations consist of washing, ironing or pressing, examining, folding, and tying into units preparatory to boxing and shipping, several of these being paid on a time-work basis. The occupational groups large enough for separate tabulation are cutters, machine operators (sewing), pressers, and folders. The vast majority of the workers in the handkerchief industry are women. They comprise 96 percent of all in the survey. EARNINGS AND HOURS Week’s earnings. The details in regard to week’s earnings, reported for 2,383 workers, are given in table 2. Leaving out of consideration the number of hours worked, the average week’s earnings of these workers were $12.80. The most common earnings were $10 and under $15, 53 percent of the workers earning such amounts. Almost equal propor tions, 20 and 22 percent respectively, had earnings in the 5-dollar intervals of $5 and under $10 and $15 and under $20. Table 2.—Average and distribution of week’s earnings, by sex and State All employees Women Week’s earnings Number of employees...... Men— Other Total * States 1 Total New Jersey New York Other States i Total New Jersey New York 2,383 $12.80 1,298 $12. 75 436 $13.00 649 $12. 70 2,281 $12. 50 1,252 $12. 65 404 $12.30 625 $12.40 102 $19. 20 2.9 20.3 63.9 21.0 1.8 2.0 19.1 66.5 20.8 1.7 5.5 19.6 53.0 19.8 2.2 3.2 23. 4 49.3 22.4 1.8 27.5 36 3 4 28.4 Percent of employees Under $5_______ _____ $5, under $10.................... $10, under $15.................. . $15, under $20.................... $20 and over ...................... 2.9 19.7 52.7 21.7 2.9 1.9 18.7 55.8 21.5 2.1 6.5 18.3 50.9 20.2 6.1 3.1 22.7 47.9 23.1 3.2 20 Cumulative percents Under $8.. ....................... Under $10....................... . Under $12_........................ Under $14____ _____ Under $16......................... 10.1 22.5 40.6 64.8 84.4 8.5 20.5 41.9 64.3 85.1 14.4 23.8 36.6 67.3 82.9 10.7 25.8 40.9 64.5 83.9 10.6 23.3 41.6 66.5 86.3 9.0 21.2 42.8 65.6 86.3 15.1 25.1 37.9 70.3 86.7 10.9 26.6 42.1 66.4 86.1 2.9 7.8 20.6 30.4 41.2 $16 and over..................... $18 and over................. . 15.6 6.3 14.9 5.5 17.1 8.8 16.1 6.4 13.7 4.8 13.7 4.8 13.3 5.4 13.9 4.3 58.8 4 41.2 1 North Carolina and Pennsylvania. * Not shown by State because of small numbers reported. 8 The mean—the simple arithmetic average. 4 9.8 percent earned $30 and over. As averages for all employees were controlled by the great prepon derance of women, most of the figures for women were not very different from those cited. However, even the small number of men reported (102) caused the average for all workers combined to be 30 20 HOURS AND EARNINGS IN MEN’S WEAR cents higher than the women’s average, and the New York figure was 70 cents higher for men and women together than for women alone. The average for all men, without regard to locality or to hours worked, was $19.20, as many as 10 percent of the group having earnings of $30 and more. Women’s average earnings were somewhat higher in New Jersey than in New York, influenced partly by the fact that 15 percent in New York, in contrast to 9 percent in New Jersey, earned less than $8. Hours worked. Week’s earnings are materially affected by the number of hours worked, so it is important to know the hour standards maintained in this industry. As many firms do not keep complete hour records, the number of workers for whom this information was available was less than the number with week’s earnings reported. Hours worked were obtained for 2,077 workers employed in 16 of the 21 plants visited. Though the 5-day week was common, table 3 indicates veiy little standardization in hours. Considering all workers as a whole, well over two-fifths (44 percent) worked more than 40 hours in the week recorded. Table 3.—Hours worked in the week recorded, hy sex and State Women All employees State Total............ Other States 2 Un 40 Over der 40 hours 40 hours hours Percent who worked— Percent who worked— Percent who worked— Num ber Men Num ber Num Un Un Over ber 40 40 Over der 40 hours 40 der 40 hours 40 hours hours hours hours 2,077 39.1 16.8 44.1 1,995 40.1 16.3 43.6 82 1,100 334 643 54.8 15.0 24.9 15. 6 30. 8 11.4 29.5 54. 2 63.8 1,064 311 620 55. 6 15.8 25.6 15.1 29.9 11.5 29. 2 54.3 62.9 1 36 1 23 1 23 15.9 28.0 56.1 1 Percents not computed. 2 North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Only three-tenths (30 percent) of the workers in New Jersey, in contrast to well over one-half (54 percent) of those in New York, worked more than 40 hours. Larger proportions of women than of men worked short hours. Though the largest proportion of women (44 percent) worked over 40 hours, nearly as large a group (40 per cent) worked less than 40 hours. In contrast to this, as many as 56 percent of the men reported worked over 40 hours and only 16 percent worked less than 40 hours. Hourly earnings. Hourly earnings were computed for the 2,077 employees with hours worked reported by dividing each person’s earnings by the number of hours he or she had worked. The average for the entire group was 32.9 cents; that for all women was 32.4 cents; that for all men was 45.5 cents. The range was very wide, from oidy a few cents 21 HANDKERCHIEFS to more than $1.50, but almost three-fourths of the workers had earnings in the 3 wage intervals that, combined, form 25 and under 40 cents; over one-third (34 percent) earned 30 and under 35 cents; one-fifth (20 percent) earned 35 and under 40 cents; and nearly as many (19 percent) earned 25 and under 30 cents. Average hourly earnings were highest in New Jersey, the figure for all workers being 34.4 cents. The largest group in the State, 37 percent, earned 30 and under 35 cents, but as many as 27 percent earned 35 and under 40 cents, and 17 percent earned 40 cents or more. New fork’s average was 33 cents. The largest group of workers in New York, 32 percent, also had earnings in the 30-and-under-35-cent interval, but the second largest group, 19 percent, had earnings of 25 and under 30 cents. One-fifth in New York earned less than 25 cents. Table 4.—Average and distribution of hourly earnings, by sex and State All employees Women Hourly earnings (cents) Number of employees Average earnings? (cents) _ Men— Other Total • States1 Total New Jersey New York Other States1 Total New Jersey New York 2,077 32.9 1,100 34.4 334 33.0 643 30.2 1,995 32.4 1,064 34.3 311 31.1 620 29.7 82 45. 6 8.7 19.3 34.9 20.5 8.0 2.7 1.4 6.1 13.1 37.1 26.7 9.8 3.9 2.1 10.9 19.9 33.8 14.8 8.4 1.6 1.3 11.9 29.8 31.8 12.6 4.8 1.1 .2 4.9 7.3 22.0 12. 2 14.6 9.8 4 29.3 Percent of employees Under 20............................. 20, under 25. ...................... 25, under 30 30, under 35...................... _ 55, under 40___________ 40, under 45.......... ............ 45, under 50....................... 50 and over 4.3 8.5 18.9 34.4 20.1 8.3 3.0 2.5 1.2 6.0 13.1 36.5 26.5 10.1 4.1 2.5 8.7 10.8 18.9 32.0 14.4 8.7 2. 1 4.5 7. 5 11.7 28.8 32.0 12.1 5.0 1.6 1.4 1 North Carolina and Pennsylvania. 9 Not shown by State because of small numbers reported. 9 The mean—the simple arithmetic average. 413.4 percent earned 60 cents or more. Excepting only the earnings group 50 cents and over, the percent distribution of women’s earnings was almost identical with that for all employees. Forty percent of the women in New York, in contrast to 20 percent of those in New Jersey, had hourly earnings below 30 cents; further, 20 percent in New York, but only 7 percent in New Jersey, earned less than 25 cents. • Nearly three-tenths of the men with hours worked reported averaged at least 50 cents an hour, more than one-eighth averaging 60 cents or more. About one-fourth earned 40 and under 50 cents. Only about one-eighth earned less than 30 cents, none less than 20 cents. The average for the group was 45.5 cents. 22 HOURS AND EARNINGS IN MEN'S WEAR Hourly earnings and occupation. Hourly earnings are shown for the principal occupational groups in the summary following. Occupation Machine operators........... Presvsers............................... Folders................. -............. - Percent of employees who earned Num Aver ber of age em hourly 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 ployees earn Under under under under under under under under cents ings ' 15 re and 20 25 30 35 40 45 .50 ported (cents) cents cents cents cents cents cents cents cents over 119 909 284 161 35.8 32.6 32.6 33.8 0.5 .3 0.8 1.2 1.4 1.9 5.0 8.0 6.0 6.2 13.4 21.8 21.8 19.3 28. 5 35.4 35. 1 39.2 26.1 22.9 25.4 13.7 15. 0 7.4 8. 1 10.5 5.1 1.9 1.3 6.7 5.£ .7 .4 2.5 1 The mean—the simple arithmelic average. Average hourly earnings differed but little with occupation. The average was 32.G cents for machine operators and pressers, 33.8 cents for folders, and 35.8 cents for cutters. In each occupation the largest group, ranging from 29 to 39 percent, earned 30 and under 35 cents, and in each case but folders the second largest group earned 35 and under 40 cents. The second largest group of fold ere earned 25 and under 30 cents. The wage extremes show greater occupational differences. Twentysix percent of the cutters and 20 percent of the folders, in contrast to only 10 percent of the machine operators and the pressers, averaged 40 cents and over. Nineteen percent of the cutters, but from 27 to 32 percent of the other groups, averaged less than 30 cents. Six percent of the cutters, 8 percent of the pressers and the folders, and 10 percent of the machine operators averaged even less than 25 cents. Finishers had relatively low earnings; unpublished data show that, nearly two-thirds of the small group reported (45) had earnings below 30 cents, not far from two-fifths averaging less than 20 cents. o
@FedFRASER