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1

1 r tv

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BULLETIN OF

THE WOMEN’S BUREAU, NO. Ill

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND
EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS




UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
FRANCES PERKINS, SECRETARY

WOMEN’S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Director

BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU, NO. Ill

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND
EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS
BY

ETHEL L. BEST

UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1933

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




Price 10 Cents




CONTENTS
Page

Letter of transmittal______________________________
Introduction______________________________
_ Scope and method__________________________
Size of mills______________________________
Summary of survey______________________________
The South Carolina survey____________________________
Numbers_________________________________________ _
Night shifts_____________________________________
Hours_____________________________________________
Scheduled hours_________________________________
Operating hours___________________________________
Wages_________________________________________________
Full-time women workers on the day shift__________
Full-time women workers on the night shift________
Short-shift earnings________________________________
Week’s earnings of all women workers______________
Day-shift earnings____________________________
Night-shift earnings___________________________
Actual amounts received___________________ I_______
Method of payment_______________________________
Learners________________________________________
The workers_________________________'________________
Length of service________________________________
Age----------------------------------------------------------------- """]
Marital status___________________________________
Employment in 1931 and 1932____________________ ____
Employment in 1931 by department_______________
Operating changes that affected employment in 1931
Basis of lay-offs____________________________________
Spares or extra workers____________________________
The Maine survey________________________________________
Numbers ____________________________________
Night shifts___________________ ____________________
Hours___________________________________________
Scheduled hours_________________
______________
Operating hours_________________ __________________
Hours worked_____________________________________
Wages___________________________ _____________
Full-time women workers_______________________ _
Earnings of all women workers________________
__
Method of payment_______________________________
The workers___________________________________
Length of service__________________________ ______
Age. _------------------------------------------------------------ I_I__
Marital status_____________________________________
Employment in 1931________________________________
Spares___________________________________________
Basis of lay-offs________________________
______
Changes in 1931_________________________________ ~~
The Texas survey_______________________________
Numbers_____________________________________
Night shifts_______________________________________
Hours________________________________________
Scheduled hours___________________________________
Night workers_____________________________________
Operating hours________/_______________________
Wages_______________________________________________
Full-time women workers on day shift______________
Full-time women workers on night shift____________
Earnings of all women workers_____________________
Day-shift earnings____________________________
Night-shift earnings__________________________
Method of payment______________________________




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IV

CONTENTS

Page

The Texas survey—Continued
The workers____________________________________________
Length of service----------------------------------------------------Age------------------------------------------------------------------------Marital status--------------------------------------------------------Employment in 1931-----------------------------------------------------Spares or extra workers---------------------------- -----------Operating changes in 1931 that affected employment.
All mills in the three States-------------------------------------- ----------Numbers_______________________________________________
Night shifts-----------------------------------------------------------Hours__________________________________________________
Scheduled hours----------------------------------------------------Operating hours-----------------------------------------------------Wages_________________________________________________
Earnings of full-time workers----- ------ ---------------- -Earnings of all workers on day shift-----------------------Method of payment------- ---------------------------------------Differences in living conditions-------------------------------The workers---------- --------------- --------------- -------------- - Length of service---------------------------------------------------Age-----------------------------------------------------------------------Marital status----------------- -----------------------------------Employment during 1931-------------------------------- -----------Operating changes in 1931 that affected employment
Basis of lay-offs-----------------------------------------------------The narrow-goods survey-------- -------------------------------------------Scope and method--------------------------------------------------------Numbers_______________________________________________
Scheduled hours-----------------------------------------------------------Daily hours-----------------------------------------------------------Weekly hours--------------------------------------------------------Night hours_______________________________________
Wages--------------------------------------------------------------------------Full-time earnings-------------------------------------------------Earnings of all women-------------------------------------------The workers___________________________________________
Length of service-------------------------------------------------Age-----------------------------------------------------------------------Marital status----------------------------- - - ---------------------Employment from July 1931 to June 1932--------------------Changes in 1931-32----------------------------------------------Change in method of payment-------------------------------Spare workers-------------------------------------------------------Appendix—General tables----------------------------------------------------

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APPENDIX TABLES
Week’s earnings and time worked on day shifts, by department
I. South Carolina------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3----- 7''' I' ~
II. Week’s earnings and time worked on day shifts, by department
III. Week’s earnings and time worked on day shifts, by department
Texas
- .—
oTthe" night shifts in the 3 States with the number of mills
IV. Comparison
and employees covered in the study, by sex of employees and kind
of product--------------------------------------- — -------Q--,----------------V. Week’s earnings of females in narrow-goods mills, by state.......... ........

60
68
72
77
78

ILLUSTRATIONS
An up-to-date southern mill--------- -----­
A mill village, well planned and well built




_ frontispiece
facing page 7

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

Washington, June 19, 1933.
I have the honor to transmit a report on the hours,
earnings, and employment of workers in cotton mills in 1932, with
certain conditions in 1931 as a background. The survey was made in
South Carolina, Maine, and Texas, and it covers approximately
two thirds of the women reported in cotton manufacturing in those
States by the 1930 Census of Occupations.
The object of the study was to learn something of the effects of the
depression on women’s employment and earnings. The fact that
cotton mills still are outranked only by clothing factories in the
numbers of women they employ testifies to the importance of such
studies.
The survey was conducted and the report has been written by
Ethel L. Best, industrial supervisor.
Respectfully submitted.
T
Mary Anderson, Director.
Madam:

lion, b rances Perkins,

Secretary oj Labor.




v




WiNi

Mjl |

AN UP-TO-DATE SOUTHERN MILL.

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT
IN COTTON MILLS
INTRODUCTION

The cotton manufacturing industry is one of vital importance to
women. They are employed as workers in nearly all its processes of
manufacture, and as consumers they constitute the largest users of
its finished products. The census figures for 1930 show 154,763
women employed in cotton mills throughout the country, and more
than 60 percent of these were in southern cotton-mill States.1
For the past 10 years the cotton-textile industry has been struggling
with the problem of contracting markets and cotton spindles in place
that have decreased from approximately 38 million in 1923 to 32
million in 1932.2 During the war the need for all kinds of cotton
goods was enormous; mills wore enlarged and new ones were built to
supply the demand. In the years immediately following the war the
demand for goods gradually lessened; competition became keener
with more equipment to produce than market to supply, and a gradual
change took place in the location of the mills.
. Between 1921—22 and 1929—30 the number of spindles in the South
increased by 19 percent, while the number in New England decreased
by 28,5 percent. As a cause of this change it has been agreed by
various authorities that total manufacturing costs are less in the
South, due to lower taxes, lower wages, and longer operating hours.
The importance of the difference in hours is expressed by the following
statement: “If the movement to shorten working hours in the South,
now beginning to be noticeable in some States, materializes, the
present great advantage over the North will be eliminated.” In the
Textile World for February 1927 (p. 269) a report was made from
questionnaires sent out to mills that had changed location from
North to South, as to weekly hours of operation. Some of the replies
were as follows: North 54, South 57; North 48, South 110; North 48
South 115; North 48, South 60; North 48, South 107%; North 54*
South 60. Not only did the number of spindles increase in the
South but through longer operating hours more goods were produced
per spindle.
There was also a shift in the type of goods manufactured, from the
coarser to the finer product. This change was speeded up by the
decreased demand for coarser goods. Mills whose main product
had always been sheetings manufactured more print goods; and
those making print goods and shirtings began to put out a finer
pp Yi and if™ °f the 0ensus- Fifteent!l Census, 1930. Occupation Statistics, United States Summary,
Table 14 pU3iaU
Census. Bulletin 169. Cotton Production and Distribution, Season of 1931-32.




1

2

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

product, such as lawns, dimities, and voiles. The industry was
becoming more and more chaotic, with overproduction in nearly
every line.
By the winter of 1930-31 many of the manufacturers realized that
some cooperative action was needed, and through the leadership of
the Cotton-Textile Institute an agreement was reached by a majority
of the mill managements to limit weekly hours of operating to 55 on
the day shift and 50 on the night shift and to eliminate women and
minors from the night shift. All mills concentrated on the reduction
of operating costs, wage cuts were general, and numerous efficiency
measures were introduced. The object of the present study was to
ascertain to some extent the effect of these various measures on women
workers, with special reference to steadiness of employment, lay-offs,
hours of work, and earnings.
SCOPE AND METHOD

It was impossible for the Women’s Bureau, with its limited time
and money, to make an exhaustive study throughout many States of
changing employment conditions, so 3 States were selected, 2 as
representative examples and 1 for reasons of economy in a State
where a survey of other industries was being made. The three
States included in the study were South Carolina, Maine, and Texas,
and an effort was made to obtain information from all the cotton-cloth
and cotton-yarn mills in each State.
Although Maine and Texas are not large cotton-manufacturing
States, they are somewhat similar to South Carolina in their legal
limits for women’s hours of work in this industry. Each of the three
States permits night work for women. As to hours, the South Caro­
lina law fixes a 10-hour day and a 55-hour week but permits 60 hours
of overtime in the calendar year to make up time lost by accident or
other unavoidable cause; in Maine the limit is a 9-hour day and a
54-hour week, with permission to work longer daily hours if the maxi­
mum weekly hours are not exceeded; in Texas the law specifies a
9-hour day and a 54-hour week but permits a 10-hour day and a 60hour week if double time is paid for all hours over 9 a day. Only cot­
ton-cloth and cotton-yarn mills were included in the study. The fol­
lowing statement gives the number of mills and employees reported
in the survey, and the total number of women workers in each State
according to census figures. It is clear that the survey covered
about two thirds of all the women employed.
Number of women in
cotton mills

State

Number of
mills sur­
veyed
From cen­ From pres­
sus figures1 ent survey
25,330
3,948
1,400

16,678
3,143
941

132
14
13

1 U.S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census, 1930. Occupation Statistics: South Carolina, p. 7;
Maine, p. 7; Texas, pp. 10-11.

The hours and earnings of women workers were secured for a repre­
sentative pay-roll week in 1932. In most instances the week taken




INTRODUCTION

3

was in January or February, but in a few mills other months were
considered more nearly representative of the year, and the data were
taken for a week in the month suggested. Actual hours worked were
not always kept on the books, and when they were not obtainable a
record was made of the number of days on which work was performed
and each day or part of such day was counted as a day. Careful note
was made of the shift on which the work occurred, whether day,
night, or short intermediate. A rough count was made also of the
men on the pay roll, and in order to prevent, so far as possible,
counting employees more than once (due to the repetition of the names
of employees who had worked in more than one department) records of
only one day’s work have not been included in the count.
To measure the effect of the depression on numbers employed from
month to month in 1931, names of men and women were counted on
the pay rolls for one week in each month, and the numbers on each
shift were recorded. Whenever possible facts were obtained from the
managements as to changes in operating, in product, in method of
payment, in the system of spare hands, and in methods of lay-off, all
of which might affect employment. The women themselves filled
out cards recording their age, marital status, and length of time in
the mill.
In the South, and to a considerably less extent in the North,
the mill village is an adjunct of the mill and much of its cost is borne
by the management. In most cases this results in a saving to workers
on rents, lights, water, and heat from the normal costs of such items
in a locality not owned by the mill.
SIZE OF MILLS

The size of a mill may be reckoned by the number of employees,
by the number of ring spindles, or by the number of pounds or yards
of goods produced. The most common method, especially where
yarn as well as cloth mills are included, is to estimate the size of the
mill by the number of its ring spindles.3 The number of spindles in
place in South Carolina according to 1932 census figures was 5,695,656,
and all but 3.1 percent were active.4
In the survey in South Carolina, where number of spindles was
obtained for 104 mills, one fifth of the mills had 20,000 to 30,000
spindles. The number of large mills with 50,000 spindles and more
was about one fifth (21.2 percent) of the total, while mills with fewer
than 15,000 spindles composed over one fourth of the total (26
percent). Nine of the 11 largest mills of 70,000 spindles and more
were engaged in the manufacture of print goods, broadcloths, and
pajama checks, while of the other 2 mills 1 made sheetings and 1 made
cord fabrics.
The average number of workers per mill was unusually high when
the size of the units is considered. Of the 104 mills reporting the
number of spindles, more than half (56.7 percent) had less than 30,000
spindles, so that an average per mill of 389 employees would seem
excessive. This high average was, however, largely because of the
operating of a night shift in 98 mills and extra shifts in 31 mills.
The proportion of large mills in Maine was much greater than in
South Carolina. Of the 14 mills, 10 had over 50,000 spindles and 7* *
3 Official American Textile Directory, 1930.

* U.S. Bureau of the Census. Cotton Production and Distribution, Season of 1931-32. Bui. 169, p. 32.




4

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

had more than 80,000. As would be expected, the average number
of workers was considerably greater than in South Carolina, with 478
per mill, largely employed on the day shift.
The mills in Texas were comparatively small, all the 9 mills report­
ing on this point having less than 20,000 spindles, 3 mills reporting the
number of spindles as less than 10,000. The average number of
workers in these mills was the least of the 3 States, 185 per mill.
SUMMARY OP SURVEY
[Note.—Not all items were reported upon by every mill nor by all women]
WIDE-GOODS MILLS

Numbers employed:
South Carolina (132 mills)_________________
Maine (14 mills) 6, 691
Texas (13 mills) 2,409

Total
51, 338

Males

Females

34, 660
3, 548
1,468

16, 678
3, 143
941

Proportion women:
South Carolina
Maine
Texas
Chief product:
Number
South Carolina:
females
Print cloths, broadcloths, andpajama checks7, 998
Sheetings_____ 3, 515
Fine goods 1, 904
Maine:
Sheetings 1, 339
Fine goods
964
Texas, toweling, osnaburgs, andducks-------------------------------544
Extent of night work:
Total
Males
South Carolina (98 mills) 13, 141
11, 215
Maine (7 mills)
325
325
Texas (4 mills)1-------------------------------------------(5
6)
(5)

Percent
of total

. 32. 5
. 47. 0
_ 39. 1
Percent
females

48. 0
21. 1
11. 4
42. 6
30. 7
57. 8
Females

1, 926

86

Scheduled hours of work
Daily:
South Carolina
Maine
Texas
Weekly:
South Carolina
Maine
Texas
Nightly:
South Carolina
Maine
Texas
Earnings of women on day shift
All workers:
South Carolina (14,136 reported)-------------------------Maine (3,193 reported)----------------------------------------Texas (855 reported)__________ ___________________
Full-time workers:
South Carolina (4,340 reported)__________________
Maine (1,534 reported)----------------------------------------Texas (225 reported)--------------------------------------------

10 hours in 127 mills.
9% hours in 10 mills.
10 hours in 11 mills.
55 hours in 122 mills.
54 hours in all 14 mills.
55 hours in 10 mills.
11
10
12
11

hours
hours
hours
hours

in
in
in
in

66 mills;
30 mills.
2 mills.0
2 mills.
Week’s
median

$7. 70
11. 10
7. 60
9. 65
13. 00
11. 10

5 One mill did not report number of men on day or night shift; in the 3 that did report this, there were
187 men on the night shifts.
6 No women on night work.




INTRODUCTION

5

wide-goods mills—continued
Earnings of women on day shift—Continued

Proportion of women working full time:
South Carolina________________________
Maine___________________________
Texas__________________

Percent

_ _

31. 6
48. 0
27. 4

1931 employment conditions
Mills with short time or shut-downs lasting a month or moreSouth Carolina__________________________
Maine_____________________________ 3___ I"
Texas'
Mills with night shift lasting a month or more:
South Carolina___________________________
Maine______________________________
Texas______________________

46 of 90 reporting.
8 of 10 reporting.
8 of 10 reporting.
63 of 84 reporting.
8 of 13 reporting.
6 of 9 reporting.

Personal information about women workers
Length of service with present employer:
South Carolina (6,613 reporting)__
Maine (1,803 reporting)___________
Texas (710 reporting)_____________
South Carolina (6,613 reporting)
Maine (1,808 reporting)______ . _
Texas (719 reporting)__________

Under
1 year

5 years
and over

percent._ 13. 3
--_do____ 16. 8
---do____ 13. 7

42. 6
49. 4
50. 2

XJvder 20
years

do____25.
do____15.
do____13.

1
0
2

14. 3
22. 6
19. 7
Percent
married

Marital status:
South Carolina (6,606 reporting)
Maine (1,810 reporting)________
Texas (724 reporting)__________
NAEROW-GOODS MILLS
Numbers employed:
Pennsylvania (14 mills)________________
Massachusetts and Rhode Island (5 mills)
North and South Carolina (3 mills)
___

■to years
and over

43. 8
41. 2
51. 5
AU em­
ployees

Percent
women

i, 400
in

75. 9
54. 8
38. 7

225

Scheduled hours of work
Daily:
Prevailing hours for the majority of women:
Pennsylvania---------------------- Over 8 and including 9 hours.
Massachusetts and Rhode Island______ 8 hours.
North and South Carolina 10 hours.
Weekly:
Prevailing hours for the majority of women:
Pennsylvania--------------------------------------48 and less than 50 hours.
Massachusetts and Rhode Island 40 to 44 hours.
North and South Carolina .
55 hours
Night shift:
oolloursOnly 2 mills employed women:
Massachusetts and Rhode Island (1 mill, 6
women) ---------------------------------------------- Hours not recorded.
North and South Carolina (1 mill, 6 women)
11 hours,5 nights a week.
Earnings of women
Week's
k ull-time workers:
median
Pennsylvania
_
_
$13
Massachusetts and Rhode Island________________
.
12 40
North and South Carolinaq'ck
All localities"" ”
1285




6

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS
narrow-goods

—continued

mills

Earnings of women—Continued
All workers:
Pennsylvania----------------------------------------------------------------------------Massachusetts andRhode Island 11. 35
North and SouthCarolina
9. 15
All localities 11. 55

Week’s
median
$12. 15

Employment for 12 months, July 1931 to June 1932
Average number employed in first 6 months of 1932 was 8 percent below average
in last 6 months of 1931.
Difference between largest and smallest number employed in the 12 months was
16.3 percent; largest number in July 1931, smallest in June 1932.

On night work the largest number of men employed was 62 and the smallest 49;
of women the largest number was 23 and the smallest 10.
In Pennsylvania no women were employed at night during the year; in Massa­
chusetts and Rhode Island the largest number was 6; in North and South
Carolina the number varied from 7 to 17.
Personal information about women workers
Length of service with present employer:
Proportion of women with service of 5 years and over:
Largest, 59.4 percent, in New England.
Smallest, 4.2 percent, in the South.
Age:
.
Largest proportion under 20 years, 26.3 percent, in the South.
Largest proportion 40 years and over, 31.1 percent, in New England.
Marital status:
Proportion of married women:
Largest, 41.2 percent, in the South.
Smallest, 20.9 percent, in Pennsylvania.




“#5*1

A Mill Village, Well planned and well built.




THE SOUTH CAROLINA SURVEY
NUMBERS

This study in South Carolina included 132 cotton mills with well
over 50,000 employees.1 It was made in the months February to
May of 1932. All the mills were engaged in the manufacturing of
cotton into either cloth or yarn. The reduced extent to which the
employment of women was used is shown by the fact that less than
one third of the total number of employees were women. According
to figures reported by the United States Census of 1930, two fifths
of the working force employed at that time in the cotton mills of the
State were women.2 The following figures compare the proportion of
women in cotton mills in South Carolina according to the census of
1930 and the Women’s Bureau report in 1932:
Employees
Source

Mills

U32

Females
Total
number

51,338
63, 774

Males

Percent
of total

Number

34, 660
38, 444

16,678
25,330

32.5
39.7

i Includes 6 mills not reporting sex and I not reporting number of employees.

The smaller proportion of women found by the Women’s Bureau
in 1932 than by the census in 1930 may be due to a changed method
of operating, such as the labor-extension system in some of the mills,
but more probably to an increase in the number of mills operating at
night, with a greater use of men on the night shift, or to the fact that
the census of occupations reports the usual occupation whether or
not unemployed at the time.
The two principal products of the mills of South Carolina are sheet­
ings and print cloths. Including broadcloths and pajama checks,
tabulated with print cloths, these employed more than two thirds of
all the workers in the survey. The smallest number of mills and the
fewest workers were in the group making chambrays, ginghams, and
denims.
.
The ratio of women to men did not differ greatly with the various
products except in two or three cases. In one of these—yarns, where
the percent of women was greater than in any other case—the absence
of weave rooms, where men in considerable numbers ordinarily are
employed, is one explanation.* i
i There were 51,338 employees in the 125 mills that reported sex and numbers of employees,
i U.S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census, 1930. Occupation Statistics, South Carolina, p. 7.




7

8

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Emp oyees
Product

Females

Mills

Total
number

Males
Number

Percent
of total

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

i 132

51, 338

34,660

16, 678

32.5

Sheetings.. ----------- -------------------------------------Print cloths, broadcloths, and pajama checks. ____
Fine goods (including fancies)... ____ ____ _____
Chambrays, ginghams, and denims__________ ____
Toweling, osnaburgs, and ducks______ _____
Bedspreads and upholstery fabrics
Yarns----- ------------- ------- ---- ---Specialties................................................... ......
Other cotton goods

2 32
3 50
10

10, 924
24, 454
6, 027
767
1,181
1,125
2, 586
1,277
2, 997

7,409
16, 456
4,123
501
807
786
1, 633
948
1,997

3,515
7,998
1,904
266
374
339
953
329

32.2
32.7
31.6
34.7
31.7
30.1
36.9
25.8
33.4

3

6

5

4 18

4
4

1,000

1 Includes 6 mills not reporting numbers by sex and 1 not reporting number of employees.
2 Includes 2 mills not reporting numbers by sex.
3 Includes 3 mills not reporting numbers by sex.
4 Includes 1 mill not reporting numbers by sex and 1 not reporting number of employees.

Night shifts

Of the 132 mills included in the survey, 98 reported night work.
Some mills operated the entire plant at night, some only certain
departments, while still others ran only part of the equipment or a
certain number of machines to equalize production. Men only were
employed at night in 54 mills and men and women both in 44.
Mills

Employees
Males

Total
Product

Total________

________

Sheetings..------- ------------------------------Print cloths, broadcloths, and pajama
checks __________________________
Fine goods (including fancies)
Chambrays, ginghams, and denims
Toweling, osnaburgs, and ducks
Bedspreads and upholstery fabrics
Yarns . ----------------------------------------Specialties--------------------------------------Other cotton goods...
------------1 Includes
2 Includes
3 Includes
4 Includes

Num­
Total
ber
Per­
num­
run­
cent Total
ber ning at Num­ work­
num­
night
ber
ing at
ber
night

Females

Per­
Per­
cent Total cent
work­ num­ work­
ing at
ber ing at
night
night

i 132

i 98

51,338

25.6

34,660

32.4

16,678

2 32

2 25

10,924

21.4

7, 409

27.5

3,515

8.6

3 50
10

3 39

24,454
6,027
767
1,181
1,125
2, 586
1,277
2,997

29.3

16, 456
4,123
501
807
786
1, 633
948
1,997

36.5
33. 1
27.7
7.2
37.8
22.9
39.7
28.4

7,998
1,904
266
374
339
953
329

14.4

3
6

5

4 18

4
4

9
3
3
4
49
4
2

22.8

23.6
7.5
32.5
17.6
33.4
25.1

1,000

11.5

.6

15.8
8.3
20.4
8.6

15.5
18.4

6 mills not reporting numbers by sex and 1 not reporting number of employees.

2 mills not reporting numbers by sex.
3 mills not reporting numbers by sex.
1 mill not reporting numbers by sex and 1 not reporting number of employees.

The number of workers reported as employed on the night shift
was 13,141, or one fourth of all the workers reported for the week for
which figures were obtained. The greater number of those on the
night shift were men, but in the 39 mills reporting numbers of employ­
ees among the 44 where women as well as men worked at night there
were 1,926 women, or 11.5 percent of all women in the study.
Apparently there has been a considerable increase during the past
10 years in the employment of women for night work, for the 1932




9

THE SOUTH CAROLINA SURVEY

survey reports twice as many cotton mills employing women at night
and four times as many women so employed as were reported m the
survey of South Carolina made by the Women’s Bureau in 1921-22.
The proportion of men who worked at night was much higher than
that of women. Nearly one third, 32.4 percent, of all the men in the
125 mills reporting numbers and sex were on the night shift. This
was an average of 123 in the 91 mills reporting number and sex of
employees on night shifts, the total being 11,215 men.
Night shifts were found in each manufacturing group. Smaller
proportions of mills producing yarns than of those making most lines
of cloth ran a night shift. All 3 mills making chambrays, ginghams,
and denims, and 9 of the 10 producing fine goods, operated at night.
More than three fourths of the mills making bedspreads and uphol­
stery fabrics, sheetings, and print cloths (including broadcloths and
pajama checks) reported a night shift.
The percent of the workers employed at night did not reflect the
proportions in the various production groups as did the percent of
mills operating at night. Specialties, and chambrays, ginghams, and
denims, with all their mills running at night, had but 33.4 percent and
23.6 percent, respectively, of their employees on the night shift; and
bedspread and upholstery mills, and print goods, -with 4 in 5 run­
ning at night, had respectively 32.5 percent and 29.3 percent of their
_
employees on the night shift.
The smallest proportion of women employed at night was in the
mills making fine goods, where, in 9 mills with one or more depart­
ments operating at night, only 11 women were employed. Bed­
spreads and upholstery fabrics had the highest percent (20.4) of women
working at night, but as the total number of women in these mills
was only 339, the actual number on the night shift was small. By
far the largest number of women on the night shift was in print goods
and allied products, where 39 of 50 mills and 1,154 women, or 14.4
percent of the total in this group, were on the night shift.
HOURS

Scheduled hours

The law of South Carolina limits hours of work in cotton mills to 10
a day. Scheduled daily hours of the 128 mills reporting were 10 for
127 mills and 9 for 1 mill. Daily hours were, therefore, with one
exception, as long as was permitted by law. The mill with the 9-hour
schedule was in the class “print cloths, broadcloths, and pajama
checks,” and it employed 222 women.
Employees
Scheduled
daily hours

10

9

Mills 1

2 127
1

Total

Males

Females

37,190
493

22,896
271

14, 294

222

1 4 mills did not report hours.

2 Includes 5 mills reporting hours but not reporting employees byLsex.

Weekly hours also conformed closely to the legal limitation of 55
hours. There was, however, slightly more variation in the length




10

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

of the week than in the length of the day, as 6 of the 128 mills reported
a week shorter than 55 hours. Four of these 6 mills had a weekly
schedule of 50 hours, worked in 5 days in 3 of the mills and in 5% days
in the fourth. Of the 2 remaining mills, 1 had a schedule of 45 hours
worked in 4% days, and the other worked 40 hours in 4 days. In
each of these mills the short week was due to lack of orders, and this
condition had existed over so extended a period that a longer schedule
was not representative of hours and earnings in 1932.
Employees
Scheduled weekly hours

Mills i
Total

5Yi days:
55 hours....... ........ ............. ........ ..................
50 hours.-...................... ...........
5 days: 50 hours. .............. .
4^ days: 45 hours.................................
4 days: 40 hours............. ........

31
1

Males

Females

35,846
493
1,028

"271
683

222

310

185

131

1 4 mills did not report hours.
2 Includes 1 mills reporting on hours but not reporting employees by sex.
3 This plant did not report employees by sex.

The 6 mills operating weekly hours shorter than those required by
law were making three different classes of goods—sheetings; print
cloths, broadcloths, and pajama checks; and fine goods (including
fancies). There were 3 mills in the sheetings group, 2 in print cloths,
and 1 in fine goods.
The hour schedule for the night shift was reported by 96 of the 98
mills operating at night, and the majority reported 11 hours a night
for 5 nights, making a weekly total of 55 hours, the maximum pos­
sible under the law. Sixty-six of the mills worked these hours, but
30 had a shorter schedule—28 worked 10 hours a night and 50 hours
a week and 2 worked 10 hours a night but only 4 nights a week. All
but 178 of the women reported on the night shift worked in mills
with the long shift of 11 hours for 5 nights a week, and about 70 per­
cent of the men who worked at night had these hours.
Employees
Scheduled hours for night work

Mills 1
Total

5 nights:
11 hours__________ _______ _____
10 hours__________ ____________
4 nights: 10 hours........... ............... .

266

28
32

9, 643
3,409
81

Males

7,895
3, 231
81

Females

1, 748
178

1 2 mills did not report hours.
2 Includes 4 mills reporting on hours but not reporting employees by sex and 1 not reporting number
of employees.
3 Includes 1 mill not reporting employees by sex.

The shorter or 10-hour night shift was found in all manufacturing
groups but three—bedspreads and upholstery fabrics; toweling,
osnaburgs, and ducks; and chambrays, ginghams, and denims—but
it was reported most frequently in print-goods and in fine-goods mills,
where it was the schedule in one third and more than two fifths,




THE SOUTH CAROLINA SURVEY

11

respectively, of the mills reporting. Three of the 4 plants making
specialties and 1 of the 2 making miscellaneous cotton goods also had
a 10-hour shift.
In addition to the operation of a day shift and of both a day shift
and a night shift, there was in some of the mills a short shift of from
1 to 4 hours that filled in the mealtime break or the break between
the two main shifts, thus enabling the mills to operate for a continuous
period without a pause. These short or intermediate shifts were
reported in 31 mills and the majority of the workers on them were
women. In 8 of the 31 mills women only were employed on these
shifts and in 21 mills both women and men. In 2 mills the sex of the
workers was not reported.
Operating hours

Ordinarily, if a mill ran a day and a night shift, as was the case in
98 of the 132 mills, the operating schedule would be 20 or 21 hours in
a 24-hour period. However, with the aid of the short or extra shifts
these hours, 20 or 21, were exceeded in 33 mills, where extra shifts
were worked in all but 2. In these 2 mills the machinery ran through
the noon hour and the lunch period was staggered, so that there
were always some workers on duty. According to the classification
by product, print cloths, broadcloths, and pajama checks had the
most mills operating over 21 hours, 7 of their mills running the entire
24 hours.
These long operating hours were not for a few days but in most
cases were from Monday morning until Saturday noon, and in one
case the mill was closed down for only 24 hours in the entire week.
Only 29 of the 129 mills reporting total hours were in operation for
55 hours or less, while 97 were in operation from 80 to 144 hours.
The operating hours most frequently reported were 110, that is, a
day shift of 55 hours and a night shift of 55 hours. About one fourth
of all the mills reporting (24.8 percent) operated in excess of 110
hours, with 10 mills operating 125 hours and over.
Weekly operating hours:
reporting
Total_________ _____ b 129
29
55 hours and under
Over 55 and under 105 hours_________________________
8
Over 105 and under 110 hours
23
110hours__^
37
Over 110 and under 125 hours________________________
22
125 hours and over
10

The proportion of mills whose operating time was excessively long
varied somewhat with the products manufactured. The largest
proportion of mills with long hours was found in the group making
chambrays, ginghams, and denims, but this group was not very
important from the viewpoint of the Women’s Bureau, as the percent
of women in it was low and the establishments were few. After the
group of mills making chambrays, those making print goods and
allied products had the largest proportion, with operating hours of
more than 110 a week. Seven of these mills were in operation 125
hours in the week.3
3 3 mills did not report operating hours.

182301°—33-----2




12

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Number operating—
Total mills

Product

Total.

More than
110 hours
a week

More than
100 hours
a week

32

i 129

92

32
50

22

6

39
9
3
3
4

16

6

31

4

1

Sheetings_____________ _______ ___ ____
Print cloths, broadcloths, and pajama checks.
Fine goods (including fancies)------ ------ ------Chambrays, ginghams, and denims------------Toweling, osnaburgs, and ducks..----- --------Bedspreads and upholstery fabrics..................
Yarns---------------- ------ --------------------------Specialties--------------------------------------------Other cotton goods______________________

10

3

6

5
1 15
4
4

2
2

1

2

1 3 mills did not report operating hours.

WAGES

Wages, the sum paid for work done or service rendered, may be
regarded from two angles: That of the expected wage for a full week’s
work and that of the amount received for the time actually worked.
The recipient of wages, although she hopes to attain a full week of
work and of pay, does not always achieve this, and she must live on
what she actually receives, whether it is work and pay for 1 day or
for 5% days. Nor is it always because there is not sufficient work that
she is not employed for her full week’s schedule; frequently for
personal reasons she may lose a day or two, or even a longer time, in
a given week.
_
_
_
For the pay-roll week for which wages were taken in this study,
4,340 women,3 31.6 percent of those on the day shift with time worked
reported, worked on every day of the weekly schedule. About one
half of these women worked the full weekly hours, while the other
half, although working on every day, may have lost some time, as it
was impossible from the records available in these plants to obtain the
actual number of hours for each day on which work was done. The
record of the group with time worked recorded in hours is more
accurate, therefore, than that which shows only the days on which
work was done; although in most cases the latter would represent a
full week’s work, it is probable that in some instances a few hours
may have been lost. Nevertheless, the women may be classed as
approximately full-time workers.

Department

Carding_________________ ____
Spinning and spooling-------------Weaving....... ............. ...................
Cloth--------------- ------------------General (scrubbers and cleaners).

Time reported in—

Time reported in—

Days

Total
females

Days

Hours

Full Part Full Part
time time time time

Full
time

Part
time

Full
time

Part
time

2,270

6,385

2,070

3,006

1,424

132

483

287

522

74
354
855 3,842
898 1,332
343­ 792
100
65

70
1,499
484
17

156
2,320
489
36
5

59
1,169
178

6

7
405
53

11

35
440
47

654
8,516
3, 203
1,188
170

3 Short or extra-shift workers are omitted.




Night shift

Hours

Total
females

All departments------------- 13,731

Day shift

10
8

83
43

10
8

241
35

13

THE SOUTH CAROLINA SURVEY

Full-time women workers on the day shift

Women on the day shift who worked the firm’s scheduled hours as
shown by hourly records had median earnings of $10.60 a week, while
those who worked each day the plant was in operation but whose actual
hours were not recorded had median earnings of $8.75. Though some
of the difference between these two medians may have been due to
working less than the full hours each day or to lower pay in the mills
keeping only records of days worked, without doubt some is due to the
distribution of the workers in the various departments of the mills.
Of the workers whose records were in hours, 37.7 percent were in the
spinning and spooling department, where average earnings were low,
and 42.8 percent were in the weaving or carding department, where
the averages were higher. Among the women with time reported in
days nearly three fourths (72.4 percent) were in the spinning and spool­
ing department and only 26.8 percent in weaving or carding. With
appreciably lower median earnings in the spinning department, the
larger proportion of spinners among' the women whose time was report­
ed in days would lower that median as compared with the group whose
time was kept in hours, even if the same time was worked.
For each department in which the number of women was large
enough for the computation of a median, the median earnings for the
women working the firm’s scheduled day were lower than for those
working the full weekly schedule of hours. The combination of these
two groups gives the following medians by department:
All departments $9. 65
Carding 11. 70
Spinning and spooling 8. 90
Weaving 11. 60
Cloth 9. 45

Within the departments the earnings of the workers varied consid­
erably according to occupation. Among the principal occupations
with more than 100 women in each group, weavers had the highest pay,
the median of their earnings being $13.90, and speeder tenders were
second, with a median of $11.95. Spoolers and winders had the lowest
earnings, with a median of $8.60. When only women with time
reported in hours are considered, the lowest earnings were no longer
for the group of spoolers and winders but for that of inspectors and
graders.
Median earnings of full-time
workers—
Occupation

Spinning and spooling department:
Weaving* department:

1 Not computed; base less than 60.




Median earnings of fe­
males work­ With time
ing full time worked re­
ported in
hours

With time
worked re­
ported in
days

$11.95

$12.65

$11.55

8.75

8.60
11.35

9.70
10. 20
11.70

10.35

13.90
8.85
11.50
11.30
9.25

14.45
9. 55
11. 50
11.60
9.25

8.15

8.00

o
0)
w

13. 00
8. 40

14

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Full-time women workers on the night shift

The proportion the full-time women on the night shift formed of all
women night workers with time worked reported was practically three
tenths (29.4 percent), including those working either the full hour
schedule or on each night of the week. This was a smaller proportion
of full-time workers than on the day shift, and the median earnings,
$8.25, also were lower than those of the full-time workers on the day
shift, $9.65. This difference in earnings was largely influenced by the
fact that 77.3 percent of the women on the night shift, in contrast to
54.2 percent of the women on the day shift, were in the spinning depart­
ment, where, as already stated, earnings were lower than in other
departments. However, the entire difference in earnings between the
day and the night workers was not due to this cause, as in the same
departments, for spinners and also for spoolers and winders,the median
earnings were lower for the night workers than for the day workers.
The night weaving department, with only 78 women, also showed a
lower median than did the day weaving department.
Short-shift earnings

In addition to the two main shifts in the mills reporting, the day
and the night, there were 79 women spinners and spoolers who worked
a short day shift of from 6 to 7 hours in either the morning or afternoon
work spell. This short shift was run to equalize production through­
out the mill where there was an insufficient number of spinning and
spooling frames to supply yarn for the weaving department in the reg­
ular 10-hour day shift. The median earnings of the women employed
on these short shifts and working full time were $5.60. Rates of pay
were the same on the short shift as on the regular run, the lower earn­
ings reflecting the shorter hours of work.
Week’s earnings of all women workers

The figures thus far discussed have been concerned with the full­
time woman worker, that is, the woman who worked on every day or
night required by her weekly schedule. These full-time workers con­
stituted less than one third (31.4 percent) of the entire number with
time worked reported, so more than two thirds must have worked less
than their weekly schedule.
Day-shift earnings.—On the day shift the median earnings in each
department showed a difference between full-time earnings and the
earnings of all women whose time was reported, the difference ranging
from $1.30 in the cloth department to $2.65 in the carding department.
Median earnings of—
Department

All departments
Carding______________
.
Spinning and spooling_________
Weaving.............. ............ ........... .
Cloth
General (cleaners and scrubbers) _

All females
with time
worked re­
ported

Females
working full
time

$7. 70

$9.65

9.05
7.05
9. 35
8.15
6.15

11.70
8.90
11.60
9.45
6.35

These differences in median earnings are indicative of the extent of
lost time from industrial or personal causes. For all departments



THE SOUTH CAROLINA SURVEY

15

there was a difference of $1.95 between the two medians, a little more
than the average of 1 day’s pay. This was less than was found in a
study made in 1921-22 in South Carolina,_ when the difference be­
tween the median of all women workers with time worked reported
and that of full-time women workers was $2.25,4 also a little more
than the average of 1 day’s pay.
The largest group of women, 40.8 percent, worked from 40 to 50
hours, or on 4 or 5 days, and a larger proportion of women worked
full time than short time of less than 4 days.
.
Median earnings increased steadily with each day on which work
was reported; but where actual hours of work were recorded earnings
did not reflect so accurately the increase in time, partly because the
rates of pay may have varied more in the mills recording hours rather
than days.
_
.
Night-shift earnings.—The proportion of women on the night
shift who worked a week of less than 4 nights or less than 44 hours
was about three tenths of the total; it was practically the same as
the proportion who worked the full weekly schedule.
_
The difference in median of a week’s earnings between the night
workers who worked full time and all night workers with time worked
reported was $1.30. In the spinning and weaving departments,
with 95 percent of the women, the differences in medians between
full-time workers and all workers with time worked reported were
respectively $1.20 and $1.80. These differences in medians between
the full-time workers and all the workers were less on the night shift
than on the day shift, which is in line with the fact that women work­
ing at night earned less in all departments for the same number of
weekly hours than did the women on the day shift.
Actual amounts received

The fact that half the women of the total of 14,136 received less
than $7.70 as earnings in the pay-roll week recorded indicates the
low wage level prevailing. As a matter of fact, 30.4 percent of the
women were paid less than $6, and 21.6 percent of them less than
$5. Only 24.4 percent received $10 or more; only 11.8 percent as
much as $12. Yet one third of those who received less than $6 had
worked 45 or more hours or on 4 or more days; one sixth had worked
50 or more hours or on 5 or more days.
Of the 8,696 women in the spinning and spooling department, 37.1
percent were paid less than $6. Only 17.4 percent received as much
as $10. Of the 3,378 in weaving, 20.3 percent were paid less than $6.
Here, however, 43.3 percent were paid at least $10 and as many as 11
percent received $15 or more.
Method of payment

The most usual method of payment was by the amount produced,
or some form of piece payment; for example, so much a hank for the
speeders, the number of sides tended by spinners, the number of
picks, cuts, or pounds for the weavers, and so on. Some form of
piece payment was reported for 83.3 percent of the 15,921 women for
whom method of payment was reported.
< TJ.S. Department of Labor. Women’s Bureau. Women in South Carolina Industries. Bui. 32,
1923, pp. 38, 93-94, and 98.




16

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Department

All departments__________________
Carding___________________
Spinning and spooling__ __________
Weaving _
____________
Cloth__________

Percent on—
Total num­
ber of
Both time­
women
Timework Piecework work and
piecework
i 15,921

15.7

83.3

719

13.6

84. 7

1. 7

3, 568
1,244

15.1
89.1

83.5
10.4

1.3

0.9

.6

1 Total includes 178 cleaners and scrubbers, not shown separately.

In the various departments, the spinning and spooling rooms had
the highest proportion of women paid by the piece, 93.5 percent, and
the cloth room had the lowest, 10.4 percent. The small amount of
piecework in the cloth room is due to the character of the work. The
majority of the women were inspecting and grading, and care and
exactness are more important than speed.
In many industries during the past few years there has been a
change in method of payment, either from straight piece to task
and bonus, or from individual piece to group piece. Such changes
have been installed as a means of making production more efficient
and lowering costs. Information furnished by the mills visited
showed very few changes in methods of payment in the past year—
only 3 mills out of 93 reporting a change. These three changes took
place in different departments: In the spinning and spooling depart­
ment, one mill changed from side hours to hank payment; in the
weaving department, one changed from so much per cut for weavers
to the number of picks per inch, paying according to fineness of
material; and another changed from a straight hourly rate for the
drawers-in to payment for the number of ends drawn through the
harness. From these figures and from the fact that the majority of
mill work is paid for on the piecework basis, two conclusions may be
drawn: First, that previous to the past year most mills had installed
various systems of piece pay ; and second, that the refinement or more
complicated methods of piece payment found in some industries
were not suited to cotton-mill manufacturing or had not yet been
introduced into the industry.
Learners

There was a small group of learners in the mills whose earnings are
not included in the foregoing figures. These women, with less than 6
months’ experience, comprised only about 1 percent of the women with
earnings and time worked reported. The median of their earnings,
regardless of the number of hours or days they worked, was $6.95,
which was 75 cents less than the median for the total. Two fifths
(39.4 percent) of the learners had worked for 55 or more hours or on
5% days, and their median was $9.90. The learners may in some
cases have had previous experience in another mill, but in the past
year there has not been much shifting from mill to mill and it is prob­
able that the “less than 6 months of service” in the one mill was their
total experience.




17

THE SOUTH CAROLINA SURVEY

More women with less than 6 months’ experience were reported in
fine goods than in the other production divisions, 71 being employed
there. In no group was their proportion high.
THE WORKERS

In South Carolina, as in most other Southern States, there is no
problem of assimilating foreign-born workers either in the population
or in the industrial life of the State. The census of 1930 shows in the
entire State only 2,133 white women of foreign birth,6 and in a study
made by the Women’s Bureau in 1921-22, among 4,199 working
women only 12 were foreign born.6 With very rare exceptions, then,
the cotton-mill worker in the South is a native-born American.
Formerly these workers came in from the mountains and the farms
to find work and earn a living in the mills, but the present mill employ­
ees are to a great extent the second and even the third generation of
mill worker. There is still a small proportion who own farms or are
related to farm owners, so that these workers are able to return to
the farm if there is no work in the mill. However, the majority of
mill workers have no farm as a refuge and are dependent on the mill
for employment.
Length of service

Although in the past there has been considerable moving from
one mill to another among restless groups, usually termed “floaters”,
the majority prefer to stay where they know conditions or, as they
express it, “where you know the boss and that he’ll treat you right. ”
The length of time in their present mill was reported by 6,513 women,
and of these more than two fifths (42.6 percent) had been in their
present mill for 5 years or more.
The following summary shows for the 6,513 women their length of
service in the mill, according to department in which employed at
time of survey.

Department

All departments

Under 1 year
10 and
5 and
1 and
15 years
Women
under 5 under 10 under 15 and over
reporting Under 6 6 months
years
years
years
and
und­
months er 1 year
i 6,513
319
4,156
1,397
602

7.6
3.4
7.7
7.3

10.0

5.6
3.8
5.7

6.2

4.5

44.1
38.2
46.1
40.4
42.0

25.7
28.5
25.0
26.1
29.1

9.2

7.7

15.0

8.8

11.0
6.8

9.7

10.3
6.5

8.0

1 Departments with fewer than 50 women omitted.

Women in the carding department had the longest service, con­
siderably more than one half reporting experience of 5 years or more.
Only 7.2 percent had been in the mill iess than a year, in contrast to
13 or 14 percent of the women in the other departments.
s U.S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census, 1930. Occupation Statistics, South Carolina, p IS.
e U.S. Department of Labor. Women's Bureau. Women in South Carolina Industries. Bui. 32, 1923,
p. 125.




18

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Age

The number of women who furnished data on age was 6,513, or
about two fifths of all in the study. The large number giving such
information makes the findings probably representative of the general
age distribution of women in the South Carolina mills. From the
figures, one half of the women (50.9 percent) were under 25 years of
age and one fourth were under 20, while the proportion 40 years and
over was only 14.3 percent.
In a comparison of the age distribution in this study and in the
study made by the Bureau in the same State in 1921-22, there is
found a shift from the younger groups to those in the years 20 and
under 40. This would indicate that in addition to the changed
distribution as the younger workers have matured, the movement
into mill employment includes fewer young girls than formerly.
Percent distribu­
tion of females in
South Carolina
mills in—

Age

All ages........................................
16 and under 18 years .......
18 and under 20 years____
20 and under 25 years________
25 and under 30 years________
30 and under 40 years____
40 and under 50 years________
50 years and over____ _____ ___

1921-22
survey

1932
survey

100.0

100.0

16.8
15.4

11.9
13.2
25.8
15.7
19.1
10.7
3.6

22.1

14.0
18.8
9.6
3.3

_ It is possible that this tendency to increase the number of women
in the middle-age groups at the expense of the younger workers is
the result of a demand for more efficiency in the industry that requires
workers in their most productive years, and that it is part of a general
trend to eliminate the younger, and to a less degree the older, workers
in industry in general.
The ages of the workers varied considerably in the different depart­
ments. In the carding and cloth departments the proportion of
girls under 20 was much lower than in the other departments. The
spinning and spooling department had the highest percent of women
under 20.
Department

All departments........ .
Carding—
Spinning and spooling
Weaving__
Cloth______ ____________

Women 16 and 1 18 and 20 and 25 and 30 and 40 and 50 years
report­ under
under
under
under
under
under
and
ing
18 years 20 years 25 years 30 years 40 years 50 years over
1 6,513

11.9

13.2

25.8

15.7

19.1

10.7

3.3

318
4,158
1,396
603

6.9

11.3
14.2

23.9
25.4
25.7
29.2

17.9
16.4
13.6
14.4

22.3
19.2
18.1
18.4

11.9
9.7
14.0
9.8

6.6

12.6
12.8
8.8

1 Departments with fewer than 50 women omitted.




10.8
12.8

2.5

5. 0

19

THE SOUTH CAROLINA SURVEY

In the chief occupational groups, battery fillers had the largest
percent of young workers, with nearly one half (47.8 percent) under
20 years of age; speeders and weavers had the smallest proportions.
Percent of females—
Occupation

Speeders._ ................... .......................
Spinners------------------------------------Spoolers and winders.......... .............. .
Weavers----------------------- ----------Battery hands--------------- ---------

16 and
under 18
years

Under 20
years

4.2
14.8
10.9
5.6
28.0
7.6

11.3
29.6
25.3
12.4
47.8
20.7

The departments that had the highest proportions of older women
were the weaving and the carding, the former with 19 percent of its
women, and the latter with 17.6 percent, 40 years of age or more.
For all mills, regardless of department, the percent of women 40 years
of age and over was 14.3.
Marital status

Cotton-goods manufacturing has always been a family industry.
Husbands, wives, and children have for the past hundred years found
employment in the mill. This condition appears, however, to be
changing gradually, with fewer children employed and a slight decrease
in the proportion of women. According to the census figures in 1920,
49.3 percent of the operatives in cotton mills were women, but by
1930 this figure had declined to 48.2. The married women in this
industry comprised 35.5 percent of the total number in 1920, but
jumped to 42.8 percent in 1930.7 In the present study the proportion
of married women was 43.8 percent, slightly higher than that shown
by the census in 1930 but appreciably higher than in 1920.
For the manufacturing industry as a whole the 1930 census reports
a lower percent (32.4) of married women than are found in the cotton
mills, and the proportion increased 7.9 points between 1920 and 1930,
an increase which about equaled that in the cotton industry.
EMPLOYMENT IN 1931 AND 1932

In January and February of 1932 most mills, according to their
records, were operating a full daily schedule and frequently a night
shift. These full-time employment schedules must not, however, be
taken as representing employment conditions throughout the previous
year. Nor were the good operating conditions shown in the early
part of 1932 sustained throughout the spring and early summer of
that year. During the latter part of the survey (in May) many of
the mills that had reported working full time in January and February
were cutting out 1 week a month or 1J4 days a week.
The inquiry as to the working of short time for a period of at least
a month in 1931 was answered by 90 mills. Just over one half of
these, 46 mills, had operated with a shorter schedule of hours or
i U.S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census, 1930. Occupation Statistics, United States Summary,
table 3, pp. 11 and 13; table 29, pp. 73 and 71.




20

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

operated irregularly for 1 month or more during the year. The most
common form of curtailment was to shorten daily hours or to reduce
days a week, and 30 of the 46 mills practiced one or both of these
methods. Five mills ran irregularly throughout the year, working
fewer hours or days in some weeks and again shutting down for a
week or more at a time. Four mills shut down for 1 week a month
for several months, and two of these mills found it necessary also to
work shorter hours and fewer days in the weeks when they were
operating.
Mills running short time for a period of 1 or more months.
1931

Product

Total.
Sheetings
Print cloths, broadcloths, and pa­
jama checks
Fine goods (including fancies)
Chambrays, ginghams, and denims.
Toweling, osnaburgs, and ducks__
Bedspreads and upholstery fabrics..
Yarns_______________ __________
Specialties-___ ______ __________
Other cotton goods

Total
mills
Shut­
re­ Total
Short Short Irregu­
port­ run­ Shut­ down
time
larity
of
hours night
ing
ning down night
through­
or
short
shift out the
shift
days
time
only
year
only

lweek
a
month
cur­
tailed

90

46

2

2

30

3

6

2

21

15

2

___

11

___

1

1

1 week
a
month
and
short
hours
or
days
2

32
8

3
4
5
13
3

1

Mills producing certain types of goods reported greater irregularity
of operation than did those making other kinds. In the three largest
production groups—sheetings, print goods, and yarns—the mills mak­
ing sheetings had the largest amount of lost time in 1931, with 15
out of 21 mills curtailing their output in some way. When all the
groups are considered, both the small ones with only 3 mills and the
large ones with 32, the mills producing print cloths showed the
steadiest employment in 1931, with those producing specialties and
fine goods, respectively, showing the next steadiest employment. In
these three groups about one third of the mills, compared to two
thirds in the other groups combined, reported short time for a period
of 1 or more consecutive months.
In a comparison of the steadiness of the working schedule in the
year 1931 with the 1-week period taken in January or February of
1932, a much fuller operating schedule is shown for the more recent
period.8 In the week in 1932, only 1 mill, manufacturing yarns, was
operating less than a 55-hour week, and three fourths of the 129 mills
reported were on a schedule of 80 hours and over. In the earlier
and longer period of 1931, as already stated, 46 mills, or more than
one half of the 90 reported, had a shut-down, worked short time, or
experienced some other form of curtailment for 1 month or longer.
For 84 mills the fluctuation in the number of workers during the
year 1931 was secured. The variations were not great. The month
8 Naturally, no mill was shut down in the week of 1932 selected by the management as representative of
hours and earnings.




21

THE SOUTH CAROLINA SURVEY

of January had the smallest number of workers and that of November
the largest, but there were only 8.5 percent more workers in the latter
month in the carding, spinning and spooling, and weaving depart­
ments, where were found the great majority of workers. On the
whole, there was an improvement in numbers during the last 6
months of 1931 and the employment figures were better for the last
4 months than for any other period of the year.
Monthly average of employment,
1931
Period in 1931
All em­
ployees
All shifts:1

Day shift:

Night shift:

Other shifts:1

Males

Females

28,197
29, 275
+3.8

18,632
19,313
+3.7

9,564
9,962
+4.2

22,386
22,302
-0.4

13,872
13,512
-2.6

8, 514
8, 790

5,810
6,973
+20.0

4, 760
5, 801
+21.9

1,050
1,172
+11.6

446
588
+31.8

185
209
+13.0

261
379
+45.2

+3.2

1 Excludes short or intermediate shifts.

The better showing for the second half of the year was not
reflected in the total numbers employed on the day shift, where the
average of the second 6 months was below the first. However, on
the night shift and on the short supplementary shifts there was a
considerable increase in the second half of the year. On the night
shift the average number of workers during the second 6 months of
1931 was 20 percent aboye that for the first 6 months.
A night shift of 1 or more months was worked by three fourths of
the 84 mills whose 1931 records were obtained, and practically the
same proportion of mills were operating a night shift of one or more
departments in the week for which records were taken in 1932. There
was, however, a noticeable change in the proportion of mills employing
women on the night shift in 1932 from the proportion employing
them in 1931. Of 63 mills reporting night shifts in 1931 whose
figures were obtained, 49, or 77.8 percent, had employed women as
well as men at night, while in the 1932 period only 44.9 percent of
the mills operating at night employed women on that shift. The
increase in employment in 1931, therefore, was not on the day shift
but on the night and the short supplementary shifts.
Although the average number of both men and women employed
at night was greater in the second than in the first half of 1931, the
percent of increase was almost twice as high for the men (21.9) as
for the women (11.6). On the short or supplementary shift the
opposite occurred and women increased to a much greater degree
than did men.




22

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Taking the average for the 12 months as a base, the last 4 months
showed practically no change where the day shift was concerned
( + 0.1 percent) but did show an increase of 16.3 percent in average
number of night workers.
Although a night shift during some time in 1931 was reported in
63 of the 84 mills that supplied 1931 figures, the period during which
there was night operating varied in the different mills. Thirty-one
of them reported a night shift in each of the 12 months, 18 mills had
night operating for 7 to 11 months, and 14 for 6 months or less. The
large majority, 75 percent, had run at night in 8 months or more.
Although, according to these figures, night operating was very
generally practiced in 1931, the extent to which women were employed
at night was not equally prevalent.

Months of night work in 1931

Total.....................................
1_____________ ____
2______________ ____

3
4________________ ______ _
5-.-____ ___________________
6____________________
7_____________ ____________
8:
9__________________________

10
11_____________
12_________________________

Mills operat­
ing at night
for months
specified

Mills em­
ploying
women at
night for
months
specified

63

49

2

6

3
3

1
2

3

2
2

4

6

4
31

7

8
1
1

1
2
2
6

3
13

Of the 63 mills with a night shift, 49 employed women at night.
Besides working at night in less than four fifths of the mills, women
ordinarily were on night work for much shorter periods than men
were. Of the mills employing women at night, less than one half
did so in more than 8 months of the year. Only 13 mills reported
employing women at night for the entire year, compared to 31 mills
operating a night shift with men for 12 months. There were only
11 mills that ran a night shift in less than half the months, but there
were 23 that employed women at night in less than half the months.
Employment in 1931 by department

The great majority of the workers were in the carding, spinning
and spooling, and weaving departments. Where mills had a cloth
room, men usually were employed there, except in fine-goods mills.
The cloth room rarely had night and intermediate shifts, and when
production increased or decreased the variation in employment was
less marked in the cloth room than in the other departments. The
spinning department was by far the most important, measured by
numbers employed. In each month over two fifths of all the workers
in the carding, spinning, and weaving departments were in spinning.
For the women the proportion was considerably higher, two thirds
of the total being in the spin room.
Although in the total of the three principal departments the number
of employees increased in 1931 about 8 percent (7.8) from January to




23

THE SOUTH CAROLINA SURVEY

December, the numbers on the day shift decreased in the carding and
weaving departments, and only in spinning was there an increase,
this amounting to 4.4 percent. The increase in the numbers employed
occurred principally on the night shift and the short day shifts,
rather than on the regular day shift. This condition was especially
marked for men, where the number on the night shift increased by
31 percent in the card department, by 44.8 percent in the spinning
department, and by 70.3 percent in the weaving department.
Percent difference in numbers from
January to December, 1931
Total
+4.4
+5.0
-2.3
+9.0
-11.8
+6.8
+8.2
+9.4
+5.2

Day
-2.6
-2.9

-.2

+4.4
-1.7
+8.7
-3.1
-6.0
+5.3

Night
+29.4
+31.2
-23.8
+25.8
+44.8
-3.7
+62.8
+70.3
-9.0

The number of women employed at night decreased in all three
departments, but on the day shift there was an increase of over 8
percent in spinning and a smaller increase in weaving, while in carding
the numbers remained practically the same.
A little more than one half the mills ran a regidar night shift in
each of the three departments during the first half of the year, and
this number increased during the second half. Mills operating night
shifts in the carding department only during the first 7 months of the
year added other departments to the night shift in the later months
of the year. This was true also of the operating of other single depart­
ments, so that the number of mills running at night only in one
department declined and the number running at night in all three
departments increased.
Operating changes that affected employment in 1931

The effect on employment of operating changes is difficult to
determine. Frequently more than one change takes place at the
same time or a change is put into effect so gradually that it is hard to
estimate the result. Probably one of the simplest types of change
that affects employment is an increase or decrease in the amount
produced, and this was reported in 46 of the 93 mills that reported
changes in 1931. Although an increase in production normally means
a greater demand for goods, in many cases in 1931 the stimulus was,
according to the mill managements, the desire to decrease production
costs by the use of an extra shift rather than the demands of the
market. Other modifications, some due to more efficient production
or market conditions, resulted in changes in equipment and in type
of goods produced; or, where more than one land of goods was
manufactured, by an increase in one type and a decrease in another.
Aside from an increase or decrease in output, the most important
change was in method of operating. This included such methods
as the spread-out system in the weaving and spinning departments,
the elimination of 1 picking operation, and the change from time-rate




24

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

to piece-rate pay. In 17 mills 1 or more of these changes were put
mto effect in 1931.
Changes in equipment were principally in the picker room, where
new pickers were put in that did the work more efficiently and with
fewer men, and in the spinning and spooling department, where the
old spoolers and warpers were replaced with new machines that
operated with less labor and greatly increased the speed of production.
In all, 10 mills reported 1 or more of these changes, while 3 others put
in machinery that in some cases decreased and in others increased the
number of workers.
In 8 mills there was some change in product that affected the
numbers employed, either by the introduction of a new line of goods
or a variation in the amount produced of a certain style. If, for
example, sheetings and print goods were made in the same mill, the
proportion of sheetings may have altered; or, if fancies were manu­
factured, there may have been a change in the number of styles.
Change in the number of workers due to these causes was espedally noticeable in the mills making print goods, and the two major
causes of change, difference in output and more efficient method of
operating, were both most pronounced in this group of mills.
Basis of lay-offs

TV hen lay-offs were found necessary, due to any change of conditions,
the method of such forced reduction in numbers varied in the different
mills. Of the 41 mills that reported basis of lay-offs, almost one half
considered the condition of the family rather than of the individual.
In 11 mills it was the custom to retain a worker from each family,
and in 6 others the question of family need was first considered.
The management of 1 mill believed it to be for the best welfare of
their workers to retain all the workers in one family and lay off all
in another family, so that the latter would move to another mill and
the families that remained would have sufficient work to maintain
their standard of living. The heads of families were given preference
in 2 mills, and in 2 others married women were the first laid off if
other members of the family were working. The basis of lay-offs in
8 mills was efficiency and in 4 mills length of service. A few mills laid
oft minors first, and other mills those not living in the mill village,
while in 3 the families that could go to farms were let out before other
workers. There was no policy of lay-offs in 51 of the 96 mills. It had
not been necessary to formulate a general rule, as no general lay-offs
had taken place.
Basis of lay-off:
Family needs 9
Efficiency ~
Length of service4
Having farms
Married women______________________________
Minors ~~
Living in mill village

porting

__
_

20
g
3

2
2
2*

Spares or extra workers

It has been the custom in the cotton-mill industry to employ extra
or spare hands to take the place of those who are absent, so that
machines need not stand idle nor production be interfered with. The
* Includes "tome work to all families”, “let whole families go”, and “heads of families.!




THE SOUTH CAROLINA SURVEY

25

method of employing these extra workers and the numbers needed
vary with mill and with locality. Where there is a mill village, the
extra workers usually report for possible work each morning, or they
are sent for if needed. These spares are employees with no regular
positions, that is, jobs in the mill, but usually they are given sufficient
work to enable them to support themselves until a regular position is
available.
When times are bad and work is not very plentiful, carrying extra
workers sometimes involves a spreading of the work, and regular
employees are asked to give a day or two a week to the spare workers.
Among the workers themselves this is called being “asked out.” In
some mills no regular spares are kept on the books, but the overseers
have a fist of former employees, living in the village but not desirous
of steady employment, and these are sent for when extra help is
needed. The third method of keeping machines running steadily is to
have a small number of workers who know the different operations
and can be shifted from one job to another as need arises. This
method is seldom found in southern mills and is not the usual custom
in northern mills where there is a mill village.
Of the 86 mills where information was obtained on the spare-hand
system, the managements of over three fifths declared that the custom
was for all or some of the spares to report each morning for work.
Twenty-six mills depended on sending to the homes in the morning
when extra help was needed, and in 4 mills the spares were notified
the day before so that they would not have the trip to the mill
unnecessarily. Regular days were given to all or some of the spares
in 2 mills. In 6 mills there was so much short time that the regular
workers were very steady and practically no extras were required. In
some cases there was a system of spreading the work in order to give
some time to spares, and in 47 mills, in order to do this, it was
necessary to ask the regular workers to stay out occasionally and give
their time and pay to the extras.
At the time of the survey there was in South Carolina, as in the rest
of the country, considerable unemployment, with more workers than
work. It would not be surprising, therefore, if the ratio of spares to
regular workers was considerably greater than in more normal times.
This was not the case in most mills, however. About one half of the
mills reported that the spares formed less than 10 percent of the total
force, and apparently a considerable effort was being made to dis­
courage the practice of keeping an excessive supply of labor attached
to the mill. In 1922, in a study of cotton mills made by the Women’s
Bureau, the proportion, according to statements of the mill manage­
ment, was higher than this, with the average around 15 percent.10
The spare-hand system, although it spreads the work, is unsatis­
factory both to the management and to the employees, and an effort
to curb it is evidenced by the decrease that has been continuing
over a number of years in the proportion of spares. A writer on
southern cotton mills in 1907 declared that “Every cotton mill in
this State [South Carolina] recognizes that to have a full complement
of labor in the mill each morning * * * it is practically necessary
10 U.S. Department of Labor.
Bui. 52, 1926, p. 43.




Women’s Bureau.

Lost Time and Labor Turnover in Cotton Mills.

26

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

to carry a surplusage of 20 to 25 percent of spare help.” 11 In 1932,
when the mills were visited, although some reported an excess of
spares, two fifths reported a decrease in the proportion since 1931,
while another two fifths reported their percent of spares unchanged.
Only one fifth of the mills reported an increase in spares, and with
these it was involuntary and efforts were being made by most of them
to reduce the number. These findings are in line, therefore, with the
general trend noted over a period of years and which is continuing in
spite of the depressed condition of the industry to decrease or eliminate
spare help.
11 Kohn, August.

The Cotton Mills of South Carolina. Columbia, S.C., 1907, p. 61.




THE MAINE SURVEY
NUMBERS

Although the manufacture of cotton cloth is an important industry
in the State of Maine, it does not occupy the same relative importance
that it does in some of the Southern States. Whereas in South
Carolina, for example, 77.5 percent of the women employed in manu­
facturing and mechanical industries are found in cotton mills, in
Marne only 21.1 percent are so reported, according to the 1930 census 1
Nevertheless, even in Maine, the cotton mills give work to more
women in the manufacturing industries than any other industry but
shoes, and therefore conditions in the industry are of vital importance
to women in that State.
The present survey included 14 mills and 3,143 women, 79.6 percent
ol all the women reported by the United States Census of 1930 *2 as
engaged in this industry.
Employees
Product

Females

Mills
Total

Males
Percent
of total

Number
Total_______
Sheetings___ ___
Fine goods______
Y arns_____ _ _ _
Other____

C, C91

3, 548

3,143

47.0

387

1,464
1,104
195
785

1,339
964
192
648

47.8
46. 6
49.6
45.2

These figures show a remarkably high percent of women, 47 percent
of all workers in the Maine mills being females, in contrast to 32.5
percent in the South Carolina mills. The percent in Maine is even
higher than that of cotton mills throughout the entire countrv
where women comprise 43.2 percent of the total.3
’
The greatest number of workers, both men and women, were
employed in the manufacture of sheetings, with fine goods second in
importance. Yarn mills naturally showed the largest proportion of
women (49.6 percent), but employees in the other mills were from 45
to 48 percent women.
It is difficult to account for the high proportion of women aside from
two facts: the opportunities of work for men are greater and more
diversified in Maine than in a southern cotton-mill State, and the
amount ol mght work, with its larger proportion of men, is much less
m Maine.
ppU™7U °'th<> Census' Fifteenth Census, 1930. Occupation Statistics: South Carolina, p. 7;
2 Ibid, Maine, p. 7.
3 Ibid, United States Summary, pp. 11,13.

182301°—33----3




27

28

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Night shifts

No women were reported on the night shifts at the time the study
was made in Maine, but the percent of men so employed was 9.2.
Only 7 mills were operating one or more departments at night, with
325 men on the night shift. This condition is in marked contrast to
the South Carolina mills, where 98 of the 132 mills were operating
one or more departments at night, with about one fourth of. their
workers. Also, unlike South Carolina, the cotton mills in Maine at
the time of the study were not operating short shifts in between the
others or at meal times.
_
Three of the seven mills operating at night, and the greatest number
of men working at night, were in the manufacture of fine goods. No
night operating was found in yarn mills. As a rule, therefore, the
operating schedules of the Maine mills were confined to the day shift.
Employees

Mills
Product

Number
running
at night

Total
number

Total__________________ _____-.........................

Total

Percent
working
at night

14

7

6,691

4.9

4
3
3
4

2

2,803
2, 068
387
1,433

4.0

3
2

8.8

2.3

HOURS

Scheduled hours

The length of the working day and the number of hours that can be
worked by women in a single week are limited by law in Maine in
“workshop, factory, manufacturing or mechanical establishment.”
The weekly limit is 54 hours, but the daily limit of 9 hours is elastic
and can be extended if the weekly hours are not exceeded. _
At the time of the present survey the most common daily hours
were 9%, found in 10 of the 14 mills. The 4 other mills had a slightly
longer schedule, 1 reporting 9 hours and 50 minutes and 3 reporting
10 hours. Daily hours were, then, ordinarily a little shorter than in
South Carolina, but the difference was only 10 or 15 minutes a day.
The day of 10 hours was in 1 yarn and 2 sheeting mills. No mill
making fine goods and none in the residual group, “other products”,
operated more than 9% hours. .
_
The slight variation shown in daily hours was not found in the
weekly schedule, the difference in daily hours being equalized by a
longer or shorter day on Saturday, so that all mills had a weekly
_
schedule of 54 hours.
A night shift was reported in 7 of the 14 mills, but no women were
employed at night at the time of the survey. The hours of the men
varied from 10 per night in 1 mill to 12 in 2 mills. In 2 mills the sched­
ule was 11 hours 4 and in 2 it was irregular, depending on the amount
of work necessary in a certain department to keep the flow of work
steady throughout the day. The 5 mills with regular hours were on
a 5-night schedule, and weekly hours were from 50 to 60. There were11
11 mill operated 11 hours on 4 nights and 6 hours on 1.




THE MAINE SURVEY

29

no records of a shorter or intermediate shift in any of the mills at
the time the survey was made.
Operating hours

The operating hours, or hours during which some part of the mill
was running, were 54 a week in 7 of the 14 mills. The hours of the 14
mills were as follows:
Weekly operating hours:
Total
_
54 hours~~~
104 hours“ e o
109 hours~
~~
114 hours_____________________________________________ "

Sporting
sc
~

^
2

The 7 mills with long operating hours had only 325 workers, all men,
on the night shift. With the exception of 1 mill reporting 130 men,
all had fewer than 70 men and 2 had fewer than 10.
Hours worked

In spite of the fact that nearly one half of the women (48 percent)
worked a full week, there was considerable time lost by the workers,
for industrial or personal reasons. In the carding departments, where
there was the most undertime, 63.8 percent of the women failed to
work the full schedule and 24.2 percent worked less than 30 hours,
hull time was most common in the weaving departments, where only
31.9 percent of the women lost any time and only 10.7 percent worked
less than 30 hours.
Percent of women
working—
Department
Less than full Less than 30
weekly hours
hours
All departments-............
Carding______________
Spinning and spooling
Weaving--. ______
_
Cloth_________

52.0

18.0

63.8
60.0
31.9
53.5

24.2
23.8
10.7
8.4

WAGES

The earnings of the women workers in the cotton mills of Maine
were taken for the second week in February 1932, except two small
nulls whose records were for January and August, respectively.
Nearly all the mills had been closed for some time in the summer
months and many had worked short time during the spring. For
this reason the stock of goods was low, and new orders in the fail gave
a full operatmg week in most of the mills. It may also have been the
case that the very small amount of night operating allowed a fuller day
schedule than otherwise would have been possible.
Full-time women workers

Almost one half of the women, 48 percent, worked a full week of 54
hours. The median of their earnings was $13. The highest earnings,
l Includes 1 mill whose operating hours are more than 54, but exact number not known.
6 Includes 1 mill whose operating hours range from 104 to 114.




30

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

$20 and over, were reported for 35 women, and the same number had
the very low earnings of from $4 to $7.
_
The highest median of a week’s earnings of full-time workers was in
the carding department, $14.75; the lowest was in the cloth depart­
ment, $11.40.
Median of a
week’s earnings

All departments.
Carding_____________
Spinning and spooling
Weaving------------------Cloth________________

$13.
14.
12.
14.
11.

00
75
70
10
40

When occupations are considered, both the highest and the lowest
earnings are found in the weaving department. The smash and pickout hands had the highest median of any occupational group, $16.90,
and the girls filling batteries had the lowest, $11. Thirty-one of the
35 women earning $20 and over were in the weaving department; 30 of
these were weaving and 1 was drawing in. The same large propor­
tions of those reporting low earnings were in the weaving department;
29 of the 35 women earning $7 or less were in this department, and all
but 6 were battery hands The following figures show the median
earnings of the women in the principal occupational groups:
Smash and pick-out hands (91)
Weavers (199)-----------------------Speeders (111)-----------------------Drawers-in (91)______________
Spinners (158)________________
Doffera (51)__________________
Spoolers and winders (197)-----Inspectors and graders (156)...
Battery hands (196)---------------

$16.
15.
15.
14.
14.
12.
12.
11.
11.

90
75
45
70
30
55
05
25
00

Earnings of all women workers

Although nearly one half of the women worked a full week, 52 per­
cent worked less than their scheduled time of 54 hours. When earn­
ings of these two groups are combined, the median is $11.10, a lower
figure, naturally, than when full-time workers only are considered.
As many as 18.3 percent of the workers, including both full-time and
part-time workers, earned less than $7, but four fifths of these worked
less than 30 hours, and over 95 percent worked less than their weekly
schedule. The difference in medians between the women working the
full weekly schedule and all the women for whom records were taken,
including full-time and short-time workers, was $1.90. As would be
expected, the proportion of women earning less than $7 is much greater
when all women, regardless of the time worked, are included. Com­
pared with 22 full-time workers who were in the group earning less than
$7, there were 562 women who worked other than full time, comprising
over one sixth (17.6 percent) of all women for whom wages were
recorded.
■
The greatest variation in medians between full-time workers and all
workers for whom time worked was reported was in the card depart­
ment, as would be expected in view of the high percentage of under­
time. A median of $14.75 was reported for full-time workers but for
all workers $10.70 was the median, a difference of $4.05.




31

THE MAINE SURVEY
Median earnings of—

Full-time
workers

All women
for whom
time
worked was
reported

$13.00

$11.10

$1.90

14.75
12.70
14.10
11.40

10.70

4.05
1.70
1.50
.80

Department

All departments_____ _____
Carding______ _________________
Spinning and spooling ....... ..............
Weaving______________ _____
Cloth______________

11.00

12.60
10.60

Difference

Moreover, although the median of full-time workers was highest in
the carding department and lowest in the cloth room, the actual earn­
ings of all the women for whom time worked was reported in these two
departments were much the same, as shown by the median of $10.70
in one and of $10.60 in the other, due to the undertime worked by the
women in the carding department.
Method of payment

In all industry during the past 10 years there has been an increasing
tendency to pay, so far as possible, by piece or some other form of pro­
duction method. In the cotton-mill industry this same trend toward
production payment has occurred, but the extent to which it has been
introduced varies with the individual mill and apparently with its
location. In Maine a little more than one half of the women (54.4
percent) were paid according to the amount produced.
The deciding factor, whether payment should be according to time
worked or to amount of work produced, was in most cases not the job
but the custom of the mill. The only exception to this statement is
the group of speeder tenders, who were all paid by the piece, usually
by the hank of roving, no matter in which mill they worked.
The majority of the women spinners, spoolers, and winders, weavers
and drawers-in were paid on a piece basis, while the doffers, frame
cleaners, spares, battery hands, smash and pick-out workers, and
inspectors and graders were as a rule paid by the hour.
THE WORKERS

Length of service

_ In any period of industrial depression few new workers are hired;
it is difficult even to provide work for those already on the rolls. It
is somewhat surprising, therefore, to find that 15.8 percent of the
1,803 women who reported length of service had been in the employ­
ment of their present firm less than a year.
In the 6 months just preceding the study, 14.5 percent of the women
had entered the mills, while in the 6 months before that only 1.3
percent had begun work. These figures indicate the addition of a
number of new workers during the spring and summer of 1932.
Stability among the workers is indicated by the large proportion of
women, 49.4 percent, who had been with their present employers
5 years or more, 27.3 percent having at least 10 years’ experience
in the 1 mill.




32

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Length of service in the mill is shown in the following summary:

Department

All departments... _ _

Under 1 year
1 and
Women
under
reporting Under 6 6 months 5 years
under
months and
1 year

5 and
under
10 years

10 and
15 years
under
15 years and over

1,803

14.5

1.3

34.8

22.1

12.3

15.0

183
990
372
258

14.8
14.2
14.8
14.7

0.5
1.2
1.3
2.3

26.8
35.9
37.1
32.9

23.0
23.1
15.1
27.5

16.4
12.5
10.8
10.9

18.6
13.0
21.0
11.6

Carding------------------------------Spinning and spooling___ _ -Weaving...... .................................
Cloth

Age

The proportion of girls under 20 in the present study was 15 percent,
with only 4.8 percent 16 and under 18 years.
Department

Women 16 and 18 and 20 and 25 and 30 and 40 and 50 years
under
and
under
under
under
under
report­ under
ing
18 years 20 years 25 years 30 years 40 years 50 years over

All departments--------Spinning and spooling.......... .
Weaving
Cloth

1,808
183
994
373
258

4.8

10.3

19.5

17.4

25.5

16.9

5.7

3.3
5.3
5.1
3.1

5.5
10.5
11.5
11.2

10.9
19.5
18.8
26.7

21.3
18.1
12.6
18.6

28.4
27.9
20.4
21.7

22.4
15.0
23. 6
10.5

8.2
3.7
8.0
8. 1

Women 40 years and over comprised 22.6 percent of the total
number. Those 30 and over comprised almost one half. At the
present time, when competition is exceedingly keen and the most
stringent economy is necessary, the greater efficiency of the more
mature worker was mentioned by several mill executives as a feature
to be considered in obtaining the best production.
Marital status

The past 20 years have seen a remarkable increase in the proportion
of married women in industry. In 1910 the census reported as
married nearly one fifth, 18.6 percent, of the women employed in
manufacturing and mechanical industries in the United States. In
1920 about one fourth, 24.5 percent, were married. Ten years later,
in 1930, the census figures show nearly one third, 32.4 percent,
married.7 The textile industry has always had a higher percent of
married women than has industry as a whole; the figures of the census
for cotton mills in 1920 show 35.5 percent, and for 1930 they show
42.8 percent.7
_
The proportion of married women among the 1,810 women in the
Maine mills was over two fifths or 41.2 percent. The group of
women who were widowed or separated from their husbands was
comparatively small, 8.5 percent, while the largest group was that of
single women (50.4 percent).
7 U. S. Bureau of the Census.
table 29, pp. 72—74.




Fifteenth Census, 1930. Occupation Statistics, United States Summary,

THE MAINE SURVEY

33

EMPLOYMENT IN 1931

The numbers employed in the Maine cotton mills in 1931 were
secured for 1 week in each month in order to obtain information as
to the fluctuations in employment and the changes in working hours.
The year of 1931, although a difficult one for cotton mills, was not
so critical a period as 1932, according to the statements of the various
managements. From January to September the numbers employed
varied but little from month to month, and from September to
December, although employment dropped, it declined only 6 percent
from the average for the entire year. From January to December
the decrease in total number was 6.1 percent.
Although the force was kept fairly stable in the mills, there were a
number of periods with a short weekly schedule. Of 10 mills that
supplied figures, 7 reported a schedule of fewer hours in the day or
fewer days in the week for 1 month or more during 1931. One mill
was closed for 4 months—for May and June and again for October
and November—in addition to being on short time at least one third
of the rest of the year. Two mills had no short time during the year.
Night operating in one or more departments was reported through­
out the year. The number of mills running a night shift varied from
month to month. In 1 mill night work lasted only 1 month, but in
7 there was night work at least 6 months of the year, 3 of these
operating at night all 12 months.
Taking the average for the 12 months as a base, the last 4 months
showed a decrease of 3.7 percent in the average number of employees
on the day shift and a decrease of 9.5 percent in the average number
working at night.
There was very little employment of women at night, and it was
confined to the spinning department, where 13 women worked at
night in January, 5 in February, and 54 in May, only 3 or 4 mills
being involved. In 1 mill women were employed for 1 month only,
and in 2 mills for 2 months.
Late afternoon or early evening shifts were operated in some mills
during each month of the year except April and December, but the
numbers of workers were small (79 in February being the largest)
and the mills so operating never exceeded 3.
Spares

The system of having extra or spare workers who report each morn­
ing or who may be sent for in case of need is, as a ride, closely tied up
with the mill-village system. In Maine, where the workers did not
live in company villages, only 1 of the 10 mills for which information
was available reported a system of spares or extras who could be
called in to take the place of absent workers. In this mill such
substitutes were notified in advance.
Basis of lay-offs

If it was necessary to decrease the number of workers, 5 of the 10
mills tried to spread the work among their various employees and
5 based their lay-offs on the efficiency of the workers. In 3 of the
latter, family need also was recognized. In one mill where the work
was spread, if it was necessary also to lay off some workers the heads
of families were given special consideration.




34

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Changes in 1931

During the year certain changes took place in 6 of the 10 different
mills. A change in product occurred in 4 mills. In 2 of these rayon
was used to a greater degree; in 1 of these, the number of women was
increased. In another mill no new product was introduced, but the
proportion of shirting manufactured was larger, while in still another
a new product (yarns) was introduced without, however, affecting
the numbers employed. New labor-saving equipment was installed
in 4 of the 10 mills reporting. The new machines, such as combers,
warpers, and long-draft spinning equipment, produced more yarn per
worker, so that somewhat fewer women were needed, but in no case
were many women affected. The spread-out system in the spinning
room was introduced in only 2 mills in 1931, and although this resulted
in lower labor costs, as the helpers to the spinners received less than
they had as spinners, the effect on numbers was slight. Although
1931 was not a good year for textiles, only 4 of the 6 mills reported a
marked change in output, and in 2 of the mills the change consisted
of increased production.
No mill reported a change in method of payment during the year.
The year of 1931, therefore, was not a year of many operating changes
in the 10 mills reporting, although 4 of them reported a shift from one
type of goods to another and 4 reported improved equipment in one
or more departments, while 2 recorded more efficient operating
methods that affected the number of women. The principal effect
of the slackened demand for goods, a shortened schedule of operating
hours, was felt markedly by only 2 mills, although 8 mills reported
some short time during the year and 1 of these a shut-down for
several months.




THE TEXAS SURVEY
NUMBERS

Although Texas ranks first as a cotton-growing State, it is not
equally important in the manufacturing of cotton goods. According
to the census, less than 1 percent of the men engaged in manufacturing
and mechanical industries are in cotton mills; and although the
proportion of women is higher, it reaches only 4.8 percent of those in
all manufacturing and mechanical plants.1
The present study of Texas mills includes 13 mills, with 2,409
employees. This number of workers is a little more than seven tenths
(71 7 percent) of the entire number reported by the census in 1930,1
and it probably represents an even larger percent of those employed
in 1932, as the industry was feeling the effects of the depression
increasingly. One mill had been entirely closed for the 2 years pre­
ceding the date of the study, except for 2 weeks.
Employees
Females

Source
Total

Males
Percent of
total

Number
Census figures, 1930 ___
Women’s Bureau figures, 1932_

3,361
2,409

1,961
1,468

1,400
941

41.6
39,1

The proportion of females in the Women’s Bureau study was a
little less than two fifths, while the census figures for 1930 show a little
more than two fifths.
The chief products manufactured in the Texas mills were toweling,
ducks, and osnaburgs, and 8 mills, employing 1,325 workers, were
making these goods. The 5 mills mailing other cotton products
employed 1,084 workers.
Employees
Product

Females

Mills
Total

Males
Number

Total.___ _ ___

_________

Toweling, osnaburgs, and ducks___
Other cotton goods_____________

___

Percent
of total

13

2,409

1,468

941

39.1

8

1,325
1,084

781
687

544
397

41.1
36.6

5

1 U.S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census, 1930. Occupation Statistics, Texas, pp. 8,10,11.




35

36

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Night shifts

Night shifts were reported in 4 of the 13 mills, but the number of
women employed at night was small, only 86, in 3 mills, being found.
Men on the night shift numbered only 187 in 3 mills, the fourth
not reporting men by shift. The proportion of persons who worked
at night to the total number employed was not large.
_
All the mills engaged in night operating were manufacturing differ­
ent products—ducks and denims, shirtings and ginghams, sheets and
pillow cases, and cotton blankets. No mills reported the operation of
short or intermediate shifts.
HOURS

Scheduled hours

In Texas the law specifies that women, with certain exceptions,
may not be employed more than 9 hours a day and 54 a week. Among
the exceptions are the employees of mills making woolen, worsted,
and cotton goods, and of plants making articles out of cotton goods
who may be employed 10 hours daily and 60 hours weekly if double
time is paid for daily hours beyond 9. In these as well as in other
industries there is no prohibition of night work for women.
_
As in South Carolina cotton mills, the usual daily hours in the
Texas mills were 10, and as many as 11 mills, employing nine tenths
of the women, had this schedule. Of the 2 remaining mills, 1 had a
10-hour day for all but the weavers, who had a 9-hour schedule, and
the other mill worked 9% hours a day.
The prevailing weekly schedule was 55 hours. Of 13 mills, 10,
employing over three fourths of the women, had a week of 55 hours.
One mill had 55 hours for all but the weavers, who had a 50-hour
schedule. Of the 2 others, one reported a shorter week (52% hours)
and one a longer week (56 hours).
These figures show that 92.6 percent of the women had a scheduled
week of 55 hours and over. All the mills had a work schedule of 5%
days a week, a longer or shorter day on Saturday making the weekly
hours uniform even when the daily hours varied.
Night workers

Of the 4 mills reporting night shifts, 1 had nightly hours of 11,
2 had 11 for men and 10 for women, and the fourth mill reported 9
for weavers and 10 for other workers. No women worked as many as
11 hours a night. Most of the women, 62, worked a night shift of 10
hours, with 24 women worldng only 9 hours. In all 4 mills, only
5 nights a week were worked, so the women working 9 hours had a
weekly schedule of 45 hours, and those with a 10-hour shift had one of
50 hours.
Operating hours

The number of hours in the 24 that a mill operates may measure
the demand for goods, may be an indication of an effort to reduce
overhead, or, if only one or two departments are operating, may
indicate a balancing of production throughout the mill. In Texas
only 4 mills reported a longer operating schedule than that of 10
hours, the usual schedule of day running. The 4 mills that showed
longer operating hours were running night shifts, but in none of the
mills were intermediate shifts reported, so total operating hours were
those of the day shift or of the day and night shifts combined. On a




37

THE TEXAS SURVEY

weekly basis, 4 mills working at night reported more than 100 hours,
while the other 9 operated only the hours of their daily schedule.
The following figures show the operating hours of the 13 mills from
which information was obtained.
Daily operating hours
Hours
Total_____ ______ __
9J4--......... -.....................
10 ______________

20
21 ............................ ..........

Weekly operating hours

Number of
mills

Hours

Number of
mills

13

Total. -

13

1

52Yi
55
105.............

1
8
1
2

8
1

3

110
111

1

WAGES

Full-time women workers on day shift

The expectation, or rather the hope, of any worker is for a full
week’s work and a full week’s pay. This is rarely achieved by any
worker for an entire year, or by the entire group of workers for a whole
week. In the present study the full-time workers on the day shift
comprised only a little over one fourth (27.4 percent) of all the women
on the day shift whose week’s earnings were copied and whose time
worked was reported. Their earnings had a median of $11.10.
The pay-roll figures taken were for a representative week in one of
the first 4 months of 1932. The actual hours worked were reported
for 209 of these women; for 16, included in the group of full-time
workers, the time was based on a record of days worked only.
Although half the 225 women earned more and half less than the
median of $11.10, there was a considerable group, over one fourth,
who earned $8 and under $10. Only 13 of the full-time workers
earned less than $8, and only 19 women earned $15 or more. The
earnings, therefore, were grouped very closely around the median,
with 34.2 percent of the full-time workers earning $9 and under $11,
and 36.9 percent earning $11 and under $14.
The full-time earnings varied somewhat by department, but a
comparison can hardly be made where the number of full-time
workers is so small. In only two departments was there a sufficient
number for a median to be representative. In these twTo, the spin­
ning and the weaving, the former had median earnings of $10.55
and the latter of $11.40. The earnings of the 9 women in the card
room who worked full time ranged from $11 and under $12 to $15
and under $16, while for the 36 women in the cloth department they
ranged from $9 and under $10 to $15 and under $16, about three fifths
receiving $11 or more.
The following figures show, by department, the number of full-time
workers on the day force who earned $11 and over.




38

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS
Number of
full-time
workers

Number
earning $11
and over

All departments--------------

225

115

Spinning and spooling.__ ------Weaving.
_________________
Cloth------- ------- ------- ----------

9
85
95
36

9
31
54

Department

21

Full-time women workers on night shift

The proportion of women on the night shift who worked their full
schedule was higher than of women on the day shift. Forty-five
percent of the women working at night for whom time worked was
reported worked their full schedule, and their earnings reflected this,
as many as four fifths, in contrast to about one half of the full-time
workers on the day shift, receiving $11 and over. The total number
of women on the night shift was only 86. For 75 women time worked
was reported and 34 of these worked full time. The numbers of full­
time workers, therefore, were too small for their earnings to be
studied by department.
_
_
_
As already stated, in Texas no short or intermediate shift between
the day and night shift or in addition to the day shift was reported.
Earnings of all women workers

Day-shift earnings.—When all earnings for a given pay period are
considered, there is naturally a considerable difference in median
between this inclusive group and that of the full-time group. The
median for 820 women on the day-shift pay roll for whom time
worked was reported was $7.50, a sum $3.60 less than that of the
women who worked the full daily hours. This considerable difference
would indicate a great deal of short time. A little more than one third
of the 783 women whose daily hours were reported worked less than
35 hours and had median earnings of $4.60. More than one half of
the women (54.4 percent) worked less than 45 hours, and these had
a median of $5.40. Thus lost time was an important factor in the
weekly earnings of the majority of the women. With a daily schedule
of 55 hours in every mill but 1, only 176 of 783 women with time
reported in hours worked the full 55 hours, and the median of the
earnings ($11.10) of this full-time group was therefore indicative of
the earnings of only one fifth of the women (20.6 percent).
A small number of women, 50, worked longer than the 55-hour
schedule, and their earnings were the highest of any group. Their
hours varied from 56 to 61 and their median earnings were $12—
90 cents more than for the group working 55 hours.
The lowest earnings in any one department for all women for whom
time worked was reported were in the spinning department, with a
median of $6.65; the highest were in the cloth department, with $9.40.
This wide range in medians was not due wholly to differences in rates
of pay but was due partly to the far greater amount of lost time in
the spinning room, where two fifths of the women, compared to 13.3
percent of women in the cloth room, worked less than 35 hours.
For 37 women time worked was reported in days; 22 of these worked
5 or 5% days. Of these 22 women, 13 earned the maximum amount
of $10 and under $11.




39

THE TEXAS SURVEY
Women for whom time
worked was reported

Women working full
time on day shift

Department
Number of
women

Cloth_____________________________________

Median

820

$7.50

63
459
223
75

7.90
6. 65
8. 45
9.40

Number of
women
225

Median
$11.10
0)

85
95
36

0)

10 55
11. 40

1 Not computed; base less than 50.

Night-shift earnings.—The median of earnings of $10.30 for the 75
women on the night shift whose hours worked were reported was
higher by $2.80 than that for women on the day shift. This was due
without doubt to the larger proportion of full-time workers on the
night shift than on the day.
As the spinning department contained the largest number of
women in both the day and night shifts, the figures showing higher
earnings among the night workers are important.
Method of payment

Although the making of cotton yarn and cloth is an old process and
one of the earliest to be carried on in factories, it has to a great extent
conformed to the more modern method of piece payment.
Over four fifths of the women (81.4 percent) in the Texas mills
were on some form of piece payment. The highest percent on this
method was in the spinning department (63.1) and the lowest percent
(2.2) was in the cloth. The latter department consists largely of
inspectors, whose work is less welljadapted to piece payment than is the
work in the other departments. Two of the three chief occupations
for women, spinning and weaving, were, with the exception of three
women in spinning, entirely on a piecework basis, while spooling and
winding, the third occupation group in importance, showed 95.5 per­
cent of the women working on a piecework basis.
Two mills reported a change in method of payment for some of their
women. In one mill a few scattered operations were changed from
timework to piecework, but no entire group was affected by the
change. In the other mill the spoolers were changed from piecework
to timework.
Length of service

THE WORKERS

It has been said “once a mill worker, always a mill worker.”2 And
the long service reported by women in cotton mills substantiates this
generalization.
In the Texas mills one half of the 710 women who reported their
length of service had been with the same mill for 5 years or more.
Only 13.7 percent reported less than a year of service, and 16.5 per­
cent, or 1 woman in 6, reported 10 years or more.
2 Tannenbaum, Frank.
p. 48.




Darker Phases of the South. G. P. Putnam. New York and London. 1929,

40

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS
Percent of women with present employer—
Under
1 year

Women

Department

6 months

Under 6 and un­
months der 1 year
All departments------------

710

Carding-----------------------------Spinning and spooling------------

49
370
227
64

Cloth

8.5

(0

4.1
7.5

7.8
11.5
7.8

10 years

36.2

5.2
(0

o

5 and
under

1 and
under
5 years

36.8
32.2
53. 1

1.6

10 and
15 years
under and
over
15 years

33.7

9.2

7.3

(036.2

to9.7

5.4

3.1

1. 6

26.0
32.8

10.1

i Not computed; base less than 50.

The carding department had the largest proportion of long-time
employees, with nearly two thirds of the women reporting service of
5 years and over. The cloth room showed the lowest percent of
long-time workers, while the spinning and weaving departments each
reported about one half of their women in the long-service groups of
5 years and over.
Women
reporting

Department

Percent of
women with
present em­
ployer 5 years
and more
(>)
51.4
48.9
37.5

49
370
227
64

Cloth _

i Not computed; base less than 50 (31 women).

Age

.

. .

With the large number of women in the longer-service groups, it is
not surprising to find a comparatively small number of young workers
in the Texas mills. Only 3.5 percent of the 719 reporting were 16 and
under 18, a smaller number than were in the age group of 50 years
and over. The largest number of women in any of the 10-year age
groups was in that of 20 and less than 30 years, with over two fifths
of all the women. It is interesting to find, however, that more than
three fifths (62.3 percent) of all the women reporting in the Texas
mills were 25 years and over, and nearly one fifth (19.7 percent) were
40 years or more, and these figures are in an industry that has in the
past always contained an unusually high percent of young workers.
Percent of women whose age was—
Department

Total
Carding----- ------- -------------Spinning and spooling--------Weaving
Cloth




Women
report­
ing

16 and 18 and 20 and 25 and 30 and 40 and 50 years
under
and
under
under
under
under
under
18 years 20 years 25 years 30 years 40 years 50 years over

719

3.5

9.7

24.5

17.9

24.6

13.9

5.8

51
376
228
64

2.0

7.8
9.6

21.6

19.6
18.1
17.5
17.2

19.6
25.8
27.2
12.5

15.7
13.3
14.5
14. 1

13.7
2.9
8.3
7.8

4.5

2.6
1.6

10.1

10.9

25.8
19.7
35.9.

41

THE TEXAS SURVEY

In the various departments the spinning had a higher proportion of
young workers, under 20 years, and a lower percent in the age group
of 40 years and over than were found in any other department.
Percent of women—
Department

Carding______________ ______
Spinning and spooling...... ...........
Weaving. _________
.. _ _
Cloth__________ __________ .

Under 20
years

40 years
and over

9.8
14.1
12.7
12.5

29.4
16.2

22.8

21.9

Marital status

A total of 724 women in the Texas cotton mills gave information
as to their marital status. A surprisingly large number of these
women, 51.5 percent, were married, and when to this group are added
the women with broken marital ties the number includes practically
70 percent of all the women.
Percent who were—
Women
reporting

Department

All departments____________ ______________
Carding----------------------------------- ---------------- --------Spinning and spooling ____________________ ____
Weaving_____ ____ __ _____________________
Cloth. ___ ...

Single

Married

Widowed,
separated,
or divorced

724

30.4

51.5

18.1

51
380
229
64

17.6
35.0
23.6
37.5

52.9
48.2
57.6
48.4

29.4
16.8
18.8
14. 1

The weaving department had the largest proportion of married
women and the cloth and spinning departments the largest proportions
of single women. The carding department had comparatively few
single girls and much the largest percentage of women who were wid­
owed, separated, or divorced.
EMPLOYMENT IN 1931

The trend of employment for the year 1931 was secured from 9
mills 3 by counting the numbers of men and women on the books for
1 week in each month and noting the shift on which they were em­
ployed.
The results show an increase of 13.3 percent in total employment in
the second half of 1931 as compared with the first half, and a difference
in the total number of employees between the first 2 and the last 2
months of the year of 31.3 percent.
The major part of the increased employment in the second half of
1931 occurred on the night shift, for the average number on the day
shift was only 6.8 percent higher in July to December than in January
to June in the carding, spinning, and weaving departments, while the
3 5 made toweling, osnaburgs, and ducks and 4 made other cotton goods such as tire fabrics, cotton
blankets, shirtings, etc.




42

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

average for the night shift showed an 85.9 percent increase; and the
number of mills operating at night increased from 2 in the first of the
year to 5 in the closing months. Six of the 9 mills employed a night
shift at some time during the year, and 5 of them employed women.
The increases in the number of women were not so great on the night
shift as were the increases in men, but even the figures for the women
showed three times as many in the last two months as in the first two.
Average number on night shifts
in 1931
Period
Total
First 6 months___ _____
Second 6 months

105
196

Males
58
132

Females
48
64

Taking the average for the 12 months as a base, the last 4 months
showed an increase of only 4 percent in the average number on the day
shift but an advance of as much as 55.6 percent in the average number
employed at night.
In every month of 1931, from 1 to 5 mills were operating at night,
but frequently the night shift was run in only 1 or 2 departments and
not in the entire mill. The cloth departments had no night operating,
and the carding departments had fewer night workers during the year
than had either the spinning or the weaving.
The following figures give the number of months of night operating
that each of the 6 mills reported:
In
In
In
In

10 months 2
6 months 1
3 months 2
2 months 1

Mills

In every month but February a night shift was run in the 3 main
departments of at least 1 mill. In November and December, 3 or 4
mills had all these departments operating at night. More mills ran
the weaving department at night than any other, but night work in
the spinning department involved the most employees.
Department:
Months of night operating
Carding only2 (May and June).
Weaving 7 (January and July to December).
Carding and spinning2 (September and December).
Carding and weaving______ 1 (July).
Spinning and weaving3 (February, August, and October).

Women were employed on the night shift for only 2 months in 1
mill and for only 3 months in 2. In 2 mills they were employed for
10 months.
With the exception of the carding department, where January and
February showed no women working at night, there was no month of
1931 when some women were not found on the night shift in some
departments. The largest number of women on the night shift was
in the spinning department.
In the group of mills making toweling, osnaburgs, and ducks, a
very much smaller proportion of the women were doing night operatign
than in the 4 mills making other products, such as tire fabrics, cotton
blankets, or shirtings.




THE TEXAS SURVEY

43

Of the 5 mills that made toweling, osnaburgs, and ducks, only 1
mill, and that only in the weaving department, had a night force in
the first eight months of 1931. The exception was in January, and
only 18 men and 2 women were on this shift. In the last 4 months
night operating was resorted to, especially at the close of the year,
when 184 men and 95 women were employed at night in 3 mills in
November and 118 men and 47 women in 2 mills in December.
In the four mills making other cotton products, both men and
women in the spinning departments worked at night in every month
of the year. In weaving there was only 1 month and in carding
there were only 2 in which no women worked at night.
In spite of the night shifts that ran in 1 or more mills in every month
of 1931, there was a considerable amount of short time in most of
the mills. Of 10 mills that gave information, 8 reported curtailment
of operations for periods of 1 or more months: 3 shut down, 3 had
short hours or days, 1 had short days and ran only every other week
in the 6 months March to August, and 1 ran irregularly throughout
the year.
Only 2 mills, both manufacturing “other cotton goods”, reported
no short time lasting as much as a month.
During the year 1931 there were lay-offs in 10 of the 13 mills, 8 of
which reported as to the basis of lay-off. In 2 of these mills, the old
employees were not laid off but the work was spread among them; in
3 mills, lack of efficiency was the basis; 1 took into consideration lack
of efficiency, length of service, and the number in the employee’s
family; another laid off 1 worker per family; and another laid off all
extra help.
Spares or extra workers

In 10 of the 12 mills reporting, spares were not kept on the books.
In the 2 reporting such a system, the extra workers were sent for
when needed and did not report for work each morning as is the cus­
tom in some mills.
Operating changes in 1931 that affected employment

The reason for decreasing the force in 10 of the 12 mills reporting
was a decreased demand for goods resulting in lessened production.
In addition to this was the experience of many plants in other local­
ities—a change in product and equipment. In Texas, however, these
were minor changes that affected only a few women and occurred in
only 2 mills, 1 changing both equipment and product and the other
changing product, equipment, and output.

182301°—33-----4




ALL MILLS IN THE THREE STATES
NUMBERS

Among the three States for which information was obtained in the
present study there is wide variation in the number of mills and the
number of women employed.
South Carolina is one of the largest of the cotton-mill States.
According to the 1930 census,1 it ranked second in the South in the
number of women employed, and in 1932 it had one fifth of the
operating spindles in the entire country.12 Census figures for 1930
showed also that more than three fourths (77.5 percent) of all women
in manufacturing and mechanical industries in South Carolina were
in cotton mills. Compared with these figures, cotton manufacturing
is of far less importance in both Maine and Texas. In Maine about
one fifth (21.1 percent) of the women employed in manufacturing and
mechanical industries were in cotton mills; in Texas, only 4.8 percent.
The numbers of men and women in the three States included in the
Women’s Bureau study, and the proportions of the total that women
represent, are as follows:
Employees
State

Females

Mills
Total

Males
Number

132
14
13

51,338
6,691
2,409

34,660
3,548
l’ 468

16,678
3,143
941

Percent of
total
32. 5
47.0
39.1

The proportion of women was lowest in South Carolina and highest
in Maine. Without doubt this condition was due largely to the
limited amount of night operating in the Maine mills, which involves
more men, and to the less general use there of the spread-out system
in the spinning rooms.
The most important product of the South Carolina mills from the
point of view of the numbers of people employed was print cloths; in
Maine it was sheetings; and in Texas coarse fabrics, such as toweling,
osnaburgs, and ducks. Sheetings were second in importance in South
Carolina, and the number of workers engaged on this product was far
greater than in Maine. The manufacture of fine goods in Maine,
which ranked next to sheetings in number of workers employed, also
had fewer employees than were engaged in the production of fine
goods in South Carolina.
1 U.S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census, 1930. Occupation Statistics: South Carolina, pp. 6, 7;
Maine, pp. 6, 7; Texas, pp. 8, 10, and 11.
2 U.S. Bureau of the Census. Bui. 169. Cotton Production and Distribution, Season of 1931-32. Table
14, p. 31.

44




ALL MILLS IN THE THREE STATES

45

The proportions of women in the principal products in the three
States were as follows:
Maine

South Carolina

Texas

Product

Print cloths, broadcloths, and pajama

Number

Percent

7,998
3, 515
1,904

48.0

Number

Percent

0)

11.4

Percent

«

1,339
964
0)

21.1

Number

42.6
30.7

0

w
644

57.8

i Employed in too few mills to be shown separately.

From these percents it is clear that in no two States was the product
on which the largest number of workers were employed the same,
although in both Maine and South Carolina sheetings and fine-goods
manufacture were among the most important.
The proportion ot women to the total number of employees in the
mills varied a good deal in the three States. According to the 1930
census, the percent of females in the whole industry was 43.2. In the
present study, South Carolina showed a considerably smaller propor­
tion of women than this, a difference of more than 10 points, while
Maine showed a somewhat larger proportion. In Texas also the
proportion of women was less than for the industry as a whole, though
the difference was not so great as in South Carolina.
Percent women
formed of total

United States, census of 1930 8
Women’s Bureau study, 1932:
South Carolina 32.
Maine 47.
Texas 39.

43. 2
S
0
1

The employment of a large number of men in the South Carolina
mills at night—11,215 men, compared to only 1,926 women—prob­
ably explains the lower percent of women in this State.
Night shifts

The operating of mills at night at the time that pay rolls were
taken was far more extensive in South Carolina than in either Maine
or Texas. The figures next presented show the number of mills and
the number of women working at night in the week for which the
pay-roll data were copied. In some cases certain departments only
were working at night, while in others the entire mill was operating
with a night force.
Females

Mills
State

South Carolina_____________ __________
Maine.
___
Texas_____ _____ ____________________

Total in­
cluded in
survey

Number
operating
at night

Total in­
cluded in
survey

Number
employed*
at night

132
14
13

98
7
4

16,678
3,143
941

1,926
0
86

Percent
employed
at night
11.5
0

9.1

> U.S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census, 1930. Occupation Statistics, United States Summary,
pp. 11, 13.




46

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Scheduled hours

HOURS

The regular daily schedule of hours was much the same in South
Carolina and Texas and only slightly less in Maine. All but 1 mill
of the 128 reporting in South Carolina and 11 of the 13 in Texas were
on a 10-hour day. In Maine 10 of the 14 mills worked a day of 9%
hours; the 4 others worked slightly longer, 1 a schedule of 9 hours and
50 minutes, and 3 a schedule of 10 hours.
The weekly hours in the three States also differed only slightly.
The usual week in South Carolina and Texas was 55 hours and in
Maine it was 54. A few mills in South Carolina and Texas had other
hours. Six in South Carolina worked less than 55 hours. In Texas,
the weaving department in 1 mill worked only 50 hours, another mill
worked 52% hours, and another 56. In Maine all mills were uniform
in their 54-hour week.
In the mills where women worked at night, the hours were shorter
in Texas than in South Carolina. In the latter State a little more than
two thirds of the mills (66 of the 96 that reported night hours) had
an 11-hour shift 5 nights a week. Of the total number of women
working at night there were only 9.2 percent that worked a shift of
10 hours 5 nights a week. In Texas no women worked as long as 11
hours at night, although the majority worked 10 hours. The pre­
vailing weekly hours in South Carolina were 55, with 50 hours lor a
small proportion of the women, and in Texas 50 hours were worked by
nearly three fourths of the women on the night shift and 45 hours by
the remainder.
Operating hours

Of the three States, South Carolina had by far the largest propor­
tion of miffs whose various shifts aggregated 100 or more hours a
week. Of 129 miffs reporting, 70.5 percent ran from 105 to 125 hours
in the week recorded and another mill operated 144 hours. These
excessively long operating hours were possible only by the introduc­
tion of short intermediate shifts operated between the two principal
day and night shifts and during the noon hours. In Maine, 5 of the
14 mills operated from 104 to 114 hours a wreek. In Texas, 4 of the
13 mills operated from 105 to 111 hours.
WAGES

Earnings of full-time workers

Full-time women workers in Maine had the highest median of a
week’s earnings on the day shift—$13; in Texas the median was
$11.10; and in South Carolina it was $9.65. For the day shift in the
three States the percent of women working full time was 48 in Maine,
31.6 in South Carolina, and 27.4 in Texas.
Women who worked fuff time on the night shift had lower earnings
in South Carolina and higher earnings in Texas than those of the full­
time day workers. In Texas there was a larger proportion of the
night_ workers who worked the full scheduled hours (45.3 percent)
than in South Carolina (29.4 percent); in South Carolina, the percent
of fidl-time workers was less on the night shift than on the day shift,
the opposite of the case in Texas.




47

ALL MILLS IN THE THREE STATES

Earnings of all workers on day shift

When the earnings of all the women in the three States are recorded,
without consideration of time worked, they not only show the actual
amounts in the pay envelops for the period recorded but give informa­
tion on the amount of lost time.
_
_
The greatest difference in the median of earnings between full-time
workers and all workers for whom tune worked was reported was in
the Texas mills, and the least was in the Maine mills.
The higher median reported for the Maine mills may be accounted
for partly by the much higher proportion of women working their full
schedule of hours than in either South Carolina or Texas.
Median earnings of—
State

All women
for whom
time worked
was reported
$11.10
7. 70
7.50

Full-time
workers

$13.00
9. 65

11.10

Percent of
women work­
ing full time

48.0
31.6
27.4

Earnings for the entire group of women were highest in Maine
and the proportion of full-time workers also was highest. The Texas
mills had the lowest median for all the workers and the lowest percent
of full-time workers.
Method of payment

In the past 10 years there has been in all industries an increasing
tendency to use, as far as possible, some form of production or piece
payment. Nevertheless, there is considerable difference in various
mills and in various parts of the country in the extent to which a
piece basis of payment has been introduced. In South Carolina
83.3 percent "of the women had earnings based entirely on a piece
method of payment. About the same percent (81.4) were paid by
that method in Texas, but in Maine only a little more than half the
women (54.4 percent) were paid by the piece.
Differences in living conditions

The mills of South Carolina and Texas as a rule had their own
villages; in Maine villages were rare, though a few mills owned
tenements or houses in the same town or city as the mill. These
tenements or houses, in most cases, rented at slightly lower rates than
did property not mill owned.
The rent per room was lower in South Carolina than in the Texas
mill villages and as a rule the houses in South Carolina were better
equipped with conveniences and were more attractive. Twenty-five
cents a room in South Carolina and fifty cents in Texas were the most
common weekly rentals. Though running water was found in nearly
all the villages, it was seldom charged for. Electricity was found in
all but 2 villages in South Carolina and was furnished free in
55 villages of the 91 that reported. In Texas 4 of the 6 mills reporting
supplied electricity free, 1 charged for it at mill rates, and 1 reported
no electricity in the village.




48

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

THE WORKERS

Length of service

The change of workers from one plant to another, sometimes in the
same industry, sometimes in another, is a symptom either of unrest
on the part of the worker or of plant reasons that make a change
necessary.
The three States, South Carolina, Maine, and Texas, all showed a
remarkably large proportion of women with long employment periods
in their present mills. For the number of women 5 years or more with
the same firm, Texas had 50.2 percent, Maine had 49.4, and South
Carolina had 42.6.
Maine, though having a slightly smaller percent of women with
service of 5 years and over than that of Texas, had the highest
proportion of women with even longer service of 10 years or more and
more than twice as many as in the other 2 States with service with
the firm of 20 years or more. For 10 years or more Maine’s figure
was 27.3 percent, in contrast to 16.9 percent for South Carolina, and
16.5 percent for Texas.
Age

The last 40 years have seen the increasing employment of older
women in cotton mills. Each decennial census of the United States
shows fewer children under 16 at work, and fewer young women under
20. In the 10 years from 1920 to 1930 the proportion of women
cotton-mill workers under 20 years of age decreased from 31.9 percent
to 26.6 percent.4 5
The women in the South Carolina mills not only had a much higher
percentage under 20 years of age than had women in the other States,
but a correspondingly lower proportion in the group 40 years and
over.
Percent—
State

Texas

--

Under 20
years
25.1
15.0
13.2

40 years
and over
14.3

22.6

19.7

Marital status

In the past 10 years there has been an increase in the proportion of
married women employed in manufacturing and mechanical indus­
tries.6 More and more work formerly done in the home is accom­
plished by organizations outside, and with this added leisure of the
housewife and mother there has grown a greater need for larger
family income to pay for outside work and frequently for a higher
standard of living. In the present study the percentages of women
in the various marital groups were as follows:
* U.S. Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census, 1920, vol. IV. Occupations, table 6, pp. 382-386.
Fifteenth Census, 1930, Occupation Statistics, United States Summary, pp. 52 and 54.
5 U.S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census, 1930. Occupation Statistics, United States Summary,




ALL MILLS IN THE THREE STATES

Marital status

Maine

49

South
Carolina

Texas

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

100.0

100.0

100.0

Widowed, separated, or divorced. ............................................ -

50.4
41.2
8.5

44.7
43.8
11.4

30.4
51.5
18.1

Only in Texas was the proportion of married women greater than
that of the single. In both South Carolina and Texas those who
were married or had been married comprised considerably more than
half of the entire force, but in Maine, which had by far the largest
proportion of single women, those who were married or had been
married comprised a little less than one half.
EMPLOYMENT DURING 1931

To obtain some idea of employment conditions from month to
month in 1931, the numbers of men and women on the pay roll for one
week in each month were counted and the number on each shift was
noted. Information was obtained also on different methods of cur- •
tailing production in 1931, such as shut-downs, short daily hours of
work and fewer days in the week, as well as statements of the manage­
ment as to the causes that had occasioned a reduced force or short-time
operating.
_
_
The numbers of workers in the mills of South Carolina and Texas
had a higher average in the last 4 months of 1931 than for the year as
a whole; but in Maine employment decreased somewhat in the last
third of the year. Although numbers increased in the mills of South
Carolina, such increase was almost wholly in the night shift and the
short supplementary shifts. In Texas the increase in the last 4 months
was only 4 percent in the day shift in contrast to 55.6 percent in the
night shift. This increased employment at night during the last few
months of 1931 in both States was greater for men than for women.
In Maine there was less employment in the closing months of the year
than earlier, although a night shift was running in from 5 to 7 mills
throughout the year. No women were employed at night after May.
In South Carolina night shifts were run in three fourths of the mills
that reported on this for 1931. The great majority operated at night
6 or more months out of the year, and about one half operated in all
12 months.
Though the exact amounts of short time during the year are not
known, nor the specific problems involved that seemed to make it
necessary, it is evident that a considerable number of mills that
operated at night in one or more departments several months of the
year also curtailed employment on the day force to a considerable
extent.
...
•
In spite of their night operating, more than two fifths of the mills
reported a curtailment for 1 month or more in the total numbers
employed. Most of these had operated at night for 9 months or more.
Of those operating at night 6 months or more, about seven tenths
reported operating short hours or days; several of them—all of which
ran at night in all 12 months—reported irregularity throughout the
year. One, reporting a night shift in 11 months of the year, operated




50

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

on short hours or days and also curtailed employment 1 week a month.
The 2 mills that reported a shut-down operated at night only 2 and 3
months, respectively.
Texas reported the greatest irregularity in 1931, 3 of the 10 mills
reporting shut-downs of one or more months, and 5 other mills
running short time or irregularly for a month or more.
Of 90 South Carolina mills reporting, 46 either ran short time or shut
down entirely for a month or longer. Of the 10 Maine mills from
which figures were obtained, 7 reported a shortened daily or weekly
schedule for a month or more, and 1 mill closed entirely for 2 months
at a time twice during the year. Of the 10 mills in Texas from which
figures were obtained, 8 reported curtailment of operations for 1 or
more months.
Operating changes in 1931 that affected employment

In all three States the most frequent reason given in the mills where
there was short time or reduced employment was the decreased
demand for goods. Other changes that resulted in a decrease of
employment were changes in methods of operating—for example, the
installation of the spread-out system or the entire elimination of an
operation; and changes in method of payment took place in 17 mills
in South Carolina in 1931, in 2 mills in Maine, and in 2 mills in Texas.
A change in product or in the proportion of different goods produced
was reported in a number of mills, 8 in South Carolina, 5 in Maine,
and 2 in Texas, while improved machinery or labor-saving equipment
was installed in 13 mills in South Carolina, in 4 in Maine, and in 1 in
Texas.
Basis of lay-offs

When it was necessary to lay off some of the workers, various
methods were practiced in the different mills. Where lay-offs were
necessary, the principal basis in the South Carolina mills was family
need, and in Maine and Texas the relative efficiency of the workers.
Where workers were equally efficient, the determining factor in all
three States was family need. The employee’s length of service was
the main consideration in some mills, while in others being retained
depended upon his responsibility for a family. In some it was the
policy to discharge married women, and in others minors were the
first to be laid off. Employees who owned farms or had some other
place to go to were in some cases let off in preference to others, while
a small number of mills in South Carolina (4) reported that they
discharged those that did not live in the mill village. Half the mills
in Maine spread then- work in preference to laying off workers, and
two mills in Texas reported a like practice,




THE NARROW-GOODS SURVEY
SCOPE AND METHOD

The manufacture of narrow cotton fabrics—tapes, bindings, braids,
etc.'—is located principally in Philadelphia. There are other plants
throughout Pennsylvania and in the New England States, but the
group of mills in Philadelphia represents the backbone of the industry.
To obtain information of conditions in the industry as they affect
women in different sections of the country, records were obtained from
mills in New England, in Pennsylvania, and in the South. All these
mills were engaged in the manufacture of similar products, though an
individual mill might make more varieties or a greater percent of one
type of goods.
Tapes, bindings, flat braids, burlings, and trimmings were made,
none exceeding the 6 inches that can be woven on the narrow tape
looms. As a rule, the mills bought their yarn, sometimes already
wound and sometimes in skeins to be wound.
The operations on which women were engaged in these mills were
not like those in a wide-goods cotton mill. Very rarely were the initial
processes, that were found in the carding and spinning room of a
wide-goods mill, carried on in a narrow-fabric mill.
The looms in the narrow-goods mills were very narrow and were
run as in a ribbon mill, all in a row operating simultaneously on a
single shaft or motor. They were run by women, as were also the
warpers; as a rule, the sizing process for the warp, and the drawing-in
on the frames, also were done by women. After the tape or binding
was woven it was inspected as it was wound on pins or rolls by women
operators.
It will be seen from this brief summary that, although the present
survey is in a branch of the cotton-textile industry, it differs from the
manufacture of wide goods so radically that no comparison between
the two can be made, and the material for the narrow goods must be
treated as a separate division of textile manufacture.
Records were taken in all the mills visited of numbers employed
and of homs and earnings for a given week, in the autumn of 1932 in
all but 2 cases, where an earlier period was selected, one as far back as
June and the other in August, the management considering such a
week more nearly representative than a more recent period.
Changes in employment during a 1-year period 1 were secured by
taking records of the numbers employed on the different shifts for one
week in each month. Information was obtained from the manage­
ment of changes in output, in equipment, and in methods of operating
that had occurred during the year and that might have affected
employment. If it had been necessary to reduce output, the basis
or policy of lay-offs was obtained, as were facts on the use of spare
workers. From the women themselves, through cards distributed in
the plant, information was obtained as to age, marital condition, and
length of service in the mill.
1 July 1931 to June 1932.




51

52

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

NUMBERS

The survey included 22 mills—14 in Pennsylvania, 5 in Massachu­
setts and Rhode Island, and 3 in the Carolinas—with a total of 1,736
employees. By far the largest number of workers were in the Penn­
sylvania mills, but the average number per mill was about the same in
the different sections, the 3 southern mills having a slightly smaller
average number than those in the other two sections.
Employees
Females

Number
of mills

State

Total

Males
Number

Pennsylvania---------- --------------- - ------------Massachusetts and Rhode Island
North and South Carolina_____________ _____

-

14
5
3

1,111

400
225

2fi8
181
138

843
219
87

Percent
of total
75.9
54.8
38.7

The most surprising feature of these figures is the wide variation in
the extent to which women are employed in the mills in the three dif­
ferent sections. In the Pennsylvania mills women comprise three
fourths of the work force, in New England somewhat over one half,
and in the southern mills not quite two fifths. Thus the proportion
of women is almost twice as high in Pennsylvania as in the Southern
States represented.
When the day and night shifts are considered separately, no further
light is thrown on the cause of these variations. Although all three
of the southern mills ran a night shift and one each of the Pennsylvania
and New’ England mills did so, there were no women on night shifts in
Pennsylvania and only six each in the two other sections. However,
in all the nulls the total force operating at night was small. In the
southern mills, all of which operated one or more departments at night,
the men working at night were about one fourth of all men; the women
on night work were only 6.9 percent of all women and they were in one
mill only.
In the New England mill running a night shift for the week recorded,
only 2 men and 6 women were employed, a negligible number from the
viewpoint either of numbers or of production. The mill in Pennsyl­
vania reported no women on its night shift and only 18 men. Thus,
women were employed at night in only 2 mills, 1 in New England and
1 in the South. The only other shift reported was a small one in a
Pennsylvania mill that operated from 2:30 to 10 p.m. about 10 weeks
a year; it employed no women and only 6 men.
When the records were taken the industry as a whole was operating
almost entirely on a day basis, as is shown by the fact that less than
5 percent of the employees worked on any but the day shift, and that
even in the southern mills the men and women operating at night
were only 17.8 percent of the total force.




53

THE NARROW-GOODS SURVEY

SCHEDULED HOURS

Daily hours

The daily hours in the different mills showed a variety of schedules.
In Pennsylvania and New England, daily hours were from 8 to 9%,2
while in the southern mills there was a uniform schedule of 10 hours.
In 10 of the 14 Pennsylvania mills the daily hours were more than
8 and including 9, with 3 mills having a schedule longer than 9 hours
and 1 a schedule of 8 hours. Of the 5 New England mills, 3 reported
daily hours of from 8 to 9 and 2 a longer day of between 9 and 10
hours.
The following figures give the number of all workers and the number
of females in each locality, with their daily hours:
Massachusetts and
Rhode Island

Pennsylvania

North and South
Carolina

Scheduled daily hours
Total
Total
8

9________________________ _____ _____
10_________________________________

Females

Total

Females

1,087

843

392

213

57
427
487
116

50
312
392
89

237
89

114
65

66

34

Total

Females

185

81

185

81

The New England mills had the greatest proportion of women
working the shorter schedules of daily hours, with 84 percent of their
women on a schedule of less than 9. In 7 of the Pennsylvania mills
the hours were less than 9, and in the other 7 they were from 9 to 10.
However, nearly three fifths of the women in all these mills worked
the longer hours. All the women working in southern mills were on
a daily schedule of 10 hours.
Weekly hours

In a number of mills the schedule of weekly hours was shorter than
would be expected from the length of the daily schedule. This was
due to the 5-day week, reported as the regular schedule in 11 mills,
9 in Pennsylvania and 2 in New England. All the southern mills
were on a 5%-day week, totaling 55 hours.
In addition to the 3 southern mills, 4 in Pennsylvania and 1 in New
England had a weekly schedule of more than 48 hours, while 8 mills
had less than 48 hours—6 in Pennsylvania and 2 in New England.
Only 1 mill in Pennsylvania and 1 in New England had a 54-hour week.
Massachusetts and
Rhode Island

Pennsylvania

North and South
Carolina

Scheduled weekly hours
Total

48___________________ _______________
Over 48 and less than 50
54
55____________ ____ _________________

Females

Females

1,087

843

392

213

269
28
381
386
23

184

237
42
89

114
16
65

24

18

3 One mill worked 10 hours one day a week (Friday).




Total

22

322
302
13

Total

Females

185

81

185

81

54

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

The largest proportion (61 percent) of women on the shorter weekly
schedules of under 48 hours was found in the New England mills.
The southern mills had the longest schedule, 55 hours.
The weekly hours prevailing for the majority of women were 48 and
less than 50 in Pennsylvania, 40 to 44 in New England, and 55 in the
Carolinas.
Night hours

The 3 mills in the South, 1 in New England, and 1 in Pennsylvania
reported a night shift in 1 or more departments. Women were
employed in 2 of these mills, 1 in the South and 1 in New England.
The night hours in the New England mill were not reported for the 2
men and 6 women on that shift. In the southern mill the hours were
II a night for 5 nights a week. Men worked at night in 5 mills and 4
of these reported the number of hours on the shift. In the Penn­
sylvania mill and in 1 southern mill they worked for 12 hours, 5 nights
a week, while in the other 2 southern mills the hours were shorter, 11
a night and 55 a week.
Full-time earnings

WAGES

Except in two mills 3 the earnings of women workers were obtained
for a week in the fall of 1932, and whenever possible a week was selected
in which the hours operated were representative. Whether for
personal or industrial reasons, there was considerable absence, and
fewer than half (47 percent) of the women whose time worked was
reported worked the full time and therefore earned a full week’s pay.
In the various sections of the country, naturally, there were differences
in the proportion of women who worked full time.
Females who worked the firm’s scheduled hours
All localities 47. 6
Pennsylvania 42. 4
Massachusetts and Rhode Island 56. 0
North and South Carolina 66. 7

Percent

In the southern mills the full week was reported for two thirds of
the women; in New England for almost three fifths; while in Penn­
sylvania only slightly over two fifths worked the full weekly hours.
Full-time earnings were highest in Pennsylvania, with a median of
$13.85, and lowest in the southern mills, with a median of $9.55.
For New England the median was $12.40 and for all sections combined
it was $12.85.
There was a difference between the medians for Pennsylvania and
for southern mills of $4.30, and between the medians for New England
and for southern mills of $2.85. This difference in favor of the north­
ern mills was in spite of the fact that in both Pennsylvania and New
England the hours of work were less than in the southern mills.
The difference in earnings in the various sections of the country
may be seen even more plainly by comparing the proportions of women
receiving $8 and less and of those receiving $15 and over for a full
week. In Pennsylvania these figures were respectively 5.9 and 32.5
percent; in New England they were 7.4 and 29.5 percent; and in the
South they were 24.2 and 3.2 percent.
3 In one case a week in June was taken and in the other a week in August because the management con­
sidered such a week more nearly representative than those in the fall.




55

THE NARROW-GOODS SURVEY

In the foregoing discussion of full-time workers the women with
time worked reported in hours and those with time worked reported
in days have been combined. When they are separated, the differ­
ence in median earnings between the two groups is found to be 75
cents, but the surprising fact is the higher median for women with
time reported in days than for those with time reported more accu­
rately in hours. The reason for this is the large proportion—about
83 percent—of the full-time day records in the Pennsylvania mills,
where wages were above those in the other groups.
Earnings of all women

The total number of women reported as working in the week
recorded was more than twice the number of those who worked the
full weekly schedule, so short time was worked by more than half.
The median of the earnings of the 1,145 women for whom time
worked was reported was $11.55, and this was $1.30 less than the
median of full-time workers. The difference between the median of
all workers and that of full-time workers is a rough measurement of
the degree of lost time, an average of about half a day, as well as a
more complete picture of the amounts received during one week by
the entire group of women.
Median earnings of—
State

Pennsylvania________ _________
Massachusetts and Rhode Island.......
North and South Carolina

All women
tor whom Full-time
workers
time
only
worked was
reported
$11.55
12.15
11.35
9.15

$12. 85
13.85
12.40
9. 55

Of the three sections of the country, the South had worked the
fullest time. There was but 40 cents difference in the median of all
workers and of those with a full-time record. The greatest difference
between the two groups, and therefore the largest amount of lost time,
was in the Pennsylvania mills, where the difference between the two
medians was $1.70.
THE WORKERS

Length of service

Long service in the same mill usually denotes a satisfactory rela­
tionship between management and worker. If the work is skilled and
it takes some time to become proficient, the experienced worker is
more valuable and usually he or she is less likely to desire change.
The work in narrow-goods mills is to a considerable extent skilled or
semiskilled work. One manufacturer said that his organization pre­
ferred to train their own workers to taking those from other plants,
as the work was then done exactly as they wanted it; and as they were
an old house, this enabled them to keep up the standard of their
products.
_
The mills in New England and Pennsylvania were all old-established
ones. In the South the mills were of more recent origin, so the per­
centage of long-time workers naturally was less.




56

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

The group of mills in New England reported the largest proportion
of long-service employees, with practically three fifths (59.4 percent)
of the women employed 5 years or more in the same mill. The women
in the Pennsylvania mills had almost as large a proportion as this
(57.2 percent), but in the southern mills there were but 4.2 percent
with this length of service.
Percent of women with present employer—
State

Women
reporting
length of
service

Less than
1 year

1 and less 5 years and
than 5

years

over

10 years
and over

All mills....... .............................. . ...

886

9.1

39.2

51.7

25.2

Pennsylvania____________________ ____
Massachusetts and Rhode Island
North and South Carolina—____ ____ —

689

8.7
7.9
13.5

34.1
32.7
82.3

57.2
59.4
4.2

27.1
35.6

101

96

The workers with less than 1 year of service formed a much larger
proportion in the southern mills, and most of the workers were in the
l-and-less-than-5-year group. When this large group, more than four
fifths of the women, is further analyzed, it is found that the most usual
length of service was 2 and less than 4 years, with 55.2 percent of all
women in this group. It would appear, therefore, that one or more of
the southern mills took on many workers during this period, and the
further fact that no worker reported 10 years or more of service would
indicate the probable beginning during the past 10 years of the 3
southern mills.
Age

According to census figures,4 the 10-year age period in which is found
the largest group of women engaged in manufacturing and mechanical
industries is that of 20 and under 30 years.
The women in this survey show the same distribution, nearly two
fifths of the 865 who reported age being 20 and under 30 years. One
fifth of the women were under 20 years, and about the same propor­
tion were 40 or more.
Most of the group of 40 years and over (150 of 190) were in Philadel­
phia mills. In the southern mills the same fact of more recent hiring
in some of the mills without doubt reduced the proportion in the
older group.
The percent of women in the youngest group was highest in the
southern mills and lowest in New England, with Pennsylvania half­
way between the two in the proportion of young workers.
Percent of women—
State

All mills____________________ ___
Pennsylvania..... ............ __ _
Massachusetts and Rhode Island..
North and South Carolina.........................

Women
reporting
age

Under 20
years

20 and
under 30
years

865

20.0

38.5

19.5

22.0

667
103
95

20.1

36.3
40. 7
51.6

21.1
14. 6

22.5

13.6
26.3

30 and
under 40
years

13.7

40 years
and over

8.4

4 U.S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census, 1930. Occupation Statistics, United States Summary,
pp. 46-47.




57

THE NARROW-GOODS SURVEY

Marital status

During the decade from 1920 to 1930 the proportion of married
women in industry has grown. In 1930, according to the United
States Census,5 married women constituted 32.4 percent of the total
number of women in manufacturing and mechanical establishments,
in contrast to 24.5 percent in 1920. This proportion of married women
is higher than was reported by the women in the present survey of the
narrow-goods industry. Only 23.2 percent of the 889 women who
reported in this industry were married; by far the largest group was
that of the single women, who comprised two thirds of all the women
reporting.
Percent who were—
State

Women
reporting
marital
status

Single

Married

Widowed,
separated,
or divorced

All mills....................................... ............................

889

66.8

23.2

10.0

Pennsylvania Massachusetts and Rhode Island------ ------------------- North and South Carolina._. ------------------------------

689
103
97

69.2
69.9
46.4

20.9
21.4
41.2

9.9
8.7
12.4

The women in the two groups of northern mills showed much the
same distribution as to marital status, but in the three southern mills
a much smaller proportion were single. This is surprising when con­
sidered in conjunction with the larger proportion of young women in
the southern mills than in those of either Pennsylvania or New
England.
EMPLOYMENT FROM JULY 1931 TO JUNE 1932

For one week in each month of the year from July 1931 to June 1932
the numbers of men and women were counted in 20 mills, together
with the shifts on which they worked. Employment was a little less
at the end of the period than at the beginning, with the average
number employed during the second 6 months about 8 percent below
the average number in the first 6 months. The numbers employed
from month to month varied only from 0.3 to 5 percent, but the differ­
ence between the month with the largest number of workers, July 1931,
and the month with the smallest number, June 1932, was 16.3 percent.
The number of women decreased during the year to a greater degree
than did that of men.
During the entire year there were a few men and women employed
at night. The number of men varied from a low point of 49 in Decem­
ber to a high point of 62 in February.
There was a higher average number of workers employed at night
in the 6 months of 1932 than in 1931—78 and 71, respectively—but
at no time were there more than 84 and at no time fewer than 61. The
number of women varied from 10 to 23, with an average of 20 in the 6
months of 1931 and an average of 17 in the 6 months of 1932.
Night operating did not play an important part in mills as a whole
during the 12-month period from July 1931 to June 1932, but in cer­
tain sections its importance was much greater than in others.
s U.S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census, 1930. Occupation Statistics, United States Summary,




58

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

In the 14 Pennsylvania mills no women were employed at night,
and the largest proportion of men in any month was 17 out of a total
of 256 men. There was even less of a night force in the 4 New England
mills, where only 2 men and never more than 6 women were employed
in the 11 months that had night operating.
The 2 southern mills had a night force of from 43 to 66 workers,
with the number of women varying from 7 to 17. These numbers
were all small, but as the total number of workers in these mills also
was small, the night workers comprised a large percent, from a little
less than one fifth to a little more than one fourth.
Although the numbers employed in the industry from July 1931 to
June 1932 were fairly steady, there were periods during which the full
weekly hours were not worked, or the mill was shut down, entirely or
in part.
Of 20 mills that reported on this subject, 19 had short time of one
or more consecutive months. Fifteen of these reported short hours
or days, 1 mill shut down on alternate weeks, 1 worked only part of
the force, another ran short time on the day shift and shut down on
the night shift, and the last ran short time on this night shift in order
to curb production. Only 1 mill reported no short time for as much
as a month.
Other methods, also, than that of operating shorter hours were used
by the various mills to curtail production. Nine mills spread the work
among their existing force, and 13 resorted to lay-off. Six of these 13
mills laid off their less efficient workers, while 1 mill combined the
consideration of efficiency and of length of service, and another effi­
ciency, length of service, and family need. In 3 mills, family responsi­
bilities and economic need determined which -workers should be laid
off, and in 1 the newer workers were the first to be laid off. Another
discontinued its carding and spinning departments and bought its
yarn and so was compelled to lay off the 15 workers in those depart­
ments. However, this mill tried to use them as extras and spares
where possible.
Changes in 1931-32

In order to operate with even a fair degree of economy and steadi­
ness, changes that reduce costs are made in type of product, in more
modern and up-to-date equipment, and in methods of operating. All
these changes affect employment and they usually result in increases
or decreases in personnel. A change in product was reported in 5
mills; not a complete change, but an increase of one type of goods and
a decrease of another, and in 1 of these mills an entirely new product.
New equipment was introduced in only 1 mill, new looms and a new
warper, and change of method, the spread-out system, in 1 mill. A
change in amount of output required by the market was reported in
6 mills, 2 reporting an increase and 4 a decrease in the demand for
goods. A change in production, therefore, either in amount of goods
or in type of product, accounted for all but 2 of the changes reported.
Change in method of payment

Only 1 change in method of payment was reported, and that
occurred in 1 department in a Pennsylvania mill. The workers in the
weaving department, formerly paid some by the hour and some by the
piece, were all placed on a piece or production basis, the amount
earned varying with the efficiency of the worker.




THE NARROW-GOODS SURVEY

59

Spare workers

The practice of having a reserve of labor or extra workers was not
the custom in this branch of the textile industry.
The large carding machines, the long rows of speeders and spinners,
were seldom found in the mills making tapes and braids. The looms
also were much smaller and occupied less space, so that the idle
machinery in case of an insufficient number of workers would not
occasion so much overhead loss as in a wide-goods mill. Furthermore
the fact that the workers did not live in mill villages (with one excep­
tion) would militate against the system of spares as practiced in mills
having such villages. In only 4 of the 22 mills was there any special
arrangement for extra help. One mill had a man who could be shifted
around, but he was given steady work. Three mills kept a list of
former workers who could be called on when needed, but these were
sent for, and did not report unless notified.

182301°—33-----5




60

APPENDIX—GENERAL TABLES

A—WOMEN WHOSE TIME WORKED WAS REPORTED IN HOURS

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—
Total
with
Over
Over
Total
time
and 20 and 25 and 30 and 35 and 40 and
50 and
45 and
Less 10less
worked
50
less
less
less
less
less
45
Num­ Percent
less
less
than
10
re­
20 than 25 than 30 than 35 than 40 than 45 hours than 50 hours than 55
ber
ported Num­ Percent hours than
hours hours hours hours hours hours
hours
hours
ber
Total

Week’s earnings

55
hours

Over
55
hours

2,251
$10. 60
26.0

(0

ALL DEPARTMENTS
Total

__________

13, 731
$7. 70

8, 655
$8.10
100.0

100.0

2.9

184
394

5.6
7 5

779
1, 046
l, 213

115
266
318
434
570
697
905
940
1,053
933

1.3
3.1
3. 7
5.0
6. 6
8. 1
10. 5
10. 9
12. 2
10. 8
7.9
6.3
4. 6
2. 7
2. 2

14,136
$7. 70

100.0

$1 and less than $2----------

404

$3 and less than $4_

796

Percent distribution--------




___

1, 249
1, 672
l’ 021
359

8.8

11 3
11 7

11.8

7. 2
3
2
1
1

9
5
9
3

1, 608

1,619

996
738
538
351
254
177

484
$2. 40
5.6

341
$3.80
3.9

93
89

17
151
181
105
16
13

1
6

3

59
131

17
76
134
106
30
15

2.2

686

549
396
235
194
139

1.6
1. 2
.6

101

55

.3
.2
.2
.l

22
21

189
$1.00

18
19

11

-L

6
1

100

31
9

2

405
$4.75
4.7
8

8

1
1
1

4

2
1
1

580
$5. 75
6.7
1

717
$6. 30
8.3

21

3

6
22

36
109
157
106
76
40
14

47
92
148
149
109
77
34

6

4
3

1
2
1

11
6

7
3

2
2
1

1,100

926
$7. 90
10.7

$8. 40
12.7

1

1
6
8

18
30
67

202

165
166
115
79
35
26
13

6
1

39
63
147
219
167
175

112

60
43
33
16
6
1
1

1
2

1
1
1

415
$8. 30
4.8

785
$9. 75
9. 1

418
$9. 75
4.8

1
1

1

7
36
46
54
167
107
124
74
49
29
31
23
18

7

44

0.5

2
6
6

13
34
114
108
63
35
18

10

3

2
2
1

11

5
1
1

6

30
55
65
61
44
42
47

22
22

7
4
3

2

3
5
30
56
152
131
244
340
269
306
207
129
111

97
76
39
14
14
17
4
5

1
11

19
3
3

2
2
2
1

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Table I.—Week’s earnings and time worked on day shifts, by department—South Carolina

CARDING DEPARTMENT
Total___________
Median earnings______
Percent distribution___
Less than $1__________
$1 and less than $2_____
$2 and less than $3_____
$3 and less than $4_____
$4 and less than $5_____
$5 and less than $6_____
$6 and less than $7_____
$7 and less than $8_____
$8 and less than $9_____
$9 and less than $10____
$10 and less than $11___
$11 and less than $12___
$12 and less than $13___
$13 and less than $14___
$14 and less than $15___
$15 and less than $16____
$16 and less than $17____
$17 and less than $18____
$18 and less than $19____
$19 and less than $20____




$10. 65

$12. 05

SPINNING AND SPOOLING DEPARTMENT
100.0

$10.30

1,044

i Not computed; base less than 50.

2 Less than 0.05 percent.

$10. 30

$10.00

APPENDIX — GENERAL TABLES

Total
Median earnings___
Percent distribution.
Less than $1_______
$1 and less than $2. _.
$2 and less than $3. _.
$3 and less than $4- _.
$4 and less than $5. _.
$5 and less than $6_ _.
$6 and less than $7__.
$7 and less than $8__.
$8 and less than $9. _.
$9 and less than $10_ _
$10 and less than $11 _
$11 and less than $12_
$12 and less than $13 _
$13 and less than $14.
$14 and less than $15.
$15 and less than $16$16 and less than $17$17 and less than $18_
$18 and less than $19$19 and less than $20.
$20 and less than $21 _

100.0

O

62

Table I.— Week’s

earnings and time worked on day shifts, by department—South Carolina—Continued

A.—WOMEN WHOSE TIME WORKED WAS REPORTED IN HOURS—Continued

Week’s earnings

Over
55
hours

WEAVING DEPARTMENT
Total
Percent distribution----- -

3, 378
$9.30

100.0

3,203
$9. 35

2,230
$9. 85

100.0

100.0

Less than $1-------- - ~ ~----$1 and less than $2---------*p2 and less man <j>o-----—

5 2

3>io anu less man

------qny anu less man
------Situ anu less man »p^i------anu less man
-------




74
$4. 35
3.3

170

234

200

142
121

7.8
7 7
8. 7
9. 2
10. 5
9. 0
6. 4
5.4
4 8
2 9
1 9

87
$5. 70
3.9

1
8
12
12

297

t ——————

127
$2. 65
5.7

1

$3 and less than $4---------$4 and less than $o----------

ipit) ann Juu6 man

37
(>)
1.5

7

32
13
8
6

3
1

2
1
1

127
$6.85
5.7

119
$7. 65
5.3
2

8

19
19
21

25
18
4
3
4
3
1
2

4

6

18
17
19
16
13
9
4
3

2
2
2
1
1

171
$8.80
7.7

326
$9.35
14.6

12

27

20

29
24
24
5
14
6

3
1

2

42

1.9

167
$10.50
7.5

54
$11.45
2.4

896
$12.10
40.2

3

0)
0.1

1

1

3

0)

2

9
39
52
46
46
41
21
21

23
15
6
1
1

1
1
1

2
1
2

3

6
8
6

7
3
1
1

1
1

1

1

2

7

12

17
27
35
18

12

13

8
12
1
2

6
1

4
7
4

6

9
4

6

4
5

2
1

39
26
48
78
106
135
82

68

72
87
59
37
14
13
16
4
5

l
l
i

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—
Total
with
Over
Over
Total
time
and 20 and 25 and 30 and 35 and 40 and
50 and
45 and
Less 10less
worked
55
50
45
less
less
less
less
less
Num­ Percent
less
less
than
10
re­
than 20 than 25 than 30 than 35 than 40 than 45 hours than 50 hours than 55 hours
ber
ported Num­ Percent hours hours hours hours hours hours hours
hours
hours
ber
Total

t

CLOTH DEPARTMENT
Total____ ____ ____
Percent distribution--------

1,234
$8. 20

100.0

17
21

51

68

100.0

1 4
1 4

16

15
16

1.3
1. 4

1.7
4.1
5.5

21

19
38
61
145
209
270
175

1.7
3.3
5.4

18.0
22.3
14.7
7.2
3.2
4.1
1.1

222

8

50
66

150
219
273
177

88

36
48

10

.6

3

3

2
2

2
.2
.2

1

1

.1

170
$6.15

100.0

1

0.6
1. 2

0)

100.0

88

35
45
7
1

17

1.5
15

2

0)

27

2.4

14

0)
1.2

0)

26

2.3

41

0)

3.6

56
$7.00
4.9

139
$6.85

66

12.2

$7.60
5.8

2
1
12

2

65
39
13

16
26
15

134
$8.50

116
$7.95

132
$8. 75

343
$9.40
30.2

1

1

4
17

8

1
1
12

10.2

11.8

1
1
8

11.6

24

0)
2.1

14
3

10

3
1

12.8

4
19

2
1

18.4
23.8
15.4
7.8
3.1
4.0
.6
.l

9
25
5
2

2

13
13
19
9

6
1

2

5

12

50
31
14
5
3

67
24

6
2
1

2
1

29
38
23

10

5
17
1

32

88

94
60
24
24

9

12
1
1
1

6
1

GENERAL

Percent distribution--------

2.9

1
2

25
41
57
19

14.7
24. 1
33. 5

5
3
25
41
57
19

16

9.4

16

1 8

$9 and less than $10

170
$6.15

11.2
.6

1

165
$6.15
100.0
1
2

4

2

25
41
57
18
14

1

100.0
0.6
1. 2

2. 4

1.2

15.2
24.8
34. 5
10.9
.6
8.5

1

0)
0.6
1

2
0)
1.2

0)
1.8

2
0)
1.2

3

1

3

3

0)
1.8

10
0)
6.1

8
0)

4.8

(>)

1

0)

0.6

23

13.9

17
(')
10.3

95
$6. 40
57.6

2
1
12
2

11
21

2
1
2
1

1

4
3

2

2

4

1

3

•
1

15
2
2
2

APPENDIX— GENERAL TABLES

1,135
$8.20

12.8

158
275
181
89
40
50
13

$21 and less than $22

1,188
$8.15

37
13

1
12

—

1 Not computed; base less than 50.




O
CO

I.—Week’s earnings and time worked on day shifts, by department—South Carolina—Continued

64

Table

B— WOMEN WHOSE TIME WORKED WAS REPORTED IN DAYS
Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—

Week’s earnings
Number

Percent

Total
with
Total
time
worked
re­
ported Num­ Per­
ber
cent

H day

1 day lJ4days 2 days 2M days 3 days 3Hdays 4 days 4 H days 5 days SH days 6 days

ALL DEPARTMENTS
Total_______________ ____ 14,136
$7. 70
Less than $1
$1 and less than $2
$2 and less than $3_________
$4 and less than $5
$5 and less than $6____
$7 and less than $8
$8 and less than $9 ____________
$9 and less than $10
$10 and less than $11
$11 and less than $12.. ___
$12 and less than $13....... ............. .
$13 and less than $14
$14 and less than $15______ ___
$15 and less than $16_______ _____
$16 and less than $17.......................
$17 and less than $18
$18 and less than $19
$19 and less than $20____________
$20 and less than $21___
$21 and less than $22
$22 and over




189
404
597
796
1,066
1,249
1,599
1,652
1,672
1,462
1,021

757
556
359
266
186
131
71
32
29
21
10
11

100.0

1.3
2.9
4.2
5.6
7.5

8.8

11.3
11.7

11.8

10.3
7.2
5.4
3.9
2.5
1.9
1.3
.9
.5

.2
.2
.1
.1
.1

13, 731
$7. 70
184
394
580
779
1,046
l' 213
1,550
1,608
1,619
1,430
996
738
538
351
254
177
123
69
25
22
21

5
9

5,076
$7.15

100.0

100.0

69
128
262
345
476
516
645

668

566
497
310
189
142
116
60
38

1. 4
2.5
5.2

2

4

15
4
1

93
$1.25

0)

20

1.8

0.4

37
18

11

4

117
$2.90
2.3

63
$3.70

20

7

38

1.2

8

329
$4.60
6.5

185
$5.20
3.6

$6.15
13.1

12

4
17

10

1

21

47

29

34

39

666

836
$7.20
16.5

874
$7.50
17.2
2

9. 4

10. 2

11.2

9.8
6.1

2
1

2.8

78
45
28

1.2

(2)

49
85

101

2.3

.1
.1

8
20

180
277
264
280
173
119

7

3.7
.7
.4
.3

1,871
$8. 75
36.9

120

12. 7
13.2

22

14
3
4

21

(‘)
0.4

20

1

11

3
4

2
.1

4

1
0)
(2)

H O U E d , e a r n i n g s , a n d e m p l o y m e n t i n c o t t o n m il l s

Total

CAKDINO DEPARTMENT
Total______________ ____
Percent distribution____________
$1 and less than $2.. ____ ____
$2 and less than $3______ ___
$3 and less than $4_____________ _
$4 and less than $5.._ _________
$6 and less than $7___ __________
$7 and less than $8_______ ____

$17 and less than $18
$18 and less than $19...
$19 and less than $20

Percent distribution __ _________
Less than $1______
_________

$4 and less than $5
$5 and less than $6..___ ... .
$6 and less than $7 _
._
$7 and less than $8
$8 and less than $9_____ ________
$9 and less than $10- -.
$10 and less than $11
$11 and less than $12____ _____ _
$12 and less than $13.
$13 and less than $14.-............. .
$14 and less than $15
$15 and less than $16
$16 and less than $17
$17 and less than $18
$18 and less than $19______ ______
$19 and less than $20
$20 and less than $21




100.0

654
*9.05

2
16
25
11
30
44
57
72
72
65
53
67
62
34
23
6
10
5
3
1

0.3
2.4
3.8
1.7
4.6
6.7
8.7
10.9
10.9
9.9
8.1
10.2
9.4
5.2
3.5
.9
1.5
.8
.5
.2

2
16
25
11
30
42
57
71
71
65
53
67
62
34
23
6
10
5
3
1

8. 696
$7.05

100.0

8, 516
$7.05

142
286
443
635
828
889
1,056
1,044
986
877
573
392
242
138
83
29
33
10
6
2
2

1.6
3.3
5. 1
7.3
9.5
10. 2
12.1
12.0
11.3
10. 1
6.6
4.5
2.8
1.6
1.0
.3
.4
.1
.1
(2)
t!)

138
283
437
628
824
870
1,029
1,020
952
858
558
385
237
137
83
28
31
10
4
2
2

226
$9.60
ioo.o

100.0

2
6
3
6
9
18
25
27
28
28
27
23
13
8
2

0.9
2.7
1.3
2.7
4.0
8.0
11.1
11.9
12.4
12.4
11.9
10.2
5.8
3.5
.9

1

.4

1
(!)
0.4

7
0)
3.1

1

1
6

1
0)
0.4

3
(i)
1.3

3
(!)
1.3

1

1
2

1
1

20
0)
8.8

7
O)
3.1

41
(l)
18.1

35
CO
15.5

44
CO
19.5

1

1

2
2

3
9
10

3
5
10

1
2

6
1

3
2
3

g

2
6
4
2
2

6.4
4

3.5

35
52
57
57
28
4

13
21
34
30
22
9

1

13.8
2

16.9

93
81
104
77
35
30
4
1

68
65
137
127
81
53
39
4

0.4

2
3

13
7
6

1

SITNNING AND SPOOIJNG DEPARTMENT
3,819
100.0
17
67
14
88
43
$6.75
0)
$1.15
0)
(!)
T 2.3
100.0
0.4
1.8
0.4
1.1
55
1.4
12
30
2
5
103
2.7
3
28
3
19
7
214
5.6
1
g
9
30
5
301
7.9
1
2
20
16
10.9
415
9
8
428
11.2
2
5
539
14.1
1
1
525
13.7
10.7
409
1
356
9.3
219
5.7
111
2.9
1
67
1.8
51
1.3
12
.3
8
.2
4
.1
p)
1

1 Not computed; based less than 50.

7
6
2

1

63
27.9

17.7

35.6

68
77
92
86
91
72
48
23
14
18
3
2

78
111
154
222
201
201
128
82
53
33
9
6
4
1

27

APPENDIX — GENERAL TABLES

$12 and less than $13__ --------------$13 and less than $14.-___ ______
$14 and less than $15

658
$9.00

1

J Less than 0.05 percent.

05
Ot

66

Table

I.—Week’s earnings and time worked on day shifts, by department—South Carolina—Continued
B.—WOMEN WHOSE TIME WORKED WAS REPORTED IN DAYS—Continued

Week’s earnings
Num­
ber

Per­
cent

with
Total
time
worked
re­
ported Num­ Per­
ber
cent

M day

1 day 1H days 2 days 2 Yi days 3 days

days 4 days 4J4 days 5 days 5 Yi days I days

WEAVING DEPARTMENT
Total
Percent distribution------------------




3,203
$9. 35

973
$8.50
100.0

100.0

3
(l)
0.3

19
0)
2.0

19
5
9

1.3
2.4
4.1
3.9
4.4
7.6
8.5
11.0
13.1
11.2
6.5
5.1
5.0
5.0
3.9
2.8
1.7
1.1
.3
.3
.2

7
8
4

.6
.3
.3

13
23
40
38
43
74
83
107
127
109
63
50
49
49
38
27
17
11
3
3
2

3

6.0
5. 2
4.5
4.4
2.5
1.6

27
77
102
116
117
194
257
279
322
314
297
250
191
170
145
141
81
53

4

.4

3,378
$9.30

100.0

83
112
126
132
207
271
295
338
323
306

2.5
3.3
3.7
3.9
6.1
8.0
8.7
10.0
9.6
9.1

202
174
152
85
54

5
0)
0.5

24
(')
2.5

1
2
2

1
6
8
5
1
1
1
1

16
(0
1.6

3
4
3
2
4

48
0)
4.9

45
0)
4.6

3
4
10
4
8
8
2
5
2
1

4
3
4
14
10
2
6
1
1

1

89
$6.80
9.1
2
3
5
2
5
21
8
10
11
6
7
4
1
2
1
1

153
$8.50
15.7
1
2
2
4
17
15
19
33
9
10
18
9
4
6
1
1
2

139
$7.80
14.3
1
6
10
5
11
4
15
22
11
16
8
7
7
7
3
5
1

432
$9.90
44.4

2
7
7
23
51
60
74
36
21
32
35
28
20
15
9
3
3
2
4

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—

Total

CLOTH DEPARTMENT

Percent distribution........................

100.0

1,188
$8.15

100.0

16

53
$7.05
100.0
1

17

1. 4

12
21
51
68
222
275
181
89
40
50
13
g
2

1.0
1. 7
4.1
5. 5
12.8
18.0
22.3
14 7
7 2
3. 2
4.1
1.1
.6
.2

11
21
50
66

1
2
12
5

219
273
177
88
36
48
10
3
2

10
3
2

1.9
3. 8
22.6
9. 4
9. 4
18.9
5.7
3. 8

1
3
3
2
1

1.9
5. 7
5. 7
3. 8
1. 9

2
2

.2
.2

1

1

1.9

1

.1

1
0)
1.9

1
0)
1.9

14
0)
26.4

1

2
10
2

8
0)
15.1

1
0)
1.9

1.9
1

11
0)
20.8
1

1

2
3
3

1
6
2
1

170
$6.15

100.0

170
$6.15

1
2
5
3
25
41
57
19
1
16

0. 6
1. 2
2.9
1.8
14. 7
24.1
33 5
11.2
.6
9.4

1
2
5
3
25
41
57
19
1
16

$9 and less than $10.
1 Not computed; base less than 50.




(0
(>)

5

1
1

1
2

(>)

0)

1

0)

1

1

(0

3

1
■....... .............

______ i______

1
1
1
1
2
3
3
2
1
1
1

GENERAL

Percent distribution......... ........... .

17
(0
32. 1

______ 1
1
______
--------- I.............
1
2

APPENDIX— GENERAL TABLES

$21 and less than $22

1,234
$8.20

68

Table

II.— Week's earnings and time worked on day shifts, by department—Maine

Week’s earnings

Total—Time
worked reported for
50 and
20 and
25 and
30 and
35 and
40 and
45 and
all women in hours Less than 10 and
than less than less than less than less than less than less than less than 54 hours
10 hours less
20 hours 25 hours 30 hours 35 hours 40 hours 45 hours 50 hours 54 hours
Number I Percent
ALL DEPARTMENTS

Total____________ _____ ________________

$5 and less than $6 ____________________________
$8 and less than $9




3,193
$11.10
100.0

100.0

9
31
56
78
131
136
143
156
228
261
319
421
264
222
231
171
103
107
62
27
37

0.3
1.0
1.8
2.4
4.1
4.3
4. 5
4.9
7.1
8. 2
10.0
13.2
8. 3
7.0
7.2
5.4
3.2
3.4
1.9
.8
1.2

0)

44
1.4
9
15
13
4

165
$3.60
5.2

1
1

16
41
42
50
8
6

1

2

185
$5.15
5.8

1
26
57
54
22
13
11

1

182
$6.65
5.7

196
$7.65
6.1

3
16
38
53
32
24
12
2
1

2
6
21
37
51
37
22
11
3
3
1
2

1

182
$9. 00
5.7

1
2
4
25
59
33
19
18
14
7

279
$11.05
8.7

1
1
1
5
19
39
33
37
51
36
24
21
7
2
2

256
$11.05
8.0

170
$11. 50
5.3

1

1
3
3
16
21
21
39
10
9
18
10
9
10

16
49
60
31
26
30
24
11
4
1
1
2

1,534
$13.00
48.0

1
9
12
13
23
91
169
278
175
151
165
142
88
94
61
27
35

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—

Total........................
Median earnings_______
Percent distribution.........
$1 and less than $2______
$2 and less than $3______
$3 and less than $4______
$4 and less than $5______
$5 and less than $6______
$6 and less than $7.............
$7 and less than $8______
$8 and less than $9______
$9 and less than $10_____
$10 and less than $11_____
$11 and less than $12_____
$12 and less than $13_____
$13 and less than $14_____
$14 and less than $15_____
$15 and less than $16_____
$16 and less than $17_____
$17 and less than $18_____
$18 and less than $19_____
$19 and less than $20_____

Less than $1_______
$1 and less than $2__
$2 and less than $3__
$3 and less than $4__
$4 and less than $5__
$5 and less than $6_..
$6 and less than $7. _.
$7 and less than $8__
$8 and less than $9__
$9 and less than $10..
$10 and less than $11..
$11 and less than $12..
$12 and less than $13$13 and less than $14..
$14 and less than $15$15 and less than $16—
$16 and less than $17..
$17 and less than $18..
$18 and less than $19..
$19 and less than $20. _
$20 and over________

1 Not computed; base less than 50




100.0

8

0)1.6

16

0)3.3

(l)

9.3

0)10.0

1.6
1.4
1.4
5.3
5.7
5.7
5.5
9.1
6.1
11.4
6.9
6.7
5.7
8.5
9.1
5.1
1.8
9
1.8
5
1.0
SPINNING AND SPOOLING DEPARTMENT
1,365
100.0
18
101
108
$11.00
3.60
4.90
$6. 65
0) 1.3
100.0
7.2
7.9
7.4
4
0.3
1.2
17
31
2.3
51
3.7
81
5.9
56
4.1
65
4.8
63
4.6
105
7.7
111

96
194
145
107
88

77

20

8.1

7.0
14.2

10.6

7.8
6.4
5.6
1.5

24
24

1.8

4

.3

2

1.8
.1

(0

37

0)7.5

70
$11. 40
14.2

(')

6.3

178
$14. 75
36.2

0)

8

24
6

9
18
o2

35
23

H
525

9
9
—5
57
$7.90
4.2

111

19.25
6.5

$11. 25
8. 1

131
$11.90
9.

105

547

20

$12. 70

7.7

40.1

$11.

2

2
2
11

GENERAL TABLES

Total________
Median earnings___
Percent distribution..

CARDING DEPARTMENT
492
$10. 70
100.0
8
7
7
26
28
28
27
45
30
56
34
33
28
42
45
25
9

29
41

120

97
68

53
63
13
16
24
2

4

o>
CD

70

Table

II.—Week’s earnings and time worked on day shifts, by department—Maine—Continued

Week’s earnings

Total—Time
worked reported for
20 and
25 and
50 and
30 and
35 and
40 and
45 and
all women in hours Less than 10 and
than less than less than less than less than less than less than less than 54 hours
10 hours less
20 hours 25 hours 30 hours 35 hours 40 hours 45 hours 50 hours 54 hours
Number Percent
weaving department

Total
Percent distribution.......................................................




871
$12.60
100.0

100.0

2
2
15
13
14
32
33
39
43
58
92
52
69
77
84
41
52
71
29
20
33

0.2
.2
1.7
1.5
1.6
3.7
3.8
4.5
4.9
6.7
10.6
6.0
7.9
8.8
9.6
4.7
6.0
8.2
3.3
2.3
3.8

0)

11
1.3
2
2
3
1

40
0)
4.6

1
1

12
11
7
4
4

1

2

0)

19

0)

23

2.%

2.6

1
5
6
2
1
4

6
6
6
2
1
1
1

59
$8.05
6.8

7
8
14
14
7
2
2
2
1
2

0)

25
2.9

62
$11.10
7.1

29
(l)
3.3

1
1
3
3
7
3
1
2
5

1
4
4
6
14
12
1
6
7
2
2
2

(i)

10
1.1

1
3
4
3
3
5
4
1
1
2
1
2

2
1
1
1
1
1
2

593
$14.10
68.1

1
7
10
11
12
30
68
33
58
60
72
37
48
67
28
20
31

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—

m■

CLOTH DEPARTMENT
Total
Percent distribution___ ________ ________________
Less than $1_______________________________ ___
$2 and less than $3

1 Not computed; base less than 50.




100.0

3
4
3
7
10
20
17
27
35
62
75
141
17
10
17
8
6
3

0.6
.9
.6
1. 5
2.2
4. 3
3. 7
5.8
7.5
13. 3
16.1
30.3
3. 7
2.2
3.7
1.7
1.3
.6

(i)

7
1.5
3
4

(i)

11
2.4

2
6
3

(')

12
2.6

5
6
1

(i)

9
1.9

5
3

47
(i)
10.1

1
1
8
15
15
3
3
1

(i)

31
6.7

(i)

36
7.7

65
$10. 35
14.0

31
(i)
.6.7

216
$11.40
46.5

20
37
5
1
1
1

2
1
14
2
1
7
1
2
1

24
36
119
11
5
8

1
1
8
20
1

1
4
12
10
2
3
3
1

7

4
2
M

A PPEN D IX — GENERAL TABLES

$10 and less than $11

465
$10.60
100.0

72

Table

III.—Week’s earnings and time worked on day shifts, by department—Texas
A.—WOMEN WHOSE TIME WORKED WAS REPORTED IN HOURS

Week’s earnings

Number of women earning each specified amount who workedTotal
with
time
Total
and 20 and 25 and 30 and 35 and 40 and
Over 45
Less 10less
Over 50
Num­ Percent worked
less
less
less
less
less
and less
45
50
55
Over 55
than 10 than
report­
ber
25 than 30 than 35 than 40 than 45 hours than 50 hours and less hours hours
ed
Num­ Percent hours hours20 than
than 55
hours
hours
hours
hours
hours
hours
ber
hours
ALL DEPARTMENTS

Total
Less than $1
$1 and less than $2
$2 and less than $3______
$5 and less than $6




855
$7.60

100.0

820
$7.50

783
$7. 40
100.0

100.0

9
0)
1.1

49
(0
6.3

8
19
46
51
81
101
69
88
81
78
60
45
38
46
18
26

0.9
2.2
5.4
6.0
9.5
11.8
8. 1
10.3
9. 5
9. 1
7.0
5.3
4. 4
5.4
2.1
3.0

7
18
46
51
80
99
67
85
78
73
53
43
34
44
18
24

7
18
45
50
79
95
65
82
73
66
40
43
34
44
18
24

0.9
2.3
5.7
6. 4
10. 1
12. 1
8.3
10. 5
9. 3
8.4
5.1
5.5
4.3
5.6
2.3
3.1

5
4

2
11
30
6

51
$3. 55
6.5
2
11
23
6
6
3

48
(0
6.1

112
$5.90
14.3

2
2
15
22
1
4
1
1

9
24
25
23
22
7
1

1

76
$5. 95
9.7
1
1
15
22
11
14
6
2
1
3

81
$8.05
10.3

27
0)
3.4

38
0)
4.9

3
7
9
11
9
24
8
4
2
4

2
1

2
8
3
4
2
2
3
5
1

2
6
6
6
4

5
2
1

27
0)
3.4

39
0)
5.0

176
$11.10
22.5

50
$12.00
6.4

1

1
3

1

5
5

18
37

2
2

2
4

22
23

11

1
1
4
5
8
2
1
2
1
1
1

3

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Total

CARDING DEPARTMENT
Total.

100.0

63
$7.90

58
$7.40
100.0

100.0

2
(0
3.4

1
4
3
2
5
3
9
6
6
8
5
5
4
2
1
2

1.5
6.1
4.5
3.0
7.6
4. 5
13.6
9.1
9.1
12.1
7.6
7.6
6.1
3.0
1. 5
3.0

l
4
3
2
5
3
9
5
6
8
4
5
3
2
1
2

1
4
3
2
5
3
9
5
4
6
3
5
3
2
1
2

1.7
6.9
5. 2
3.4
8.6
5. 2
15. 5
8.6
6 9
10. 3
5. 2
8.6
5.2
3.4
1. 7
3.4

1
1

4
0)
6.9

1
(0
1.7

3
1

1

1
0)
1.7

5
0)
8.6

19
0)
32.8

1

1

4
2
3
3
2
2
1
1

4
1

11
0)
19.0

2
(0
3.4

1
0)
1.7

2
1
1

1
2
4
1

1
0)
1.7

2
0)
3.4

6
0)
10.3

3
(■)
5.2

1

2

2

2
2
1
1

2
1

SPINNING AND SPOOLING DEPARTMENT
Total---------------- _

470
$6. 65

100.0

459
$6.65

427
$6.40
100.0

100.0

4
10
29
32
56
80
36
53
43
24
41
18
15
16
4
9

0. 9
2.1
6.2
6.8
11.9
17.0
7.7
11.3
9.1
5.1
8.7
3.8
3.2
3.4
.9
1.9

3
9
29
32
56
78
35
52
42
22
39
18
15
16
4
9

3
9
28
31
55
74
33
49
39
17
27
18
15
16
4
9

0 7
2 1
6.6
7.3
12.9
17.3
7.7
11.5
9.1
4.0
6.3
4.2
3.5
3.7
.9
2.1

>Not computed; base less than 50.




2
0)
0.5

34
0)
8.0

21
5

27
0)
6.3
1
6
12
2
3
3

38
0)
8.9

73
$5.20
17. 1

12
22

8
23
23
9
8

2
1
1

1

26
0)
6.1

4
11
1
6
3
1

55
$7. 65
12.9

16
0)
3.7

27
0)
6.3

1
5
8
9
7
15
3
3
2
2

2
1

2
7
3
1
1
1
3
4
1

2
4
4
2
1

3
1

21
(0
4.9

28
(0
6.6

1
1
3
4
6
1
2
1
1
1

54
$10. 50
12.6

26
(0
6.1

1
1
4
3
2
2
6
2
3
3
2

■j
2
2
10
5
12
5
9
5
2

A PPEN D IX — GENERAL TABLES

66
$8.00

1
9
1
4
1
1
4
1
4

os

74

Table III.—Week’s earnings and time worked on day shifts, by department—Texas—Continued
A.—WOMEN WHOSE TIME WORKED WAS REPORTED IN HOURS-Continued

Week’s earnings

WEAVING DEPARTMENT
Total------- ---------




244
$8. 70

100.0

223
$8. 45

223
$8. 45
100.0

100.0

4
(0
1.8

2
4
11
14
12
12
20
27
29
29
12
21
16
23
8
4

0.8
1.6
4. 5
5.7
4.9
4.9
8.2
11.1
11.9
11.9
4.9
8.6
6.6
9.4
3.3
1.6

2
4
11
14
11
12
19
26
27
26
8
19
13
21
8
2

2
4
11
14
11
12
19
26
27
26
8
19
13
21
8
2

0.9
1.8
4.9
6.3
4.9
5.4
8.5
11.7
12.1
11. 7
3.6
8. 5
5.8
9.4
3.6
.9

2
2

9
(0
4. C

22
(0
9.9

5
0)
2.2

1
7
1

1
3
11
4
3

1
1
2
1

32
(')
14.3

19
0)
8.5

12
0)
5.4

2
10
13
7

1
4
7
5
1

1

1

1
7
1
1
1

5
0)
2.2

3
0)
1.3

4
0)
1.8

1
1

1
2
1
1
1

1
1

8
(')
3.6

1
2
1

1
3

1
1

80
$11.15
35.9

1
2
1
2
8
19
5
15
8
13
6

20
0)
9.0

1
2
1
2
4
7

2
1

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—
Total
with
time
Total
Over 45
Over 50
and 20 and 25 and 30 and 35 and 40 and
Less 10less
worked
less
and less
and less
Over 55
less
less
less
45
50
Num­ Percent report­
55
than 10 than
hours
ber
20
than
25
than
30
than
35
than
40
than
45
than
50
hours
than
55 hours hours
ed
Num­ Percent hours hours hours hours hours hours hours
hours
hours
ber
Total

CLOTH DEPARTMENT
182301'

75
$9.40

100.0

Less than $1------ ----------$1 and less than $2---------$2 and less than $3
$3 and less than $4---------$4 and less than $5..........- $5 and less than $6- - -----$6 and less than $7---------$7 and less than $8---------$8 and less than $9- . ...

1
1
3
3
8
6
4
2
3
17
2
1
3
5
5
11

1.3
1.3
4.0
4.0
10.7
8.0
5.3
2.7
4.0
22.7
2.7
1.3
4.0
6.7
6.7
14.7

$10 and less than $11------$11 and less than $12------$12 and less than $13. . —
$13 and less than $14------$14 and less than $15..........
$15 and over---------------

■ Not computed; base less than 50.




75
$9.40

75
$9.40
100.0

100.0

1
1
3
3.
8
6
4
2
3
17
2
1
3
5
5
11

1
1
3
3
8
6
4
2
3
17
2
1
3
5
5
11

1.3
1.3
4.0
4.0
10.7
8.0
5.3
2.7
4.0
22.7
2.7
1.3
4.0
6.7
6.7
14.7

1
0)
1.3
1

2
0)
2.7

1
0)
1.3

4
(0
5.3

2
0)
2.7

12
(0
16.0

1
1

1

1
1
1

1
1

1
6
5

1

3
(0
4.0

4
0)
5.3

1
2
1
3

7
0)
9.3

1
0)
1.3

2
1
1

2
2

1
0)
1.3

1

36
0)
48.0

13
2
3
3
3
11

0)

1
1.3

1

APPENDIX — GENERAL TABLES

Total........ ..........—Median earnings---- ...
Percent distribution........ .

-4

Oi

Table III.—Week's earnings and time worked on day shifts, by department—Texas—Continued

<1
O

B —WOMEN WHOSE TIME WORKED WAS REPORTED IN DAYS

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—

Week’s earnings
Number

Percent

Total
with
time
worked
reported

Total
1H days
Number

2 days

2H days

3 days

SH days

4 days

4H days

5 days

5 H days

Percent
ALL DEPARTMENTS

Total
Median earnings
Percent distribution ________

855
$7. 60

100.0

820
$7. 50

8
19
46
51
81
101
69
88
81
78
60
45
38
46
18
26

0.9
2.2
5.4
6.0
9.5
11.8
8. 1
10.3
9.5
9. 1
7.0
5.3
4.4
5.4
2.1
3.0

7
18
46
51
80
99
67
85
78
73
53
43
34
44
18
24

Less than $1

$1 and less than $2.______ _____

$2 and less than $3 - ____ - - $3 and less than $4_______
$4 and less than $5........... ...........
$5 and less than $6 __________
$6 and less than $7
$7 and less than $8
$9 and less than $10_____ ___
$10 and less than $11____
___
$11 and less than $12..................
$12 and less than $13
$13 and less than $14_________
$14 and less than $15
$ 15 and over____ _______ _____
1 Not computed; base less than 50.




(>)
(0

37

1

1
1
1
4
2
3
5
7
13

1

1

1

3

1

1
2

1

2

1
1

6

1

1
2
3

1

6

1
4
1

16

1
3
12

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS

Total

77

APPENDIX----GENERAL TABLES

Table IV.—-Comparison of the night shifts in the 3 States with the number of mills

and employees covered in the study, by sex of employees and kind of product
All shifts

Night shifts
Females

Product

Num­ Total
ber of em­
Males
mills ployees

Fe­
males

Num­ Total
Percent
ber of em­
Males
of all
mills ployees
Num­ female
ber
em­
ployees

SOUTH CAROLINA
Total.................................

132

51, 338

34, 660

16, 678

98

13,141

11,215

1,926

Sheetings___ ...______ ____
Print cloths, broadcloths, and
pajama checks
Fine goods (including fancies)..
Chambrays, ginghams, and
denims______________
Toweling, osnaburgs, and
ducks....... ........ .....................
Bedspreads and upholstery
fabrics___________
Yarns..... ......................... .
Specialties. ___ _____ ____
Other cotton goods

i 32

10,924

7,409

3, 515

i 25

2,337

2,035

302

8.6

2 50
10

24,454
6,027

16,456
4,123

7, 998
1,904

2 39
9

7,159
1,375

6,005
1,364

1.154
11

14.4
.6
15.8

11.5

3

767

501

266

3

181

139

42

6

1,181

807

374

3

89

58

31

8.3

5
3 18
4
4

1,125
2,586
1,277
2,997

786
1,633
948
1,997

339
953
329
1,000

4
39
4
2

366
456
427
751

297
374
376
567

69
82
51
184

20.4
8.6
15.5
18.4

(*)

86

9.1

41
45

7. 5
11.3

TEXAS
Total______ _____ ____
Toweling, osnaburgs,
ducks_____ _
Other cotton goods.........

13

2, 409

1,468

941

44

8
5

1, 325
1,084

781
687

544
397

*1
3

(4)
232

(4)
187

and

MAINE
________

14

6,691

3,548

3,143

7

325

325

Sheetings_______ _________
Fine goods_________ ______ _
Yarns__ ______ _____
Other cotton goods

Total______

4
3
3
4

2,803
2,068
387
1,433

1,464
1,104
' 195
785

1, 339
964
192
648

2
3

181

181

2

33

33

1 Includes 2 mills not reporting numbers ol males and females employed. 1 employs males and females at
night; 1 males only.
‘ Includes 3 mills not reporting numbers of males and females employed. 2 employ males and females
at night; 1 males only.
3 Includes 1 mill for which a record of the number of employees was not available, and 1 not reporting sex of
employees.
41 mUl did not report number of employees on day and night shifts or number of males on these shifts.




78

HOURS, EARNINGS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN COTTON MILLS
Table V.— Week’s earnings of females in narrow-goods mills, by State
All States
reported

Pennsylvania

Massachusetts North and South
Carolina
and Rhode Island

Week's earnings
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
Total........................... -

$2 and less than $3..................
$3 and less than $4____ ___
$4 and less than $5_________
$5 and less than $6
$6 and less than $7
$7 and less than $8
$8 and less than $9________
$9 and less than $10_______
$10 and less than $11--_ ___
$11 and less than $12______
$12 and less than $13
$13 and less than $14_______
$14 and less than $15_______
$15 and less than $16
$16 and less than $17...




1,154

100.0

843

100.0

10
10
17
26
14
33
43
52
90
118
120
85
88
83
113
85
37
34
21
15
60

0.9
.9
1.5
2.3
1.2
2.9
3.7
4.5
7.8
10. 2
10.4
7.4
7.6
7.2
9.8
7.4
3.2
2. 9
1.8
1.3
5.2

6
7
9
13
5
18
36
41
62
64
91
63
63
59
97
72
31
25
15
14
52

0.7
.8
1.1
1.5
.6
2.1
4.3
4.9
7.4
7.6
10.8
7.5
7.5
7.0
11.5
8.5
3.7
3.0
1.8
1.7
6.2

o

218

6
12
5
10
5
8
10
22
25
18
22
20
14
12
5
9
6
1
8

100.0

2.8
5.5
2.3
4.6
2.3
3.7
4.6
10. 1
11.5
8.3
10.1
9.2
' 6.4
5.5
2.3
4.1
2.8
.5
3.7

93

100.0

4
3
2
1
4
5
2
3
18
32
4
4
3
4
2
1
1

4.3
3.2
2.2
1.1
4.3
5.4
2.2
3.2
19.4
34.4
4.3
4.3
3.2
4.3
2.2
1.1
1.1