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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN'S BUREAU, NO. 79
INDUSTRIAL
HOME WORK
[PUBLIC—No. 259—66TH CONGRESS]
[H. R. 18229]
An Act To establish In the Department of Labor a bureau to be known as the
Women's Bureau
Be it enacted ly the Senate and House ^ f P ^ ^ ^ j l J t
United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be
established in the Department of Labor a bureau to be known as the
WSEC6n2.
Tha? the said bureau shall be in charge of a director a
woman, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and
conseS; of the Senate, who shall receive an annual compensation of
S 0
It shall be the duty of said bureau to formulate standards
a n d policies which shall promote the welfare of wage^earnmg women,
improve their working conditions, increase their efficiency, and ad^ n c e their opportunities for profitable employment. The said bureau
shall have authority to investigate and report to the s a i d department
u p o n aU matters pertaining to the welfare of women in industry.
director of said bureau may from time to time publish the resuite of Ibhese investigations in such a manner and to such extent as
the Secretary of Labor may prescribe.
SEC 3 That there shall be in said bureau an assistant director, to
be appointed by the Secretary of Labor, who shall receive an annual
compensation oi $3,500 and stall perform such duties' as shall be prescribed by the director and approved by the Secretary of Labor^
SEC 4 That there is hereby authorized to be employed by said
bureau a chief clerk and such special agents, assistants, clerks, and
o t h e r employees at such rates of compensation and in such numbers
as Congress may from time to time provide by appropriations.
.
SEC 5 That the Secretary of Labor is hereby directed to furnish
sufficient quarters, office furniture, and equipment, for the work of
th SEC Ur 6 a That
this act shall take effect and be in force from and
after its passage.
Approved, June 5,1920.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
JAMES J. DAVrS, SECRETARY
WOMEN'S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Director
BULLETIN
OF
THE
W O M E N ' S
BUREAU,
NO.
79
INDUSTRIAL
HOME W O R K
BY
E M I L Y C. B R O W N
(' m i
\ i p
1
j
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1930
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.
Price 10 cents
CONTENTS
Page
Letter of transmittal
Introductory
The problem
A program
Extent and character of home work
Numbers employed
Industries engaged
Causes
The workers
Reasons for doing home work
Earnings
Hazards to public health
Difficulties of regulation
Report of committee of association of governmental labor officials
Recommendations
List of references
v
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
4
6
6
8
9
11
12
15
HI
L E T T E R OF TRANSMITTAL
U N I T E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T OF L A B O R ,
WOMEN'S
BUREAU,
Washington, March 12, 1930.
SIR : I have the honor to transmit a short report on industrial home
work in the United States, prepared by Emily C. Brown while associate industrial economist in the Women's Bureau.
The report discusses briefly the extent, character, and causes of
home work, the inadequacy of its earnings, the difficulties of its regulation. The most important parts of the report and recommendations of the committee on industrial home work of the Association of
Governmental Labor Officials of the United States and Canada are
given verbatim, and a select list of references for reading completes
the bulletin.
Respectfully submitted.
M A R X A N D E R S O N , Director.
H o n . JAMES J , DAVIS,
Secretary of Labor.
v
INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK
INTRODUCTORY
The problem.
Industrial home work is an old problem that still persists. According to many studies, the custom of sending articles from factories into homes, to be made or finished, has been accompanied in
the past by the evils of long hours of labor, low rates of pay, irregular employment, child labor, and working conditions that constitute
a menace, actual or potential, to the health of the workers and of the
public.
Information as to the extent and character of home work is fragmentary. Only a few States have any current knowledge of the
situation within their jurisdictions. Yet such information as exists
is sufficient to indicate that home work is extensive in many of the
industrial States, and that unless under constant supervision and
regulation by the authorities it generally is accompanied by the
old evils.
Home work is a type of labor that presents extreme difficulties to
efforts at regulation, at the same time that it particularly calls for
regulation because it is so subject to abuse by the undercutting of the
standards set up by the State for factory work.
A program.
Every State should ascertain whether or not industrial home work
is done within its borders.
For any State in which industrial home work is practiced but in
which there is as yet no adequate regulation the first step is to learn
the facts. To what extent is home work carried on in the State?
In what industries, under what conditions, among what groups?
Are the labor standards set up for the protection of other workers
observed for this group? Is illegal child labor to be found? Are.
menaces to the health of public or workers involved? Investigation to throw light on these questions may be made by the State
department of labor or other interested group.
The second step is to set up a workable system of regulation and
control. The experiences of the States that have attacked the problem may be drawn upon. Until further experience and research
may devise more effective methods the best guide, which is based
upon present experience, is to be found in the minimum standards
of regulation unanimously agreed upon and recommended by the
committee on industrial home work of the Association of Governmental Labor Officials of the United States and Canada. (See
p. 13.)
2
INDUSTRIAL H O M E
WORK
EXTENT AND CHARACTER OF HOME WORK
Numbers employed.
The importance of the home-work problem is indicated by the
situation in New York and Pennsylvania, two industrial States that
are attempting thorough regulation and control of home work and
that publish detailed reports of their work. In New York State in
the year ended June 30,1927, over 21,500 persons were found engaged
in home work in licensed houses.1 During the same period, in the
New York City district alone home work was given out to 11,516
workers by 1,467 employers.2 On November 1, 1927, Pennsylvania
had 1,161 employers licensed to give out home work and they reported more than 12,600 home workers for the month of September.3
In New Jersey in t&e year ended June 30, 1928, licenses to do home
work were issued for 3,027 families.4
In Massachusetts, where home-work licenses are required only in
the case of wearing apparel, licenses were issued to 347 families in
the year ended November 30, 1927. Naturally, a considerable part
of the home work in this State does not come under the license requirement, and therefore no reports from employers or home-work
inspections are had in these lines. Information on the extent and
the conditions of home work in Massachusetts, accordingly, is incomplete.0
A few other States recognize the problem and make serious efforts
to control it. In many others it is known that the home-work problem exists, but information is fragmentary and in a large majority
of cases no legal regulation is in force.
Industries engaged.
The needle trades are the great sources of home work. Of the
21,573 home workers found in licensed houses in New York State in
the year ended June 30, 1927, the clothing trades employed over
13,000 and embroidery and artificial flowers gave employment to
4,000 more.6 In New York City during the same period 33.5 per
cent of the registered home workers were employed on men's clothing, 22.4 per cent on embroidery, and 15.9 per cent on trimmings and
flowers.7 In Pennsylvania in 1927 (according to home-work reports
of September) 27 per cent of the employers and 23 per cent of the
home workers were in the men's clothing industry, while other clothing, knit goods, and tobacco were the industries next in importance.8
Many kinds of work are being done in homes in various localities.
Stringing tags, carding buttons, hooks and eyes, or safety pins, mak1 New York.
Department of Labor. Annual Report of the Industrial Commissioner for
the 12 Months Ended June 30, 1927.
Report of division of home-work inspection, 1927,
p. 254.
2 Ibid.
Industrial Bulletin, June, 1928, p. 277.
8 Pennsylvania.
Department of Labor and Industry.
Labor and Industry, March,
1928, pp. 12 and 13.
*New Jersey. Department of Labor. Industrial Bulletin, September, 1928, p. 41.
8 Massachusetts.
Department of Labor and Industries. Annual Report for the Year
Ending Nov. 30, 1927, p. 25 ; and typewritten report on industrial home work and its
regulation in Massachusetts, 1927.
•New York. Department of Labor. Annual Report of the Industrial Commissioner for
the 12 Months Ended June 30, 1927.
Report of division of home-work inspection, 1927,
p. 253.
T Ibid.
Some Social and Economic Aspects of Home Work.
Special bul. 158, February,
1929, p. 8.
8 Pennsylvania.
Department of Labor and Industry. Labor and Industry, March,
1928, p. 13.
E X T E N T A N D C H A R A C T E R OF H O M E
WORK
3
mg garters, and work on cheap jewelry, lampshades, powder puffs,
paper boxes and bags, carpet rags, and toys, are a few of the simple
occupations ckaracteristically found as home industries.
The home-work employers are to a considerable extent an unstable
group of small manufacturers or contractors. In Pennsylvania 75.7
per cent of the 1,161 licensed home-work employers in September,
l'9'27, had fewer than 25 employees each, and 38.5 per cent had fewer
than 5 each. Only 20 employers had 100 home workers or more.9
In New York City in 1928 the average number of home workers
employed by each firm was 8, and they ranged from an average of 5
to a firm in the women's clothing industry to 19 in powder-puff
manufacturing.10 The home-work employers are a numerous and
shifting group, principally small operators who work with little capital and depend upon an elastic reserve of cheap labor for their production.
Causes.
Home work in place of factory production is resorted to chiefly
by manufacturers whose work is irregular, highly seasonal, or subject to fluctuation with changes in fashion or process, and in which,
therefore, producers seek a labor force that can be quickly expanded
of contracted. In such types of work many manufacturers consider
it advantageous that their work in rush seasons should be done by
home workers rather than add to the burden of overhead by providing for the peak of production in the factory.
The clothing industries, which are highly seasonal and produce on
short notice, are responsible for fluctuations in employment even
greater for the home workers than for factory workers, though the
latter are notoriously an irregularly employed group.11 Other industries, not so much seasonal as subject to changes of fashion, find that
sudden turns in demand result in spectacular increases or decreases
in home-work employment; for example, buttons, bead necklaces,
powder puffs, embroidery, or lampshades. Or a new process may
affect, in one direction or another, the employment on home work.
In all these cases the manufacturer is able to call into service a large
reserve of labor without providing factory space or taking responsibility for the workers as regular employees. That low rates of pay
are accepted, in many cases lower than rates for similar operations
in the factories, is a further inducement to manufacturers to use this
type of labor.
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor questioned approximately
600 employers as to their reasons for giving out home work. The
desire to avoid overhead expense proved to be important among the
motives of the manufacturers.12
Lack of space in the factory, high rents, and a desire to keep down general
overhead expenses was stated by about 15 per cent of the employers as their
primary reason for giving out home work. It seemed rather evident that this
desire to keep down overhead expenses was a contributing factor in the majority
of cases where work was sent into the homes although perhaps not always
9 Pennsylvania.
Department of Labor and Industry. Labor and Industry, March,
1928, p. 12.
10 New York.
Department of Labor. Industrial Bulletin, May, 1929, p. 628.
n New York.
Department of Labor. Home Work in the Men's Clothing Industry in
New York and Rochester. Special bul. 147, August, 1926, p. 35.
12 Pennsylvania.
Department of Labor and, Industry. Labor and Industry, April, 1927,
pp. 8 and 9.
107736°—SO
2
4
INDUSTRIAL H O M E
WORK
clearly formulated as such in the minds of the employer. Occasionally, the
rapid growth of business in an establishment temporarily forced work out
into the homes. Finding that it could be carried on satisfactorily in this way
the employer had no particular urge to add to his investment by providing
more factory space.
The New York State Department of Labor in its study of home
work in the men's clothing industry also emphasizes these points.
In New York City about two-thirds of the men's clothing is produced by manufacturers who cut the goods and market the finished
product but farm out to contractors the actual making of the garment. Furthermore, manufacturers who themselves make garments
usually give out some work to contractors. In fact, the system of
giving out garments to home workers for certain operations is used
extensively by both manufacturers and contractors. This complex
system of production is characterized as follows: 13
Divorcing the making of the garment from the marketing has relieved the
manufacturer of the necessity of carrying a large overhead and of providing
stable employment for a large working force and has put the burden of expansion and contraction upon the contractor. Carrying on production by means
of small shops tends to keep the industry in a fluid state. * * * The system
of small shops together with a large reserve of labor allows for quick expansion
of business. * * * Firms manufacture to order rather than for stock and
the market is organized to make quick deliveries on large orders. This results
in sharp expansion and contraction of business producing a markedly seasonal
industry. Business is carried on under highly competitive conditions.
The industries that use the home-work system vary in their details,
but they are alike in using, to quickly expand the labor force when a
rush of work comes, the labor available in the home. Thus the
industries need not provide factory space and pay rent and other
overhead for this part of their production. Under the pressure of
competition, the employers avoid these costs as far as they can.
The burden of expansion and contraction, instead of being carried as
one cost of the industry, is passed on to the home workers in the
form of irregularity of employment and earnings. Inevitably questions arise as to the soundness and the social ethics of such a system
of production. From the standpoint of the industry itself, it is
questionable whether the instability and unregulated competition of
this system is advantageous; whether such an organization of production is efficient. From the standpoint of the public there is a
clear case for regulation, if not the more drastic measure of prohibition, to set limits to the conditions that this highly competitive
type of production imposes upon a group of workers who are, by
the nature of the case, in poor position to protect themselves.
THE
WORKERS
Home workers are largely women, aided all too frequently by children. They are chiefly unskilled or semiskilled. Recruited largely
in tenement neighborhoods, often from recent immigrants or other
groups with little or no industrial experience, they have limited
knowledge of job opportunities. Of 642 women reporting on previous work in a recent New York study, 51 per cent had never worked
outside their own homes; 15 per cent had worked in completely
13 New York.
Department of Labor.
Home Work in the Men's Clothing Industry in
New York and Rochester.
Special bul. 147, August, 1926, pp. 9 and 10.
THE
WORKERS
5
dissimilar occupations, such as domestic service, mercantile or clerical work, or dressmaking; 19 per cent had worked in factories but
at different work; and only 18 per cent had been employed in factories at work similar to that which they were doing at home.14 A
large proportion of these workers, therefore, are not helped by past
industrial experience to know the opportunities for employment
and to make the best use of them.
In many cases language difficulties handicap these people in the
job market. Moreover, working as individuals they inevitably
are in poor position to bargain for their labor. Their competition
for work, in industries of very irregular employment, makes low
rates of pay possible, while long hours of work and the illegal employment of children are evils all too often found as accompaniments.
Industrial home work flourishes chiefly in the tenement districts
of the great cities, among foreign families or other unskilled, lowpaid groups. Numerous studies have found the largest groups of
home workers to be Italians, while many other foreign workers,
white Americans, and negroes also are engaged in industrial work
in their homes. Of approximately 21,500 home workers in New
York State in 1926-27 about 11,000 were reported to be Italian,
4,800 Jewish, and 2,400 "American," no other group having as many
as 900.15 Of 670 home workers studied in New York State in 1928
the foreign born constituted 62 per cent and three-fourths of the
native born were of foreign parentage.16 In Pennsylvania in 1924,
of 618 fathers of children engaged in industrial home work more
than half were Italians. Nearly a third of the 618 were native
born.17
Much industrial home work consists of very simple processes or
can easily be subdivided into simple processes. As a result it is
feasible for members of the family of all ages and degrees of skill
to take part, and the illegal employment of child labor is found frequently and is very difficult to prevent. New York inspections in
the year 1926-27 disclosed 175 children under 16 illegally employed
on home work, 57 of them ranging from 10 down to 4 years.18 In
1923 an investigation of 2,169 New York home-workers' families
found children engaged on home work in 22.6 per cent of the 1,591
families reporting children of over 5 and under 16 years; 93 per cent
of the children were illegally employed, 79 per cent being under 14
years and 35 per cent 10 years or under.19 In Pennsylvania violations of the child labor law were found in one-fourth of the 1,230
home-working families with children under 16 inspected in 1927.20
14 Ibid., p. 29.
See also U. S. Department of Labor. Women's Bureau. The Immigrant
Woman and Her Job. Bui. 74, 1929, pp. 138-158.
15 New York.
Department of Labor. Annual Report of the Industrial Commissioner
for the 12 Months Ended June 30, 1927. Report of the division of home-work inspection,
1927, p. 252.
36 Ibid.
Some Social and Economic Aspects of Home Work.
Special bul. 158, February,
1929, pp. 8 and 10.
17 Pennsylvania.
Department of Labor and Industry.
Industrial Home Work and
Child Labor.
Special bul. 11, 1926, pp. 5 and 11.
See also U. S. Department of Labor, Children's Bureau. Child Labor in New Jersey,
part 2. Children engaged in industrial home work. Bul. 185, 1928, pp. 15 and 58 ; and
Colson, Myra Hill, Negro Home Workers in Chicago. In Social Service Review, September,
1928, pp. 385-413.
18 New York.
Department of Labor. Annual Report of the Industrial Commissioner
for the 12 Months Ended June 30, 1927. Report of the division of home-work inspection,
1927, p. 254.
19 New York State Commission to Examine Laws Relating to Child Welfare.
Third
annual report, Apr. 9, 1924, pp. 35 and 52.
20 Pennsylvania.
Department of Labor and Industry.
Labor and Industry, March.
?
J928, p. 15.
6
INDUSTRIAL H O M E
WORK
And a study in New Jersey in 1925 found that in 628 homes 63 per
cent of the workers were children under 16, almost one-fourth of
these being under 10 years.21
Reasons for doing home work.
The causes that induce women to undertake industrial work in
their homes are of the sort that take other women into factories,
chiefly the pressure of family needs that can not be met from other
family income.22 Inadequate earnings of the husband, illness, unemployment, all play their part. Often family convenience keeps the
woman at home rather than in factory work, in order to care for
young children or old or disabled members or the household. Custom and habit have a very important part, for in many cases industrial home work is the accepted thing while factory work appears
strange, unsuitable, and repugnant. Some home workers are handicapped by age or physical disability and find in wrork at home an
occupation and source of income, but they are in the minority.
The recent study of the Bureau of Women in Industry in New
York is illuminating on these points.23 Of 670 home workers interviewed 83 per cent worked to supplement inadequate family income
and 13 per cent for extra spending money, while in 4 per cent of the
cases the earnings from home work were the sole source of support.
The women reported also as to why they took home work rather than
factory or other employment outside their homes. Care of the children was given by 56 per cent of the women as their reason for
working at home, care of the home by 20 per cent, and physical disability or old age by 20 per cent. Other women worked at home
because it meant freedom to regulate their own work, because it was
more in line with the social tradition of their group, because of lack
of experience or inability to speak English, because of inability to
secure outside jobs (investigation was made during a period of widespread unemployment), or because of other duties that kept them
at home.
EARNINGS
Several studies give evidence on home workers' earnings. These
usually are the earnings of the family group, since ordinarily the
work of individuals is not separated. Trie 1924 report of the New
York State Commission to Examine Laws Relating to Child Welfare
contributes the following: 24
Granting, for the sake of argument, that the income from home work is
necessary by reason of the economic status of these families, we properly may
seek information as to the amount of earnings obtained from this source. It may
be surprising to those uninformed on the subject, to find that 1,520 families
visited, or 85 per cent, received less than $500 a year from home work, while
21 U. S. Department of Labor.
Children's Bureau. Child Labor in New Jersey, part 2.
Children engaged in industrial home work. Bui. 185, 1928, pp. 4 and 58.
22 Pennsylvania.
Department of Labor and Industry. Labor and Industry, April,
1927, pp. 1 0 - 1 3 ; and U. S. Department of Labor. Children's Bureau. Child Labor in
New Jersey, part 2. Children engaged in industrial hona-e work. Bui. 185, 1928, pp.
61-55.
23 New York.
Department of Labor.
Some Social and Economic Aspects of Home
Work.
Special bul. 158, February, 1929. pp. 6 - 7 and 1 2 - 1 8 .
24 New York State Commission
to Examine Laws Relating to Child Welfare.
Third
annual report, Apr. 9, 1924, p. 70.
EARNINGS
7
1,074 families, or 60 per cent, earned less than $300 annually from tenement
manufacturing. Does the addition of six to ten dollars a week to the family
income compensate for the attendant evils of the home-work system?
The New York State Department of Labor found that in the men's
clothing industry in New York City for the year ended June 80, 1925,
home workers averaged weekly earnings of over $10, about one-third
the earnings of factory workers.25 In the more recent report from
New York the median earnings of individual home workers in a
usual week were $6.19 for all industries and ranged from $12.50 in
the men's neckwear industry down to $3.88 in the making of powder
puffs.26 The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry in
1924 found that among 599 families with children working illegally
86 per cent of the families earned less than $10 a week, while one
of every three families earned under $4 a week.27 Another study, in
1928, reported on hours and earnings of 820 home-working families
in Pennsylvania. The report concluded as follows:
Industrial home wTork was rarely a full-time occupation, but it was as much
the irregular receipt of the work as the demands of household responsibilities
which determined its part-time nature. The earnings from home work were
low. The median hourly rate of pay for all workers was 16 cents; it was only
6 cents in one industry and never above 21 cents in any industry. The median
weekly earnings for adult individual workers were $4.40. Where the weekly
earnings were the result of the combined efforts of more than one member of
the family, the median was $5.25. The irregular hours of work and the earnings as reported in this study show conclusively that industrial home work is
not making any important contribution to the economic stabilization of homeworking families.28
The United States Children's Bureau, in its study in New Jersey
in 1925, secured information on annual earnings from home work
from 334 families. Less than 5 per cent of the families earned $500
or more, while 46 per cent earned less than $100 and 23 per cent less
than $50.29 The report sums up the problem in the followingwords.80
Whether the earnings from home work were more necessary in the families
interviewed than in others in the same locality in which the children did not
work there was no way to determine, but it is apparent, if the families visited
can be taken as a fair example, that the great majority of the industrial home
workers are very near the border line of economic dependence and that in
many families the pressure of unemployment, ill health, and low wages is
sufficiently great to cause parents to turn to home work. But home workers
earn so little as a rule that home work offers no solution of the problem of
family dependency. Bearing in mind the fact that the burden of the work
falls very often upon the mothers of young children and on the children themselves, it could not be regarded as offering an adequate solution even if the
earnings added appreciably to the family income. More adequate relief
measures are needed in cases where the father's earnings are insufficient to
support the family or where illness, widowhood, or desertion creates a special
need, while persistent thought is given to the solution of unemployment, a living
wage for unskilled work, and other economic problems.
25 New York.
Department of Labor.
H o m e W o r k in the Men's Clothing Industry in
N e w Y o r k and Rochester.
Special bul. 147, August, 1926, p. 36.
26 Ibid.
Some Social and E c o n o m i c Aspects of H o m e W o r k .
Special bul. 158, F e b r u a r y ,
1929, p. 24.
27 Pennsylvania.
D e p a r t m e n t of L a b o r and Industry.
Industrial H o m e W o r k and
Child Labor.
Special bul. 11, 1926, pp. 5 and 22.
28 McConnell, Beatrice.
H o u r s of W o r k and Earnings of W o m e n E m p l o y e d in I n d u s t r i a l
Home Work.
L a b o r and Industry, June, 1929, p. 10.
29 U. S. D e p a r t m e n t of Labor.
Children's Bureau.
Child L a b o r in New Jersey, part 2.
Children engaged in industrial h o m e work. Bul. 185, 1928, pp. 4 and 46.
80 Ibid., pp. 54—55.
8
INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK
HAZARDS TO PUBLIC HEALTH
Questions of sanitation and health also are important phases of
the industrial-home-work problem. Studies in recent years have
found the majority of homes visited clean and in fairly good condition, but always some are found that show evidences of filth or other
neglect or in which work has continued while communicable diseases
were present. Recent investigations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania found articles being made in homes where diseases such as
measles, whooping cough, scarlet fever, influenza, tuberculosis,
syphillis, and gonorrhea were in existence.81 Such conditions, even
though found in only a small minority of cases, point to serious
possibilities of danger to public health.
A statement from Massachusetts is typical of the lack of definite
information on hazards to public health or to the health of workers
under the home-work system of production. As in most States,
neither the department of labor nor the department of health has
made studies of these questions.
There is no well-defined information available as to the spread of communicable or contagious diseases through the agency of wearing apparel made in
the home. The difficulty in seeking such information is obvious. It is almost
impossible to prove that the onset of disease may be traced to contact with
£erms under these conditions. There are circumstances in which it would be
perfectly sound to believe potential danger existed in contact with garments
made where exposure to contagious disease prevailed. This opinion has been
expressed to me by an official connected with the department of public health
in this State. There is no record available in the department of labor and
industries or in the department of public health that would be helpful. The
spread of communicable disease comes within the activities of the department of
public health in Massachusetts. It is only the diseases of industry arising out
of and in course of employment that are covered in the jurisdiction of the department of labor and industries. In this department there is no record of
occupational diseases among home workers, * * * nothing has come to our
attention that would justify making an investigation. The employment is intermittent in character and is usually done under circumstances free from
physical danger.82
In Newark the department of health cooperates with the State department of labor in making home-work inspections. On the bases
of these investigations, the city health officer still holds to the following statement,33 which he made in 1923, in regard to home work and
the health of the workers:
Whatever objections there may be to sweatshop work from a labor or economic standpoint they are far outweighed by the extreme menace to the health
of the sweatshop worker. There are few tenement buildings in point of light,
ventilation, and general sanitary condition suitable for any kind of home work.
The average tenement rooms in large cities are overcrowded at best; they are
frequently dark and nearly always unventilated and overheated. The great
majority of these workers have household duties to perform and must snatch
whatever hours are available either from what should be really periods of
rest or sleep. It is not strictly true that the sweatshop worker is an economic
misfit for many could suitably work in factories were the time available from
31 See Pennsylvania.
Department of Labor and Industry.
Industrial Home W o r k and
Child Labor. Special bul. 11, 1926, pp. 2 3 - 2 6 : U. S. Department of Labor.
Children's
Bureau. Child Labor in New Jersey, part 2. Children engaged in industrial home work.
Bul. 185. 1928, pp. 5 6 - 5 7 ; New York State Commission to Examine Laws Relating to
Child Welfare. Third Annual Report, Apr. 9, 1924, pp. 7 6 - 7 7 and 79.
82 Letter f r o m John P. Meade, director, division
of industrial safety, Massachusetts
Department of Labor and Industries, July 9, 1929.
Craster, Charles V. The Home Sweatshop and its Health Problems. In Nation's
Health, May 15, 1924, pp. 306-307 ; and letter of June 7, 1929.
DIFFICULTIES OF REGULATION
9
other duties or family ties. The work is at the same time attractive to the
sjckly and diseased who are enabled to work only when their condition permits,
and who find the elastic hours of sweatshop labor the only form of labor they
can accomplish. * * *
The investigation of sweatshops showed that this work is carried on in places
where " in a large majority, under insanitary conditions, there can be no doubt
as to the spread of disease of one nature or another."
In Illinois, where the department of health's sanitary codes applying to factories, workshops, and wholesale and retail food establishments cover all places where industrial home work occurs, the
department of health found, in 1929 nut sheliers, Mexican tortilla
makers, and doughnut makers and vendors doing work at home and
under crowded, insanitary conditions.34 These persons were forced
to cease operations.
DIFFICULTIES OF REGULATION
The industrial-home-work system by its very nature calls for
public regulation. It is found in industries of seasonal and very
irregular employment, subject to fluctuation with changes in fashion
or process.35 It is used by employers to secure rapid expansion and
contraction of the working force without providing overhead and
taking full responsibility for a stable group of workers. The employers are numerous, most of them operating in a rather small way
with few factory employees, unstable and adjusting quickly to
market changes. The home workers are chiefly women, aided in
many cases by children, and they are engaged for the most part in
simple operations. They are a group with little industrial experience, handicapped in the job market by that inexperience and by
home responsibilities, sometimes by physical disabilities, by language,
and by custom. The pressure of family needs, however, compels
them to seek work, while their low earnings reflect the fact that,
working as individuals rather than as a group, they are poor bargainers in the labor market. Low wages, unregulated hours, poor
working conditions, and child labor are familiar aspects of this
system of production, which carries with it possibilities of menace
to public health.
The same facts that produce a need for public regulation make the
home-work industries preeminently difficult to regulate. Irregular
production, large numbers of employers of an unstable, shifting
character, and an equally unstable group of workers scattered in
tenement homes present a difficult problem to attempts at control.
If the evils that always accompany unregulated industrial home
work are to be prevented and the home workers given the protection
that is set up for other workers through labor laws the States must
know the facts as to their own conditions and make continuous efforts
to control them. A few States have attacked their problem sufficiently to know its difficulties and to make progress toward its control. Some of the State reports are illuminating on these questions.
24 Letter f r o m
Industrial Commission of Illinois, Bureau of Statistics and Research
Dec. 31, 1929.
35 New
York.
D e p a r t m e n t of Labor.
Industrial Bulletin, June, 1928, pp. 2 7 7 - 2 7 8 ;
Pennsylvania.
Department of L a b o r and Industries.
Labor and Industry, April, 1927
pp. 8 - 1 3 ; and IT. S. D e p a r t m e n t of Labor.
Children's Bureau.
Child Labor in New
Jersey, part 2. Children engaged in industrial home w o r k . Bui. 185, 1928, pp. 1 1 - 1 3
and 3 1 - 3 2 .
10
INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK
From New York come two significant statements.
follows:
The first is as
This problem is one of more than routine inspection. It is one which, as
before stated, involves continuous study and investigation such as the bureau
of women in industry is in a position to undertake. Most of the home workers
are either women or children, and to place the supervision of manufacturing
in tenements under the bureau of women in industry would give to the administration of the laws a new viewpoint that would be most beneficial.
* * * The bureau should not alone carry on the routine work of inspection but it should study continuously the health, the social, and the economic
aspects of this problem. In doing this it should of course work in close cooperation with the city and state departments of health and with the many
social and civic organizations which for many years have been interested in
this problem. 36
The second has to do with the men's clothing industry:
The fact that in many industries in New York State work is carted to homes
where articles are wholly or partially made and then carted back to the factory,
creates not only a complex industrial situation but problems which are especially
difficult of solution. Many States, as has New York, have written into their
labor law certain minimum legal standards for the control of industrial home
work. But the very conditions under which the work is carried on make it
elusive of control. * * *
Although modern industrial development has resulted in transferring in
great part the making of men's clothing from the home to the factory, earlier
methods of production persist nevertheless, based upon certain conveniences
to the worker, certain advantages and economies to the employer. As home
work assumes a minor place in the detail of production, employers are generally oblivious of the implications involved in the system or of the extent to
which the practice exists in their own shop or in the industry. Workers also
are uninformed as to the exact status of home-work employment in the industry,
although efforts have been made by unions to abolish the giving out of work.87
From Pennsylvania also are two statements that reach the heart of
the problem. The first stresses the importance of educating employers and workers:
The organization of industrial home work in accordance with the laws and
regulations of the department of labor and industry is not simple. Supervision of work that is not done in the factory proper is a difficult task. Observance of the law is largely a matter of education. Employers must be made
to realize that the standards of employment for women and children as set
up by this Commonwealth can not be disregarded by the simple expedient of
sending out work to be done in the homes. Home-working families must be
instructed in the regulations and be made to see that the continuance of their
work depends on their obedience to the law.*3
The second concerns the administration of regulatory laws:
Since the labor supply in industrial home work is essentially one of women
and children and since the administration of home-work legislation is one that
involves continuous study and investigation rather than routine inspection,
the administration of these regulations has been turned over to the bureau of
women and children of the department of labor and industry. A special investigation force has been developed to look after the enforcement of the laws and
regulations, and cooperate with the employers in meeting the problems that
arise in the regulation of conditions of labor in the homes.
The State of Pennsylvania is determined that the labor of its women and
children shall be carried on under the best possible conditions. Whether the
30 New York
State Commission to Examine L a w s R e l a t i n g to Child W e l f a r e .
Third
annual report. A p r . 8, 1924, p. 79.
New Y o r k
D e p a r t m e n t of Labor.
H o m e W o r k in the Men's Clothing I n d u s t r y in
N e w " Y o r k and Rochester.
Special bul. 147, August, 1926, pp. 6 - 7 .
ss Pennsylvania.
D e p a r t m e n t of L a b o r and I n d u s t r y .
L a b o r and Industry, M a r c h ,
1927, p. 13.
REPORT OF ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL, LABOR OFFICIALS
11
ind u s trial-h ome-work system is good or bad, it is, and the problem is how can
it best be controlled The department of labor and industry has attempted to
meet the problem by adopting regulations, and providing machinery to enforce
them. The system of administration, involving constant investigation, should
provide a scientific basis for deciding whether the condition of labor in homes
can be controlled or whether the whole idea of factory work in the home is
obsolete and should be abolished.89
The essence of the problem of control is to put the responsibility
for observance of the laws on the employers who give out home work.
When the cooperation of the employers is secured through a campaign of education substantial progress can be made toward elimination of some of the evils of the home-work system.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE OP ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTAL LABOR OFFICIALS
In February, 1926, the Association of Governmental Labor Officials of the United States and Canada appointed a committee "to
look into the question of industrial home work, the extent to which
such work is conducted in the various States, and the methods being
taken to deal with the situation * * *." In the time intervening
before the annual convention in June the committee conducted an
investigation by questionnaire to the State labor officials, The report
made to the convention summarized the information secured and
made certain recommendations. The essential parts of the report are
quoted here.40
Answers to the questionnaire indicate that except for sparsely populated
agricultural and mining States industrial home work of some sort is to be
found in almost every part of the country. Specific information on the extent,
kinds, and conditions of home work, however, is reported as not available in
most of the States, and complete information on these points can not be said
to be available for any State. Except from a very few States nothing was
learned as to the extent of interstate shipment of goods to be worked on in
homes, information regarding which was requested. * * *
Replies to the questionnaire and examination of the laws of the various States
show that 14 States have some sort of regulation of industrial home work.
These are California, a Connecticut,b Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,b Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and
Wisconsin.
In general, these regulations relate to cleanliness and sanitary conditions
of the work place, to freedom from infectious and contagious disease, and
(less commonly) to adequate lighting and ventilation and number of cubic
feet of air space to be allowed per worker. In most of the States a license
or permit must be obtained from the State authority enforcing the labor laws,
either by the worker (Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey) or by
the employer or person giving out home work (California,® Indiana, New York,
Pennsylvania, Wisconsin), this license indicating that the standards of the law
have been met.
Observance of certain of the standards of the labor laws relating to women
and children is sometimes made a condition of the issuance and holding of
a permit to give out home work. Inspection is relied upon as the method
a In California the regulatory measure consists o f an order of t h e industrial
welfare
commission acting under its power to regulate the w a g e s and conditions of e m p l o y m e n t
of women and m i n o r s ; in the o t h e r States they consist of State laws, supplemented, in
some instances, by rulings of State boards.
b T h e Connecticut and Ohio laws, however, have no application t o the members of
the
f a m i l y living; in the home where the w o r k is done.
c In C a l i f o r n i a the pern.it m u s t b e obtained f r o m the industrial welfare
commission,
w h i c h issued the home-work order.
S9 Ibid.
Industrial H o m e W o r k and Child Labor. Special bul. 11, 1926, pp. 2 9 - 3 0 .
40 U. S. Bureau of L a b o r Statistics.
Proceedings of Thirteenth Annual Convention of
A s s o c i a t i o n of Governmental L a b o r Officials of the United States and Canada.
Held at
Columbus, Ohio, J u n e 7 - 1 0 , 1926. Bul. 429, 1927, pp. 3 4 - 4 0 .
12
INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK
of discovering whether the standards set by the law are continuously complied with.
In California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey,
New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin (and perhaps in other States by
administrative practice) the employer is required to keep a register of the
persons to whom home work is given by him, containing their names and
addresses, and in some States certain other information. It is usually stated
that this register shall be accessible to the inspector. In Massachusetts this
register must be sent monthly to the State labor department; in Pennsylvania
it must be sent to the labor department quarterly.
Answers to questions 8 and 9 ( " What is your opinion as to the effectiveness
of these regulations?" and " What would you suggest as the most effective type
of regulation on this subject?") were on the whole disappointing. The most
significant information yielded was that no uniformity of opinion existed as
to the best method of regulation even where there was a recognized industrial-home-work problem and where regulation existed.
In brief, the information obtained from the State labor officials and other
sources leads the committee to the following conclusions in regard to the
two matters it was especially instructed to inquire into—the extent of the
home-work problem and the methods of dealing with the situation that are
in effect.
First. As to the information available regarding the extent and conditions
of industrial home work in the United States at the present time:
1. Industrial home work is without question a live problem in many sections
of the United States.
2. In most localities in which it has arisen, serious evils have been found
to follow from its practice.
3. However, information as to its prevalence, the numbers and kinds of
workers engaged in it, the conditions under which the work is done, the
industries affected, and the interstate aspects of the problem is either lacking
entirely or admittedly inadequate in many sections of the country, even in
States where the existence of home work (at least in some industries) is
known to the State authorities, and even in States where the existence of a
home-work problem has been recognized in the enactment of prohibitory or
regulatory legislation.
4. Therefore no complete report as to the extent and conditions of home
work in this country can be made, and further investigation on the subject is
urged.
Second. As to the methods in effect of dealing with the situation:
1. Some system of legal regulation is unquestionably necessary, at least in
States where the industrial-home-work problem exists.
2. Certain minimum standards of legal regulation may be agreed upon on the
basis of the experience of the States up to the present time.
3. However, no general agreement among the State officials and other authorities appears to exist as to the most effective program for the correction
of the evils of industrial home work, and no information is available that can
enable the committee to judge conclusively as to the relative effectiveness of
the different methods in operation.
RECOMMENDATIONS
In view of the facts brought out by the inquiry, the committee on
industrial* home work decided to place chief emphasis " upon the
need for further information as to the facts of industrial home work
and as to effective methods of correcting the evils found to exist
wherever home work is undertaken on any extensive scale. * * * "
It made as its chief recommendation a continuation of the study of
the industrial-home-work problem by the association and its membership in the various States. In addition the committee strongly
recommended that a study of the comparative effectiveness of the
different types of home-work regulation should be undertaken by
some independent research organization, working in cooperation
RECOMMENDATIONS
13
with the State agencies but assuming full responsibility for the
investigation and report.
Finally, the committee presented a set of minimum standards of
regulation recommended pending further research. This part of
the report follows:
Minimum standards of regulation recommended pending further research.
Although the members of the committee felt that the facts at their command
at the present time were insufficient to enable them to recommend a complete
legislative program, certain minimum standards of regulation operative in some
States at the present time were agreed upon by all members of the committee
as desirable, at least pending the study of regulatory machinery that is necessary before a more considered program can be recommended.
Before enumerating the standards agreed upon, mention should be made of
two methods of control not covered in these recommendations:
First, although certain members of the committee were of the opinion, many
times expressed by numerous governmental and other authorities as the result
of careful study of the problem, that the cure of the evils of home work could
probably be achieved only through the legal prohibition of all kinds of factory
work in the home, the committee as a whole was of the opinion that no stand
could be taken on this point without a more thorough knowledge of the
effectiveness of less drastic methods of control. Moreover, the great difficulty of securing the passage of prohibitory legislation makes necessary for
practical reasons the consideration of other and more easily obtainable
measures.
Second, the application of minimum-wage legislation to industrial home work,
regarded in countries in which it has been tried as a relatively successful
measure of regulation, has not been given serious cons deration by the committee as a method of controlling the home-work problem in the United States
at the present time because of the present constitutional status of legislation
of this kind.
Following are the minimum standards of regulation unanimously agreed
upon by the committee:
1. Absolute prohibition of the manufacture of certain kinds of articles in
the homes is necessary for sanitary reasons, either for the protection of the
consumer, as in the case of foodstuffs, certain articles of clothing, etc., or
for the protection of the worker in cases where poisonous or otherwise injurious
materials are used in manufacture of the goods concerned.
2. All labor laws of a State, including legislation regulating child labor
and the hours of labor of women, workmen's compensation or employer's liability laws, minimum-wage legislation, and the legal standards for safety,
sanitation, and working conditions, should apply to industrial wTork of all
kinds done in the home as well as to that done in the factory.
3. Responsibility for full compliance with such laws and with any special
regulations applicable to home work should be placed upon the manufacturer
for whom the work is done, irrespective of whether the work is given out by
him directly or through another person. He should be required to keep on file
a register containing the names, addresses, and ages of all homo workers
employed on work for him, the kind and amount of work done, rate of pay
and actual wages paid, together with such additional information as the
department of labor may require, accessible to inspectors of the department,
and should send a copy of this register periodically to the labor department.
No employer or contractor should be permitted to give out home work who is
not licensed to do so by the State department of labor and no employer should
be licensed to give out home work who does not enforce compliance with all
the requirements of the labor law applicable to home work in the homes in
which work is done for him.
4. Adequate authority for the enforcement of all laws applying to factory
work done in homes should be given by law to the State labor department,
and an adequate inspection staff should be provided for this work. Periodic
inspections of places where home work is done should be made. It is believed
that in States where the industrial-home-work problem is an extensive one,
the appointment of a special staff of inspectors who will devote their entire
time to the enforcement of the regulations applicable to home work will result
in greater efficiency of administration than when the work is handled by
regular factory inspectors assigned also to other duties.
14
INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK
5. Local boards of health shall notify the State labor department daily of
all cases of communicable disease occurring in the locality over which they
have jurisdiction, giving the name and address of the person suffering from
the disease, and the State labor department shall report immediately to employers the names and addresses of all home workers registered as employed
by them in whose homes such disease exists.
(}. A tag or label giving the name and address of the manufacturer, the nature
and quantity of the goods, and the name and address of the worker or workers
to whom the goods are given out to be worked on shall be placed upon each
unit of delivery or shipment to a home worker, and this label shall not be
removed until the work has been completed and returned to the employer.
7. "The members of the committee did not feel sufficiently certain of the
'effectiveness of the different systems now in operation in a number of States
whereby individual families or residences are licensed for home work by the
-State labor department to recommend the adoption of a specific method of
regulation of this type. The committee is, however, of the opinion that this
-machinery should certainly be retained by the States in which it is now operating until such time as more effective methods of enforcement have been worked
'out by these States.
At the convention in 1927 a supplementary report of the committee
on industrial home work included a useful summary of the information obtained by the committee from the States. References to
previous studies and information on the existing home-work situation and on the legal regulations in the various States were included.
The report of the committee was adopted by the association.41
41 TJ. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Proceedings of Fourteenth A n n u a l Convention of
Association of Governmental Labor Officials of the I ' n i t e d States and Canada.
Held a t
Paterson, N. JM May 31 t o June 3. 1927. Bul. 455, 1927 t pp. 7 3 - 9 6 .
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INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK
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LIST OP BEFERENCES
17
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Proceedings of Twelfth Annual Convention of Association of Governmental Labor Officials of the United States and Canada, August 13-15,
1925. Pp. 110-111.
U . S . DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
WOMEN'S
BUREAU.
Bul. 74. The Immigrant Woman and Her Job. Washington, Government Printing Office. 1929. Pp. 138-158. Industrial work in the
home.
[UNSIGNED.]
A New Handle for Home Work.
97-99.
Rhode Island.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Survey, April 15, 1926.
Vol. 55:
CHILDREN'S BUREAU.
Publication No. 100. Industrial Home Work of Children. A study
made in Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls, R. I. Washington,
Government Printing Office. 1922. 80 pp.
Wisconsin.
COMMONS, J O H N
R.
Results of the Wisconsin Minimum-Wage Law. In National Consumers' League, State Minimum-Wage Laws in Practice. New York,,
June, 1924. Pp. 117 and 120-121.
INDUSTRIAL
COMMISSION.
Biennial Report, 1924r-1926.
Madison, 1926.
Pp. 34-85.
PUBLICATIONS OF T H E WOMEN'S B U R E A U
[ A n y of these bulletins still available will be sent free of charge upon r e q u e s t ]
•No. 1. Proposed Employment of Women During the War in the Industries of
Niagara Falls, N. Y. 16 pp. 1918.
No. 2. Labor Laws for Women in Industry in Indiana. 29 pp. 1919.
No. 3. Standards for the Employment of Women in Industry. 8 pp. Third
ed., 1921.
No. 4. Wages of Candy Makers in Philadelphia in 1919. 46 pp. 1919.
•No. 5. The Eight-Hour Day in Federal and State Legislation. 19 pp. 1919.
No. 6. The Employment of Women in Hazardous Industries in the United
States. 8 pp. 1921.
No. 7. Night-Work Laws in the United States. (1919.) 4 pp. 1920.
•No. 8. Women in the Government Service. 37 pp. 1920.
*No. 9. Home Work in Bridgeport, Conn. 35 pp. 1920.
*No. 10. Hours and Conditions of Work for Women in Industry in Virginia.
32 pp. 1920.
No. 11. Women Street-Car Conductors and Ticket Agents. 90 pp. 1921.
•No. 12. The New Position of Women in American Industry. 158 pp. 1920.
No. 13. Industrial Opportunities and Training for Women and Girls. 48 pp.
1921.
•No. 14. A Physiological Basis for the Shorter Working Day for Women. 20
pp. 1921.
No. 15. Some Effects of Legislation Limiting Hours of Work for Women. 26
pp. 1921.
No. 16. (See Bulletin 63.)
No. 17. Women's Wages in Kansas. 104 pp. 1921.
•No. 18. Health Problems of Women in Industry. 11 pp. 1921.
No. 19. Iowa Women in Industry. 73 pp. 1922.
•No. 20. Negro Women in Industry. 65 pp. 1922.
No. 21. Women in Rhode Island Industries. 73 pp. 1922.
•No. 22. Women in Georgia Industries. 89 pp. 1922.
No. 23. The Family Status of Breadwinning Women. 43 pp. 1922.
No. 24. Women in Maryland Industries. 96 pp. 1922.
No. 25. Women in the Candy Industry in Chicago and St. Louis. 72 pp. 1923.
No. 26. Women in Arkansas Industries. 86 pp. 1923.
No. 27. The Occupational Progress of Women. 37 pp. 1922.
No. 28. Women's Contributions in the Field of Invention. 51 pp. 1923.
No. 29. Women in Kentucky Industries. 114 pp. 1923.
No. 30. The Share of Wage-Earning Women in Family Support. 170 pp. 1923.
No. 31. What Industry Means to Women Workers. 10 pp. 1923.
No. 32. Women in South Carolina Industries. 128 pp. 1923.
No. 33. Proceedings of the Women's Industrial Conference. 190 pp. 1923.
No. 34. Women in Alabama Industries. 86 pp. 1924.
No. 35. Women in Missouri Industries. 127 pp. 1924.
No. 36. Radio Talks on Women in Industry. 34 pp. 1924.
No. 37. Women in New Jersey Industries. 99 pp. 1924.
No. 38. Married Women in Industry. 8 pp. 1924.
No. 39. Domestic Workers and Their Employment Relations. 87 pp. 1924.
No. 40. (See Bulletin 63.)
No. 41. Family Status of Breadwinning Women in Four Selected Cities. 145
pp. 1925.
No. 42. List of References on Minimum Wage for Women in the United States
and Canada. 42 pp. 1925.
No. 43. Standard and Scheduled Hours of Work for Women in Industry. 68
pp. 1925.
No. 44. Women in Ohio Industries. 137 pp. 1925.
• Supply exhausted.
19
INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK
20
No. 45. Home Environment and Employment Opportunities of Women in CoalMine Workers' Families. 61 pp. 1925.
No. 46. Facts about Working Women—A Graphic Presentation Based on Census Statistics. 64 pp. 1925.
No. 47. Women in the Fruit-Growing and Canning Industries in the State of
Washington. 223 pp. 1926.
*No. 48. Women in Oklahoma Industries. 118 pp. 1926.
No. 49. Women Workers and Family Support. 10 pp. 1925.
No. 50. Effects of Applied Research Upon the Employment Opportunities of
American Women. 54 pp. 1926.
No. 51. Women in Illinois Industries. 108 pp. 1926.
No. 52. Lost Time and Labor Turnover in Cotton Mills. 203 pp. 1926.
No. 53. The Status of Women in the Government Service in 1925. 103 pp.
1926.
No. 54. Changing Jobs. 12 pp. 1926.
No. 55. Women in Mississippi Industries. 89 pp. 1926.
No. 56. Women in Tennessee Industries. 120 pp. 1927.
No. 57. Women Workers and Industrial Poisons. 5 pp. 1926.
No. 58. Women in Delaware Industries. 156 pp. 1927.
No. 59. Short Talks About Working Women. 24 pp. 1927.
No. 60. Industrial Accidents to Women in New Jersey, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
316 pp. 1927.
No. 61. The Development of Minimum-Wage Laws in the United States, 1912
to 1927. 635 pp. 1928. Price 90 cents.
No. 62. Women's Emplovment in Vegetable Canneries in Delaware. 47 pp.
1927.
No. 63. State Laws Affecting Working Women. 51 pp. 1927. (Revision of
Bulletins 16 and 40.)
No. 64. The Employment of Women at Night. 86 pp. 1928.
*No. 65. The Effects of Labor Legislation on the Employment Opportunities of
Women. 498 pp. 1928.
No. 66. History of Labor Legislation for Women in Three States; Chronological Development of Labor Legislation for Women in the United
States. 288 pp. 1929.
No. 67. Women Workers in Flint, Mich. 80 pp. 1928.
No. 68. Summary: The Effects of Labor Legislation on the Employment Opportunities of Women. (Reprint of Chapter 2 of bulletin 65.) 22
pp. 1928.
No. 69. Causes of Absence for Men and for Women in Four Cotton Mills. 24
pp. 1929.
No. 70. Negro Women in Industry in 15 States. 74 pp. 1929.
No. 71. Selected References on the Health of Women in Industry. 8 pp. 1929.
No. 72. Conditions of Work in Spin Rooms. 41 pp. 1929.
No. 73. Variations in Employment Trends of Women and Men. 143 pp. 1929.
No. 74. The Immigrant Woman and Her Job. 179 pp. 1929.
No. 75. What the Wage-Earning Woman Contributes to Family Support. 20
pp. 1929.
No. 76. Women in 5-and-10-Cent Stores and Limited-Price Chain Department
Stores. 58 pp. 1929.
No. 77. A Study of Two Groups of Denver Married Women Applying for Jobs.
10 pp. 1929.
No. 78. A Survey of Laundries and Their Women Workers in 23 Cities. (In
press.)
No. 79. Industrial Home Work. 20 pp. 1930.
Annual Reports of the Director, 1919*, 1920*, 1921*, 1922, 1923, 1924*, 1925,
1926, 1927*, 1928*, 1929.
» Supply exhausted,
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