Full text of Industrial Home Work in Rhode Island: With Special Reference to the Lace Industry : Women's Bureau Bulletin, No. 131

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
WOMEN’S BUREAU
Bulletin No. X31

INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK
IN RHODE ISLAND




WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE
TO THE LACE INDUSTRY

State Teacher* ColW* 1 ^*^ty

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
FRANCES PERKINS, Secretary

WOMEN’S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Director

♦

INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK
IN RHODE ISLAND
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
THE LACE INDUSTRY

By
HARRIET A. BYRNE
AND

BERTHA BLAIR

[Anns oj.
Bulletin

of the

Women’s Bureau, No. 131

UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1935

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




Price 5 cents




CONTENTS
Page

Letter of transmittal
Part I.—Introduction and summary
1
Scope and method
2
Summary
3
Part II.—Homework in the lace industry-------------------------------------------------Introduction
4
Number of homeworkers
7
Personal information
8
Earnings from homework 10
Methods of delivery and collection 15
Economic status of lace-workers’ households--------------------------------------Part III.—Homework other than lace 20
Introduction 20
The homeworkers and their families 21
Earnings 23
Appendix—Agreement drawn up by lace manufacturers for homeworkers
to sign 27

v

4

16

TABLES
1. Piece rate, time required, and hourly earnings of 25 homeworkers on lace._
2. Week’s earnings from lace homework according to number of persons who
did the work 14
3. Week’s earnings of families from work other than lace-homework, (1) by
number of persons whose earnings are represented, and (2) by size of
family 18
4. Week’s earnings of families and proportion that lace-homework earnings
were of total 18
5. Week’s earnings of lace-homework families from all types of employment,
by size of family_________________________________
6. Piece rate, time required, and hourly earnings of homeworkers on flowers
and tags 24
7. Week’s earnings from homework other than lace according to number of
homeworkers in family 25




hi

12

19




LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
United States Department of Labor,
t
Women’s Bureau,

Washington, February 11, 1985.

I have the honor to transmit the report of this Bureau’s
survey of industrial home work in Rhode Island.
As you are aware, the code for the lace industry did not prohibit
home work. Special hearings on the subject in March of last year
showed the need for more detailed information about the industry.
Haying received a request from Rhode Island for a study of home
work in that State, where a large part of the lace output is produced,
the Bureau sent investigators there, who made a State-wide survey,
including pay-roll records and home interviews. The accompanying
report is based on their findings.
I acknowledge with grateful appreciation the cooperation of the
home workers, the employing firms, and other groups who supplied
information for the study.
The survey was conducted by Harriet A. Byrne, assisted by Bertha
Blair, and the report has been written by Miss Blair and Miss Byrne.
Respectfully submitted.
Madam:

Hon. Frances Perkins,




Secretary of Labor.

Mary Anderson, Director.

INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK IN
RHODE ISLAND
Part I.—INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY
The practice of having work done in the homes instead of in the
factory always has been opposed by the Women’s Bureau. Its main
objection is based on the fact that effective regulation of home work
is impossible. For example, the regulation of hours of work that has
been satisfactorily enforced for factory workers in many States
obviously is out of the question so far as home workers are concerned.
Paid by the piece, home workers are tempted to put in longer hours of
work than would be permitted in the factory, and they often work far
into the night, a custom that has been abolished in many States in
the case of factory work. Frequently, too, long hours of night work
are made necessary because of the quantity of work sent out by the
factory, often late in the day, to be finished and returned the next
morning.
The regulation of wages is equally impracticable. Even though
rates for home work were the same as for similar work done in the
mill, which is rarely the case, many things contribute to make the
actual earnings of home workers much less than those of factory
workers. Often more is required of the home worker than of the
worker in the mill; for example, folding or other preparation for dis­
tribution, usually not done by the production employees in the factory.
More often, work done in the homes is not carried on in the factory,
so that wage rates arc not fixed by any standard that the mill might
have for its inside workers. The home workers themselves are at a
disadvantage through lack of organization, if not lack of communica­
tion. Because of this they have difficulty in knowing just what
wages they may rightly expect and in making any effective demand
for a change.
The prevention of child labor also is practically impossible under a
system of industrial home work. It is a temptation in families that
eke out their existence by home work to increase their pitifully small
earnings with the aid of even very small children.
The importance of regular inspections for violations of the law is
fully recognized by the Women’s Bureau.
Many codes adopted under authority of the N. R. A. by industries
where home work has been the practice call for its complete abolition.
In some instances the prohibition has been effective.
Lace is one of the industries that always have employed relatively
large numbers of home workers, but the code adopted by the industry
included no prohibition of home work. There were special hearings
on this particular phase of the industry in March 1934. Testimony
was given to show that the earnings in home work were extremely low
and that it should be abolished and taken into the factory to make




1

2

INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK IN RHODE ISLAND

regulation possible. Employers testified, on the other hand, that as
certain processes had always been done in the home, no provision had
been made for them in the factory building, and that the cost of such
provision would be too great at the present time. Others argued that
it would cause great hardship to many women who had worked on
lace all their lives and who would not be able to take employment
in a factory.
Still another argument presented against prohibition of home work
in the lace industry was that in many families it was the chief if not
the only source of income, and that to take it away would result in
their having to be given relief, either public or private. In this
connection one of the largest lace manufacturers interviewed quoted
the number of workers he had on his pay roll and the total amount
of their earnings for a maximum week some time previous to the visit,
indicating the great contribution this amount of money was to the
community. These facts had been given previously at the hearings
in Washington.
_
The hearings showed the need for more data about the lace industry.
The Women’s Bureau, therefore, in answer to a request from Rhode
Island for a study of home work there, sent investigators to that
State, where a large part of the lace output is produced.
SCOPE AND METHOD

The survey, conducted in April and May 1934, was not confined to
home work on lace. The entire State was covered to ascertain in
what other industries and to what extent home work was being done.
In Providence and Pawtucket, the two largest cities in the State,
which comprise an industrial unit, the junior high schools were can­
vassed as a source of names of home workers. Inquiries were made
also of various social agencies, both public and private. In addition,
visits were made to all firms known to give out home work.
Much the same plan was followed in the other communities through­
out the State, except that no schools were contacted, the earlier school
survey not having produced results of any value. Woonsocket,
Westerly and its immediate environs, Newport, Barrington, Bristol,
West Warwick and the adjacent town of Coventry, with the village
of Washington, all were covered.
The garter industry was the only one in which names were not
supplied by the plants; the names of these workers were secured from
the school lists. Home workers in the lace industry were so numerous
that only half of those whose names were furnished were visited, while
in the other industries all home workers were interviewed.
Schedules of information were made out at the homes visited where
a woman had been engaged in any form of home work since January
1, 1934. Data in detail regarding home work and other work pursued
by members of the families, as well as some personal information,
were secured.
In addition to these employees’ schedules, data were recorded for
the employers interviewed. From 10 of the 11 lace manufacturers
distributing home work at the time of the visit, pay-roll data for 1
week or more were obtained.
...
Statements of public relief received by families scheduled were
secured wherever possible.




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INTRODUCTION' AND SUMMARY

3

In Providence, where the manufacture of jewelry is carried on
extensively, there has been in the past a great deal of home work in
certain branches of the industry. The jewelry code prohibited home
work, and as far as agents were able to discover, after a very thorough
check on the situation, the prohibition had been effective. There
were reports that certain concerns were evading the code by selling
the jewelry outright to the home worker for a fixed amount and then
buying it back when it had been finished. No instance of this was
found by the Women’s Bureau agents, and if it was being done it
was very much under cover.
Of the home work that was discovered, by far the greatest amount
was being done on lace, and this report is primarily a report on home
work in the lace industry. Five kinds of home work in addition to
lace were found (see p. 20), but the number of workers was relatively
small. Some were working on the leaves and stems for artificial
flowers. Two factories were giving out tags, and one woolen mill
was giving some of its mending to home workers, most of whom had
been employed on the same work inside the mill. A few persons were
working on garters and a few were doing work for a factory whose
specialty was fishing tackle.
SUMMARY
HOME WORK ON LACE
The survey was conducted by agents of the Women’s Bureau in April and
May lyoi.
Eleven lace mills in the State were giving out lace to be finished by home
workers, but only 10 were distributing any appreciable amount at time of survey.
Home workers listed on the pay rolls for a selected week numbered 33L
Agents visited only about one-half, of this number, but the home interviews
disclosed about two and one-half times as many workers as were credited to
these families on the pay rolls.
Visits were made to 179 households. In all but 44 of them there was more
than one home worker, the majority having from two to four. In 45 households
children under 16 worked on lace sometimes, the total of child workers being 76.
In 43 families there was no income from any other source than home work
Home-work earnings were at least 20 percent'of the total family earnings in
nearly 80 percent of the cases.
Amounts received in 1 week ranged from less than $1 to $33, earned respectively
by a household with only one worker and a household with eight. Almost
three-fourths of the households reported earnings from lace of less than $10 for
the week reported; two-fifths had earnings of less than $7.

HOME WORK OTHER THAN LACE
Articles other than lace on which home workers were found employed were
artificial flowers, fishing tackle, garters, tags, and worsted goods.
A total of 58 families, with 292 persons (125 males and 167 females) were
visited. In these there were 123 home workers—31 males and 92 females
One-fifth were 16 and under 21, and one-fifth were not yet 16.
In 11 cases the family was entirely dependent on home work.
Of 51 households reporting home-work earnings, practically three-fifths had
earnings for the previous week of less than $6 and only about one-fourth had
earned from $6 to $12.
In three of the industries mentioned—artificial flowers, tags, and garters—home
work has been prohibited in the codes. It is allowed in fishing-tackle making
and no regulations have as yet been proposed in the manufacture of woolen and
worsted goods. Though a minimum of home work was found in Rhode Island
m the industries specified, it is recommended that all home work of this sort be
abolished.
117587°—35------- 2




Part IL—HOME WORK IN THE LACE INDUSTRY
INTRODUCTION
Lace manufacture

The lace that is produced in the Rhode Island mills is largely of
the type that is made on the Levers lace machine; that is, the narrow
edgings and insertions such as Valenciennes and cluny, the wider
laces, and lace of the all-over variety recently become popular for
dresses. The manufacture of Levers lace in the United States always
has had keen competition from abroad, where it is produced so much
more cheaply. Beginning in 1909 and continuing until January 1,
1911, a period of 17 months, the industry was stimulated by the
removal of all duty on the importation of Levers machines, on which,
normally, the duty was 45 percent. An additional incentive to lace
manufacture was brought about in 1909 through an increased duty
on the importation of all laces made on Levers machines. Firms
took advantage of the duty-free machines and imported large num­
bers from England, the center of the industry at that time. Rhode
Island took the lead then and is at the present time the largest
producer of lace of this sort among the lace-producing States.1
Laces most commonly woven on Levers machines are edgings or
insertions, generally referred to by the workers as bands, and in
weaving these are joined together by connecting threads in a piece
called a web. Machines in the Rhode Island mills visited were of
the size that produces webs 6 yards in width, the number of bands in
the web depending, naturally, on the width of the particular lace
being woven. Thirty-six yards is the usual length of the web, though
sometimes it is only half that.
Home work on lace

After weaving, the bands of lace forming the web are separated by
drawing out the threads that connect them, and this is done almost
entirely by home workers. It comprises the largest part of the work
that is done on lace in the homes. Some lace is woven with one
thread connecting the bands and some with two threads. These
threads are pulled out by taking hold of one end of the thread with
the fingers, in some cases separating it by a small implement such as
a hairpin or a stiletto. With these instruments some workers pick
up the ends of several threads at once and thus separate more than
2 bands at a time. This, however, is possible only in so far as the
quality of the lace permits. If the thread is of the kind that breaks
easily, only one can be pulled at a time. After the bands of the lace
are separated they must be folded and tied in bunches before they
are returned to the mill. In passing, mention should be made of the
fact that these final operations are not required of the workers
“pulling lace” in the mills.
The other home-work processes are scalloping, mending, and clip­
ping, none of which was being done to any great extent in Rhode
1 U. S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth census, 1930. Manufactures, 1929, vol. II, p. 319.

4




THE LACE INDUSTRY

5

Island. Scalloping is the process of trimming off with scissors the
rough edges of certain kinds of the wider fine lace, lace doilies, and
so forth. Some of this had been done in Rhode Island, but relatively
little in comparison with the thread drawing. Mending, which is,
as the term implies, the process of correcting flaws in the lace, was
being done by only one of the women interviewed. Four clippers
were included in the study, though there was only one mill where
any amount of clipping ever was done. It was an inside operation,
usually, but at times there was more than inside workers could
handle. Threads on the wrong side of the material, left as a result
of the needle carrying the threads from one pattern to another, have
to be clipped off. This material is sent to the workers in widths one
yard wide and, as when done inside the mill, it is stretched across
frames to make it more easily worked on.
There were 11 mills in Rhode Island from which lace was given
out to home workers for some finishing process, although only 10
were distributing any appreciable amount at time of survey. In 5
mills no finishing was done, and the lace was turned out in the gray
without being bleached or dyed or having bands separated. Since
these must be done before the lace is ready for market, it was neces­
sary to send the “gray lace” to some other plant for the finishing
processes. Four of the mills sent it to some one of the 11 mills in the
State that did finishing and the other sent it to a firm in Connecticut.
Further, lace in the gray was sent into Rhode Island from firms out­
side the State to be finished. The proprietor of one mill stated that
50 percent of the lace finished by his mill came in the gray from New
York. Another reported doing finishing for two firms in other
States.
Communities included in the survey

The lace mills that gave out the home work were in Pawtucket,
Central Falls, West Barrington, Alton, and several small settlements
in the Pawtuxet Valley section of the State.
Pawtucket district.—Pawtucket has 3 of the 11 mills and Central
Falls 1, but no home workers for the latter were scheduled. The
workers to whom lace was given lived in Pawtucket, with the excep­
tion of some employees of 1 mill who lived in Providence and East
Providence, in practically the same metropolitan area.
In East Providence and the section of Providence adjoining it there
is a settlement of Portuguese families in which a great deal of lace
home work was done. Portuguese families living in Pawtucket were
doing it also, and here it happened that more Portuguese families than
any other nativity group were working on lace. Altogether, in the 3
mills in Pawtucket slightly over two-fifths of the interviewed persons
were Portuguese; a somewhat smaller proportion were native Amer­
icans; and the others, one-fifth, were French or French Canadian
born.
Members of the households who had employment found it in the
industries of which Pawtucket and Providence have such a diversity.
West Barrington.—West Barrington, where another of the lace mills
is located, is a comparatively small community situated between
Providence and Newport. It is accessible to either city only by bust




6

INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK IN RHODE ISLAND

the fare on which, to the city and back, is prohibitive for most workers.
The people in this community were largely dependent for employment
on the lace mill and a worsted mill where work had been very irregu­
lar. A brick yard, where formerly many of the older men had been
employed, had curtailed operations within the last 4 years and had
left a number of men in the households visited unemployed. Nearly
all the home workers here were of Italian birth or extraction.
Pawtuxet Valley.—The Pawtuxet Valley section, including the town
of West Warwick and the part of the town of Coventry adjoining
West Warwick, had more lace home workers than any other part of
the State. Thread drawing was required on more of the lace made
in this section (5 of the 7 mills were distributing lace to home workers)
than of that produced in the vicinity of Pawtucket.
In addition to the lace mills the “Valley” is thickly dotted with
other kinds of textile mills—silk, cotton, and rayon largely—where the
majority of the wage earners were employed when there was work.
Employment had been and still was very irregular in these mills, and
due to this earnings were very much reduced. At the time of survey,
as a result of the policy of restricting production, some of the mills
were closed for certain periods during each month. When the mills
were not operating and no wages were being paid, the small amount
that could be earned from home work was all that some households
had to fall back on.
West Warwick is a fairly thickly populated community and home
workers for the three local mills lived in the vicinity. Here, as in the
Pawtucket area, the largest proportion of interviewed persons were
Portuguese. There were also some French, French Canadians, and
other foreign born. Less than one-fourth were native white.
The other two mills in this Valley section were in Coventry, on
country roads at some distance from the homes of those on whom
they depend to do their work. One of these mills distributes all its
lace to persons living in West Warwick through a worker who has a
truck. The other, at the time the agents were there, was distributing
the lace from a building that had been rented for the purpose in the
village where a good many of the workers lived. A number of workers,
however, lived outside the village and had to have some form of trans­
portation for getting the lace and taking it back to the headquarters
in the village.
For many of the inhabitants of this community the only source of
employment had been a worsted mill that had shut down in the early
part of the year, leaving a large number of people stranded with no
employment in sight. Most of the households visited had been
affected thus, and some were depending entirely on lace for their
income. The large majority of the workers here were native born.
Alton district.—The other 1 of the 11 mills was in a village in the
southwestern part of the State surrounded by rural territory. Some of
the lace was given out to workers who lived in the village of Alton,
where the mill was situated, but more of it went to people who lived
in villages several miles away. Some one worker in each village
transported the lace to and from the mill and distributed it to the
home workers in her village. As was true of the town of Coventry,
most of the home workers here were native bom.




THE LACE INDUSTRY

7

N. R. A. regulations

In the fall of 1933 a code of fair competition was approved for
the lace manufacturing industry which, among other requirements,
fixed the minimum wage to be paid to “any of the employees” at $13
for a week of 40 hours, learners excepted, and made it illegal to operate
on a schedule of hours of labor for their employees (with the exception
of repair-shop crews, outside sales force, executives, supervisory
staff, engineers, firemen, designers, draftsmen, and shipping crews)
in excess of 40 hours. This code, unlike most codes where home work
has existed to any great extent, did not include prohibition of work
done in the homes.
At a hearing held in March 1934 the representatives of the industry
argued against the abolition of home work on the ground that it
could be regulated in such a way that the provisions of the code would
be enforced for home workers as well as for those who worked in the
factory. For this purpose the American Lace Manufacturers Associ­
ation had drawn up an agreement which all employers were asked to
have their home workers sign. By signing this agreement home
workers promised not to employ other persons unless those persons,
too, signed the agreement. The terms of the agreement also evoked a
promise from the home worker that she would work not more than 40
hours a week; that she would employ no minor under the age of 16
years to perform any services in connection with the home work;
that she would not accept work at a rate of pay that would not permit
her to earn the $13 per week of 40 hours of service. There also were
terms by which she agreed to adhere to certain standards of sanita­
tion. (For copy of agreement see appendix.)
NUMBER OF HOME WORKERS

It appeared unnecessary to interview all the home workers on the
pay rolls, so it was decided to schedule one-half of those listed by each
plant. In addition a few others, such as partners who had not been
recorded on the pay rolls, were visited in their homes. The total
number of persons whose names appeared on the pay rolls of the 11
mills at the time of the survey was 331.2 The number of households
visited was 179 and the following discussion will show the actual
number of home workers found, many of whose names did not appear
on the pay rolls.
A prerequisite to any regulation of home work is the knowledge of
just what persons are engaged in it. Members of the industry thought
that this could be accomplished by requiring that all home workers
sign the agreement, which all the employers said they were using.
However, not only was there laxity in having the agreements signed
by all the workers whose names appeared on the pay rolls, but for
each one that had signed the agreement there were found at least one
and a half others that had not signed it. Accordingly, the number
of home workers listed on the pay rolls was far from the actual num­
ber of persons doing lace home work at that time.
In addition to the 179 home workers whose names appeared on the
pay rolls there were in 135 of these households other lace home work­
ers, the total number of persons who actually worked on the lace being
2 In the case of 1 firm, with only 6 home workers on its roll, no workers were interviewed and no Day-roll
data were secured. The home workers had had no lace since Jan. 1, 1934.




8

INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK IN RHODE ISLAND

449 instead of 179 as indicated bv the pay-roll data. In other words,
on the average there were two and a half home workers for every
amount on the pay roll, instead of one as the pay roll suggested.
Sometimes, in addition to having several members of the immediate
family help with the lace, a woman would give some to a friend or
relative, either because she had more than she could do or because the
person needed the money it would bring in. This lace in many cases
was. worked on by more than one member of the second woman’s
family. Later discussion shows how many of these were full-time
and how many were part-time workers, how many were children under
16, and so forth.
The following shows the number of households with each specified
number of home workers and the totals resulting:
Home workers per
household
Total______________
1_______________ ____

2__............................................................

3...................................... .
4_______________
5........................ ........... .......
6__..................................................................

7...... ......................................
8____________________

Number of Number of
households
workers
179

449

44
65
36
18
5
8
2
1

44
130
108
72
25
48
14
8

In interviewing the home workers of a mill that employed a large
number it was discovered by the investigators that every woman
visited, with but 1 exception, had a partner with whom she divided
the amount of lace she received each week. The agents understood
that this was true for practically the entire number whose names were
on the pay roll. Several of these partners were visited and scheduled.
The home worker whose name was on the roll notified her partner, in
most cases a neighbor, when there was lace for her to do.
These facts show how many more persons actually work on lace
than are indicated by the names on the home-work pay rolls, and how
impossible is regulation if the workers themselves are not known to
the management.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Sex

Nearly all the home workers whose names appeared on the pay rolls
were women. This was to be expected, as from the earliest days it
has been the custom for housewives to contribute to the earnings of a
family in this way, and it has been considered a woman’s job. How­
ever, in addition to the few men whose names appeared on the pay
rolls there were grown men in a number of the households who helped
with the thread pulling after work or on off days, and there were
some who were reported as having no other employment.
The accompanying summary shows that a fourth of the 449 home
workers were men or boys and that only a slightly smaller pro­
portion of those at least 21 years old were men. Men formed oneeighth of the adult full-time workers, three-eighths of those working
part time.




9

THE LACE INDUSTRY

Home workers of 21 years and over

Home workers of all ages
Male

Time worked

Male

Female

Total

Total
Num­
ber

Total...... ..................... .
Full time...........___....................
Part time.......... ..................... .

Female

Per­
cent

Num­
ber

449

116

25.8

333

74.2

191
258

28
88

14.7
34.1

163
170

85.3
65.9

Num­
ber

Per­
cent

Num­
ber

295

69

23.4

226

76.6

156
139

19
50

12.2
36.0

137
89

87.8
64.0

Per­
cent

Per­
cent

Age

The following table shows that among the 449 home workers in the
households visited were 76 children under 16 years of age. These
were 17 percent of the total. None of them were reported as being
full-time workers at the time the survey was made. The majority
(63 of the 76) were 12 years old or more; 2 were only 10 and 3 were
less than that. To all appearances the amount of thread drawing
done by very young children was small, though it is known that before
there was any restriction as to age a good deal of help was expected
from very young children. It may be required even now in view of
the practical impossibility of checking up on what happens in the
homes. Children knew that they should not be allowed to work, but
frequently they remarked that they could not see their mothers work­
ing late into the night when by pulling threads for an hour or two
themselves the work could be finished much earlier. In one com­
munity where the junior high school was too crowded to accommodate
the children for more than a half day, several were found pulling lace
steadily for that part of the day when they were not in school.
A number (17 percent) of the home workers were young people
between the ages of 16 and 21 who could find no other work to do.
A few of them still were in school and worked on lace only part time,
but more than two-fifths of them were working full time. Some of
the part-time workers of these ages had jobs and therefore could not
work full time on lace. About two-thirds of the 449 workers of all
ages were at least 21, and three-fourths of these were women. Some
of the home workers were very old, a few being in the eighties.
Age and sex
Total

Time worked

16 and under 21 years

Under 16 years

Total

Male

Fe­
male

Total

Male

Fe­
male

Total___

449

116

333

76

28

Part time..........

191
258

28
88

163
170

76

28

21 years and over

Total

Male

Fe­
male

Total

Male

48

78

19

59

295

69

226

48

35
43

9
10

26
33

156
139

19
50

137
89

Fe­
male

Marital status, nativity, and literacy

Almost three-fifths of the home workers 16 years of age and over
were married and three-tenths were single. Only eight of the re­
mainder were separated or divorced.




10

INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK IN RHODE ISLAND

The proportion of foreign born among the home workers was large
(almost two-fifths) though many of them had come to the United
States when they were young children. Only 2 of the 76 children
under 16 doing home work had been born abroad, as had only 8 of
the 78 who were 16 and under 21. However, more of the adult home
workers were foreign born than native born. Altogether the per­
centage of adults who were foreign born was 56. Nearly thre^-fifths
of all the foreign-born were Portuguese, and about one-third were
from Italy or Canada.
The younger workers had had greater opportunities as far as going
to school was concerned than had the older ones. School laws had
been changed considerably since the days when the older members of
the family were children, and many parents expressed gratitude that
this was so, for the sake of their children. The proportion of the
adults who had had no schooling was just over one-fifth. Fortythree workers were reported as unable to read or write. The majority
of the illiterate were in the foreign-born group but several of the native
born also could neither read nor write. One of these was a woman
of 50 years, born in Woonsocket, who had begun work in a textile mill
at the age of 8. She had started, as most children did, by becoming
a sweeper. This woman’s husband also could neither read nor
write. He had started to work at 9 years as a sweeper in a mill.
Another illiterate woman, born in Massachusetts, had begun work
when only 9 years old, her monthly wage in a textile mill being $3.
Of the 371 reporting where they had been to school, 72 had attended
school in a foreign country. The great majority of those who had
been to school in the United States had not gone beyond grade school.
There were only 47 who had attended high school or were going to
high school at the time.
Experience in home work

Practically without exception the only kind of home work that
these workers did was lace. Many of the adults said they had done
it for a great many years—as far back as they could remember—
but there were others who had started within the last few years.
About half (109) of the 221 adult women had had at least 10 years’
experience, about a third had worked at least 15 years, and 50 had
worked 20 years or more. Eighty women had had less than 3 years’
experience, and 50 of these had worked less than 2 years.
EARNINGS FROM HOME WORK
Rates

The rates established by the industry for thread drawing to meet the
code minimum were 12 cents per gross yards for 1-thread lace and 18
cents per gross yards for 2-thrcad lace. These rates or their equiva­
lent were being paid by all but two mills, one of which produced
2-thread lace almost entirely and paid at the rate of 16 cents per
gross yards, the other of which paid 12 cents per gross yards for the
1-thread lace and 16 cents per gross yards for the 2-thread lace.
These rates were considerably higher than those paid before the
code became effective, and they were supposed to be high enough to
make it possible for the average worker to earn the $13 minimum
wrage for 40 hours of work. Employers reported that women doing
the same wrork inside the mill found it easy to do 87 bands of single-




State T««chera Colleff* bmr*ry
THE LACE INDUSTRY

11

thread lace 36 yards long in 8 hours,3 the amount necessary to earn
the minimum. However, with few exceptions the home workers
reported that it was absolutely impossible for them to produce
enough to earn $13 in 40 hours at the rates paid, and they gave
reasons why the rate paid to workers inside the mill was not sufficient
for home workers.
For one thing, actually more work was demanded of home workers
than of those in the factories. They were required to return the. lace
to the mill with each band folded and tied, whereas an inside worker
merely dropped each band, as she finished it, in a basket. This
folding and tying into bunches actually consumed a great deal of the
home workers’ time.
Further, many believed that there was discrimination in the kind
of lace given to home workers. There is considerable variation in
the ease with which threads are drawn. In the first place it is affected
by the way in which the lace is woven, being very difficult in lace
woven too tightly, as it often comes from the weavers. In the
second place, the amount of starch in the lace has an effect on the
ease with which the threads are drawn, as too much starch makes
the threads break easily and requires more time for the pulling.
Home workers believed almost unanimously that the lace sent to
them was the kind that takes a long time to separate. Even inside
workers remarked that the most difficult lace to work on was sent to
the home workers and the easiest was kept for those working in the
mill. There was no doubt in their minds as to the impossibility of
home workers earning the minimum under the rates paid. One
inside worker interviewed said that it was difficult even for her to
earn the minimum and that it would be utterly impossible if she had
to fold and tie the lace as the home workers did or if she were given
lace of so poor a quality.
The method of rate fixing, the workers believed, was equally unfair.
It was reported that in one plant home workers had been called into
the factory in groups and tested as to their speed. Those selected
to work inside the mill and to set the rates for the others wrere the
fastest workers, a not unusual custom when piece rates are being
established.
Hourly earnings

It was difficult for home workers to estimate their hourly earnings.
To the question as to how' much a worker could earn in an hour, the
reply invariably was that it depended on the kind of lace. “If the
lace is very good,” they wrould say, “we can pull a band of single­
thread lace in a few minutes, but if it is poor, that is, woven too
tightly or with too much starch in it, it takes an hour and sometimes
longer.” Thread drawing took 10 and 12 times longer in some lace
than in others.
There were, naturally, the usual variations in speed from worker
to worker. The time reported by some workers wras 4 and 6 times
as much as was reported by others. In addition to possessing a
native dexterity, some had found a method of pulling as many as 4 and
6 threads at a time, and even more. But there was a difference of
opinion as to the feasibility of this method of thread drawing. It
was reported that some employers had a definite rule against ever
3 A simple calculation shows that this would be at the rate of 391yards an hour, or 6J^ yards a minute
1X7587°—35-------3




12

,

INDUSTRIAL, HOME WORK IN RHODE ISLAND

pulling more than two threads because of the possibility of spoiling
the lace. Workers for mills wdiere there was no such prohibition
reported that they sometimes pulled several threads at once, but that
the quality of the lace often was so poor that the threads broke easily,
making it difficult to pull more than one at a time. The general
impression received by the investigators was that the earnings of
home workers could not be greatly increased by adopting this method
of thread drawing.
The statements of some home workers regarding the time required
to do the work are summarized in the table next presented. A glance
at the two columns shows the very great differences in the time
required to do the same amount of lace of different quality. Further,
a comparison of the figures in either column shows what a great variety
there is in the time required by different individuals. The time con­
sumed by some workers per band of 1-thread lace, if good quality,
was only 4 or 5 minutes, but others required 15 minutes even for good
lace and one took as much as 45 minutes. There were great varia­
tions also in the time required to do 2-thread lace.
Hourly earnings have been computed on the basis of the reports
as to the time required. These also appear in the following table.
The variation in hourly earnings for good and bad lace and between
one worker and another is in accordance with the variation in the
time consumed. There was no possible way of getting any record
as to the proportion of “good” and “bad” lace each worker had had,
and therefore no way even of estimating what their average hourly
earnings had been.
Table 1.—Piece rate, time required, and hourly earnings of 25 home workers on lace
Hourly earnings (cents)

Time required
Rate per 36-yard band
(cents)




For good lace
(minutes)

For poor lace
(hours)

On good lace

On poor lace

1-THREAD LAOE
15
45
15
15
15
5
4
5
15
5
5

3
2
1
1
1

X
X
H

1
1
1

12
4
12
12
12
36
45
36
12
36
36

1
m
3
3
6
3
6
6
3
3
3

48
12
8
16
m
16
27
27
12
45
24
18
18
45

2
5H
4
4
SM
4
4 Yi
9
2
9
12
4%
3
4 Vl

2-THREAD LACE

*

5
20
30
15
25
15
10
10
20
6
10
15
15
6

2
1
1
1
1
2

%
H
X

X
X
1
IX
1

THE LACE INDUSTRY

13

The following are other examples of the time required to earn the
amounts reported:
Husband and wife both worked on lace, the wife full time and the husband
helping on days he was not employed by F. E. R. A. It took them 2 days, both
working full time (exact hours not reported), to earn $5.76.
Mother and father and a 21-year-old daughter who had not been able to find
employment since graduating from high school put full time on thread pulling
A brother and his wife were reported as part-time workers. These five people
worked from 8 a. m. to 11 p. m. one day and from 7 a. m. to 5 p. m. the next day
with time out for meals, to complete 248 bands of 1-thread lace, for which they
received $7.44. Ten percent of this amount went to the contractor for delivery
and collection. The time consumed was an average of between 15 and 20 hours
lor each person. Less time would be required for the better lace, they said.
A mother who worked full time and her 18-year-old daughter who was a part­
time worker m a woolen mill together put in 15 hours separating 3,300 yards of
lace, hor this they received $2.75. In this particular instance they worked
trom 4 m the afternoon till 10:30 at night and the mother from 7 to 9 next mornmg-.
woman said that she usually returned the lace the day after she
received it.
The mother of a family, a widow, and her 17-year-old daughter, unemployed,
together had worked 9K hours to finish 2,124 yards of 2-thread lace, for which
they received $2.65.
A young married woman who had been laid off from her job in a jewelry fac­
tory and had been doing lace for a year worked 30 hours to finish 4,644 yards of
r£hfor whlch she was to be Paid at the rate of 8% cents per 100 yards, a total
of $3.87, or about 13 cents an hour.
j-i.A Yoman whose husband was unemployed except for F. E. R. A. reported that
they both had worked all Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday until 3 o’clock
Monday morning, amounting to at least 20 hours, to finish 110 bands of lace
for which they would receive only $3.70.
A mother, two grown daughters, and a 20-year-old son, two working steadily
from 11 a. m. to 11 p. m. one day and from 6 to 9 a. m. the next, and the other
two working intermittently, totaled at least 30 hours but earned only $2 04 being
paid at the rate of 8% cents per 100 yards.
A mother who had pulled lace over a period of 21 years, and two daughters
one marned and the other a 14-year-old, had together put in 20 hours to earn
$2.25.
A widowed mother and her two sons, 17 and 19 years, one of them partially
blind, reported that they would work “all day” to finish 2,700 yards of lace for
which they would receive $2.25.
A wife and husband together had put in 14 hours finishing 26 bands of 2-thread
lace. They received $1.04, equivalent to about 7% cents an hour.
A mother, two daughters, and a granddaughter of 18 years together worked a
total of 24 hours, earning $1.12, or about 4% cents an hour. This was on lace
that they considered very difficult to separate.
The mother of six small children, with 8 years’ experience in lace pulling had
spent 8 hours on 14 bands of lace—lace that was hard to pull, she said—and was
paid 56 cents.

These accounts give only a few examples of the time home workers
actually spend in earning the small amounts that they are paid.
Probably they represent the longest time spent by anyone, as the
better lace is done much more quickly.
Earnings for selected week

In most cases it was possible to ascertain the earnings of the house­
hold from home work for 1 week, though as home work is so irregular
it would have been advantageous to have had wage records for a




14

INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK IN RHODE ISLAND

longer period. The weekly amounts quoted here were, in each case,
what was received in the pay envelop the week preceding the inter­
view. In this study, unlike the procedure used in surveys of factory
work, the Women’s Bureau checked its pay-roll information with the
home workers’ own records, using the worker’s statement in prefer­
ence to pay-roll data when there was a difference. In many cases
the amount reported by the worker was exactly what she was said to
have been paid on the factory record. Where irregularities were
noted, various reasons could be assigned. Sometimes the worker
whose name was on the pay roll had chosen to divide the lace, and
therefore the earnings, with someone else; at times, for one reason or
another, the factory pay-roll records represented more than a week’s
work.
Some of the home workers put in full time and some were part-time
workers. Among the part-time workers were children who worked
on the lace after school or on Saturdays, and persons with other em­
ployment who were putting in short hours helped with the lace at
their off times. A great many of the home workers gave full time to
the work whenever lace was available. Many of these were mothers,
who, though responsible for the housework, planned to do a full day’s
work on lace though usually not in one stretch. Some of them worked
several hours at night after the housework was finished.
The table next presented shows the amounts received for a week’s
work by the various households and the number of home workers
whose joint efforts resulted in such earnings.
Table 2.—Week’s earnings from lace home work according to number of persons

who did the work
Number of
home work­
ers with

Number of cases where home workers actually
doing the work were—

earnings as
specified

Earnings for 1 week

1

2

174

42

1
6
8
10
14
16
16
18
18
21
7
7
12
5
3
9
3

Total

1
4
4
3
6
4
4
5
3
3
2

3

4

63

36

17

2

2
3
3
6
7
5
9
9
8
1
2
3

1

1
4

5

7

6

8

5

8

2

i

1

1

1

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

2
3
1
1
1
1

1

2
1
1
1

1
2
1
1

3
2

1

In most cases these earnings were received for finishing a quantity
of lace less than the amount that the factory considered could be
finished in 40 hours. Very seldom were the home workers given
enough lace in 1 week to amount to earnings of $13. This does not
paean, however, that combined hours of the workers were not 40 or




THE LACE INDUSTRY

15

more With few exceptions the actual time spent on the task durmg the week could not be learned. This is not hard to understand
when the situation in the household is taken into consideration
Usually several persons were employed on the lace, and the hours
they worked varied from week to week. In most cases the mother
worked on the lace, but because of household duties her lace work was
interrupted a great deal, making it difficult to say just how many hours
she put m. The hours of children, like those of the employed mem­
bers of the family who helped after work, were not the same from dav
to day.
J
In only 42 of the 174 cases did the earnings represent the work of but
1 person. In a majority (57 percent) of the households there were 2
or 3 home workers and in almost a fifth (19 percent) there were 4 or
more I he higher earnings were, in practically all cases, the work of
more than 1 person. In only 5 of the 46 instances where the earnings
were $10 or more had they been earned by 1 person. The work of 2
persons was represented in 11 cases, of 3 in 13 cases, of 4 in 7 cases of
5 m 2 cases, and of 6 or more in 8 cases. Therefore, instead of repre­
senting the work of only 174 persons for whom week’s earnings were
reported, the amounts in the table represent the work of 439 persons
or slightly more than 2% times as many.
’
Further, in view of the number of persons employed the amounts are
very low. In only 20 cases of the 174 were the earnings as much as
$13, the minimum permitted in the industry for 40 hours’ work and in
only 1 of these was the worker unassisted. The question raised in
connection with the smallness of the various amounts is, How manv
hours of work were represented? And this is not possible to report
with any exactness from the information available.
METHODS OF DELIVERY AND COLLECTION

Contrary to many reports, it was not the general custom for lace to
be delivered and called for by the factory. Further, when the factory
did deliver the lace, usually the worker was charged for this service
,, L,° °my 7 of the 179 households visited did the mill either deliver
he lace free or pay for its delivery. In 47 cases the company or some­
one hired by the company delivered and called for the lace, the home
workers being charged for this. Thirty-four of these, employed by
Jnpai. 11 xed amoun^ f°r each lot of lace received, and the
other 13 paid the contractor 10 percent of their earnings.
In the great majority of the households visited the home workers
themselves were responsible for getting their lace and returning it
the arrangements were various. Some joined in employing a neigh­
bor s boy or someone else with a car, paying perhaps a dollar a week,
perhaps only what their own carfare would cost. The most common
practice was for a member of the family to do the transporting. Many
walked to the mill for the lace and returned it in the same way or
children went with their wagons. For some home workers the
distance to the mill was short, but others walked a mile or more.
Not only was the time consumed in going back and forth considerable*
but workers reported that often they had to wait a long time or make
more than one trip because the lace was not ready when they called
the first time.




16

INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK IN RHODE ISLAND

ECONOMIC STATUS OF LACE-WORKERS’ HOUSEHOLDS

Seeing the home workers in their homes and talking with them and
other members of their households elicited a great deal of information
on the home-work situation that was not available from employers.
During these visits, the investigators got a clear idea of the economic
problems facing the households at the time the survey was made, the
amount of unemployment and irregular employment resulting in
reduced income, and the number of persons among whom such income
had to be divided.
The kinds of houses in which the lace workers lived varied from very
poor and sordid quarters to modern, pleasant, and well-kept homes.
The houses ranged in size from 3 to 10 rooms, the conditions being very
crowded in some of the larger families. A great many workers lived
in frame tenements that housed a number of families. Some lived in
1- or 2-family frame houses that were owned by one of the mills for
which some member of the family was working.
The kitchen, which usually was also the dining room, in most house­
holds was the principal room, where the family congregated and where
the work on the lace was done. Artificial lighting was electric in
most houses, but usually the lights were placed high above the heads of
the workers and would not be adequate for working at night.
Many times home workers were found busy at work when the agents
called. They talked freely of the economic hardships they had
experienced during the last few years. To many of them lace had
been a blessing when there was no income from other sources, and
they hoped it would always be available. Others believed that home
work should be abolished, especially since the creation of the N. R. A.
and the approval of the code that fixed a minimum wage of $13 for a
week of 40 hours of work. This, they believed, was being enforced
for workers in the factory but could never be enforced for home
workers.
In addition to getting information as to the earnings from home work,
it was thought important to know to what extent households depended
on home work as a source of income. For this reason the inquiry
included data as to the number of unemployed persons in the house­
hold and, for the employed persons, the amount each had received in
wages during the week for which home-work earnings were recorded.
In only 13 of the 179 households visited were there no normal wage
earners; that is, persons accustomed to working when they could get
employment. There were 30 households in which none of those
normally employed were working at time of survey. Unemployment
was serious and had lasted a long time. Some were out of work
because the mill in which they had worked—perhaps as much as 20
years—was shut down entirely. Others had been laid off for various
reasons. One man reported that he had had no work that could be
called regular for 5 years. The great majority of the workers in these
households were or had been employed in textile mills, and here, as is
well known, there had been great irregularity for a number of years.
The total number of persons per household varied from 1 to 13. All
but 2 households had more than 1 person; in just over two-thirds there
were at least 5. Whatever earnings there were, in most cases were
pooled. In a few households the unmarried sons and daughters con­




THE LACE INDUSTRY

17

tributed specific amounts for room and board, but in this report ou
household income the total earnings are used.
The week selected was not necessarily representative of the earnings
of each individual. Average weekly earnings over the last several
months may have been considerably higher, or much less. For ex­
ample, several persons employed in textile mills reported that they
were working only 3 out of 4 weeks, or even less, and that consequently
the earnings reported for the week preceding the agent’s visit could
not be described as average. These facts should be kept in mind in
considering the earnings quoted in this section of the report.
Of the 179 households visited, total earnings were reported for 156,
and in 43 of the latter there were no earnings from any employment
but home work on lace, though 2 or 3 had small amounts coming in
from one source or another. In most of the 43 households the eco­
nomic situation was desperate. There were households with from 1
to 10 persons dependent on the lace money. A few were persons
who could not be expected to support themselves by their own earn­
ings and worked on tlio lace to supplement what they were receiving
in public relief, but most of them were quite able to support them­
selves had there been sufficient work at high enough wages. More
than half were receiving relief of some kind, either work relief or direct
relief in the form of food and clothing. Some of those who were not
getting relief were drawing on what small savings they had.
Other households were not dependent entirely on the earnings from
lace, but in almost three-fourths of these the home-work earnings were
at least one-fifth of the combined earnings.
Income from work other than home work

In 60 of the households the earnings from employment other than
home work represented the work of 1 person. The amounts varied
from $5 to $31. In 6 cases the wage earner had received less than $10;
in 20, $10 and under $15; and in only 11, as much as $20.
The first part of table 3 shows the household earnings from work
other than home work in relation to the number of persons whose
work they represented. The other shows these earnings in relation
to the number of persons dependent on them for support.
In 54 households where, in all but 2 cases, at least $15 had been
earned at other than home work, the earnings represented the work
of at least 2 persons. In 22 of the 29 households where the earnings
were as much as $30 the work of at least 3 persons was represented.
When considering these earnings in relation to the need for addi­
tional income from home work it is necessary to keep in mind the
number of persons dependent on these earnings for support. This
number, as already stated, was five or more in over two-thirds of the
households.
There were at least 5 persons (10 in 1 case) in 6 of the 8 families
where the earnings had been $5 and under $10. In all but 2 of the
20 families with earnings of $10 and less than $15 from 4 to 8 persons
depended on these earnings, and in each of them only 1 person was
working on other than home work. In all the 22 households where
the combined earnings were as much as $35 there were at least 2 people
working and at least 4 people to support. Eleven of the twenty-two
had households of eight or more persons.




18

INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK IN RHODE ISLAND

Table 3.—Week’s earnings of families from work other than lace home work, (1) hy

number of persons whose earnings are represented and (2) by size of family

Total earnings of families from work other than home work

Number of families in which
persons contributing were—

Total
families

Total i.
$5, less than $10 _
$10, less than $15.
$15, less than $20
$20, less than $25.
$25, less than $30.
$30, less than $35.
$35, less than $40
$40, less than $50.
$50 and more----Number of families in which the members were—
Total
families

Total earnings of families from
work other than home work

Totall.
$5, less than $10..
$10, less than $15.
$15, less than $20.
$20, less than $25.
$25, less than $30.
$30, less than $35.
$35, less than $40.
$40, less than $50.
$50 and more----i Excludes 43 families with no earnings other than from home work.

Income from home work and other work combined

The preceding discussion gives some understanding as to why these
families felt it necessary to do home work, which in numerous cases
amounted to earnings that increased considerably the total income.
Table 4.—Week’s earnings of families and proportion that lace home-work earnings

were of total
Number of families in which home-work earnings formed of
total earnings—

Total family earnings

Total reporting




Num­
ber of Less
fami­ than
10
lies
per­
cent

10,
less
than
20
per­
cent

20,
less
than
30
per­
cent

30,
less
than
40
per­
cent

40,
less
than
50
per­
cent

50,
less
than
60
per­
cent

60,
less
than
70
per­
cent

70,
less
than
80
per­
cent

10

23

34

23

15

6

1

1

43

i

1
1

13
17
8
3
1

156
13
19
10
21
21
17
15
11
7
5
6
6
3
2

3
1
1
2
2
1

1
5
2
1
2
2
3
1
1
2
3

3
3
7
5
7
2
2
3
2

3
5
6
3
2
2
1

2
7
2
2

1

1
1
2
1
1

1

100
per­
cent

1

*****

f ^ttv

THE LACE INDUSTRY

19

Excluding the 43 families where there were only earnings from home
work, in 25 of the 42 where total earnings amounted to less than $25
the earnings from home work formed at least 30 percent of the total.
However, in only 21 of the 71 families with total earnings of $25 or
more did the earnings from home work amount to 30 percent of the
total.
The following table shows the various amounts received in total
earnings by 156 families for one selected week, the median earnings
being $23.50 and the average number of persons per household 5.6.
Table 5.— Week’s earnings of lace home-work families from all types of employment,

by size of family
Number of families in which the members were—
Total family earnings

Total reporting
Less than $5______
$5, less than $10_
_
$10, less than $15_______
$15, less than $20___ ...
less ilian *p^o___
$25, less than $30.........
$30, less than $35____
$35, less than $40____
$40, less than $50.........
$50 and more___ _

Number
of fami­
lies

i 156
13
19
10
21
21
17
15
11
12
17

1

3

2
2

2

19

4

5

6

7

8

27

15

16

18

12

26

9
2

3

1
3

2
5

1

2

4
1

4
4

2
5

3
4

5
2

2
2

10 or
more

9

1

11

2

1

1
1

10

1
1
1

1
1
2

3

1 Includes 43 who had earnings from no other source than home work.

Ninety-three families had earned $20 or more during the week but
60 of these had 6 members or more and 30 had 8 or more.
Relief

Of the 43 households in which no one had other employment than
home work at the time of interview, 25 had received relief in some
form during the preceding year, either direct or work relief or both.
Relief had been given to 16 other families during the year, but whether
or not they were dependent entirely on lace at the time is not known.
A great deal was said about lace home work in connection with the
relief situation. Relief workers stated that relief in some form would
have to be given to many families if the lace home work were abolished,
and that it would mean considerable drain on public funds. Workers
themselves hoped to avoid asking for relief and thought of lace home
work as the means of maintaining their independence even if what they
received was very little.




Part III.—HOME WORK OTHER THAN LACE
INTRODUCTION

In the intensive survey of the industrial home-work situation in
Rhode Island, little home work but that on lace was found. The
other industry in the State that had given out much home work
before this was prohibited by the code was jewelry. In Providence,
the largest jewelry manufacturing city in the State, leads as to home
workers were secured through various agencies and were followed
up, but in no case was any jewelry home work found. The secretary
of the Code Authority for the medium- and low-priced jewelry
industry said that in his opinion the prohibition was being obeyed
by at least 99 percent of the industry.
The industries in which some home work was being pursued at the
time of the survey and the cities in which workers were found were
as follows: Artificial flowers, Providence; garters, Pawtucket; line
and twine, Ashawav; tags, Pawtucket and Central Falls; and worsted
goods, Providence.
Artificial flowers

The work on artificial flowers was given out for the most part to
persons employed in the factory or to those who had been employed
there, and these took it home to members of their families or to friends.
Sometimes the factory workers helped on this work at home. The
work done was only on stems and leaves, mainly sticking and branch­
ing. Sticking is the process by which the leaves are glued to the stem,
while branching consists of covering the wire stem with a narrow
strip of cloth or paper.
In attaching leaves to the stems the workers sat at a table with
piles of leaves and wire stems and a glue pot before them. With
great rapidity the stems were stuck into the glue and immediately
placed on the leaves. After this was done, and the glue had dried,
the stems were covered with paper or cloth, wound around in spiral
fashion. The stem was twirled by the right hand as the covering was
held by the left, and in less time than it takes to describe it the covered
stem, with its attached leaf, was completed.
Garters

Home work on garters, commonly spoken of as “stringing”,
differed from home to home. Sometimes it consisted only of assem­
bling the various parts of garters and sometimes sewing was necessary.
Children as well as adults could do this work.
One woman told of four different processes on garters in which she
was engaged. First she put on the buttons, then she bent the loops,
next she put the loops on, and finally she sewed the pieces together,
including the ribbon. For this work she was paid 21 cents a gross
pair, and to do that number took 3 hours of her time.
20




HOME WORK OTHER THAN LACE

21

Another woman, the owner of an electric machine, was paid 36
cents a gross pair for making a complete garter, including, in addition
to the processes just listed, attaching the strips of elastic, sewing
the parts together by a continuous machine process, -and then cutting
the garters apart and fastening off the threads. This work took
her from 2 to 3 hours per gross pair.
Fishing tackle

Sewing fish lines onto cards ready for distribution, and tying cord
in round, fiat bunches about 8 inches in diameter, were engaged in
by women employed at home for a fishing-tackle concern. In most
cases only women who were physically unable to do factory work
were employed as home workers by this company.
Tags

Tags were strung in many different ways, depending on the style
of the tag. In some cases the cord was only put through the hole
of the tag, in others there was a single knot made, and in some a
double knot. Other varieties of tags were prepared for use by insert­
ing wires or hooks. Work on tags was engaged in by families in
which several members, including all the children, could assist.4
Worsted goods

In the mending of worsted goods only women, many of whom had
been menders in the mill, were employed. The work consisted of
mending all imperfect places left in the goods as woven on the loom.
This was accomplished by weaving by hand, using the same kind
of yarn in the defective places as that of the material. In some cases
there were knots or slubs, imperfections in the goods, that had to be
pulled out. When the work was delivered to the homes of the
women—always to the very room in which the work was to be done,
since the bolt of material was very heavy—all places to be mended,
slubbed, or burled were marked by crayon.
N. R. A. codes—Home-work regulations

In the code for the wool-textile industry that applies to the manu­
facture of woolen and worsted goods, no cognizance was taken of
home work in the industry, and no prohibitory or regulatory plans
such as are included in the Lace Code have been made. Home work
on tags was to have been prohibited after May 1, 1934, but at that
time a stay for 1 month was granted, and another stay permitted
home work until January 1, 1935, when an amendment to the code
prohibiting home work became effective. In the narrow fabric
industry, which includes the manufacture of garters, and in the
artificial flower and feather industry, home work has been prohibited
since May 1, 1934. Firms making fishing tackle were allowed to
continue giving out home work, with the provision of paying a specified
rate as given in the code.
THE HOME WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

As may be seen from the preceding description of the processes
done at home on the various articles, very different degrees of skill
are required. For stringing tags and for such a process as assembling
4 While this report was in proof (spring of 1935), word was received from the State that all work on
tags had been taken into the factories—Editor.




22

INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK IN RHODE ISLAND

garters no great skill is demanded, but in the mending of worsted
goods only expert workers can be employed. Since this is true, it
is not surprising to find children working on tags and garters, and
for the most part only older and experienced women engaged in
mending worsted goods. The workers on artificial flowers, while
not needing skill such as that demanded of cloth menders, must be
somewhat more skilled than the tag or garter stringers.
Lists of home workers were secured from 5 firms, the total number
being 69. Fifty-eight families 5 were visited to secure information
regarding home work on the 5 types of articles just described.
While interviewing the home workers, facts were secured regarding
the family or household composition. In 35 of the households there
was a normal family group—father, mother, and children; in 4 there
were husbands and wives but no children. Relatives or others were
present in 10 of these 39 groups. The remaining 19 households were
constituted as follows: In 14 there were no fathers and in 5 no parents,
3 of the latter being composed of adult brothers and sisters. In 2
cases a woman was living alone. Some of the widowed mothers were
doing home work to support young children; others were adding to
the family income.
In the 58 households included in the study there were 292 persons,
125 males and 167 females, the size of household ranging from 1 to
12. Thirty-two of the households were composed of from 1 to 4
members, but in 8 there were 9 or more. Children under 16 were
found in 35 of these family groups, but more than 3 such children
in only 10 families. The 10 families in which there were 4 or more
children were the largest households, with as many as 7 to 12 members.
As would be expected, in many of the households there were persons
other than the parents who were 21 years of age or more. Probably
the number of persons at least 21 who still were at home with their
families was greater than would have been found under circumstances
other than the extraordinary one of widespread unemployment.
In 15 of these 58 households there were as many as 4 persons at least
21 years old, and in 8 of these there were 5 or more such persons.
Four-fifths of the households for which living status is reported
were renters. Of the 50 reporting the size of their dwellings (which
ranged from 1 to 12 rooms) and the numbers of persons in their
respective households, 7 lived in 3 rooms or less. In 2 of these house­
holds there were 1 or 2 persons, and in the other 5 there were 3 or 4.
Twelve of the 16 families with 6 or more rooms were composed of at
least 5 persons; 7 households had as many as 10 members.
All but 2 of the 52 households reporting on lighting had electricity
in the home. Toilet facilities were reported by 41 home workers.
In all but 2 cases the toilet was inside; in 8 of the 39 cases it was shared
with other families.
In most cases the room used for home work was the kitchen; in
4 a special room was set aside for the purpose.
In the 58 families there were 123 home workers—31 male and 92
female. Three-fifths (61 percent) of these workers were at least 21
years of age, and of the remaining 48 half were under 16. Only 2
of the workers on woolen goods were under 21, in contrast to 46 of
those on other articles.
‘Includes 3 whose addresses were secured from school lists.




HOME WORK OTHER THAN LACE

23

As would be expected from the large number of women working
alone at mending worsted goods, 34 of the families had only 1 home
worker. In the 24 in which there were 2 or more, there were 24 per­
sons under 16, almost the same number 16 and under 21, and 42
who were 21 or older. Children under 16 doing home work were
found in 14 of the 24 families where there were 2 to 8 home workers.
Seven in 10 of the home workers were native-born, many of them
of foreign parentage. Those of foreign birth, ranked by number,
were Italian, English, Polish, Lithuanian, Irish, and Portuguese.
Of the 99 home workers 16 or more years of age, 41 were single,
45 married, 11 widowed, and 2 separated.
Of the 112 home workers who reported on schooling, both sexes
included, 10 had had none. All these were illiterate. Of the 102
who had had some schooling, 92 had received their education in the
United States, the majority having gone no farther than grade school.
There were more part-time than full-time home workers—72 and
51, respectively. Naturally the number of home workers, especially
part-time workers, increased with size of family. In the 32 families
with fewer than 5 members there were 29 full-time and 22 part-time
home workers; in the 26 with 5 or more members there were 22 full­
time and 47 part-time workers.
Three in 8 of the women and girls reporting had done home work
for 5 or more years, 2 women for at least 15 years; another 3 in 8
had begun such work within the past 2 years. In the case of the men
and boys, as would be expected, the greater proportion—two-fifths—
had taken up the work within the past 2 years, though about onefourth had done home work for 5 years or more.
EARNINGS

It will be seen from the following discussion that the economic
conditions in many of the homes visited were very serious. In some
cases the families were entirely dependent on their earnings from
home work, and where there was income other than this, many
families were receiving only part of their normal income.
Employment status of families

Only 6 of the 58 households had no wage earners under normal
conditions. Of the 52 that usually had wage earners, 8 had no one
employed at time of survey. In the 44 that had 1 or more of their
usual wage earners employed, these ranged in number from 1 to 5.
In all but 5 of the 27 families that normally had 1 wage earner,
such wage earner still had work at time of interview. Where 2 persons
usually were employed (11 families) 5 still had 2 members at work
but 2 had no one employed. The 8 households where usually there
were 3 employees now had 3 employees in only 1 case, while in another
case all 3 wage earners were out of work. In only 3 of the 6 households
that usually had 4 or more wage earners were all of them still at work,
but no such families had all their workers unemployed. To sum up,
only three-fifths (31) of the 52 families had the same number of
persons at work as were employed under normal conditions. Eight
of the 52 families had no one employed.
The families in which 1 or 2 members normally were employed
varied in size from 2 to 10 persons. Five of the smaller households—
those made up of 3 or 4 members—had no wage earners at work.




24

INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK IN RHODE ISLAND

RETURNS FROM HOME WORK

Rates of pay

Piece rates reported for home work were varied. For sticking or
branching artificial flowers the rate paid was 5 cents a gross. Women
who worked on fish lines received 6 cents a dozen for sewing them
onto cards and 9 cents a gross for tying twine into circular bunches.
The rates paid for work on garters depended on the number of
operations performed: Assembling paid only 10 cents per gross pair,
whereas 36 cents was paid when the complete garter was made. The
rates paid for stringing tags varied with the kind of tag, being from
10 cents to 30 cents a thousand. In worsted goods the piece rate
was not disclosed, but from the pay-roll records of the firm the average
hourly earnings were found to be 46% cents. These were computed
on the time worked reported by the home workers.
Two items under the control of the employing companies—the
delivery of the material and the payment for the work—varied from
plant to plant. Two companies (the worsted and the line and twine)
always delivered and collected the material; the tag company some­
times made deliveries but more often the home workers both called
for and returned their work; the others always let the home workers
do the transporting. Payment generally was made weekly, though
there were cases of payment on the completion of the job.
Hourly earnings

The table following shows the hourly earnings from home work on
tags or flowers computed on the time estimates of the workers. The
lowest hourly earnings reported for branching or sticking the stems
of artificial flowers were 10 cents; the highest were 60 cents. For
work on tags the hourly earnings ranged from not quite 3 cents to
10 cents, the latter being very similar to those of lace workers.
Table 6.—Piece

rate, time required, and hourly earnings of home workers on flowers
and lags
Time spent on the work

Rate

Fast

Average

Hourly earnings

Slow

Fast

Average

Slow

STICKING OR BRANCHING FLOWERS
5

.

Cents per gross
_________________ ____ _

5______________________________________

Mi nutes required
30 1...........
30
20
10
5
15
20
15
10
15
7 Yi
20

Cents
10
10
30
60
20
30

20

15
20
15
20

40
15

STRINGING TAGS
n ours requir ed
2

Cents per thousand




m

....... .......
______
.......... ........
______
..........

IK

1
2H
4
2H

2H
3

Cents
m
2

8

iH

9%

10
7H
3

6
8

■Stt

4

2Y,

4
3K
c--~r_r—

10

7H

3H

HOME WORK OTHER THAW LACE

25

Week’s earnings

Not all the workers reported their earnings for 1 week for the home
work pursued, but this information was obtained from 51 families.
The earnings reported were, in almost three-fifths of the cases, the
earnings of one person. In some of the others they represented the
earnings of several persons, in 1 case of as many as 8. Three-fifths of
the amounts reported were less than $6, slightly more than one-fourth
were $6 and under $12, and the remaining 6 were $12 or more. One
family had earned as much as $21 by home work. This amount repre­
sented the pay of 5 home workers, 4 adults and a girl of 15, in a family
of 7. This $21 was their sole income for the week, as no one had any
other work.
Table 7.—Week’s earnings from home work other than lace according to number of

home workers in family
Number of families where home workers were—
Week’s earnings from home work

Total
families

Total.
Less than $3___
$3, less than $6$6, less than $9..
$9, less than $12.
$12 and over___

Total income from home work and other jobs

Thirteen of the forty-four families with week’s earnings from all
sources reported had earnings of less than $10. In 7 of these there
were only 2 or 3 persons, but in 4 there were 4 persons and in 2 there
were as many as 8. Twelve families had earnings of $35 or over; in
all but 1 of these there were at least 5 persons, and 4 had as many as
10 in the household.
Eleven of the forty-four families depended entirely on home work;
20 families received less than one-fifth of their total earnings from this
source. In 10 of the 11 cases where home work was the only source of
income, the total earnings were less than $10.
In 14 of the fifty-eight families no occupation other than home work
was engaged in by any of the members, one of these being the family
of 7 persons before mentioned. In 13 of the 37 households where other
jobs were held and week’s earnings were reported, the total earnings
from such jobs were less than $20, and in 6 of these cases there were
5 or more persons. In 12 cases the total earnings from other sources
were $30 or more, all these families having at least 5 members.
Relief

Two families in which the sole income was from tags and another in
which the income other than from tags was less than $5 were being
given relief. Others reported that they needed help badly and had
applied for relief. One family, composed of mother and three children
aged 22, 15, and 14, had received only $67.50 in direct relief from
December until the date of interview in May. In another, composed
of a mother and daughter, the mother was elderly and the daughter,
who at one time had been employed in a textile mill, had lost her
employment because of ill health. The father in the third family,




26

INDUSTRIAL HOME WORK IN RHODE ISLAND

in which there were mother and six children from 17 years down to
1 year of age, had been given work by the Civil Works Administration
from December until this work ceased on April 1, after which l e
worked under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. For the
C. W. A. employment he received $162.50, and for the F. E. R. A,
$27. In addition to this the family had had $50 in direct relief.




APPENDIX—AGREEMENT DRAWN UP BY LACE MANUFAC­
TURERS FOR HOME WORKERS TO SIGN
AMERICAN LACE MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION
1457 Broadway, New York City
Administrative agency in coop­
eration with the Administrator
in accordance with the provi­
sions of the Code of Fair Compe­
tition for the Lace Manufactur­
ing Industry promulgated by
the President of the United
States, pursuant to Title I of the
National Recovery Act.

No home work is to be given to any person who does
not sign and comply with the following agreement.
Lace Manufacturing Industry Committee.

Date

I.............

(Name of home worker)

residing at
(Address)

do hereby agree to perform work for the
(Name of mill)

at my home and upon the following terms and conditions:
(а) that the
I S~T \ T n O T I h A work ... rf 1 1 be performed 1_ me, the signer of this agreement;
»1>- will
_ _ . 1 by
_ __
1 1
.
. ,,
(б) that no minor under the age of 16 years will be employed by me to perform
any services in connection with my work for the aforesaid manufacturer;
(c) that 1 will not at any time work longer than 40 hours in any one week ■
(d) that I will maintain my home wherein the work is performed clean and
sanitary;
(e) that no person residing in my home is afflicted with any contagious or
lniecLious QisGflSGj
(/) that I agree to allow my home to be inspected by representatives of the
American Lace Manufacturers Association or the manufacturers for whom
l af doing the work at any time between 9 a. m. and 5 p. m.(?) that I will comply with any regulations as to sanitation as may be promul­
gated by the American Lace Manufacturers Association or the manufac­
turers with whom I am making this contract;
Ch) that in the event of my employing any assistants at any time, I will require
such assistant to sign an agreement similar and identical with this(<) that the merchandise delivered to me by the said manufacturers shall at all
times be the property of the said manufacturer, and that I shall assume
full responsibility for the return of same to the said manufacturer except
in the event of same having been destroyed by fire^
0) that I will not accept work from the said manufacturer or any other manulacturer at a rate of compensation which will not permit me to earn a
minimum of $13 per week for 40 hours of services within a weekik) that I understand that the provisions of the Code of Fair Competition for the
lace manufacturing industry issued under the National Industrial Recovery
Act provides that employees must not be employed in excess of 40 hours in
fQny ,?If
arnr 1*elrlef0rte fuUy understand that this provision of the
law intends that I shall not be employed in excess of a total of 40 hours
per week even though I may be employed by more than one manufacturer
In signing this agreement I certify that I have read all of the foregoing and
agree to comply with same.
8
8 llu
Signed______________________
An agreement must be obtained from every person performing work at home.
tttaf




27

o