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/ JLAiJ ;• r The Status of Women in the United States 1953 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Martin P. Durkin, Secretary WOMEN’S BUREAU Frieda S. Miller, Director The Status of Women in the United States 1953 Women’s Bureau Bulletin 249 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Martin P. Durkin, Secretary WOMEN’S BUREAU Frieda S. Miller, Director Washington : 1953 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. C. Price 15 cents LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL United States Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, Washington, June 8,1953. Sir: I have the honor of transmitting a report on the status of women in the United States, 1953. Reports similar to this have been prepared since 1949, primarily for use of the United States Delegate to the Inter-American Commission of Women. As the material is not available in summarized and popular form elsewhere, the Women’s Bureau is printing this report to facilitate answering the frequently recurring requests for information of this type. The report deals with women in the United States in their own organizations, as voters, as officeholders, and as workers—in business and industry, in the Armed Forces, and in the professions. There is also a section on labor laws for women. Much of the material was collected and the report was written by Lucile Furman under the supervision of Adelia B. Kloak, Chief, Special Services and Publications Division. Respectfully submitted. Frieda S. Miller, Director. Hon. Martin P. Durkin, Secretary of Labor. m -/ CONTENTS Png* Women’s voice in government and politics Presidential appointments In national elective offices Women in State elective offices Other public offices Women in political parties Under civil service In the foreign service Employed women Employment trends Occupational shifts Occupational opportunities 10 11 Economic status of women workers Movement for equal pay 12 Economic importance of women’s earnings 13 13 Women’s chances for advancement Women in the armed services 15 16 Professional opportunities Education and training 16 Medicine, law, engineering lg Women as school administrators lg Women teachers—personnel practices 19 Labor laws for women_____________________________________ Minimum wage 20 Hours of work 21 Equal pay.............................. Other legislation of special interest to women State jury service Proposals for tax deduction for child-care expenses_______________ Women in unions 23 Women’s organizations 25 T 1 1 3 3 5 6 6 7 7 g 9 19 21 22 22 22 Status of Women in the United States Women’s Voice in Government and Politics Politically, the past year stands out as one in which women exercised their voting rights more fully than in any other year since they won the franchise in 1920. Women’s active interest in the 1952 presidential campaign, their well-organized efforts to “get out the vote” and the fact that record numbers of women flocked to the polls has been credited by some with swinging the national election from a Demo cratic to a Republican administration. Whether or not the women’s vote was the deciding factor in this historic political changeover, women’s efforts in the 1952 campaign won for them a recognition of their potential power as voters and an increased respect as participants in party politics. PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS During the campaign, both General Eisenhower, the Republican candidate, and Governor Stevenson, the Democratic candidate, an nounced that, if elected, they would give important government posi tions to women. Declaring he would use the contributions of outstanding women to the fullest, General Eisenhower said: “I will do my best to find and appoint the individuals best qualified to serve our country, regardless of whether they are men or women.” “I have reviewed the growing reliance upon qualified women for high public posts,” said Governor Stevenson, “because it is a pattern in which I believe and with which I intend to go forward.” In line with his promise and recognizing the significant part played by women in his election, President Eisenhower placed qualified women in nine major posts during the first 3 months of his administration.1 To a position which has since acquired Cabinet rank, that of Federal Security Administrator, he appointed Mrs. Oveta Culp Hobby, former director of the Women’s Army Corps, editor of a Texas newspaper and a leader in the “Democrats for Eisenhower” movement. When the Federal Security Agency was advanced to Cabinet status through Congressional action in April 1953, Mrs. Hobby became the Secretary of the newly created Department of Health, Education and Welfare. She is the second woman to serve as a Cabinet member in the United 1 Editor’s Note: The text Includes some appointments made after the bulletin went to press. 1 2 STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES States. The first was Miss Frances Perkins, who served as Secretary of Labor during the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, and later as Civil Service Commissioner during the Truman administration. As Ambassador to Italy, President Eisenhower appointed Mrs. Clare Boothe Luce, author, playwright, and public speaker, long active in the Republican Party and a former Congresswoman from Connecticut. Later in the year, Miss Frances E. 'Willis, a career diplomat, was elevated by Presidential appointment to the post of Ambassador to Switzerland. One other woman has held a United States ambassador ship : Mrs. Eugenie Anderson, who served as Ambassador to Denmark under President Truman. Three women, Mrs. Ruth Bryan Rohde, Mrs. Daisy Harriman, and Mrs. Perle Mesta, have served as United States Ministers to European countries. In the new administration, the position of United States Treasurer went to Mrs. Ivy Baker Priest who, as assistant chairman of the Re publican National Committee, headed the women’s organization of that party during its successful 1952 campaign. As U. S. Treasurer, she succeeded Mrs. Georgia Neese Clark, appointed by President Tru man and the first woman to hold this office. The new Assistant Treasurer is also a woman, Catherine B. Cleary, who was formerly a bank official in Milwaukee, Wis. Mrs. Mabelle Kennedy held this position in the Truman administration. Mrs. Hiram C. Houghton of Red Oak, Iowa, active organizer of women’s votes during the 1952 campaign and a former president of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, became Assistant Director for Refugees, Migration and Travel, in the Mutual Security Agency. Representative Frances P. Bolton of Ohio was appointed as a United States Delegate to the Eighth Session of the United Nations General Assembly. In each session of the Assembly there has been a woman delegate, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt having served in all pre vious sessions. Mrs. Oswald B. Lord of New York City was appointed as United States Representative on the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council and was also made Alternate United States Delegate to the Eighth Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Mrs. Lorena B. Hahn of Omaha, Nebr., received the appointment of United States Representative on the United Nations Status of Women Commission. Mrs. Elizabeth Heffelfinger of Wayzata, Minn., was sent as Alternate United States Representative to the Paris meeting of the UNESCO General Con ference. Mrs. Floyd Lee of San Mateo, N. Mex., was named United States Delegate to the Inter-American Commission of Women, replac ing Miss Mary Cannon, Chief of the International Division of the Women’s Bureau, who had served 9 years in this office. STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES 3 Mrs. Katherine G. Howard of Boston, Mass., former secretary of the Republican National Committee, was made Deputy Civil Defense Administrator. Mrs. Robert W. Leeds, of Atlantic City, N. J., a patent attorney of long experience, has become the first woman Assist ant Commissioner of Patents. Two women have been named as Assistants to the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare: Mrs. Georgia France McCoy of Oklahoma City, who has been in adminis trative and research work in New York University’s Bellevue Medical Center; and Mrs. Jane Morrow Spaulding, an executive board mem ber of both the National Association of Colored Women and the National Council of Negro Women. Mrs. Dorothy McCullough Lee, former mayor of Portland, Oreg., has been appointed a member of the Parole Board of the Department of Justice and Miss Catherine Burton Kelly of Washington, D. C., has been made an assistant United States attorney. Dr. Beatrice Aitcliison of Washington, D. C., has the position of Director of Transportation Research in the Post Office Department. Named as Assistant Director for Women’s Affairs in the Civil Defense Administration was Mrs. Clayton Lytle of Wilmington, Del. The President appointed two women as Superintendents of United States Mints: Mrs. Daniel J. Schneider at Denver and Mrs. Rae V. Biester at Philadelphia. Three received appointments as United States Collectors of Customs: Miss Albina Cermak at Cleveland, Ohio; Miss Cleta Smith at St. Louis, Mo.; and Mrs. Olivia E'rpenbach at Minneapolis, Minn. A number of women have been named to boards and commissions connected with the Federal Government. Appointment of women to other important posts is expected from the President since he has already demonstrated through definite action his belief that women are capable of holding high office with distinction and should receive recognition for their efforts toward good government. Very few women have gained such long-term appointments as judgeships; of the 307 Federal judges in the United States, 5 are women. Altogether, in the various courts of the country, about 150 women hold important judicial posts. IN NATIONAL ELECTIVE OFFICES Women gained one seat in the United States Congress as a result of the 1952 election, rounding the number out to an even dozen. There are now 11 women in the House of Representatives and 1 in the Senate. Two new women members, both of them Democrats, were elected: Mrs. John B. Sullivan, first woman to represent Missouri, and Mrs. Gracie 259709—53------ 2 4 STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES Pfost, from Idaho. Nine women former House members, six Re publicans and 3 Democrats, were reelected. One former House mem ber, Judge Reva Beck Bosone, Democrat, of Utah was defeated. There were some 50 women candidates for seats in Congress, but not all of these had the backing of one of the two major parties. Some of them ran independently or represented minor parties. In the 1950 election only 17 women ran for Congress, of whom 8 were elected. Mrs. Margaret Chase Smith (R) of Maine is still the only woman Senator. She was a member of the House from 1940 to 1949 before her election to the Senate. Her present term will end in January 1955. Dean of women in the House of Representatives is Mrs. Edith Nourse Rogers (R) of Massachusetts, first elected to succeed her hus band in 1925; Representative Frances P. Bolton (R) of Ohio has been a member since 1940. Other former members returned through re election in 1952 are: Mrs. Marguerite Stitt Church (R), Illinois; Mrs. Cecil M. Harden (R), Indiana; Mrs. Katharine St. George (R), New York; Ruth Thompson (R), Michigan; Mrs. Edna F. Kelly (D), New York; Mrs. Vera Buchanan (D), Pennsylvania; and Mrs. Elizabeth Kee (D), West Virginia. Generally women, even those most interested in national affairs, are reluctant to run for national office. Few women align themselves closely enough with party politics or devote enough time, money, and attention to a party organization to gain its support. Of the 52 women who have served or are serving in Congress, 25 were placed in office originally to fill the unexpired term of a deceased husband. Only 27 have succeeded in winning a first election without having been preceded in office by their husbands. However, a high proportion of those who succeeded their husbands in office have subsequently been reelected, some of them for many terms. The idea that a woman might run for election to the Presidency is not considered seriously as yet in the United States. However, the 1952 political conventions saw a first step toward recognizing women in top administrative office as at least a future possibility. Two able women were nominated as Vice President in the Democratic Conven tion, both with good qualifications for the office: Mrs. India Edwards, competent and energetic co-chairman of the Democratic National Committee and Judge Sarah T. Hughes of Houston, Tex., a national leader among women and former president of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs. Margaret Chase Smith, an outstanding Senator by any standard, had been mentioned as a Republican vice-presidential candidate, but asked that her name be withdrawn from the proposed nominations. STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES 5 WOMEN IN STATE ELECTIVE OFFICES In election to State legislatures women have made a much better showing. From a total of 29 serving in the first year of nationwide woman suffrage (1920) the number of women lawmakers in the States has gradually increased to an all-time high of 286 in 1953. Of these, 20 are State Senators and 266 are Representatives. There was a jump of 50 over last year’s total of 236 reflecting the big turn-out of women voters in the 1952 elections. In the New England States particularly there has been an im pressive increase in the number of women officially participating in lawmaking for the States. Vermont, New Hampshire, and Con necticut take the lead with women legislators numbering 52, 50, and 43, respectively. In Vermont women gained 15 new seats this year, in Connecticut 9 and in New Hampshire 6. Of significance too is the fact that Vermont’s Speaker of the House is a woman, Mrs. Consuelo N. Bailey. It is interesting to note that 35 of the 52 women in Ver mont’s legislature list their occupation as housewife. Other States in which women gained new seats this year were Ari zona, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, and Rhode Island. Last year there were eight States with no woman legislator, this year there are only four: Alabama, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Virginia. OTHER PUBLIC OFFICES Besides the State legislators there are 31 women in other Statewide elective positions in 21 of the States. Six hold the office of Secretary of State, four are State treasurers, four superintendents of public in struction, two State auditors, one a judge of the court of appeals, and the others in various posts. In State appointive positions, women continue to make impressive yearly gains. Today more than 3,000 women are serving in appointive State positions of authority and responsibility. In addition to the top policy-making posts, women are being appointed to more and more boards and commissions which deal with education, social welfare, public institutions, industrial problems, finance and business development. Proportionately women have made more progress in the holding of official positions in county government than in any other govern mental unit. It is estimated that there are at least 10,000 women now serving as county officials in the 3,072 counties of the 48 States. In city governments women hold many responsible positions, but there are few women mayors. Mrs. Katherine Elkins White was reelected as mayor of Red Bank, N. J., this year, and Mrs. Dorothy McCullough 6 STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES Lee finished a 4-year administration as mayor of one of the Nation’s largest cities, Portland, Oreg., in which she introduced many reforms and improvements. She has now been appointed as a member of the Parole Board of the United States Department of Justice. There are quite a number of smaller towns with women mayors. One of the largest cities in the country, Philadelphia, Pa., has a new woman member on its council, Mrs. Constance Dallas. WOMEN IN POLITICAL PARTIES For women’s large participation in the 1952 election and their grow ing sense of political responsibility as citizens in a democracy, much credit is due the women’s divisions of the Republican and Democratic Parties. From national headquarters in Washington, D. C., women leaders in the two great parties have for years conducted a continuous campaign to interest women in public affairs and draw them into po litical activity. Since the 1952 election, Republican women, headed by Bertha S. Adkins, assistant to the National Committee Chairman, have made a great effort to maintain the organized voting strength among women who helped put President Eisenhower into office. In April 1953, Miss Adkins called a conference of 12,000 Republican women delegates from all the States to the Capital city, where they were briefed on the objectives and the progress of the present admin istration program. They heard talks by the President and members of his Cabinet as well as other prominent Republican leaders. Democratic women, led by veteran organizer Mrs. India Edwards, Committee Co-Chairman, are conducting a campaign of “positive and intelligent opposition” designed to swing votes away from Repub lican candidates in 1954 and put more Democrats into office. Hailed by Democratic women leaders as a landmark of women’s progress in party organization was the integration of the Women’s Division into the entire operations of the Democratic National Committee, which took place this year, giving men and women the same status and com bining their activities at all levels of party organization. UNDER CIVIL SERVICE In the executive branch of the Government a considerable number of women have attained higher-level positions through the Civil Serv ice system. Latest Civil Service Commission figures (December 1952) show 2,377,896 Federal civilian employees in the continental United States. Of these, 582,500, approximately one out of every four, are women. About 1,000 of these women occupy positions of marked authority at policy-making and administrative levels. Last year (1952) a partial summary showed some 100 women in Govern STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES 7 mental administrative positions with salaries at or above $10,000. A large proportion of these high bracket jobs are appointive, but ap pointments are usually made on the basis of qualifying experience in Government service and some of the near top positions have been gained entirely through civil service promotion. Some of the major bureaus are directed by women and the number of smaller governmental units headed by women runs up into the hundreds. Among the women who are serving as bureau chiefs or in other high administrative positions in the Federal Government are: Euth B. Shipley, for many years chief of the State Department’s Pass port Division; Dr. Hazel K. Stiebeling, Chief, Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics in the Department of Agriculture; Dr. Martha M. Eliot, Chief, Children’s Bureau in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare; Frieda S. Miller, Director of the Women’s Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor; Mrs. Helen Harrison Castle, Assistant to the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission; Miss Koberta Church of Chicago, Consultant to Minority Groups, Fed eral-State Employment Agencies, Department of Labor; Mary D. Keyserling, Director, International Economic Analysis Division, De partment of Commerce; Mrs. Clara M. Beyer, Associate Director, Bureau of Labor Standards; Ethel B. Dietrich, Chief, Trade Section’ Mutual Security Agency ; Lucile Petry, Assistant Surgeon General, U. S. Public Health Service; Grace M. Stewart, Executive Assistant to the Attorney General, Department of Justice; Mary E. Switzer, Direc tor, Office of Vocational Eehabilitation, Department of Health, Edu cation and Welfare; and Mrs. Aryness Joy Wickens, Deputy Commis sioner, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor. IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE _ There are about 3,000 women in the foreign service of the United States. Highest ranking women in the career service are Kathleen Molesworth, Commercial Attache, in London, and Jane Martin, per sonnel officer, in Athens. About 500 women have positions in the higher classifications of the various categories in foreign service. Approximately 580 women are consuls, vice consuls and hi^h-rankinoattaches. b Employed Women Of the 58 million women in the population of working age in April 1953,19 million, or about one-third, were in the labor force. For the two previous years, the number of wage-earning women had ex ceeded 19 million. In 1952 the average for the year was 19.5 million 8 STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES and in 1951 it was 19.3 million. The Korean outbreak in 1950 brought a considerable jump in women’s employment, and the 1951 figure was 600,000 more than that of 1950 when there were, on the average, 18.7 million women working. Since then, enough women have entered the labor market to maintain a working force during the 1951-53 period at about the pre-Korean level. While the Korean emergency, like the two World Wars, gave im petus to women’s employment, it only accelerated a long-time trend in which a constantly increasing number of women were working on jobs outside the home. Industrial expansion in the United States has meant an increasing need for women’s work as well as men’s and as new industries and occupations have developed the proportion of women in the labor force has increased. In 1950, according to the decennial census, there were 4Vo times as many women working as there were 60 years earlier. Of even more significance than this numerical increase (since the population is much larger now than in 1890) is the growing proportion of women in the population who are working. This proportion increased by 50 percent in the past 60 years. Today, 3 out of every 10 women are working; in 1890 the proportion was only 2 out of 10. EMPLOYMENT TRENDS Two significant trends as revealed by employment figures con tinue to be apparent in the 1952-53 computations: (1) the growing proportion of married women in the labor force; and (2) the increas ing employment of older women. Since 1940 there has been almost a complete reversal in the pro portion of single and married women in the woman labor force. Single women in 1940 made up almost half of the total number of working women whereas in 1952 they were less than one-third. For married women this ratio has been fully reversed; they now make up more than half of the woman labor force whereas in 1940 they were only one-third. One reason for this is that the proportion of married women in the population has increased, while that of single women has decreased. But it is also true that a higher proportion of women who are married are working outside the home today than in 1940. Of all married women, 27 percent are now in the labor force, a proportion as high as that reached at the peak of World War II and higher by 10 points than the proportion of married women who were working outside the home in 1940. There were more older women in the labor force in 1953 than there were in 1950; this continues a trend which was very marked between the 1940 and 1950 decennial censuses. Over the 10-year period there STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES 9 was a 60-percent increase in the number of working women whose ages ranged from 35 to 54 years. The current census reports show that the number of working women in this broad age group has continued to increase since 1950. It has been estimated that women workers 55 to 64 years of age more than doubled in the 1940-50 period and increased by 5 percent in the past 3 years. This group, of course, constitutes only about one-tenth of all women workers. The age group between 35 and 54 made up only a third of the labor force in 1940 and in 1953 they were two-fifths of all women workers. The increase in laborforce participation of women was almost entirely among women 35 years of age and over. There was a decided decrease (8 percent from 1940 to 1950 and 6 percent from 1950 to 1953) in the number of those 20 to 24 years of age, a decrease due in part to the low birthrate of the depression years. In the age bracket 25 to 34 the number of women workers has changed only slightly in the past 13 years. The median age of women workers has risen from 25.8 years in 1900 to 37.5 years in 1953. OCCUPATIONAL SHIFTS As new occupational opportunities have opened to women large numbers have shifted from the less remunerative types of employment to those that offer more pay and better working conditions. For in stance, the number of women employed as private household workers has declined rapidly since 1940, particularly during World War II when war production opened many new jobs to women. Out of a total of 12 million employed women in 1940, there were 2 million household workers. In 1945, while World War II was still in process, there were only 1 y2 million doing household work out of a total of more than 19 million employed women. Although more women workers entered private household employment after the war, neither the number nor proportion of women so employed has risen to the prewar level. Today only 10 percent of women workers are employed in private household work, whereas 18 percent were in this occupation before the war. In contrast, the growth since 1940 in the number of women doing clerical work has been spectacular—from 2y2 million in 1940 to more than 5 million in 1953. Office jobs and other types of clerical work employ far more women today than any other occupation group, with 3 out of every 10 women workers so classified. Women operatives, primarily factory workers, constitute the second largest group of employed women and number nearly 4 million. Since 1940, slightly more than one-fifth of all employed women have held factory jobs except during World War II when almost one-fourth 10 STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES of all employed women were working as operatives. The number of women in factory work has fluctuated with the need for increased production to meet the country’s defense needs and, at present, is 11/2 million more than in 1940, and three-fourths of a million less than at the height of World War II. The number of women in professional and technical wmrk has in creased, but forms a smaller proportion of the woman labor force than in 1940. During World War II so many women workers left pro fessional and technical work for other jobs that the proportion shrank even lower, to 8 percent in 1945. In 1940 it was about 13 percent, and today 10 percent of all employed women are professional or technical workers. Women service workers—those employed as hospital attendants, beauticians, elevator operators, practical nurses, waitresses, etc.— have almost doubled in number since 1940; and today more than 2 million women are engaged in the service occupations, other than private household employment. In sales work there are about 1 y2 million women, almost twice as many as in 1940, but in about the same proportion as then to the total number of employed women. OCCUPATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES The above occupations are those in which the great majority of women workers are found. But women have entered practically all types of employment and there are thousands of women on jobs that in earlier days would have been considered “men’s work.” Never, more than now, have women in the United States enjoyed a freer choice in the kind of work they do. Recent years have been a period of full employment, and there are openings, at least from time to time, in a great variety of vocations. Women as well as men are en couraged to exercise this choice, and to prepare for the type of work for which they are best fitted and at which they are most likely to succeed. In seeking employment and in planning future careers, women and girls have access to the free counseling services that are provided through schools, employment offices, and nonprofit service organizations. High schools and colleges hold career conferences for girls as well as boys. Several of the women’s magazines have sections devoted to exploring job opportunities and guiding women workers toward successful careers. So great has been the demand for young women to enter various types of employment that shortages have developed in some of the fields depending largely on women for their labor supply and there is a general shortage of young women workers between the ages of 18 STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES 11 and 34 who are without family responsibilities that tie them down. As the demand for young adult workers has increased, the population in this broad age bracket has been shrinking due to the low birthrates during the depression years. Hence a situation has developed in which there is urgent need for women to enter or take training for some of the professions and occupations most essential to the public welfare—teaching, nursing, social work and occupations in the medi cal field such as X-ray and laboratory technicians, public health nu tritionists and dietitians. To help overcome these shortages the Women’s Bureau has suggested such measures as the removal of arbitrary age specifications that bar older women, improved salaries in the public service occupations, increased training opportunities, and employment on a part-time basis of trained women who cannot arrange to work full time. In these shortage occupations, of course, women can be fairly certain of future employment as well as present opportunities since population forecasts indicate that the supply of young women workers will not soon catch up with the demand. ECONOMIC STATUS OF WOMEN WORKERS During the postwar period there has been a substantial increase in the wage rates of women workers, particularly professional, tech nical, and clerical workers and operatives in factories and service in dustries. Yet the median income of women, nearly all of which is derived from wages and salaries, has risen only slightly in the postwar period, from $901 in 1945 to $1,045 in 1951, while that of men (also obtained largely through earnings) rose from $1,800 in 1945 to about $3,000 in 1951, latest year recorded in the Consumer Income Report of the Bureau of the Census. Women’s average income from wages and salaries in 1951 was less than half (44 percent) of that received by men in 1951. Only (4 of 1 percent of women wage earners received as much or more than a $5,000 income from their work, whereas 12 percent of the men workers received wages or salaries of $5,000 or more. At the lower end of the scale, 81 percent of the women and only 37 percent of the men received less than $2,500 from wages or salaries. Part of this wide differential between men’s and women’s earnings is due to the fact that most men work continuously during the year, while women’s employment is more intermittent, particularly that of married women, whose earnings tend to be low, according to the explanatory statement of the Bureau of the Census. But there are other more fundamental reasons why census figures show up such a wide discrepancy between the earned income of men and women workers. One of these is the fact that women workers still tend 12 STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES to congregate in occupations traditionally employing women and that these occupations have a relatively low wage scale. In some of the occupations newer to women and with a higher wage scale, women are slower than men to receive advancement to the better-paid posi tions. Another reason for the discrepancy between men and women’s income from salary or wages is the fact that women still are paid less than men, in a multitude of cases, for doing the same or com parable work. While the principle of equal pay for equal work is generally accepted in theory, it is by no means universal in practice. In Colorado, one of the States in which women’s organizations are supporting an equal-pay bill in the State legislature, the Business and Professional Women’s Clubs recently completed a State-wide spot sur vey which revealed that in most instances Colorado women are being paid less than men for doing comparable work. In one community of 15,000 residents, the survey revealed that: Men employed in manufacturing work in the town received $1.45 an hour; women doing similar jobs are paid 97t4 cents an hour. In dry-goods stores, women employees receive $237 a month to a man’s $300. Bookkeepers in one garage—if they are men—earn $350; women only $237. In another garage there was no salary discrimination. One bank pays women $191.37 for doing the same job that pays a man $304.50. There is no reason to believe that what is true in Colorado would be measurably different in other States where there are no equal-pay laws. Even in the States that have equal-pay laws, the coverage is in most cases limited, and legal loopholes exist which make it difficult to enforce them completely. However, the principle of equal pay is being put more and more into practice not only in compliance with State laws, but by voluntary action on the part of employers. Trade unions frequently include equal-pay clauses in union contracts, since equal pay benefits men as well as women by discouraging employers from hiring women for less money, or, as sometimes happens, from replacing men with women at lower rates. MOVEMENT FOR EQUAL PAY The Women’s Bureau of the U. S. Department of Labor, women’s organizations, civic groups, unions, and individual leaders have been active for many years in promoting the equal-pay principle. Last year (1952) the Women’s Bureau called a National Conference on Equal Pay, and following the conference a national committee was formed of voluntary organizations and trade unions to stimulate further efforts toward the elimination of wage inequalities between men and women. Known as the National Committee for Equal Pay, it has headquarters at 1817 Eye Street NW., in Washington, D. C. STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES 13 Both the Republican and Democratic parties had equal-pay planks in their 1952 platforms. ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN'S EARNINGS Women workers in this country carry financial responsibilities of major importance to family and community life. Thousands of fam ilies depend entirely on income produced by women. In addition, census data show that there is an inverse correlation between the labor force activity of married women and the income of their husbands. The proportion of wives who work is only 13 percent in families where husband’s income is $10,000 or more, but rises to 29 percent where husband’s income is between $2,000 and $3,000. The median income of families in which both the husband and wife work was $4,631 in 1951 as compared to $3,634 in families where the wife did not work. The money women earn and spend adds to the national income and consumer purchasing power. Thus women’s work is of prime importance to the economic life of the country from the stand point of marketing as well as of the production of goods and services. The contribution women make to family upkeep plays a significant part in maintaining the high living standards in the United States. Wives who work do so largely to help out with day-to-day living expenses, but their earnings also often enable the family to buy or build a home or send sons and daughters to college. The April 1953 issue of the magazine Glamour gave credit to women’s earnings for the fact that more people own their own homes now than in previous times. “The two-paycheck family has helped to bring about a revolution in home ownership,” the magazine states. “In 1940 only 44 percent of families owned their own homes. Now 51 percent do, and the figure is expected to hit 55 percent or more in a few years. This is having a profound effect on family life: more stability, more sense of property, more feeling of ‘belonging’ to economic society.” WOMEN'S CHANCES FOR ADVANCEMENT Women’s chances for advancement to the better positions in business and industry are, as yet, not so good as those of men. Many of the better jobs are still considered “men’s jobs,” but this traditional at titude is breaking down as more and more women prove themselves capable of handling positions of responsibility. A constantly increas ing number of women are to be found in really important posts in the business and industrial world. As for example: The four top execu tives of one of the large water-heater manufacturing firms are women. 14 STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES Its owner, Milton J. Stevens, has been quoted as saying, “They’ve made a millionaire out of me.” Vice president and sales manager of this firm, the Republic Heater Corporation in California, is Mrs. Opal Mitchell, who supervises the work of 17 regional sales managers, all men. Mrs. Tillie Lewis is the founder, owner, and president of a large independent cannery, the Flotill Products in California, which also manufactures sugar- and salt-free canned foods for dietary use. Two large New York department stores have women executives: Lord and Taylor has a woman president, Dorothy Shaver, and more women executives than men; Macy’s has as its vice president Mrs. Beatrice Rosenberg. Garfinckel’s, Washington store specializing in women’s wear, has a woman vice president, Elizabeth Fairall. There are three women among the top executives of Auerbach’s department store in Salt Lake City. One-fourth of the buyers and department heads in stores are women, numbering 36,127 in 1950. Three women railroad executives are Mrs. Beatrice Joyce Kean, president of the Tremont and Gulf Railway; Mrs. G. W. Page, chair man of the Board of Directors of the Cape Fear Railways; and Mrs. Edith Alden, secretary, assistant treasurer and transfer agent of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad. Many women are hired by the railroads of the country and many have been advanced to re sponsible and remunerative posts. Carlene Roberts, who started her career as a secretary to one of its officials, is now a vice president of American Airlines. Of some 1,000 women certified as commercial pilots, two hold airline transport pilot ratings. Mrs. Mildred McAfee Horton, former president of Wellesley College and commander of the WAVES during World War II, is a director of the National Broad casting Company and the Radio Corporation of America. Mrs. Madeleine Sloane, daughter of Thomas A. Edison, is on the Board of Directors of the Western Union Telegraph Company. Mrs. Millicent C. McIntosh is a director of the Home Life Insurance Com pany of New York. Employed to decorate the luxury liner United States were Dorothy Marckwold and Anne Urquhart. It took 3 years to complete the job. Mrs. Wallace Clark is president of Wallace Clark and Co., a New York firm of consulting management engineers. Banking is a field in which women have rapidly gained recognition as competent workers and good executives. Latest figures show that more than half of bank employees in the United States are women. The greater proportion of them are on clerical jobs, but there are more than 6,000 women officers in banks throughout the country including 6 women bank owners and partners, 27 board chairmen, 96 bank presi STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES 15 dents, and 337 vice presidents, according to a report of the Association of Bank Women. In newspaper work and other writing and publishing fields women have long been accepted as valuable workers. Mrs. Ogden B,eid is vice president of the New York Herald Tribune. The University of Minnesota Press is directed by Mrs. Margaret Harding; her staff is composed entirely of women. Many women’s names have become well known through the publications to which they contribute. In 1950, there were 28,595 women editors and reporters, nearly twice as many as the 1940 number of 14,750; their proportion of the total grew from one-fourth to nearly one-third. The motion-picture industry, radio, and television, employ women in numerous jobs connected with production and advertising. Names of women appearing on the screen or before the microphone are well known and carry the same prestige and popularity as do men who work in similar capacities. While women make good as performers and are accepted on an equal footing with men, in general, these fields present very limited employment opportunities because of their highly competitive nature. WOMEN IN THE ARMED SERVICES Having proved themselves useful and competent on military jobs during World War II, women were integrated into the Armed Forces by a law passed in 1948. Today there are 35,599 officers and enlisted personnel in the WAC, Navy, Air Force, and Marines; 11,106 (all offi cers) in the Nurse Corps and Medical Specialist Corps. Except for combat duty, they have the same responsibilities as men in service, with equal pay and the same benefits and privileges. Many of the same jobs as those handled by military men are open to women and training courses are available on the same basis; in fact, men and women take the same courses and training is coeducational in many cases. Women are excluded by law only from duty in com bat, ships, and aircraft; and by policy from those jobs clearly un suitable to women, such as heavy duty. The majority of enlisted women are assigned to jobs in six main categories: personnel, clerical, communications, administration, medical, and supply. A great variety of fields are open to them, however, and training is provided while they also receive service pay. Hundreds of women in uniform are working in journalism, electronics, food-service, photography, and various specialities connected with aviation. The Medical Specialist Corps in the Army and Air Force offer ex cellent opportunity to young women with college training in physical 16 STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES and occupational therapy, dietetics, or closely related subjects. Like the Nurse Corps, these are made up entirely of commissioned officers; each offers advanced training on officers’ pay. This year, for the first time, an 18-month training course was provided in the physical therapy field. The other two fields had previously had equivalent courses. The Army, Navy, and Air Force Nurse Corps provide ad vanced training in specialized nursing fields. The educational stand ards are superior and the jobs to which nurses are assigned are better and more responsible than was formerly true. Women doctors were admitted to the Regular Army by legislation passed in the 82d Congress. In March 1953, a former WAC was sworn in as the first woman physician to be commissioned in the United States Regular Army. She is 1st Lt. Fae M. Adams, MC, of San Jose, Calif. The first women interns were accepted by the Army Medical Service in July 1952, when three medical college seniors began duty. Professional Opportunities EDUCATION AND TRAINING Altogether there are 1,907 institutions of higher learning in the United States, most of them coeducational. Practically all the pro fessional schools (law, medicine, etc.) which formerly barred women students are now open to them. As far as opportunity to enter schools of higher learning is concerned, women have little cause for complaint. In the population 25 years of age and over, according to the 1950 Decennial Census, more women than men have completed high school; fewer women than men, however, have attended college. Men far outnumbered women in college classes graduated during the academic year 1951-52, but the proportion was not so large as in the two pre ceding years, when graduating classes were swelled to record-breaking figures by men students taking college courses under the “GI Pill of Rights.” As the composition of the college student population re turns to a somewhat more normal distribution between men and women, there has been an accompanying increase in the proportion of first degrees granted to women. In 1951-52, women students com prised about 32 percent of those earning first degrees, according to a report by the U. S. Office of Education on earned degrees. In the 1949-50 period, the percentage was 24, and in 1950-51, it was 27. In all types of institutions, with the exception of the teachers’ colleges, the number of men earning first degrees outnumbered the women by a considerable margin, the report said. About 25 percent of the first degrees conferred by universities were earned by women. STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES 17 In the liberal arts colleges, 42 percent of the graduates were women. Of the first degrees conferred in teachers’ colleges, 55 percent were earned by women. There were women taking bachelor’s or first professional degrees in nearly every major field of study listed in the United States Office of Education report, including 15 in animal husbandry, 8 in veterin ary medicine, 7 in astronomy, and 11 in aeronautical engineering, and 49 in other types of engineering. By far the largest number of first degrees earned by women were in the field of education. There has been an increase for several years in the number of women taking their degrees in this field, bring ing education to the top of the 1951-52 list in the total number of earned degrees. There were 38,352 women and 24,599 men taking first degrees in education. In business and commerce, which had headed the list in previous years since World War II, the first degrees earned in 1951-52 totaled 5,623 for women and 41,060 for men. Home economics degrees (bachelor’s) were earned by 7,652 women and 64 men. I here were 4,091 women and 46 men receiving first professional degrees in nursing. The relation between the number of master’s degrees conferred on men and women has remained practically unchanged for the past 20 years. In 1951-52, 68.6 percent of all master’s degrees were earned by men. Uiroughout the thirties the percentage of master’s degrees conferred on male students ranged slightly above 60 percent. Degrees in medicine (M. D. only) went to 330 women and to 5,871 men; in dentistry (D. D. S.) 23 to women and 2,895 to men. A broad new study of the education of women, made possible by a Phillips Foundation grant was started this year by the American Council on Education. The new commission, to direct this study, headed by Dr. Esther Lloyd-Jones, professor of education at Colum bia University, will explore the current and long-range needs of women as affected by changing social conditions. Dr. Althea K. Hottel, dean of women at the University of Pennsylvania, will serve as project director. The three main objectives as listed by the com mission are: To ascertain what education is offering relevant to making women more ef fective as individuals, as members of a family, as gainfully employed workers, and as participants in civic life. These studies would include consideration of spiritual and moral values and the constructive use of leisure time. To develop plans for continuing the education of women after college, and to encourage pilot studies in this field. To offer a consultative service on women’s education and affairs for insti tutions of higher learning. 18 STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES MEDICINE, LAW, ENGINEERING The professional fields offer increasing opportunities for women, although not as many women as men seek and acquire professional degrees, and those who do find some difficulty in establishing them selves in a traditionally men’s field. Employed in the medical pro fession in 1950, there were 11,714 women physicians, and 180,233 men physicians. A smaller proportion of women physicians than of men are in private medical practice, and a considerable proportion use their professional training on salaried jobs. There were almost twice as many women dentists in 1950 (2,045) as there were in 1940 (1,047); women increased their proportion of the total from 1.5 to 2.7 percent. Among lawyers, the number of women grew nearly 50 percent, from 4,187 in 1940 to 6,256 in 1950; and their proportion of the total legal profession increased from 2.4 to 3.5 percent. Women who study law face stiff competition from men in trying to establish themselves in private legal practice, and many go into salaried positions. Engineering, a field long closed to women by tradition, now offers good opportunities to women as well as men because of the acute need of trained engineers resulting from the defense effort. In 1950, there were 6,475 women engineers, nearly nine times the 1940 total of 730. In spite of the fact that men engineers doubled in number in this decade, making engineering by far the leading profession for men, women gained percentage-wise from less than 0.3 to 1.2 percent. WOMEN AS SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS Teaching is still women’s stronghold among the professions, with women outnumbering the men, although not at the higher levels. But men hold the great majority of administrative jobs in education, as they always have. Women are only 7.9 percent of all public highschool principals, practically the same proportion as 50 years ago. The number of women superintendents of city school systems is very small, and has decreased in recent years. As recently as 1939, 46 of the city superintendents of schools were women. By 1951 there were 8 in the 1,583 cities with over 2,500 population and only 1 in the 360 cities with over 30,000 population. However, in these larger cities, more than half the principals of elementary schools are women. On university faculties men predominate in the better positions and few women are to be found at the policy-making levels. In 1952, the National Council of Administrative Women in Education (NEA) published a survey of the opportunities for women in administrative posts in 971 public and private colleges and universities, coeducational and separate. This showed that fewer than 10 percent of the women STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES 19 in administration are presidents, vice presidents, provosts, deans of the college, or business managers. The American Council on Education has 161 institutions on its 1952 list of 4-year accredited colleges for women. Of these 78 are nondenominational (3 are exclusively teacher-training institutions, one of the latter headed by a woman), with 13 women administrators. In 1932, the Council’s list had a total of 109 such colleges, 70 nonde nominational and 13 headed by women. The current total is 10 women presidents and 3 deans. WOMEN TEACHERS—PERSONNEL PRACTICES Discrimination against women teachers on the basis of sex or marital status is far less general than in the past, the National Education Association of the United States reports in its recent study entitled, “Teacher Personnel Practices, 1950-51.” Pay differentials based on sex were reported by only 20 percent of the cities in 1951, compared with 47 percent in 1941. Wage discrimination was less common in cities of 30,000 and over than in smaller cities. Marriage is still a basis for discrimination in hiring women teachers, but a marked improvement is noted. In 1941, 95 percent of the cities reported mar riage a handicap, but only 59 percent in 1951. An unconditional policy against appointment of married women was reported by 58 percent of the cities in 1941 as against 8 percent in 1951. Termination of service as a result of marriage was also far less common in 1951 than in 1941. As compared with 30 percent in 1941, 90 percent of the cities reported in 1951 that the employment status of a woman teacher already employed was not affected by marriage. Labor Laws for Women Although there is not a single State or Territory without legisla tion which regulates some aspect of women’s employment, there are still thousands of women workers who are not covered by laws which protect them from unreasonably long working hours, from wages too low for maintaining good living standards, or from working condi tions which are hazardous or detrimental to health. In areas and occupations where they are unionized, women workers reap benefits from collective bargaining agreements which establish desirable working standards for both men and women. But some of the occupations in which large numbers of women are traditionally employed have little or no union organization. Even where unions are strong, legislation is needed to insure decent working standards for those who are unorganized. 20 STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES MINIMUM WAGE A minimum wage of 75 cents an liour is set by Federal law for most workers employed in interstate industry. The Fair Labor Standards Act also requires that these workers be paid 1 % times their regular rate of pay for time worked in excess of 40 hour's a week. This law protects only those who work in industries that produce or ship goods in interstate commerce. Laws which provide for establishment of minimum-wage standards for workers engaged in activities of a local or intrastate character are on the statute books of 26 States, the District of Columbia, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Pico. No new laws have been passed since 1941. However, a number of States and Territories have strengthened their laws through amendments in the past few years, among them Connect icut and Massachusetts, both of which have set a 75-cent minimum by statute (with provision in Massachusetts for a 65-cent minimum by wage orders in individual industries). In 1953, Nevada increased its statutory minimum wage for women to 75 cents an hour. Hawaii increased its statutory minimum to 65 cents, effective July 1. Other States have established minimum wages of 75 cents an hour or more through the issuance of wage orders for individual industries or occupations. During the past year (June 1, 1952 to June 1, 1953) the District of Columbia and seven States (California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah) revised their wage orders to increase the minimum for workers previously covered or to bring new workers under minimum-wage protection. California issued re vised orders for 10 industries or occupations, establishing a uniform minimum wage of 75 cents an hour. New York State revised 5 orders covering beauty services, cleaning and dyeing, laundry, hotel, and restaurant industries. Two of the revised orders—'beauty service and cleaning and dyeing—which established a basic minimum of 80 cents an hour, are among the first State orders to provide minimum wages for intrastate workers higher than the 75-cent minimum now in effect for interstate commerce under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The District of Columbia Office Workers Order, issued in 1949, was the first order to set a minimum higher than 75 cents an hour. The District of Columbia order sets $31 for a week of 32 to 40 hours, which amounts to 77% cents per hour.) New York also issued an order bringing janitors and other building service workers in the State under minimum-wage protection for the first time. In Oregon, women and minors employed in preparing poultry, rabbits, fish or eggs for distribution were given minimum-wage protection STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES 21 through an order setting 75 cents an hour as the minimum. The Minnesota Public Housekeeping Order set a 75-cent hourly minimum. Rhode Island’s revised Retail Trade Occupations Order increased all wage rates and established a basic minimum of $28 (instead of $22) for a 36-44 hour workweek and 95 cents an hour (instead of 75 cents) for hours over 44 a week. Hourly rates for less than 36 hours a week were raised from 55 to 70 cents. The two revised wage orders in Massachusetts—for Building Service, and Amusement and Rec reation Occupations, respectively—also established minimum wages of 70 cents per hour. HOURS OF WORK Laws limiting women’s daily and weekly hours of employment are in effect in 43 of the 48 States. The standard of an 8-hour day or 48-hour week (or less) is established for one or more industries in half (24) of the States and the District of Columbia. Five of the States have no legal restrictions on the. number of hours women can be employed. Nearly half the States and the District of Columbia prohibit employment of women for more than 6 days a week in some or all industries. Some limitation on the hours adult women may be employed at night is set by 19 States and Puerto Rico. Meal periods are provided by law in 27 States and the District of Columbia, and rest periods in 8 States. EQUAL PAY Widespread and continuing interest in equal-pay legislation is evi denced by bills introduced in 1953 in State legislatures and in the Federal Congress. New bills were introduced in nine States—Colo rado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, Utah. In addition, in seven States that now have equal pay laws on the statute books—California, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Mon tana, New York, and Pennsylvania—amendments were proposed to extend coverage or otherwise strengthen existing standards. Seven bills which would require employers engaged in interstate commerce to provide equal pay for comparable work have been introduced in the 83d Congress, six in the House and one in the Senate. Equal-pay laws applying to private employment are in effect in 13 States and one Territory, Alaska. Sixteen of the 48 States and the District of Columbia have laws requiring equal pay for men and women teachers and the principle is set forth by school board action in many of the city school systems. Equal-pay clauses in collective bargaining agreements cover thousands of women workers; in addi tion, in many plants the principle of equal pay is established through 22 STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES job classification systems. The Federal Government pays its em ployees on the principle of “rate for the job,” first expressed in the Civil Service Classification Act of 1923, and reaffirmed in the Act of 1949. The Department of Defense has reaffirmed its equal-pay policy established during World War II for women production workers in installations of the Armed Forces. Other Legislation of Special Interest to Women STATE JURY SERVICE Women are now eligible to serve on juries in all the Territories and all but six States: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia. A resolution was adopted by the Texas Legislature in the 1953 session which provides for a jury service referendum in 1954. A similar resolution was adopted in West Virginia; however, no ena bling act was passed. Jury service bills have also been introduced in the 1953 legislative sessions of Alabama and Georgia, where women’s organizations have carried on coordinated campaigns. There has also been some activity in South Carolina. Mississippi is the only one of the six States which does not have a legislative session this year. PROPOSALS FOR TAX DEDUCTION FOR CHILD-CARE EXPENSES Proposals for amending the Federal Internal Revenue Code to per mit taxpayers to deduct expenses of child care from their taxable in come have gained considerable attention during the past year. At present (May 1953) 28 such bills are pending in the 83d Congress, 26 in the House of Representatives, and 2 in the Senate. Hearings have been scheduled by the House Ways and Means Committee to begin on June 16th. The bills vary widely in scope. Most of them would make only widows and widowers eligible for child-care tax deduction; some list as eligible any “taxpayer gainfully employed outside the home with children under 16 years of age” and others would cover only women gainfully employed and with young children. Most of them stipulate a maximum income status from $5,000 to $7,500 above which the tax exemption would not apply. Some ask for deduction of ordinary and reasonable expenses incurred to provide care for a child or children, and others for actual cash wages and nursery school fees paid for child care or supervision. Similar proposals have been introduced in at least two State legis latures—Minnesota and Oregon. STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES 23 Women in Unions In compiling information for the 1953 Directory of Labor Unions, the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the first time included in its ques tionnaire a request for figures on the number of women members. Estimates based on the replies to the questionnaire set the total 1952 union membership at between 16^ and 17 million and the number of women members at approximately 3 million. Thus, about one out of every six union members is a woman. The bulk of the woman membership—2y2 million—was concen trated in 45 unions from among the 146 unions reporting. Most of the unions (125) had either no women members or a proportion under 10 percent (see table below). In 28 of the unions women made up 50 percent or more of the membership. Among unions having large numbers of women workers are those in the apparel trades, service trades, communications work, textile mills, and electrical goods manufacturing. or Women Trade-Union Members in 213 Unions 1 Percent of Women in Labor Unions Number of Unions None 43 Under 10 82 10 and under 20 25 20 and under 30 16 30 and under 40 10 40 and under 50__________________________ ____________________ 9 50 and under 60 13 60 and under 70 10 70 and under 80 3 80 and under 90 1 90 and over 1 Proportion 1 Directory of Labor Unions in the United States, 1953, Bulletin 1127, U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. 35 cents. In the listing of union officials at the national level there were very few women as compared to men. However, there are a number of women who hold important and influential positions in national unions. Two are high officials of large trade unions, Gladys Dickason of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers and Jennie Matyas of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers. Mrs. Katherine Poliak Ellickson holds the position of associate director of research at the national headquarters of the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Mrs. Esther Murray is National Representative of the CIO Political Action Committee. Mrs. Caroline Davis holds an office of importance to women in the automobile industry as director of the United Auto mobile Workers Women’s Bureau. Two of the unions listed in the 24 STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES 1953 Directory have women presidents: the International Air Line Stewards and Stewardesses Association, headed by Mary Alice Koos; and the Screen Writers Guild, with Mary McCall, Jr., as its president. Florence Marston is Eastern Representative of the Screen Actors Guild. The national office in which the largest number of women is found is that of research director. Eleven women serve in this capacity in the national headquarters of unions listed in the Directory. Ten serve as secretary or secretary-treasurer; 5 as editors of union publica tions; 3 as treasurer; and several others as educational director, executive secretary, or executive assistant. The CIO United Shoe Workers has the distinction of having five women on its executive board. Women officers are also scarce at the regional and State levels, but women are much more active in local union groups where many hold offices of responsibility. There are numerous women presidents and vice presidents of union locals, particularly in the trades and indus tries employing large numbers of women. For instance, the Detroit, Mich., local of the CIO Communications Workers elected a woman president this year, Mrs. Jennie M. Hills, who is also secretary-treas urer of the Detroit CWA Council. The Montclair, N. J., local of the United Textile Workers has a woman president and women in three other offices. A recent issue of the weekly publication of the Inter national Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (IUECIO News) lists women officers in 10 of 18 local elections reported in the publication. The slate elected this year by the IUE local at Sandusky, Ohio, is all women; 10 out of 11 officers including president and vice president of the local at Dover, N. PL, are women; 6 out of 9 officers including the two top positions at Easton, Pa., are women ; the president, vice president, and secretary of the local at Boston are women. There has been an active movement in the International Association of Machinists to interest women in union activities and to promote leadership among its women members. Articles featuring women officials of IAM locals have appeared regularly in the union’s weekly publication, The Machinist. Hailed in the March 1953 issue as the first woman ever to head a district IAM lodge was Mrs. Martha Olinger, elected as president of Rockford, 111., district lodge with more than 3,000 members. Earlier articles cited women’s contribution to union work in such offices as trustees, stewards, recording secretaries, district council members, and members of committees including com mittees for negotiating contracts. STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES 25 In their 1952 conventions both the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations took action aimed at integrating women workers into the labor movement and improving their status as union members. The CIO also passed a resolution urging equal pay for equal work. The Executive Council of the AFL officially recommended for the ensuing year: 1. That every national and international union within whose jurisdiction women workers are employed initiate a special organization program to turn these women workers into good trade unionists. 2. That the AFL Director of Organization assist this movement by promoting common undertakings and pooling experience. “The Women’s Bureau of the U. S. Department of Labor provides excellent data and other information on the problems of women who work,” the AFL recommendation states. “This mate rial would be most useful to such an organization drive. It is high time for unions to realize the importance of organizing all women workers as an integral and essential part of the labor movement.” The resolution passed by the Congress of Industrial Organizations states in part: “As a part of its belief in industrial unionism, the CIO has supported equal job rights, equal opportunities, and equal pay for equal work for all its members. CIO contracts have brought great gains to women workers, and in many sit uations our women members have been indispensable in the establishment of strong unions ... “Now, Therefore, be it Resowed : The CIO reaffirms its support of effective Federal and State legislation to safe guard the principle of equal pay for equal work. We shall continue to support the Women’s Status Bill and to oppose the miscalled Equal Rights Amendment. We urge our affiliates, in cooperation with the CIO Committee to Abolish Dis crimination, to intensify their efforts to oppose discrimination against women on the job or in the community, and to support actively protection of women’s rights through clauses in union contracts against discrimination in pay, hiring, upgrading, training, layoff or similar procedures. We continue to support com munity programs that make it easier for women to earn a living without jeopar dizing the welfare of their families or their own health. We urge our affiliates and the National CIO to renew their efforts to draw women into active par ticipation in our unions as officers as well as members. Similarly, women should be encouraged to play an important role in our community and political activities in order that our goals may be achieved. “In supporting measures to meet the special needs of women workers, we again affirm the fundamental position of the CIO that all workers are entitled to co-equal rights and responsibilities in the labor movement and in public activities.” Women’s Organizations In a report on the status of women it would be a grave oversight to omit comment on national women’s organizations. These volun tary groups with local branches throughout the entire country have 26 STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES been “a force that has greatly affected American life in the last 60 years,” to quote an eminent woman and newspaper columnist. “In no other country has there been anything like it,” she goes on to say, “this indirect influence on public affairs of organized women, this widespread cultural and political education of housewives, this open ing of new windows on the world from kitchen and boudoir that the woman’s club movement of the 19th century started.” Nowhere do we find a complete list of women’s organizations, nor can we say authoritatively how many members there are throughout the country. One woman often belongs to several organizations. What is more important, however, is the programs these groups develop and implement through the activities of their membership. Whether it is the American Association of University Women, the Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, organizations of church women, the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Young Women’s Christian Association, or other women service clubs, the League of Women Voters of America, National Council of Jewish Women, National Council of Negro Women, or a professional or ganization like the Society of Women Engineers, there is a common thread of purpose through them all, namely, to improve women’s status and by so doing strengthen the entice social and economic life of the United States. ^ ' * ~ In a report recording gains in women’s status over a year it would be impossible to assay the record of what is due national women’s groups, because the results of work in areas of social and economic change are not measurable in a statistical fashion or on a short-time basis. Throughout the preceding pages of this story on women’s position in the United States, however, are woven evidences of the concrete contributions that national women’s organizations have made. Increase in the number of women active in government and politics, women in policy-making positions, women in elective office, women taking a stand on public issues reflect the interest of such groups. Their influence is again shown when one looks at the constructive legislation that has been supported, and passed in some States, on such subjects as equal pay for equal work, on the right to serve on juries, and on issues of good government. A rather new field of legis lative activity is indicated by the number of Federal bills being con sidered which would provide for tax deductions for child care expenses of working mothers. Again we can point to the interested support of women who participate in national women’s organizations. U. s. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OF FICE: 1953
