Full text of Unemployment Among Women in Department and Other Retail Stores of Boston : Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 182

View original document

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
ROYAL MEEKER, Commissioner

BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES \
( W H O L E 1 O '!
BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS/ * * * 1 NUMBER 1 Q £
W O M E N

I N D U S T R Y

S E R I E S :

No.

UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG WOMEN
IN DEPARTMENT AND OTHER
RETAIL STOR ES OF BOSTON

JANUARY, 1916

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1916

CONTENTS.
Page.

Introduction and summary............................................................................ 5-10
Scop© and method of investigation............................................ .................... 10-12
Women haying regular work only................................................................... 12-44
Extent of employment and unemployment.............................................. 15-18
Causes of unemployment......................................................................... 18-23
Time lost while on pay roll of retail stores................................................23-26
Earnings related to unemployment....................................................... .. 26-29
Earnings in stores....................................................................................29-31
Earnings in other industries.....................................................................31,32
Dependency of workers on earnings.......................................................... 32-43
Age, conjugal condition, and manner of living.................................. 33-35
Unemployment related to degree of dependency................................ 35-43
Degree of dependency of families on earnings of women.............. 40-43
Importance of sickness as a cause of unemployment........... ....................43,44
Women having both regular and extra work...................................... ............45-57
Extent of employment and unemployment.............................................. 45-48
Earnings as regulars and as extras and periods of employment.................. 49-51
52
Age, conjugal condition, and manner of living.........................................
Unemployment related to degree of dependency................. ....... ............53-57
Degree of dependency of families on earnings of women.....................56,57
Women having extra work only..................................................................... 57-66
Extent of employment and unemployment.............................................. 59-62
Bates of pay and earnings....................................................................... 62,63
Age, conjugal condition, and manner of living.........................................
64
Degree of dependency and yearly earnings.................. .......................... 64-66
Summary tables............................................................................................ 66-70

BULLETIN OF THE

U. S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.
WHOLE NO. 182.

WASHINGTON.

JANUARY, 1018.

UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG WOMEN IN DEPARTMENT
AND OTHER RETAIL STORES OF BOSTON, MASS.1
INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY.

To what extent a given wage rate will cover the cost of healthful
living can not be fully determined without information as to the
amount of unemployment which must be expected in the industry to
which the rate applies. Not only is it important to know how much
the earnings are affected by irregular employment, but it is also
desirable to know, when the wages of women are under consideration,
how much unemployment is due to conditions peculiar to the normal
wage-earning woman as distinguished from conditions affecting the
normal wage-earning man.
Obviously the extent and causcs of unemployment will vary with
the character of the industry, as the ebb and flow of business in some
industries is much more marked than in others. An industry in
which the worker must expect to lose more or less time during the
year because of “ shutdowns,” lay offs, and slack work presents a
disturbing uncertainty to those entirely dependent upon their earn
ings for support. If a woman so circumstanced is earning, when
working full time, only enough to meet the demands of healthful and
decent living, any time lost presents to hei* a serious problem. She
must in some way meet the cost of living for the 52 weeks in the year.
Every week that does not bring its pay envelope must levy its tax
upon the weeks that at best are bringing only enough for their own
needs. To such a woman a weekly rate of pay of $9 in an industry
whose records show an average loss of four weeks through lay off, is
not as good as $8.75 in an industry where the unemployment enforced
by business conditions does not amount to more than two weeks.
* The Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission made a study in 1914 of the wages of women in mercan
tile establishments, but was too limited in funds to investigate the extent and causes of unemployment
throughout the year and its relation to the rates of pay. As the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics
and the United States Commission on Industrial Relations had agreed to share the expense of a study
of the extent and causes of unemployment among women in retail stores, Boston was chosen as the field
for study at the invitation of the Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission. Through this cooperation
the results of the investigation became available to the bureau, to the United States Commission on
Industrial Relations as a basis for its findings, and to the Massachusetts commission to supplement Its
own investigation.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

But there are other causes of unemployment, some of which are as
completely beyond the control of the worker as are “ shutdowns,”
lay offs, and slack work. Occasional illness falls to the lot of the
average worker, entailing not only loss of employment but additional
expense. That it causes more loss of employment among women
than among men, both German and English figures on sickness
insurance show.1 Furthermore the German figures furnish evidence
that the amount of unemployment due to sickness varies with the
industry. To what extent this variation is due to the demands of the
occupation i3 not shown except in cases where occupational diseases
have been made the subject of special study. In any case, the extent
to which the unemployment of wage-earning women i3 caused by
sickness must be determined before its influence on the wage can be
measured and before there can be an intelligent discussion of the
question as to whether provision for such unemployment should be
made in wage determinations or by some form of social insurance.
Manifestly, conclusions concerning the extent and causes of unem
ployment among women wage earners can be drawn only after a
careful study of the conditions of employment prevailing in each
industry. The expense involved made it necessary to limit this
investigation to one industry in Boston.
For reasons already explained2 department and other retail stores
of Boston were chosen for the study of employment conditions pre
vailing among women at work. Although the extent of involuntary
unemployment among these women is shown in this report to be of
large importance, it should be remembered that conditions in this
respect are probably better than in many other industries employing
large numbers of women, because retail-store business is not sharply
seasonal. Whether or not retail stores differ widely from other indus
tries in the amount of unemployment due to causes other than fluc
tuating demands for labor can not be said. The relative position of
the mercantile business in this respect can be determined only after
a series of studies has been made.
There is considerable ebb and flow in the tide of retail-store business
quite aside from the trade flood of the holiday season. People change
the quantity and quality of apparel about the same time to meet the
demands of the changing seasons. These natural occasions of buying
activity are extended and frequently supplemented throughout the
year by inducements offered in the form of “ special sales” and
“ bargain days.”
i See report of the Leipzig Sick Fund, quoted in the Twenty-fourth Annual Report United States Com
missioner of Labor, pp. 1255-1347. See also report on The Working of Insurance Act (England), New
Statesman, Vol. II, No. 49, special supplement, pp. 3-5.
* See footnote, p. 5.

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG WOMEN IN RETAIL STORES OF BOSTON.

Increased activity ou the part of the buying public requires on the
part of the store an increase of labor service. In some cases this is
secured by increasing the activity of the existing labor force. Some
times the demands are met by temporarily shifting to the depart
ments under pressure “ special employees” who are permanently en
gaged as a mobile force to meet these demands. Such employees are
in some cities known as the contingent force. In still other cities it is
the custom to employ additional help for a few weeks, or months, and
to make selections from the newcomers to fill permanently the places
of old employees who may have been dropped for one reason or
another. The other method of meeting the demands of exceptional
activity, and that which prevails in Boston, is the employment of
“ extras.” Aside from the well-defined seasonal pressure on the labor
force, the principal periods of activity are due to the special sales,
which do not necessarily occur at the same time in all establishments.
In addition to the demands made by these special sales, some estab
lishments require extra help on Saturdays and Mondays. Some
require help on certain evenings. This situation lends itself to the
development of a reserve labor force which can be drawn on by all
stores for special service, because all the establishments together
appear to offer opportunity for considerable employment, though the
duration of service in any one may be exceedingly limited.
It must be understood that these “ extras” hold positions differing
wholly from those held by the regular employees as to wages and
unemployment. Each department of a store under normal conditions
is supplied with a certain number of regular employees. At given sea
sons of the year when sales are especially heavy, extra service is en
gaged to meet the demand, and the woman employed for this work is
not regarded and does not consider herself as a permanent member of
the force. Only in case one of the regular force in the department
drops out can she hope to secure foothold in the permanent service.
About 90 per cent of these extras are saleswomen, counter cashiers, or
bundle wrappers. As the large special sales are first in one store, then
in another, and the smaller bargain sales in one department and then in
another, the “ extras ” are drifting in and out of the stores and from one
department to another in the stores.
One of the objects of this study was to discover the economic
status of women and girls who supplied this large reserve of labor
in the department and other retail stores of Boston, for an inspec
tion of the records revealed the fact that “ extras” available as
reserve labor were nearly as numerous as the regular employees.
The majority of the women personally interviewed who served only
as extras in the stores during the period covered by this study
were not normal wage-earning women. They were schoolgirls

BULLETIN OF THE BUEEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

working Saturdays or during vacations, married women not depend*
ent upon their earnings, or single women whose other means of
income were such that they did not need or desire regular work.
There were also a considerable number who were seeking to secure a
foothold as regulars in the stores.
Manifestly, the normal wage-earning women are to be found
principally among the regular employees and on them chiefly do the
extent and causes of unemployment in the department and other
retail stores have serious bearing. The year’s record of unem
ployment calls for separate analysis in the case of the regular
employees.
Pay-roll data covering the year ending July 31, 1914, were avail
able in 15 department and other retail stores in Boston. Agents of
the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics visited the homes
of 1,763 of the women employed in these stores and interviewed
personally the women themselves or members of their immediate
families. Of this number 1,156 were regular employees. Excluding
from consideration as employment or as unemployment the time
before entering or after leaving industrial pursuits (amounting to
an average of 2.4 weeks), the average period of possible employ
ment during the year for the 1,156 women was found to be 49.6.
weeks. The average unemployment during this period was found to
bo 6.4 weeks.
More than nine-tenths of these regulars had no employment
outside of the stores, and the number of weeks worked by regulars
in other industries constituted but 3.4 per cent of the total number
of weeks of employment reported. Loss of employment in the
stores by regular employees, therefore, is not offset to any significant
extent by work in other industries.
Sickness leads all causes of lost time, accounting for 30.2 per
cent of tho unemployment and affecting 78.5 per cent of the women
employed as regulars. From this time lost through illness is excluded
all sick leave during which the worker received pay from the firm
directly. Sickness in the family and other home demands affected
over one-fifth of the women and accounted for nearly one-fifth of
the total period of unemployment.
“ Lay offs” are next in importance as a cause of unemployment,
having been chargeable with 16.1 per cent of the lost time. The
next cause in the order of importance was “ inability to find work,”
distinguished from “ lay offs,” which does not in this study mean
a permanent loss of position. The unemployment charged to
inability to find work is that sustained after the loss of a position
and while the woman is seeking another.
“ Unpaid vacations,” which are a puzzling cross between lay offs
and voluntary vacations, were taken by many bccauso they believed

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG \VOMEN IN RETAIL STORES OF BOSTON.

the “ firm expected them to take at least a week” during the dull
season, an understanding especially effective when the firm granted
one or two weeks’ vacation with pay. This vacation with pay is,
of course, not included in the period of unemployment in this report.
The vacations without pay averaged about 0.7 of one week for
the entire number and less than two weeks for the 39.7 per cent
who took such vacation. Whether these unpaid vacations are neces
sary measures of health depends to some extent upon the amount
of other unemployment a girl has had and the causes of such unem
ployment. That some vacation in a year’s work is necessary to
the maintenance of health and efficiency will not be questioned. In
this connection it is of interest that 55.3 per cent of the women
regularly employed reported ah average of a little less than two
weeks’ vacation with pay. If this time were distributed evenly among
the entire number, the vacation would have averaged about one week.
The remainder of tho time lost, amounting to 6.8 per cent of the
total unemployment, was chargeable to miscellaneous causes arising
primarily from personal rather than industrial conditions.1
Obviously all of the causes named in the foregoing paragraphs, save
the miscellaneous causes and those responsible for an indeterminable
share of the unpaid vacation, are more or less beyond the control of
the individual. It is equally obvious that some of these causes of
unemployment are peculiar to conditions surrounding wage-earning
women. Sickness in the family and other home demands handicap
her as a wage earner. The wage-earning woman, as well as the
wage-earning man, is liable to fall ill, but whether her liability in
this respect is greater than his remains to be determined. The other
specified causes, too, affect men as well as women in so far as they
arise from industrial rather than personal and social conditions.
But all of these causes being more or less beyond the control of the
emyloyee and chargeable with the largest part of the unemployment
have a direct bearing upon tho wage question.
Before concluding this brief summary of the extent and causes of un
employment among women in Boston department and other retail
stores, it should be said that the shifting from establishment to es
tablishment, popularly supposed to be responsible for much loss of
time to women employees and equal loss of efficient service to em
ployers, caused but an insignificant amount of unemployment among
the regular employees, although anything loss than a careful scrutiny
of the pay rolls would convey the impression of a rapid flow of labor
through all tho establishments, due largely to the prevailing
methods of entering individuals on the pay rolls. In some establish
ments the custom exists of marking a girl as “ left” when she has
been absent three consecutive days, even though she is expected back.

J For detailed discussion, see p. 18.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

Her name is reentered on the pay roll upon her return under the same
or another number. In some of the lavgo establishments, also, a
girl’s name may be entered several times during the year because
of shifts from department to department, although sho may not have
lost a day during her period of employment. In the case of extras,
more deceptive than all these circumstances is the prevailing custom
of entering the extra anew without regard to the number of times she
has been employed in the same store. All these duplicated entries make
a pay roll appear to be a very shifting affair. As a matter of fact
over 90 per cent of the women interviewed who had been employed
as regulars only had been employed in only one establishment during
the year under investigation, and their average period of service in
one establishment was 3.93 years. While this is contrary to the
popular idea of the stability of female labor in mercantile establish
ments, it is not surprising in view of the fact that the overwhelming
majority of these women were dependent primarily upon their earn
ings for a living 1 and in many cases contributed to the support of
others. This circumstance, related to the fact that stability of labor
is an important asset in the successful conduct of business, makes
it clear that the interest of both employee and employer tend toward
permanency of service as a guard against loss of earnings and
efficiency.
This summary of the extent and causes of unemployment has been
confined to the conditions surrounding women who had established
themselves as regular employees of the store, because they are the
normal wage-earning women and the objects of the public’s concern
in the effort to determine what are adequate wages. Information as
to unemployment among those who served as both regulars and extras
and as extras only may be obtained by reference to the detailed por
tion of this report giving the data relating to these classes.2
SCOPE AND METHOD OP INVESTIGATION.

Wage records for women and girls were available from 15 depart
ment and other retail stores in Boston, having on their pay rolls
5,985 regular employees and about 5,600 extras during the year end
ing July 31, 1914. These figures cover for Boston the regulars and
extras tabulated by the Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission
in its report relating to wages of women in 26 retail stores in the State,
and in addition include all extras appearing on the pay rolls for less
than four weeks, the latter group having been omitted from the com
mission’s report.* The data in these records include the name of
1 For degrees of dependency, see p. 34.
* See pp. 45 and 59.
3Fo3 R 3port of the Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission on Wages of Women in Retail Stores
in Massachusetts) p. lft

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG W OMEN IN RETAIL STOKES OF BOSTON.

the department and the occupation in which each woman or girl
was employed, her rate of pay, actual weekly earnings, and the num
ber of weeks she was on the pay roll, but show her record for the
year in one establishment only.
No information was given in the pay-roll records as to the causes
of absences from duty, to what extent the weeks missing were spont
in other mercantile establishments or in other industries, or what
was the economic significance of the amount of unemployment which
final analysis might prove to exist. This information could be se
cured only through personal interviews with the women and girls,
or with members of their immediate families, a method of gathering
data which is of necessity slow and expensive, as it involves many
return visits outside of working hours before complete data can be
obtained. As the funds available would not permit of visits to all
the individuals for whom pay-roll records were secured, it was found
necessary to limit, the investigation to about 20 per cent of the
“ regulars” and 10 per cent of the “ extras.” The names were so
chosen as to secure a proportionate number from each establishment.
A total of 1,763 women and girls were interviewed.
Inasmuch as this study was to be primarily one of the ex
tent and causes of unemployment, the interviews were confincd
to the women whose records at the store showed absences of six
days or more during the year ending July 31, 1914. For those
whose records showed fewer than six days of absence during
the period of possible employment, the problem created by unem
ployment was comparatively unimportant. Such women numbered
653, or 10.9 per cent of the 5,985 women regularly employed.1
The 1,763 schedules which form the basis of this report fell natu
rally into three main groups, as shown in Table 1, which follows.
The first included 1,156 women and girls who appeared on the pay
rolls only as regular employees of the store and who, when inter
viewed, were found to have had no extra work. The second included
346 who had employment as extras but who also had some employ
ment during the year as “ regulars,” either in retail stores or in some
other industry. The third group included 261 women and girls who
had no employment at all during the year except as “ extras.”
i This is tlie number regularly employed according to the classification of the Massachusetts Minimum
Wage Commission, but under this classification a girl working both as a regular and as an extra was classi
fied according to the group in which she remained for the longer period. In this bulletin those having
both regular and extra work are in a separate classification.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

T able 1.—-NUMBER AND PER CENT IN SPECIFIED OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN AND
GIRLS HAVING REGULAR WORK ONLY, BOTH REGULAR AND EXTRA WORK, AND
EXTRA WORK ONLY.
lOccupations shown in this table refer to work in stores only; the occupations while employed in other
industries are not given.)
Number and per cent in specified occupations of women
having—
Regular work Both regular and extra work. Extra work
only.
Occupation.
In stores.
Num Per
ber. cent.

Total women
and girls
interviewed.

Extrain
stores, regular
in other
industries. Num Per Num Per
ber. cent. ber. cent.

Num Per Num Per
ber. cent. ber. cent.
Saleswomen..............................
Cashiers, examiners, bundle
wrappers, and messengers....
Office employees..................
Workroom employees..........
Stock girls............................
Other employees..................
T o ta l.......................

601

52.0

252
167
76
25
35

21.8
14.4
6.6

1,156

100.0

2.2

3.0

112

58.0

100

14.5
2.6

44
3

153

100.0

24.9

193 100.0

65.4
28.8
1.3
1.9

2.6

1,020

57.9

182
79
95

20.5
10.3
4.5
1.4
5.4

261 100.0 1,763

100.0

207

79.3
14.5
3.1
3.1

In the first group, that including women having only regular work
in stores, there were 1,156 women and girls; in the second group, that
which included women who worked both as regulars and as extras dur
ing some part of the year, there were 346; and in the third group there
were 261 women and girls who worked only as extras during the period
covered by this study. Manifestly, both the 346 and the 261 women
at some time during the year bore the same relation to the stores, viz,
that of reserve labor for special demands. In other words, there were
in all 607 women personally interviewed who had appeared on the pay
rolls as "extras” during the year ending July 31, 1914, of whom 57
per ccnt had also some regular work and 43 per cent had extra work
only. For the sake of clearness the conditions of employment sur
rounding these three groups of women will be discussed separately
and in the following order:
1. The women and girls employed as regulars only.
2. The women and girls reporting both regular and extra work.
3. The women and girls reporting extra work only.
WOMEN HAVING REGULAR WORK ONLY.

Hie pay-roll records secured by the Massachusetts Minimum Wage
Commission, which form tho basis of this study, showed a pay entry
for each week during which a woman was at work. These entries do
not necessarily mean full weeks of work, for scattered days of absence
might occur in any week, but wherever a woman had any work during
the week it was recorded on the wage records of the minimum wage

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG W OM EX I2f RETAIL STOKES OF BOSTON.

commission as a week worked. If during any given week or weeks
in the year covered by the investigation a woman had no work at all,
she would naturally have no pay record for that time, and such time
would be counted in the records of the commission as time not em
ployed. This should not necessarily be construed as *unemployment,
for it might, as was often the case with the younger girls, be time in
school previous to entering industry, or it might bo time after leaving
industrial pursuits to be married, or for other reasons.
As stated above, these pay-roll records furnished the wage infor
mation concerning women in individual establishments only. Some
of these women may have worked in more than one retail establish
ment, or they may have worked in other industries. Unless they
were employed for 52 weeks in one establishment the pay-roll records
would not reveal the full amount of employment or unemployment
during the year. The purpose of this study was to supplement the
information of the original records by data showing the amount of
employment in other retail stores and in other industries. Table 2,
which follows, summarizes the information obtained by personally
interviewing 1,156 women and gills employed as regulars in retail
stores. It shows the average number of weeks iu which there was
some employment, grouping the employees according to whether their
employment was confined to one storo only or included work in other
retail stores, other industries, or other retail stores and other industries
both in addition to the original store in which they were employed.
2 .—AVERAGE WEEKS IN WHICH THERE WAS SOME EMPLOYMENT IN THE
ORIGINAL STORE, IN OTHER RETAIL STORES, AND IN OTHER INDUSTRIES FOR
1^86 WOMEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY.

T able

number of weeks in
Women report Average
which there was some employ
ing.
ment.
Employment reported.
In orig In other In other
inal
retail indus Total.
store. stores. tries.

Num
ber.

Per
cent.

Stores other than 5 and 10 cent stores.
In original store ^ y , ... .........- ...........................
In original store and other retail stores..........................
Un original store and other industries...........................
In original store, otherretail stores, and other industries.

913
86
60
10

83.5
8.0
5.6
.9

T ota l..................................................................

1,069

100.0

In original store and other industries...........................
In original store, otherretail stores, and other industries.

53
12
17
5

60.9
13.8
19.5
5.7

T ota l............ r, . Tr. T-lriTI, ___ T.......................

100.0

34.3

In original store and other industries............. ..............
In original store, other retail stores, and other industries.

966
98
77
15

83.6
8.5
6.7
, 1.3

45.2
19.0
25.0
*v 2i.*7*
21.6
21.4 ****8. 8*
9.7

T o ta l...............................................................

1,156

100.0

41.6

5 and 10 cent stores.
Tr>original store only...................................... .............

AH retail stores.
Tri original store only............................... .

45.3
25.4
19.1
23.1
24.3 ****7.8*
42.3

1.6

44.5
22.3
18.3
16.4
15.7 *'*io*8*
3.1

1.7

19.9
8.3

45.3
44.5
43.0
40.4

1.1

45.0

28.0
12.5

44.5
40.6
44.4
39.0

6,2

43.6

1.6

45.2
44.0
43.3
39.9
44.9

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

Of the 1,156 women and girls employed as regulars only, 1,064,
or 92 per cent, reported their employment as exclusively in retail
mercantile establishments during the year ending July 31, 1914; 92
women, or 8 per cent, reported some employment in other industries.
The data obtained showed that this employment in other industries
amounted to but 3.4 per cent of the total number of weeks of employ
ment reported by the 1,156 women. In other words, 96.6 per cent
of all the weeks in which employment was reported during the year
by the 1,156 women and girls employed as regulars were weeks of
employment in the stores. Manifestly, if these women were depend
ent upon their earnings for a living, the chief source of income for the
overwhelming majority was the retail mercantile establishment.
The average number of weeks in which pay records showed some
employment for the 1,156 women and girls was 41.6 in original stores
and 1.7 in other stores, or a total of 43.3 weeks when retail stores
only are considered. The weeks in which there was some employ
ment in other industries averaged 1.6. Thus, the total weeks with
employment averaged 44.9 for stores and other industries combined.
These figures do not indicate the actual amount of employment and
unemployment because they do not take account of time lost in the
pay-roll weeks when the employee worked only a part of the time.
The full extent of employment and of unemployment will be shown
in a later section.
Table 3, which follows, analyzes in another way the weeks of em
ployment, showing the numbor and per cent of women reporting
specified weeks on store payrolls, together with the number and per
cent in each group who reported work in other industries.
3 .—NUMBER AND PER CENT OF WOMEN AND GIRLS REPORTING SPECIFIED
NUMBER OF WEEKS WITH SOME EMPLOYMENT IN STORES, AND OF THOSE REPORTING WORK IN OTHER INDUSTRIES ALSO.

T able

Women and girls
reporting speci
fied weeks with
some employ
ment in stores.
Weeks of employment in stores.

Women and girls reporting
work in other industries
also.

Per cent
of num
Number. Per cent. Number. ber em
ployed
in stores.

Average
number
of weeks
worked
in other
indus
tries.

Under 4.......................................................................
4 and under 8..............................................................
8 and under 12............................................................
12 and under 16...........................................................
16 and under 20...........................................................
20 and under 24...........................................................
24 and under 28...........................................................
28 and under 32...........................................................
32 and under 36...........................................................
36 and under 40...........................................................
40 and under 44...........................................................
44 and under 48...........................................................
48 and under 50...........................................................
50 to 52........................................................................

1
19
29
18
33
20
27
32
42
41
81
129
142
542

0.1
1.6
2.5
1.6
2.9
1.7
2.3
2.8
3.6
3.5
7.0
11.2
12.3
46.9

1
8
13
6
17
6
9
6
9
6
4
6
1

100.0
42.1
44.8
33.3
51.5
30.0
33.3
18.8
21.4
14.6
4.9
7.4
.1

43.0
35.6
35.0
26.7
21.2
13.8
17.0
9.2
13.4
7.9
7.7
4.5
2.0

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

1,156

100.0

8.0

19.7

U NEM PLOYM ENT AMONG WOMEN IN BETAIL STOBES O f BOSTON.

By far the largest per cent reported from 50 to 52 weeks in which
there was some employment in retail stores, and those women who
reported short periods of employment in retail stores very frequently
had long periods in other industries. The 92 women who reported
work in other industries had on the average 19.7 weeks in which there
was some employment at such work.
EXTENT OF EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT.

The preceding discussion gives only a bird’s-eye view of the year
and serves merely as a starting point for a close analysis of the extent
and causes of unemployment among women regularly employed in
the Boston establishments seleoted for study. In Table 4, which fol
lows, is shown, by occupation groups, the amount of unemployment
that occurred during the period covered. No time previous to the
first employment recorded for the year and no time after a person
gave up industrial pursuits is included as unemployment.
Occasionally a woman or girl just entering industry would begin
work one or more days after the pay-roll week had commenced, or
one leaving it would give up work before the pay-roll week had
ended. Time thus lost is not counted as unemployment, but, like
the full weeks before entering and after leaving industry, is classed
as “ not in industrial pursuits.”
Unemployment as here shown means time actually lost during the
period of possible employment, and is made up of time when the
employee, after having once been employed, was without a job,
together with periods lost while she had a job. These latter periods
may have comprised scattered days only, or may have extended into
weeks, but during this time the employee was in the employ of the
store or other industry, her job being held pending her return. Her
absence, as shown in Table 48, may have been due to any of the fol
lowing causes: Unpaid vacation, sickness of worker, in school, sick
ness in family, home responsibilities, enforced lay off, or other personal
or industrial causes.

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

T a b l e 4=.— AVERAGE

WEEKS OF EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT REPORTED BY
WOMEN AND GIRLS EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY, BY OCCUPATIONS.

lOecnpatioiis shown fn this table refer to work in stores only; the occupations while employed in other
industries are not given. All who lost less than 6 days have been excluded from this table. Lost tiny*
for which the firm paid wages has not been included as unemployment.]

Item.

Cash
iers,
Sales exam
women. iners,
etc.

Office
em
ploy
ees.

Work
room
em
ploy
ees.

Stock
girls.

Others. TotaL

Number reporting...........................................
Per cent in each occupation............................

601
52.0

252
21.8

167
14.4

76
6.6

25
2.2

Weeks not in industrial pursuits:
Before first employment...........................
After leaving industrial pursuits...............

.3
.7

6.3
.2

1.9
.1

.2
.1

4.9

Total......................................................
Weeks of possible employment during year...

1.0
51.0

6.5
45.5

2.0
50.0

.3
51.7

4.9
47.1

52.0

2.4
49.6

Weeks in employ of—
Stores........................................................
Other industries........................................

47.2
1.3

39.8
2.6

48.7
.9

47.6
1.0

40.4
4.0

45.8
2.8

45.6
1.6

35
3.0

1,156
100.0
1.9
.5

* Total......................................................

48.5

42.4

49.6

48.6

44.4

48.6

47.2

Weeks of unemployment during period of pos
sible employment:
While without a job ..................................
While in employ of stores.........................
While in employ of other industries.........

2.5
4.2
0)

3.0
2.8
.2

.4
2.9
(0

3.1
7.5
<l)

2.7
3.9
C1)

3.4
2.4
(l)

2.4
3.9
.1

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

6.7

6.0

3.3

10.6

6.6

5.8

6.4

Per cent of unemployment in period of possi
ble employment................................... .......
Full weeks actually worked (weeks of possible
employment less weeks of unemployment)..

13.1

13.2

6.6

20.5

14.0

It 2

12.9

44.3

39.5

46.7

41.1

40.5

46.2

43.2

* Less than one-tenth of one week.

Not all tho women studied worked for the whole year covered by
the study, some (134) not having been employed for the first time
until part of tho year had elapsed, while others (22) left industrial
life before the year ended. The table shows that the time thus lost
avoraged for the 1,156 women 2.4 weeks, classified under two heads, time
before first employment (1.9 weeks), and time after leaving industrial
pursuits (0.5 week). Most of the time lost before first employment
was due to the girls who were in school when the year began, who did
not enter stores until they had finished their course or term or reached
some other natural stopping point. Some part of it, however, was
due to girls who at the beginning of tho year had not wished or needed
to work, but who chose or found themselves obliged to become wage
earners during its course. Some others were included here who had
not gone to work because they were needed at home.
It was difficult in some cases to determine whether girls who
stopped work before the end of the period should be classified as hav
ing definitely left industrial pursuits or should be considered in the
unemployment group. In the absence of supplementary informa
tion, conclusions could be based only on the data shown for the year
covered by the investigation. In case a girl gavo up work to marry,

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG W OMEN IN KEXAIL STOKES OF BOSTON.

and at the time of tho agent’s visit expressed no intention of returning
to work, she was classed as having left industrial pursuits. Only 15
were in- this class. In this group was placed also a girl who stopped
work in January and did not return during the period; she had a
comfortable homo and her parents did not want her to work.
One of the most difficult cases to classify was that of a girl who
worked for 12 weeks in a store, in a department located in the base
ment. She contracted a cough, and a physician advised her not to
work in the basement. She feared tuberculosis, and gave up her job
entirely. Her father and mother wore employed in different cities
and had broken up "housekeeping, so sho had no home. She made no
effort to obtain other employment, but for tho last 40 weeks of the
period covered by tho investigation visited friends in the country,
going from one to another without paying any board. While it is
possible that for a part of this time she was ill and unable to work,
there is no information to show this, except as abovo, or to indicate
that she could not have had employment. It did not seem fair to
classify among the unemployed a person absent under such circum
stances, so sho was considered as having loft industrial pursuits.
It appears from Table 4 that after deducting tho 2.4 weeks not in
industrial pursuits, the average period of possible employment for the
1,156 women and girls during the year was 49.6 weeks.
In this period of possible employment the employees had jobs in
stores and other industries lasting on the average 47.2 weeks, while
for 2.4 weeks they had no jobs. While they were employed in stores
they lost time from various causes amounting to an average of 3.9
weeks, and while in the employ of other industries they lost 0.1 week.
The whole period of unemployment thus amounted to 6.4 weeks, or
12.9 per cent of tho total period of possible employment.1
Tho table shows similar data for the principal occupations. Of
these, saleswomen form tho largest group, comprising 601, or 52 per
cent of the total; cashiers, examiners, etc., come next, numbering
252, or 21.8 per cent; and office employees arc third in importance,
numbering 167, or 14.4 per cent. The other occupations together
constitute 11.8 per cent of the total.
A glance at the actual number of full-time weeks of work as shown
in the last line of Table 4 reveals the fact that the regularity of employ
ment varies considerably with the occupations. The average of 43.2
weeks for the entire number of 1,156 regulars is not maintained by
each occupation, though in the case of some occupations the numbers
represented were too small to be significant and they have been
grouped under the head of “ others.”
>This, It should be noted, Is equivalent to 6.7 weeks of unemployment in a full year of 52 weeks.

14070°—Bull. 182—16-----2

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

Of the three occupations having the largest numbers, the office
employees report the largest number of full-time weeks of employ
ment and the saleswomen the next largest. While the average period
of possible employment for the women in the workroom was 51.7
weeks, their full-time weeks actually worked averaged but 41.1 weeks,
each woman losing an average of 10.6 weeks.
While the women in the millinery workrooms are most affected by
enforced unemployment, the women engaged in the alteration and
other workrooms reported an impressive amount of lost time. For
all workroom employees the per cent of unemployment was 20.5
as compared with 13.1 per cent for saleswomen, the largest group.
The office employees show a percentage of unemployment of but 6.6.
In view of the fact that they had the longest period of employment
this figure indicates the steadiness of their work as compared with the
other groups.
CAUSES OP UNEMPLOYMENT.

For the purpose of simplifying the treatment of the causes of un
employment during the period of employment, such causes were
grouped under two general heads, viz, those arising primarily from
conditions not directly associated with industry and those arising
directly from industrial conditions. Of course the two often overlap
and at times they are almost inextricably interlocked, but for the
purposes of this study the causes have been classified in one or the
other of these two general groups.
The first group of causes, i. e., those arising from other than indus
trial conditions, was subdivided as follows:
1. In school (individual not employed because she was still pursu
ing her education; under this cause were included school vacations,
provided the individual was not trying to get work).1
2. Unpaid vacation.2
3. Sickness of worker. (This does not include illness causing ab
sence from work for which no deduction from pay was made.)
4. Sickness in family of worker.
5. Home responsibilities.
6. Other personal causes. (This class includes miscellaneous
causes which seemed to belong nowhere else, such as absence because
of Jewish holidays, to attend a funeral or wedding, to do a little
shopping, etc.)
* Nearly all of this unemployment came during the period previous to entering industry and therefore was
not included in the unemployment table.
* For purposes of discussion this cause has been classed under the general group of causes arising from
Qther than industrial conditions, though the cause can not be entirely disassociated from the other general
group of causes, namely, those arising from industrial conditions.

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG W OMEN IN BETAIL STOKES OF BOSTON.

The second group, i. e., causes arising from industrial conditions,
consisted of unemployment due to:
1. Enforced lay off.
2. Inability to get work.
3. Changing from one job to another. (This refers to intervals
between old and new jobs, generally lasting less than a week, often
caused by the necessity of waiting for the new job to start.)
4. Other miscellaneous causes connected with the industrial life of
the worker.
While in this classification sickness has been grouped with the causes
related to personal rather than industrial life, it does not mean that
the industrial life of the worker might not be at least the indirect
cause of the sickness. To attempt to determine to what extent sick
ness is related to, or caused by, the occupation or industry was not,
however, the purpose of this study, and it should be clearly understood
that this report does not make any effort to relate sickness to the in
dustry, but simply states the amount of time lost and not pud for
which is chargeable to sickness of the worker.
Between the two causes described as "unpaid vacation” under the
first group and “ enforced lay off” in the second group there was often
so little distinction that it was almost impossible to determine in
which group some periods of unemployment belonged. It is the
custom of many stores to give one week’s vacation with pay and,
according to the women interviewed, to expect the employees to take
an additional week during the summer months. Almost all the
employees are quite willing to take this extra week and a great many
would take it even if they were not required to. Whether or not they
were actually required to was difficult to determine. Some women
did not want to take the extra week but did not even consider omitting
it, believing that they were expected to relieve the pay roll to this
extent. Whether, in case they had requested only the one week
with pay, they would have been allowed to come back at the end of
that time, it is impossible to say. It is probable, therefore, that some
of the time classed now as “ unpaid vacation” amounts practically to
“ lay off. ” Again, many departments give what they call a “ winter
vacation” in addition to the summer vacation. This in most cases
was very clearly a lay off, but if the individual interviewed stated
that she wanted the vacation and that she did not consider it a lay
off, it was classed as “ unpaid vacation.” It may be said, there
fore, that the amount of unemployment classed as lay off is certainly
not an overstatement.
A scrutiny of the principal causes of unemployment reveals some
impressive facts. These are brought out in Table 5, which follows,
showing by occupation groups for the 1,156 regulars the per cent of
unemployment due to specified causes.

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

T a b l e 5 .— PER

CENT OF UNEMPLOYMENT DURING THE YEAR, DUE TO EACH
SPECIFIED CAUSE, AMONG 1,156 WOMEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY, B Y OCCU
PATION GROUPS.
. Occupations shown in this table refer to work in stores only; the occupations while employed in other
industries are not given. A ll who lost less than 6 days have been excluded from this table. Lost time
for which the firm paid wages has not been included as unemployment. For an accurate understanding
of the unemployment due to each specified cause this table must be considered in connection with Table
4. The data upon which this table is based are given in full in Table 48.]
Per cent of unemployment due to each specified cause
among—
Causes of unemployment.

Cash
Work
room Stock Others. Total.
Sales iers, Office
em
women. exam
em
girls.
iners, ployees. ployees.
etc.

42.2
4.3
40.7
9.6
1.7
.7
.8

30.2
16.1
15.8
13.1
10.6
7.4
6.8

100.0

Sickness of employee.......................................
Enforced lay o il..............................................
Inability to ret work.......................................
Unpaid vacation..............................................
Sickness in employee’s family.........................
Home responsibilities......................................
Other causes.....................................................

31.6
10.8
10.1
16.0
14.0
7.3
10.2

25.0
14.4
25.0
8.8
7.7
14.6
4.5

55.1
6.5
11.0
16.0
8.7
1.3
1.4

11.0
56.6
19.1
6.5
4.9
1.0
.9

39.1
12.9
41.2
6.2
.5

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

100.0

The above table shows that 30.2 per cent of the 6.4 weeks lost
during the period of possible employment was due to the sickness of
the worker. As has been stated before, it is not the purpose of this
report to attempt to trace the relation between occupation and sick
ness, but simply to state the causes assigned for absences from duty.
This large percentage, however, can not but suggest that undesirable
conditions prevail. Approximately 16 per cent of the unemployment
was due to enforced lay off and about the same proportion to inability
to get work. Over 13 per cent was due to unpaid vacation, and
about 11 per cent was caused by sickness in the family of the worker.
The remaining 14.2 per cent was distributed almost equally between
home responsibilities and other causes. Equally important are the
figures showing the per cent of women reporting unemployment due
to the causes just mentioned. These are given in the table which
follows.
PER CENT REPORTING SPECIFIED CAUSES OP UNEMPLOYMENT DURING
YE A R , AMONG 1,156 WOMEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY, BY OCCUPATION
OROOPS.
[Occupations shown in this table refer to work in stores only; the occupations while employed in other
industries are not given. All who lost less than 6 days have been excluded from this tabie. Lost time
for which the firm paid wages has not been included as unemployment.]

T able

Per cent reporting each specified cause of unemployment
among—
Cause of unemployment.

Enforced lay on...............................................
Inability to get work.......................................
Unpaid vacation..............................................
Sickness in employee’s family.........................
Home responsibilities.......................................
Other causes.....................................................

Cash
Work
All
Sales iers, Office
room Stock other Total.
em
women. exam
em
girls. occupa
iners, ployees. ployees.
tions.
etc.
79.9
29.8
12.5
47.9
15.8
6.5
15.0

75.8
33.3
27.0
30.2
11.9
9.5
20.6

85.0
13.2
7.8
34.7
13.8
2.4
7.2

59.2
85.5
11.8
26.3
21.1
3.9
13.2

88.0
40.0
20.0
16.0
8.0
4.0

77.1
11.4
22.9
37.1
8.6
2.9
14.3

78.5
31.5
15.4
39.7
14.6
6.7
14.1

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG W OMEN IN RETAIL STORES OS* BOSTON.

Of the total number of women, 78.5 per cent reported sickness, 39.7
per cent reported unpaid vacation, 31.5 per cent reported enforced lay
off, and 15.4 per cent reported inability to get work, as causes of unem
ployment. It is obvious, then, that the factor which exerts the most
influence on unemployment is illness of the worker. A study of the
occupation groups shows very marked differences in the amounts
of unemployment and in the causes thereof.
As shown in Table 4 the average number of weeks during the
period studied over which the saleswomen’s periods of employment
extended was 51. The total amount of unemployment which the
saleswomen had during this period amounted to 13.1 per cent of the
entire timfr—equivalent to 6.7 weeks, so that the weeks of full-time
employment amounted to only 44.3.
The predominating reason given for unemployment in this, as in
nearly every other occupation, was sickness—sickness that varied
in duration from half a day to several weeks, and embraced every
ailment from a slight indisposition to a serious operation. As shown
in Table 5, 31.6 per cent of all the unemployment reported by sales
women during the period of employment was due to this cause alone.
When it is further considered that about 80 per cent of the sales
women lost time because of sickness and that for every 24 days worked
by saleswomen one was lost because of sickness, the industrial im
portance of this cause, as well as its importance to the individual,
becomes apparent. For the 601 saleswomen the amount of sickness
averaged nearly 13 days and for the 480 who reported it about 16
days.1 It should be understood that this does not include all sick
ness during the year, but only what was reported as resulting in loss
of wages during the period of possible employment (51 weeks).
The “ unpaid vacation” constituted 16 per cent of the total amount
of unemployment of saleswomen. It was reported by 288, or 47.9 per
cent of the 601 saleswomen, and averaged for them about 2 weeks
apiece.
Sickness in the families of the saleswomen caused 14 per cent of the
total unemployment.
Enforced lay offs play an important part in the unemployment of
saleswomen though not nearly as important as in some other occupa
tions, 10.8 per cent of their unemployment being due to this cause.
Inability to get work caused 10.1 per cent of the unemployment,
and home responsibilities 7.3 per cent. The other causes amount,
altogether, to 10.2 per cent of the total.
That the cashiers and examiners have a shorter period of employ
ment than the other groups discussed, and lower even than the general
average for all the regulars, is due to the fact that their possible weeks
of work averaged considerably less than the possible weeks of work for
all. This group contained the largo majority of young girls who.
1 See Table 48, p. 67, for data on which these averages are based.

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

during the period under investigation, entered wage-earning ranks for
the first time, their average number of weeks previous to first employ
ment being 6.3 weeks as compared with the general average of 1.9
weeks. Their large percentage of unemployment due to inability to
get work is also indicative of their youth and of their insecure
foothold in store employment.
The office employees seem to have the steadiest employment and
the least unemployment among the occupations shown separately in
the table. For the average office employee there are 46.7 full weeks
of employment.1 They have 3.3 weeks of unemployment, including
scattered days, in a period of 50 weeks. The cause of this unemploy
ment is chiefly sickness of the employee, 55.1 per cent (11 days) being
due to this cause. A very small per cent of the office employees’
unemployment was due to enforced lay off, only 6.5 per cent being
so charged.
As might be expected, the prevailing cause of unemployment
among the millinery, alteration, and other workroom women is lay off.
The larger stores frequently are able to give their workroom employees
some employment in other departments where the dull season in the
workroom coincides with the busy season in other departments. At
best, however, the women in the workrooms must expect consid
erably less steady employment than the women in other departments.
Their “ lay off” generally comes in the form of a winter vacation vary
ing from two to eight weeks, and a summer vacation of corresponding
length, though it may come a few days or an occasional week at a
time.
While enforced lay off is the prevailing cause of unemployment in
these workroom occupations, inability to get work is the next most
important cause, and sickness is of less importance than in any other
occupation group, causing only 11 per cent of the unemployment.
A very small per cent of unemployment was charged to unpaid vaca
tion by this group. Naturally, the women who were obliged to take
so many weeks off would find in those weeks all the “ vacation” they
needed or could afford.
The amount of time lost through changing positions—that is,
through shifting from store to store, thereby losing scattered days
and half days—was too small to warrant a separate column in these
summary tables.* More interesting and instructive is the fact that
the insignificance of this loss was due not so much to the close con
nections made when changing positions as to the fact (as shown by
the following table) that 90.2 per cent of the 1,156 women did not
change their places of employment during the year under investiga
tion, that 8.3 per cent worked in only two retail establishments, and
that less than 2 per cent were employed in three or more stores.
The entire 1,156 women averaged 3.93 years of service in one estab
* See Table 4, p. id.

* See Table 48, p. 67, giving extent and causes of unemployment In detail.

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG W OM EN IN RETAIL STORES OF BOSTON.

lishment.1 It is true that these 1,156 represent those who worked only
as regulars during the period of investigation, but they represent
the large majority of normal wage-earning women.
The number and per cent of women who reported work as regulars
in one and in more than one establishment or industry are shown in
the following table:
7,—NUMBER AND PER CENT OP WOMEN REPORTING REGULAR W ORK IN ONE
OR MORE RETAIL STORES AND IN ONE OR MORE INDUSTRIES.
[Women who lost less than 6 days daring the period covered are not included in this table. Their inclu
sion would tend to increase the proportion employed in one store only.]
T able

Women reporting.

Women reporting.
Employment during year in

Number. Percent.

jCimpioyluonn wiring yrar m

Number. Per cent.

1 retail store............................
2 retail stores..........................
3 retailstores..........................

1,043
96
17

90.2
8.3
1.5

1 industry..........................
2 industries.............................
3 industries.............................
4 industries.............................

1,064
80
11
1

92.0
6.9
1.0
0)

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

1,156

100.0

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

1,156

m o

i Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent.

Of further interest in this connection are the causes assigned for
leaving positions in stores. Only 171 of the women interviewed had,
during the year studied, left their places in retail stores. Thirtyfour per cent said they left because the store “ laid them off,” having
no longer need of their services; 19 per cent left to get better posi
tions in other stores; 10 per cent left because of illness. The failure
of one large store and the burning of another threw out of work a
good many women who subsequently found work in other stores.
Among the other reasons assigned were family demands, disagree
ments with employers or other employees, work too hard, marriage,
and a few miscellaneous personal reasons. While this assignment
of reasons for leaving must stand unverified by the employer, there
seemed to be no attempt on the part of the individuals to evade a
correct answer. The employers might have been able to add light
in some cases as to the reason for which individuals were “ laid off”
(laid off being used here in the sense of dismissed), but except in
such cases it does not seem probable that the information which the
employer could have supplied would have changed the classification.
TIME LOST WHILE ON PAY BOLL OF RETAIL STORES.

The foregoing discussion deals with the amount of time lost during
the whole period of industrial employment within the year covered.
What amount of unemployment occurred while the worker was actually
in the employ of retail stores is a question of interest and impor
tance. Table 4 includes not only the time lost in other pursuits,
which is a negligible quantity, but also the important item of time
lost between jobs. Some portion of the time thus lost might fairly
be charged to the account of the retail stores. If they do not offer
i The omission of those women who lost less than six days during the year has probably had the effeot
of depressing this figure and making the showing an understatement.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

continuous employment and if the worker must expect to lose a cer
tain portion of tho year in looking for work, that is a fact which must
be considered in making an estimate of the opportunities the industry
offers. But if the worker has changed from retail-store work to
some other kind, a part of the time lost in looking for work might be
chargeable to the second industry, and the question of what part of
the unemployment should be attributed to each is entirely too com
plex to be taken up without a much fuller investigation than, it was
possible to make at this time. Therefore the discussion must be
limited to the time lost while the workers were actually on the pay
rolls of retail stores.
In making this limitation it must be borne in mind that some
establishments made a practice of dropping from their books the name
of any employee who was absent more than a given number of days
after marking her “ left,” even though they knew she was to return
at some definite time. This was done for the. purpose of facilitating
the bookkeeping. For the purposes of this report, however, a woman
was not considered as having left any establishment as long as her
position was held open to her and she intended and was expected to
go back, so that while a woman might appear on the pay roll as
“ left December 31” and “ returned February 1,” the absence would
appear in this report as temporary absence from December 31 to
February 1, due to one of the specified causes.
The following table shows, by occupation groups, the employment
and unemployment in retail stores reported by the 1,156 women
employed as regulars only:
8.—AVERAGE WF.KKS OP EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN RETAIL
STORES REPORTED BY WOMEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY, BY OCCUPATION
GROUPS.
[Occupations shown In this table refer to work In stores only; the occupations while employed in other
industries are not given. All who lost less than 6 days have been excluded from this table. Lost time
lor which the firm paid wages has not been included as unemployment.]
T able

Item.

Number rerwrtins............................................
Weeks on store pay rolls..................................
Weeks of unemployment during period:
Full weeks.................................................
Woeks made up of scattered days.............

Cash
Office Work
Sales iers, employ
room Stock Others. Total.
women. exam
girls.
iners,
ees. employ
ees.
etc.
601
47.2

252
39.8

167
48.7

76
47.6

25
40.4

35
45.8

1,156
45.6

2.5
1.7

1.5
1.3

1.6
1.3,

5.6
1.9

2.7
1.2

1.1
1.3

2.3
1.6

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

4.2

2.8

2.9

7.5

3.9

2.4

3.9

Full weeks of employment..............................
Per cent of period on store pay roll that worker
was unemployed...........................................

43.0

37.0

45.8

40.1

36.5

43.4

41.7

8.9

7.0

6.0

15.7

9.7

5.2

8.6

Tho table shows a serious amount of unemployment occurring
during this period of nominal employment; taking the group as a
whole, the workers lost one-twelfth of the time they were on the
store pay rolls, their earnings of course being correspondingly dimin
ished. The amount of lost time varied considerably according to
occupation. The small group classed as “ Others” lost only about*

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG WOMEN IN KETAIL STORES OF BOSTON.

one-twentieth, of their period of employment, while the workroom
employees lost nearly one-sixth. Among the classified workers
the office employees show the smallest loss, but the cashiers, examin
ers, etc., have but little more. The saleswomen come very close
to the average loss of the whole body, being unemployed for 8.9
per cent of the time during which they were on rctail-store pay rolls,
while for the whole body the average time lost was 8.6 per cent.
The following table shows the proportion of workers in each occu
pation group who lost timo through various specified causes and
the proportion of their lost timo due to each of these causes:
PER CENT OP WOMEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS IN RETAIL STORES
REPORTING SPECIFIED CAUSES OP UNEMPLOYMENT AND PER CENT OF UNEM
PLOYMENT DUE TO EACH CAUSE, BY OCCUPATION GROUPS.
{Occupations shown in this table refer to work in stores only; the occupations while employed in other
industries are not given. A ll who lost less than 6 days have been excluded from this table. Lost time
for which the firm paid wages has not been included as unemployment. For an accurate understand
ing of the unemployment due to each specified cause this table must be considered in connection
with Table 8. The data upon which this table is based are given in full in Table 48.]
T able

Per cent reporting
specified causes.

Per cent of unemployment due
to specified causes.

Sick En Un Sick Sick En Un Sick
Other
ness of forced paid ness
of forced paid ness
in ness
em
em
vaca fam
vaca in causes.
ployee.
tion.
tion. fam
ployee.
ily.
ily.

Occupation group.

Saleswomen...............................................
Cashiers, examiners, bundle wrappers,etc.
Office employees.......................................
Workroom employees................................
Stock girls..................................................
All other occupations................................
Total................................................

74.2
73.4
85.0
56.6
84.0
68.6

25.3
33.3
13.2
85.5
40.0
11.4

45.6 14.8
26.6 11.1
34.7 13.8
22.4 21.1
12.0 8.0
37.1 8.6

75.0 29.2 37.5

14.1

42.4 16.8 23.7
39.2 26.7 14.6
62.2 7.4 18.2
10.3 74.7 4.5
65.9 22.6 .10.6
56.3 11.1 24.5

13.1
9.1
9.8
6.9
.9
4.3

4.0
10.4
2.5
3.6
0)
3.8

40.3 24.4

10.7

5.9

18.7

i Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent.

The office employees and tho stock girls show larger percentages
of workers losing timo through illness than appear elsewhere. The
workroom employees are the only group among whom the propor
tion affected by illness is not larger than the proportion affected
by any other cause; among them the proportion who lost time through
an enforced lay off corresponds almost exactly to the proportion of
office employees and of stock girls who lost time through illness.
For the whole 1,156 workers the proportion affected by illness is
precisely twice as largo as that affected by the next most prevalent
cause—the unpaid vacation.
Turning to the proportion of unemployment due to each specified
cause, illness maintains a leading position, although it is not as
predominant as in tho table showing the proportion of workers
affected by each cause. The office employees and the miscellaneous
workers, who both had small percentages of time lost, show larger
proportions of unemployment due to illness than to all other causes
put together; the same is true of the stock girls among whom the
proportion of time lost rose above the average. The workroom
employees are the only ones among whom illness is not the most

BULLETIN OP TH E BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

serious cause of lost time, yet for the whole body personal illness
accounts for only two-fifths of the time lost. Speaking approxi
mately, illness, either of the worker herself or of some member of
her family, accounts for half the time lost while on retail store pay
rolls, and other causes, largely industrial, make up the other half.
EARNINGS RELATED TO UNEMPLOYMENT.

As the seriousness of unemployment depends not only upon its
extent and cause, but upon the earnings of the women while at work,
it becomes important to know whether the amount and causes of
unemployment bear any close relation to the full-time weekly earn
ings. The table below shows the extent of employment and unem
ployment, by earnings groups, for the women employed as regulars
only.
T able 10.—AVERAGE WEEKS OP EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT REPORTED
BY WOMEN AND GIRLS EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY, AND PER CENT OP
UNEMPLOYMENT DUE TO SPECIFIED CAUSES, BY AVERAGE FULL-TIME W EEKLY
EARNINGS IN STORES.
(All who lost less than 6 days have been excluded from this table. Lost time for which the firm paid
wages has not been included as unemployment.]
Average full-time weekly earnings in stores.
$4 $5 $6
Un and and and
der un un un
$4. der der der
$5. $6. *7.

Item.

Number reporting..........................................
Per cent in each wage group..........................
Weeks not in industrial pursuits:
Before first employment..........................
After leaving industrial pursuits.............

$7
and
un
der
$8.

$8
and
un
der
$9.

$9
and
un
der
$10.

$10
and $12 Not
re To
un and port
der over. ed. tal.
$12.

79 187 117 97 125 284 98 95 71
3 1,156
6.8 16.2 10.1 8.4 10.8 24.6 8.5 8.2 6.1 0.3 100.0
8.8
.6

5.6

2.8
.3

Total..................................................... 9.4 5.6 3.1
Weeks of possible employment during year.. 42.6 46.4 48.9
••== ■ = = =====
Weeks in employ of—
Stores....................................................... 36.8 41.4 40.7
Other industries....................................... 2.3 2.4 5.<

.5
.5

.2
.8

.2
.5

.8 .......

1.9
.5

1.0 1.0
.4
.7
.7
.8
2.4
51.0 51.0 51.3 51.3 51.6 51.2 *52.0 49.6
=====--- aaa
■— ------ —-• —-— = =
45.6 47.1 48.7 47.8 51.1 49.6 51.3 45.6
1.6 1.2
.6
.5
.4
.1
1.6

Total..................................................... 3X1 43.8 46.4 47.2 48.3 49.3 48.3 51.2 50.0 51.3 47.2
Weeks of unemployment during period of
possible employment:
While without a job ................................ 3.5 2.6 2.5 3.8 2.7 2.0 3.0
.4 1.2 .7 2.4
While in employ of stores........................ 3.0 3.2 3.3 3.6 3.5 4.2 4.5 5 .i 5.3 2.8 3.9
.1
.2
While in employ of other industries........
.2 0 ) 0 ) 0 ) (‘ )
.1
Total..................................................... 6.6
Per cent of unemployment in period of possi ~
ble employment.......................................... 15.5
Full weeks actually worked (weeks ofpossible
employment less weeks of unemployment). 36.0
Per cent oi unemployment due to—
Unpaid vacation..................................... 8.8
Sickness in employee’s lam ily................ 7.6
Enforced lay on....................................... 13.0
Sickness of employee............................... 21.3
Other reported causes.............................. 48.9
Causes not reported.................................
.4

6.0 6.0 7.4 6.2 6.2 7.5 5.5 6.5 3.5 6.4
===== —
===== =
=========== = =====
12.9 12.? 14.5 12.2 12.1 13.7 10.7 12.7 6.7 12.9
40.4 42.9 43.6 44.8 45.1 43.8 46.1 44.7 48.5 43.2
9.7 11.4 13.4 12.6 11.7 10.1
12.6 7.4 8 2 9.5 11.6 15.1
21.1 11.8 9.8 10.9 13.4 24.6
17.8 32.8 32.6 306 36.8 31.0
38.8 36.6 35.9, 36.4 26.5 19.2
.1
0 ....
0 ) ....

23.5
8.6
22.0
35.7
10.0
.2

25.3 5.0
11.4
22.4 *44.6
24.5 45.0
16.2 6.0
.2

13.0
10.6
16.1
29.9
30.3
.1

* Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent.

While between the amount of unemployment and the classified
weekly earnings no especially significant relation is revealed, there
must be, of course, for each individual a very vital significance in the

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG WOMEN IN RETAIL STORES OF BOSTON.

amount of her personal unemployment, varying according to her
wage rate, and the student of unemployment is confronted with th@
need of information as to the earnings and the drain made upon them
by the lost time.
Table 11 shows for the women employed as regulars only the average
amount earned during the year in stores and in other industries, by
classified amounts earned in stores.
11.—AVERAGE ANNUAL EARNINGS IN STORES AND IN OTHER INDUSTRIES,
OF WOMEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY, BY CLASSIFIED AMOUNTS EARNE®
IN STORES, AND BY OCCUPATION GROUPS.
{Occupations shown in this table refer to work in stores only; the occupations while employed in other
industries are not given.]
T able

Saleswomen.

Classified amount of earnings in
retail stores during year.

Employment
in stores.

Cashiers, examiners, etc.

Additional em
ployment in
other industries.

Employment
in stores.

Additional em
ployment in
other industries*

Num Aver Num Aver Num Aver Num Aver
ber
age
age
ber
age
ber
ber
age
em amount em amount em amount em
amount
ployed. earned. ployed. earned. ployed. earned. ployed. earned.
Under $50.....................................
$50 and under $ 1 0 0 ...................
$100 and under $150.................. .
$150and under $200. ....................
$200 and under $250.... - . . . . . . . . .
$250 and under $ 3 0 0 ..............
$300 fynd under $350....................
$350and under $ 4 0 0 ..............
$400 and under $450.....................
$450 and under $500.....................
$500 and under $550.....................
$550 and under $600.....................
$600and under $650............. .
$650 and under $750.....................
$750 and under $850.. -................
$850and o v e r..............................

11
117
20
1 27
137
56
73
109
1103
55
32
20
8
8
6
9

$34.03
69.55
126.99
175.90
227.97
279.98
324.72
375.23
419.38
474.53
524.19
572.68
620.93
704.78
803.37
891.21

16 2$252.25
7 3203.16
9 <131.70
4 869.50
2
65.75

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

6597

370.27

131 * 151.97

55.38

70.00

Office employees.
Under $50...................................
$50 and under $100......................
$100 and under $150....................
$ 1 5 0 under$200.....................
$200 and under $250. - ..................
$250 and under $300....................
$300fynd under $350................. .
$350 and under $400....................
$400
under $450.....................
$450 and under $500....................
$500 and under $550.....................
$550 and under $600.....................
$600 and under $650. - ..................
$650 and under $750.....................
$750 and under $850.....................
$850
over................................
Total...................................

6 $36.72
2
86.33
4 134.75
10 178.17
16 22D.45
16 269.10
21 326.62
36 380.86
37 403.56
9 474.31
4 521.53
1 550.00
2 616.21
1 733.25
1 784.00
1 1,540.00
167

344.74

26
32
39
87
53
11
3
1

$33.25
76.22
126.79
175.55
220.31
269.34
335.52
398.00

9
12
19
8

$160.64
63.58
49.39
31.75

252

157.00

138

76.51

Workroom employees.

1 $205.00
3
1

66.00
190.33
4.00

56.00

1 $34.50
2
97.43
7 127.17
5 172.71
3 223.74
3 290.20
8 327.39
16 377.76
11 426.90
8 477.95
1 508.76
3 570.04
1 607.00
2 699.58
3 775.19
2 1,222.62

128.86

76 j 390.84

io 7

1
3

$82.00
153.22

135.42

1 Not including 1 woman whose exact earnings were not reported.
2 One woman received board in addition to earnings.
* One woman received room and board in addition to earnings; earnings for 9 weelcs not reported by 1
woman.
* One woman received board and 1 woman received room and board in addition to earnings.
* One woman received room and board in addition to earnings.
« Not including 4 women whose exact earnings were not reported.
* See notes to details.
* One woman earned between r$50 and $100, but the exact amount was not reported.
* One woman earned between $400 and $450. but the exact amount was not reported,
u Not including 2 women whose exact earnings were not reported.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS;

T a b l e 1 1 *— AVERAGE

ANNUAL EARNINGS IN STORES AND IN OTHER INDUSTRIES,
OP WOKEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY, B Y CLASSIFIED AMOUNTS EARNED
IN STORES, AND BY OCCUPATION GROUPS-Concluded.
Stock girls.

Classified amount of earnings in
retail stores during year.

Employment
in stores.

All other occupations.

Additional em
ployment in
other industries.

Employment
in stores.

Additional em
ployment in
other industries*

Num Aver Num Aver Num Aver Num Aver
ber
age
ber
ber
age
age
ber
age
em amount em amount em amount em
amount
ployed. earned. ployed. earned. ployed. earned. ployed. earned.
Under $50....................................
under $100 Trr .. . . . . . . . r
$iOn And under $150*............
$150 and under $200.....................
$200 and under $250.....................
$250 and under $300.....................
$300 and under $350.....................
$350.and under $400.....................
$400 and under $450.....................
$450and under $500............. .
$500 and under $550.....................

1
5
2
4
3
5

1 $280.00
$39.17
2 135.75
74.23
144.33
169.74 ........ i ' '"84:66*
219.16
272.63

3
2

387.99
426.80

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

216.64

158.88

1 $42.00
2
91.21
2 121.38
1 175.75
2 1209.84
4 276.86
7 321.97
3 385.45
6 420.07
4 479.97
3 531.22
35 1331.83

1
1
1

$315.00
194.00
108.00

135.00

188.00

All women.
Under $50....................................
$50 and under $100.......................
$100 and under $150.....................
$150 and under $200....................
$200 and under $250.....................
$250and under $ 3 0 0 ..............
$300 and under $350.....................
$350 and under $400.....................
$400 and under $450....................
$450 and under $500.....................
$500and under $ 5 5 0 ..............
$550and under $ 6 0 0 ..............
$600and under $650............... .
$650 and under $ 7 5 0 ..............
$750and under $ 8 5 0 ..............
$850 and over........... ...................

46 $34.23
75.71
*60
74 127.64
2134 175.54
«114 1223.95
95 276.72
112 325.38
168 377.22
2165 417.57
76 475.15
40 624.06
24 571.40
11 618.80
11 706.42
10 792.98
12 1,000.51

Total.................................. 8 1,152 1316.77

*18 >$208.85
223 *118.81
223 *98.41
16 674.19
3
45.17
2
1

(,)2

55.38
56.00
102.50

*88 •118.75

* One woman received meals 6 days in the week in addition to earnings.
2 Not including 1 woman whose exact earnings were not reported.
* One woman received board in addition to earnings.
<One woman received room and board in addition to earnings; earnings for 9 weeks not reported by 1
woman.
* One woman received board, and 1 woman received room and board in addition to earnings.
* One woman received room and board in addition to earnings.
* One woman earned between $400 and $450, but the exact amount was not reported.
* Not including 4 women whose exact earnings were not reported.
9 See notes to details.

Tho table shorn for the 1,152 women and girls who reported
earnings an average of $316.77 earned in retail stores during the
year. Eighty-eight of these also worked in other industries, earning
therein an average of $118.75 during the year. The average amount
earned both in stores and in other industries is $325.84, or a weekly
average of $7.54 for the 43.2 full weeks actually worked, and an
average of $6.57 for the 49.6 weeks of possible employment which,
in addition to the time actually worked, includes all time lost, both
voluntarily and involuntarily, amounting to 6.4 weeks.

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG W OMEN IN BETAIL STOBES OF BOSTON.

For the saleswomen, who equal about half of those reporting
earnings, the average amount earned in stores is $370.27, and for the
31 who also worked in other industries the average amount earned
therein was $151.97. The average yearly earnings both in stores
and in other industries is $378.16, and the weekly average for the
44.3 weeks actually worked is $8.54. The average for the 51 weeks
of possible employment is $7.41 per woek for this occupation.
EARNINGS IN STORES.

In the following table the wage data are arranged by occupation
groups in order that they may be correlated with the extent of
unemployment as shown by Table 4.
1 3 .- AVERAGE FULL-TIME W EEKLY EARNINGS IN STORES OF WOMEN EM
PLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY, B Y OCCUPATIONS AND B Y CLASSIFIED ACTUAL
W EEKLY EARNINGS IN STORES.

Ta ble

[The actual weekly earnings were obtained by dividing the total earnings by the number of weeks during
which there was some employment; and the average full-time weekly earnings by dividing the amount
earned by the number of full weeks actually worked.]

Saleswomen.
Classified ac
tual weekly
earnings in
stores.

Cashiers, examiners,
•bundle wrappers,
and messengers.

Office employees.

Workroom
employees.

Aver
Aver
Aver
Average
age
age
full
f!3lfmlS t
Num Per time Num Per time Num Per time Num Per time
ber. cent. week ber. cent. week ber. cent. week ber. cent. week
ly
ly
ly
ly
earn
earn
earn
earn
ings.
ings.
ings.
ings.

Under $ 4 .......
$4 to $4.99........
$5 to 15.99.........
$6 to $6.99.........
$7 to $7.99.........
18 to $8 99.........
$9 to $9 99........
$10 to $11.99....
$12 and over....

4
26
77
82
159
88
61
57
39

Total......

1593

0.7 $3.75
4.4 4.89
13.0 5.83
13.8 6.96
26.8 7.91
14.8 8.72
10.3 9.76
9.6 11.32
6.6 15.43

129
103
15
2
3

51.2 $3.68
40.9 4.53
5.9 5.57
.8 6.68
1.2 8.07

8.63

252

22.0

51.7

1
13
5
1
4
1

Total.......

4.0 14.01
52.0 4.76
20.0 5.83
4.0 6.52
16.0 7.88
4.0 8.75

2
2
6
7
7
4
3
4

5.94

3.0

4.2 $4.06
14.9 4.79
9.0 5.76
14.4 6.54
37.1
7.91
10.8 8.51
3.0 9.89
3.6 10.76
3.0 18.82

*3
4
2
6
15
23
10
5
8

3.9
5.3
2.6
7.9
19.7
30.3
13.2
6.6
10.5

$3.68
4.63
5.79
7.17
8.09
8.94
9.91
11.81
18.36

14.5

6.6

9.73

7.54

Total.

5.7 $3.74
5.7 4.50
17.1 5.91
20.0 6.47
20.0 8.05
11.4 9.00
8.6 9.77
11.5 11.38

2.2

167

Others.

Stock girls.
Under $4..........
$4 to $4.99.........
$5 to $5.99.........
$6 to $6.99.........
$7 to $7.99.........
$8 to $8.99.........
$9 to $9.99.........
$10 to $11.99
$12 fi-Tiri over .

4.25

7
25
15
24
62
18
5
6
5

146
173
120
122
250
134
79
72
52

12.7 $3.70
15.0 4.63
10.5 5.79
10.6 6.84
21.8 7.93
11.7 8.73
6.9 9.79
6.3 11.30
4.5 16.20

7.56 U,148 100.0

7.59

i Not including 3 saleswomen not reporting earnings.

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF TABOR STATISTICS.

According to this table, 811, or 70.6 per cent of the total number
(1,148) for whom wage data were reported, were earning less than $8 per
week. For 134, or 11.7 per cent, the average earnings were from $8
to $8.99, and the remaining 203, or 17.7 per cent, earned $9 or more.
This table includes 87 employees of 5 and 10 cent stores. Of these
94 per cent earned less than $8, and 6 per cent more than $9. Their
effect on the whole number is not very great. Had they been left
out we would have 68.7 per cent instead of 70.6 earning less than $8,
12.6 per cent earning $8 to $8.99, and 18.7 per cent earning $9 or over.
The average full-time earnings for the 1,148 women reporting were
$7.59.
The earnings as reported in each occupation show perhaps
more clearly what individuals may expect. Of the 593 saleswomen,
representing 51.7 per cent of all the women reporting wage data, 348,
or 58.7 per cent, received average earnings of less than $8, and 436,
or 73.5 per cent, received less than $9. By far the largest single group
are those earning from $7 to $7.99. For all the saleswomen the av
erage full-time earnings were $8.63. As shown in Table 4, the sales
women had an average of 4.2 weeks of unemployment, including
scattered days, during the period employed in retail stores. The
average number of full-time weeks employed, as shown in Table 4,
was 44.3. If the saleswoman’s earnings are to cover even the unem
ployment that occurs during her period of employment, they must
cover a period of 47.2 weeks, and her average earnings for that period
become approximately $7.86. While by no means all of this unem
ployment was chargeable to the industry, as the previous discus
sion on the causes of unemployment shows, certainly the industry
was responsible for the lay offs which, for the 25.3 per cent of sales
women affected, constituted 16.8 per cent of their total unemploy
ment, or an average loss of 1.6 per cent of their working time.1
The next largest group, cashiers and examiners, includes 22 per
cent of the total number of women. This group shows the lowest
average number of full-time weeks worked. The reason for this, as
heretofore explained, is not that these girls have more real unemploy
ment, but that they have a longer average period previous to first
employment, as they include the majority of the girls who have
entered the industry for the first time during the year. Since, how
ever, cash girls and examiners are practically always recruited
from young girls just entering the industry, it is difficult and unfair
to leave out of a discussion of that occupation those having less
than a year’s experience.
Of the 252 making up this group, 129, or 51.2 per cent, were earn
ing weekly an average of less than $4, and their full-time weekly

* For the basis of these figures see Tables 4 and 9.

U NEM PLO YM EN T AMONG W OM EN IN BETAIL STOBES OP BOSTON.

earnings were $3.68. Practically all of this group were earning less
than $6, and 92.1 per cent earned less than $5. The average full
time weekly earnings for the whole group were $4.25. These girls
reported an average period of employment of 39.8 weeks in stores.
During that timo they had an average of 2.8 weeks of unemployment,
including scattered days of absence, so that for the whole period of
employment the actual average earnings would be but $3.95, as the
39.8 weeks represent but 37 full-time weeks.
Of the 167 office employees, 151, or 90.4 per cent, show average
earnings of less than $9; 133, or 79.6 per cent, less than $8; and 47,
or 28.1 per cent, less than $6. For the entire group the average full
time earnings were $7.54, and the average period of employment was
48.7 weeks, in which they had an average absence of 2.9 weeks,
including scattered days. For this period of employment the actual
average earnings would amount to $7.09.
The workroom employees show higher earnings than any of the
foregoing occupation groups. Only 39.4 per cent are earning less than
$8 and 69.7 per cent less than $9. The average full-time earnings for
the whole group are $9.73. The average period of employment is
47.6 weeks. This includes 7.5 weeks of unemployment, including scat
tered days of absence, leaving 41.1 full weeks of employment. The
average weekly earnings for the 47.6 weeks of employment would
amount to $8.20. These women, trained for one sort of work, find
difficulty in taking up other work for short periods. If they do any
thing while not employed in the stores, they generally spend the time
sewing for themselves, their families, or their friends, sometimes
earning a little this way and sometimes repaying favors shown to
them.
As shown in another section of the report, the 1,156 women em
ployed as regulars in retail stores had 43.2 full-time weeks of work
in both stores and other industries out of 49.6 possible wage-earning
weeks. Their average weekly eaming3 from both stores and other
industries amounted to $7.54 for the 43.2 weeks.1
EARNINGS IN OTHER INDUSTRIES.

Of the 1,156 women regularly employed in retail stores, 92 re
ported that they had worked in other industries also during the year
covered. The average actual and full-time weekly earnings of these
women while employed in industries other than retail stores are
shown, by occupations, in Table 13, which follows.

* See Tables 4 and 11, pp. 16 and 27.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS,

18.—AVERAGE ACTUAL W EEKLY EARNINGS AND AVERAGE FULL-TIME
W EEKLY EARNINGS OF WOMEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY, IN INDUSTRIES
OTHER THAN MERCANTILE, BY OCCUPATION GROUPS.
(The average actual weekly earnings were obtained by dividing the total earnings by the number of weeks
during which there was some employment; and the average full-time weekly earnings by dividing the
amount earned by the number of full weeks actually worked. Occupations shown in this table refer to
work in stores only; the occupations while employed in other industries are not given.]
T able

Total
women
sched
uled.

Occupation group.

Women reporting
work in other Average Average
actual full-time
industries.
weekly weekly
Number. Per cent. earnings. earnings.

Saleswomen................................................................
Cashiers, examiners, bundle wrappers, etc................
Office employees.........................................................
Workroom employees.................................................
Stock g ir ls ....f..........................................................

601
252
167
76
25
35

132
39
9
4
4
4

5.3
15.5
5.4
5.3
16.0
11.4

216.46
*4.68
<7.84
7.22
6.36
7.85

*$6.55
•4.91
<7.89
7,39
6.42
7.97

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

1,156

192

8.0

*6.03

*6.19

* Four women received in addition room and board, 1 woman room, board, and laundry, and 1 board only.
* Average based on 25 employees.
* Average based on 35 employees.
* Average based on 7 employees.
* Average based on 79 employees.

The women who reported work in more than one industry were
for the greater part the younger and less experienced women and some
were inefficient. The earnings of these women, as shown in Table 13,
bear out this statement, for nearly half (46.7 per cent) of the women
who report work in other industries were in the retail stores as cash
iers and examiners or stock girls. More than a third were sales
women, and the greater part of these were employees of 5 and 10 cent
stores. Ten per cent had office work, and the other occupation
groups were represented by but 4 employees. It will be noted that
the average actual earnings and the average full-time earnings in
other industries of the women shown in the table, who in retail stores
had been employed as saleswomen, were distinctly lower than the
average earnings of all saleswomen in retail stores. The table does
not show separately the earnings of these girls in the stores, but the
original records show that the average was approximately the same
as that in other industries. This circumstance indicates that in
general the saleswomen who supplemented their s'tore earnings by
work in other industries were among the less efficient.
While it might be expected that workroom employees would sup
plement their earnings in other employment, since they have so much
unemployment in the stores, they are seldom found among those
reporting “ other employment.” 1
DEPENDENCY OF WORKERS ON EARNINGS.

The foregoing sections of the report explain the demands made
upon full-time weekly earnings by time lost during periods of em
ployment. But this drain on earnings due to time lost does not
indicate the social and economic significance of unemployment,
because it is not brought into relation with the degree to which the
worker, is dependent upon her earnings for a living, nor to the degree

i See page 31.

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG W OMEN IN RETAIL STORES OF BOSTON.

of the family’s dependency upon such earnings. This information
is indispensable to an intelligent discussion of the significance of
unemployment among women.
AGE, CONJUGAL CONDITION, AND MANNER OF LIVING.

Summaries of the ages, conjugal condition, and manner of living,
presented in the three tables following, will contribute to a better
understanding of the discussion of the degrees of dependency of the
1,156 women.
T a b l e 1 4 . — CLASSIFIED

AGES OF WOMEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY.

Number. Per cent.

Age group.
Under 16..................................
16 and under 1 8 .......... ..........
18 and under 21......................
21 fvnri under 2 5 .... . . . . . . .......
25 fl-Tid under 3 0 ...................
30 and under 3 5 ................
35 fynft under 4 0 .....................

*69
201
234
224
162
101
59

6.0
17.4
20.3
19.4
14.0
8.8
5.1

Number. Percent.

Age group.
40 and under 45.....................
45 and under 50......................
50 and under 55.....................
55 and under 60.....................
60 and over............................

51
28
13
6
6

4.4
2.4
1.1
.5
.5

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

1 1,154

lOOtO

* Not including 2, ages not reported.
T a b l e 1 5 . — CONJUGAL

CONDITION OF WOMEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY.
Conjugal condition.

Number. Per cent.

Single........................................................
Married....................................................
Widowed..................................................
Divorced or separated...............................

1,042
50
4K
16

90.1
4; 3
4.2
1.4

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

1,156

100.0

T a b l e 1 6 . — MANNER

OF LIVING OF WOMEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY.
Maimer of living.

Number. Per cent.

Independently:
As head of fam ily................................
As boarder or lodger............................
As member of family group: 1
Daughter.............................................
Wife.....................................................
Sister or sister-in-law............................
Niece....................................................
Other relative.......................................

43
89

3.7
7.7

875
33
86
21
9

75.7
2.9
7.4
1.8
.8

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

1,156

100.0

i This does not mean that a woman might not be paying board or otherwise contributing to the family
support.

Table 15 shows that of the 1,156 regulars 90.1 per cent were single,
and while 9.9 per oent had been married, only 4.3 per oent were living
as wives at the time of this investigation. As shown by Table 16,
75.7 per cent wore living at home with one or both parents, 12.9 per
oent were living or boarding with relatives, 7.7 per cent wore boarding
with strangers or friends, and 3.7 per cent were women themselves
at the hoad of the family groups'. Table 14 indicates that most of
the women employed in the retail stores are young, 63 per cent being
under 25 and 77 por cent under 30, but because they are young and
14070°—Bull. 182—16----- 3

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

for the most part live “ at homo" it does not follow that they are
sheltered by the paternal roof beyond foar of want. In fact, in a
great many homes there were no male wage earners at all.
The women interviewed were classified according to the degree to
which they depended upon their earnings. In the first group were
the women totally dependent, meaning for the purposes of this inves
tigation that there was nothing but public or private charity between
themselves and want if the earnings were cut off. The second group,
designated as “ principally dependent,” were those who had families
which could in an emergency provide room and board if the workers
were temporarily out of work, but by so doing would lower their
own standards of living. Many women in this group might actually
be providing for themsolves entirely and even helping others in the
family, but they would have the advantage over those in the “ totally
dependent” class of having a home during temporary unemployment.
In the third group were those only “ partially dependent” on their
earnings. This took in the women who had families which could
provide them with room and board, but not clothing, if they were
temporarily out of work, without actually lowering to any extent tho
family standard. The fourth group included those not dependent
on their earnings for necessaries; in other words, women whose
parents or relatives could provide them with board, lodging, and
necessary clothing if they were not working. In practically all
such cases, however, in order to supply themsolves with the kind of
clothes and the spending money which they desired, the girls were
obliged to work. The number and per cent of regulars in each of
these groups is shown in the table which follows:
TABLE 17.—DEGREE OF DEPENDENCY ON EARNINGS OF WOMEN EMPLOYED AS
REGULARS ONLY.
Women reporting.
X>egree of dependency on earnings.

Number. Per cent.

Totally dependent....................................
Principally dependent..............................
Partially dependent..................................
Not dependent for necessaries..................

107
976
60
13

9.3
$4.4
5.2
1.1

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

1,156

100.0

The great majority of tho regular employees, 84.4 per cent, wore
classed as “ principally dependent on their earnings” and the next
largest group was those totally dependent on their own earnings, 9.3
per cent being so classified. The group partially dependent had in
it 60 women, or 5.2 per cent, and only 13 women, or 1.1 per cent, were
found to be “ not dependent for necessaries” on their earnings. This
brings out clearly the fact that the overwhelming majority of women
are not working for “ pin money” or for the pleasure and excitement
of the work, and that the earnings of a girl living at home are in most
cases just as necessary to her as are the earnings of her brother to him.

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG W OMEN IN RETAIL STORES OF BOSTON.

Following this classification of dependency a step further and
bringing it into relation with the total amount of unemployment during
the year, and with the total amount earned during the year, both the
unemployment and the earnings become more significant.
UNEMPLOYMENT RELATED TO DEGREE OF DEPENDENCY ON EARNINGS.

For the sake of clearness the employment record for the whole
year, as reported by the 1,156 regulars, is presented in the following
table, the chief purpose of which is to show the amount of unemploy
ment for each of the groups of women just described:
18.—AVERAGE WEEKS OF EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT REPORTED
BY WOMEN AND GIRLS EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY, BY DEGREE OF DE
PENDENCY UPON EARNINGS.
[All who lost less than 6 days have been excluded from this table. Lost time for which the firm paid
wages has not been included as unemployment.]
T able

Item.

Not
Par depend
Totally Prin
cipally
tially
ent
depend depend depend upon
ent
ent
earn
ent
Total.
upon upon upon
ings
earn earn earn
for
ings.
ings.
ings. neces
saries.

Number reporting..................................................... ................
Per cent in each group..............................................................
Weeks not in industrial pursuits:
Before first employment.......................................................
After leaving industrial pursuits............................. ............

107
9.3

976
84.4

60
5.2

13
1.1

1,156
100.0

t .l

1.7
.3

6.3
1.8

11.8
1.4

1.9
.5

Total..................................................................................
Weeks of possible employment during year............. ................
Weeks in employ of—
Stores....................................................................................
Other industries...................................................................

1.1
50.9

2.0
50.0

8.1
43.9

13.2
38.8

2.4
49.6

47.7
1.8

46.0
1.7

39.5
.3

31.1

45.6
1.6

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

49.5

47.7

39.8

31.1

47.2

Weeks of unemployment during period of possible employment:
While without a job ............: ...............................................
While in employ of stores.....................................................
While in employ of other industries.....................................

1.4
4.6

2.3
3.8
.1

4.1
3.9

7.7
5.4

2.4
3.9
.1

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

6.0

6.2

8.0

13.1

6.4

Per cent of unemployment in period of possible employment...
Full weeks actually worked (weeks of possible employment less
weeks of unemployment)........................................................

11.8

12.4

18.2

33.8

12.9

44.9

43.8

35.9

25.7

43.2

The only accurate measurement of unemployment is obtained by
comparing time lost with the possible wage-earning weeks in the year
both in stores and other industries for 1,156 women. The possible
wage-earning weeks include all weeks from the beginning to the
end of the period under investigation, except weeks before first em
ployment and weeks after leaving industrial pursuits. Time not
employed after entrance into and before leaving industry may prop
erly be analyzed as voluntary or involuntary unemployment. The
average number of possible weeks of work in the year was, for all
women, 49.6. For 6.4 weeks, or 12.9 per cent, of this time there
was no employment; that is, the average number of full-time
weeks of employment was 43.2. Except in Table 24, no absence

BULLETIN OF “THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

due to sickness or other causes was included as unemployment in tliis
report if paid for by the employers.
The numbers who were only partially or not at all dependent on
their earnings are so small as to render the averages and percentages
of little significance; those totally or principally dependent upon
their earnings are numerous enough to render both averages and
percentages of considerable significance. By showing the extent of
unemployment in the groups depending in varying degrees upon
their earnings for a living, a much clearer indication is given of actual
conditions among the women investigated than can be obtained from
general averages covering all classes of women.
The causes of unemployment as reported by the women in the
various groups are shown in Tables 19 and 20, which follow. Table
19 indicates the percentage of unemployment due to each specified
cause, and Table 20 the per cent of women in each group who reported
unemployment from each specified cause.
T a b l e 1 9 . — PER

CENT OF UNEMPLOYMENT DUE TO EACH SPECIFIED CAUSE, AMONG
1,156 WOMEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY, BY DEGREE OF DEPENDENCY ON
EARNINGS.
[All who lost less than 6 days have been excluded from this table. Lost time for which the firm paid
wages has not been included as unemployment. For an accurate understanding of the unemployment
due to each specified cause this table must be considered in connection with Table 10. The data upon
which this table is based are given in full in Table 49.]
Per cent of unemployment due to specified causes,
among womens
Cause of unemployment.

Not de
Totally Princi Partially pendent
depend pally de depend for
neces
pendent.
ent.
ent.
saries.

Total.

Sickness of employee.............
Enforced lay off.....................
Inability to get work.............
Unpaid vacation....................
Sickness in employee’s family,
Home responsibilities............
Other causes...........................

28.2
32.0
5.1
15.0
11.7
1.8
6.2

31 2
14.8
17.1
13.1
10.1
7.7
6.0

25.7
13.1
16.2
11.9
11.6
3.9
17.6

16.4
13.9
7.6
7.2
22.9
25.2
6.8

30.2
16.1
15.8
13.1
10.6
7.4
6.8

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

100.0

100:0

100.0

T a b le 20.—PER CENT REPORTING SPECIFIED CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT, AMONG

1,156 WOMKN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY, BY DEGREE OF DEPENDENCY ON
TKARNINGS.
[All who lost less than 6 days have been excluded from this table. Lost time for which the firm paid wages
has not been included as unemployment.]
Per cent reporting each specified cause of unem
ployment among women—
Cause of unemployment.

Sickness of employee..................................................
Enforced lay off..........................................................
Inability to get work..................................................
Unpaid vacation.........................................................
Sickness in employee’s family.....................................
Home responsibilities.................................................
Other causes................................................................

Not
Totally Princi Partially depend
depend pally de depend ent for
ent.
neces
pendent.
ent.
saries.
78.5
39.3
9.3
38.3
17.8
3.7
9.3

79.1
31.4
16.3
39.0
14.5
6.4
15.1

73.3
20.0
13.3
53.3
10.0
1.7
18.3

53.8
30.8
7.7
38.5
15.4
30.8
15.4

Total.

78.5
31.5
15.4
39.7
14.15
6.1
14.7

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG WOMEN IN BETAIL STOBES OF BOSTON.

As shown in Table 18, of the total number of women, 107 were
totally dependent on their own earnings; that is, were without
families that could support them even temporarily if they were out
of employment. For these women any prolonged unemployment
would mean debt, charity, or help from friends unless they had been
able to save. Many told of struggles to get along during periods of
unemployment, of small savings entirely used up, of the kind help
of friends, or the tolerance of landladies, and of the burden of debt
which they had been obliged to assume. There were 50.9 possible
weeks of employment during the year for this group of women.
They actually worked an average of 44.9 weeks and were unem
ployed six weeks.
As shown in Table 19, illness is an important cause of the unem
ployment among women totally dependent on their earnings, 28.2
per cent of the time lost, representing an average of 1.7 weeks, being
due to physical ailments. Table 20 shows that 78.5 per cent of these
women reported time lost from this cause. It is a warrantable
assumption that women entirely dependent on their earnings do not
stay away from work for trivial indispositions. The tendency would
be, as many women reported, to go to work when they did not feel
physically able to do so.
Time lost through lay offs amounted to 32 per cent of the whole
unemployment of women totally dependent. This came mostly in
short periods, a week or two at a time, or a few days at a time, but
in certain occupations, as has been noted, the periods were much
longer, running into six or eight consecutive weeks. For the 42
totally dependent women whcTreported enforced lay offs the average
number of weeks was 4.9.1
Fifteen per cent of the unemployment of totally dependent women
was charged to “ unpaid vacation.” In the earlier discussion it has
been stated that some of the unpaid vacation was doubtless enforced,
how much it is impossible to say. The time lost by these women
because they could not find any work was comparatively small,
only 5.1 per cent being so reported. This would amount to an
average of less than one-third of a week per person. The per cent
of time lost due to illness *in the family and to family responsibilities
combined is less than in the group principally dependent upon
earnings, because these women had fewer family ties, being solely
dependent on themselves. In Table 21, which follows, the average
annual amount earned during the year under consideration is shown
for each class of employees, grouped according to degree of depend
ency, showing just what these women had on which to depend.

* See Table 49, page 69.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

T a b l e 2 1 . — AVERAGE

ANNUAL EARNINGS IN STORES AND IN OTHER INDUSTRIES
OF 1,156 WOMEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY, BY CLASSIFIED AMOUNTS
EARNED IN STORES, AND BY DEGREE OF DEPENDENCY ON EARNINGS.
Women totally dependent
on earnings.

Classified amount of earn
ings in retail stores dur
ing year.

Women principally dependent
on earnings.

Additional em
ployment in other
industries.

Employment
in stores.

Additional em
ployment in other
industries.

Number Average Number Average Number Average Number Average
em
em
amount
amount
em
amount
em
amount
ployed. earned. ployed. earned. ployed. earned. ployed. earned.
Under $30..............
$50 and under $100.
$100 and under $150.
$150 and under $200.
$200 and under $250.
$250 and under $300.
$300 and under $350.
$350 and under $400.
$400 and under $450.
$450 and under $500.
$500 and under $550.
$550 and under $600.
$600 and under $650.
$650 and under $750.
$750 and under $850
$850 and over.........
Total...........

107

$38.13
73.40
108.32
163.99
239.39
289.81
327.19
373.84
425.15
473.26
518.97
584.18
613.03
722.54
797.12
1,016.36

i $189.00
8245.25
* 127.00
* 144.00

423.49

*172.07

$34.
75.
129.
175.

9
6
7

274.
325.
377.
416.
475.
524.
506.
621.
702,
792.
989.19

*972

311.49

$210.01
110.31
6 94.13
74.00
45.17

*17
*20

*20
14
3

2100 6 222.
82
95
141
*140
62
35
17

Women partially dependent
on earnings.
Employment
in stores.

* 49
62
*126

55.38
56.00

102.50

•79

*116.48

All women.
Women not
dependent on
earnings for
Additional
necessaries.10 Employment employment
in stores.
in other
industries.

Additional
employment
in other
industries.

Num
Num Aver Num Aver
ber Aver- Num Aver Num Average
ber
ber
em
ber
ber
age
age
age
em amount em amount ployed amount em amount em amount
ployed earned. ployed earned. in
earned. ployed earned. ployed earned.
stores.
Under$50............
$50 and under $100..
$100 and under $150.
$150 and under $200.
5200 and under $250.
$250 and under $300.
$300 and under $350.
$350 and under $400.
$400 and under $450.
$450 and under $500.
$500 and under $550.
$550 and under $600.
$600 and under $650.
$650 and under $750.
$750 and under $850.
$850 and over...........

$34.01
75.73
117.95
171.53
230.67
286.10
311.11
381.90
417.02
482.21

Total..,

243.26

36j5o
7 66
*

$31.38
124.81

198.34
219.60
346.04
430.14
516.30

607.00
780*58
2

21.50

46 $34.23
75.71
74 127.64
*134 175.54
*114 « 223.95
95 276.72
112 325.38
168 377.22
*165 417.57
76 475.15
40 524.06
24 571.40
11 618.80
11 703.42
10 792.98
12 1,000.51

*C0

13 172.44 •1,152 *316.77

*18 i $208.85
*23 11118.81
*23 5 98.41
16 *74.19
45.17
2

1
C)

•

"55*38
56.00
102.50

*118.74

i One woman received board in addition to earnings.
* Not including 1 woman whose exact earnings were not reported.
* One woman received room and board in addition to earnings; earnings for 9 weeks not reported by i
woman.
4 One woman received room and board in addition to earnings.
&One woman received board, and 1 woman received room and board in addition to earnings.
* One woman received board for 6 days in week in addition to earnings.
* One woman earned between $400 and $450, but the exact amount was not reported.
* See notes to details.
* Not including 4 women whose exact earnings were not reported.
10None of these women had additional employment in other industries.
11 One woman received room and board in addition to earnings; earnings for 9 weeks not reported by I
woman.

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG WOMEN IN RETAIL STOKES OF BOSTON.

Of the 107 women totally dependent on their earnings, 51, or 47.7
per cent, had yearly incomes of under $400.* Of the totally de
pendent women who earned less than $200 in the stores, the majority
(7 out of 12) earned additional amounts in other industries. These
women would have preferred to work full time in the stores in
almost every case could they have had the work, but, failing for one
reason or another to secure work in stores, they were obliged to
take what work they could get. The average yearly earnings in stores
for this entire group were $423.49. The 7 who had worked also in
other industries averaged $172.07 in those industries. Considering all
earnings, the average weekly amount which these women would re
ceive if their earnings were distributed equally over the 44.9 full
weeks of actual work is $9.68, and for the 50.9 weeks of possible
employment $8.54. These were all women of experience in the indus
try. The figures for the entire group are, of course, simply averages,
but Table 21 shows also the actual number of women whose yearly
earnings fell within specified wage groups. What the actual average
was within these groups, and how far the average is fairly represen
tative of prevailing conditions, may readily be seen.
As has been shown in Table 18, the majority of the women were
found to belong in the group described as “ principally” dependent
on their own earnings, 84.4 per cent being so classified. For these
women the average number of possible weeks of work was but 50,
since in this group were some who began work for the first time after
the beginning of the period studied and some who left industrial pur
suits during the year. Twelve and four-tenths per cent of this time
represented unemployment, so that the women had but 43.8 full
weeks of work in that period. As usual, illness is the principal cause
of unemployment, 31.2 per cent being so classified, and inability to get
work is the second cause in importance, 17.1 per cent of all unem
ployment being due to that cause, though it is reported by but 16.3
per cent of the women in this group. It is probable that these are
for the most part the younger girls just beginning work. It is increas
ingly difficult for girls from 14 to 16 to get work in Boston, owing to
the recent legislation regulating their employment.
In spite of the low earnings of this group, only 8.1 per cent had
supplemented their store earnings by work in other industries, and
averaged $116.48 by such employment. The average amount which
they earned in stores during the year is not large—$311.49. The
average annual income from stores and other industries is $320.96.
For each of the 50 possible wage-earning weeks in the year this
would average $6.42, and for each of the 43.8 full weeks actually
worked, $7.33.
1 The average weekly earnings can not be computed from these data as some of the women were In Industrial pursuits for a period less than 52 weeks.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOK STATISTICS.

The third group, which includes those only partially dependent on
their earnings, has a considerably shorter period of possible weeks of
employment, averaging but 43.9 weeks. During this period there
were 35.9 full weeks of employment. As fully a third of the 60
women in this group were girls beginning work for the first time, for
whom it is always difficult to find employment, and as there were
also a number of girls and women whose dependency on their earnings
was of so limited a degree that long vacations between jobs were not
unusual, the percentage of unemployment is much higher than for
either of the two previous groups. The causes classed in Table 19 as
“ other” account for 17.6 per cent of the unemployment, and the
cause which is largely responsible for this per cent is that which has
been designated as "work not desired.” To illness is credited 25.7
per cent, and to inability to secure work 16.2 per cent, of the unem
ployment. After these causes, enforced lay off, unpaid vacation, and
illness in the family follow in the order of importance. The women
in this group show less time lost for “ home responsibilities” than any
other except the group totally dependent on earnings.
Of the women classed as only partially dependent on their earnings,
only 2 reported additional work in other industries, and the amount
so earned was not large enough to bo of much importance. The aver
age earnings in stores during the year for this group were $243.26.
For these women, however, approximately 12 per cent of the year
under consideration was time previous to their first entering industry.
The women who are not dependent on their earnings for necessaries
represent but 1.1 per cent of the total number of women! employed as
regulars in the stores. They have no work save in stores, and obvi
ously do not feel the need of keeping steadily at work, since they are
reported as being unemployed for more than one-third of the possible
weeks of employment and averaged but 25.7 full weeks of employ
ment in the year. The important fact in this connection is that so
few women fell within this group. There are too few to merit
statistical analysis.
Degree o f dependency o f families on earnings o f women.

Even after the unemployment of women in retail stores has been
shown in relation to their earnings and to their degree of dependency
on their earnings, there is still a further connection which must be
shown in order to arrive at the full significance of unemployment.
To what degree are families dependent on the earnings of the indi
vidual women scheduled? This is to some extent reflected in the
degree of the girl’s dependency on her earnings. To gather such
information was not possible because of restricted funds. To deter
mine the exact degree to which a family is dependent on the income
from any given source, the total income from all sources must be

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG W OMEN IN RETAIL STOBES 01' BOSTON.

41‘

accurately computed. It is, however, possible to show in how many
instances these women, Whose earnings and unemployment have
been analyzed, furnished the entire support, the partial support, or
no support at all for the family groups of which they were members.
It was a fairly simple matter to determine whether a woman was
the entire support of a family, or whether the family did not depend
at all on her earnings. But in cases where the woman was only in
part the support of the family, the range of dependency was so great
that it was decided to divide such families into two arbitrary groups:
First, those families in which the standard of living would be lowered
if the woman did not contribute something to the family income; sec
ond, those families which depended on the scheduled woman for
regular contributions normally amounting to at least one-fourth of
the entire income of the family.
In the table which follows the number of women having families
coming under the different classifications are shown:
T a b l e 2 2 . —DEGREE

OF DEPENDENCY OF FAMILY ON EARNINGS OF WOMEN
EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY.
Women reporting.

Degree of family dependency on women’s
earnings.

Number. Per cent.

Totally dependent....................................
.Dependent on regular contribution of at
least one-fourth of family income..........
Standard of living would be lowered if
woman did not contribute....................
. Not dependent for necessaries..................
No family................ ............. ..................
Total...............................................

2.5

433

37.4

521
140
27

45.1
12.6
2.3

1,156

100.0

One hundred and seventy-three women, or 14.9 per cent, reported
no family demands on their earnings; 29 women, or 2.5 per cent of
the entire 1,156, had families entirely dependent on their earnings;
521, or 45.1 per cent, had families who needed and had the financial
assistance of the worker from time to time during the year; 433, or
.37.4 per cent, were depended upon as regular contributors to the
family support to the extent of at least one-fourth of the family
income. Of the 29 women who were the sole support of their fami
lies, 23 had but 1 person besides themselves in the family,1 4 had 2,
and 2 had 3 in the family. Twenty, or more than two-thirds of these
women, reported average earnings of less than $9.
Four hundred and thirty-three women contributed at least onefourth to the family budget. This is not significant, however, unless
it is also known how much the girl’s contribution was and how many
there were in the family. The table which follows gives this infor

1 See Table 23, p. 42.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

mation. Without exception this group of women added their entire
earnings to the family budget, getting from the common fund their
own necessaries. The weekly earnings were computed by dividing
the total amount earned in stores by the number of weeks during
which there was some employment in stores during the year, making
no deduction for days lost during such weeks.
23.—WOMEN HAVING FAMILIES REGULARLY DEPENDENT ON THEIR EARN
INGS FOR AT LEAST ONE-FOURTH OF FAMILY INCOME AND WOMEN HAVING FAMI
LIES TOTALLY DEPENDENT, BY W EEKLY EARNINGS IN STORES AND BY NUMBER
OF PERSONS IN THE FAMILY BESIDES THEMSELVES.

T able

Women having families of specified number of persons besides
themselves regularly dependent for at least one-fourth of fam
ily income.
Average actual
weekly earnings

Women having fam
ilies of specified
number of persons
besides themselves
totally dependent.

Av
erage
10or
num
3
5 6 7 8 9 more
1 2 3 To4
To ber per
per- per per per- per per per- per per- per- tal.
per- pertal.
sons.
of son.
sons. sons.
sons. sons.
per
sons.

Under $ 4 ....
$4 to $4.99...
J5 to $5.99...
$6 to $6.99...
$7 to $7.99...
$8 to $8.99...
$9 to $9.99...
$10 to $10.99.
$11 to $11.99.
$12 and over.
Total..

10
10
* 14

*53

642

16
27

8 21

7
4
4

2
2

113

10
»11
44

5
8

754

»109
46
939

19
36

4.3
5.2
4.1
3.7
3.4
3.6
3.1
2.7
2.5
2.9

w»429 3.7

1 Including 1 whose earnings for more than half of the year averaged $7.01.
2Including 1 whose earnings for more than half of the year averaged $10.
8 Including 2 whose earnings for more than half of the year averaged $7.01 and $10, respectively.
* Including 1 who worked in another industry where her average earnings were $s, and 1 who worked in
2 retail stores, data for one of them incomplete.
s Including 1 whose earnings for more than half of the year averaged $7.98.
« Including 1 whose average earnings in another industry were $«; 1 who worked in 2 retail stores, data
for one of them incomplete; and 1 wliose earnings for more than half of the year averaged $7.98.
* Including 1 whose earnings for more than half of the year averaged $9.50.
8 Including 1 whose earnings for half of the year averaged $12.
» Including 1 woman who worked in 2 retail stores, data for one of them incomplete.
w Not including 4 women, number in family not reported.

The details given in the above table indicate the maximum weekly
amounts these families regularly dependent on the women for at.
least one-fourth of their income would have for sustenance. While
the woman’s contribution is at least one-fourth, it may be as much
as one-half or three-fourths of the entire income, so while the families
did not have as an average more than four times the amount of her
earnings, there were many cases where they had less. As a matter of
fact, the girl’s contribution in a great many instances exceeded onefourth of the total income. About twice as many women reported
earnings of $7 to $7.99 as reported any other amount, and more reported
three persons in family besides themselves than reported any other
number. It is interesting to note that with one or two slight excep
tions the average number in the family steadily decreased as the

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG WOMEN IN .RETAIL STORES OF BOSTON*

specified earnings increased. While the girls earning less than $4 and
those earning $4 to $4.99 furnished one-fourth or more of the income
for families averaging, in addition to themselves, 4.3 persons and 5.2
persons, respectively, those earning $10 or over had in their families
an average of but 2.6 persons besides themselves. It is apparent
from this table that the earnings of the individual can not be decreased
or increased without affecting in a very material way not only the
worker herself, but others dependent upon her.
IMPORTANCE OF SICKNESS AS A CAUSE OF UNEMPLOYMENT.

Sickness has been shown throughout to be a very important cause
of unemployment of regular employees. The subject assumes suffi
cient importance to be discussed in relation to age groups. In the
foregoing tables no absence, whether due to sickness or other causes,
was included as unemployment if it was paid for by the firm. In the
following table all illness, whether or not paid for, is included:
T a b l e 2 4 . — SICKNESS

REPORTED BY REGULAR EMPLOYEES FOR THE YEAR ENDING
JULY 31,1914, BY AGE GROUPS.

[This table includes time lost on account of sickness whether or not paid for. Women with absence of
less than 6 days during the period of possible employment were excluded.]
Women reporting sickness.
Age group.

Days of
Total
sickness Weeks of
number
Days of per
per possible
sched
sickness
sched employ
uled. Number. Percent. per wo sonuled.
ment.
man re
porting.

Under 16.....................................................
16 and under 18..........................................
18 and under 21..........................................
21 and under 25..........................................
25 and under 35..........................................
35 and under 45..........................................
45 and under 55..........................................
55 and under 65..........................................
Age not reported........................................

69
201
234
224
263
110
41
12
2

45
154
199
180
209
85
28
10
1

65.2
76.6
85.0
80.4
79.5
77.3
68.3
83.3
50.0

8.7
12.7
12.5
15.3
19.6
16.1
24.3
9.9
4.0

5.7
9.8
10.6
12.3
15.5
12.4
16.6
8.3
2.0

36.7
46.8
51.2
51.1
51.3
51.6
51.7
52.0
52.0

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

1,156

911

78.8

15.2

12.0

49.6

The above table shows that out of the total of 1,156 women there
were 911, or 78.8 per cent, who reported absence from duty because
of sickness. Even more impressive is the average of 2.5 weeks’ dura
tion of such sickness. While this seems a large amount, there are no
extensive statistics of other industries in this country available for
comparison, so that it can not be determined whether women in
retail stores show a greater or less amount of illness than women in
other industries, or even whether the amount shown is abnormal.
Whether it is or is not, however, does not alter the fact that in this
industry at least it is such an important factor in the industrial life
of the women that there would seem to be an imperative necessity
for providing against it. Table 24 shows that the per cent reporting

BULLETIN OF THE BUKEAL’ OF KAUOR STATISTICS.

and the average number of days per person vary with the different
age groups, the amount gradually increasing with the ages up to 35,
then falling off, but increasing again in the group including those
45 and under 55 years of age, after which it falls off again. The age
group which has the largest per cent reporting illness is the group 18
and under 21, while the greatest number of days of illness per person is
reported in the group 45 and under 55 years of age.
The number who reported insurance against illness was 525, or
45.4 per cent of the total number. Ninety-nine per cent of these
were members of store benefit associations; 10 women, includ
ing some who belonged to store benefit associations, belonged to
some order or lodge, and two to the retail dry goods clerks' asso
ciation. Of the 525 women who belonged to associations, only 54
reported any benefits received. The average number of weeks for
which they received such benefit was 4.3 and the average amount
received per person was $18. The average rate of dues paid was 8
cents a week.
The prevailing impression gathered from conversations with the
women and their families was that the younger and low-paid girls
begrudge even 5 cents a week dues and do not recognize the value
of protection provided by benefit organizations. Even if they
belonged they veiy frequently reported that when they were sick
they “ didn't bother about it, it was so much trouble.” In prac
tically all store benefit associations no benefit is paid for less than
a week and a doctor's certificate of illness must be presented. This
involves calling a doctor, and many women, even if obliged to stay
out a week, did not want to call a doctor, but preferred to let the
benefit go. Girls who have been ill and have once drawn their ben
efits do not neglect them, but a great many women, until they have
actually experienced the security afforded by receiving pay while
incapacitated, do not value the protection.
Reverting to all the causes of unemployment as analyzed in the
light of the personal and family relations, the conviction becomes
increasingly strong that unemployment among women is in large
measure due to influences which are peculiar to a woman's life. The
large per cent of time lost due to illness, the time lost due to illness
of others in the family because the woman must care for the other
members of her family as well as for herself, the other home respon
sibilities which belong to the woman, since she is the force that holds
the home together, the unpaid vacation, since she must have time
to restore some of the vital energy on which there are so many calls;
these are all causes that have a direct relation to her womanhood
and the question naturally arises as to how far the obligations which
create unemployment, should be considered in the matter of wages
paid to women.

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG WOMEN IN BETAIL STORES OF BOSTON.

WOMEN HAVING BOTH REGULAR AND EXTRA WORK.

The evidence of this investigation, as well as that of previous
ones,1 points to the conclusion that women who, during any given
period under study, are found to have held several different positions
either in one industry or in different industries, aro the women who
have not, for one reason or another, succeeded in commanding
average wages. The reason may be their extreme youth or their
extreme age; it may be some physical handicap, or it may be that
they have not been trained to habits of industry. It may be that
through lack of opportunity thoir real capabilities have failed to de
velop; but, one way or another, they are, in general, not able to come up
to the standard set by the women whose records show continued work
in one industry. So one may expect to find among the women whoso
records showed employment both as extras and as regulars in retail
stores or in other industries, less steady employment, lower rates of
pay, lower earnings, and a higher per cent of unemployment. This
should not be taken to mean that all women who show both regular and
extra work are women having no steady work or women earning low
wages. There are, of course, some women in this group who have'
regular positions at more than the average rate of pay, who m ay,
have also had extra work during the year, but these are the exception
rather than the rule.
EXTENT OF EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT.

Of the 346 women in this group, 193, or 55.8 per cent, had both
regular and extra work in stores, and 153, or 44.2 per cent, had
regular work in other industries and extra work only in stores.
These 153 were not, however, the only women out of the 346 to report
work in other industries, for 62, or nearly one-third, of the women
who had both regular and extra work in stores also had regular work
in other industries. Altogether 62.1 per cent of the women had some
regular work in industries other than retail stores. All sorts of work
were represented in the “ other industries”—factory work, domestic
work, both in private families and in hotels, and restaurant work.
Practically all of the work was that usually described as unskilled.
The amount of employment which these women had falls considerably
below that of the regulars, especially when one considers that for
many of the weeks counted as weeks with employment, the only
employment was extra work which may have been for but one or
two days during the week.
iSee Bulletin of XJ. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 160, Hours, Earnings, and Conditions of Labor
of Women in Indiana Mercantile Establishments and Garment Factories, pp. 51 and 86.

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

The table following shows for the year ending July 31, 1914, the
average number of weeks in which there was some employment in
stores and in other industries, and the weeks without employment:
2 5 . — AVERAGE WEEKS OF EMPLOYMENT IN RETAIL STORES AS REGULARS
AND AS EXTRAS, AND IN OTHER INDUSTRIES AS REGULARS, OF WOMEN HAVING
BOTH REGULAR AND EXTRA WORK.

table

[All who lost loss than 6 days have been excluded from this table. Lost time for which the firm paid
wages has not been included as unemployment.]

Classification of employment.

Women re Average number of weeks in which
Avorporting.
there was employment as—
age
num
ber
Extras in retailstores.
of
weeks
in
Regu
Regu
Weeks Weeks lars which
in
in
there
Num Per lars
in
which in
was
ber. cent. retail Total which
extra only other no
indus
stores. weeks. over extra
em
lapped work tries. ploy
regular was
ment.
work. done.

As regulars in retail stores only.. ......................
As regulars in retail stores and other industries.
As regulars in other industries only...................

131 37.9
62 17.9
153 44.2

25.5
16.5

Total. . . . . t................................................

346 100.0

12.6

9.8
4.8
8.8

2.2
.5
3.2

7.6
4.3
5.6

‘#i(i.T
26.7

18.9
15.1
19.7

8.5

2.4

6.1

14.7

18.6

Allowing for the 2.4 weeks in which extra work overlapped the
regular, the average number of weeks with some employment for
the entire group was but 33.4, which represents only about 65 per
cent of the year. Six and one-tenth weeks, a little over one-fifth
of this time, were weeks with extra work only, so that sifted down
the period of employment as regulars in all industries for the 346
women who had both regular and extra work, covered only about
half the year, or an average of 27.3 weeks. The period without any
employment averaged 18.6 weeks, or about 35 per cent of the year.
This includes the time before the first employment and the time after
leaving industrial pursuits—an average of five weeks for each of the
346 women in this group—as well as time voluntarily unemployed.
While the average number of weeks with employment only as extras
has been given as 6.1, that figure in itself has no significance until it is
known how many days of work it represents. A woman might have
8 weeks with extra work and have worked only 8 evenings during
that time, or she might have worked on 6 days a week for all 8 weeks.
An analysis, therefore, was made of the weeks with extra work to
find out how much actual work they represented. For all the
weeks with extra employment reported by the 346 women, the
average number of days on which such employment occurred was
but 2§ per week. Some of the women in this group had their regular

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG WOMEN IN RETAIL STOBES OP BOSTON.

work in stores and some had theirs in other industries, while others
had regular work in both stores and other industries. Table 25 shows
the average number of weeks in which there was some employment
in accordance with such classifications. All of the women had extra
work in stores. There seems to be practically no difference in the
amount of regular work of the women whose regular employment
was confined to stoi’es and that of women whose regular work was
confined to other industries, one having 25.5 weeks, the other having
26.7 weeks with regular work. The women working in both stores
and other industries as regulars and in stores as extras averaged a
little more employment during the year, having 32.6 weeks with
employment as regulars and 4.3 weeks in which the employment
was only as extras.
The women who are reported here as having both regular and extra
work show a much greater tendency to shift from establishment to
establishment and from industry to industry than do the women
who were employed as regulars only, but the shifting is not as great
as one might expect. This is brought out in the table which follows,
showing the number and per cent employed in one or more stores
and in one or more industries:
T a b l e 2 6 . — NUMBER

AND PER CENT OF WOMEN REPORTING REGULAR OR EXTRA
WORK IN ONE OR MORE RETAIL STORES AND IN ONE OR MORE INDUSTRIES.
Women reporting.

Employment during year
in—

Number. Per cent.

Women reporting.
in—

Number. Per cent.

One retail store.......................
Two retail stores.....................
Three retail stores...................
Four retail stores. . ................
Five or more retail stores. . . . .

171
110
47
13
5

49.4
31.8
13.6
3.8
1.4

One Industry..........................
Two industries.......................
Three industries.....................
Four industries.......................
Five or more industries..........

131
173
37
4
1

37.8
50.0
10.7
1.2
.3

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

346

100.0

•Total.............................

346

100.0

Of the 346 women, 171, or practically half, had been employed in
one retail store only, as compared with 90.2 per cent of the regulars,
and while 8.3 per cent of the regulars had work in two stores and
1.5 per cent in three different stores, 31.8 per cent of those having
both regular and extra work had been employed in two stores, 13.6
per cent in three stores, 3.8 per cent in four, and 1.4 per cent in five
or more stores. In the matter of industries they show the same shift
ing, yet 37.8 per cent had been employed in but one industry, 50 per
cent had had employment in two industries, 10.7 per cent in three
industries, and there were 4 women reporting employment in four
industries and 1 in five industries.
In this connection and in connection with the statement made
earlier that those women who report both extra and regular work

BULLETIN OF M K

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

seem to be women who are earning lers than average wages, it is
interesting to know that 38, or nearly 11 per cent, of these women
reported both extra and regular employment for the same time, that
is, while they were regularly employed in one establishment they
were also doing extra work in another. The reason generally assigned
for this was that they could not earn enough by their regular work
to meet their needs and had to supplement it with other work. Most
of them (28) were women whose extra work was evening work in
stores that kept open one or two evenings during the week and
needed extra help for that time. Of these 10 had regular work in
department stores which closed evenings, 11 were regularly employed
in office work in business houses, and the other 7 were scattered
among various occupations. In addition to the 28, 5 women who
were employed as regulars in factories which closed at noon Satur
days, went directly from their factory work to spend the afternoon
and evening as extra saleswomen in a store keeping open Saturday
nights. The fact that the average number of weeks during which
they were carrying on both kinds of work was 23.3 shows that it
was regarded not as an occasional but as a permanent arrangement.
The other five women who had regular and extra work at the same
time were women whose extra work was in department stores open
only in the daytime, but whose regular work was such that it per
mitted of occasional time off, such as dressmaking at home, running
a lodging house, church work, and usher in a theater.
It hardly seems necessary to say that a woman who has worked a
a full week’s schedule in a factory should not be obliged to add seven
or eight hours of work attending to the extra rush of a Saturday
business in a retail store, or that a woman who has worked all day
in an office or in a department store should not be obliged to go to
another store for evening work in order to earn enough to meet her
weekly expenses.
EARNINGS AS REGULARS AND AS EXTRAS AND PERIODS OF
EMPLOYMENT.

The preceding figures show that tho women having regular and
extra work have less steady employment than the regulars. The
following table shows the average full-time weekly earnings for regu
lar work in stores and in other industries of women having both
regular and extra employment:

UNEM PLO YM ENT AMONG WOMEN IN RETAIL STORES OF BOSTON.
T a b l e 2 7 . — AVERAGE

FULL-TIME W EEKLY EARNINGS FOR REGULAR W ORK IN
STORES AND IN OTHER INDUSTRIES OF WOMEN EMPLOYED BOTH AS REGU.
LARS AND EXTRAS, B Y OCCUPATIONS AND BY CLASSIFIED AVERAGE W EEKLY
EARNINGS.
In other industries.

In stores.
Saleswomen.
Classified a v e ra g e
weekly earnings in
stores.

Total.

All women.

Aver
Aver
Aver
age
age
age
full
full
S t
full
time
Per
Per
Per
Num
time
Per
Num
time
time
Num
Num
ber. cent. week ber. cent. week ber. cent. week ber. cent. week
ly
ly
ly
ly
earn
earn
earn
warn
ings.
ings.
ings.
ings.
Aver-

2
9
17
19
42
15
7
3

Under $4.......................
$4 to $4.99.....................
15 to 15.99.....................
$6 to $6.99.....................
$7 to $7 9 9 ...................
$8 to $8.99.....................
$9 to $9.99.....................
$10 to $11.99..................
$12 and over.................
Total...................

All other occupa
tions.

1.8 $4.00
7.9 5.15
14.9 5.76
16.7 6.84
36.8 7.87
13.2 8.58
6.1 9.81
2.6 11.87

114 100.0

7.67

21
23
10
8
5
3
3

28.8 $3.76
31.5 4.49
13.7 5.63
10.9 6.55
6.9 7.72
4.1 8.00
4.1 9.14

73 100.0

23
32
27
.27
47
18
10
3

12.3 $3.77
17.1 4.62
14.4 5.72
14.4 6.75
25.2 7.85
9.6 8.51
5.4 9.65
1.6 11.87

5.44 •187 100.0

23
31
45
29
18
16
4
11
8

12.4 1 $3.59
16.8 2 4.80
24.3 35.56
15.8 «6.53
9.7 5 7.75
8.6
8.42
2.2
9.21
5.9
10.75
15.44
4.3

6.90 7 185 |100.0

*7.05

1 One woman also received room and hoard 3 weeks.
* One woman also received board 6 weeks, and also received room, board, and laundry 24 weeks.
* One woman also received board 10 weeks and one 8 weeks; one received room and board 10 weeks,
and one 2 weeks.
4 One woman also received room and board 3 weeks; one received room, board, and laundry 25 weeks;
another XI woclcs
* One woman aiso received board 45 weeks, and one received room and board 8 weeks, one 9 weeks, and
one 18 weeks.
* Not including 6 women whose full-time earnings were not reported.
7 Not including 30 women whose full-time earnings were not reported.
* One woman also received board 6 weeks, one 10 weeks, one 8 weeks, and one 45 weeks; two received
room and board 3 weeks, one 10 weeks, one 2 wee^s, one 8 weeks, one 9 weeks, and one 18 weeks; one
received room, board, and laundry 24 weeks, one 25 weeks, and one 11 weeks.

The average full-time weekly earnings for all regular work in stores,
reported by 187 of the 193 women having both regular and extra
employment in stores, were $6.90. The full-time weekly earnings in
stores for the saleswomen were $7.67 for the regulars and extras, as
compared with $8.63 for the regulars. The other occupations were
represented by too few women to make separate groupings desirable.
In their work in other industries about the same level is main
tained, though the average full-time weekly earning? are a little
higher. The per cent of women earning less than $7 as regulars and
extras in the stores is 58.2 and as regulars and extras in‘the other
industries 69.3, while the per cent earning leas than $9 is 93 in the
stores and 87.6 in the other industries. Tho average full-time weekly
earnings reported by 185 women in other industries were $7.05.
As was stated in the preliminary discussion of “ extras” a girl
might be taken on for day work, evening work, Saturday, or whatever
occasion the store employing her had for extra help. After inter
viewing a few of the “ extras” it was found necessary to specify for
14070°—Bull. 182—16---- *

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF I.A BOR STATISTICS.

just what period the "extra” was employed, so that the amount of
employment might be accurately judged and the rate of pay be
shown in relation to the amount of service rendered. The large
department stores and the specialty stores usually employed extras
for the regular day only. As these stores employed the largest
number of extras, the normal day (that is, the regular full-time day)
is the period most commonly reported. Some of the stores in the
more outlying parts of the city, which kept open evenings, employed
extra girls for all day Saturday till the closing hour in the evening.
While no store could require more than 10 hours’ work of a woman,
the schedule might be so arranged that the time from first coming
on duty to the time of leaving was much longer than a normal day.
This has been called a “ long day.” These outlying stores and some
of the smaller down-town stores also employed extras for evenings,
for Saturday afternoons, and sometimes for afternoons and evenings.
Frequently school girls worked as extras from the close of school
through the evening. The 5 and 10 cent stores all employed extras
on Saturdays (a “ long day” ) and occasionally for other days. Of
course for the short time just preceding Christinas “ extras” were
needed every day. Whenever an extra worked six consecutive days
it was reported as a “ full week.”
A study of the following table shows that the normal day, the even
ing, and the full week were the periods most often reported, and that
the evening work was the only extra work that seemed to afford
continuous employment, the average number of evenings employed
being 29.1, or more than twice the average for any other period.
The explanation for this lies in the fact that this group included a
number of women who had employment as extras in the evening
one, two, or three days a week, this occupation being in addition to
day work as regulars in other establishments or industries. Aside
from this evening work, the average periods employed were short,
ranging from 9 to 13 days, while the “ full weeks” averaged 3.1 per
woman. Considering all days or part days with extra work, the
average number per person was 22$. These, as has already been
stated, were distributed over 8£ weeks, so that the 8£ weeks with
extra work contained really but 2| days with extra work per week.

UNEM PLOYM ENT AMONG W OMEN IN RETAIL STORES OP BOSTON,

28.-AM O U N T OP EXTRA EMPLOYMENT AN© RATES OP PAY THEREFOR OP
WOMEN EMPLOYED BOTH AS REGULARS AND EXTRAS, BY OCCUPATIONS.

T able

(Occupations shown in this table refer to work in stores only; occupations while employed in other
industries are not given.]
Long day.

Normal day.

Occupation.

.... .
Saleswoman-......
Cashiers, examiners, bun
dle wrappers, etc.............
Office employees.................
A ll other occupations.........
Total.........................

Aver
age
Num num
ber ber
re
of
port days
ing. work
ed.

Aver
age
Aver Num num
age ber ber
rate re
of
of port days
pay. ing. work
ed.

198 11.9 $1.33
82
5
8

7.4
7.6
7.6

.76
1.37
1.25

293 10.5

1.17

Aver
age
Aver Num num
age ber ber of
rate re even
of port ings
pay. ing. work
ed.

16 12.9 $1.29

16 12.9

Afternoon and
evening.

Occupation.

Evening.

Halfday.

Aver Num
age ber
rate re
of port
pay. ing.

38 29.3 $0.87

1.29

2 24.0

.75

40 29.1

.86

Aver
age
num
Aver
Total
ber
of
age
num weeks
num
Aver
ber
with
Num ber of Aver Num age Aver re
ber num age port some
ber after age
em
re noons rate
re ber of rate ing. ploy
of
port and
port weeks
of
ment
ing. even pay.
work pay.
as an
ings
ed.
extra.
work
ed.

Total.

$1.07

3.3

$7.50

*20.6' ‘i.*04

55
3
7

2.9
3.7

2.6

4.39
8.00
8.50

1.07

160

3.1

6.48

9.0

9.6

Aver
age
rate
of
pay.

4 13.0 $0.83

4 13.0

.83

Full week.

ing.

Saleswomen........................
Cashiers, examiners, bun
dle wrappers, etc............
Office employees................
A ll other occupations.........

Aver
age
num
ber of
half
days
work
ed.

242

346

Aver
age
num
ber of Aver
days
age
with amount
some earned
em during
ploy
year.
ment
as an
extra.

10.2

23.9

$29.50

3.9
13.1
4.0

18.8
24.6
17.7

13.01
29.26
19.32

8.5

22.5

25.04

The average weekly rate as extras of the 160 women reporting
full weeks of extra work was $6.48, the weekly rates for extra work
ranging from $4.39 for cashiers, examiners, etc., to $8 for office em
ployees. In the case of two women employed in alteration depart
ments, who are included in the table under “ All other occupations,”
the average rate of pay for full weeks of extra work was $11.50. On
the whole the extra rates seem a trifle higher for most occupations
than the rates for these same women when working as regulars.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS,

AGE, CONJUGAL CONDITION, AND MANNER OF LIVING.

The four tables following will afford a general survey of the data
bearing on age, conjugal condition, manner of living, and degree of
dependency on earnings of the 346 women:
T a b l e 2 9 . — CLASSIFIED

AGES OF WOMEN EMPLOYED BOTH AS REGULARS AND
EXTRAS.

Age group.
Under 16.................................
16 and under 18.......................
18 and under 21.......................
21 and under 25.......................
25 and under 30......................
30 and under 35
35 and under 40......................
T able

Number.

Per cent.

23
70
101
62
41
25
11

6.6
20.2
29.2
17.9
11.8
7.2
3.2

Number. Per cent.

Age group.
40 and und«r 45.......................
45 and under 50.......................
50 and under 55......................
55 and under 60.......................
60 and over.............................

6
4
1
2

1.7
1.2
.3
.6

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

34a

100.0

3 0 .--CONJUGAL CONDITION OF WOMEN EMPLOYED BOTH AS REGULARS AND
EXTRAS.
Conjugal condition.

Number. Per cent.

Single........................................................
Married.....................................................
Widowed............................. ....................
Divorced or separated...............................

313
11
11
11

90.5
3.2
3.2
3.2

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

346

100.0

T a b l e 3 1 . — MANNER

OF LIVING OF WOMEN EMPLOYED BOTH AS REGULARS AND
EXTRAS.
Manner of living.

Number. Per cent.

Independently:
As head of family...............................
As boarder or lodger...........................
As member of family group:1
Daughter............................................
Wife...................................................
Sister or sister-in-law..........................
Niece.................................................
Other relative.....................................

8
23

2.3
6.6

275
10
18
9
3

79.5
2.8
5.2
2.6
.9

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

346

100.0

i This does not mean that a woman might not be paying board or otherwise contributing to the family
support.
T a b l e 3 2 . — DEGREE

OF DEPENDENCY ON EARNINGS OF WOMEN EMPLOYED BOTH
AS REGULARS AND EXTRAS.
Women reporting.
Degree of dependency on earnings.
Number. Percent.

18
268
50
10

5.2
77.5
14.4
2.9

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

346

100.0

UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG WOMEN IN RETAIL STOKES OF BOSTON.

53 .

UNEMPLOYMENT RELATED TO DEGREE OP DEPENDENCY.

The relation of unemployment to the degree that women employed
as both regulars and extras are dependent upon their earnings is
shown in the three tables which follow. The first of these tables
(No. 33) shows for the various groups (totally, principally, and par
tially dependent, and not dependent for necessaries) the amount of
unemployment; Table 34 shows for each group the per cent of unem
ployment due to each specified cause; and Table 35, the average
annual earnings in each group from regular and extra work combined.
T a b l e 3 8 . — AVERAGE

WEEKS OP EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT REPORTED
BY WOMEN EMPLOYED BOTH AS REGULARS AND EXTRAS, BY DEGREE OF
DEPENDENCY ON EARNINGS.

[All who lost less than 6 days have been excluded from this table. Lost time far which the firm paid
wages has not been included as unemployment.]
Degree of dependency of individual on
her earnings.

Items.

Par Not for
Totally. Princi
pally. tially. neees- Total.

Number reporting............................. .
Per cent ia each group........................

50
14.5

2.9

10% 0

4.8

6.4

7.1

4.9

4.9
47.1

6.6
45.4

7.1
44.9

5.0
47.0

36.2
15.2
7.2
10.7

29.1

18.3
6.9
20.4
24.1

8.7
10.2
26.0
31.4

27.3
8.5
13.3
16.9

35.3

28.3
3.6
31.1

17.8

8.6
4.9

26.6
3.7
36.0

Weeks not in industrial pursuits:
Before first employment..............
After leaving industrial pursuits..
Total...................................................
Weeks of possible employment during year.

52.0

Average number of weeks of employment as1
Beg '
Average full weeks of unemployment........................ ...............
Average weeks of unemployment, including scattered days....
Average full weeks of employment as—
Regulars
Extras..
Per cent of unemployment in possible period of employment..

268
77.4

5.2

6.2

20.6

8.2

12.1

15.6

3:2

53.1

346

i Weeks employed as regulars and extras are not mutually exclusive as extra work is often done after
the regular day’s work is finished.
T a b l e 34.—PER CENT OF UNEMPLOYMENT DUE TO EACH SPECIFIED CAUSE AMONG

WOMEN EMPLOYED BOTH AS REGULARS AND EXTRAS, BY DEGREE OF DEPEND
ENCY ON EARNINGS.
f All who lost less than 6 davs h*ve been excluded from this table. Lost time for whiiU the firm paid
wages has not been included as unemployment.]
Per cent of unemployment due to specified causes
among women—
Cause of unemployment.

Inability to get work.......................................... ........
Jllness of employee.....................................................
Illness in employee’s family.......................................
Home responsibilities.................................................
Enforced lay off..........................................................
Unpaid vacation.........................................................
Other causes................................................................

Totally Princi Partially Not de
depend pally de depend pendent
neces
ent. pendent.
ent. forsaries.
93.4
5.5

1.0

74.1
8.5
4.3
2.5
3.2
2.8
4.6

78.4
4.7
.7
5.6
1.0
1.6
8.0

80.0
19.6
.3

Total.

75.9
8.2
3.2
2.9
2.5
2.4
4.9

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

TABLE 85.—AVERAGE ANNUAL EARNINGS IN STORES AND IN OTHER INDUSTRIES

OF WOMEN EMPLOYED BOTH AS REGULARS AND EXTRAS, BY CLASSIFIED AMOUNT
EARNED AND BY DEGREE OF DEPENDENCY ON EARNINGS.
Women totally dependent on earnings.

i
Women principally dependent on
earnings.

Per cent earned as—
Classified amount
earned during year.

Under $50................
$50 and under $100..
$100 and under $150.
$150 and under $200.
$. 00 and under $250.
$250 and under $300.
$300 and under $350.
$350 and under $400.
$100 and under $450.
$450 and under $500.
$500 and under $550.
$550and over • ..
Wot rADOftftd
Total..............

1 $86.39

72.2

27.8

2 204.50

88.3

1.9

9.8

6 328.91
1 366.54
1 434.84

22.4
23.3

20.8
11.2
96.6

56.8
65.5
3.4

5.4

94.6

14.8

62.0

i 563.67
6
18 1319.49

23.2

Women partially dependent on earn
ings.
Under $50................
$50 and under $100..
$100 and under $150.
$150 and under $200.
$200 and under $250.
$250 and under $300.
$300 and under $350.
$350 and under $400.
Not reported...........
T o t a l...........

Per cent earned as—

Aver
Aver
Regu Num
Num
age
age
Regu
ber. amount Esgu- Extras lars in ber. amount Regu- Extras lars in
earned. lars in
in
other
earned. lars m
in
other
stores. stores. indus
stores. stores. indus
tries.
tries.
13
36
37
41
26
34
24
14
10
6
4
4
19

$37.14
76.85
122.84
175.66
224.28
269.03
321.80
370.31
428.07
464.21
525.79
787.44

268 |
i*283.62

19.3
35.6
37.9
45.3
41.5
52.9
40.6
57.5
53.5
45.9
45.0

24.3
25.6
20.9
9.4
9.0
10.2
6.9
8.2
8.4
9.2
7.5
5.2

56.4
38.9
41.2
45.3
40.5
33.9
52.5
313
38.1
44.9
47.5
94.8

45.2

11.1

43.7

Women not dependent on earnings for
necessaries.

$36.98
76.45
129.75
168.75
224.34
273.84
339.28
365. S3

26.9
46.4
21.3
70.6
76.3
81.9
75.9

17.7
28.6
18.1
15.8
13.0
4.9
14.1
2.7

55.4
25.0
60.6
13.6
10.7
13.1
10.0
97.3

5
2
1
1
1

$35.31
65.43
131.35
178.01
225.55

87.9
76.4
52.7

52.9
43.4
12.1
23.6
47.3

1.2
56.6

50 *137.38

53.0

15.5

31.5

84.23

53.6

37.4

9.0

7
12
12
8
5
3
1
1
1

45.9

All women.
Under $50...............
$50 and under $100..
$100 and under $150.
$150 and under $200.
$-00 and under $250.
$250 and under $300.
$300 and under $350.
$350and under $400.
$400 and under $450.
$450 and under $500.
$500 and under $550.
$550 and over..........
Not reported..........
T ota l............

25
51
50
50
34
37
31
16
11
6
4
5
.26

$36.73
76.49
124.67
174.60
223.16
269.42
323.74
369.79
428.69
464.21
525.79
742.68

26.6
36.1
34.8
49.8
49.5
55.3
38.2
51.8
48.5
45.9
45.0

27.9
27.9
20.0
10.7
10.4
9.8
9.9
8.1
8.0
9.2
7.5
5.2

45.5
36.0
45.2
39.5
40.1
34.9
51.9
40.1
43.5
44.9
47.5
94.8

346 <208.15

43.3

11.6

45.1

* Seven women—nurses in training, waitresses, an^ other dom estics-!eceived also room and board.
* One domestic received room and board and 1 lunch-room employee received board also.
^Eight women received also room and board; 1 woman received also board; and one woman roceived
luncheon in addition to pay.

A smaller proportion of the women in the group having both
regular and extra work are totally dependent on their own earnings
than in the group of women having regular work only, the per cents
being 5.2 in the former as compared with 9.3 in the latter.

UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG WOMEN IN BKTAIL STORES OP BOSTON.

The women totally dependent on their earnings, according to Table
S3, had an average of 36.2 weeks with regular work in both stores and
other industries, and 15.2 weeks with extra work out of a possible
52 weeks. They were unemployed altogether 10.7 weeks, or 20.6
per cent of the period of possible employment, as compared with
11.8 per cent shown by the regulars. Here, for the first time, illness
becomes a secondary cause of unemployment. The cause assigned
by these women for 93.4 per cent of the unemployment as shown in
Table 34 was inability to find work. The fact that they had employ
ment in many othor industries, including domestic work, which is
usually a last resort for women accustomed to store work, indicated
that they were willing to take any work they could find. Unpaid
vacation, often equivalent to lay off, especially for these women,
and illness are the only other causes that represent an appreciable
amount of time lost.
The yearly earnings of the women totally dependent on their
earnings as shown in Table 35 averaged $319.49, or an average of
$6.14 for each of the 52 weeks of possible work in the year. Three
women reported loss than $250. It would not seem possible that they
could support themselves on such amounts, and reference to their
individual schedules shows that one of them had for the greater
part of the year been living on her savings, which were, at the time
of the interview, practically exhausted; the girl was in desperate
need of work and would take anything. Of the other two, one had
beon obliged to take up housework for part of the year, during which
she had room and board in addition to cash earnings, thus making
it possible for her to take care of herself and send money for the
support of an invalid daughter who was boarding with relatives in
Canada. The third had been able to get along only through the kind
ness of friends with whom she boarded, who, though the woman
had no claim on them, had given her a great deal of help. Such
conditions fairly represent the means by which women totally de
pendent on themselves are enabled to take care of themselves on
such small earnings. The other women totally dependent earned
from $300 to $563.
In the group principally dependent on their earnings, the number
of possible weeks of employment was reduced to 47.1 by the elimina
tion of weeks previous to first entering the industry and after leaving
industrial pursuits. For one-third of this time the 268 women in
this group were unemployed, yet they were so dependent on their
earnings that whenever they were not employed their families as
well as themselves were seriously affected. Their unemployment
was chiefly due to the fact that thoy could not get work, illness being
the second most important cause.

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS.

The average yearly amount earned by this group was $283.62.
Of this, 45.2 per cent was earned as regulars in stores, 11.1 per cent
as extras in stores, and 43.7 per cent as regulars in other industries.
Since their possible weeks of work were but 47.1, the average weekly
amount earned in that time would be about $6.
The per cent of the regulars and extras who are only partially
dependent on their earnings or not dependent for necessaries (17.3
per cent) is more than twice the corresponding per cent (6.3) of the
regulars, and the per cent of the year during which they are unem
ployed is also greater. Inability to get work, and illness are the
main causes that keep them unemployed, but since employment is
not essential for their existence, the problem is loss serious for them
than for the other groups. While a large proportion of these women
reported that they were not able to got work, the fact that they
were not dependent on their earnings enabled them to exercise a
much nicer choice in the matter of the work which they would take.
It is probable that had their need of employment been greater, less
unemployment would have been reported for them. Their yearly
earnings were small, averaging $137.38 for the women partially
dependent and $84.23 for the women not dependent for necessaries.
While illness has been reported as the secondary cause of unem
ployment for the women having regular and extra work, the per cent
reporting provision against illness by membership in store benefit
or other associations is but 12.1, as compared with 45.4 per cent of
the regulars. This is only natural, since the women having regular
and extra work are often in stores too short a time to join the asso
ciations. Of the 42 members of associations, 2 reported receiving
benefits during the year studied.
DEGREE OF DEPENDENCY OF FA M ILIE S ON EARNINGS OF WOMEN.

It would hardly seem that the women earning as little as the
regulars and extras who are classed
“ totally” and “ principally”
dependent could even in a measure furnish anything toward the
support of their families, yet 3 families were reported totally depend
ent on the earnings of these women, and in 93 families the earnings
of the girls were estimated as a fourth part at least of the total family
income, so that it would havo meant a real loss in any of these cases
had the earnings of the girl been cut off. This is shown in the table
following:

UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG WOMEN IN RETAIL STORES OF BOSTON.

T a b l e 3 6 . — DEGREE

OF DEPENDENCY OF FAMILY ON EARNINGS OF WOMEN
EMPLOYED BOTH AS REGULARS AND EXTRAS.
Women reporting.

Degree of family dependency on women’s
earnings.

Number. Per cent.

Totally dependent....................................
Dependent on regular contributions of at
least one-fourth of family income..........
Standard of living would be lowered if
woman did not contribute....................
Not dependent for necessaries..................
No family..................................................

0.9

26.7

161
84
5

46.5
24.3
1.4

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

346

100.0

In many families, while the actual amount contributed by each
person may be too small for even one person to live on independently
of the others, the aggregate may be enough to provide through coop
eration a bare living for the whole family. It is by means of coopera
tion only that the families of these women can subsist on such in
comes. In the table following is shown the number in these families
related to the average weekly earnings of the women who contributed
to their support:
T a b l e 8 7 . — WOMEN

EMPLOYED BOTH AS REGULARS AND EXTRAS HAVING FAMILIES
REGULARLY DEPENDENT ON THEIR EARNINGS FOR AT LEAST ONE-FOURTH OF
FAMILY INCOME, BY W EEKLY EARNINGS IN STORES AND BY NUMBER OF PERSONS
IN THE FAMILY BESIDES THEMSELVES.1

Average actual weekly
earnings in stores.

4
3
5 6
per- per per per per persons. sons. sons. sons.

7
per-

Aver*
10 or
age
9 more
To
num
per- per* per tal. ber
of
sons.
per8

Under $4.00___
$4.00 to $4.99....
$5.00 to $5.99....
$6.00 to $6.99....
$7.00 to $7.99....
$8.00 to $8.99....
$9.00 to $9.99....
$10.00 to $10.99.,
$11.00 to $11.99..
$12.00 and over..
Not reported....

11
11
11

7
3

2.2

4.6
3.2
2.9

6.0

2.5
4.2
2.0

4.1

Total.

4.7
6.5
4.5

i Only 3 families were reported totally dependent .

WOMEN HAVING EXTRA WORK ONLY.

The statement has been made" earlier in this report that women
reporting both regular and extra work represented for the most part
women who desired and needed to be in the ranks of regular wage
earners, but because of inefficiency or inexperience, or both, were
unable to maintain the regularity of employment shown by those
who woi'ked as regulars only. The indications are that the women

BULLETIN OK THE BUREAU OF LIBOR STATISTICS.

who worked as extras only also include many less efficient women
who would like regular work if they could get it, but represent more
largely the other women whose home responsibilities are such that
they can not take regular work, or, being financially beyond pressing
need, do not want regular work, or schoolgirls who, while they have
not yet been pressed into the ranks of regular workers, feel the need
of making some contribution toward their own support.
The work of most of these “ extras” is very irregular, and, if it is
to amount to any considerable number of days, must be in several
establishments, as the periods of employment in any one store are
usually short, unless a woman is fortunate enough to be what is
known as a “ regular extra’ ’ ; that is, one who comes in for certain
specified days or evenings every week. Of the 261 women reporting
extra work only there were 79 who had regular extra work. But
even the regular extras are not sure of their employment, as in some
stores it is the practice to have a certain number of “ extras” report
every week on the specified days, to be told when they arrive at the
store whether they will be needed or not. This involves a loss of
time and car fare in case the women are not wanted, yet the extra
work is in such demand that the stores can still be sure of enough
applicants to fill the requirements in spite of this custom. In some
cases, however, the women are notified by postal card if they will not
be needed.
If a woman is not a “ regular extra” she must take a few days here
and a few days there, as she can get them. Most stores advertise for
the extras needed for their large sales; other stores keep mailing lists
and send notices as help is required; others fill their positions from
the continuous stream of applicants, and girls who make a business
of getting all the extra work they can go from store to store during
the busy seasons until they find one that needs their services. The
record of employment of the “ extras” shows, therefore, much more
shifting from store to store than either the “ regulars and extras” or
“ regulars only,” as the following summary shows:
T a b le 3 8 .—NUMBER AND I>ER CENT OF EXTRAS REPORTING W ORK IN ONH OB MORB

ESTABLISHMENTS DURING YEAR.
j Women reporting.
Number of establishments in which
employment was reported.

Number. Ter cent.

1 establishment........................................
2 establishments.......................................
3 establishments.......................................
4 establishments.......................................
5 or more establishments..........................

170
53
27
8
3

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

261

65.1
20.3
10.3
3.1
1.1
m o

The women who report work in one establishment only may have
had a number of periods of employment, instances having been found

UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG WOMEN IN BET AIL STORKS OF BOSTON.

where the same woman appeared as an “ extra” on the pay roll of
one store from 10 to 15 different times. The work of eliminating
duplicate names involves careful scrutiny, as many women of the
same name appear on the rolls, and to be sure of the identity of two
or more names further information, such as address, occupation,
rate, etc., must bo compared.
EXTENT OP EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT.

The average amount of employment reported by the 261 women
who had extra work only was but 42.5 days or part days. This was
distributed through 14.8 weeks, so that the average number of days
or part days was but 2.9 per week. The following summary shows
the number of women reporting specified number of weeks during
which they had some extra work:
T VMF, 3 9 .—NUMBER AND PER CENT OP EXTRAS REPORTING SPECIFIED NUMBER OF
WEEKS DURINO WHICH THEY HAD SOME W ORK.
i
Women reporting.
Weeks during which extras had some
work.

Number. Per cent

Under 5 weeks........................... ..............
5 and under 9 weeks......................... .
9 and under 13 weeks...............................
13 and under 17 weeks............................
17 and under 21 weeks..............................
21 and under 25 weeks..............................
25 and under 30 weeks............................
30 and under 35 weeks..............................
35 and under 40 weeks..............................
40 and under 45 weeks............................
45 and under 50 weeks..............................
50 to 52 weeks...........................................
Not reported.............................................

5$
46
43
22
20
21
16
10
7
7
7
3
1

22.2
17.6
16.5
8.4
7.7
8.0
6.1
3.8
2.7
2.7
2.7
1.1
.4

Total..............1...............................

261

100.0

This table shows clearly the brief duration of the extra work for
most of the women, over half reporting less than 13 weeks in which
their employment occurred. The few who reported 40 or more weeks
with extra work were women having “ regular” extra work, that is
working certain days or evenings every week.
Since the period of employment for the “ extras” averaged but 42.5
days, and there were only 14.8 weeks in the year in which this extra
work took place, the period without employment constitutes for these
women by far the greater part of the year. It was manifestly
impossible to account for this time day by day or week by week,
even if such inquiry were entirely pertinent to this study. The perti
nent and important inquiries to be made were—
1. How many women wanted regular work and why could they not
obtain it ?
2. Why did the remaining women not want regular work?

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

In order to answer these questions the 261 women reporting extra
work only were classed in groups of those “ needing and seeking more
work,” “ schoolgirls,” “ married women,” “ women whose assistance
was required at home,” and “ women not needing work.” The reasons
given by these women for failure to secure more work are summarized
in the table following.
Table 40.-£A U 6E S OF UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG EXTRAS, GROUPED ACCORDING TO
PERSONAL AND DOMESTIC STATUS.

Women
reporting.

Personal and
domestic status.

Women needing and
seeding wor«c and not
otherwise occupied..
Schoolgirls..................
Married women keep
ing house cr boarding
Women whose assist-ance was required at
home........................
Women living at home
and not needingwork
Total..................

Women
wanting
moro extra
work.

Women
wanting
regular
full-time
work.

Number wanting regular work re
porting specified causes of unem
ployment.

Work
want
ed in
stores
only.

Lack
of per
sistent
effort
to find
woriv.

Work
want
ed in
cer
tain
occu
pa
tions
only.

Youth
(unuer
16) a
handi
cap in
find
ing
work.

*28
1

8 18

<9
1

2 10
3

26
3

»9

1
217

2 10

Per
cent
Per
Per
of all
In
cent abil
cent
Num wom
Num
Num
of
of
en
ity
to
ber. work ber. wom ber. wom find
en in work.
en in
ing as
group.
group.
extras
only.

171 100.0
8 12.3

71
65

27.2
24.9

70
33

98.6
50.8

21 1

46.3

25.4

15.0

61.5

25.6

8.8

56.5

21.7

261 100.0

169

64.8

* 110

42.1

2 36

•27

«20

* Including 1 who wanted regular work, but was unable to work on account of ill health.
* Including 1 in school part of year.
8 Including 6 desiring positions as saleswomen only, one of these stipulating at least $8 a week and 3
desiring positions in certain establishments only.
<including 3 who wanted worjc, but were prevented on account of ill health; 1 of these in school part of
year.
» Including 2 who wanted work in particular establishment only, and 3 as saleswomen only.
* See notes to details.

Of the 261 women, the largest single group, 71,.or 27.2 per cent,
was composed of those who were classified as actually needing work
and having no demands on them that would prevent them from
seeking work. All of these women wanted regular work and all but
one, more extra work (that one had “ regular” extra work). But
some of these women failed to get work apparently because they were
not making much effort, some were attaching too many conditions,
and some were handicapped by youth, though the majority of this
particular group of extras were trying to get any work available.
That the women who need regular work, however, do not always
accept it on any terms, was made plain during an interview with a
young girl who had had some extra work as examiner. She was
attempting to explain to the agent why she had not secured regular
work when an older sister interrupted the conversation by saying
with obvious contempt: “ Why don’t you tell the lady why you can’t

UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG WOMEN IN RETAIL STORES OF BOSTON.

get a job?” And turning to the agent the sister then remarked:
"She won’t take anything but a job as saleswoman at $7, and no
store would give her that—she is too lazy.”
Of the 65 school girls, only 8 wanted regular work, and would have
left school if they could have found it. The married women numbered
63, and of these 16 wanted regular work. These included a few women
who, with their husbands, were boarding and therefore did not have
the demands on their time that they would have had a3 housekeepers.
The others were women who could have turned over the responsibility
of housekeeping to some other member of the family if they could
have obtained work. The greater part of these women wanted work
in stores only, but 5 reported an unsuccessful attempt to find any
work at all. Thirty-nine of the 261 women were women or girls
whose presence had been made necessary at home by the death or
incapacity of the mother of the family, or because the mother wanted
help. Ten of these, however, if they had found work could have
given to someone else the home duties they were performing.
The last group, which included the women who had no need of
work, constituted but 8.8 per cent of the total number. Only five
of these women expressed any desire for regular work and they had
made no great effort to find it.
Summing up the data on this subject from all of the 261 women,
in answer to the query as to how many women wanted regular work
and why they could not obtain it, it appears that 110, or 42.1 per
cent, wanted regular work but did not get it, inability to find work
although persistent effort had been made being reported by 36 of
the lit) as the reason. It is probable that these women had proved
more or less inefficient. Of the remaining 74, 27 would not take any
but store work and could not get that; 17 wanted work at special
occupations, as saleswomen, stenographers, etc., and could not find
a position to suit them; 20 said they wanted work and had made
some effort to get it but had given up the search. The remaining 10
were girls under 16 for whom the task of finding any work under the
existing laws has become exceedingly difficult. The interviews with
these women brought out the fact that 151, or 57.9 per cent of all
the extras, did not want regular work, 76 because they had home
responsibilities, 57 because they were in school, and 18 because they
were in no financial need of work and preferred not to work regularly.
These, in general, are the principal causes for the unemployment of
the extras. Oftentimes there have been minor contributory causes,
and often several causes have happened to be almost equally im
portant. Illness, which has hitherto played so prominent a part in
the causes of unemployment, has not appeared at all in connection
with the employment records of those having “ extra work only,”
not because there was no illness among these extras but because
illness as a cause has been submerged by more important reasons for

BULLETIN OP THF, BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

unemployment. For example, a woman who had been persistently
seeking work the greater part of the year might contract some illness
lasting several weeks. While that illness would temporarily prevent
her from seeking work, the first cause of her unemployment was her
inability to find work, not her illness. In the same way a woman
whose home responsibilities prevented her from taking regular work
might be ill, but that would not be the cause of her unemployment.
Where there has been no regular employment during tho year, it
would be rare for illness to appear as a cause of unemployment.
RATES OF PAY AND EARNINGS.

In Table 41 the different periods for which tho extras were em
ployed are shown, with the average number of periods worked and
the average rate paid.
t a b l e 41.—a m o u n t o f e m p l o y m e n t a n d b a t e s o f p a y o f w o m e n e m p l o y e d

AS EXTEAS ONLY, BY OCCUPATIONS,
[Occupations shown in this table refer to work in stores only; the occupations while employed in other
industries are not shown.]
Normal day.

Occupation.

Saleswomen.....................
Cashiers, examiners, bun
dle wrappers, etc..........
Office employees...............
AU other occupations......
Total........................

Aver
Aver
age
age
Num num Aver Num num Aver
ber ber age ber ber age
of rate re
re
of rate
port days of port days of
ing. work pay. ing. work pay.
ed.
ed.

175 120.7 $1.30

9.3

23.1
9.0

Saleswomen......................
Cashiers, examiners, bun
dle wrappers, etc...........
Office employees...............
All other occupations......
Total..

31 15.8 $1.23

Halfday.

Aver
age
num
ber
of
even
ings
work
ed.

Aver
age
rate
of
pay.

25 15.4

$0.66

Num
ber
re
port
ing.

.75

1.00

227 118.6

29.4

$1.06

25 15.4

15.8

127

5.0 $7.61

207

4.31
2.6 7.00
10.9 *5.12
9.4

1.06

9.8 $0.79

18 10.4

.78

Full week.

5.0

Aver
age
rate
of
pay.

30.'6‘ 1.00

Aver
age
num
I AverTotal ber of
I age
num weeks
num
Aver
with
Num ber of Aver Num age Aver ber
some
re
ber num age port
ber after age
em
re ber of rate ing. ploy
re noons rate
port
of
of
port and
ment
ing. even pay. ing. work pay.
as an
ings
ed.
extra.
work
ed.
20

Aver
age
num
ber
of
half
days
work
ed.

1.0

1.11

Afternoon and
evening.

Occupation.

Evening.

Long day.

167

5.2 26.98

261

Aver
age
num
ber of Average
days
with amount
earned
during
em
year.
ploy
ment
as an
extra.

‘ 16.2

1 43.9

$57.35

7.4
11.9
15.0

28.8
36.6
78.0

20.63
45.46
* 55.14

*14.8

M2.5

*51.35

1 One woman did not report number of days employed.
2 Not including the rate reported by 1 woman who worked 6 days a week, but only during the evening,
for which she received $3.50 a week.

UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG WOMEN IN RETAIL STORES OF BOSTON.

The period most commonly reported in all occupations was tlio
normal day and next to that the full week. Saleswomen are prac
tically the only ones reporting employment for any of the other
periods. The average number of normal days reported was 18.6 and
the average number of full weeks was 5.2.
The rates paid for extra work were practically the same for the
women who had extra work only as for those having both regular
and extra. For saleswomen, who constituted by far the greatest
per cent of the extras, the average rate for an ordinary day was
$1.30; the average rate for a long day,1 $1.23. That a “ long day ”
should have a lower rate than a normal day is explained by the fact
that the “ long day” was reported principally in 5 and 10 cent stores
and neighborhood stores and the “ normal day” in down-town
department stores, which pay higher wages. The rate for an even
ing’s work averaged 66 cents. No definite period of hours can bo
given as am “ evening.” It might mean from 5 until 9, or from 6
until 10, or from 7 until 9.30, varying even in the same establish
ment. The rate of pay for a half day (usually Saturday afternoon)
averaged 79 cents and for an afternoon and evening $1.06. The
average rate per week was less than the ordinary day rate for six
days, being $7.61. This is less than the average rate for regular
saleswomen, which was $8.63. The average amount earned by sales
women during the year was $57.35, which represented 43.9 days
with some employment as an extra. As many saleswomen received
a commission in addition to their rate, these earnings were some
what more than the rates.
The cashiers, examiners, etc., had an average day rate of 75 cents
and an average weekly rate of $4.31. The average amount which
they earned during the year was but $20.63. This represented, how
ever, but 28.8 days with extra work.
The average amount earned during the year by the 261 women for
all extra work was $51.35. While this represented 42£ days with
some extra work, it is not fair to reduce it to daily earnings or weekly
earnings, since it is impossible to determine how many normal days
or weeks the 42J days represented. It seems fair to say that the
rates paid for extra work as saleswomen appear to be rather lower
than the average for regular saleswomen, though not lower than
many regular saleswomen receive, and a trifle higher for cashiers,
examiners, etc. The other occupations are represented by too few
women to make comparisons valuable.

1 For meaning of “ long day” see p. SO.

BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

AGE, CONJUGAL CONDITION, AND MANNER OF LIVING.

A comparison of the three tables following with the corresponding
tables for the regulars only and for the regulars and extras will reveal
the fact that those who worked as extras only contain a larger pro
portion of girls under 21 than the regulars, a larger proportion of
married women than either of the other groups, and a smaller pro
portion of those living as daughter in the family than the other
groups:
T a b le 4=2.—CLASSIFIED AGES OF WOMEN EMPLOYED AS EXTRAS ONLY.

Age group.

Number. Per cent.

Under 16................................
16and under 1 8 ....... ..........
18 and under 21......... ............
21 and under 25......................
25 and under 30
30 and under 35......................
35 and under 40......................

16
50
52
49
30
21
24

6.1
19.2
19.9
18.8
11.5
8.0
9.2

Age group.

Number. Per cent.

40 and under 45......................
45 and under 50......................
50 and under 55......................
55 and over.............................

9
8
2

3.4
3.1
.8

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

261

100.0

T a b le 4 3 .—CONJUGAL CONDITION OF WOMEN EMPLOYED AS EXTRAS ONLY.

Conjugal condition.

Number. Ter cent.

Single........................................................
Married.....................................................
Widowed..................................................
Divorced or separated..............................

193
55
9
4

73.9
21.1
3.4
1.5

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

261

1G0.0

T a b le 4 4 .— MANNER OF LIVING OF WOMEN EMPLOYED AS EXTRAS ONLY.

Manner of living.

Number. Ter cent.

Independently:
As head of fam ily...............................
As boarder or lodger..........................
As member of family group:1
Daughter............................................
W ife...................................................
Sister or sioter-in-law.........................
Niece..................................................
Other relative.....................................

10
6

3.8
2.3

176
52
12
3
2

67.4
19.9
4.6
1.1
.8

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

261

100.0

* This does not mean that a woman might not be paying board or otherwise contributing to the family
support.

DEGREE OF DEPENDENCY AND YEARLY EARNINGS.

It would not be expected that any woman having only extra work
could be totally dependent on her earnings. That there should be as
many who are dependent to some extent on their earnings as the
following table indicates shows that these women can not be passed
by as not needing work.

UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG WOMEN IN BETAIL STORES OF BOSTON.
T a b l e 4 5 . — DEGBEE

OF DEPENDENCY ON EABNINGS OF WOMEN EMPLOYED AS
EXTBAS ONLY.
Women reporting.
Degree of dependency on earnings.
Number. Per cent.

Totally dependent..................... .............
Principally dependent..............................
Partially dependent.................................
Not dependent for necessaries..................

107
85
69

41.0
32.6
26.4

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

261

100.0

Only 69, or 26.4 per cent, were not at all dependent on their
earnings; 85 could be provided with room and board, but could
not be entirely supported by their families without lowering family
standards of living; 107, or 41 per cent, were dependent chiefly on
their earnings, for they could not have been supported by their fam
ilies without becoming depressing burdens.
The extent to which the families of these women were dependent
upon their earnings is shown in the table which follows:
TABLE 4 6 . — DEGREE

OF DEPENDENCY OF FAMILY ON EABNINGS OF WOMEN
EMPLOYED AS EXTBAS ONLY.
Women reporting.

Degree of dependency of family on women’s
earnings.

Number. Per cent.

Totally dependent............ .......................
Dependent on regular contributions of at
least one-fourtn of family income.: —
Standard of living would be lowered if
woman did not contribute.....................
Not dependent for necessaries..................
No family.................................................

2.7

91
162
1

34.9
62.1
.4

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

261

100.0

The earnings of these women were of importance to the families
of at least 98, since in seven cases the usual contributions of the
girls represented at least one-fourth of the family income,1 and 91
reported that without contributions from their earnings the family
standards would have to be lowered.
The table following, showing the yearly earnings by degree of
dependency, indicates that in a good many instances the family
standard must have been considerably lowered because of the lack
of employment of women whose earnings were really needed.
>For description ot classifications of degrees ol dependency, see p. 34.

14070°—Bull. 182-16-----5

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. .

T a b u 47.—DEGREE OF DEPENDENCY OF WORKER ON HER EARNINGS AMONG WGMEW
EMPLOYED AS EXTRAS ONLY, BY CLASSIFIED EARNINGS.

Amount earned in retail stores during year.

Princi Partially Not de
pally
pendent
depend depend
for neces
ent.
ent.
saries.

Total.

Under $10................................- ..................................................
$10 to $19.99............................. ............................................... . . .
$20 to $29.99.................................................................................
$30 to $39.99................................................................................
$40 to $49.99................................................... .............................
$60 to $59.99.................................................................................
$60 to $69.99................................................................................
$70 to $79.99.................................................................................
$80 to $89.99.................................................................................
$90 to $99.99.................................................................................
$100 to $124.99..............................................................................
$125 to $149.99..............................................................................
$150 to $324.99..............................................................................

7
14
11
12
12
8
8
5
2
5
7
6
10

13
17
10
15
7
4
4
3
2
4
2
2
2

26
7
7
8
2
4
2
2
1
2
3
1
4

4$
38
28
35
21
16
14
10
5
11
12
9
16

Total..................................................................................
Average earnings during year............................................

107
$65.55

85
$43.19

69
$39.51

261
$51.38

The average amount earned during the year by the 107 women
who were principally dependent was but $65.55. It should be
remembered that this classification includes those women whose
families could not furnish them with room and board if unemployed
without lowering their standards. Hie women partially dependent
on their earnings averaged $43.19. These were women whose
families could give them room and board without lowering their
standards, but could not furnish them with money for their other
necessary expenses. The women not dependent on their earnings
for any of the necessaries averaged during the year $39.51.
It seems clear, therefore, that the earnings of a considerable
number of those who worked exclusively a3 extras, though small,
were
« needed,7 and that in many
* instances the failure of these women
to secure more work or regular work meant real deprivation to both
themselves and their families.
SUMMARY TABLES.

For the 1,156 women who were employed as regulars only, the
two summary tables following show the extent and caused of unem
ployment during the year for which data were secured. Under
each cause are given the number of women reporting any unemploy
ment from such cause, together with the number of full weeks and
the number of scattered days of unemployment. In Table 48 these
data are given by occupation groups, and in Table 49 by degree of
dependency on earnings.

INDUSTRIES, BY OCCUPATION GROUPS.
[Occupations shown in this table refer to work in stores only; the occupations while employed in other industries are not given. All who lost less than 6 days have been
excluded from this table. Lost time for which the firm paid wages has not been included as unemployment- “ Full weeks/’ as used in this table, means 6 consecutive working-days; “ scattered days” of unemployment are those which occurred during weeks in which the woman had some employment.)
Weeks not in in
dustrial pursuits.

Time lost while in employ
of—
Be
fore After Other
Other Weeks
first mar
rea Stores. in with
em riage. sons.
dus
out
ploy
tries. a job
ment.

16*
123

767 1,529} 1,506
662| 765
369
148
63
261
75
100
95*

236
68
120

*23
67
39

Other in
dustries.

3 56 4,077*},
29 156} 1,511*}
4
548H

271*

228} 52,743* 1,848} 2,781} 2,665 10,775*

10
6
9
32 241}

1
4

805*}
165»
205**
7,314}*

Wo
Wo
men Full Scat men Full Scat
re weeks. tered re weeks. tered
port
days.
days. port
ing.
ing.

288
76
58

534
114
68

20
4
13

46
10
16

459

480
191
142
37
22I

788 998*

45
22
27

691 3,594*
197
133 W
46
39
56

2571
154?

907 1,162 6,295}

OF BOSTON.
67

303}

3,617}
1,009
1,604}

Total
weeks
of
unem Woploy mcn- Full Scat
ment. re- weeks. tered
portScat Full Scat
days.
Full tered
mg.
tered
weeks. days. weeks. days.
Stores.

Sickness of worker.

STOBES

Total.............. 1,156 60,112 2, 210}

157} 28,353}
47 10,034
23| 8,125^

Unpaid vacation.

In school.

IN RETAIL

601 31,252 152 292}
252 13,104 1,5954
167 8,684 323&
76 3,952
25 1,300
35 1,820

Unemployment from each specified cause.

WOMEN

Saleswomen.............
Cashiers...................
Office employees....
Workroom employ
ees........................
Stock girls...............
Others.....................

Unemployment.

AMONG

Total
Num num
ber
ber
Occupation group.
of
of
wo weeks
men.
in
period.

Weeks in em
ploy of—

UNEMPLOYMENT

TABLE 48.—CAUSES AND AMOUNT OF UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG 1,166 WOMEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY IN RETAIL STORES AND IN OTHER

TABLE 48.—CAUSES AND AMOUNT OF UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG 1,156 WOMEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY IN RETAIL STORES AND IN OTHER

INDUSTRIES, BY OCCUPATION GROUPS—Concluded.

C*
00

Unemployment from each specified cause.
Inability to get
work.

Wo
men Full Scat
re
tered
port weeks. days.
ing.

Wo
Wo
WoWo
men Full Scat men Full Scat men Full Scat men Full Scat
re- weeks. tered re weeks. tered re weeks. tered re weeks. tered
days.
days. port
days. port
days. port
ing.
ing.
ing.
ing.

Enforced lay off.

Other industrial
causes.

Not reported.

Occupation group.

3
169

21
1

670*
ln T
*5
15

599 1,076*

39
24
4
3

265

2100
6

1
71

487

2054
67§
7
15

75
40
8
9

303|

313
18

83rg
44
A

138

2001

331

365H

179
84

22
65
10
4

364

327
156
28
390
18

687*
366*
47#

925 1*534*

384*
348
57
150

I175*
B

20
22
1
22*

178 1,087*

391*

13
9
5

46
13

18
13*
5

36*

2
1
8

s2
i

OF
LABOR
STATISTICS.

460
87
30

BUREAU

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

95
30
23
16

THE

Saleswomen................
Cashiers................... .
AIKaa A fM «\1AYfAAQ
Workroom employees.
fltnftV drts
O th ers....................

Wo
Wo
men Full Scat men Full Scat
re weeks. tered re weeks. tered
days.
days. port
port
ing.
ing.

Home responsibili
ties.

BULLETIN

Other personal
causes.

Sickness in family.

INDUSTRIES, BY DEGREE OF DEPENDENCY ON EARNINGS.
(A ll who lost less than 6 days have been excluded from this table. Lost time for which the firm paid wages has not been Included as unemployment. “ Full weeks/’ as used in
this table, means 6 consecutive working-days; "scattered days” of unemployment are those which occurred during weeks in which the woman had some employment.]
Weeks not in In
dustrial pursuits.

Time lost while in employ
of—

In school.
Total
weeks
of
fore
Other Weeks
Other
Other in unem
States.
first After
ploy
In* with
mar rea Stores. dusdustries.
em riage.
out
ment. Wo
sons.
men Full Scat
tries. a job.
ploy
re weeks. tered
ment.
Scat
Scat
port
days.
Full tered Full tered
ing.
weeks. days.
weeks. days.

377|

11
9

976 50,752 1,679*} 265}
13

676

105| 5,109|
98* 2,372

192
15

145}
248

23§ 44,857* 1,641} 2,288
404}

641**
482*1

326
148
2,149 9,061**

32 241} 6,019tf

172|

170H

Total.............. 1,156 60,112 2, 210| 303} 228| 52,743* 1,848} 2,781} 2,665 10,775*

32 241} 7,314tf

Sickness of worker.

153$

100

WoWo
men Full Scat men Full Scat
re weeks. tered re weeks. tered
port
days. port
days.
ing.
ing.

41
32
5

381
5

459

84
48

72
57}

84
44

645 861}

772

788 998|

81
71

597*}
317*

988 5,344*
22

35$

907 1,162 6,295}

STORES
OF BOSTON
69

Unpaid vacation.

IN RETAIL

107 5,564
60 3,120

Unemployment from each specified cause.

WOMEN

Entirely dependent.
Partially dependent.
Principally depend
ent........................
Not dependent for
necessaries............

Unemployment.

AMONG

Total
Num num
ber
Degree of depend ber
of
of
ency on earnings. wo
weeks
men. in
period.

Weeks in em
ploy of—

UNEMPLOYMENT

Tabus 49.—CAUSES AND AMOUNT OF UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG 1,156 WOMEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY IN RETAIL STORES AND IN OTHER

TABLE 4».—CAUSES AND AMOUNT OF UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG 1,156 WOMEN EMPLOYED AS REGULARS ONLY IN RETAIL STORES AND IN OTHER

INDUSTRIES, BY DEGREE OF DEPENDENCY ON EARNINGS—Concluded.

Unemployment from each specified cause.
Home responsibili
ties.

Other personal
causes.

Enforced lay off.

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

169

74
34?
960|3

599 1,076*

4
1
62

9
19
432

16§
191

487

303$

6
8
122

21
68
231

10
16£
335§

42
12
306

138

331

366H

364'

167 2291
52
67
686 1,216$
20

925 1,534^

10
8
159
1

29*
76
969

181
13*
360

1
3
15

12
49

1
14
21*

391$

36}

178 1,087*

OF
LABOR
STATISTICS,

63
50
448

Wo
Wo
W o
men FuU Scat men FuU Scat men FuU Scat
re weeks. tered re
re
tered
tered
port
days. port weeks. days. port weeks. days.
ing.
ing.
ing.

BUREAU

19
6
142

Not reported.

THE

Entirely dependent.. .
Partially dependent...
Principally dependent
Not dependent for
necessaries...............

Other Industrial
causes.

Wo
Wo
Wo
Wo
men Full Scat men
Scat men Full Scat men
Scat
Full tered
Full tered
re weeks. tered
re weeks.
re weeks. tered re
port
days. port
days. port
days. port weeks. days.
ing.
ing.
ing.
ing.
,•

Inability to get
work.

BULLETIN

Sickness in family.
Degree of dependency
on earnings.

INDEX.
Page.
Age, conjugal condition, and manner of living:
Extras only..................................................................................... . ........................................
64
Regulars and extras........................................ . . ..................................................... ......................
52
Regulars only...................................................... ..............................— . ............ ............... .
33-35
Bundle wrappers. (See Cashiers, examiners, etc.)
Cashiers, examiners, etc.:
62
Extras only, amount of employment and rates of pay.......................... : .....................................
Regulars and extras, amount of extra employment and rates of pay..................... .....................
51
Regulars only, employment and unemployment reported, average weeks of.......... ...............
16
Regulars, extras, andboth regulars ana extras, proportion o f................................... .......... .
12
Regulars only, industries other than mercantile, average weekly earnings....................................
32
27
Regulars only, stores and other industries, average annual earnings........................... ............
Regulars only, stores, average weekly earnings.......................................................................
29-31
Regulars only, stores, average weeks of employment and unemployment.................................... * 24
Regulars only, unemployment reported, due to each specified cause.......................................... . 20,25
Dependency of family, degree of. on earnings of—
Extras only....................................................................................................................................
65
Regulars and extras....................................................................................................................... 56,57
Reeularsonly..................................................................................... ................................... .
40-43
Dependency on earnings of—
Extras only........................................................................................*.......................................... 64-66
Regulars and extras.................................................................................... ; ................................. 53-56
Regulars only................................................................................................................................. &2-40
Regulars only, and causes and amount of unemployment............................................................ 69,70
Regulars only, and unemployment................................... ............. ............................................. 35-40
Earnings:
'
Dependency of families on, of regulars and extras.........................................................................56,57
Dependency on, of extras only......................................................................................................64-66
Dependency on, of regulars only............................................................................ . ..................... 32-43
Industries other than mercantile, average weekly, regulars only....... .............................. ...........31,32
Periods of employment and, regulars and extras...........................................................................48-51
Rates of pay and, of extras only...........................................................................*.......................62,63
Stores and other industries, average annual, regulars and extras, by degree of dependency on
earnings.......................................................................................................................................
54
Stores and other industries, average annual, regulars only, by degree of dependency on earnings..
38
Stores and other industries, average annual, regulars only, by occupations..................................27,28
Stores and other industries, average weekly, regulars and extras.................................................
49
26
Stores, average weekly, regulars only...................................................................... .....................
Stores, average weekly, regulars only, having dependent families................................................
42
Stores, classified actual and average weekly, regulars only, by occupations..................................
29
Stores, regulars only....................................................... .Y............. *............................................ 29-31
Unemploymentana,
ana, regulars only................................................................................................26-29
Unemployment
Employment
Tiployment and unemployment,
unemj
extent of:
Extras
Extrasonly_______
only....................................................................................................................................
_____________________________________________________________________
59-62
Regulars and extras................................................................................................. ..................... 45-48
Regulars only.................................................................................................................................15-18
Extras and regulars, women employed as both...................................................................................45-57
Age, conjugal condition, and manner of living..............................................................................
52
Dependency of family on earnings o f............................................................................................ 56,57
Dependency on earnings, degree of, and unemployment.............................................................. 53-56
Earnings of, and periods of employment...................................................................................... 48^51
Employment and unemployment, extent of.................................................................................45-48
Extras only, women employed as........................................................................................................ 57-66
Age, conjugal condition, and manner of living..............................................................................
64
Dependency, degree of, and yearly earnings................................................................................. 64-66
Earnings and rates of pay..............................................................................................................62,63
Employment and unemployment, extent of.................................................................................59-62
Messengers. (See Cashiers, examiners, etc.)
Occupations, specified:
Earnings in, average annual, stores and other industries, regulars only....................................... 27,28
Earnings in, average weekly, industries other than mercantile, regulars only..............................
32
Earnings in, average weekly, stores, regulars only........................................................................
29
Employment and unemployment in , average weeks of, regulars on ly........................... ............
16
Extras only, regulars only, etc.. proportion of, in .........................................................................
12
Rates of pay in. and amount of employment, extras only...................; .......................................
62
Unemployment in , amount and causes of, stores and other industries, regulars only.................. 67,68
Unemployment in , enumerated causes of, regulars only...............................................................
20
Unemployment in, enumerated causes of, stores, regulars o n ly ..................................................
25
Office employees:
Extras only, amount of employment and rates of pay..................................................................
62
Regulars and extras, amount of employment and rates ofi>ay.....................................................
51
Regulars only, average weeks of employment and unemployment reported................................
16
Regulars only, extras only, etc., proportion of.............................................................................
12
Regulars only, industries other than mercantile, average weekly earnings...................................
32
Regulars only, stores and other industries, average annual earnings................... ........................
27
Regulars only, stores, average weekly earnings............................................................................. 29,31
Regulars only, stores, average weeks of employment and unemployment r..................................
24
Regulars only, unemployment reported, due to each specified cause............................................20,25

INDEX.

Pago.
Regulars only, women employed as.....................................................................................................12-44
Age, conjugal condition and manner of living............................................................................. 33-35
Dependency of family on earnings of.............................................................................................40-43
Dependency on earnings................................................................................................................32-43
Dependency on earnings, and unemployment.............................................................................. 35-40
Dependency on earnings and unemployment due to each specified cause....................................
36
Earnings and unemployment........................................................................................................ 26-29
Earnings in other than mercantile industries..........................................................•.*...................31,32
Earnings in stores...........................................................................................................................29-31
Employment and unemployment, extent of.................................................................................15-18
Sickness as a cause of unemployment........................................— ............................................. 43,44
Sickness, time lost by, by age groups..................................... .— ...............................................
43
Stores and other industries, average annual earnings, by degree of dependency on earnings........
38
Time lost while on pay roll of retail stores..................................— ......................................... 23-26
Unemployment, causes of............................................................................................................. 18-23
Saleswomen:
Extras only, amount of employment and rates of pay..................................................................62,63
Regulars and extras, amount of extra employment and rates of pay...........................................
51
Regulars and extras, stores and other industries, average weekly earnings..................................
49
Regulars only, employment and unemployment reported, average weeks of................ .............
16
Regulars only, extras only, etc., proportion of..............................................................................
12
, Regulars only, industries other than mercantile, average weekly earnings........................... .......
32
Regulars only, stores and other industries, average annual earnings............................................ 27,29
Regulars only, stores, average weekly earnings.............................................................................29,30
Regulars only, stores, average weeks of employment and unemployment....................................
24
Regulars only, unemployment reported, due to each specified cause.........................: ............... 20,25
Scope and method of present investijnition......................................................................................... 10-12
Sickness, importance of, as a cause of unemployment, regulars only.................................................. 43,44
Stock girls:
12
Regulars, extras, etc.,proportion of........................................ .......... ............... ..........................
Regulars only, employment and unemployment reported, average weeks o f....................................16
Regulars only, industries other than mercantile, average weekly earnings...'......... — . . ...........
32
Regulars only, stores and other industries, average annual earnings............................................
28
Regulars only, stores, average weekly earnings........... ... — ........................................ —
29
Regulars only, stores, average weeks of employment and unemployment...................................
24
Regulars only, unemployment due to each specified cause........................................................... 20,25
Stores and other industries, proportion of women reporting employment in both, regulars only........14,23
Time lost while on pay roll of retail stores, regulars only.................................................................... 23-26
Unemployment, causes of:
Extras only.................................................................................................................................... 60-62
Regulars and extras....................................................................................................................... 53-57
Regulars only.............................................................................................................. 18-23,43,44,67-70
Workroom employees:
Extras, regulars, etc., proportion of...............................................................................................
12
Regulars only, employment and unemployment reported, average weeks of...............................
16
37
Regulars only, industries other than mercantile, average weekly earnings...................................
Regulars only, stores and other industries, average annual earnings.............................................
22
Regulars only, stores, average weekly earnings............................................................................. 29,31
Regulars only, stores, average weeks of employment and unemployment..................................
24
Regulars only, unemployment reported, due to each specified cause...........................................20,25

Full text of Unemployment Among Women in Department and Other Retail Stores of Boston : Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 182

FRASER