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State Teachers College Library

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
WOMEN’S BUREAU

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS
INDUSTRIES




UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
FRANCES PERKINS, SECRETARY

WOMEN’S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Director

BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU, No. 124

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS
INDUSTRIES
BERTHA BLAIR

UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 193S

For sale by the Superintendent of Document!, Washington, D. C.




Price 5 cents




CONTENTS
Letter of transmittal_____________________________
Part I.—Introduction”"”1111111
””
Scope and method of investigation___________
_
SummaryIIIIIIIIIII
_
Part II—Earnings of white women_________
Earnings of women in factories, stores, and laundries __
_"
Week’s earnings___________________________
Method of payment____________________
Week’s earnings and time worked________
Weekly rates______________________________
Part III.—Earnings of Negro women______________________
Week’s earnings_____________________ II.IIII.II
Week’s earnings and time worked__________ ”~__ ”~_”
Part IV.—Scheduled hours____________________
Daily hours_____________________________
Saturday hours_______________________
Weekly hours___________________________
Irregular hours and part-time work_________________” ~
Lunch period__________ ____________________
Part V.—Policies affecting earnings”
""
Hours of work_________________________
Reduced rates_______________________________
Changes in employment policy ”””
Supplements to wages______________________________
Part VI.-—Women in hotels and restaurants
Earnings____________________________________
Hours""
Part VII.—Women in the telephone industry _ __ _
Part VIII.—Unemployment among 288 women workers in Little Rock"
Facts about the women_____________________________
Employment status December 1, 1932__”I_
Extent of unemployment in year ended December 1, 1932
Duration of employment in year ended December 1, 1932
Extent of part-time employment in year ended December 1~
1932__________________________ ____
Duration of unemployment in year ended December 1, 1932_ _
Average weekly earnings in 1932 compared with 1931
Facts about the households in which the women lived
Composition of households______________________
Number employed December 1 in comparison with number nor­
mally employed_________________________________
Employment status of women and men in the households
Effects of unemployment and decreased earnings on living
standards___________ __________

Page

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23
27
29
29
30
32
32
33
36
36
39
39
40
42

45

TABLES
1. Number of establishments visited and number of men and women they
employed, by industry,
2. Number of white women and their median week’s earnings, 1932 and
1931, by industry
3. Median week’s earnings of white women in Little Rock, 1932 and 193l"
by industry
4. Week’s earnings of white women, 1932 and 1931, by industryiI~~I~"I




m

2
5
g

7

IV

CONTENTS
Page

5. Time worked by white women in pay-roll week recorded, by industry,
1932 and 1931,-__________________
6. Median earnings of white women by time worked, all industries, 1932
and 1931
7. Weekly rates of white women, 1932, by industry_________________
8. Median earnings of Negro women by time worked, all industries, 1932
and 1931
9. Scheduled daily hours, by industry
14
10. Scheduled Saturday hours, by industry
16
11. Scheduled weekly hours, by industry
17
12. Week’s earnings of white women who worked 6 or 7 days or 54 or more
hours, 1932 and 1931 13. Week’s earnings of Negro women who worked 6 or 7 days or 54 or more
hours, 1932 and 1931
14. Scheduled weekly hours in hotels and restaurants, by occupation—
1932_______________________
15. Length of workday, by occupation
24
16. Spread of hours, by occupation
25
17. Employment status of 288 women, December 1, 1932, by industry__
18. Duration of unemployment of 103 women since last lay-off_________
19. Employment status of 288 women, December 1, 1932, by age_______
20. Employment status of 288 women, December 1, 1932, by relation to
household
31
21. Duration of employment in year ended December 1, 1932, by indus­
try—260 women who had worked in one industry only__________
22. Number of months employed, by number of months on part time—
year ended December 1, 1932
23. Duration of full-time employment in year ended December 1, 1932, by
industry—260 women who had worked in one industry only_____
24. Time employed and time unemployed for industrial reasons in year
ended December 1, 1932
25. Usual weekly earnings in 1932 and in 1931, as reported by 189 women,
26. Number of households with children, young persons, or adults not
normally employed, by size of household---------27. Number of persons normally not employed, by size of household____
28. Number and sex of persons normally employed, by size of household,
29. Number of persons employed December 1, by size of household____
30. Number of households with normal number of persons employed
December 1, by size of household____________________________
31. Number of persons per household normally employed and number
employed December 1______________
32. Number of households with normal number of women employed
December 1, by size of household
43
33. Number of households with normal number of men employed De­
cember 1, by size of household
43




9
10
11
13

21
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23
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31
31

32
34
35
37
38
39
40
41
41
42
42

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

Washington, Oct. 10, 1934.
I have the honor to transmit a report on the employment
of women in Arkansas, made at the request of the Commissioner of
Labor of the State, who required information on employment and
earnings in connection with his work as relief administrator.
I acknowledge with grateful appreciation the assistance of the
employers, the workers, and the women interviewed in their homes.
The survey was conducted by Ethel Erickson, industrial super­
visor, and the report has been written by Bertha Blair, of the editorial
division.
Respectfully submitted.
Mary Anderson, Director.
Hon. Frances Perkins,
Secretary of Labor.
Madam:




v

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES
Part I.—INTRODUCTION
In the last 2 months of 1932 and January of 1933 agents of the
Women’s Bureau of the United States Department of Labor conducted
the field work for a study of the wages and hours of women employed
in factories, stores, laundries, hotels and restaurants, and telephone
exchanges in the State of Arkansas.
To make as complete as possible their report on the economic
condition of the workers, the agents supplemented the data secured
from the establishments with information from the women themselves
as to the work they had had during the year, the amount of their
earnings, the numbers unemployed in their households, and so forth.
According to the United States census, 119,193 women were gain­
fully employed in Arkansas in 1930, a number that amounted to 17
percent of the woman population. Agriculture and domestic service
employed 70 percent of the women workers. Less than one-fifth
(18.4 percent) were in manufacturing, trade, transportation and com­
munication, and the clerical occupations.*1
Between 1920 and 1930 the proportion employed in agriculture de­
creased from 57.3 percent to 40.3 percent and the proportion in do­
mestic and personal service increased from 21.3 percent to 30.2
percent.2 Probably the serious farm situation was largely responsible
for this exodus of agricultural workers, for large numbers of whom the
only alternative was domestic service. For Negro women agriculture
and housework were the two chief fields of service; they occupied all
but 6 percent of the gainfully employed Negro women in the State.3
According to the census of manufactures,4 the number of manufac­
turing establishments in the State had decreased from 3,123 in 1919 to
1,731 in 1929, a decline of almost 45 percent. However, the average
number of wage earners per establishment, which was only 16 in 1919,
had become 26 by 1929.
SCOPE AND METHOD OF INVESTIGATION

An effort was made to visit a representative number of establish­
ments (including large and small plants) in the industries employing
the most workers—factories, stores, laundries and dry cleaners, hotels
and restaurants, and telephone exchanges. Fourteen cities and towns
were covered, the list being as follows:
Blytheville
Camden
Conway
El Dorado

Forest City
Fort Smith
Helena
Hot Springs

Jonesboro
Little Rock
Magnolia
Malvern

Paragould
Pine Bluff

i U. S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census: 1930. Occupation Statistics, Arkansas, pp. 5, 6.
1 Idem; and U. S. Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census: 1920. Vol. IV, pp. 54, 55.
1 U. S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census: 1930. Occupation Statistics, Arkansas, p. 16.
* U. S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census: 1930. Manufactures, 1929. Vol. II, p. 18.




1

2

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES

The time worked and the earnings of each woman for a representa­
tive pay period were copied from pay-roll records. For most of the
establishments the week selected was in November 1932; for the others
it was just before or just after that month. The choice depended on
the advice of the management, which in each case was asked to desig­
nate a week when no unusual circumstances, aside from the depres­
sion, had increased or reduced the time worked.
In the table following are given the industries surveyed, the number
of establishments visited, and the number of men and women they
employed:
Table

1.—Number of establishments visited and number of men and women they
employed, by industry
Number of employees
Industry

Number
of estab­
lishments Total

Women

Men
Total

White

Negro

Total

White

Negro

All industries-------- ------- ------

144

6,651

2,692

2,166

526

3,959

3,413

546

Manufacturing...... .................................

37

3,049

1,537

1,443

94

1,512

1,310

202

Cotton goods.......................... .........
Food.
----- -----------------

3
8
9
7
3
7

312
284
796
1,103
102
452

170
186
673
100
35
373

160
162
638
85
32
366

10
24
35
15
3
7

142
98
123
1,003
67
79

135
97
123
809
67
79

7
1

25
14
20
38
10

1,099
476
583
955
489

377
78
168
532

341
67
125
190

36
11
43
342

722

* 398
415

3 719
4 398
249
248
489

Garments.........................................

General mercantile2........ .....................
Laundries and dry cleaners-----------Hotels and restaurants5-----------------

423
489

194

3
166
175

1 Printing, 3 firms; mattresses, awnings, and tents, 2; steel scissors, 1; and lamp chimneys, 1.
* Includes specialty shops.
* 159 of these were part-time or extra workers.
4 203 of these were part-time or extra workers.
* Includes 8 lunch counters or soda fountains in stores.

Of the 3,959 women included in the survey, more than a fourth
(25.3 percent) were in some branch of the garment industry.
Of the Negro women, who comprised 13.8 percent of all the women
surveyed, 35.5 percent were in the garment industry, the others
being almost evenly divided between laundries and hotels and
restaurants, industries in which they find employment in all sections
of the country.
SUMMARY
Date of survey

November and December 1932 and January 1933.
Scope

Cities and towns visited, 14; establishments, 144, employing 3,413 white
women and 546 Negro women.
Industrial distribution of white women

Manufacturing, 38.4 percent; mercantile, 32.7; telephone exchanges, 14.3;
hotels and restaurants, 7.3; and laundries and dry cleaners, 7.3.
Industrial distribution of Negro women

Manufacturing, 37 percent; mercantile, 0.5; hotels and restaurants, 32.1:
and laundries and dry cleaners, 30.4.




3

INTRODUCTION

Earnings
Factories, stores, and laundries:
White women’s pay-roll records 2,303
Median of their week’s earnings 38. 45
Negro women’s pay-roll records________________
Median of their week’s earnings S5. 60
Hotels and restaurants:
White women’s pay-roll records________________
Median of their week’s earnings $6. 40
Negro women’s pay-roll records________________
Median of their week’s earnings $6, 00
Telephone exchanges:
Women whose pay-roll records were taken (ail white) _
Median of a half-month’s earnings$30. 90

1032

366
212

1031

1.791
$9. 25
145
$7. 40

172

175
$7, 20
169
$6. 90

489

491
$38. 60

Scheduled weekly hours

The largest groups of women worked over 51 and under 54 hours in fac­
tories; 54 hours in limited-price stores; 51 in general mercantile establishments;
48 in telephone exchanges; and irregular hours in hotels, restaurants, and
laundries.
Employment and unemployment

Employment experience of 288 women in Little Rock for the 12
months from Dec. 1, 1931, to Dec. 1, 1932:
Percent
Proportion at work Dec. 1, 193260. 4
Unemployed for industrial reasons 35. 8
Employed full time for 12 months__________________________
6. 3
Employed full time for less than 6 months52. 1
Not employed full time at all 10. 4
Employment in the 234 households in which the 288 women
lived:
Men
Women
Total persons 16 years and over 255
440
Persons 16 and over normally employed 227
312
Percent

Proportion employed Dec. 1, 1932 40. 5
60. 9
Proportion employed full time Dec. 1, 1932 25. 1
46. 2
Proportion of households of 2 or more persons with less than normal
number employed Dec. 1, 1932 76. 7
Percent of
households

Outside assistance received (125 of 234)53, 4
Public relief received (79 of 125)63. 2

06249®—35-----2




Part II.—EARNINGS OF WHITE WOMEN
The amounts received by workers in payment for their labor deter­
mine what standard of living they can have for themselves and their
families. The struggle for higher wages continues to be made by
labor in order to achieve a standard of living not only above the bare
subsistence level but high enough to insure reasonable comfort and
a larger share of the cultural advantages of the Nation.
Wages are of as great importance to women workers as to any other
group. Whether or not the earnings of women in Arkansas were
adequate in 1932, when this study was made, can be judged by analyz­
ing a representative sample of those actually received in a week con­
sidered by employers to be normal for the times. One can see, also,
the downward trend in wages during the depression that has meant
extreme suffering for large numbers of workers. Records were
secured for a pay-roll week in 1931 for comparison with 1932.
The figures were copied from the pay rolls of the establishments
visited. In all establishments the current figures were for a week
in the latter part of 1932. In a majority (84) the week was in Novem­
ber; in the others it was in either October or December, except one
plant where it was in September. The 1931 earnings also were for a
selected week in the last few months of the year.
The wage figures of white and of Negro women will be discussed
separately in this report. For those of Negro women see part III.
The earnings of hotel and restaurant workers and of telephone em­
ployees also are treated separately from those of other workers.
Records of actual earnings in a week in 1932 were obtained for
2,303 white women employed as regular workers in factories, stores of
various types, and laundries, for 212 workers in hotels and restaurants,
and for 489 in the telephone industry. A week’s earnings in 1931
were secured for 1,791 women in factories, stores, and laundries, for
175 in hotels and restaurants, and for 491 in the telephone industry.
EARNINGS OF WOMEN IN FACTORIES, STORES, AND
LAUNDRIES
Week’s earnings

The week’s earnings taken off the records for 2,303 women (exclu­
sive of extras and part-time workers in stores) in 1932 had a median
of $8.45. For the 1,791 women in 1931 the median was $9.25. It
must be remembered that one-half of the women received less than
these small amounts. The existence of different wage standards in
the various industries is evident from the following table.
4




EARNINGS OF WHITE WOMEN

5

Table 2.—Number of white women and their median week’s earnings, 1932 and

1931, by industry
Number employed1

Median earnings

Industry
1932

1931

1932

1931

Total...........................
Manufacturing........................
Cotton goods________
Food_______________
Furniture_______
Garments________
Paper products_______
Other____ __
__
General mercantile.........
Limited-price stores_____
Laundries and dry cleaners_______

nrn

90

87

7.75

___
9.50
7. 55

397

12, 90

15.45
8. 75
7.95

1 Exclusive of part-time or extra workers.

On the basis of median earnings, the general mercantile group had
the highest wage standard. In both years, wages in limited-price
were vei7 much less, there being a difference in medians of
■Sfi./O in 1931 and of $4.75 in 1932. In both types of store the median
was less in 1932 than in 1931—60 cents less in limited-price stores
and $2.55 m the others.
.The garment industry, with the largest number of women among
iacturing groups, showed a somewhat higher median in

i$8 tlian

1931
be due to that
the fact
that
1931. figures werelnnot
available for This
three may
establishments
provided
them for 1932; for example, the second largest of the seven garment
factories, which had wage standards that might account for this
difference.
The rise in the median earnings in the furniture industry from $7.45
m 1931 to $9.35 in 1932 cannot be explained by increased rates, for
these remained the same or declined in all establishments in the later
year. I he figures obtained on time worked indicate longer hours or
more regular employment—perhaps both—in 1932 than in 1931.
1 he laundry group had next to the lowest median earnings in 1932
? o°,Ugi:eonrCmely low in 1931> tbey declined by more than -$1 in
1932—$6.80 as compared to $7.95.
The facts presented show that about three-fourths (74.2 percent)
of the women in 1932 and almost as large a proportion (72.9 percent)
m 1931 were employed in industries where the median earnings were
°r less; almost three-fifths (58.5 percent) in 1932 and one-half
(50. b percent) in 1931 were in industries where the median was $8
or less.
Little Rock, because it is the largest city in Arkansas, and because
nearly one-half of the white women in the study were employed there
is shown separately in some tabulations. As may be seen from the
table following, the median earnings for all women in 1932 were
65 cents higher for Little Rock than for the State as a whole Three
of the seven garment factories, employing nearly three-fifths of the
809 women in this industry, were in Little Rock but median earnings
in garments were $1.50 less for the city than for the State. General




6

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES

mercantile establishments and laundries showed slightly higher earn­
ings in Little Rock than in the State as a whole. The 1932 medians
for Little Rock were lower than those of 1931 in every industry.
Table 3.—Median week’s earnings of white women in Little Rock, 1932 and 1931,

by industry
Number employed *

Median earnings

Industry
1932
Total___________________ ____ -............. ........................... .......
Manufacturing.......................... 1------- --------------------------------------Garments.................................................................... ..........................

Laundries and dry cleaners.................................. ............. ................. .

1931

1932

1931

1,113

844

$9.10

$9. 65

585

457

7.15

8.15

470
115

341
116

6.50
9.55

7.45
10.00

327
101
100

221
62
104

13.25
8.10
7.00

15.70
8. 65
7.90

1 Exclusive of part-time or extra workers.

The median of earnings tells an important story about the economic
condition of workers as a group, but an examination of the distribu­
tion of earnings is necessary to show the situation as to variations
within the group.
In all industries the proportions of women in the lower earnings
groups were larger in 1932 than in 1931. Even so, the proportions
getting less than $10 a week in 1931 were extremely large.
In all industries combined, two-thirds of the women received less
than $10 in the week for which pay-roll records were taken in 1932,
and not far from one-half (45.6 percent) received less than $8. For
more than one-fifth (22.3 percent) earnings were less than $6, and for
one-tenth (10.3 percent) they were less than $4. Somewhat over
one-fifth (21.3 percent) earned $10 and under $14 and about oneeighth (12.1 percent) $14 and over.
In the week in 1931 for which pay-roll records were taken, though
the proportions of women in the lower earnings groups were extremely
large, with a few exceptions the percentages were smaller than in
1932 and more earned at least $10. Less than $8 was earned by
37.4 percent of all the women in 1931 and $10 and more by 42 per­
cent, in contrast to 45.6 percent and 33.4 percent, respectively, in 1932.
Of the 809 women in the garment industry, most of whom were
paid by the piece, practically 85 percent earned less than $10 in the
week in 1932, and about 63 percent earned less than $8. Only 3
percent earned as much as $14.
In i931 the proportion earning less than $10 was three-fourths
(74.9 percent), and 55.7 percent earned less than $8.
In the manufacturing group in 1932, cotton goods had the largest
proportion earning less than $8, garments came next, paper products
third, and food fourth. Not far from one-half (46.3 percent) of the
women making paper products were paid less than $4.
In 1931 the garment industry had by far the largest proportions of
women who received less than $6 and less than $4, though similar
proportions in the cotton goods industry, furniture, paper products,
and limited-price stores were paid less than $10 in the week selected
for that year.



EARNINGS OF WHITE WOMEN

7

In limited-price stores in the week of 1932 all but 15 percent of the
239 women received less than $10, by far the largest proportion (78 7
percent) earning $6 and under $10. Almost half (46.9 percent) got
less than $8.
A somewhat larger proportion were paid at least $10 in 1931, though
more than seven-tenths (72.4 percent) got less than that amount.
Eighty-five percent of the laundry workers in 1932 received less
than $10, 65.4 percent received less than $8, and 22.8 percent earned
less than $4.
The increase in the proportion of those in the lower earnings groups
in 1932 was very marked in this industry, as may be seen from the
accompanying table.
Table 4.—Week’s earnings of white women, 1982 and 1931, by industry
Percent of women in each industry who earned—
Total
number
employed

Industry

Less
than
$4

$4, less $6,less $8, less $10,
less
than
than than
than
$6
$8
$10
$12

$12,
less
than
$14

$14,
less
than
$20

$20
and
more

KEGULAE EMPLOYEES IN 1932
All industries

2,303

10.3

12.0

23.3

21.0

11.0

10.3

9.8

2.3

Manufacturing:
Cotton goods.................................
Food............................................
Furniture......... ............................ ..
Garments.
_____
Paper products..............................
Other___________________

135
90
123
809
67
78

4.4
4.9
16.6
46.3
2.6

19.3
15.6
13.0
21.0
1.5
2.6

49.6
41.1
14.6
26.3
13.4
11.5

17.8
25.6
26.0
21.4
10.4
32.1

8.9
14.4
17.9
7.5
11.9
17.9

17.1
4.8
6.0
20.5

3.3
5.7
3.1
10.4
9.0

.8
.2

General mercantile.. _______
Limited-price stores.........................
Laundries and dry cleaners

516
239
246

1.0
2.1
22.8

.8
4.2
13.4

2.9
40.6
29.3

11.6
38.1
19.5

15.5
10.5
7.3

26.9
2.9
4.9

32.2
1.7
2.4

9.1

4.7

3.8

.4

KEGULAE EMPLOYEES IN 1931
All industries..-.........

1,791

7.2

9.3

20.9

20.6

13.8

9.9

13.6

Manufacturing:
Cotton goods.................
Food______ ______ ____
Furniture____________
Garments____ ________
Paper products..............
Other________________

139
87
116
470
53
88

4.3
1.1
9.5
16.2
1.9
5.7

17.3
6.9
16.4
15.7
1.9
5.7

23.7
19.5
35.3
23.8
56.6
12.5

34.5
31.0
17. 2
19.1
17.0
13.6

14.4
21.8
7.8
15.1
7.5
17.0

5.0
10.3
8.6
5.5
5.7
14.8

.7
9.2
3. 4
4.0
9.4
26.1

General mercantile________
Limited-price stores,..____
Laundries and dry cleaners.

397
174
267

1.0
2.3
7.9

.8
.6
12.4

1.0
25.3
31.1

5.0
44.3
24.7

11.6
17.2
12.4

21.2
6.3
5.2

41. 6
4. 0
4.5

17. 9

4.5

1.9

PART-TIME AND EXTRA EMPLOYEES IN 1932
1373

76.1

12.1

4.0

2.4

2.4

2.1

0.5

0.3

203
159

63.1
94.3

16.3
5.0

6.4
.6

4.4

4.4

3.9

1.0

.5

PART-TIME AND EXTRA EMPLOYEES IN 1931
All industries..

2 239

General mercantile. _
Limited-price stores.

119
108

10.0
92.4
38.9

1.7
19.4

5.9
13.9

3.8

4.2

2.1

2.1

0.4

8.3

9.3

4.6

4.6

.9

1 Includes 8 women in factories and 3 in laundries, not shown separately,
includes 6 women in factories and 6 in laundries, not shown separately.




8

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES

In general mercantile stores in 1932, 83.7 percent of the women
earned $10 or more and over two-fifths $14 or more. However, even
in these establishments earnings were none too high when it is con­
sidered that only 9 percent earned $20 or more. In these establish­
ments almost three-fifths were paid at least $14 in the week in 1931.
For the group as a whole, the proportion earning $10 or more was
greater for Little Rock than for the State—41.3 percent as compared
to 33.4 percent.
.
Part-time and extra workers.—Both in 1931 and in 1932 limitedprice and general mercantile stores had a good many part-time and
extra workers on their pay rolls, many of whom filled in on Saturdays
and received very small weekly amounts.
More than nine-tenths (94.3 percent) of these women in limitedprice stores had earned less than $4, the great majority—137 of 159—
earning $1 and less than $2.
In general mercantile establishments not far from two-thirds (63.1
percent) had earned less than $4 and for nearly one-half (47.3 percent)
earnings were only $1 or $2 in the week recorded.
Though the number of regular workers in general mercantile was
greater in 1932 than in 1931 by only 30 percent, the number of part­
time and extra workers had increased by 88 percent.
A strong argument for minimum-wage legislation appears when the
findings of this study are compared with those of the Arkansas study
made by the Bureau in 1922 when such a law was in force. At that
time the law, later declared unconstitutional, covered women em­
ployed in “any manufacturing, mechanical or mercantile establish­
ment, laundry, or by any express or transportation company.”
Median earnings were considerably higher in 1922 than in 1932, and
though this may be due in some measure to the depression, it is no
doubt partly due to the fact that the law had been out of operation
almost 5 years when the second survey was made.
Method of payment

In manufacturing establishments three-fifths of the women were
paid by the piece. Cotton goods had the largest proportion of piece­
workers, about three-fourths (74.8 percent) of its women being on that
basis. In laundries and mercantile establishments time rates were
usual. Payment on the weekly basis, however, is not a guarantee
that an employee will receive the same amount each week, earnings
usually being determined by the number of hours or days worked.
As there was a great deal of short time in 1932, a tabulation of earnings
of those paid by the piece and those paid on a time basis was not
considered significant.
Week’s earnings and time worked

This discussion of earnings has taken no account as yet of the time
worked represented by the earnings. It was possible to secure the
exact number of hours worked in relation to the earnings for less than
one-half of the regular women employees. For more than one-third
pay-roll records showed the number of days on which they had worked
in relation to their earnings.
_
.
The accompanying tables show hours and earnings for regular
workers in 1932 and 1931 for such of the industries as had figures
available.




EARNINGS OF WHITE WOMEN
Table 5.

9

Time worked by white women in pay-roll week recorded, by industry.
1932 and 1931
[Only groups with 50 or more women shown in detail]
A.—WOMEN WHOSE TIME WORKED WAS REPORTED IN HOURS

Percent of women who worked—
Industry

Number
of women

35, less
than 48
hours

48, less
than 54
hours

54 hours

More
than 54
hours

1932
All industries_______
Manufacturing:
Cotton goods__________
Furniture.........-............__
Garments..........................
Other_________ _______
General mercantile...............
Limited-price stores.______
Laundries and dry cleaners

1,100

15.6

25.3

34.3

19.3

5.5

135
61
198
1 137

8.1
26.2
9.6
32.8

66.7
18.0
12.6
35.0

1.5
14.8
77.8
10.2

1.6

23.7
39.3

19.7

2.2

222
166
181

.9
4.8
39.2

4. 1
7.2
45.9

85.1
1.8
3.3

9.9
86.1
10.5

1.1

728

19.9

23.2

32.1

20.1

4.7

138
* 151
205
84
150

46.4
27.8
3.4
3.6
19.3

28.3
29.8
3.9
7. 1
47.3

5.1
15.9
87.3
1.2
15.3

25.2
5.4
88.1
15.3

1931
All industries____ ...
Manufacturing:
Cotton goods...... ..............
Other................................
General mercantile________
Limited-price stores...____
Laundries and dry cleaners.

20.3
1.3

2.7

B.—WOMEN WHOSE TIME WORKED WAS REPORTED IN DAYS

Percent of women who worked on—
Industry

Number
ol women

Less than
5 days

5 days

5H days

6 days

1932
All industries.............................
Manufacturing:
Furniture......... ........................
Garments......... ...........................
Other________________
General mercantile.. .................
Limited-price stores.. ..............
Laundries and dry cleaners.................

64.0
19.4
9.0

64

3.1

4.8
60.3
1.9
2.7

10.9

46.8
21.7
86.5
93. 3
82.2
85. 9

1931
All industries..................................
Manufacturing.
Food...........................................
Garments......... ..........................
Other.. ______ ________
General mercantile....... ............
Limited-price stores..... ..................
Laundries and dry cleaners _______

\ }ncJu<Jes also

2 62

27.4

9.7

88
115

6.8

5.7

f00d and
Paper
products,
shown
separately,
a ^c,udes also cotton
goods,
furniture,
andnot
paper
products,
not shown separately.
* Jrracticaily aJi on 4 or 4H days.
4 Practically all on 2 days.




12.5

71.4

1.9
44.4

81.1
32.6

3.0

92.1

9.6

74.8

10

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES

Table 6.—Median

earnings of white women by time worked, all industries, 1932
and 1931
[Medians not computed where base less than 50]
Women who worked the time specified in—
1932

Time worked

Number
Percent
of women of women

1931
Median
earnings

Number
Percent
of women of women

Median
earnings

A—WOMEN WHOSE TIME WORKED WAS REPORTED IN HOURS
Women with hours worked
reported 1____ ________ _____
Under 30 hours.................................... ..
35, under 40 hours.
40, under 44 hours.__________
Over 44, under 48 hours....... ........... ..
51 hours____
54 hours____________ ________ _
Over 54 hours.............................. ........... .

1,100
127
103
95
73
179
106
212
61

100.0

$8.40

728

100.0

11.5
9.4
8.6
6.6
16.3
9. 6
19.3
5.5

2.80
6. 75
7. 50
7.15
13. 95
8. 85
9. 00
9. 05

87
42
60
39
185

12.0
5.8
8.2
5.4
25.4

8.10
<>)
15.85

146
34

20.1
4.7

«

$9.60
5.40
(0

9. 95

B.—WOMEN" WHOSE TIME WORKED WAS REPORTED IN DAYS
Women with days worked
841

100.0

$9. 35

618

100.0

56
181
538

6. 7
21. 5
64.0

6. 00
8. 25
10.30

28
77
441

4. 5
12.5
71.4

$9.80
(0
9. 50
10.50

1 Only time groups with 50 or more women in 1932 shown in detail.

There were 1,100 regular women workers in 1932 for whom figures
on both wages and hours worked were reported. Almost half of
these were in manufacturing. In most of the cases groups were too
small to determine a representative average (median) for comparison.
Three-fourths of the women in cotton mills worked less than 44 hours,
those working 35 and under 40 hours having a median of $6.90.
Over one-fifth (21.5 percent) of the cotton-mill workers put in 60
hours or more.
For 841 workers only the number of days on which they had worked
was reported with their earnings. The great majority (85.5 percent)
of these had worked on 5% or 6 days. The median earnings were
highest for those who worked on 6 days, the higher earnings in general
mercantile establishments, most of which had a 6-day week, no doubt
affecting the median. However, in the garment industry, those who
worked on 5% days earned appreciably more than those at work on
6 days—$8.15 and $6.60, respectively.
Weekly rates

Though the majority of workers in the manufacturing industries
were paid by the piece, there were 378 for whom a weekly rate was
given. Less than $10 a week was the rate for over four-fifths (83.3
percent) of these. As many as 92.4 percent of the timeworkers in
the garment industry were paid a rate of less than $10.
More than four-fifths (84.5 percent) of the workers in limited-price
stores had a rate helow $10, half of these less than $8. For almost
nine-tenths of the women in general mercantile establishments (87.7
percent) the rate was at least $10, though for only 10 percent was it
as much as $20. In laundries seven-tenths of the workers received
less than $10.



11

EARNINGS OF WHITE WOMEN

_ Part-time and extra workers were a feature of mercantile estab­
lishments; only a very few were found on the pay rolls of other
industries. For the majority of workers in limited-price stores the
rate was $1.25 a day and for those in general mercantile it was $2.
This was true of Little Rock as well as the State as a whole. Condi­
tions in Little Rock generally were somewhat better than in the
remainder of the State.
General
mercantile

Limitedprice
stores

Total--

166

117

$0.75............... .
$1.00—........ .
$1.25_...............
$1.33.................
$1.50-........... $1.75...............
$2.00
$2.25................
$2.50.................
$3.00.-............

1
1
1
1
22

105

Daily rate

11
1

109
6
24
1

Table 7.—Weekly rates of white women, 1932, by industry
[Medians not computed where base less than 50]
Women employed in—

Weekly rate

Total
women
with
weekly
rate re­
ported

General mer­
cantile

Manufacturing

Total

Food

Gar­
ments

Other

Regu­
lar

146

455
$13. 25

2
17
4
4
3
11
2
2
1

7
49
67
133
87
43
25
28
16

298
$13.65

LaunLimit­ di ies
Part­ ed-price and
stores
dry
time
cleaners
and
extra

A.--THE STATE
Median 3.............
1*
.............
Less than $6........................... .
$8, less than $10...... ................. .

$25 and more............................. .

1,248
$9.70

378
$8.55

37
254
396
149
166
99
66
30
34
17

28
in
176
25
8
5
17
3
4
1

44

7
23
9
1
2
2

288
$8.20
28
102
136
12
3
4
1
2

2 21

10

239
$8. 40
100
102
26
7

1

155
$8. 95

*9
36
65
21
14
5
3

B —LITTLE ROCK
Median 3......... ............. .
Less than $6....................... .......
$6, less than $8........ ................. $12,
$14,
$16,
$18,

less
less
less
less

than
than
than
than

$14...... .................
$16...... ........... .
$18...................... .
$20.................... ..

$25 and more...............................

611
$11.05

118
$9. 00

50
$6. 70

68
$10. 30

12
84
135
95
112
73
45
20
19
16

4
36
34
18
4
5
13
2
1
1

4
33
6

3

1

3
5
13
2
1
1

64
29
16
15

1 Includes also cotton goods, furniture, and paper products, not shown separately.
* These are part-time or extra workers for whom weekly rates were reported.
3 Based on $1 intervals.
* Includes 1 part-time worker.
96249°—35-----3




21

101
$8. 30

1

73
$9. 75

Part III.—EARNINGS OF NEGRO WOMEN
Negro women comprised 45.6 percent of the gainfully employed
women of the State in 1930, according to the census of occupations,
but only a very small proportion of them were employed in industries
other than agriculture and domestic and personal service.1 These two
industries alone employed about 94 percent of the Negro women
workers of the State. However, 1,235 Negro women were employed
in factories and laundries, and Women’s Bureau agents secured their
wage records in all establishments visited. They were in the minority
in both factories and laundries, as a whole, though in one garment
factory and in several laundries they were in the majority.
It is essential in any discussion of earnings to review those of Negro
workers separately from those of white workers. As is generally
true, their earnings were appreciably less than the earnings of white
workers in the industries in which both were employed, chiefly manu­
facturing establishments and laundries.
Week’s earnings

Pay-roll records were secured for 363 women employed as regular
workers in manufacturing establishments and laundries in 1932.
Only 3 were employed in stores. There were only 5 part-time workers,
all in laundries.
The median of the week’s earnings of all Negro women for whom
1932 records were obtained was a third less than that of the white
women. A median of $5.60, to say nothing of the 50 percent who were
paid less than this, and of the still lower median in the garment indus­
try, must be regarded as wholly inadequate and far below the amount
necessary for living in conformity with American standards.
For 161 laundry workers in 1932 median earnings were $6; $7.35 for
135 such workers in 1931. In this industry the earnings of white
women were not much higher, $6.80 in 1932“and $7.95 in 1931.i
Negro women in 1932
Industry

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

Laundries and dry cleaners...................

Number

Median
earnings

i 366

$5.60

202
194

5. 45
5.45

2161

6.00

i Includes 3 women In general mercantile. For women in hotels and restaurants see pt. VI of report.
! Of 145 Negro women for whom 1931 records were available, 135, with median earnings of $7.35, were in
laundries.
i U. S. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census: 1930. Occupation Statistics, Arkansas, p. 16.

12




EARNINGS OF NEGRO WOMEN

13

Week's earnings and time worked

A majority of the 195 Negro workers in manufacturing in 1932 for
whom hours were reported had worked 51 % hours in the week for which
pay-roll records were copied. The median earnings for women who
worked these hours were $5.70. The majority of the laundry workers
for whom hours were reported had worked not more than 44 hourswell over two-fifths (44.9 percent) had worked less than 35; and all
but 5 had worked less than 48.
In 1931, more than nine-tenths of the women for whom days worked
were reported had worked on 6 days, in contrast to only two-thirds in
1932.
For women working on 5 days or more, the median earnings were
very much smaller in 1932 than in 1931—$5.95 as compared to $7.80.
Table 8.

Median earnings oj Negro women by time worked, all industries 1932
and 1931
[Medians not computed where base less than 50]

1932

1931

Number of Median
earnings
women

Number of Median
earnings
women

A.—WOMEN WHOSE TIME WORKED WAS REPORTED IN HOURS
With hours worked reported—Total
30, less than 35 hours...........
35, less than 40 hours___
40, less than 44 hours______
44, less than 48 hours............
48, less than 51H hours.........
51H hours........ ................... ..........
54 hours________________
Over 54 hours..............

310
44
26
19
7
58
20
128
3
5

$5.60

7.10
5. 70

60
9
8
4
19
6
6
4
4

B.-WOMEN WHOSE TIME WORKED WAS REPORTED IN DAYS
With days worked reported—Total
Less than 5 days________




56

$5.75

6
50

5.95

83

$7.00

Part IV.—SCHEDULED HOURS
The data on scheduled hours were obtained by interview with
representatives of the firms and checked with plant records. They
represent the normal working day and week for the women employed.
These are not necessarily the hours worked in any one week by these
employees, for overtime sometimes is required and during the period
covered there was a great deal of short time.
Daily hours

The information on daily hours for all industries but hotels and
restaurants is given in the table following.1
Table 9.—Scheduled daily hours, by industry 1
Regular hours
Total
Number reported

8 or less

8H

Industry
Estab­
Women
lish­
ments 2

Laundries and dry cleaners..

Estab­
Women
lish­
ments 3

Women

Estab­
lish­
ments

Women

87

2,765
100.0

16

643
23.3

14

637
23.0

37
3
8
9
7
3
7

1, 512
142
98
123
1,003
67
79

35
3
6
9
7
3
7

1,498
142
84
123
1,003
67
79

5
1

149
99

6

268

1

10

2
3

20
232

1
2

23
17

1

16

25
14
20
10

722
398
415
489

25
14
3
10

519
239
20
489

1

5

8

369

10

489

Part-time and
irregular hours

10, 11, and 12

Estab­
lish­
ments

Women

Estab­
lish­
ments

Women

55

1,437
52.0

3

48
1.7

41

768

1

21

1,033

3
2

48
43

1

11

1

3

6
5
4
2
4

84
88
771
44
46

1

11

1

3

17
14
3

145
239
20

14
9
17

203
159
395

1

1 For hotels and restaurants see pt. VI of report.
1 Details exceed total, as some firms bad more than 1 schedule.

Estab­
lish­ Women
ments

Hours not reported

Estab­
lish­
ments
Percent distribution—




Estab­
lish­
ments

3,536

9

14

8ZA

10G

Regular hours—Continued

Laundries and dry cleaners. _

and

5

Women
3

SCHEDULED HOURS

15

A maximum schedule of 9 hours a day for women is allowed by law
in Arkansas in manufacturing, mechanical, or mercantile establish­
ments, laundries, and express or transportation companies. The
only factories exempted are those making cotton goods.
In 3 establishments the scheduled daily hours amounted to more
than 9, but 2 of these, employing 43 women, were cotton mills where
longer hours than 9 are permitted by law. However, many women
were not required to work as many hours as the law allowed, for not
far from half (46.3 percent) of those whose scheduled hours were
reported worked a day of 8, 8%, or 8% hours. One factory had a
7-hour schedule. More than two-thirds (67.4 percent) of all the
women working less than 9 hours were in telephone exchanges or
stores. All those in the telephone industry were on an 8-hour sched­
ule, though for the girls on the morning-evening tour of duty the
workday was divided into two periods. Almost three-fourths (72.1
percent) of those employed regularly in general mercantile stores
worked 8K or 8% hours daily; the others worked 9 hours. All those
in limited-price stores worked 9 hours.
In the garment industry the scheduled daily hours were from 8%
to 9. Most of the women (76.9 percent) were on a 9-hour schedule.
Women in this industry comprised more than half (53.7 percent) of
all those that had a 9-hour day.
Saturday hours

Saturday hours were long. For telephone operators Saturday
hours were the same as those of other days, that is, 6 full days a week
were worked. In stores hours were as long or longer on Saturday.
Factories differed in the number of hours they expected their
employees to work.
Only 1 of the 87 establishments—a factory—had a 5-day week for
its day workers, the other plant so tabulated employing a few women
on 5 nights a week.
The women in limited-price stores had a Saturday schedule of 9
hours, the same as on other days of the week. All but 6 of the 25
other stores had at least a 9-hour schedule, 1 small store working its
women 11 hours. In the 6 exceptions the hours were 8)(. Five
hours or less was the Saturday schedule in only about half the fac­
tories—17 of 35. Eleven had Saturday schedules of 9 hours or
longer.




16

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES
Table 10.—Scheduled Saturday hours, by industry
Regular hours
Total
Total re­
ported

None

Less than 5

Over 5, less
than 8

5

Industry

EsEsEs­
EsEsEstab- Wom­ tab- Wom­
tab­ Wom­ tab- Wom­ tab- Wom­ tab- Wom­
lishlishlish lishlishlishen
en
en
en
en
en
ments
meuts
ments
ments
ments
ments
(■)
(•)
All industries...............
Percent distribution.
Manufacturing________
Laundries and dry cleaners.

106 3,536

87 2,765
100.0

2

15
0.5

8

202
7.3

8

184
6.7

5

739
26.8

37 1,512
25
722
14
398
20
415
10
489

35 1,498
519
25
14
239
3
20
489
10

2

15

8

202

8

184

5

739

Regular hours—Continued

8

8H

Part-time
and irreg­
Over 9 and ular hours
including 11

9

Hours not
reported

Industry
EsEsEsEsEsEstab- Wom­ tab- Wom­ tab- Wom­ tab- Wom­ tab- Wom­ tab- Wom­
lishlishlishlishlishlishen
en
en
en
en
en
ments
ments
ments
ments
ments
ments
All industries........ .
Percent distribution­

12

640
23.2

Manufacturing......................

2

151

6

237
8.6

41

591
21.4

6

157
5.7

41

768

1

3

184
148
239

2
4

23
134

1
14
9

11
203
159

3

237

9
15
14

1

6

3

20

17

395

Laundries and dry clean10

489

1 Details exceed total, as some firms had more than 1 schedule.

Weekly hours

The length of the work week permitted by law is 54 hours. Only
57 women of the 2,779 for whom this was reported worked in places
where more than 54 hours was the schedule, and 43 of these were in
cotton mills, where such hours are legal.
One-fifth (20.8 percent) of the women were on a 54-hour schedule
and 3 in 5 of these worked in stores.
A schedule of less than 54 hours was reported for the great majority
of the women (77.2 percent). Just over one-fifth (21.7 percent) were
reported as having a 48-hour week, 4 in 5 of these being in the tele­
phone industry. One cotton mill also had this schedule.
Over 48 but less than 54 were the scheduled weekly hours of 53.6
percent of the women, a large proportion of these exceeding 51 hours.
The 702 women in 3 garment factories who comprised the largest
number working these hours were on schedules of 51% 52%, and 52%
hours.
Limited-price stores all had weekly schedules of 54 hours. Many
of the general mercantile stores also had this schedule, but the larger
stores worked 51 and under 54 hours.
The length of the scheduled week is shown in table 11.




17

SCHEDULED HOURS
Table 11.—Scheduled

weekly hours, by industry 1
Regular hours

'Total
Number re­
ported

Industry

Less than 48

Over 48, less
than 50

48

Estab­
Wom­ Estab­ Wom­ Estab­ Wom­ Estab­ Wom­ Estab­ Wom­
lish­
lish­
lish­
lish­
lish­
en
en
en
ments2 en
ments2 en
ments
ments
ments
106

3,536

89

2,779
100.0

4

50
1.8

12

604
21.7

7

271
9.8

Cotton goods........................
Food..........................................
Furniture................................
Garments.
........................
Paper products._.................

37
3
8
9
7
3
7

1,512
142
98
123
1,003
67
79

37
3
8
9
7
3
7

1,512
142
98
123
1, 003
67
79

4

50

2
1

115
99

7

271

4
3

39
232

General mercantile.....................
Limited-price stores
Laundries and dry cleaners. _.
Telephone exchanges. _ ______

25
14
20
10

722
398
415
489

25
14
3
10

619
239
20
489

Percent distribution____

1

10

1
2

23
17

1

16

10

489

Regular hours—Continued

Industry

Over 51, less
than 54

50 or 51

54

Part-time and
irregular
hours

Over 64

Estab­
Estab­
Estab­
Estab­
Estab­
lish­ Wom­ lish­ Wom­ lish­ Wom­ lish­ Wom­ lish­ Wom­
en
en
en
en
en
ments
ments
ments
ments
ments
All industries.-...............
Percent distribution___
Cotton goods.........................
Food.. ............................ ..
Furniture......... ................... ..
Garments .......................
Paper products....................
General mercantile________
Limited-price stores
Laundries and dry cleaners.

11

289
10.4

9

930
33.5

42

578
20.8

5

57
2.1

5

62

5

768

11

198

1
1

5
13

3
2

48
43
5

30
14

1

14

93
4
69
14
18

1

1
2

7
1
1
1
1

6

227

4

162

14
14
3

121
239
20

2

9

1
3

52
702

40

757

14
9
17

203
159
395

1 For hotels and restaurants see pt. VI of report.
> Details exceed total, as some Anns had more than 1 schedule.

Irregular hours and part-time work

Part-time or irregular hours were worked in 9 limited-price stores,
14 general mercantile stores, and 17 laundries.
Lunch period

The lunch period was reported for all but three small establish­
ments. Eighty-five percent of the firms, employing 90 percent of
the women, had lunch periods of at least 45 minutes, the majority
allowing a full hour. Seven of the stores that gave an hour for lunch
on other days of the week allowed an interval of 3 or 4 hours on
Saturdays as compensation for work at night.




Part V.—POLICIES AFFECTING EARNINGS
Hours of work

During the depression employees in practically all types of industry
and occupation in the United States have been obliged to accept
reductions in their earnings, and extreme hardship has been the result
for many of them. In addition to those who have been out of work
entirely, there are large numbers who have been affected by a reduced
number of hours of work. In some establishments they have been
affected by a shut-down either of the entire plant or of several of its
departments, in others by a shortening of the hours of work for an
indefinite period.
Women covered in this survey had suffered these reductions as had
women in the larger industrial sections of the country. Thirteen
factories had been shut down in one or both years in some or all de­
partments for at least 2 weeks, some for much longer than others.
Two or 3 weeks was common, but there were cases of much longer
shut-downs, from 6 weeks to as much as.a year.
Sixty-four of 134 firms reported having had short time, many of
them in both years. Short time is not unusual for laundries and all
but 3 reported it, as did 29 of 37 factories and 18 of 38 hotels and
restaurants.
Dividing the work, which amounts to a reduction of hours for the
individual, was reported by 56 of 127 firms. Some of them used this
method to avoid laying off part of their workers. It was used by 10
of 25 general mercantile stores that reported as to irregularity in hours.
Twenty factories reported some division of work, as did 13 laundries
and 10 hotels and restaurants. Fifty-nine of the 115 firms reporting
had resorted to laying off some of their employees; 19 of these were
factories, 11 were stores, 10 laundries, and 19 hotels or restaurants.
Different methods were used from plant to plant in deciding what
workers were to be dismissed. Twenty of the 46 reporting the special
basis of lay-off stated that efficiency was the basis of selection; 13
reported that employees were retained or laid off according to length
of service, the latest comers being the first to go; and the other 13
stated that the economic status of the workers was considered.
Though a great many of the plants had had to curtail production
at some time during the year, a large number reported overtime.
Only 2 stores had had overtime for women but 30 of the 37 factories
and 21 of the 31 hotels and restaurants for which this was reported had
had overtime. All factories reported that overtime was paid for, 29
at the regular rate and 1 at a rate of time and a half; but in 19 of the
hotels and restaurants there was no payment for overtime.
Reduced rates

In addition to the reduction in hours, the great majority of estab­
lishments reported some reduction in wage rates. Of 122 that re­
ported, the rates of all workers had been reduced in 88 firms and the
rates of some in 8 firms, leaving only 26 with no reduction.
18



POLICIES AFFECTING EARNINGS

19

Changes in employment policy

Employment policies had changed in comparatively few establish­
ments. Four stores had made changes, 2 reporting that they were
now requiring graduation from high school as a prerequisite, 1 of
these also fixing 20 years as the minimum age and requiring store
experience. One had adopted a policy of hiring only single women
and another was not taking on married women whose husbands were
employed. In one of the smaller laundries Negro workers were
no longer employed; they had been replaced by white workers.
Supplements to wages

Laundry and hotel and restaurant workers were practically the
only ones receiving supplements to their wages. For the latter this is
discussed in part VI. In 14 of the laundries work was done for the
employees at a reduced rate, 5 doing the entire laundry free for their
white employees and the work clothes free for their Negro employees.

<0249”—35-




Part VI.—WOMEN IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS
Earnings

The earnings of women working in hotels and restaurants are
reported separately from the earnings of women in the other industries
because in so many respects they are not comparable. The fact that
these workers serve the needs of the public for food and shelter is the
explanation for hours of work less standardized than those of workers
in stores and factories.
Generally the worker must be on duty for each meal, with free time
in between, but her duties may be limited to only one or two meals.
Usually the service of the employee extends over a very long day.
Even though the hours of work may be only 8, an employee may go to
work as early as 6 in the morning and not leave till 8 at night, having
had several hours off duty during the day.
Earnings also are affected somewhat by the peculiar type of service.
Of the 212 white women for whom pay-roll records for a week in 1932
were secured, 144 were waitresses and bus or counter girls, 26 were
kitchen employees, and 30 were maids, linen-room girls, or house­
keepers. Wage figures for these workers represent only the cash
payments for the week. In addition to these amounts, some received
board and 3 of the 15 housekeepers had both board and room. No
attempt was made to get even an estimate of the amounts received in
tips. These were said to be very uncertain and to vary considerably
from one week to another.
Additional compensation
Total
white
women

Occupation

Board
only

■KT

Board
and room

1932
212
$6. 40
Waitress, bus girl, counter girl—Number........................................ .

144
$4. 35
26
30
8
4

37
(2)
3
(2)
1
21
8
4

172
$5.40

13
(2)

141
$4. 30
25
6

3

1931

Median earnings.......................................... ...................................

175
$7.20
92
$4. 95
14
31
8

31
(2)
c>

3
,
19
8

30
1 Housekeepers.

20



1 Not computed; base less than 60.

141
$6. 90
89
$4. 95
13
9
30

i3
(2)

3

21

WOMEN IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS
Table 12.—Week’s

earnings of white women who worked 6 or 7 days or 54 or more
hours, 1932 and 1931
[Medians not computed where base less than 50]
1932

Week’s earnings >
Total

1931

Wait­
ress, bus
Kitchen
girl,
employee
counter
girl

Total working full
week____
Median 2.................

155
$7. 40

105
$5.05

Less than $4.................
$4, less than $5_-_............
$5, less than $8_.................
$8, less than $11.............
$11, less than $14...............
$14, less than $17
$17, less than $20_____
$20 and more...____

42
14
32
51
8
3
M
31

42
10
26
25
1
1

Maid,
linenroom
girl,
house­
keeper

25

25

3
6
13
1
2

1

Total

101
$6.65

Wait­
ress, bus
Kitchen
girl,
employee
counter
girl

68
$4.90

13

Maid,
linenroom
girl,
house­
keeper
20

13
13
6
34
3 1

24
10
2
35
32

3
1
32

,,, Exclusive of meals. Practically all of the waitress groups and kitchen-employee groups and about onethird of the remaining groups were given meals.
2 Based on $1 intervals.
3 Housekeepers.

Information was secured also for 39 women working at lunch
counters or soda fountains in stores, 3 of whom were Negroes, but
these are not included in the tabulations.
The foregoing summary shows the medians of the cash earnings of
the white workers in this industry and how generally they received
additional compensation. The table that follows it shows the earn­
ings of women in the chief occupational groups who worked 6 or 7
days or 54 or more hours.
The median earnings of the 212 women were $6.40, an extremely
small amount even with additional compensation. Thirty-seven of
these women had nothing in the way of a supplement to their wages;
21 of these were maids and other hotel employees and all but 4 who
were housekeepers were paid less than $14; in fact, 13 of the 21 were
paid less than $10. All but 3 of the 144 in the dining-room group had
board in addition to cash wages, but more than one-third of them
had only 2 meals. This is a very low wage when it is observed that
the median of their earnings was only $4.35. Tips no doubt furnished
something in addition, but the amount varies so that it cannot be
relied upon.
For all employees who got only meals in addition, the median of
the week’s earnings was $5.40, this being slightly higher than that of
the waitress group, due to the fact that kitchen employees are paid
more than waitresses.
Over half of the dining-room employees who were given meals got
3 meals, and a third got 2; a few were reported as getting “2 or
3” meals. All but 1 of the kitchen employees were given at
least 2 meals and 15 of the 25 were given 3. None of the elevator
operators or laundry workers in these establishments got additional
compensation.
Fifteen women were listed as housekeepers and they earned from $9
to $23, only one receiving the latter amount. Ten of them had no
additional compensation; 3 had room and board, another 1 meal,
and a third, earning only $9, was reported as being given lunch.




WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES

22

As in most of the other industries surveyed, earnings during the
week in 1931 for which pay-roll records were copied were higher than
they were at the time of the study. For waitresses the 1932 median
was 60 cents less, and for all the women combined it was 80 cents
less. In 1931 a larger proportion of the maids were given meals—
usually only one—than was the case in 1932, which amounted to a
reduction in earnings.
Of the 36 white women serving meals in stores, all but 3 were wait­
resses. Most of these were given one or two meals, according to
their hours on duty. Eighteen of the 36 were paid less than $8, 9 of
them less than $6.
There are presented also a summary of the earnings of all Negro
women and a more detailed table for those working 6 or 7 days or
54 or more hours.
Additional
compensation

Total
Negro
women

Occupation

Board
only

None

1932
172
$6.00

136
$5. 75

8
28
102
$5. 70
10
24

102
$5.70
10
24

169
$6.90

127
$6. 70

1
14
104
$6.60
9
21
20

2
95
$6. 65
9
21

36
.0)
8
28

1931
42
(>)
1
12
9
0)

20

i Not computed; base less than 50.
Table

13.—Week’s earnings of Negro women who worked 6 or 7 days or 54 or more
hours, 1982 and 1931
[Medians not computed where base less than 50]
1931

1932
Week’s earnings 1
Total

Wait­
ress, bus Kitchen
girl,
employee
counter
girl

Maid,
linenroom
girl

Total

Total working full
Median 3................. -

119
$6. 25

6

26

91
17

5
1

10
16

87
$5. 90
11
76

Wait­
ress, bus Kitchen
girl,
employee
counter
girl

Maid,
linenroom
girl

90
$6. 95

1

13

76
$6. 85

54
33
2
1

1

3
7
2
1

50
26

Li

.

i Exclusive of meals. All or practically all of the waitress groups and kitchen-employee groups, and
none or practically none of the remaining groups were given meals.
* Based on $1 intervals.




23

WOMEN IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

The largest proportion of Negro women—about three-fifths in each
year—were maids or linen-room girls. Median earnings for the
entire group and also for the maid and linen-room girls were 90 cents
less in 1932 than in 1931.
Like the white workers, few Negroes employed as maids received
compensation in the form of meals in addition to their cash earnings.
None did so in 1932, but in 1931 nine Negro employees were given
their meals.
Hours

Of the 212 white women and 172 Negro women employed in 1932
in the hotels and restaurants visited in this survey, scheduled hours
were reported for 193 of the former and for 164 of the latter.
Table

14.—Scheduled weekly hours in hotels and restaurants, by occupation-—1933
Women whose scheduled weekly hours were—

1

3

1

1

1

6
3
3

38
6
4

17
1

2

6
3

34

W h ite

N egro

16
8.3

23
14.0

1

W hite

10
18 105
24
5.2 11.0 54.4 14.6
9

10

More than
54

54

N egro

W hite

N egro

4
20
49
27
46
2.4 10.4 29.9 14.0 28.0
8
1

W h ite

N egro

More than
48, less
than 54

48

15
7.8
13

W h ite

40, less
than 48

N egro

164
Total—Number.. . 193
Percent_____ 100.0 100.0
Waitress, bus girl, counter
134
8
27
26
Maid, linen-room girl,
21
99
8
7
4
23

Less than
40

N egro

N egro

W hite

Occupation

W h ite

Number
of women
reported

8
1

80
24

8

1

7
20
1
3

1

7
2
4

The differences in occupation have considerable effect on hours, more
than three-fifths of the white women, in contrast to less than threetenths of the Negroes, having a schedule of 54 or more hours. Eightyseven of the 134 white women in the waitress group (only 8 Negroes
were so employed) had a week of such length, as had all but 6 of the
53 kitchen employees. The 120 maids and linen-room girls, 99 of
them Negroes, were 70 percent on a week of 40 to 48 hours; only 33
exceeded 48 hours.
An order issued by the Industrial Welfare Commission in 1919 and
still in force allows a schedule of work for hotel and restaurant em­
ployees of 54 hours, 6 days, a week. The study made by the Women's
Bureau in 1922 revealed a large number of women working on more
days than this order allowed. At that time almost three-fifths
exceeded a 6-day week, but in 1932 not quite one-fifth did so.
Number of women in
1932 with schedule of—
Occupation
6 days a
week

7 days a
week

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

293

52

Waitress, bus girl, counter girl................. .

123
49
88
13
20

5
4
38

Maid, linen-room girl, housekeeper
Elevator operator______ ____ _________




5

24

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES

The number of hours of work required per day varied from less than
5 to 11, but days shorter than 7 hours or longer than 9 were com­
paratively rare.
Contrary to the practice often found in hotels and restaurants of
irregular daily hours, most of the women—91.8 percent of the white
and 88.3 percent of the Negro—worked the same hours every day.
Some did not, however, and for these it is impossible to tabulate
satisfactorily daily hours or any facts relating to the day’s work by
using the individual worker as a unit. For each woman, therefore,
each day’s work has been taken as a unit, calling it an employee-day.
Ordinarily the total is 6 or 7 times the number of women.
There was a total of 2,146 employee-days for which the scheduled
daily hours were known; 1,127 of these were worked by white women
and 1,019 by Negro women. Only 3 percent of the white and 1.7
percent of the Negro employee-days called for more than 9 hours of
work.
A much larger proportion of the whites’ employee-days (71 percent)
than of the Negroes’ (31.8 percent) exceeded 8 hours, due to the
differences in occupation.
For both white and Negro employees doing kitchen work, the great
majority of employee-days were 9 hours long. However, more of
the Negroes were employed as maids and linen-room girls than in any
other occupation, and 87.1 percent of the employee-days of this group
were of 7 to 8 hours. Waitresses and bus and counter girls, who com­
prised by far the largest group of white workers, were scheduled to
work 9 hours in 68 percent of the cases.
15.—Length of workday, by occupation

Table

20

8Over 8, less than 9
9_________________ _____ _
10________________ _______
11.....................................................

1. 8

19 1.7
79 7.0
209 18. 5
75 6.7
691 61. 3
21 1.9
13 1.2
i

7 0.7
16 1.6
34 3.3
286 28.1
352 34. 5
52 5.1
255 25.0
7
.7
3
.3
7
.7

779

48

20
1
24
102
75
530
14
13

1

12
36

6
7
—

156

166

36

42

22

9
2
11
6
6
144

23
132
7

18
18

36
11

N egro

Elevator
operators

W h ite

7
31
83

3
7
19
217
324
33
18

N egro

621

W h ite

134

Laundry
workers

N egro

Kitchen
em­
ployees

N egro

Number of employeedays 1 reported_____ 1,127 100.0 1,019 100.0

S

3
£

Maids,
linenroom
girls,
house­
keepers

W hite

P ercent

P ercent

Negro

N u m b er

White

N u m b er

Scheduled daily hours of
work

Wait­
resses,
bus girls,
counter
girls

N egro

All occupations

W h ite

Employee-days 1 for—

142
2
7
15
33
7
63
3
7

|

1 Days on which work is done during the week, multiplied by number of women at work; for example, 10
women working 6 days would aggregate 60 employee-days.

Though the majority of workers were on a uniform daily schedule,
most of them had their working hours broken by 1 or 2 periods off
duty. More than half the Negro maids worked on unbroken shifts,
except for lunch, and the rest had one period of over an hour off duty.



WOMEN IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

25

Almost three-tenths of the waitresses worked unbroken shifts, but
the rest of them, as well as the majority of the white kitchen workers
and all the 4 white and 23 N egro elevator girls, had their work periods
broken by time off during the day.
This means that the spread of hours, the time between first going on
duty and ending work for the day, may be considerably in excess of
the number of hours actually on duty. The inconvenience of having
a workday spread over an excessive number of hours is readily under­
stood, and most women prefer to do their work all in one stretch
except for the usual lunch recess. Local practices and the needs of
customers generally are responsible for the long spread of hours.
The following summary shows the distribution of workdays by
spread of hours.
Employee-days for—
Daily spread of hours

White workers
Number

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

Negro workers

Percent

Number

Percent

1,115

100.0

1,006

100.0

54
102
263
259
437

4.8
9.1
23.6
23.2
39.2

113
286
340
150
117

11.2
28.4
33.8
14.9
11.6

Less than 8......................... ..
8, less than 9._................................
9___________________
10, less than 12....................... ...........
12 and more..........................................

On about two-fiftns (39.2 percent) of the employee-days of white
women the spread of hours was 12 or longer.
When the spread is considered for the various occupations, it is
apparent that among the white workers in large groups the waitresses
had the largest proportion of days with a spread amounting to 12
hours or more, and among the Negro women, elevator operators, and
kitchen help had the largest proportions. Kitchen workers, both
white and Negro, had by far the largest proportion of days with a
long spread of hours.
Table 16.—Spread of hours, by occupation
[Percent not computed where base less than 50]

Total-.........

767 100.0

Less than 8_.........
8, less than 9.........
9
10, less than 12.
12 and more........._

31 4.0
34 4.4
177 23.1
156 20.3
369 48.1




134 100.0

614 100.0

42
6

12 8.9
44 32.8
44 32.8
13 9.7
21 15.7

53 8.6
244 39.7
310 50. 5
7

1.1

156 100.0

4
6 3.8
24
90 57.7
36 23.1

Elevator oper­
ators

W hite, n u m b er

36

42

2.5

P ercen t

142 100.0

11
18
18

102 63.7
31 19.4

22

Negro

N u m b er

P ercen t

160 100.0

Laundry
workers

N egro, n u m b er

Negro

N u m b er

White

P ercen t

P ercen t

48

Kitchen employees

N u m b er

Negro

N u m b er

White

P ercen t

P ercen t

N u m b er

White

Maids, linen-room
girls, housekeepers

N u m b er

Spread of hours

N egro, n u m b er

Waitresses,
bus girls,
counter girls

W h ite, n u m b er

Employee-days for—

36

4! 9

6
11

73 51.4

26

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES

A comparison of the distributions of employee-days according to
hours of work and spread of hours gives an indication of the differences
between the two. For example, just over two-thirds of the employeedays of white dining-room workers had 9 actual working hours, but
almost one-half of the employee-days had a spread of hours of 12 or
more.
Employee-days for white waitresses,
bus girls, counter girls
Number of hours

9............................................... ............... ............... .................... .......... ..




With hours of work
as specified

With spread of hours
as specified

Number

Number

Percent

Percent

779

100.0

767

100.0

177
630
14
13

5.8
22.7
68.0
1.8
1.7

31
34
177

4.0
4. 4
23.1

156
369

20.3
48.1

Part VII.—WOMEN IN THE TELEPHONE INDUSTRY
For 489 operators employed by the one large telephone company in
the State, earnings were secured for the last half of October 1932, and
for 491 women earnings for the same half-month’s period in 1931 were
reported. As is customary in this industry, employees (all white)
were paid twice a month, a full half-month of work consisting of 13
days of 8 hours.
In 1932, because of a decreased volume of work and for the sake of
equitable distribution of the work available, shorter weekly hours were
worked by the entire force of employees. As a result of this, the
number of women who worked 13 and 14 days during the half-monthly
period in 1932 was negligible in comparison with the proportion who
worked such time in the corresponding half-monthly period in 1931.
Conversely, a much larger proportion in 1932 than in 1931 worked on
8 and less than 13 days. The proportions who worked on less than
8 days were similar for the 2 years.
Women
Days worked in half-monthly period

1932

Median earnings
1931
1932

Number

Percent

489

100.0

491

100.0

$30.90

$38.60

30
441
18

6.1
90.2
3.7

23
139
329

(0
31.05
(■)

0)
33. 65
40. 60

CO

Percent

N

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

O

Less than 8..........................................
8, less than 13...................
13,13K, and 14 i......................

1931

Number

> Not computed; base less than 50.
»A lew women worked on 15 days during this period in 1931; none worked so long in 1932.

Though basic rates apparently had not been reduced, the reduction in
hours of work naturally affected earnings. In 1931, before the reduc­
tion in hours took place, the median earnings were $38.60 for the
half-monthly period for which these data were obtained, and they
were $30.90 for the corresponding period in 1932.
In the earlier year one-fourth (24.6 percent) of the women worked
on 13 days, and their median earnings were $39.05; over one-third
(34.8 percent) worked on 14 days, and their median earnings were
$42.70. For those who worked less than 13 days, and they comprised
about one-third of the total number, the median earnings were
$32.45. For the women working on 8 but less than 13 days the median
was $33.65.
In comparison with 67 percent in 1931, only 3.7 percent in 1932
worked on as many as 13 days. The great majority worked on 9, 10,
and 11 days, and for these workers the median earnings in 1932 were
$27.60, $31.40, and $34, respectively.




27

28

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES

However, even with the reduction in hours, which amounted quite
generally to furloughs of from 4 to 6 days a month, earnings were
higher than in any of the industries discussed in the preceding section.
The semimonthly median earnings for all the workers converted into a
weekly sum would amount to about $14.25, which is somewhat higher
than the median of a week’s earnings in the industries discussed in the
preceding section, where the highest, that in general mercantile stores,
was $12.90.
In Little Hock in 1931, where more than three-fourths (78.6 per­
cent) of the operators worked on 13 days or more, the median earnings
for the entire group were $40.85; and in 1932, when none worked on as
many as 13 days, the median earnings were $31.15, almost $10 less.
Here also the median of the week’s earnings was higher in the tele­
phone industry than in any other of the industries included in this
survey.
It is the custom in this telephone company to pay time and onehalf for Sunday work, and in both years most of the workers were
reported as doing some Sunday work.




Part VIII.—UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG 288 WOMEN
WORKERS IN LITTLE ROCK
The industrial depression in the United States has caused severe
hardship to all groups of wage earners and women workers have had
their share of it. They have experienced unemployment in long
weeks of idleness as well as in employment that is only part time or
very irregular. Able to get jobs at times when the men in their fami­
lies could find nothing to do, they have assumed entire responsibility
for the financial support of their households. The significance of
unemployment to workers, whether it be complete idleness or part­
time work, is that a corresponding decrease in earnings results. To
hundreds of thousands of persons the effects of such curtailment in
earnings during the depression has had very serious results. Those
whose incomes in better times were sufficient for something more than
the bare necessities, during prolonged unemployment have lost the
homes they were buying, have used up their savings, or have had to
give up other types of security for old age, such as insurance policies.
Others have had to scale down their standards of living to the very
minimum. Retrenchments by many households in the amount and
kind of food have seriously endangered their health, and moving into
poorer or more crowded quarters, which has been a necessity in many
families, has shattered the standard of living of which Americans
always have been proud.
FACTS ABOUT THE WOMEN

To find out in detail to what extent women workers and their fami­
lies in Arkansas have been affected by unemployment and decreased
earnings was one of the reasons for making this study.
The information on earnings in another section of this report gives
only a partial picture of the economic conditions of the workers
throughout the State. The wage data represent only 1 week in the
year in which, agents agree, very possibly more than the average
amount of full time was worked, and as a full week the income cannot
be considered average for the year. In other words, even if a woman
was employed throughout the year, the actual amounts she received
in wages week by week frequent y would be much less than the amount
reported for the week for which pay-roll records were taken.
There is no source to which to go except the women themselves to
find out the full extent of their unemployment or the financial respon­
sibilities they carry.
This part of the survey was confined to Little Rock, and to secure
the facts that were wanted Women’s Bureau agents interviewed the
women in their homes. More consideration was given to those whose
jobs were or had been in manufacturing than to any other occupational
group. Garments were the outstanding product of the factories in
Little Rock, and therefore the majority of workers interviewed repre­




29

30

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES

sented that industry. Clerical workers and those in domestic service
were interviewed only when they had done factory or laundry work
or had been employed in stores earlier in the year. No one was
interviewed who had not worked at some time in the year ended
December 1, 1932, which was the period for which information was
secured. Women were interviewed in a house-to-house canvass of
the sections of the city in which they were known to be living.
All told, 288 women were reached in this way, and including the 32
who lived independently they represented 234 households. In a few
households more than one woman was interviewed. The women
reporting ranged in age from 16 to over 60 years. A'most half (47.1
percent) were 20 and under 30 years, and just over one-third gave
their ages as 30 and under 40 or 40 and under 50. Girls under 20
comprised on y a small proportion (11.2 percent), probably due in
part to single women whose families lived elsewhere having gone
home when they became unemployed, and even fewer women were
as much as 50.
More than three-tenths (31.6 percent) of the women were married
and living with their husbands, and just over half of these had chil­
dren. About one-fifth of the total were mothers in households where
there was no father. Almost three-tenths were daughters of the
household, practical y all single. Only 32 of the 288 women were
1 ving independently.
Employment status December 1, 1932

As expected, unemployment was a serious problem in the lives of
these women. On December 1, 1932, a very large proportion (49.7
percent) either were unemployed for industria reasons or were em­
ployed only part time, that is, the short day or short week caused by
slack business.
Table

17.—Employment status of 288 women, Dec. 1, 1932, by industry

Industry (present or last job)

Manufacturing:

Total
number of
women




Not at
work for
industrial
reasons

1288
100.0

174
60.4

103
35.8

s 177
2
<7
2
9

91
2
4
1
6

77

9
<36
6
37
4

3
31
4
28
4

6
4
1
9

Domestic and personal service:

i ll were unemployed for personal reasons.
*40 were part-time workers.

At work

*9 were unemployed for personal reasons.
*1 was unemployed for personal reasons.

2
1
3

31

UNEMPLOYMENT IN LITTLE ROCK
Table 18.—Duration of unemployment of 103 women since last lay-off
Women w hose last job was in—

Months unemployed since last lay-off

Women
unem­
ployed
for indus­
trial
reasons

Domestic and
personal service

Manufacturing

Gar­
ments

Total

Sales

Laun­
dries and
dry
cleaners

Total

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

103

83

77

11

4

9

Less than 1____________ ______ __________
1, less than 2....................... .................. .......... .
2, less than 3_____ ____ ________ ______ _

54
31
5

47
27
4
2
2

45
25

4
3

1
2

3
1

5
3
3
1
1

4, less than 5........................................................
5, less than 6........................ ..............................
11, less than 12___________ ____ ________ _

1
1

1

Two-fifths (39.6 percent) of the 288 women were entirely without
work, and of these only 11 were out of work for personal reasons.
Of the 103 who were laid off 52.4 percent had been out of work less
than a month and 30.1 percent 1 but less than 2 months. All but 2
of the remaining 18 had been out less than 6 months.
Table 19.— Employment status of 288 women, Dec. 1, 1932, by age
At work
Age (years)

16,
20,
25,
30,
40,
50,

Total
number
of women

Full
time

Total

Not at work
Part
time

Industrial Personal
reasons
reasons

Total

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

288

174

134

40

114

103

11

Total reporting....................

278

168

131

37

110

99

11

31
72
59
49
45
18
4

21
46
37
29
22
11
2

16
38
31
18
17
9
2

5
8
6
1!
5
2

10
26
22
20
23
7

9
25
20
19
19
6

1
1
2
1
4
1
1

10

6

3

3

4

under
under
undei
under
under
under

20..................... ............. .
25........... ..... ............. .......
'.0________ ______ ___
40........................................
50___________________
60—........ ......... ......... ....

Table 20.—Employment status of 288 women, Dec. 1, 1932, by relation to household
At work

Not at work

Total
number
of women

Full time

Total—all reporting—......................................

288

134

40

103

11

Wife 1___ _____
Mother 2________ _____ ____
_____ _____ __
Wife and mother 3_____ _________ ____ ______
Daughter_______ ______ _________ _____ __

45
57
46
85
19
4
32

15
25
19
46
7
3
19

8
5
7
16
2
1
1

20
24
16
22
10

2
3
4
1

11

1

Relation to household

No relation (adrift).......................................... .............
1 With husband but no children.




2 With children but no husband.

Part time Industrial
reasons

Personal
reasons

3 With husband and children.

32

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES

Somewhat more of the women who were out of work for industrial
reasons than of those who had jobs at the time—26.3 percent as
compared to 20.8 percent—were 40 years old or more. Also, daughters
had a smaller proportion of their number unemployed than had any
of the others.
More than three-fifths (61.5 percent) of the women interviewed
were garment workers. Almost half of these (48.6 percent) were
unemployed, most of them for industrial reasons.
Extent of unemployment in year ended December 1, 1932

For many of the women interviewed the year ended December 1
1932 was one of very little employment. All but 28 of them had
worked in only one industry during the year. Only 13 of the garment
workers had been in any but the garment industry, and all the laundry
workers and all but 3 of the saleswomen had been employed in one
industry only. For 10 of the 28 who had worked in more than one
industry the lines were manufacturing and domestic and personal
service.
Table

21.—Duration of employment in year ended Dec. 1, 1982, by industry—
260 women who had worked in one industry only
Women who worked in only one industry

Manufacturing
Number of months employed
in year ended Dec. 1, 1932

Domestic and per­
sonal service

Total
Total

Total-....................................

8, less than 9...... ..............................

12_______ ______________________

Gar'
ments

260

177

164

5
7
19
17
8
8
17
15
30
22
36
31
45

3
6
16
15
7
7
13
10
28
19
30
18
5

2
5
13
15
7
6
12
8
28
19
30
17
2

Laun­
dries and
dry
cleaners

Total

45

Sales

36

Other

34

4

1
1
1
1
2
3
3
6
27

4

1

10

3

1
3
3
23

This report is concerned primarily with the employment conditions
of women in the garment industry in Little Rock, and it includes a
much larger sample of such women than of any others. This was
done at the request of the commissioner of labor, one of the persons
who requested that the study be made, for he was of the opinion that
unemployment was especially serious among workers in the clothing
industry. Though in the course of the home visiting some workers
in laundries and stores were interviewed, they constitute too small a
sample to be representative, and in making a comparison with the
garment industry this should be kept in mind.
Duration of employment in year ended December 1, 1932

Only 2 of the garment workers reporting on time worked had been
employed in all 12 months of the previous year, and for 1 of these it



UNEMPLOYMENT IN LITTLE ROCK

33

had not been full-time work. Of the 162 who had worked less than
12 months, only 5 had been out of work for personal reasons. Many
of the women had had work during only a few months of the year.
For 29.3 percent of them employment had lasted less than 6 months,
and for 21.3 percent less than 4 months. Seven-tenths of them
(70.1 percent) had been employed less than 10 months.
Though the survey included so small a sample of laundry workers
and saleswomen, the fact that 23 of the 36 laundry workers and 10 of
the 34 saleswomen who reported were employed in 12 months of the
year is indicative of the contrast in employment conditions between
these and certain other industries.
Extent of part-time employment in year ended December 1, 1932

In addition to the fact that their periods of employment were very
short, for many women a large part of the time they were employed
was irregular, the number of hours per day or per week being much
curtailed. This must not be lost sight of in this discussion of duration
of employment.
Only 29 garment workers had had no part time during their em­
ployed periods in the past year. One of these had worked the entire
12 months, but 20 of them had been employed less than 6 months.
Of the 116 women in the garment industry who had had work in 6 or
more months of the year, all but 9 had had some part time. Half of
them (50.9 percent) had had between 3 and 5 months of part-time
work. Eighty percent (80.3) of the women who had worked 9 and
less than 12 months had had 3 or more months in which they worked
part time, and almost two-fifths (37.9 percent) had had between 4 and
5 months of part-time work. Even among the 48 who had worked
less than 6 months of the year, more than half had had some part time.
Eleven had had between 2 and 3 months of it.
Though a much smaller proportion of the other workers than of
those in the garment industry had been on part time, many women
had done part-time work a good deal of the time they had been em­
ployed. Almost 40 percent of those who had worked 9 months or
more had been on part time at least 8 months. Ten of the 43 who
reported 12 months of work reported also that this was part-time
work.




Table 22.-—Number of months employed, by number of months on part time—year ended Dec. 1, 1932

CO

£>Women reporting duration of part-time employment
Months employed

All
women

Women
having
no part
time

Total
having
part
time

Less
than 1
month

1, less
than 2
months

2, less
than 3
months

3, less
than 4
months

4, less
5, less
than 5
than 6
months months

6, less
than 7
months

7, less
than 8
months

8, less
than 9
months

9, less
than 10
months

10, less
than 11
months

11, less
than 12
months

12
months

Total_______________
Less than 3_______________
3, less than 6_..........................
6, less than 9
9, less than 12_______ ____ _
12...................................... ..........

288

75

213

19

21

35

36

36

19

9

7

7

5

4

5

10

34
39
72
98
45

14
17
12
14
18

20
22
GO
84
27

10
3
1
5

4
5
5
6
1

6
10
11
7
1

4
18
13
1

10
26

9
9
1

1
5
3

4
3

i
3
3

2
3

3
1

2
3

10

WOMEN IN GARMENT INDUSTRY ONLY
Total...............................

164

29

135

12

10

27

28

33

16

5

3

1

Less than 3—_____ ______
3, less than 6________ _____
6, less than 9______ ______ _
9, less than 12_____ _____
12.......................... ................. .

20
28
48
66
2

7
13
4
4
1

13
15
44
62
1

8
1
1
2

3
3
3
1

2
9
9
6
1

2
14
12

8
25

8
8

5

1
2

1

WOMEN IN OTHER INDUSTRIES 1
Total...............................

124

46

78

7

11

8

Less than 3................................
3, less than 6............................
6, less than 9..........................
9, less than 12...........................
12................................................ .

14
11
24
32
43

7
4
8
10
17

7
7
16
22
26

2
2

1
2
2
5
1

4
1
2
1

3

includes a few garment workers having other employment.




8

3

3

4

4

6

5

4

6

10

4
1
1

1
1
1

1

1

3
1

3

1
2
3

2
3

3
1

2
3

10

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES

ALL WOMEN

35

UNEMPLOYMENT IN LITTLE ROCK

A slightly different but not so complete picture of the employment
experience of these women is revealed in the number of months they
actually worked full time, unrelated to the over-all period of employ­
ment. The summary following shows that only 18 of the 288 women,
13 of them in laundries or stores, had been employed full time for the
entire 12-month period. Ten percent had had no full time during the
year. Over one-half (52.1 percent) had worked full time for less than
6 months; about three-fourths (74 percent) had had less than 9
months of it.
Number of months employed full time in year ended Dec. 1, 1932
Nwomm°*
Total................................................ .................................... ........................ 288
Less than 1___
1, less than 2_ _
2, less than 3__
3, less than 4__
4, less than 5__
5, less than 6_ _
6, less than 7_7, less than 8_ _
8, less than 9_9, less than 10 _
10, less than 11
11, less than 12

8

19
23
'45
26

29
33
16
14

8

8
11

12__________

No full time

18

30

As already stated, only 1 of the 164 women in no employment but the
garment industry had worked full time for the entire year and only
10 had had as much as 9 months of full-time work. Three had had
no full time and 3 others had had less than 1 month.
Of the 36 laundry workers, 14 had had no full time. Irregularity
of hours is not a new situation in this industry, however, and it is not
surprising that only 7 of the women had worked full time the year
around.
Table 23.—Duration of full-time employment in year ended Dec. 1, 1982, by

industry—260 women who had worked in one industry only
Women who worked in only one industry

Number of months in which full
time was worked in year
ended Dec. 1, 1932

Total

Sales
Total

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

Domestic and per­
sonal service

Manufacturing

Garments

260

177

164

12

8
17
21
40
22
24
31
15
12
6
6
11
18

4
14
20
34
20
22
25
11
10
4
3
3
1

3
12
17
33
19
21
25
11
10
4
3
2
1

No full time___________ ________

29

6

3

Less than 1 _______ ______ ____
1, less than 2_ ________________
2, less than 3__________________
4, less than 5__________________
5, less than G
7, less than 8_________ _______
8, less than 9 __________________
9, less than 10_________________
10, less than 11________________




Other

Laundries
and dry
cleaners

Total

45

36

34

1

1

4
2

4
1
1
4
2
2
2

3
1
1
3
2
1
2

3
10

1
7

6

1

15

14

6

2

4

1
1
1

1

3

36

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES

Of the 34 saleswomen with no other employment 6 had had only
part-time work, but 6 others had had 12 months and 5 had had 11
and under 12 of full-time work. In this industry also the employ­
ment of part-time workers has not arisen for the first t me during the
depression, Saturdays and special sales periods always calling for an
extra sales force, but there are indications that more saleswomen than
formerly are working short hours. In some cases this is resorted to as
a way of avoiding lay-offs; that is, the work is spread so that it is
shared by all employees.
Duration of unemployment in year ended December 1, 1932

In addition to losing a great deal of employment through undertime
and irregular hours caused by conditions in the industry, the amount
of time actually without employment made the problem of reduced
earnings a very serious one for many women. Eighty percent of all
of them and practically 96 percent of the garment workers had been
out of work at times for an industrial reason.
For all women and for the garment workers the amount of time lost
for industrial reasons is summarized in the following:
Number of months lost for industrial reasons

All workers

Garment
workers

288

164

230

157

23
45
37
35
31
14
10
12
4
10
5
4

8
39
30
27
22
7
5
7

58
45
13

7
2
6

7
4
1

Almost two-thirds (64.3 percent) of all the women and three-fourths
(75.2 percent) of the garment workers had been idle for 1 and less than
5 months, 4 in 5 of them for 3 or 4 months.
When it is realized that the employment experience of these women
may have been duplicated by other persons in the same households,
the extent to which total earnings declined and the reductions in
living standards that must have been necessary are easily understood.
Average weekly earnings in 1932 compared with 1931

As would be expected, earnings during the period under discussion
were in line with the great amount of unemployment and part-time
work experienced by these women, and they reported that they had
earned less in 1932 than in 1931. This agreed with the comparison
of pay-roll figures for a representative week in each of the 2 years
discussed earlier in this report. On the whole, median earnings were
less in 1932 than they had been in 1931.




Table 24.—Time employed and time unemployed for industrial reasons in year ended Dec. 1, 19S3
Women reporting time unemployed for industrial reasons

Months employed

Less
than 1
month

1, less
than 2
months

2, less
than 3
months

3, less
than 4
months

4, less
than 5
months

5, less
than 6
months

6, less
than 7
months

7, less
than 8
months

8, less
than 9
months

9, less
than 10
months

10, less
than 11
months

11, less
than 12
months

ALL WOMEN
Total...... .........................................-

288
34
39

58

230

23

1
2

33
37
68

1
3
3

45

37

35

31

14

10

12

4

10

5

4

3
3
18
11

6
4
21

1
2
11

2
4
4

4
8

1
3

5
5

5

4

2
2
41

1
3
9
24

WOMEN IN GABMENT INDUSTRY ONLY
Total...............................................-

164
20
28

7

157

1
2

19
26
47
65

39

30

27

22

7

5

7

7

4

1

5
3
14

1
2
4

1
2
2

2
5

2
5

1

2

4

35

2
2
15
8

4

2

1
3
8
18

7

5

5

4

3

1

3

1
2
2

2
3

1
3

3

1

3

8

UNEMPLOYMENT IN LITTLE ROCK

Number
losing
Total
All
no time losing
for in­
women
dustrial time for
indus­
reasons
trial
reasons

WOMEN IN OTHER INDUSTRIES i
Total............... ......................... ........

124

51

14
5
43

73
14
11
21
27

15
1
1
1
12

6

6

7

i
6

8
1
1
3
3

9
1
1
7

7

03
i Includes a few garment workers having other employment.




-•J

38

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES

Reports of average weekly earnings in 1931 and in 1932 were not
available for all the 288 women. Some of them had not been employed
in 1931 and others were not able to recall their earnings. However, it
was possible for 189 women, 109 of whom were operators in the gar­
ment industry, to report their usual earnings in the 2 years.
The medians of the usual earnings of these 189 women were $8.70
for 1931 and $6.45 for 1932, a decrease of $2.25. Some women
reported that they averaged less than $5 a week in both years, but in
general the number whose average fell in the very lowest earnings
groups was much larger in 1932 than in 1931. Over three times as
many averaged less than $5 in 1932 as had such an average in 1931.
Further, whereas only 12.7 percent averaged less than $6 in 1931,
40.2 percent reported earnings of as little as this in 1932.
All but 10 of the women who had worked exclusively in the garment
industry in both years had worked also in but one firm. For the 99
who had been employed in the same firm in both years, median earn­
ings had declined from $8.20 in 1931 to $6.15 in 1932. Inasmuch as
the pay-roll records for the weeks taken as representative in 1931 and
1932 in garment firms throughout the State showed a slight increase
in the later year, either the pay-roll week in 1932 was above the
average or the interviewed women were somewhat below. Probably
the representative earnings for women in the garment industry fell
somewhere between the two figures.
In the garment industry, as for the total number of women, there
were more whose average earnings were in the lower wage groups in
1932 than in 1931. Almost three times as many averaged less than
$5, and twice as many averaged $5 and under $6. The proportion
whose usual earnings were below $7 was just over one-third in 1931,
but was just over two-thirds in 1932.
Table 25.— Usual weekly earnings in 1932 and in 1931, as reported by 189 women
1931

1932
Usual weekly earnings
Number

Percent

Number

Percent

ALL INDUSTRIES
Total.................................................................... ......................

189

100.0

189

100.0

Less than $5_____________________________________ ________

36
40
39
23
15
9
20
7

19.0
21.2
20.6
12.2
7.9
4.8
10.6
3.7

11
13
24
18
40
20
46
17

5.8
6.9
12.7
9.5
21.2
10.6
24.3
9.0

109

100.0

109

100.0

26
22
28
14
9
6
4

23.9
20.2
25.7
12.8
8.3
5.5
3.7

9
11
18
12
25
8
25
1

8.3
10.1
16.5
11.0
22.9
7.3
22.9
.9

$6, less than $7-.-______ _____________ _______ ____________
$7, less than $8----------------- ------------------------------------- ---------- $8, less than $9 _________________ ________________ _____ __
$15 and more-------------------------- ------- ---------------------- ---------- -

GARMENTS
Total_______________________________________ _______
Less than $5...... ..................... ................... ......... ----------- -----------$5, less than $6-. ----------------- ----------------------------------------$6, less than $7____________ _______________________________
$7, less than $8 - -------------- ------------- -------------------------------$8, less than $9 ___________ _----------------- -----------------------$9, less than $10__--------------------- ---------------- ------------------------




39

UNEMPLOYMENT IN LITTLE ROCK

FACTS ABOUT THE HOUSEHOLDS IN WHICH THE WOMEN
LIVED

Many of the women interviewed, were carrying heavy responsi­
bility for the rest of the household. In numerous instances the
meager earnings of one woman were the only source of family income
where normally the burden of supplying food and shelter was shared.
Others were out of work and not able to pay their usual share of the
family expenses. In many households the income was insufficient
for the barest necessities, and a large number had been forced to
accept assistance from some outside source for the first time in their
lives.
Composition of households

In this survey only 32 women were interviewed who lived alone.
Of the other households, some had as few as 2 members and 1 had
as many as 14. Only 8 households had more than 8 members,
2-person and 4-person families being most common.
Most of the households (69.2 percent) had some members who nor­
mally were not employed. In 125 cases (53.4 percent) there were
children under 16; in 24 (10.3 percent) there were young persons of 16
or more who though able and desirous to work, had not succeeded in
finding work after leaving school.1 In some there were adults not
normally employed, wives or mothers who kept house or adults
incapacitated for work.
<
Table 26.

Number of households with children, young persons, or adults not
normally employed, by size of household
Households in which persons not normally employed
were—

Number of persons in
household

Total
house­
holds

House­
holds with
with per
sons not
normally
employed

Children under 16

Young persons able Other per
and desirous to work sons 16 and
over

Number of Number of Number of Number of Number
households children households persons of persons
Total..........................
1....................... ..
2_................... ..

6_.....................................
7.............................................
9 or more

234

162

125

234

24

26

130

32
46
27
46
32
20
12
11
i8

17
21
43
30
20
12
11
8

6
16
30
25
18
12
10
8

6
17
46
38
36
29
31
31

4
3
5
5
1
3
1
2

4
3
5
7
1
3
1
2

7
8
24
22
27
14
14
14

1 9 persons, 2 households; 10, 2; 12, 3; and 14, 1.

Besides the 32 women living independently, there were 40 house­
holds in which all the members normally were wage earners. Families
with 1 or 2 persons normally not employed were most common (44.9
percent of all the households), and they were chiefly the smaller
households. Almost one-tenth (9 percent) had 3 persons not normally
employed and a slightly smaller proportion (8.1 percent) had 4
1 The information was asked for as of December 1.




40

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES

members who normally did not contribute to the family income.
The remainder (7.3 percent) had from 5 to 8 persons who were
dependent for their support on the rest of the household.
Table

27.—Number of persons normally not employed, by size of household

Number of persons in
household

Total-_-l---...................
1

5

Total
house­
holds

House­
holds
with
persons
normally
not em­
ployed

Households with specified number oi
persons normally not employed

4

i

2

3

53

21

234

162

52

32
46
27
46
32
20
12
11
8

17
21
43
30
20
12
11
8

17
14
14
5
1
1

7
26
13
5
2

3
12
5
1

5

19

6

11

House­
holds
with no
persons
normally
not
employed

8

5

1

72
32
29
6
3
2

7
8
4

2
2
4
3

1
4

1

In a fairly large proportion of the families there were no males of
16 years and over. Thirty of the households of 2 or more persons
had no men, and in 41 all the persons normally employed were
women.
Number employed December 1 in comparison with number nor­
mally employed

Each of the 234 households had at least 1 person who normally
would be employed, but at the time of the survey there were 55
where no one at all was at work and 112 others where fewer than the
usual number had jobs. In fact, there were only 67 households
(28.6 percent) with the usual number of wage earners actually at
work; only 47, if the women living alone are not included.
In families of 2 or more persons with only 1 at work a woman was
the worker in 61 cases and a man in 23. In addition to the 32 women
living alone there were 29 households that ordinarily had 1 employed
person, the majority of which were families of 2 members. House­
holds in which 2 persons were employed ordinarily were most numer­
ous, the majority of these having either 2 or 4 members. Disre­
garding the 32 women living independently, at the time of the study
there were 55 more families with only 1 person employed than was the
case normally. Further, whereas normally there were 91 households
with 2 wage earners, at the time specified only 57 households had
2. In the 51 that normally had 3 wage earners to rely on, at the
time specified 23 had only 2, 17 had only 1, and 7 had no one at
work. In only 4 households were all 3 of the normally employed
persons at work as late as December.




41

UNEMPLOYMENT IN LITTLE ROCK

Table 28.—Number and sex of persons normally employed, by size of household
Households with specified number of persons normally employed

234

61

32
46
27
46
32
20
12
11
8

32
17
7
3
2

1

60

1

32
16
7
3
2

___
.......

91

9

82

29
14
26
12
7
2
1

2
1
5
1

27
13
21
11
7
2
1

61

4

6
14
13
5
81
4
1

3
1

an d
w om an
1

2 m en

m an an d

2 w om en

1

only

W om en

T otal

m an an d
w om an
1
1

only

W om en

T o tal

M en

Total.-.................
1
2____________________
3________ ___________
4
5__________ ____ ____
6________ ___________
7____________________
8____ _______________

3 persons

2 persons

W om en

1 person

Totahouse­
holds

T otal

Number of persons
in household

24

23

2
7
4
4
5
2

4
4
8
1
3
2
1

Households with specified number of persons normally employed—Continued

Number of
persons in
household

4 persons

5 persons

6 persons

Total___

Table 29.—Number

Number of persons in house­
hold

employed Dec. 1, by

Total
house­
holds

household

Number of households with specified number of persons
employed Dec. 1
None

Total.

9 or more.

The 4 households of 8 persons each that normally had 3 persons
employed, at time of survey had wage earners as follows: In 1
there was no one working, in another there was only 1 person em­
ployed, and the remaining 2 had but 2 wage earners each instead of
the usual 3.



42

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES

Table 30.—Number of households with normal number of persons employed Dec. 1,

by size of household
Number of households with specified number of persons normally employed

Number of persons in
household

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

_________ __

1
2................
.......................
3
4______ ___ _
5...____ _________________
6
7
8 or more_____________

All house­
holds

Normally 1
wage earner

With
normal
Total number Total
em­
ployed

Normally 2
wage earners

Normally 4 or
more wage
earners

Normally 3
wage earners

1 wage
2 wage
earner
earners
Total
Total
em­
em­
ployed
ployed
Dee. 1
Dec. 1

234

67

61

38

91

23

51

32
46
27
46
32
20
12
19

20
17
9
14
2
4
1

32
17
7
3

20
9
6
2

29
14

8
3

6

3 wage
All wage
earners
earners
Total
em­
em­
ployed
ployed
Dec. 1
Dec. 1
4

31

2

1
2
1

1
13

As would be expected, the larger the number of persons normallyemployed the smaller was the proportion of households with all their
wage earners at work. Of the 61 households with only 1 person
usually employed more than three-fifths (62.3 percent) still had 1
wage earner at time of survey, but only one-fourth (25.3 percent) of
those that normally had 2 working, and only 7.3 percent of those that
normally had 3 or more, were so fortunate as still to have all these
employed. In a household of 14 persons with normally 4 males and
2 females at work no one at all was employed.
The table following shows the numbers of persons at work at time
of survey and the numbers that normally were wage earners:
Table 31.—Number of persons per household normally employed and number

employed Dec. 1
Number of persons normally
employed
Total........................................
1
2._________________________
3___________________________
4____________________
5__________________________
6______________________ ______
7______________________________

Total
house­
holds

Number of households with specified number of persons at
work Dec. 1
None

1

2

3

234

55

104

57

61
91
51
19
7
3
2

23
24
7

38
44
17
4

23

4
11

1

5
4

3

■

1

Employment status of women and men in the households

Of the 234 households, there were 73 in which none of the normally
employed wage earners were men. Women have more opportunity
than men for work during a depression period. This is due in part to
the effort to reduce costs of production by paying as little as possible
for wages. Many women are taken on in the place of men because
usually they can be hired at a lower rate. In Arkansas the proportion
of normally employed persons who had jobs at time of survey was
considerably greater in the case of the women than of the men.
Two households of 9 persons that normally had 4 employed—2 males
and 2 females—at time of survey had only a woman working.



43

UNEMPLOYMENT IN LITTLE IIOCK

Table 32.—Number of households with normal number of women employed Dec. 1,

by size of household
Number of households with specified number of women
normally employed

Number of persons in
household

Households
with
normal
number
of

Total
house­
holds

em­
ployed

Total.
1__.................

2........

3.............
4__.............
5................

..........
8
9 ........
or more.
6
7 ...........

Normally 1
woman wage
earner

Total

Normally 2
women wage
earners

Normally 3
women wage
earners

Normally 4
women wage
earners

1 woman
2 women
3 women
4 women
em­
em­
em­
em­
ployed Total ployed Total ployed Total ployed
Dec. 1
Dec. 1
Dec. 1
Dec. 1

234

1127

174

103

32
46
27
46
32
20
12
11
8

20
24
17
21
20
12
6
5
2

32
44
24
29
22
11
5
5
2

20
23
14
18
14
9
2
3

43

18

2
3
12
7
6
5
5
3

1
3
3
3
3
3
2

15

5

5
3
3
2

3

2

1

1
1

2

154.3 percent of the households had the usual number of women employed.

Table 33.—Number of households with normal number of men employed Dec. lt

by size of household
Number of households with specified number of men
normally employed

Total
Total
house­
Number of persons holds
with
in household
men 16
and
over

2__.................................
3__................................
4__________ ______
5......................................
6.....................................
7.....................................
8
9 or more....................

holds
with
men
who
normally
would
be em­
ployed

House­
holds
with
normal
number

Normally 1
man wage
earner

em­
ployed
Total

Normally 2
men wage
earners

Normally 3
men wage
earners

Normally 4
men wage
earners

1 man
2 men
3 men
4 men
em­
em­
em­
em­
ployed Total ployed Total ployed Total ployed
Dec. 1
Dec. 1
Dec. 1
Dec. 1

172

1161

54

111

47

30
24
38
30
19
12
11
8

28
19
35
30
18
12
11
8

13
6
18
5
8
1
1
2

28
15
30
15
13
7
3

13
6
17
3
7

36
4
4
12
4
5

12

1
2
1
1

None

1

1

1

133.5 percent of the households that normally employed men had the usual number employed.

In 127 of 234 (54.5 percent) of the households that normally had
women wage earners were the usual number of women employed at
time of survey, but in only 54 of 161 (33.5 percent) of the households
that normally had men wage earners were the usual number still
employed.
Further, at the time the study was made, households where the
only employed person was a woman were much more numerous than
those where a man was the only one carrying the responsibility.
There were 61 households of at least 2 persons where a woman was
the sole wage earner. Forty-five of them were households with at
least two persons in addition to the woman worker. In a few of these



44

WOMEN IN ARKANSAS INDUSTRIES

there were as many as 5 to 7 persons in addition to the woman wage
earner; in one there were 8. The following lists show the size of the
househo ds in which the sole wage earner was a woman and of those
in which only a man was employed December 1.
SOLE WAGE EARNER A WOMAN

Number of households

Number of persons in household:

Total families
1 (woman),
2
3
4..__________
5____________________________________________________________
6

81
20
16
12
15
7
6

7 ______________

2

8

2

9______

1
SOLE WAGE EARNER A MAN
Total families

23

2................................................................................................... .............................. .....................................
3_____
4___________ ________ _____________ ______ -_______ ___________________
5 ...

6
4
5
4

6 ... ..................................... ....................................... ........................

2

7.._________ ___________________________________________________ ____________ -__________ ___________________
8_______ _________
1

1

The summary following shows that of 507 persons normally em­
ployed in the 202 households of 2 or more persons, only 262 (51.7
percent) had jobs on the first of December and only 182 (35.9 percent)
of them were employed full time. Three-fifths (60.7 percent) of
the women normally wage earners were employed on that date, but
only two-fifths (40.5 percent) of the men. As to full-time work,
only 44.6 percent of the women and as few as 25.1 percent of the
men had full-time work.
Persons
Employment status
Number

Normally employed:

Percent

507

100. 0

227
280

44. 8
55. 2

__

262

100.0

____
______

92
170

35. 1
64. 9

Employed at full-time work:
Total _____
__ _____ _______

182

100. 0

Male _-____________________

57
125

31; 3
68. 7

Male __________
Female

____ ________

Employed Dec. 1:
Total- __ ______ ____
Male
Female __




__

UNEMPLOYMENT IN LITTLE ROCK

45

One of the serious problems of a depression period such as this is
the difficulty and resultant lowering of morale experienced by young
people just out of school who look in vain for work. Much publicity
has been given to the way in which this group of unemployables is
increasing. In the homes visited in Arkansas 40 percent of the per­
sons listed as not normally employed were at least 16 years old, and
one-sixth of them had never had a job.
Effects of unemployment
standards

and

decreased

earnings on living

Reduced employment and the decreases in earnings 2 were making
serious inroads on the standards of living of these Little Rock families,
many of whose workers were or had been employed in the garment
factories of the city. Families had, in many instances, moved into
smaller and much less desirable quarters or gone into the homes of
relatives. In many of the households visited there had been too
little food much of the time.
In 144 households of 227 for which it was reported, there never had
been any savings, and of the 88 that had had savings, only 13 reported
them as still intact. In 41 households, savings had been used up
entirely. Seven families had lost part or all of them in bank failures,
and in 18 others part or all were unavailable for some other reason.
It is not to be wondered at that 125 of the households acknowledged
having received some outside assistance during the year.
* See Tenth Biennial Report, Bureau of Labor and Statistics, Arkansas, 1931-32, p. 7 Thirty-seven
percent of the average number of persons employed in 1929 throughout the State were unemployed in the
month ending July 15,1932, and the total pay-roll loss for the same period was 54 percent.




O