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U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
JAMES j. davis, Secretary

WOMEN'S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Director

BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN'S BUREAU, NO. 22

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES
A STUDY OF HOURS, WAGES, AND
WORKING CONDITIONS

'i&rc.ot

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1922

, ^

[Public—No. 259—66th Cokgress.]
.
[H. H. 13229.]

An Act To establish In the Department of Labor a bureau to be
known as the Women’s Bureau.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be
established in the Department of Labor a bureau to be known as the
Women’s Bureau.
Sec. 2. That the said bureau shall be in charge of a director, a
woman, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate, who shall receive an annual compensa
tion of $5,000. It shall be the duty of said bureau to formulate
standards and policies which shall promote the welfare of wage
earning women, improve their working conditions, increase their
efficiency, and advance their opportunities for profitable employ
ment. The said bureau shall have authority to investigate and
report to the said department upon all matters pertaining to the
welfare of women in industry. The director of said bureau may
from time to time publish the results of these investigations in such
a manner and to such extent as the Secretary of Labor may prescribe.
Sec. 3. That there shall be in said bureau an assistant director,
to be appointed by the Secretary of Labor, who shall receive an
annual compensation of $3,500 and shall perform such duties as
shall be prescribed by the director and approved by the Secretary
of Labor.
Sec. 4. That there is hereby authorized to be employed by said
bureau a chief clerk and such special agents, assistants, clerks, and
other employees at such rates of compensation and in such numbers
as Congress may from time to time provide by appropriations.
Sec. 5. That the Secretary of Labor is hereby directed to furnish
sufficient quarters, office furniture, and equipment, for the work of
this bureau.
Sec. 6. That this act shall take effect and be in force from and
after its pasasge.
Approved, June 5, 1920.

SCHEDULED WEEKLY HOURS FOR WOMEN—GEORGIA

PER CENT

OF WOMEN
joo i------- r

(including Atlanta)

55 hours

60hOHR5

55 54
55 5 6
57
SCHEDULED HOURS

63
•

Note.—Fractions of hours not shown. Each column includes fractions above stated hour, e. g.,,48 and
under 49, 49 and under 50, etc.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
JAMES J. DAVIS, SECRETARY

WOMEN’S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Director

BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU, NO. 22

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES
A STUDY OF HOURS, WAGES, AND
WORKING CONDITIONS

!£eNT

■fejXSOj,

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1922

•

CONTENTS
Page.

Part I: Introduction
Scope and method
Conclusion_______
Summary----------------------------------------- :---------------- —------------------Tart II: The Georgia survey--------------------------------------------------------------Numbers:-------------------------------------------------------------------------- -—
Hours
15
Weekly.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Daily--------------------------------------------------------Saturday
23
Lunch periods:--------------------------------------------------------------------Night work
24
Minors___________________________________________________
Wages---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Weekly earnings-.----------------------------------- --------------------The Negro worker_______________________ ___________________
Rates and methods of payment:-------------------------------------------Earnings and hours
34
Earnings and experience----------------------_-----------------------------Yearly earnings
39
Working conditions-----------------------------------------------------------------General workroom conditions--------------------------------------------- -Hazards and strains-------------------------------------------------------------Sanitation---------------- -------------------------------------------1------------Service and welfare facilities..---------------------------------------------Employment methods------------------------- -------------------------------The workers
56
Nativity.-------------------------------------------------------------------------—
Age
56
Conjugal condition andhome responsibilities---------------------------Education
Part III: The Atlanta survey
Numbers!---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hours
62
Wages----------------Appendix—General tables ------------------------------------------------------------

1
4
6

7
13
13
17

24
25.
26

29
31
32
37
43
43
47
49
52
55
56
57
58
61
61
64
66

TEXT TABLES.
1. Scheduled weekly hours—Atlanta and the rest of the State com
bined. (Late pay-roll period for Atlanta and early pay-roll period
for the rest of the State)—------------------------------------------------2. Weekly earnings—Atlanta and the rest of the State combined. (Late
pay-roll period for Atlanta and early pay-roll period for the rest
of the State)
10

CONTENTS.

3. Number of men, women, and children employed in the establish
ments studied, by industry—Georgia
14
4. Number of establishments and number of women working specified
hours weekly by industry—Georgia
18
5. Number of establishments and number of women working specified
hours daily, by industry—Georgia. ia) Monday to Friday; (6)
, Saturday___ :_______________
6. Date of last full week worked, by industry—Georgia_______________
7. Estimated reductions in wages because of changes reported at
time of survey—Georgia
28
8. N umber of women on time work, on piecework, and on both time and
piecework, by industry—Georgia
33
9. Median earnings of women, by years in the trade—Georgia___ ____
10. Beginners’ earnings, maximum earnings, and length of experience, by
industry—Georgia„
11. Year’s earnings of women in three States
40
12. Number and per cent of women employed in specified industries in At
lanta and Georgia
61
13. Scheduled weekly hours for women employed in Atlantaand Georgia.
14. Scheduled daily hours for women employed in Atlantaand Georgia.
15. Median weekly earnings of white and Negro women in Atlanta and
Georgia________________________________
16. Median yearly earnings of white and Negro women in Atlanta and
Georgia------ :-------------------------------------------- ----------------- ----------

21
26

37
39

62
63
64
65

GENERAL TABLES.
I.
II.
III.
IV.

Scheduled and actual weekly hours—Georgia_________________
Hours worked less than scheduled, by scheduled hours—Georgia.
Hours worked less than scheduled, by industry—Georgia_______
Hours worked more than scheduled, by scheduled hours—
Georgia--------------------------------------------------------------------------V. Hours worked more than scheduled, by industry—Georgia_____
VI. Length of lunch period, by industry—Georgia________________
VII. Number of women with actual weekly earnings as specified, by
industry—Georgia_._____________
VIII. Weekly rates and weekly earnings—Georgia_________________
IX. Weekly earnings, by hours actually worked—Georgia__________
X. Weekly earnings, by years in the trade—Georgia______ ___ ___
XI. Year’s earnings of women for whom 52-week pay-roll records
were secured, by industry—Georgia
79
XII. Year’s earnings, by weeks worked—Georgia__________________
XIII. Weeks lost in 52-week period by women for whom 52-week pay
roll records were secured—Georgia
§1
XIV. Weeks lost on account of dosing of establishment or department
by women for whom 52-week records were secured—Georgia..
XV. Nativity of the women employees who supplied personal Informa
tion, by Industrial group—Atlanta and Georgia______________
XVI.Age of the women employees who supplied personal information,
by industrial group—Atlanta and Georgia..________________
XVII. Age of the women scheduled, by industry—Georgia___________
XVIII. Conjugal condition of the women employees who supplied per
sonal information, by industrial group—Atlanta and Georgia..

66
6S

69
70

71
72
73
75

76
7$

82
82
82
83
84

CONTENTS.

V
Page.

XIX. Living condition of the women employees who supplied personal
information, by industrial group—Atlanta and Georgia______
XX. Scheduled weekly
hours—Atlanta----------------------------------XXI. Hours worked less than scheduled, by scheduled hours—
Atlanta
86
XXII. Hours worked less than scheduled, by industry—Atlanta______
XXIII. Actual and median weekly earnings, by industry—Atlanta____
XXIV. Weekly rates, byindustry—Atlanta
88
XXV. Year’s earnings of women for whom 52-week pay-roll records
were secured, by industry—Atlanta
89

84
85
86

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
U. S. Department

oe Labor,
Women’s Bureau,

Washington, January 6,1922.
I have the honor to submit the accompanying report giving the
result of a study of hours, wages, and working conditions of women
employed in the industries of the State of Georgia.
The period covered by this survey extended from May 28 to July
13, 1920, and from February 15 to April 15, 1921. The investigation
was made at the request of organizations interested in working con
ditions among women. The Women’s Bureau worked in close co
operation with Mr. H. M. Stanley, commissioner of the Georgia De
partment of Commerce and Labor.
The Atlanta survey was conducted by Miss Helen Bryan and the
State-wide survey was conducted by Mrs. Ethel L. Best. The ma
terial secured was tabulated by the Women’s Bureau and the report
written by Mrs. Ethel L. Best. A preliminary printed report has
been submitted to the organizations interested, the department of
commerce and labor of Georgia, and the firms visited.
Respectfully submitted.
Mart Anderson, Director.
Hon. James J. Davis,
Secretary of Labor.
Sir:

VII

PAET I.
INTRODUCTION.
The periods covered by this survey of industrial conditions for
women in Georgia extended from May 28 to July 13, 1920, and from
February 15 to April 15, 1921. The time covered was one of transi
tion. In the spring of 1920, industry and business throughout the
United States were booming. At that time the United States Em
ployment Service reported placements for nearly three-quarters (73.1
per cent) of those registered.1 However, from June, and in some in
stances from July, a steady decrease was observed in the numbers
employed. According to a report issued by the National Industrial
Conference Board, in all industries from which that organization
received figures a decrease of 20 per cent in the number of women
employees took place between June and December, 1920.2 This re
duction in the working force was accompanied by a decrease in
weekly earnings. The decrease was rapid during November and
December, and by the last of December weekly earnings were 30 per
cent lower than in June. Figures from the Bureau of Labor Statis
tics of the United States Department of Labor confirm this rapid
decline in earnings.3 Reports to this bureau from 2,313 establish
ments in 395 industries showed that between July, 1920, and the fol
lowing March (1921) 98.9 per cent of the workers in these plants had
received reductions in wages.
Decreases in the cost of living occurred more slowly than the wage
decreases. For 32 cities throughout the United States the decrease
was 16.1 per cent from June to December, 1920.4 The two Georgia
cities for which records were obtained, Atlanta and Savannah,
showed considerably less of a decrease in the cost of living between
these two periods than the average throughout the country. Atlanta
had a decrease of 8.2 per cent and Savannah one of of 10.7 per cent.
If this is significant of the State as a whole, it is plain that the de
crease in earnings created an especially serious condition in Georgia.
When weekly earnings have decreased 30 per cent and the eost of
1 Activities of United States Employment Service, 1918, to June 30, 1920. Monthly
Labor Review, v. 12, No. 2, Feb., 1921, p. 123.
2 National Industrial Conference Board. Wage changes in industry, September, 1911December, 1920,, National Industrial Conference Board Research Report Stf, March,
1921, p. 5.
3 Changes in rates of wages,. July 1, 1920, to Mar. 31, 1921. Monthly Labor Review, v.
12, No. 5, May, 1921, p. 65.
4 Changes in cost of living in the United States. Monthly Labor Review, v 12 No 2
February, 1921, p. 52-01.

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

living about 10 per cent, there must be considerable difficulty in
adjusting the two.
Conditions in the cotton industry, which is of great importance
in Georgia, were particularly serious and emphasize the difficulty
of this adjustment in living. In the textile plants for which figures
were secured by the National Industrial Conference Board, the
number of women decreased 28.6 per cent, and in these same plants
actual earnings decreased 32 per cent.5 Throughout the country
more decreases in wages were reported for the textile industry from
July 1, 1920, to March 31, 1921, than for any other of the 395 indus
tries included in the figures of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The
importance to the workers of Georgia of this tremendous decline in
the textile industries, both in the numbers employed and in the
earnings of those still working, is evident from the fact that Georgia
ranks third among the cotton-producing States in the number of
spindles and looms in its mills.6 This large industry, therefore,
conditions the lives of thousands of women in the State. It is
equally true to say that it conditions the lives of thousands of fami
lies, for whole families still work in the mills, as is shown by the
following advertisement which appeared in a newspaper in Georgia
during the course of this survey:
WANTED—Families of spinners and spoolers for night work.
We can use other members of families in other departments of the
mill and can let some members of families work in the daytime,
if necessary.

Such advertisements as this are distributed in towns at circuses
or celebrations which attract farmers from the surrounding country.
The benefits to be derived from cotton-mill work and the wages paid
to adults and children are described, and families are obtained who
hope for a more comfortable life and better earnings in the mill than
on the farm.
By these methods employees are drawn from the farms and hills,
and native Americans fill the southern mills. This is in rather strik
ing contrast to the New England mills where, in 1905, 61.3 per cent
were of foreign birth.7 In the southern mills at the same time no
foreign-born workers were found, and but 0.3 per cent of the wTorkers
had foreign-born parents. Among the workers who reported their
nativity in the surveys just completed, 0.4 per cent were of foreign
birth.
E National Industrial Conference Board. Op. cit., p. 10—12.
6 National Association of Cotton Mill Manufacturers. Standard cotton mill practice
and equipment. Boston, 1021, p. 96-97.
7 U. S. Department of Commerce and Labor. Report on condition of woman and child
wage earners in the United States, v. 1 : Cotton textile Industry. Washington, 1910, p.
108, 120. (61st Cong., 2d sess., S. Doc. 645.)

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

The life of the workers in the mill towns of the South is very
largely controlled by the mill management. The greater part of the
waking time (from 10 to 11 hours) is spent in the mill, where the
care and thought given to conditions such as the regulation of heat,
humidity, and lint determine the comfort or discomfort of the work
ers during their working hours. The heat of the South increases
the difficulty of properly adjusting the temperature in the mill. That
some mechanical adjustment is necessary is shown by the fact
that during the course of this survey in only one mill of the 62 visited
was the amount of heat and humidity left to chance. In all others
some mechanical adjustment is necessary is shown by the fact
would seem to be the result of experience, for in 1907, when the
United States Department of Commerce and Labor reported on the
number of mills where a mechanical device regulated heat and hu
midity, only 28 out of 152 had such regulations.8
When the workers go home at the end of the day it is in many
cases to mill-owned houses, and if it is a typical mill village they do
their shopping at mill-owned stores. In some of these towns there
are fine recreation buildings, with gymnasiums, club rooms, and
motion-picture shows several times a week. For the children, schools
are supplied either by the mill management or by State or local funds
in cooperation with the management. Perhaps it is due to the
monotony of having life too ordered from without, or perhaps just
human restlessness, but there is much moving of workers from one
mill town to another. In talks with the workers it was found that
most of them had worked in other mills. One manager said they
seldom had to train operatives, most of them were experienced when
they came. In 1907 a manufacturer of North Carolina9 “ estimated
that 60 per cent of the inhabitants of an ordinary mill village be
longed to this migratory class.” Whether this habit of changing
from job to job is decreasing, it is impossible to say, but the increased
provision for schools and recreational facilities in the villages would
seem to show an effort to interest and retain the workers.
Besides the textile industry, large groups of women were in stores
and laundries. The problems of the work in stores in Georgia are
much the same as throughout the country. The saleswomen, who
comprise the large majority of the workers, are subject to the strain
of constant standing and to the nervous tension of selling goods. The
nonselling force, which consists of the office staff, cashiers, telephone
and elevator operators, have also certain difficulties that are seldom
realized by the public. One cashier indignantly gave expression to
her opinion along this line:
'
I work so hard, always in a rush and under a nervous strain. I take charge
of all the O.O.D. packages, the new ones and the old ones that pile up when not* •
8 TJ. S. Department of Commerce and Labor.
• Ibid., p. 127.

Op. cit., p. 365,

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES-.

delivered. I get out all the- correspondence about the old G.O.D.’a I answer
questions at the- window until I’m. a regular information buream I have an
awful lot of'responsibility, am under a $2,000-bond, and I get only $22.50 a week.

The only special problem in the stores in Georgia was the long
working-hours on Saturday in many of the towns. This was a great
hardship to the girls and many complained of the overfatigue re
sulting from an 11 or 12 hour day.
Laundries have their own particular characteristics different from
those of other industries. The excessive heat and humidity, the
handling of soiled clothes, and the constant standing malm the in
dustry more disagreeable and more hazardous than many others. In
a warm climate the problems of heat and humidity are much in
creased and special study of ventilating appliances is needed.
Although it is impossible to eradicate all bad features it has been
shown by progressive laundry establishments that it is quite pos
sible to remedy conditions greatly by the introduction of certain
up-to-date appliances..
In laundries the irregularity of the daily hours often results in
hardship, especially if a holiday comes in the week. When this
happens, the work, must be made up on other days, which means ex
cessively long hours, and as a result laundries are closed but few days
in the year. In several laundries Christmas was the only day when
no work was done, although a half holiday was given on the Fourth
of July.. The middle of the week is the busy time in most laundries-.
At the beginning and end of the week the hours are shorter, but of
late years the work has been more evenly divided throughout the
week. This improvement is sometimes accomplished by careful
routing of the various sections of a community. Goods in one section
are called for on Monday and delivered on Thursday, while in an
other section Tuesday and Friday, and in still another Wednesday
and Saturday are the collection and delivery days.. When railroad
or steamship work is done, however, another method must be in
stituted.
SCOPE AND METHOD.

The facts discussed in this report were obtained from two surveys.
The first, begun May 28, and completed July 13, 1920, was made in
the city of Atlanta, at the request of certain prominent citizens in
terested in the city’s economic and civic betterment. The second
survey was made several months later, between February 15 and
April- 15, 1921, and included' the entire State, exclusive of Atlanta.
The State survey was decided on after a request was received from
the Federation of Women’s Clubs and tbe League of Women Voters
of Chatham County for information concerning the women workers
of their county. It was deemed advisable to include the entire State

WOMBS' IS GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

in this study, as any action taken by these groups would affect
workers throughout the State. With few exceptions, the findings on
wages and hours here presented are given separately for Atlanta and
the State ; in. the discussion of working conditions and the workers,
where the situation in Atlanta was similar to that in the rest of the
State, the figures for the two surveys have been combined.
Effort was made in both surveys to secure information regarding
a representative number of women engaged in manufacturing and
mercantile establishments and laundries, and to report on their wages,
hours, and conditions of work. In planning the survey, Mr. H. M.
Stanley, the commissioner of labor of Georgia, was consulted as to
the towns and cities- where industries employing many women were
located, and additional advice was obtained from city officials and
club officers in tbe various places visited.
Information about hours, wages, and working conditions was
secured by the investigators from interviews with employers, man
agers, and foremen, from inspection of plants, and from the pay rolls.
In order to obtain accurate and reliable statistics,, data were taken
from the pay rolls by the investigators personally. A factory sched
ule was used to record information as to the number of employees—
men, women, and children,-: the daily and weekly hours, the lunch
period,. Saturday half-holidays, overtime; rates of wages, the pay
period, fines, bonuses, initial rates for beginners; the labor turnover,
and the seasonal nature of the industry. In addition, notations were
made about the working conditions in each plant; the space, heat
ing, lighting, ventilation, cleanliness, and seating in the workrooms;
the occupational and fire hazards ; the sanitary, service, and welfare
facilities and the methods of employment management. Another
schedule used was a card for each employee on which were recorded
the amounts received during two pay-roll periods of one week each.
Two full weeks were selected for this pay-roll record, one early in
1920 and the other early in 1921.10 Hours of work, the rate of
pay,, and the actual earnings for these two pay-roll periods, to
gether with the occupational group and method of payment, whether
by time or piece, were also included on this schedule. With this
information was combined the information contained on cards
filled out by the employees, giving name, address, occupation, con
jugal condition,, country of birth, age, age at beginning work, length
of experience in the industry, length of employment with the pres
ent firm, and a. statement whether living at home or boarding. A
52-week schedule also> was used, on which were recorded the actual
earnings for each week in the year of a representative number of
women workers in the establishment. All these statistics were sup10 In a number of instances it was necessary to take tfie second week in tbe latter part
of 1920, as no full week had been worked in 1921.

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

plemented by information obtained through home visits to employ
ees, when personal facts were secured. The following cities and
towns were included in the State survey: Savannah, Augusta, Ma
con, Columbus, Athens, Rome, Dalton, Lagrange, Cedartown, Mari
etta, Griffin, Gainesville, Lindale, Porterdale, and Brunswick.
CONCLUSION.

The most striking facts shown in the following pages are the long
hours of work and the lack of sanitary and service provisions.
Wages were in many cases inadequate, but did not present so imme
diate a problem as that of the proper regulation of hours and work
ing conditions. The working week of almost two-thirds (65.1 per
cent) of the women reported in this survey was 55 hours and over,
while an excessively long week of 60 hours and more was scheduled
for over one-quarter (27.2 per cent). Equally startling are the
numbers of women who worked long daily hours. One-half (51.3
per cent) had a work day of 10 hours and over, and 14.1 per cent
of 11 hours and over.
The equipment of most establishments not only was inadequate
but exhibited a conspicuous lack of the essentials of decency and
comfort. The report shows that of a total of 122 establishments,
washing facilities were totally lacking in 9 plants and unsatisfac
tory in 98. Toilets were in many cases both insufficient in number
and poorly cleaned and equipped. Rest rooms and cloak rooms were
conspicuously absent in the great majority of the plants.
Long hours and inadequate sanitary and service equipment for
many workers are the inevitable result when such provisions are
left largely to the decision of the individual employer. Although
the more intelligent employers make adequate provision for the
needs of their workers, those who are shortsighted show it in the
lack of such equipment in their establishments.
Underlying all social conduct, whether in economic or in civil life,
lies the will of the majority. When new and better standards are
desired by a community, this desire must be embodied in some form
which is the natural expression of the people’s will. It is necessary,
further, that each community or State in creating standards must
establish the power for their enforcement.
No standards can be accepted by a community and honestly en
forced unless founded on a basis of fact. Certain people of Georgia
knew this and desired to be sure of the facts that they might for
mulate such standards. This interest which has been shown by them,
and their wish to know the truth, can be trusted to find the best
means of establishing a shorter day and better conditions for the
working women of Georgia.

SUMMARY.

Extent of surveys.
Number of eities and towns included, 16.
Number of establishments visited, 131.
Number of women and girls employed in these establishments, 9,900.

Hours.
Hour data for 102 plants31 showed:
Weekly—
A schedule of more than 54 hours for 72.7 per cent of the women.
A schedule of 48 or less for 1.5 per cent of the women.
Hours less than scheduled worked by 47.4 per cent of the women.
Daily—
A schedule of 10 hours and over for 45 firms, employing 04.3 per
cent of the women.
A schedule of less than 9 hours for 23 firms, employing 12.7 per
cent of the women.
Scheduled Saturday hours shorter than other daily hours in ail
manufacturing establishments but two.
Scheduled Saturday hours the same as other daily hours or
longer in all stores.
Scheduled Saturday hours shorter in all but 3 laundries.
The shortest lunch period was 25 minutes; the longest was 14
hours. Thirty per cent of the women had a 30-minute period
and 30 per cent had 1 hour.

Wages.
Wage data for 102 plants32 showed:
Weekly—
Median earnings for white women were $12.20, for Negro women
$6.20.

Highest earnings for white women were in cigar manufacturing,,
with a median of $15.90.
Highest earnings for Negro women were in food manufacturing,
with a median of $10.35.
Lowest earnings for white women were in miscellaneous manu
facturing, with a median of $9.15, and 5-and-l 0-cent stores, with
a median of $9.25.
Lowest earnings for Negro women were in garment manufactur
ing, with a median of $3.90.
Yearly—
Median earnings for white women were $748 and for Negro women
$413.
Highest earnings for white women were in cigar manufacturing,
with a median of $1,000.
Highest earnings for Negro women were in food manufacturing,
with a median of $600.11 * *
11 Hours for Atlanta plants are not given here, but are in Part III.
' 12 Wages for workers in Atlanta are recorded in Part III.

88045°—22-----2

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

Wages—Continued.
Yearly—Continued.
Lowest earnings for white women were in laundries, with a
median between $450 and $500.
Lowest earnings for Negro women were in laundries, with a
median of just below $350.

Workroom conditions.
General workroom conditions in 122 plants were reported as*follows:
Overcrowded and untidy workrooms in 39 plants.
Cleaning arrangements unsatisfactory in 54 plants.
Natural lighting inadequate in 22 plants, and artificial lighting in
adequate or badly arranged in 74 plants.
Seats not provided in 11 establishments. Seats either insufficient in
number or makeshift in 58 establishments.
Hazards, such as nninclosed overhead belts, unguarded wheels and set
screws, unguarded elevator shafts, etc., in 53 plants.
Fire hazards in more than one-half of the establishments.

Sanitation.
Common drinking cups or none were provided in 81 plants of the 122
reporting.
Washing facilities were lacking in 9 plants and unsatisfactory in 98.
Toilets were insufficient in number in 59 establishments, and in 10, men and
women used the same.

Service and welfare.
The plants reporting showed:
No lunch rooms in 101 establishments.
No rest rooms in 95 establishments.
No cloakrooms in 78 establishments.
No first-aid equipment in 49 establishments.

The workers.
The number of foreign-born was 13 in a total of 3,186 women reporting.
The ages of the women fell in three groups: Slightly less than one-third of
those reporting (30.4 per cent) were under 20 years, slightly more than onethird (34.7 per cent) were 20 and under 30, and slightly more (35 per cent.)
were 30 and over.
Women who were or had been married comprised 50.2 per cent of the 3,132
women reporting.
The women who lived at home comprised 85.7 per cent of the 2,919 replying
to this question.
The age of leaving school for about two-thirds of the 1S5 white women re
porting on this was 14 years or younger. The grade completed by 40 per cent
of these women was the fourth or under, and only 14 per cent had finished
grammar school.
SUMMARY OF HOURS AND WAGES IN ATLANTA.

Hours.
Hour data for 26 plants showed:
Weekly—

A schedule of 55 hours and over for 20.6 per cent of the women.
A schedule of 48 hours and under for 32 per cent of the women.
Hours less than scheduled worked by 32.8 per cent of the women.

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

Hours—Continued.
Daily—
A schedule of 10 hours and over was reported by 8 firms, employing
12.9 per cent of the women.
A schedule of less than 9 hours was reported by 7 firms, employing
47.9 per cent of the women.
Scheduled Saturday hours were shorter than daily hours in all
manufacturing establishments.
Scheduled Saturday hours were the same as daily hours or longer
in all stores.13
Scheduled Saturday hours were shorter in 2 of the 4 laundries.

Wages.
Wage data for 26 plants showed:
Weekly—

Median earnings for white women were $13.05, and for Negro
women $7.15.
Highest earnings for white women were in department stores, with
median earnings of $16.05.
Highest earnings for Negro women were in box manufacturing,
with a median of about $13.
Lowest earnings for white women were in candy manufacturing,
with median earnings of $11.
Lowest earnings for Negro women were in laundries, with median
earnings of $6.95.
Yearly—
Median earnings for white women were $721, and for Negro women
$384.“
Highest earnings for white women were in department stores,
with median earnings of $888.
Lowest earnings for white women were in 5-and-lO-cent stores,
with median earnings of $546.
The 26 Negro women with 52-weelc records in laundries had a
median of $382.* 11
13 In summer 4 stores gave a half holiday during the week.
11 No Negro women reported yearly earnings in stores and but one in factories.

Figures for the entire State.
Although this report consists of two surveys, one of Atlanta and
the other of the rest of the State, it is possible to present certain valid
figures for the State as a whole, based on figures secured in each sur
vey. The tables next following, and the accompanying chart and the
frontispiece, give data for the entire State on the two most significant
subjects—wages and hours. The figures given here are compiled
from the facts gathered for the late pay-roll period in Atlanta, about
June, 1920, and the early pay-roll period in the State, between Feb
ruary and April, 1920.
Table 1.—Scheduled

weekly hours—Atlanta and the rest of the State combined.

[Late pay-roll period for Atlanta and early pay-roll period for the rest of the State.]

Scheduled weekly hours.

Women whose
scheduled weekly
hours were as
specified.

Scheduled weekly hours.

Number. Per cent.

Number. Per cent.
234
556
34
8
453
53
181
53 and under 54.........................

730

Women whose
scheduled weekly
hours were as
specified.

2.9
6.9
.1
.4
.1
5.6
.7
2.3
4. 4
,t

196
2, 508
310
152
74
2,127
57

2.4
31.2
3.9
1.9
.9
26.5
.7

8,034

100.0

Table 2.—Weekly earnings—Atlanta and the rest of the State combined.
[Late pay-roll period for Atlanta and early pay-roll period for the rest of the State.]
Number of women
receiving each speci
fied amount.

Number of women
receiving each speci
fied amount.
Weekly earnings.

Weekly earnings.
White.
117
126
135
185
286

$16 and under $17.....................

62
65
63
130
235

$20 and under $21.....................

197

$22 and under $23.....................

156
80
20
26
14
14
396

White.

Negro.

366
313
278
191
176
130
151
96
93
210
62
24
8
3
4

Negro.
10
2
1
1
1

-4

WEEKLY EARNINGS OF WHITE WOMEN - GEORGIA
(INCLUDING ATLANTA;

■

-lu

11 i-iaujini L 1 1 r

1 ran:

~TTT

nr
i

—

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES-

WEEKLY EARNINGS OF NEGRO WOMEN - GEORGIA
(INCLUDING ATLANTA)

PER CENT
OF WOMEN

. (Liv.l.

Under Z 2.3456789 10 II 12 13 14 15 16 17 Id 19 20 21 22

DOLLARS

PART II.
THE GEORGIA SURVEY.
NUMBERS.

Computations from advance figures of the recent census show that
the proportion of Georgia’s population at work was not so great in
1920 as in 1910. For the women workers the proportional decrease
was 9.8 per cent, and for the men 8.1 per cent. In spite of this de
crease in the proportion of workers in the female population, in
certain localities the actual number of female workers increased. In
four of the principal cities of Georgia there was an actual increase of
20.5 per cent in the number of women wage earners. In contrast
to this condition in the cities, the number of women wage earners
in the State as a whole shows a decrease instead of an increase. In
1910 the census reported 352,941 women wage earners in Georgia,16
while in the 1920 census 297,118 women,16 a decrease of 15.8 per cent,
were reported. This increase in the cities and decrease throughout
the State would seem to be due to a decrease in agricultural work
ers, who in 1910 comprised 59.8 per cent of the women wage earners.15
The women for whom data were secured in the surveys by the
Women’s Bureau did not include farm laborers nor workers in hotels,
restaurants, domestic service, small stores, and small industrial estab
lishments. Nevertheless, nearly 10,000 women (9,900) were found
working in the mechanical and manufacturing establishments and
larger stores. This is about 40 per cent of the women reported in
the 1910 census as engaged in mechanical and manufacturing indus
tries.1'’ These 9,900 women were found in 131 establishments.
Twenty-seven of the establishments, employing 2,595 women, were in
Atlanta. These women were distributed in many small industries
which were not found in the rest of the State. For this reason figures
showing the industrial groupings of Atlanta are discussed separately
in Part III of this report.
The numbers employed in each industry throughout the State ex
clusive of Atlanta are shown in the table following.
'
15 U. S. Bureaeu of the Census, 13th Census, 1910, v. 4, Population; Occupation Stalls
tics. Washington, 1914, p. 97.
10 U. S. Bureau of the Census.
Preliminary occupation statistics—Georgia, 1920
Mimeographed release, Aug. 27, 1921.

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

■

of men, women, anti children employed in the establishments
studied, by industry—Georgia.

16
33

<«arment manufacturing.
Cigar manufacturing---Food manufacturing---Miscellaneous manufac-

6.4
1.5
70.1

366
10.6 1,124
41
257
3. C
59.5 12,315 7,778

736
32.6
207
16.0
63.2 3,954

65.5
80.5
32.1

274

2.5
2. C
1.2
4.8

4.2
4.2
2.4
2.0

440
351
20G
837

103
54
32
696

23.4
15.4
15.5
83.2

238
269
123
121

54.1
76.6
59.7
14.5

63
27
45
20

14.3
7.7
21.8
2.4

3.3

8.C 1 454
5.3 7 58f

824
202

56.7
34.8

12C
58

8.3
10.0

318

35.1
54.7

All industries........ 104 100. Oj 100.0 17,565 10,096

57.5 5,826

33.2 1,277

Per cen t. '

Number.

7 0.6
1 0.1
1.2
1
2.3
.4
2 .8
2.2 138 1.1 171 1.4

4
6

Girls.

Per cent.

Boys.

Number.

Per cent.

Negro
women.

Department stores.........
Textile manufacturing..
Knit-goods manufactur-

Laundries........................

Per cent.

-jz;

Number.

White
women.

Men.

Per cent.

0>
O

Number and per cent of employees of each sex.

Number.

£
o3

Totalnumber of employees.

Per cent of women in each
industry.

Per cent of total employees
in each industry.

i
9
a

Industry.

Table 3.—Number

14 3.2
1

7.3 164

22 5.0
1 •3
5 2.4

.9 202 1.2

By far the largest number of women and girls, 60.2 per cent, were
employed in textile mills, and next to the largest number were in
stores. In textiles also were found the greatest number of workers
under 16. Of a total of 366 girls and boys under 16 in all in
dustries 309 w7ere employed in textile mills. The plants manufac
turing knit goods had, however, a greater proportion of young peo
ple, the group of workers under 16 amounting to 8.2 per cent of
the total number of employees in knitting mills.
The number of women and girls was found to be 41.6 per cent,
about two-fifths of the total employees. The proportion of women
and girls varied in the different industries. It wTas greatest in
5-and-10-cent stores, garment manufacturing, and cigar making, in
which industries women represented about 84 per cent of all em
ployees, while in department stores they constituted two-thirds (66.8
per cent) and in textile mills but a little over one-third (35.7 per
'cent).
The fact that in the manufacture of textiles, which is noted for
its large employment of women, only about one-third of the workers
were women, is significant of a tendency observed in the mills as
far back as 1907. In a study made at that time it was found that in
every decade from 1850 to 1900 the proportion of women in cotton
mills had decreased, and that this decrease continued up to the time
of the survey in 1908.17 In the New England States this change
17 U. S. Department of Commerce and Labor. Report on condition of woman and child
wage earners in the United States, v. 1 ; Cotton textile industry. Washington, lftlO, p.
108, 120. (61st Cong., 2d sess, S. Doc. 645.)

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

was thought to be due to the large number of immigrants, the ma
jority of whom were male and were employed in the mills. In the
South this was not the case, however, and yet there the proportion
of women decreased even more than in the North. In 1850, 61.1 per
cent of the operatives in the Southern States were women, while in
1907-8 only 31.1 per cent, about one-half the former proportion,
were women. It is suggested that the industry developed so rapidly
in the South that a sufficient number of women could not be ob
tained, and that more and more men therefore were drafted into
the industry. “ It is interesting to observe,” reads the report of
this study, “ that the period of greatest increase in the number of
employees in the cotton industry marked the greatest fall in the
proportion of women.” It might also be suggested that as the wages
paid in textile mills were increased, men were more inclined to
consider it a man’s as well as a woman’s job.
The extent to which Negro women are employed in industry in
Georgia is still comparatively small; they comprised 17.5 per cent of
the total number of women reported. They were employed to some
extent in every industry studied, although in stores and in most tex
tile mills their work was usually that of cleaning and sweeping. In
laundries there were more than five times as many Negro women as
white, and they were employed in all operations.
HOURS.

In considering the length of the working day and week it must be
remembered that there is no fixed or standard number of hours which
has been tested as best for the worker and the work in all industries.
Where there is continuous nervous or physical strain, hours should
be shorter than for work which requires but little expenditure of
energy on the part of the worker. It has, however, been found de
sirable by countries where industry has flourished longest that a gen
eral limitation should be fixed of the maximum number of daily and
weekly hours which women should be permitted to work.
At the present time Franee, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Czecho
slovakia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Spain, Poland, Finland,
Austria, Switzerland, and Portugal have laws limiting to 8 hours the
workday for workers in certain industries. In the United States
eight States, one Territory, and the District of Columbia have such a
limitation for women. In most European countries these limitations
affect both men and women. That the limitation of hours is not a
new idea, nor solely the result of the introduction of machine in
dustry, is shown by an ordinance of Ferdinand the First of the Holy
Roman Empire (1503-1564) relative to workers in the Imperial Coal
mines, which fixes the miner’s day at 8 hours, “ as it used to be of old,”

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

and forbids work on Saturday afternoons.18 In England in the fif
teenth century “ the workmen worked for only an eight-hour day.”19
The basis and the need for limitation of hours of work are stated
in the following words by Justice Brandeis:
The experience of manufacturing countries lias illustrated the evil effect of
overwork upon the general welfare. Deterioration of any large portion of the
population inevitably lowers the entire community physically, mentally, and
morally. When the health of women has been injured by long hours, not only
is the working efficiency of the community impaired, but the deterioration is
handed down to succeeding generations. Infant mortality rises, while the chil
dren of married working women, who survive, are injured by inevitable neg
lect. The overwork of future mothers thus directly attacks the welfare of the
nation.20 21

In a recent bulletin of the Women’s Bureau a similar theory is ex
pressed :
It lias been abundantly demonstrated that the relations between labor and
capital can not be left safely to the unfettered play of individual competition.
Wliat is far more important as a principle is that the regulation of hours and
conditions of work is no longer a contest between labor and capital, especially
so far as women are concerned; the State, society as an organic whole, is also
concerned.*1

The people of Georgia who asked for the facts regarding the
women workers of their State felt this responsibility, and wished to
know the conditions, in order that they, as a State, might take proper
action. At present the only law which regulates hours of work for
women in Georgia is one which limits hours—with certain excep
tions—to 10 a day and 60 a week in woolen and cotton mills, leaving
unprotected all of the women in the other industries of the State. Even
this law is so drawn that the daily limitation to 10 hours is in reality
no limitation at all, for as long as the weekly hours are kept within
60 the daily hours may be extended beyond the 10 hours stated
in the law as a standard. It is plain that this legislation is totally
inadequate in a large and growing industrial State. Older indus
trial States have passed comprehensive laws with increasingly lower
hour limitations. In Massachusetts, in 1919, an act was passed lim
iting working hours for women in manufacturing and mercantile
industries to 48 a week and 9 a day. This act has since been en
larged in scope to include elevator girls and hotel employees. The
fact that by successive acts Massachusetts has shortened the hours
which women may work is especially interesting to the people of
Georgia, as in both States the largest numbers of women employed
18 Kropotkin, Petr. Mutual aid—a factor of evolution. New York, 1002, p. 195.
10 Rogers, James E. Thorold. Economic interpretation of history. New York, 1888, p.
303.
20 Brandeis, Louis D. Curt Muller, plaintiff in error, v. State of Oregon. Brief for de
fendant in error. IT. S. Supreme Court, October term, 1907, No. 107, p. 47.
21 Webster, George W., A physiological basis for the shorter working day for women.
U. S. Dept, of Labor, Women's Bureau,. Bui. 14, 1921, p. 7.

WOMKEfT TN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

in manufacturing- establishments are in the textile industry. This
limitation of hours of work does not necessarily result in a curtail
ment of output, for in a study made by the Women’s Bureau of two
industries where hours were decreased to 48 a week, it was found
that 23 out of 35 plants reported that production was either main
tained or increased after the change to the shorter week.22 Probably
this was due in some eases to better organization and in some to
better health and strength of the workers. As one manager said,
“ Of course, whenever hours are shortened every labor-saving device
is put in and careful efficiency studies are made, so that much saving
is accomplished.” This report of the Women’s Bureau further states
that where no increased efficiency in production is possible, “ com
pensation for decreased output caused by shorter hours of work must
be looked for over a considerable period in the better health and
contentment of the workers, resulting in less absenteeism, fewer acci
dents, and a decreased labor turnover.”
The prevailing long hours in the textile mills of Georgia are par
ticularly serious because of the large number of persons employed in
an industry where, in addition to the physical strain of long hours,
there is the nervous tension accompanying most mill processes.
Psychological as well as physiological elements are potent in produc
ing fatigue, as is emphasized by Dr. Webster, who said.23
The elements off fatigue are, broadly speaking, both physiological amt
psychological. Ordinarily, fatigue is thought of only as the necessary result of
physical work. Nothing could he further from a correct conception than this.

Speaking of the causes of fatigue he says further:
Speed combined with monotony is also a potent factor in producing fatigue.
* * * Noise is another element in fatigue, as are the rhythm and speed of
the machine.

All these conditions are present in the modem textile mill where
every part of the work is done by machine except moving the cotton
from place to place, starting the machines and keeping them oiled
and in repair, and mending breaks and tears in the product. This
subjects the worker to just such strains of speed combined with
monotony and noise as Dr. Webster has described, and makes the
textile industry with its long hours a particularly serious menace to
the health of the workers.
Weekly hours.
In each plant the number of hours to be worked each day and week
are established as the scheduled or regular hours of work for the
employees. The scheduled hours of the various establishments in
“ U. S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau. Some effects of legislation limiting
hours of work for women. U. S. Dept, of Labor, Women’s Bureau, Bulletin 15, 1921, p.
18-23.
23 Webster, George W. Op. eit., p. 10.

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES,

Georgia ranged from 31 to 69 a week. Considerably more than onehalf of the 102 establishments reporting had a regular week of over
54 hours, and more than one-quarter had a regular week of 60 hours
and over. In the latter group, four-fifths of the establishments were
textile mills. Of the women employees of these establishments the
largest group (44.7 per cent) had a scheduled week of between 54
and 60 hours, and the next largest (28 per cent) had a week of 60
hours and over.
Tabus 4.—Number

of establishments and number of women working specified
hours weekly, by industry—Georgia.
Number of establishments and number of women 16 years of
age or over whose weekly hours of work were—
Total
number
reporting.

Industry.

31 hours.

44 hours.

Over 44
and under
48 hours.

48 hours.

Over 48
and under
52 hours.

EsEsEsEsEsEstab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo
lish- men. lish- men. lish- men. lish- men. lish- men. lish- men.
ments
ments
ments
ments
ments
ments

Knit-goods manufacturing.
Garment manufacturing...
Miscellaneous manufactur-

750
16
10 213
33 4,103
301
4
296
8
168
4
35
127
630
350

« 102 6,938
100.0

5
0.1

8
3 14

49
0.7

5
1

337
21

2
1

22
7

1
2 1
2

25
98
32

3
3

371
90

53
0.8

974
14.0

Number of establishments and number of women 16 years of age or over
whose weekly hours of work were—

Industry.

52 hours.

Over 52
and under
54 hours.

54 hours.

Over 54
and under
60 hours.

60 hours.

69 hours.

EsEsEsEsEsEstab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo
lish- men. lish- men. lish- men. lish- men. lish- men. lish- men.
ments
ments
inents
ments
ments
ments

Garment manufacturing—
Miscellaneous manufactur-

131

138
2.0

160

1
2
2
1

67
203
18
40

527
7.6

150

150
2.2

6
103
9
192
1 10 2,312
3
234
21

2
3

103
111

34 3,100
44.7

23 1,791

2
3

28 1,897
27.3

1 Includes one. establishment whose hours were 601 tor weavers, number not known.
8 Same establishment, entered twice, as Negro women work longer hours than do white.
8 Excludes one establishment with very irregular hours.
< Excludes two establishments with very irregular hours.

45
0.6

25
81

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

That these hours are excessively long compared with those in other
places is clear from the record of hours in two widely separated
States—Kansas and Rhode Island—which are in striking contrast to
those of Georgia. Establishments having scheduled weekly hours of
48 or less comprised 55.7 per cent of those visited in Kansas, 46.4 per
cent of those visited in Rhode Island, and 8.8 per cent of those visited
in Georgia. The longest weekly hours in Kansas were reported for
two establishments whose weekly hours were 56, while in Rhode
Island the longest hours were 54, scheduled in five establishments.
In Georgia, as already stated, more than one-half of the establish
ments visited had a week of over 54 hours and more than one-quarter
had a week of 60 hours and over
time lost and overtime.—As both the best managements and the
best workers are human and therefore variable, the scheduled hours
are not always the hours actually worked. Sometimes there are not
enough orders to keep the plant running the regular hours; often a
department will be without work, due to delay through work held up
in the preceding department. Then there are the many personal
reasons of the workers, such as illness or home duties and responsi
bilities, which shorten the hours worked. For all these causes the
actual hours are in many cases fewer than the scheduled hours. For
quite opposite reasons—haste to get out a rush order, one department
behind and anxious to catch up, the anxiety of workers to make a
little more for personal or family needs—hours longer than those
scheduled occasionally are worked.
The proportion of women for whom certain hours were scheduled
and the proportion actually working such hours during the week of
the later pay roll are shown in the following figures from Table I
in the appendix. The number of women considered here is consider
ably smaller than the number included in the preceding table, so the
percentages of women in each group do not exactly correspond with
those just given.
Per cent of women
for whom hours
specified were—
Hour group.
Scheduled Actual
weekly
hours
hours.
worked.
48 hours and under..............................................................
More than 48 hours, and less than 55.................................................................................
55 hours and over, inclusive of 60.......................................................................................
More than 60 hours.........................................................................

2.1
23.9
72.8
1.2

35.2
25.4
38.0
1.3

About three-fourths (74 per cent) of the women reporting hours
worked during the pay-roll week studied had scheduled hours of
more than 54 a week, but not quite two-fifths (39.3 per cent) actually

WOMEN IS GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

worked these hours. In the shorter week of 48 hours or less just
the opposite occurs. Many more women actually worked these
hours than were employed in establishments having such a schedule.
Over one-third (85.2 per cent) worked 48 hours and under during
the week, while but 2.1 per cent had scheduled hours of 48 and
under.
From these figures and those in Table II in the appendix it is
evident that during the latter part of 1920 and the early part of
1921 there was much time lost through various causes. In 80 of the
84 establishments for which figures were obtainable some of the
women worked fewer than the scheduled weekly hours. (See Table
II, Appendix.) Nearly one-half (47.4 per cent) of all the women
reporting from these establishments worked fewer than their sched
uled weekly hours. The amount of time lost varied from less than
one hour in the case of 17 women to 30 hours and over in the case
of 319 women. That this lost time must have seriously affected
their earnings is clear from the figures. More than two-fifths (42.6
per cent) of the women lost from 5 to 30 or more hours from their
scheduled week’s work. This means from half a day to half a week
of idle time if the working day was 10 hours, the common one in
many industrial plants. In studying the separate industries it was
found that the textile industry showed a larger amount of lost time
than any other. (See Table III, Appendix.) Of the 1,291 women
(50.1 per cent) in the textile industry who did not work the full
week, 95.7 per cent worked five or more hours less than the sched
uled week, 34.4 per cent losing 20 hours and over. In a GO-hour
week at least two days were lost by 17.2 per cent of the total num
ber of women in textile manufacturing. The least time lost was in
department stores.
How much of this lessening of the hours worked was due to the
general business and industrial depression which began during this
period, it is difficult to say. It must be remembered, however, that
although at the time of the visit many firms were running on a three
or four days weekly schedule the hours of these weeks were not
recorded, but instead the hours of the most recent full week were
taken.
The number of women who worked more than their scheduled
weekly hours was only a small proportion of all the women whose
hours were reported. Eighty-three women (2 per cent) of those
reporting worked more than their scheduled hours. Eight of these
worked overtime less, than an hour and six worked 10 or more hours.
These comprise the two extremes. The largest proportion of
workers reporting overtime work was in the textile industry (with
the exception of the miscellaneous group), and no women worked

WOMEN ITv GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

extra hours in cigar making’ and 5-and-lO-cent stores. (See Tables
IV and V, Appendix.)
That most of the overtime occurred in textile manufacture where
the scheduled hours were long, resulted in more than one-half (55.4
per cent) of the workers who worked overtime being in the group
whose scheduled hours were 55 and over.
. The fact that the same industry should report the largest per cents
of both overtime and lost time and also should have conspicuously
long regular hours would seem to point to some connection between
long hours and irregularity of work. The waste of the human
machines involved in excessively long hours, and the waste of the
purely mechanical ones in lying idle, is surely apparent. In a re
port of the Commission on Elimination of Waste in Industry it
was stated that “ a practice was not deemed wasteful unless a better
practice was available.” From the fact that the largest per cents
of overtime and lost time occur in a long-hour industry, it would
seem that a Ci better practice ” for the elimination of waste should be
shorter scheduled hours.
Daily hours.
The foregoing discussion concerns the number of hours worked
in one week, but to the worker the number of hours she must work
each day is of equal importance. In most establishments there were
no individual records of the actual hours worked each day. It was
possible, however, in the case of each establishment visited to obtain
the scheduled daily hours, and these are presented in the table fol
lowing :
Table 5.—Number of establishments and number of women working specified
hours daily, by industry—Georgia.
A.—MONDAY TO FRIDAY.
Number of establishments and number of women whose
daily hours of work: were—

Industry.

Total num>
her re
porting.
,

Under 8
hours.

Over 8 and
und:er &
hours.

8-hours.

9 hoiiFS:

Estab Wo 'Estab Wo Estab Wo Estab Wo Estab
lish
lish
lish
lish
lish Wo
ments. men. ments. men. ments. men. ments. men. ments. men.

Knit-goods manufacturing___

Miscellaneous manufacturing..

16
10
33
4
8
4
15
8
i 14

750
213
4,103
301
296
168
127
630
350

2 102

6,938
100.0

20
0.3

1 Excludes one establishment with very irregular hours.
2 Excludes two establishments with very irregular hours.

4
1

317
21

387
5.6

6
5

317
126

1
1
14

4
4

80
66

10
13

2
2
4

32
361
106

473
6.8

688
9.9

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

Table 5.—Number of establishments and number of women working specified

hours daily, by industry—Georgia—Continued.
A.—MONDAY TO FRIDA Y-Continued.
Number of establishments and number of women whose daily hours
of work were—

Industry.

Over 9 and
under 10
hours.

Over 10 and
under 11
hours.

10 hours.

11 hours.

Over 11
hours.

Estab Wo Estab Wo Estab Wo Estab Wo Estab Wo
lish
lish
lish
lish
lish
ments. men. ments. men. ments. men. ments. men. ments. men.
Department stores....................

Textile manufacturing.............
Knit-goods manufacturing---Garment manufacturing..........
Cigar manufacturing................
Food manufacturing................
Miscellaneous manufacturing..
Laundries...................................

1
1
3
3
1
1
4

178
64
214
161
40
131
108

All industries.................
Per cent distribution................

912
13.1

5-and-10-cent stores..................

2,053

6
3

586
237

1,286

2
4

103
111

1
1

15
12

2,267
32.7

850
12.3

1,296
18.7

45
0.6

B.—SATURDAY.

Total number
reporting.

Under 4 hours.

Industry.

Textile manufacturing.........................
Garment manufacturing.....................
Cigar manufacturing............................
Food manufacturing............................
Miscellaneous manufacturing..............
All industries..............................

Number for whom scheduled Saturday hours
were—

Estab
lish
ments.

Wo
men.

16
10
33
13
26
4
85
8
3 14

750
213
4,103
234
274
168
127
630
350

<99

6, 849
100.0

Estab
lish
ments.

Wo
men.

12
0.2

4 and under
5 hours.
Estab
lish.
ments.

Wo
men.

Estab
lish
ments.

31
2
3
3
1
5

3,922
170
228
161
7
438

4,926
71.9

2
2
1

35
177
12

344
5.0

1 Excludes 1 establishment not working on Saturday.
Excludes 2 establishments not working on Saturday.
8 Excludes 1 establishment with very irregular hours.
< Excludes 3 establishments not working on Saturday and 2 with very irregular hours.
2

5 and under
6 hours.
Wo
men.

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

Table 5.—Number of establishments ana number of women working specified

hours daily, by industry—Georgia—Continued.
B.—SATURDAY—Continued.

Number for whom scheduled Saturday hours were—

Industry.

6 and under
8 hours.

8 and under
10 hours.

10 and under 11 and under 12 hours and
11 hours.
12 hours.
over.

Estab Wo Estab Wo Estab
Estab
Estab
lish
lish
lish Wo lish Wo lish Wo
ments. men. ments. men. ments. men. ments. men. ments. men.
Department stores...................
5-and-l 0-cent stores..................
Textile manufacturing............
Knit-goods manufacturing___
Garment manufacturing.........
Cigar manufacturing................
Food manufacturing................
Miscellaneous manufacturing..
Laundries..................................
All industries..................
Per cent distribution................

1
1
1

100
64
7

5
1

307
21

232
14

1G1

1
2

372
5.4

434
6.3

327
4.8

311
4.5

123
1.8

Omitting Saturday, on account of the half-holiday custom, the
daily hours ranged from 7 to 1H. Less than nine hours a day was
reported by 23 firms, employing 880 women (12.7 per cent of the total
number). Nearly twice as many firms (45), employing almost twothirds (4, 458) of all the women, had scheduled daily hours of 10 and
longer. Excessively long hours of 11 and more were those scheduled
in 20 establishments, where 1,341 women (19.3 per cent) were em
ployed. These long hours were especially prevalent in textile mills,
as is shown by the fact that 32 of the 45 establishments where hours
were 10 and over were textile mills. Eighty-eight per cent of all the
women working these long hours were in the mills. Stores had the
shortest Monday-to-Friday hours. No store reported daily hours of
as much as 9|, and 11 of the 16 stores had a day of less than 9 hours.
Saturday hours.
In the textile mills and in most manufacturing establishments and
laundries shorter Saturday hours were the rule. All manufacturing
establishments, except one in food manufacturing and one in the
miscellaneous group, had shorter hours on Saturday, and 53 reported
Saturday hours of under 6. Although the scheduled Saturday hours
■ of laundries varied widely, in practically all establishments Saturday
was shorter than other days. Occasionally the short day of the week
fell on Monday, and frequently scheduled hours were not strictly ad
hered to, employees leaving when the work was finished or staying
a little later on Friday or Saturday if it was necessary in order to
get out the work. Three laundries of a total of 14 reported a sched
uled day of 10 hours on Saturday. All the others had scheduled
hours to some extent shorter than those of Monday to Friday, and
88045°—22----- 3

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

six had a Saturday of less than 7 hours. Saturday hours in stores
were in many cases excessively long, and a half holiday was unknown
except that a few establishments observed it for a couple of months
in the summer. The shortest regular Saturday hours were 9 and the
longest were 12-J-, while 20 of the total of 26 stores had Saturday hours
of 10 and over. Like all scheduled hours, moreover, these long days
did not include the lunch and supper periods.
Lunch periods.
The importance of a sufficiently long period for food and rest in
the middle of the day is especially evident where the daily hours
are long. No fixed time for a lunch period is suitable for all plants.
If the establishment is distant from the workers’ homes and their
lunch must be eaten in the plant a shorter time usually is required
than where they must go home. Whether the workers remain on the
premises or not, however, a very long day would seem to necessitate
a longer rest period at noon than when 8 hours is the day worked.
There was, nevertheless, no relation between the length of the lunch
period and the length of the working day in the plants visited. (See
Table VI, Appendix.) Textile mills, with the longest daily hours
of any industry, reported only six plants allowing as much as one.
hour for the lunch period. Forty or 45 minutes was the most com
mon time, but 5 establishments had only 30 minutes. Half-hour
periods were given in 3 establishments (textile and miscellaneous
manufacturing) where the hours were 11 a day, exclusive of the noon
period. One food manufacturing plant, with actual working hours
of 11J a day, gave but 30 minutes at noon. The shortest noon period
was 25 minutes and the longest was 1-J hours. A period of 1 hour
or longer was given in 43 of the 103 establishments reporting. Of
these, 26 were stores, where daily hours were shorter than in the
large majority of manufacturing establishments. If the workers
remained after 7 p. m. in stores, as was customary on Saturday, from
15 minutes to 1 hour was allowed for supper, the length of time
varying with the establishment. More than one plant in the manu
facturing group had certain departments in which no time off was
allowed for a meal, the workers being obliged to eat as they tended
their machines. In one mill where there was a night shift the
workers went on at 6 p. m. and worked till 7 a. m. and yet were
allowed no time away from the machines for midnight supper. This
absence of an adequate lunch period for night workers affected but
few women at the time of the investigation, but in busy seasons the
number might be large.
Night work.
At the time this pay roll was taken, the winter and early spring
of 1920-21, there were only 78 women employed at night and these

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

were all in textile mills. The hours actually worked varied from 18
to 63 a week, with 31 women (about 40 per cent) working from 54
to 63 hours. Such long hours as these without adequate provision
for food and rest must mean great hardship for the night worker,
who suffers also from the altering of normal habits of rest and sleep.
Minors.
The hours of day workers under 16 years of age are not included
in any of the foregoing figures, for two reasons. There are two laws
in Georgia which limit the number of weekly and daily hours that
minors may work. One is a Federal law which forbids the employ
ment of children under 16 for more than 8 hours a day or 48 hours
a week by firms whose product is sold outside of the State. The
other is a State law which forbids the employment of children under
14 with certain exceptions. The effect of these laws, or of the senti
ment against the employment of children, is shown by the fact that
but 188 girls appeared on the pay rolls of all the establishments for
the late pay-roll period. Of these, 51 did not report the number
of hours worked, but of the 137 whose hours wTere recorded only 14
girls worked 48 hours or longer.

WAGES.

The late winter and early spring of 1920-21, when the data for
this survey were gathered, was a time of great business depression
throughout the country. Factories that had in the last three years
increased both force and equipment were compelled through lack of
orders to close or run part time. In one building of a large cotton
mill almost an entire floor was filled with bales of cotton cloth which
was being made and stored against future orders so as to avoid
loss to the management and their employees by closing the plant.
Many plants were running but three or four days a week, and even
on these days work was not always plentiful. To get facts about
wages in Georgia it would have been obviously unfair to take
figures from these short weeks; instead, the pay roll of the last full
week worked was recorded. These full weeks showed considerable
variation as to the month in which they occurred, but from this
very fact they give some idea of the approximate data at which
individual plants in each industry began to be seriously affected by
the business depression.
The date of the last full week worked by the manufacturing estab
lishments visited is showTn in the following table:
Table 6.—Date

of last fall week worked,

Industry.

Num
ber of
estab
lish
ments.

1jij

industry—Georgia.

Number of establishments whose last full week was

Knit-goods manufacturing...
Garment manufacturing........
Miscellaneous manufacturing.

In Sep
In
Before
August, August, tember,
1920.
1920.
1920.
1

33
8

6
8

1
2

63
.

In Oc In No In De
tober, vember, cember, In 1921.
1920.
1920.
1920.
3

7
2

5
1
1
1
1

3
1

1
2
1

17
1
2
1
2
6
29
—

Judged by these figures, a depression was felt before August in
the garment and food industries, and by October there was no im
portant industry in which some establishment was not affected. By
the first of January more than one-half of the manufacturing estab
lishments felt the “ hard times ” sufficiently to cause a shortening of
the week from one to four days.
Stores and laundries also felt the business depression, but to what
extent it was more difficult to determine. In no store did it curtail
26

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

the length of the working week, and only one laundry reported a
week shorter than the regular one because of “ hard times.”
Business depression may be manifested in two other ways—by a
decrease in the number of persons employed and by lowered earnings.
In order to gauge somewhat the trend of the wage rate and opportrinities for women, wages were taken not only for the most recent
full working week, but for an earlier week in the spring of 1920,
when earnings were at their height. The comparison thus made
possible of the number of workers and their earnings1 in the early
week with the corresponding figures for the later week shows a slight
decrease in the total number of women at work and a slight decrease
in their earnings. It must be borne in mind that these figures rep
resent only the pay roll for the actual week in question, and other
factors than business depression would affect the numbers at work.
The number of white workers on the most recent pay roll taken
showed a decrease of 1.3 per cent from the number on the pay roll
at the earlier period. The decrease appeared in all industries but
the manufacture of cigars and food products and miscellaneous
manufacturing, in which groups numbers were larger for the later
period. In cigar manufacture the increase was due to the fact that
one department in the largest establishment for which records were
taken was not operating during the earlier pay-roll period. The
total number of Negro workers was greater for the later than for
the earlier period, the slight decrease in most industries being more
than made up by an increase in two industries where Negro women
were introduced to take the place of white workers.
Earnings for the later period were 5.8 per cent smaller for white
women in all industries. (See Table VII, Appendix.) The great
est reductions were in miscellaneous and textile manufacture, while
reductions also occurred in knit-goods manufacture and laundries.
Stores, and cigar, garment, and food manufacture had increased
median earnings for the later period. Earnings of Negro workers
show a median 4.6 per cent lower for the second week than for the
first week, somewhat less of a reduction in earnings than that re
ported for white workers. These smaller earnings in the late week
might be due to lower rates of pay or to fewer hours worked. The
former probably was the case in most instances, as the firms’ regular
weekly hours were the same in the early and late weeks.
In a number of establishments wage reductions or a discontinuance
of the bonus took place between the last pay-roll week taken and
the time the plant was visited. For certain groups of workers these
reductions were considerable. The wages of workers in textile
mills were seriously affected. When piece rates were lowered an
estimate of earnings at the lower rate obviously was difficult to de-

WOMB'S IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

terming, but in certain firms weavers and spinners had a bonus
withdrawn or a per cent reduction of their weekly earnings which
made possible an estimate of the wage reduction since the last pay
roll. The following figures show the estimated weekly earnings,
figured on the wages for the last full week worked and the reduc
tions which had since been made, for weavers and spinners in cer
tain mills where wage reduction had taken place since the last full
working week.
Table 7.—Estimated

reductions in wages because of changes reported at time of
survey—Oeorgi a.
Average weekly
wage.

Occupation.

Number
of firms.

8 ■

Last
pay-roll
figures.

$17.37
17.06

Per cent
Last
pay-roll decrease
of esti
figures
mated
with
earnings.
more
recent
changes.
$13.59
13.99

21.8
18.0

It must be remembered that these were not actual earnings. The
estimated decrease of 21.8 per cent for weavers and 18 per cent for
spinners is merely an indication of the probable extent of the fall
of wages between the autumn and early winter of 1920 and the spring
of 1921. At that time most mills were running only part of the
week and earnings were probably much below these “ estimated ”
earnings, which are figured for a full week.
Not only had wages been lowered and bonuses discontinued at
the time of the investigation, but in many places work was available
on only 3 or 4 days a week, and in some cases the entire plant had
been temporarily closed. One girl said she used to average $15 a
week, but since Christmas her average earnings had been $10. An
other said that working short time they “made just enough to pay
for their room and food.” A Negro girl reported that she had
worked since September for $7.50 a week, but that recently she
hadn’t got so much, as “they haven’t been running full time most
weeks.” A Negro woman who was on piece rates reported that
she used to make $0.90 or $1 a day, but since they were running only
three days a week she “ couldn’t make much.”
As far as the workers were concerned, the situation at the time of
the survey was summed up in the remark of the woman who said,
“ Short time makes it very bad.” There is no doubt that the com
bination of lowered rates and short weeks made it difficult to earn

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

a living, and it must be remembered that the figures on earnings
next presented show conditions during a week of full employment
and not the more distressing conditions which prevailed at the time
the survey was made.
Weekly earnings.
The amount which it is necessary to earn each week in order to
live decently and not lose in health and efficiency is a much discussed
question. Leo Wolman says that “ standards of living ” are esti
mated and discussed “ as if there existed in this country some gen
erally accepted standard of living that workingmen should be per
mitted to approach but not to exceed.” 24 That there can not be a
fixed standard is shown by the figures collected by different wage
boards in Massachusetts in the same year.25 One board found $10,
another $13, and still another $17.50 necessary for a woman’s main
tenance. This certainly illustrates the fact that there is no fixed
sum for a living wage. With each individual, as with each wage
board, the cost of living varies. The difference in the cost of living
for a Negro and for a white woman may be no greater than between
two white or between two Negro women, or between the findings of
two wage boards.
It is therefore impossible to determine how many women in Georgia
were earning a wage sufficient to live on, but from a summary of
Table VII in the appendix it would appear that many were receiv
ing less than enough to cover such essentials as decent food and
shelter. One woman who made the remark that she objected most
“ to low pay and unnecessary dirt ” stated that her earnings for the
past, week had been $7.50 and for the week before $6.50, and that
when she had finished paying what she already owed for food she
had just 40 cents left.
The median weekly earnings in the different industries during the
late pay-roll period were as follows:*
White
women.
All industries........................................
Department stores................................
5-and-lO-cent stores.................................
Textile manufacturing......................................
Knit-goods manufacturing.....................................
Garment manufacturing............................................................
Cigar manufacturing..........................................
Food manufacturing......................................
Miscellaneous manufacturing.......
Laundries.............................................

Negro
women.

12. 45
.
15. 90
10.50
9.15

o Not computed, owing to small number involved.
24 Wolman, Leo. The cost of living and wage cuts. New Republic, v. 27, No 347 Julv
27, 1921, p. 238.
’
* Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission. Annual report, 7th, 1918-19 Boston
1920, pp. 32-33.

MEDIAN WEEKLY EARNINGS BY INDUSTRY- WHITE AND NEGRO - GEORGIA

*15.90

*12.. 20

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES

#12.20

*10.50
*10.00

All

[Department
Stores

Industries I

Textile
_
Garment
Cigar
Food
Miscellaneous
Manufacturing! Manufacturing I Manufacturing I Manufacturing | Manufacturing I Manufacturing

WHITC

Laundries

NEGRO

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

These medians or middle points may be taken as fair indexes of
earnings in the various industries. Cigar making had the highest
earnings and showed a median of $15.90. This is $3.70 above the
median of $12.20 for all industries, and $6.75 and $6.65 above the
lowest medians, which occur in miscellaneous manufacturing and the
5-and-10-cent stores. The proportion of white women who earned
less than $8 5. week is nearly one-fifth (19.2 per cent) of all those
engaged in industry.
If we compare these figures with those of Kansas and Rhode
Island—other States where surveys were made at about the same
time—we find approximately one-fifth of the women in Kansas re
ceiving less than $9 and one-fifth of those in Rhode Island receiving
less than $12.50. A greater proportion of Georgia workers, therefore,
earned under $8 than in either Kansas or Rhode Island. Laundries
and miscellaneous manufacturing had the greatest proportion of
white women earning less than $8, laundry workers showing 42.5
per cent and miscellaneous manufacturing 42.9 per cent of the women
with earnings in this group. Of the women engaged in the manufac
ture of knit goods 28.1 per cent and of those in food manufacturing
32.3 per cent earned less than $8 a week.
The Negro worker.
Median earnings of Negro women were considerably lower than
those of white women. The median for Negro workers in all in
dustries was $6.20, while the highest median for any Negro group was
$10.35 for workers in the manufacture of food products. In many
industries the occupations of these women are not of the same char
acter as those of white women and therefore their earnings are not
comparable, but in knit goods and garment manufacturing some plants
had white and others had Negro women engaged on the same proc
esses. The difference between their earnings was most marked in
garment making, where the median earnings were for white workers
$12.20 and for Negro workers $3.90. Most of these earnings were
based on piecework and indicate a considerable discrimination
against Negro women. In the plant where Negro workers were em
ployed in manufacturing garments the rate was lower than that
formerly paid to-white workers on the same processes, and in one
plant making knit goods white workers had been replaced by Negro
women at a lower rate, although the manager stated that the work
of the Negro women was more satisfactory. White and Negro
workers had median earnings of almost the same amounts in foodproducts manufacturing. This was a low-paid industry for the
white worker, due largely to the inclusion of the confectionery in
dustry which paid a lower wage. The wage of Negro workers in
food manufacturing compares favorably with that of white workers,

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

as the Negro worker's were employed in large numbers in a sugar
refinery where their earnings were unusually high. In laundries
the wage varied considerably for the two races, but the white and
Negro women were not engaged in the same operations, white women
usually doing the marking and checking while the other processes
were performed by Negro workers.
On the whole, when the same work was done by white and Negro
workers a lower wage usually was paid to the Negro women. If the
pay was based on time work, it was explained that the Negro worker
was slower and less steady in attendance, factors which were not
inquired into in this investigation.
There is constant danger of the substitution at a reduced wage of
Negro for white workers. In one establishment where Negro women
had taken the place of white, the manager stated that several years
ago he had all white girls—several hundred—but gradually he had
introduced Negro women, first in one department, then another, until
at the present time there were but five white women left. The report
on the plant reads: “ The Negro girls receive a lower rate than the
white, but produce about as much and do not complain at having to
sweep around their own machines.”
The danger is not that the Negro women will be able to do the
work better than the white women, but that they will work for wages
below the minimum accepted by the white workers. Even in plants
where the wage was on a piece basis the rates were lower for Negro
than for white women workers. The fact that most wages still rest
on the commodity basis of buying work in the cheapest market makes
the industrial competition of these two groups of workers with
different standards of living a grave social and economic*problem.
If the introduction of the Negro worker at lower rates continues,
there is a menace to the white worker not only of losing her job, but
of lowered pay and poorer living conditions. The census of 1910
places the number of Negro women 10 years of age and over, gain
fully employed, at 2,013,981, and of these only 0.8 per cent were en
gaged in manufacturing and mercantile pursuits.20 The potential
number of workers who may be drafted into industry with but little
training and driven by economic need is therefore large. This con
dition presents a dangerous possibility of lowered wages to white
workers as well as an exploitation of the ignorance and economic
necessity of the Negro.
Rates and methods of payment.
Wages of both white and Negro workers were based either on
output or on time worked. Occasionally there was a combination of26
26U. S. Bureau of the Census.
521.

Negro population: 1790-1915.

Washington, 1918, p.

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

these two, when the worker was part of the day on an hourly rate and
part on an output or piece-rate basis, or when she received a rate of
so much an hour with an addition for all production beyond a given
amount. This latter method was often found in stores, with amount
of sales substituted for amount of production. The proportion of
the women paid by the piece method depended largely on the indus
try. Over one-half of the white women employed in textile manu
facture were paid by the piece, while in stores and laundries no
women were paid by this method. All the manufacturing groups
had some workers on time and some, on piece rates, and all but food
manufacture paid some workers by a combination of these two.
Table 8.—Number

of women on time work, on piecework, and on both time and
piecework, bii industry—Georgia.
Number of women on—

Industry.

Number of
women report
ing.

Time work.

Piecework.

Both time and
piecework.

White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro.
Department stores................................
5-and-lO-cent stores...............................
Textile manufacturing........................
Knit-goods manufacturing..................
Garment manufacturing.....................
Cigar manufacturing............................
Food manufacturing............................
Miscellaneous manufacturing..............
Laundries...............................................

458
193
3,505
224
390
153
92
126
40

10
3
245
111
34
66
72
489
282

458
193
1,036
75
43
3
68
66
40

10
3
190
42
1
39
55
303
282

1,995
143
346
150
24
26

50
'66
33
26
17
160

474
6
1

5
3

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

5,181

1,312

1,982

925

2,684

352

515

In stores the prevalence of time work is due to the character of
the work. In laundries, although all workers were paid by the
hour or week, rates varied for the same operation, depending on
the speed of the worker and quality of the work. In all industries
a much greater proportion of white women (51.8 per cent) than of
Negro (26.8 per cent) were paid at piece rates. The per cent of
white women who were pieceworkers would be even greater if
persons who were on both piece and time wrork were included in this
group. This would make the total proportion of pieceworkers in
manufacturing establishments 71.2 per cent for white women and 38.1
per cent for Negro women.
It is difficult for a pieceworker to foretell just how much she
will earn in a given time, as both the plant conditions and the speed
of the work vary. She may have plenty of work one day and feel
able to work fast, while the next day her machine may not “ behave,”
work may not come up from the next department, or she herself
may feel below par. With a worker whose pay is based on time,
however, if she knows her rate and works her full number of hours

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

her weekly earnings can be counted on with considerable accuracy.
Of course if she does not work the full hours, or works more than
the full hours, her earnings will not correspond to her rate.
. It is therefore not surprising to find that the earnings of time
workers were slightly lower than their rates, for time lost could not
be made up by additional speed, as might be done in the case of the
pieceworker, and there was practically no overtime. In a few
stores and manufacturing establishments a bonus for attendance,
production, or increased sales slightly raised the earnings, but not
sufficiently to compensate for the lost time. This is shown by the
following figures, from Table VIII in the Appendix, comparing the
median rates of pay and median earnings:
White
women.
Early pay-roll period:
Late pay-roll period:

•

Negro
women.

$12.40
11.95

$6.90
6.45

12.20
11.45

6.80
6.20

The discrepancy between earnings and rates was especially strik
ing in the low-paid group of workers whose rate of pay was less
than $10 a week. We find 28.8 per cent of the white women with
a rate of less than $10 and 36.9 per cent who actually earned less
than $10. Of the 1,395 white women who had a weekly rate of $10
and over, 16.8 per cent actually earned less than $10. (See Table
VIII, Appendix.)
Earnings for the early week taken showed a closer approximation
to rates than did those of the later week. Instead of a difference of
75 cents between median rate and earnings for white women, the dif
ference was but 45 cents. Negro women showed a somewhat similar
relation between rates and earnings. Their median earnings were
60 cents less than rates in the second or late period and 45 cents
less in the first week taken.
Earnings and hours.
It is important for piece as well as for time workers that the
number of hours worked, together with earnings, shall be recorded to
ascertain the relation between time worked and earnings, especially
as such a large proportion of the workers are paid by piece rates.
It is obviously of great importance to the worker to know whether
she can earn $14 by working 48 hours a week or whether it will take
60 hours. In fact, the relation between hours and wages is so sig
nificant that it has been recognized in the wage awards of both the
Industrial Welfare Commission of Oregon and the Minimum Wage

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

Commission of Minnesota. In Oregon a general minimum wage
of $13.20 a week was fixed for adult female workers, and this rate
was based on a 9-hour day and a 48-hour week.27 In Minnesota the
minimum wage of $12 was based on a 48-hour week.28 Thus a
certain time equivalent to be given for a fixed sum was established
in both cases.

GEORGIA
COMPARISON OF MEDIAN WEEKLY EARNINGS
AND

HOURS WORKED IN EARLY AND LATE PAYROLL PERIODS
COLLARS.

WHLT£

NEGRO

UNDER £4

24
/AND UNDER 33. AND UNDER42. /AND UNDER4& /AND UNDER 54 AND UNDER 57. AND UNDER 60. AND UNDER 63. /AND OVER.

HOURS WORWLD .

------- Lot* payroll period
ftorly payroll p«r/od

Figures obtained for hours and earnings in Georgia related to less
than two-thirds (65.4 per cent) of the women for whom weekly
earnings were obtained. This is due to the fact that the hours of
many pieceworkers in manufacturing establishments are not recorded,
and also that records in stores and laundries showed the number of
days worked but usually not the number of hours in each day or week.* *
27 Recent State minimum-wage reports. Monthly Labor Review, v. 12, No. 4
1921, p. 80.
* Minnesota Minimum Wage Commission. Order No. 12, Dec. 1, 1920.

April
'

WOMEN IS" GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

The chart for these figures (p. 35) illustrates the relation between
earnings and hours as it was found for this group in Georgia. A
continuous increase in median earnings is shown for each hour
group until 57 hours is reached. When 57 or more hours were
worked median earnings fluctuated both above and below the median
of those who worked between 54 and 57 hours. This latter group
was,the largest, and their median earnings were $13.55, considerably
higher than the median for the whole group regardless of hours
($12.15). (See Table IX, Appendix.)
Even though median earnings for groups may show an increase in
earnings with additional hours worked, this is not true of all indi
viduals within the group. Over one-third of the women who worked
from 54 to 60 hours received less than $12, and 16 white women wdiose
actual hours of work were from 60 to 63 earned less than $8. That
shorter hours are not incompatible with fair earnings is apparent
from the fact that 43.6 per cent of the women who worked from
42 to 48 hours a week earned $12 and over.
Two changes occurred between the figures for the early and those
for the late week, a slight increase in the total number of workers
in the late week and lower earnings for each hour group. The slight
increase in numbers shown in the later and less prosperous period is
without doubt due to the transfer of some of the women from a piece
to a time basis. The hours of pieceworkers are very frequently not
recorded, while a record is kept of workers paid by the hour; and
that the apparent increase is due to this cause is proved by the fact
that numbers on the pay roll, regardless of hours, show a decrease
rather than an increase in the later week. More women worked 60
or more hours in the later week than in the earlier, and fewer women
worked less than 33 hours; that is. in the second and less prosperous
periods more women worked long hours. In both early and late
period the largest group of women worked from 54 to 57 hours, but
the median earnings of the worker? in that group were $1.75 less in
the late than in the early week, showing that there was a lowering of
the rate, as the number of hours worked was the same.
The figures in Table IX also show clearly the decrease in hourly
earnings between the early and late week. In each hour group
medians were lower, as already noted, in the late than in the early
week; and for the total number of workers, regardless of the hours
worked, the median dropped $0.85.
For Negro women, the median for the entire number of women
reporting on the late pay roll wras $6.10, only about one-half the
median for white workers. The hours worked, however, were not so
long as those of the white workers. Only one-third (33.4 per cent)
jf the Negro women worked 54 hours and over, while nearly one-half
(47.7 per cent) of the white women worked these hours. Even when

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

long hours were worked earnings were not proportionately high.
Of the Negro women who worked from 54 to 60 hours, 86.2 per cent
received less than $10, and of those whose actual hours were from
60 to 63, one-half (56.8 per cent) earned less than $8. Forty women
who worked from 42 to 48 hours earned less than $5. These low
earnings are reflected in inadequate food and housing, which again
are factors in lowered vitality and production.
For Negro as well as white women changes occurred between the
early and late weeks; there were a slightly higher number of workers
and, in general, lower earnings for each hour group in the late week.
The slight increase in numbers of Negro workers shown in the later
and less prosperous period is without doubt due to their increased
substitution for white women in a few plants.
The median earnings for all Negro women were lower in the late
than in the early week—a decrease of 35 cents—and the hours worked
were shorter. The largest numbers of women were in the 54-to-57hour group in the first week and in the 51-to-54-hour group in the
second.
Earnings and experience.
Besides the number of hours worked, an important factor in earn
ing power is experience. In occupations where skill is required,
experience is more valuable than in those where the operation can be
learned in a few days. Nevertheless, in all industries the training
of workers costs something, and the increase of earnings with years
of sendee is indicative of the value industry sets on holding its
workers. In the following table, a summary of Table X in the ap
pendix, the general opportunity for advancement and the induce
ment offered workers to remain in one line of work are shown for all
industries:
Table 9.—Median earnings of women, by years in the trade—Georgia.

Years in the trade.

Per cent of women
in each specified
group.

Median earnings of
women in each
specified group.

White.

Negro.

Under 6 months.......... ...........................................
6 months and under 1 year.................
1 and under 2 years...............................................
2 and under 3 years...........................................................
3 and under 4 years.................................................................
4 and under 5 years.....................
5 and under 10’years....................
10 and under 15 years............................................

5.1
5.3
13.7
12.0
10.6
7.2
18.2
10.6

5.2
10.7
26.9
20.0
7.7
5.5
11.5

$8.00
9.65
10.75
11.35
13.05
11.15
13.30

20 years and over....................................................................

8.9

3.9

15.45

1 Not computed, owing to small number involved.

Negro.
$4.15
5.70
6.75
6.85
7.00
6.55
6.65
(■)

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

The proportion of white women who had been 15 years and more
in the same trade or industry was considerably larger than of those
who were in their first year, and almost one-half had remained in the
same industry five years or over. Comparing these figures with
those of Negro women it is apparent that Negroes had been a much
shorter time in one industry than had white workers. Less than
one-half as many had been 15 years and over in the trade as were
in their first year, and only about one-quarter of all the Negro
workers had been in the same industry five years or more.
With the exception of the group which had worked from four to
five years, earnings of the white woman worker steadily increased
with each period of service until she had worked for 20 years, after
which period of experience earnings dropped slightly. Workers
with 15 years of experience sliowTed an advance of 97.5 per cent over
the earnings of those who had worked less than 6 months. This
increase was steady and in rather striking contrast to the course
of the Negro women’s earnings. The Negro workers’ highest earn
ings are in the group of from 3 to 4 years of service, and from that
time on the figures show a decrease. The median earnings for the
group of Negro women who had been in the same industry between
10 and 15 years were 35 cents lower than those for the group who
had worked six months but less than 1 year. That their earnings do
not show an increase proportionate to length of service is probably
due to the fact that the Negro women who have been many years in
industry have worked in positions requiring but little skill, such as
sweeping, sorting, and packing. Those who entered industry in
more recent years have quite possibly been employed on work re
quiring skill, and therefore are better paid than are unskilled
workers, regardless of length of service. Earnings of white women
who have been employed for many years in these skilled positions
which have only recently been opened to Negro women would show
the value attached to experience in more skilled work.
But an increase in pay is not the sole measure of the value placed
on experience. Three things are important to the worker and to
the employer if he wishes experienced workers. First, the beginner’s
wage must not be too low; second, earnings must rise with the
worker’s increased experience; third, the rise must not be too long
postponed. The wage at which a woman begins work often deter
mines whether she stays in the industry a sufficient length of time
to get an increase. The prospect of a high wage after experience
is gained may be a sufficient inducement to hold a worker through
an initial low-paid period. Of course, the amount of the prospec
tive wage and the length of time necessary to obtain it are of great
importance. The following table gives the beginner’s median, the

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

highest median, the length of time between the two, and the per
cent increase in each of the industries included in the investigation.
Table 10.—Beginners’ earnings, maximum earnings, and length of experience,

by industry—Georgia.

Industry.

Cigar manufacturing..............................................
Food manufacturing.......................................
Garment manufacturing....................................
Knit-goods manufacturing................................
Textile manufacturing.....................
Miscellaneous manufacturing___
Department stores.......................
5-and-10-eent stores...................
Laundries....................................................

Earnings
of begin
ners
(median).
$14. 50
9.00
7.50
6.85
8. 20
6.50
10.80
9.35
5. 25

Highest
earnings Per cent
reached increase.
(median).
$21. 50
13.85
14. 75
16. 50
15.45
9. 50
18.60
11.50
9.50

48.3s
53.9
96.7
140.9
88.4
46.2
72.2
23.0
81.0

Length of experi
ence required to
reach maximum.
10 to 15 years.
3 to 4 years.
10 to 15 years.
10 years.
15 to 20 years.
3 to 4 years.
5 to 10 years.
Do.
20 years or more.

The lowest earnings both for beginners and for experienced
workers were in laundries, where the great majority were Negroes.
White women working in knit-goods and miscellaneous manufactur
ing received beginners’ earnings of between $6 and $7. The maxi
mum earnings, however, did not show the same agreement, earnings
in knit-goods manufacturing mounting very much higher with ex
perience than those in miscellaneous manufacturing. The very small
number of beginners reported in the cigar factories visited (7) had
a median of between $14 and $15, and this industry also showed the
highest earnings for experienced workers ($21.50). The peak of
earnings was reached most quickly in food and miscellaneous manu
facturing. Earnings in these two groups reached their maximum
at between 3 and 4 years.
Yearly earnings.
In order to determine how much it costs a woman to live, it has
been the custom to make up an itemized weekly budget of her prob
able expenses. The amount of this budget can then be compared
with her weekly wage to see if the latter is sufficient for her support.
For one week, when a worker is earning her regular wage, this may
be fair, but when it is remembered that a woman must have shelter,
food, and clothing for 52 weeks, the inadequacy of any weekly wage
which does not allow provision for weeks not worked is clearly seen.
To obtain facts as to the amount earned during a 52-week period,
one-tenth of the women from each pay roll were selected, with the
. aid of the management, and their year’s earnings were recorded.
Only those women were taken who had been in the establishment at
least a year and who were classed as steady workers. The earnings
of these 609 women probably were typical of the more experienced
workers in each industry. If their earnings are divided by 52, the
88045°—22-----4

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

number of weeks in a year, and also by tlie actual number of weeks
worked, we find in both cases higher median weekly earnings than
those for all employees on the pay-roll records for one week. It is
apparent, therefore, that the group whose yearly earnings were re
corded earned rather more than the average, probably due to the
fact that they were experienced workers.
White
women.

Negro
women.

Median earnings for all employees, one-week pay roll------------ $12. 20
Average for select group on pay roll during entire year:
Year’s earnings divided by 52-------------------------------------- 14. 40
Year’s earnings divided by weeks actually worked----------- 15. 59

$6.20
7. 85
8. 20

In the year 1920, the period selected for this study, median yearly
earnings for the 550 white women were $750. This median includes
some extremely low and some fairly high earnings. We find seven
women whose yearly earnings were less than $300 each, and three
women who earned $1,600 and over. Women in department stores
showed the highest median earnings, $940, which were considerably
larger than the median of $800 for the next highest group, who were
workers in textile manufacturing. Workers in cigar manufacturing
showed high earnings, but too few cases were reported to be of equal
significance with department stores and textiles; only 14 workers in
cigar manufacturing were recorded, but 10 of these had yearly earn
ings of from $900 to $1,600, which would bring them into the class
with the highest earnings. The smallest amounts were earned by
5-and-10-cent stores and laundry workers, whose median yearly earn
ings were $485 and $465, respectively. (See Table XI, Appendix.)
If these yearly earnings in Georgia are compared with those taken
for a six-months-earlier period in Kansas and Rhode Island, consider
able similarity is found between those in Kansas and Georgia, hut
mucli higher incomes are reported for Rhode Island.
Tabus

II.—Year’s earnings of women in three States.
Per cent of women earning
each specified amount in—
Annual earnings.
Georgia.

Kansas.

26.0
44.4
29.6

28.6
42.2
29.2

Rhode
Island.
9,0
So. 2
3i% 9

To what extent the higher incomes of the workers in Rhode Island
are due to the industries in which they are employed it is difficult to
say. The Georgia group was largely (63.3 per cent) composed of
textile operatives. In the Rhode Island group rubber workers pre

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

dominated, while in Kansas there was a more even distribution of
workers among varied industries. These income figures, however,
show the amounts which women who are steady workers may reason
ably expect in these three States.
Yearly earnings were reported for 59 Negro women in Georgia out
side of Atlanta. rl heir highest earnings were in food manufacturing,
but the number in this industry was too small to be significant. The
lowest yearly earnings were in laundries, where 11 of a total of 16
women earned less than $400 and the median was $842. In several
industries it was impossible, owing to the character of the industry
or the absence of steady workers, to obtain yearly earnings for more
than a very few Negro women. In laundries especially, where more
Negroes were employed than in any other one industry, there was
much shifting of workers from one establishment to another and much
intermittent work. This may be due partly to low wages, for one
woman explained that she “worked off and on in-------- Laundry
when family work was poor.” It would appear that some outside
work would be necessary in an industry where the yearly earnings of
the experienced workers showed, as in laundries, a median of $342.
The white workers in laundries had median yearly earnings of $463.
This was $121 more than that of the Negro women. As already
stated, Negro women as a rule are not engaged on the same work as
white women, but in laundries the dividing line is based on the policy
of the employer rather than on the difference in the work. There is
constant danger of the substitution at a reduced wage of Negro for
white workers, not only in laundries where it has already taken place,
but also in manufacturing. This evil of cutting wages by the intro
duction of workers with lower standards of living than those of the
supplanted group is as old as industry, and can not but prove ex
pensive for any society which permits it.
As a matter of course, yearly earnings vary, in most industries, with
the number of weeks worked. Nearly three-quarters (71.8 per cent)
of the white women for whom annual earnings were recorded worked
48 or more weeks in the year, while nearly one-fifth worked the entire
52 weeks. (See Table XII, Appendix.) The proportion who lost
not more than two weeks was 30.4 per cent, and only 6.4 per cent lost
as much as nine weeks. A greater proportion of Negro than of white
women worked 52 weeks. Seventy-one per cent of the Negro com
pared to 80 per cent of the white women lost one or more wTeeks.
About 40 per cent of the Negro women showed one or two weeks not
worked, and only two women lost more than eight weeks. If the total
number of weeks lost is divided by the total number of women, both
Negro and white, the average time lost per worker was about 3f
weeks. Naturally, more weeks were lost in some industries than in

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

others. (See Table XIII, Appendix.) All of the knit-goods workers
and 85 and 90 per cent, respectively, of the textile and garment
workers lost one week or more. In the other industries from one-half
to three-fourths of the women lost one or more weeks. The various
causes of this losing of time could not be ascertained. It was pos
sible, however, to record the number of weeks the department or plant
was closed and in which, therefore, work could not be performed.
(See Table XIV, Appendix.) Stores, laundries, and food factories
showed no weeks lost due to the plant or department closing. In
the other manufacturing establishments 40 per cent of the white and
44 per cent of the Negro women who lost time were idle from one to
15 weeks for this reason. The greatest number of workers lost one
or two weeks, but one-fourth of those affected lost five or more. This
enforced idleness was greatest in knit-goocls manufacturing, where
every worker but two was out from three to eight weeks. The total
number of weeks lost through enforced idleness was more than a
quarter (27 per cent) of all the time lost by the 444 workers.
Without doubt, many hours and occasionally days were lost during
the weeks where work was recorded, and although it was not possible
to obtain the actual amount of time lost, the wide variation of weekly
earnings shows to some extent the irregularity of work. The follow
ing cases serve as examples to show how greatly the earnings of a
single worker may vary during five consecutive weeks.
Timework.

Piecework.
Spinner.

Spooler.

$13.00
8.55
3.20
21.50
17.50

$7.80
9.40
11.60
2.45
8.55

Bunch
maker.
$6.80
9.12
8.46
2.54
2.36

Winder
tender.
$10.80
9.70
14.85
9.70
13.60

Doffer.
$11.45
12.27
10.09
2.18
7.91

Sack
sewer.
56.70
8.70
10.00
7.05
8.85

Some of these workers were paid according to the time worked
and some according to the piece, but in neither case would it be pos
sible to tell from these five weeks what weekly earnings might be ex
pected. All this variation can not be laid to any one cause, but it is
certain that irregularity of work is an important factor. In the cigar
manufacturing industry this variation from the average is as much
as 104.4 per cent, and for the workers in stores who have the steadiest
pay the variation from the average is 56.1 per cent. The average
variation for all industries is 86.7 per cent. It would appear, there
fore, that a weekly wage was far from a steady amount received each
week, but was rather a variable sum reflecting conditions of work
and the health of the worker in the industry,

WORKING CONDITIONS.”

It is impossible to tell to what extent woman’s surroundings in the
factory or shop affect her health and efficiency. There is, however,
little doubt that when from one-half to two-thirds of her waking time
is spent in her work place the effect of conditions there, both on her
standards and on her habits, is considerable. The nature of the estab
lishment determines to a great extent many of the conditions, such as
spacing, lighting, noise, and temperature. In stores, for example,
lighting has usually received sufficient attention and industrial
hazards can hardly be said to exist, while in laundries lighting and
cleaning do not assume the same importance as in manufacturing
plants.
During this survey conditions were reported on after a brief
inspection of 122 plants. Certain general facts were noted, as con
ditions in the workroom, special working arrangement, and sanitary
and welfare conditions, but no scientific study of technical subjects,
such as spacing, ventilation, and hazard and strain, was possible.
General workroom conditions.

Spacing.—Arrangement of machines too close together was seen
more often in mills and laundries than in other plants, for among
the 39 establishments where some crowding was noted, 15 of the
33 textile mills and more than one-lialf of the 13 laundries were
included. The narrow aisles reported in mills,, usually in weav
ing and spinning rooms, were a menace to safety where unguarded
machinery was located on such aisles, and a check to efficiency
when narrow cross aisles necessitated long detours from one ma
chine to another. Congestion was sometimes the result of obstruct
ing piles of stock, cans, and boxes. In one small mill the great
variety of occupations—drawing, speeding, spinning, spooling, warp
ing, quilling, and weaving—all in one room, gave an impression of
crowding and confusion, inevitably adding to the strain of the work.
In several laundries, also, the haphazard placement of machines,
crowding of employees, and general chaotic and untidy conditions
naturally would have had a bad effect on the work and the workers.
Gleaning.—The inadequate cleaning of the workrooms, like bad
spacing and disorder, often showed lack of interest on the part-of
both management and workers. Such statements from managers as
20 In the following discussion conditions in Atlanta are included with the figures for the
rest of the State. Working conditions in the stores in Atlanta were not investigated.

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

“No one has the responsibility of cleaning,” “It is not done regu
larly,” “ We just clean when we have time,” or “ The girls sweep out
rooms whenever necessary,” showed surprising lack of system, but
not surprising results, such as dirty floors, dusty walls, dingy win
dows, cobwebs, and accumulated debris of long standing. Unsatis
factory cleaning arrangements were found in 54 plants. In many
cases where there was systematic daily cleaning, the dirt which was
caked about posts, in corners, and under machines showed the clean
ing to be of a too superficial nature. This was especially true in
mills, where the constant formation of dust and lint, the dripping
of oil, and the too prevalent habit of promiscuous spitting by users
of tobacco and snuff made the problem of cleanliness a serious one.
In many places scrubbing of floors was needed. One mill had solved
this problem by the use of an electric scrubbing machine. Scientific
methods of effective cleaning by vacuum and compressed-air systems
also were used.
The custom reported in some plants of requiring the girls to clean
the workrooms and the machines would be a hardship for piece
workers when they were not paid extra for this task. Although the
workers should not be required to do the actual cleaning of work
rooms, they can aid greatly in maintaining standards of orderliness
by refraining from littering the floors unnecessarily and from spit
ting promiscuously. That the women were interested in such matters
was proved by their remarks. One woman said that the candy fac
tory where she worked was so dirty that she was looking for another
job, while a number complained of the habit of spitting op the floor
and thought spittoons should be provided and should be cleaned
regularly.
Heating.—On the whole, the heating of workrooms was satisfac
tory. Occasionally in the southern part of the State managers were
found who, relying on the usually mild weather, had made no pro
vision for cold days, with consequent discomfort at times to em
ployees. One manager, not wishing to go to the expense of installing
steam heat, the only system allowed in his plant by the insurance
company, reported no heating whatever, but seemed to think he had
settled the problem by serving hot coffee or soup two or three times
a day in cold weather. Another manager of a plant entirely devoid
of heating apparatus dismissed the subject casually with the remark,
“ It doesn’t get cold here.”
Lighting.—Lighting and ventilation are both highly technical sub
jects requiring scientific and individual treatment for the different
industries. They can only be touched upon in a summary of this
sort. Natural lighting was found unsatisfactory for some or all of
the women in 22 out of 96 industrial establishments. The main trouble

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

in cases of poor natural lighting was the placement of the workers
without reference to the light. Sometimes they were in a section of
the room which was dark because of many machines and overhead
belts, or because of too great distance from windows; at other times
the women sat directly facing the light from unshaded windows.
When artificial light was necessary, even less care and thought were
evident. In 74 plants artificial lights were either inadequate or badly
arranged for some or all of the workers. Where poor natural lighting
necessitated the constant use of artificial means, in many instances
electric bulbs were missing or lights were without shades. Often
the lights were too high or too low, or placed at too great intervals.'
Some managers apparently believed that if enough light was supplied
the problem was solved, not knowing that too much illumination or
glare is as detrimental to eyesight as is insufficient light. Other man
agers, realizing that inadequate lighting not only produces impaired
vision—which in turn causes nervous fatigue of the whole body—but
also limits production, had given careful study to the question. The
lighting in these cases was excellent. The many large factory win
dows were of ground or frosted glass, well shaded. The worktables
and machines were placed at right angles to windows. The windows
on the west side of the new weaving room in one mill had Venetian
blinds in addition to muslin curtains to prevent a glare from the direct
rays of the sun on the machinery. In a number of cases the fresh
white paint on the walls and ceilings made the workroom much
lighter. In several knitting mills special attention had been paid to
the artificial lighting in order to avoid shadows and glare where close
application of the eyes was necessary for the work. In one mill, for
example, the well-shaded, high-power electric bulbs with frosted
lower half, placed in alternating or “staggered” rows, were reported
to be quite satisfactory.
Ventilation.—The problem of proper ventilation is one for care
ful study by experts. In a brief survey of a plant only striking
instances of the absence of necessary ventilating apparatus, or the
inadequacy of that supplied, could be observed. Where only natu
ral ventilation was necessary, the results usually were good. Arti
ficial ventilation, however, was reported unsatisfactory for some
or all of the women in 26 plants. The chief difficulty, was the lack
of artificial devices to eliminate the humidity which prevails in laun
dries, and the badly adjusted arrangements for regulating the heat
and humidity in textile mills. In many laundries the absence of
hoods over mangles, and of exhaust fans in the outer walls, resulted
in a combination of excessive heat and humidity. The need of
humidity in mills so that cotton thread will run smoothly, gives rise
to a problem requiring scientific care and consideration. With but

WOMEN IN GEOEGIA INDUSTRIES.

one exception, all mills visited during the course of this study used
some kind of humidifier, and the type used made a great differ
ence in the comfort of the workers. The most unsatisfactory kind
which was seen consisted of pipes which sent out frequent jets of
steam a few feet from the workers’ heads. As a contrast to this
type was the humidifier with an inside revolving fan to circulate
the air as well as the moisture, and to send out a disinfecting pine
oil of pleasant odor. Although a superintendent in one mill claimed
that the proper temperature and moisture of the product could not be
maintained if artificial ventilation were introduced into a mill, an
excellent system was found installed in several weaving rooms where
powerful fans drew in a strong current of air through outside walls
open like the slats of a blind, and distributed it through towers or
flues in the room. In the use of artificial ventilation care should
be taken to avoid a situation which was found in one plant where
the cold air forced by a central fan through pipes blew directly
on the workers. Newspaper had been stuffed into some of the pipes
to limit the force of the air. Electric fans were found in a num
ber of plants, which, as one girl expressed it, “helped so much in
hot weather.”
Another problem of ventilation, or rather temperature, arises in
candy dipping, through the necessity of keeping the room suffi
ciently cool. This is accomplished in two ways—by cold pipes around
the walls or overhead and by large pipes through which cold air
is forced into the workroom. In at least one plant, where the
■ method used was the forcing of cold air into the workroom through
pipes,, the direct current chilled the workers. The cold-pipe method
caused moisture to congeal on the pipes, which increased the damp
ness in the workroom and made the cold more penetrating, dhis is
a serious menace in a warm climate, as described by the girl who
said: “I tried it, but couldn’t stand it. Being in the cold room
all day in summer with those iced pipes to cool the air made me
sweat so in the evening and all night that my clothes and even the
sheets on the bed got wringing wet, I couldn’t stand it, even for
the pay.”
Seating.—Tne matter of seating is almost equally a matter of
standing. Where the job is a standing one, opportunity must be
furnished for occasional sitting. Where the worker sits at her
task, the table or bench should be so arranged that either sitting
or standing is possible. The important point is “ that posture must
be varied,” and that a good chair, from the point of view of both
the worker and her work, should be provided.30 In Georgia the
so New York State Department of Labor. Bureau of Women in Industry.
posture and seating. N. Y. State Dept. Labor Spec. Bui. 104, 1021, p. 6.

Industrial

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

necessity of providing “suitable seats” is recognized, and the State
law reads as follows:
All persons and corporations employing females in manufacturing, mechani
cal. or mercantile establishments must provide suitable scats and permit their
use by such females when not necessarily engaged in the active duties for
which they are employed.

Eleven establishments were reported as having no seats of any
sort and 11 others had no seats for women engaged on standing jobs,
in 58 establishments the seats were either insufficient in number or
makeshift, such as stray boxes, barrels, or kegs. The following quo
tations from the investigators’ reports show the inadequacy of some
of the seating:
No seats seen except boxes, baskets, kegs.
Girls were resting on the edge of trucks.
Some girls were sitting on boxes or overturned cans.
Some girls were sitting on boxes or leaning against 1he wall.
Some girls in card room sitting on cans, others in spinning room on the sides
of bins.
Seats for spinners and spoolers were the edge of uncovered waste boxes,
affording no comfort, with the front edge of the box lower than the rear one. '
Women waiting for work stood leaning against walls or machines.

It is quite evident that such provisions for sitting at work or rest
ing in leisure moments are wholly unsatisfactory.
For women who sit constantly at their work, there should be pro
vided comfortable chairs with backs and with legs that may be ad
justed to the height of the workers and their work. The majority
of firms had not given this matter sufficient consideration. As an
illustration of such neglect may be mentioned one plant where
women whose duty it was to “ take-off ” from a machine," sat twisted
sideways on the frame of the machine. Excellent arrangements
were noted occasionally, especially when provision had been made
for the girls either to sit or to stand at their work. One girl liked
her job in a knitting mill because, though she sat for transferring,
she walked about tending the machines and “ got some exercise.”
Tn general, it is possible and desirable to furnish a sufficient num
ber of comfortable seats for the leisure moments of women at stand
ing jobs, suitable seats for those where sitting or standing at the job
is optional, and scientifically constructed adjustable seats where con
stant sitting is necessary.
Hazards and strains.
In addition to the strain of constant standing or sitting, there
were encountered in the investigation certain strains and hazards
connected with different occupations. Tn textile mills the constantnoise, vibration, and speed of the machines would seem to be a strain

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

on the nerves of the workers. One room containing 650 looms was
described as throbbing like a ship propelled at top speed. Then
there was the additional discomfort of heat, humidity, and lint.
The amount of lint varied greatly in the various mills and also in
different rooms of the same mill. That it is possible to control the
lint wTas shown in mills using special devices, such as a vacuum
cleaning system, for taking away the lint from around the machines.
The question of hazard and strain in individual textile occupations
is one requiring careful technical study and could not be gone into
in the limited time of the survey. One thing that was definitely
noted, however, was that speeder tenders need to exercise great cau
tion to keep their hands and clothes from catching in the speeder fly.
One girl said, “ My apron got caught in the speeder fly the other
day and was ripped right off me. It scared me almost to death.”
Drawing-in and inspecting, which necessitate close application of
the eyes, may soon result in eyestrain unless the lighting arrange
ments are quite adequate for the work.
In other industries various strains and hazards were noted. The
operators of power machines in garment factories were under the
strain of close application of the eyes and constant sitting in one
position. The high speed at which they worked and the resulting
fatigue increased the hazard of running the needle into their fingers.
In several establishments machines and presses, such as a wirestitcliing machine, a wire-fastening foot press, and a plate press, were
reported to be without guards, with the possibility of the operators’
hands being caught and crushed. In one plant women were cutting
knots on a large unguarded revolving knife that looked extiemelv
hazardous. In laundries bad burns from hot expanses of metal, such
as collar molders or sleeve ironers, were frequent. One girl stated
that she had been out six weeks on account of a badly burned hand.
Laundry work also necessitates continuous standing, sometimes on
damp cement floors, and frequently the operation of body machines
requiring strong foot pressure, especially if one woman worked four
or five presses.
...
The habit of some of the women in cigar factories of biting the
ends of cigars and sealing them with the tongue still persists in spite
of its prohibition by their employers, and is to be condemned from
the viewpoint of the health of both the workers and the public.
In conclusion it should be said that although certain hazards and
strains are inevitable in industrial occupations, the dangers can be
reduced by more careful management, by the installation of guarded
machines and comfort facilities, and by the reduction of hours.
W’lyrL'VoO'Vi hcLZQTds.—It is sometimes difficult to differentiate be
tween occupational and workroom hazards, but in addition to those

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

already described, hazards designated particularly as general work
room dangers were reported in 53 plants. These included such mat
ters as uninclosed side and overheard belts, unguarded wheels and
set screws, uncovered extractors in laundries, uninclosed elevator
shafts, and exposed shafting which formed stumbling blocks. Narrow
aisles and slippery, oil-soaked floors added to the dangers where im-1
guarded machinery was located on such aisles. Particularly menac-^
ing, as likely to catch the women’s skirts, were the unguarded belts'
coming up through the floor. In mills, the wheeled boxes for carry-1'
ing stock often were pushed recklessly about workrooms, the boys in.
charge of them coasting at a rapid rate down the aisles. The new
compensation law in Georgia, which went into effect March 1, 1921,
will doubtless be instrumental in improving these conditions.
Fire hazards.—Closely related to the subject of workroom hazards
is that of the danger of fire. Although this subject was not ex
haustively gone into during the survey, conspicuous hazards were
observed and recorded. The State law requires owners of buildings
more than two stories in height and used in the third or higher stories,
in whole or in part, as a factory or workshop, to provide more than
one way of egress from each story above the second; to have all the
main doors of the buildings, both inside and outside, opening out
wardly ; and to supply amply each story with means for extinguishing
fires.
In more than one-half of the plants hazards were reported, such as
too few exits, doors opening inward instead of outward, lack of fire
escapes on four-story buildings, obstructions before fire exits and
stairways, or dangerously constructed stairways. Two factories with
highly inflammable stock, operating on a fourth floor, had as a means
of exit only one stairway, poorly lighted, and a freight elevator rudely
constructed of wood that would be extremely dangerous in case of
fire. The necessity for numerous and unimpeded exits and for auto
matic and other extinguishers in all establishments can not be over
emphasized.
Sanitation.
Drinking facilities.
There is need in all work places for a cool and sufficient water
supply and also for sanitary drinking arrangements. A common
drinking cup or insanitary bubbler does not meet this requirement.
In 81 of the 122 plants visited common drinking cups or none at all
were provided. Usually the workers drank the water from faucets
in the workrooms, no provision being made for cooled water. Occa
sionally water was kept in the workroom in a cooler, but more fre
quently it was in old barrels, buckets, or kegs. Some astoundingly

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES?

primitive methods were noted, as the accompanying excerpts from
reports show:
'On second floor a galvanized bucket of water with tin dipper resting in the
water. Bucket filled “ up the hill a ways.”
Company has driven well in the yard, “ old oaken bucket style.” Men were
seen drinking out of well bucket. Pipes to second floor for supplying drinking
water out of order. No pipes to first floor, for drinking. Two covered pails used
and a tin dipper coated with iron rust.

Several plants were reported where each worker paid 10 cents a
week in summer in order to have iced water. In striking contrast to
these methods is the following description:
Drinking facilities consist of IS sanitary bubblers with cylindrical tanks for
ice-cooling the year round, accessibly located in all workrooms.

Washing facilities.

The washing facilities as a rule were extremely poor, showing but
scant regard for the health and comfort of the workers or the cleanli
ness of their work. In one plant where the location of the washing
facilities was asked, the answer was, “ There aren’t any; we wash at
home.” Such lack of conveniences was found in nine plants; in 98
establishments no hot water was provided, in 67 no soap, and in 95
either a common towel or none at all was supplied. In one mill, de
void of all washing facilities, the workers washed their hands, which
were dirty and grea'sy from cleaning machines, at the drinking foun
tains. The manager of another mill said he didn’t, know where the
girls washed. One woman there, however, pointing to the grease on
her hands, said, “ You can’t get this off with cold water, so I get a
bucket of hot water from the engine room and bring my own soap.”
The casual treatment in many plants of the subject of washing is
illustrated by such remarks as the following:
There are always plenty of clean cotton scraps around for girls to use.
Oh, they just grab a towel out of the wash in the laundry, if they want, and
have it washed afterwards.
There is a hose in the next room and they can run it over a barrel and wash
if they like.

Several girls in a candy plant which was practically without wash
ing facilities said that after washing they wiped their hands on their
“ skirts, handkerchiefs, or anything handy.” The minimum require
ment of soap, hot water, and paper towels in all plants, and especially
in those handling food, would seem both possible and reasonable. The
lack of such in food establishments is not only a discomfort to the
girls but a menace to public health. Nor is the question of health
considered when workers are expected to use a common towel, since
it is a well-known fact that diseases are communicated in this way.

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

Model arrangements were found in two plants which provided wash
rooms equipped not only with hot and cold water, liquid soap, and
paper towels, but with showers for the use of the girls. These rooms
were cleaned daily by matrons.
.
•

Toilets.

The investigation of toilets showed the same absence of care and
planning as was observed in the washing arrangements. The loca
tion was in many cases poor, the number inadequate, and the cleaning
insufficient and unsystematized. As a basis of ascertaining the
adequacy of the accommodations, the standard was used of one toilet
for^every 20 women, and one for every additional 15 women or frac
tion thereof. By this test 59 establishments, or nearly one-half, had
an insufficient number. In certain cases as many as 49 and even 65
women were reported as using one toilet. In 10 plants men and
women used the same, and in one of these plants only one toilet was
provided for the use of white girls and Negro men. In 47 plants
toilet doors were not designated, so that it was impossible to know
which were men’s and which women’s, especially when they were side
by side. In 9 stores the public and the employees used the same toilets.
Many of the toilets were located in the workroom, separated only
by a thin wooden partition reaching halfway to the ceiling and with
no outside means of ventilation. A type common in mills was of an
alcove variety, with no door at the entrance and only a screen to
separate the toilet room from the workroom. The cleaning of toilets
was wholly unsatisfactory in 63 plants and partly so in 12 others.
In one factory where food products were handled a worker stated
that the toilet was in such bad condition that she never entered it.
Inadequate methods of cleaning and lack of system wore shown in
the following reports of the investigators:
The girls sweep the toilet whenever it needs cleaning; it is never scrubbed.
Cleaned by colored man once a week, but he didn’t get to it last week.
Scrubbed once a week by janitor when he has time.

v
*

For this work the employment of a woman is usually more satisfactory than the employment of a man, and if the cleaning must be
done during work hours it is, of course, necessary that it should be
done by a woman.
One large mill had a highly satisfactory arrangement. Three
Negro women spent all their time looking after toilets, and several
white women appointed by the manager acted as supervisors, re
sponsible for reporting conditions, one woman for each toilet. In 15
plants there was in use an automatic system of flushing the toilets,
all of the bowls being flushed at one time at intervals varying in dif
ferent places from once every 5 or 10 minutes to once every hour.

WOMB? IK GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

Uniforms.

Closely connected with the subjects of sanitation and efficiency is
that of uniforms. That this matter had been given but little con
sideration in Geoi’gia is shown by the fact that only one of the plants
supplied a full working uniform for all women. This was a plant
handling a food product. The uniform, which was laundered by the
firm, consisted of a white shirt, buff overalls, and a cap. One 5-and10-cent store furnished a uniform for the girls at the lunch counter
and in the kitchen; one textile mill furnished caps for the women;
two, aprons; and two, cloth for aprons. In another plant the women
who were required to wear caps and gloves furnished their own caps
and bought gloves from the firm at 5 cents a pair. The women in
many mills, factories, and laundries provided their own caps And
aprons, so necessary were these for the job.
Service and welfare facilities.
The only time during the workday which a worker calls her own
is the meal period, and even tins is usually conditioned for her.31
If she wishes to go home for lunch the opportunity to do so depends
on the amount of time allowed and the location of the plant. If
she brings her lunch to the factory with her, the place where she
eats it depends on the provision in the plant. If she must buy her
food the opportunity to get a good meal in the plant or to buy it
at a delicatessen or cheap lunch room outside, depends on the man
agement of the plant or the enterprise of the trades people in the
neighborhood. It is extremely undesirable for girls to eat in work
rooms at their tables or machines in the midst of their work, often
surrounded by lint, litter, and grease. Yet such was the necessity in
101 of the 122 establishments visited.. In one laundry the girls ate
in the dry-cleaning room, strongly redolent of gasoline, and for
lack of chairs they sat on boxes or on the floor. Even where a lunch
room was provided, in the majority of instances it was uncomfortable
and unattractive. In 12 plants it was a combination room, affording
cloak, rest, and washing facilities. If properly arranged, however,
this sort of room might be fairly satisfactory in a small establishment.
Nine of the ten 5-and-lCbeent stores had a combination room of this
sort, sometimes adequate but occasionally quite the opposite, as
shown by the following description:
A combination wash, lunch, cloak, toilet, rest room in basement. Room
small, unattractive, concrete floor. Floor and walls damp- because of flood
the month before. The only outside windows were bn the two toilet compart
ments. The room was furnished with a long oilcloth-covered table, four or
five chairs, and a couch covered with oilcloth. A few dishes and a sterno
outfit were available for the use of the girls.
.
31 In some plants a short rest period is given in the morning and aftemoun.
system was found in Georgia.

No such

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES,

Only one mill had a lunch room, which was in a small detached
building and was equipped with tables and counters. A woman
was in charge, and hot food was served at nominal prices. Since
most of the textile mills, however, are in the class referred to in
which the women live near enough to go home at noon, lunch rooms
are not essential, but in such cases a sufficiently long interval should
be allowed for the women to go home for lunch without undue haste.
Five of the mills visited had only half an hour for lunch; 20 had
either a 40 or a 45 minute interval at noon; and only 6 mills had
a lunch period of one hour. The length of the meal period and the'
accommodations supplied are largely matters for decision be
tween the management and workers in each individual establish
ment. The essentials are that opportunity should be provided to
eat a nourishing meal in pleasant surroundings.
.
the impoitance of rest rooms wdiere women are employed has
not been sufficiently realized in the manufacturing plants of Georgia.
Of the establishments reported, only 27 had any provision for a
woman to rest comfortably in case of sudden sickness or accident.
In establishments where workers stand continuously at their occu
pations, and especially in laundries where the excessive heat and
humidity of the atmosphere add greatly to fatigue, rest rooms are
essential. In one laundry two girls were seen lying on pressing
tables, with bundles of clothes for pillows. A number of estab
lishments, especially stores, had a combination cloak and lunch
room, with some facilities for resting. The following description
is typical of this kind of room:
Combined rest and lunch room separated from wash room by an S-foot par
tition, had one window, three or four chairs, home-made wooden eoueh with
two dirty cushions but no mattress- or coyer, and small tables covered with
worn oilcloth.

One candy factory was unique in that it had set apart a roomspacious and pleasantly furnished with easy chairs, desks, long tables,
tbe latest magazines, a victrola, and potted ferns—where the rirls
could lounge amd amuse themselves at lunch time. Such complete
equipment as this is not always possible, but a room with comfortable
chairs and a couch is essential in every plant for use in case of acci
dent or sudden illness.
It seems reasonable to expect adequate facilities for wraps in
every establishment employing women. Frequently it is necessary
to change into a work dress, and the provision of a room which serves
for this purpose and in which clothing may be kept is important.
From only 23 of the 101 plants reporting on this question, however,
was the report satisfactory in this respect. In 59 plants there was
no cloakroom of any sort, and in 35 others the rooms were found to
be inadequate in size, location, or equipment, and frequently in all

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

three. Quite generally the wraps were hung on the walls of work
rooms or toilets, laid on tables or machines, or placed under counters.
In one mill the superintendent explained that the “ girls drove their
own nails in the walls for their coats.” Sometimes where rooms were
provided there was no outside ventilation and the rooms were dirty,
with clothes and papers strewn around. The girls in one place com
plained that their lockers were “ full of roaches.” It is easily under
stood that girls might prefer to keep their wraps with them in the
workroom rather than leave them in such lockers, or in a room of
which the following is a description:

Cloakroom off workroom, partition does not extend to ceiling, ventilated over
top of partition into workroom; no outside window; open lockers contained an
accumulation of odds and ends; floor of room dirty and littered with old shoes,
papers, etc. Cleaned by janitor once a week, on Saturday afternoons.

An inspection of dusty workrooms and of jobs detrimental to
clothing makes apparent the urgent need of a room where wraps can
be kept and clothing changed if necessary. Expert opinions differ
as to the most satisfactory equipment for cloakrooms and the best
type of lockers, but all agree that the arrangements should provide a
maximum of comfort for the employees and a minimum of risk for
their belongings. Cloakrooms should be conveniently situated in re
gard to washing facilities, to permit “ washing up ” after work.
Although a plant may be supplied with lunchrooms, rest facilities,
and cloakrooms, it is not completely equipped unless there is provision
for aid in case of illness or accident. In States where there is a work
man’s compensation law, first-aid supplies are an asset and lower the
insurance rates. .This first-aid equipment may vary from that in the
small establishment where a few simple remedies are provided to the
well-equipped dispensary or hospital rooms of a large plant. Of the
122 plants reported in the Georgia survey, 49 had no first-aid equip
ment whatever and 11 others had no adequate provision. In the
latter classification were plants reporting such meager provision, as
“ some remedy for burns, manager couldn’t remember the name ”;
“bandages and iodine”; “bandages and turpentine”; “turpentine
anil soda”; “smelling salts and water, if some one faints.” In the
plants where there was a first-aid cabinet there was too often a hap
hazard way of using it. “Anybody in the office ”; “ no particular per
son ”; “ girl at the desk ”; “ the cashier ”; “ the bookkeeper ”; “ the
foreman,” were some of the persons who administered first aid.
It would certainly seem that such haphazard application of reme
dies as are here described might result in almost as much harm as
relief. There should always be an intelligent person responsible for
the upkeep of supplies and the administering of first aid. In a num
ber of establishments there was found a complete first-aid system,

%
4

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

'
•

with a nurse in constant attendance and a doctor having regular
office hours. Records of accidents and illnesses and their treatment
were kept, and in some instances the services of a visiting nurse were
furnished to employees ill in their homes.
Employment methods.
It is now generally conceded that a carefully worked-out policy of
employment management is the best way of securing labor, of maintaining a low turnover, and of establishing satisfactory relations be
tween employees and employers. For the sake of efficiency and jus
tice it is advisable that matters of employment and personnel super
vision should be in the hands of some intelligent person with the
proper qualifications for the work. Where women are employed it
is desirable to have a competent woman in this supervisory capacity.
It is not to be expected that a small plant employing but a few
women should have a person devoting full time to this work, but that
one person should be responsible is advisable, as a division of respon
sibility in these matters of employment means the possibility of
injustice, either intentional or involuntary, to the employees.
In Georgia there were 62 plants where the employment of new
workers was in entire charge of some one person in authority, such as
the owner, manager, or superintendent. Only one woman employ
ment manager was found, but women in many establishments were
employed in some sort of supervisory capacity, either as heads of de
partments or forewomen.
Employment records were kept in only 20 plants. These varied
greatly in kind from the simplest, with only names and addresses of
the women, to the most elaborate, which included information regard
ing age, conjugal condition, home responsibility, education, former
experience, reasons for leaving other employment, and the applicant’s
ability and fitness for the job, this last information being obtained
from written tests.
88045°—22-----5

THE WORKERS.32

In order to appreciate fully the problems connected with women
in industry it is necessary to regard the women not only as wage
earners but as human beings. To understand the needs of women
at their work it is necessary to know the conditions under which
they live, to analyze home responsibilities, obligations to dependents,
and requirements of living. Such facts were obtained from the women
in Georgia and in Atlanta through personal history cards which
the workers filled out and through visits to their homes. The total
number of women who turned in these records was 3,293, about twofifths of those for whom wage data were obtained. Home visits
were made to 273 of these women, in order to obtain at first hand
a knowledge of the problems of living and working conditions with
which they were faced.
,
Nativity.
It is an interesting fact in the industrial survey of a State so
large as Georgia that but 13 of 3,186 women reporting were foreign
born. The working women of Georgia, therefore, almost without
exception, have been brought up under the influence of American
institutions with American standards and ideals. (See Table XV,
Appendix.)
Age.
Workers in the industry surveyed were of every age from 14 to
over 60, but they fell into three main age groups. Slightly less than
one-third (30.4 per cent) were under 20 years of age, 34.7 per cent
were 20 and under 30 years, and 35 per cent were 30 and over. (See
Table XVI, Appendix.)
Figures for the State, exclusive of Atlanta—more than threefourths of all—indicate that the greatest proportion of employees
under 20years of age were in the 5-and-10-cent stores (51.8 per cent),
in cigar manufacturing (49.1 per cent), and in knit-goods manufac
turing (48.5 per cent).82
83 This is not surprising, since the 5-and-10cent stores are the gateway through which inexperienced workers
enter the mercantile world, and the manufacturing industries speci
fied are ones in which the particular characteristics of young workers,
such as lightness of touch and good eyesight, count for much. The
82 This section includes information from both the Georgia and Atlanta surveys.
83 Figures for individual industries are based on only the Georgia survey, as divisions
for these industries were not made in the Atlanta figures.

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

smallest percentage of young workers was found in garment manu
facturing. In the number of women 30 and under 50 years of age,
department stores took the lead, with 36 per cent; garment manu
facturing came next, with 34.3 per cent, then textile manufacturing
with 31.2 per cent, and laundries with 20.2 per cent. It is not sur
prising to find older women in the garment and laundry industries,
as these occupations are more akin to the kind of work that women
do in the home, and if older women are suddenly compelled to be
come wage earners, these fields are the ones they can more easily
enter. The textile industry was one in which the workers were
rather evenly distributed as to age, since there were about one-third
in the 20-to-30-years group and- slightly over one-third in the group
30 years and over. This is an industry which attracts whole fami
lies, regardless of age and sex. Textiles and laundries, each with
6.4 per cent, and department stores with 5.7 per cent, showed larger
proportions of women of 50 and over than did the other industries.
It would seem that these are the industries where women have more
chance of being retained if they must continue to earn their living
after they become advanced in years. (See Table XVII, Appendix.)”
Conjugal condition and home responsibilities.
It would be natural for married women and those who had been
married, if they had children, to keep house rather than to board.
Also young women under 20 are more apt to live with their families,
if they can, than to board. As 50.2 per cent of the women either
were married or had been married, and 30.4 per cent were under 20
years of age, it would seem probable that the large majority of women
lived at home. This proved to be the case, for of a total of 2,919
women reporting on living conditions, 85.7 per cent were living at
home or with relatives. (See Tables XVIII and XIX, Appendix.)
Investigation and general knowledge have established the fact
that the great majority of working women who live at home have
definite home duties and burdens of various kinds. This is as true
for the working women of Georgia as for any other group. Among
the women interviewed during the course of this investigation there
were many single women and girls who had shouldered the financial
responsibility for parents and younger brothers and sisters. One
girl was the only wage earner for her mother, grandmother, and
four younger children. Even when there were sons, in many cases
they married and the daughters became the family mainstay. As
one mother said, “ You know when sons are married their wives don’t
want them to send money to the mother, so poor Lizzie almost works
herself to death trying to make enough to get along on.” Lizzie was
the sole support of her mother—a widow subject to epilepsy—and a
younger sister, also a semi-invalid.

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

Married women with husbands were found working, usually to sup
plement the husband’s income, which was inadequate for the mainte
nance of the family. As most of these women had children and homes
to look after, they were bearing burdens entirely too heavy. In
some cases the husband was ill, unable to work. One woman’s hus
band had been a paralytic for four years. Another, who had been
working under a great strain, said that for 10 weeks she had nursed
her husband and kept up her work in the factory to support the
family. In the morning before going to work she had given her
husband his bath and breakfast and had arranged his medicine and
drinking water so that he could get them during her absence; then
she had come home at noon and made him as comfortable as possible
for her absence during the rest of the. day. Several women were
found supporting their families because their husbands were out of
work and unable to get jobs. One of these women, who worked in a
mill, expressed the wish that her husband could take her place so
that she could stay at home and look after her child, but this was
impossible since his inexperience in mill work disqualified him for
her job.
These household duties to be attended to before and after work
are a serious drain on a woman’s energies, since frequently they are
as important and onerous as though she were not working 10 hours a
day in a factory. The detrimental effect of such heavy responsi
bilities upon women and, in time, upon the race, is inevitable, for
“America will be as strong as her women.” When women, after
the performance of their industrial work and innumerable home
duties, are too tired to eat or sleep, when from hard work and con
stant worry the abnormal sapping of their energy and vitality makes
them old and broken in the prime of life, as so many appear, the
Nation in the final analysis must pay the penalty. In some cases the
women interviewed in Georgia, because of low wages or heavy re
sponsibilities, were obliged to submit to conditions far below their
standards, living in dilapidated, unhealthful dwellings or in crowded
boarding houses. The prices in one boarding house were $8 to $10
a week, two in a room. Several cases were found in one house of
four girls in a room, two in a bed, the girls paying $6 a week each.
This boarding house was dismal, had no parlor or living room, just
a square hall with a piano, couch, and a couple of chairs. The girls
complained of never having any privacy. Some of the girls were
boarding in church homes, run on a semicharitable basis, and some
lived in rooming houses.
Education.
From the foregoing discussion it can be readily understood why
. a woman should remark, as one did: “ I’ve had nothing but hard

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

times all my life, and I don’t see any bright spot.” The opinion has
been expressed that people do not need to remain in such a posi
tion; that if they have ambition they can rise above it. In many
cases it is not ambition that is lacking, but education, and behind
that even the opportunity to become educated. Information ob
tained from home visits to a number of women revealed that of the
185 white women reporting on their education, about two-thirds had
left school at 14 years of age or under, including those who had not
gone to school at all.34 Slightly over one-half of the girls gave
economic reasons for having left. They ha'd been forced to
leave school and go to work or remain at home to assume respon
sibilities. Of this number 80.5 per cent had left school at
14 years of age or under, and 54.7 per cent at less than 14 years.
The number who had left on account of ill health was small, 7 per
cent; 18.6 per cent left because they wanted to go to work or were
tired of school or wanted to become independent; 18 per cent left
to get married or because the school was closed or too far away.
Among 185 women 12 reported that they had not gone to school at
all, and one other had had only three months of school. The rea
sons given by these women were that they had lived in the country
with no school available or had been kept at home to work on the
farm or had lost their parents at an early age and had been left
with no one interested in their education. One stated that her
mother had to take her as a small child to the mill. Almost onefourth of the women (22.5 per cent) had either not gone to school
at all or had left at 10 .years of age or under. Of all the women
reporting on the grade completed at school, 40 per cent in round
numbers had not. gone beyond the fourth grade; 14 per cent had
finished grammar school; only 4 per cent had had any high-school
work; and only two girls of the 185 had finished high school. More
than one woman was found who had been put to work by her
parents at 9 or 10 years of age.
•
If work had been less wearing, if there had been educational op
portunities, many might have been able to attend night school as four
of the girls interviewed said they had done. Another girl, however,
who had always regretted her lack of education, touched the crux of
the matter wben she said that after working 10 hours in a mill
each day she was too tired to go to school at night. In the majority
of cases fatigue would inevitably check ambition.
34 Figures on education do not include the workers in the Atlanta survey.

PART III.
THE ATLANTA SURVEY.35
The survey in Atlanta was started May 28 and continued until
July 13, 1920. Facts obtained during this period correspond closely
as to time with those taken for the early week of the Georgia sur
vey, and whenever figures from Atlanta are compared with those
of the State as a whole, figures of the early week in the Georgia
survey are used.
Conditions in an urban center like Atlanta differ in many respects
from conditions in the rest of the State. A much larger propor
tion of women were in stores and laundries. This is true because
the city is a shopping center for people from all over the State and
because the large hotels, restaurants, and transportation companies
patronize the laundries. The character of the manufacturing in
Georgia, chiefly textiles, also tends to decentralize the factories, as
this industry has mills scattered in small communities throughout
the State. In the Atlanta survey 36.7 per cent of the women re
ported were in stores and 13.7 per cent were in laundries, -while for
the rest of the State 13.2 per cent were in stores and 5.1 per cent
were in laundries. Although in Atlanta more women were em
ployed in factories than either the mercantile or the laundry group,
yet their number was divided among so many different industries,
with often only a few factories in each industry, that it seemed wise
to unite them in a single grouping under “ factories.” Therefore,
the industrial groupings which have been made for the State have
no counterpart in the groupings for the city.
NUMBERS.

The following table shows the number of employees in stores,
factories, and laundries in Atlanta, and compares these employment
groupings with similar groupings in the State:
Table 12.—Number and per cent of women employed in specified industries in

Atlanta and Georgia.
Industry.

Women in Atlanta. Women in Georgia.
Number. Per cent. Number. Percent.

Stores...........................................
Factories..........................
Laundries...........................................

949
1,281
354

36.7
49.6
13.7

966
5,963
376

13.2
81.6
5.1

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

2,584

100.0

7,305

100.0

—

35 Tables of the Atlanta survey are in the appendix of this report. For a fall report
of the Atlanta survey see !'. S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, Preliminary re
port of a survey of wages, hours, and conditions of work of the women in industry in
Atlanta, Ga. Washington, November, 1920.

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

The number of women in stores and laundries was almost as
great in Atlanta as in the rest of the State, while in factories Atlanta
had less than one-quarter (21.5 per cent) of the number of women
employed in the rest of the State.
HOURS.

Scheduled weekly hours of work in Atlanta were lower than
throughout the rest of the State. Stores had weekly hours of from
45 to 58 a week, with four out of seven reporting under 48. Factory
hours ranged from 44J to 60, and 6 out of 15 establishments re
ported hours of more than 54. These six plants employed nearly
one-third (30.4 per cent) of the women in the manufacturing group.
All of the women in laundries worked more than 48 hours a week,
and in one laundry, employing 40 women, a 60-hour week was re
ported. The following summaries of scheduled weekly hours for
Atlanta and Georgia show the extent to which longer weekly hours
were worked throughout the State than in Atlanta.
Table

13.—Scheduled meekly hours for women employed in Atlanta and Georgia.
ATLANTA.

Scheduled weekly
hours.

Factories.

Stores.

All industries.

Laundries.

Women.
Women.
Women.
Women.
EsEsEsEstabtabtabtablishlish- Num Per
lishPer lish- Num Per ments. Num Per rnents.
ments. Num
ber. cent.
ber. cent. ments. ber. cent.
ber. cent.
32.0
47. 5
20.6

4
2
1

544
119
8

81.1
17.7
1.2

1
8
6

26 1, 840 100.0

671 100.0

5
12
9
Per cent working—

589
872
379

5.4
64.2
30. 4

2
2

221
119

65.0

829 100.0

340

100.0

532
252

69.6
30.4

98.8
1.2

79.4
20.6

65.0
35.0

GEORGIA.
107
9
31 1, 789
62 4,997
1
45
Per cent working—
54 hours and under.

1.5
25.8
72.0
.6

103 6,938 100.0
27.3
72. 7

1.4
17.6
80.2
.8

3
5
6

29
129
192

8.3
36.9
54.9

963 100.0

63 5,625 100.0

350

loo.o

69.4
30.6

19.0
81.0

11
668
15 1 295
26
t
1

69.4
30.6

6
78
15
992
41 4,510
1
45

......... .

45.1
54.9

The per cent of women who worked 54 hours and less in Atlanta
(79.4) is nearly three times the per cent of those who worked such
hours in the rest of the State (27.3). The largest per cents of
women with the longer hours were in laundries in Atlanta (35) and
in factories throughout Georgia (81). Stores in both instances had
the greatest proportions who worked 54 hours or less, but these

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

per cents differ greatly; in Atlanta only 1.2 per cent of the women
worked more than 54 hours, while in the rest of the State 30.6 per
cent did so.
In stores the daily hours were from
to 9. and in factories from
an 8-hour minimum (in the slack season only) to a 10-hour-and-50minute maximum. Of the 16 factories visited in Atlanta all but two
reported a 9-hour day or longer at the time of the survey, and 6,
employing 19.3 per cent of all the women in the factory group, had
a work day of 10 hours or longer. The laundries all had a work day
of 9 hours or over, and one plant, where 40 women were employed,
worked a 10-hour day.
The following table summarizes the scheduled daily hours in
Atlanta and in Georgia.
Table 14.—Scheduled

daily hours for women employed in Atlanta and Georgia.
Atlanta.

Scheduled daily hours.

Under 8...............................................
8 and under 9..........................................
9 and under 10.......................
10 and over.....................................
Total.....................................................

Estab
lish
ments.

Georgia.

W omen.
Number. Per cent.

Estab
lish
ments.

W omen.
Number. Per cent.

3
3
12
8

615
532
917
333

25.7
22.2
38.3
13.9

1
22
34
45

20
860
1,600
4,458

0.3
12.4
23.1
64.3

2,397

100.0

102

6,938

100.0

The significant fact which appears in comparing the hours in At
lanta with those in the rest of the State is the shorter hours worked
by the women in Atlanta, where nearly one-half (47.9 per cent) had
hours of less than 9 a day, while in the rest of the State only 12.7
per cent had these hours. Atlanta reported only 13.9 per cent who
worked 10 hours and over, but nearly two-thirds (64.3 per cent) of
the women throughout the rest' of the State worked that long day.
Saturday half holidays were given by all the manufacturing estab
lishments and by 2 of the 4 laundries. Four of the 7 stores had
a half holiday in summer. One store had a day of 13 hours on
Saturday the year round, but with this exception the Saturday hours
were considerably shorter in Atlanta than in other parts of the State.
Little overtime appeared in Atlanta in either of the pay periods,
although 12 of the 16 factories, 4 of the 7 stores, and all of the 4
laundries reported that overtime was required or permitted at cer
tain seasons or in cases of emergency. No overtime was reported in
the late pay-roll week for workers in stores; 2 of the 4 laundries
showed overtime ranging from 1 to 21 hours; in factories very little
overtime was reported. Only 3 of the 15 plants for which wage data

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

were secured employed their women workers more than the scheduled
hours, and but IT of the 615 women in these plants worked the over
time hours.
The. amount of time worked less than the scheduled hours con
siderably exceeded the amount of overtime. Workers in factories had
records of the greatest amount of lost time, and women in stores the
steadiest attendance. Tliis amount of overtime and lost time corre
sponds with conditions found for workers throughout the State.
(See Tables XXI and XXII, Appendix.)
WAGES.

Wages in Atlanta were at a high-wTater mark in the spring and
early summer of 1920. The cost of living also was high, even when
compared with that in other large cities throughout the country.
According to figures collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of
the United States Department of Labor, Atlanta ranks eighth among
the cities surveyed in the per cent increase in the cost of living be
tween December, 1917, and June, 1920.36 It is probable therefore
that the cost of living was greater in Atlanta than throughout the
State. Two of the largest items in a family budget are food and
housing, and these in Atlanta comprised nearly one-half (48 per
cent) of the family expenditure. These figures are higher in cities
than in smaller towns and country localities. Therefore, if wages
vary with the cost of living they should go higher in Atlanta than
throughout the State as a whole. This was found to be the case for
the total number of women in the two surveys. Median earnings for
white women were $13.05 in Atlanta and $12.95 in Georgia, and for
Negro women they were $7.15 in Atlanta and $6.50 in Georgia.
Table 15.—Median weekly earnings of white and Negro women, in Atlanta and

Georgia.
White women.

Negro women.

Industry.
Atlanta. Georgia. Atlanta.

AH industries......................................................................................

$15.35
11.40
14. 70
13.05

$10.50
13. 40
10.00
12.95

$9.15
8.55
6.95
7.15

Georgia.'
$8.50
6.90
5.85
6.50

In the separate industrial groupings higher earnings were shown
in Atlanta than in Georgia for white women in stores and laundries.
The earnings of workers in factories, however, were $2 lower in
Atlanta than in the rest of the State. Negro women reported higher
30 Changes in cost of living in the United States.
September, 1020, pp. 70-72.

Monthly L»abor Review, v. 11, No. 3,

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

weekly earnings in Atlanta than in Georgia in all three groups—stores, factories, and laundries. (See Table XXII, Appendix.)
Yearly earnings in Atlanta for all white workers reported showed
a median of $721. The highest were in stores and the lowest were in
factories. The median yearly earnings for all Negro women were
$384. These workers with one exception were employed in laundries,
so that the median earnings of laundry workers, $382, almost coin
cides with that figure.
When these median yearly earnings are compared with those of
the survey of the rest of the State, the median for white workers in
all industries is found to be lower in Atlanta.
Table 16.—Median yearly earnings of white and Negro women in Atlanta, and

Georgia.
White women.

Negro women.

Industry.
Atlanta.
m2
689
713
721
1 None reported.

Georgia. Atlanta.
$758
752
463
748

8
$382
384

Georgia.
(2)
$428
342
413

2 Only one Negro worker reported.

In stores and laundries earnings were higher in Atlanta, but the
larger number of workers receiving higher pay in the Georgia fac
tory group overbalances those with lower median earnings in the
other Georgia groups, resulting in a higher median for the State than
for the city. The lower yearly earnings shown by the Atlanta fac
tory workers are without doubt due to the differing proportion of
workers in the various industries in Atlanta and in the whole State.
A large proportion of those reporting yearly earnings worked in
textile mills. Median yearly earnings in candy in Atlanta were $597,
and in textiles in the State they were $800—a difference of $203.
This very marked difference between candy and textiles for expe
rienced workers more than accounts for the superiority in earnings
of the Georgia factory group. Negro workers had lower median
earnings for “all industries” in Atlanta than in Georgia. The
Negro women in “ all industries ” in Atlanta included laundry work
ers and only one factory worker, while in Georgia 42 factory workers
and one worker in a store were included. If earnings in laun
dries are compared, Negro women showed a median of $382, com
pared to $342 in Georgia—$40 higher in Atlanta. (See Table XXV,
Appendix.)
From the figures on both weekly and yearly earnings, it would
seem that wages in stores and laundries were higher in Atlanta than
throughout the State, and that wages in factories were lower.

APPENDIX.
C5

GENERAL TABLES.
Table I.—Scheduled and actual weekly hours—Georgia.
ALL INDUSTRIES.
Number of women whose scheduled hours were—
Hours actually worked.

Num
ber of
45
44
31
report
ing. hours. hours. hours.

49 and 50 and
under under
48
hours.
50
51
48
hours. hours.
hours.

47 and

1
2
1

2
15
7
80
14
33
68
39
52
59

1
1
1
1

61
More than 31 but under 33.

More than 44 but under 45.
More than 45 but under 47.
More than 48 but under 49.

170
79
73
23
258
65
54
38
23
234

2
3
Q
O

34
154
107

18
4
4

7
9
i

2
1
3
2

1
9
2

2
6
6

29
3

3
1

21
45
6
31
10

1
1
1
1
2

51
1
10
78
19

9
2
3

1
8
15
11
16
4
2
11
35

11
4

3
7

60 and
56 and 57 and
51 and 52 and 53 and 54 and
under
69
58
under under
under under under under
00
hours.
61
hours.
57
58
hours.
55
53
54
- 52
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours. hours.

3
18
13

2
1

2
3

1
1

1
. 8

4
2

3
4
31
4
1

1
4

105
15
4
7
204

1
3
1

28
16
21
12
19

5
8

6
3
21
10
23

8
1
7
48
33

17
12
28

1
1
4

6
7
12
106

205
85
178
123
227

61
26
2

........

930
1
106
37
19

9
3 ............
3 ............
99 ............
163

118
6
9
8
14

...................
1

4 ............
4
1
2
2
16

855

2
1
6

102
1

1
4
5
5

139

250

201

140

228

1,780

1
11

1
1
14

6
503
5

2
168

1
4

18
9
12
3
34

1,085

9
3
12
49

W OMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

4,227

1
148

8
507
10
21
9
12
3
Total.........................

OS
“-7

Table II.—Hours worked less than scheduled, by scheduled hours—Georgia.

<G>

ALL INDUSTRIES.

Total.......

4
1
54
15
2
11
4
1
"\2
1
2
1
7
2
1
103
4
2
48
23
9
3
2
69 174
30
3
7
2
1
*23'
1
1 *27*
1
1
3
1
7 154
2
2
17 23
2
3
2
41
1
9
29
4
2
1
29
l
65
26
114 * Y
1
21
3
47 41
6
1
17
1
4
831
17 1,638 i.42
80
28
4
27
23
1
2
13
1
i
2 46
1
2
1
10
1
6
l
1
1 "25
l
400
773 195
27
65
117
1
'49'
1
l $$ j 3, 290 037 1,553

5
1

"2
129

4
1

**i

1
3

2
7

4
6

11
2
16

2
1

14
2

6
2

•

2
23
4

1
7
3
3
1
176
8

5
2
1
2

6
11
1

”4'
15

1
2

451

1
7

15
99
37"

20 "1
5 57

’Y

6
1
1
1

8
49

r•••
239
2

2
10

17 | 5

2
1 *T

1
1
1
5
4
104
2

26
”7’

340 148

114
18

400

1
2
5
1

1
1
1

92
13

"ii

13
1

1 Two textile mills and 1 cigar factory working their departments different hours are entered twice.

31
6

14
"i"

33
8

169

136

44
7
126

2
5

2
6

3
5
9

1 "w

121
5
3

1
72
11

....
27
"'7

241

W OMEN IN GEORGIA. INDUSTRIES,

Number of
Number of women who worked less than scheduled hours—
Num Number of women
working
ber of
3 and un 4 and un 5 and un 10 and un 15 and un 20 and un 25 and un 30 hours,
2
and
un
1
and
un
women
Under 1
less than
estab reporting.
der 20
der 25
der 30
der 10
der 15
der 4
der 5
der 2
der 3
Scheduled
and over
scheduled
hour.
lish
* hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
weekly hours. ments
hours.
report
Ne White. Ne
Ne White. Ne
ing. White. Ne White. Ne WMte. ^ White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne^ White.
White. Ne White.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.

Table III.—Hours worked less than scheduled, by industry—Georgia.

Industry.

Total.......

288

193

2,386 192

33
4

126

1,218

19
3

356

133

119

18
1

65
42

10
1

35
8

7
1

22
5

340 148

400

169

104 363
13 197

69 197
3 82

10
18

3,290 937

1,553 451

103

188

8
10

265

1
1

11
3

136

126

241

W OMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

Depart ment
stores..............
5-and -10-cent
stores..............
Textile manulecturing........
Knit-guodsmanufaeUtring —
Garment menu(acturing.......
Cigar manufac.
taring.............
Food manufactaring, ,,.......
Miecellan e o u a
manufacturing
tawdries.........

Number of women who worked less than scheduled hours—
Number of
women
Num Number of working
ber of women
less than
un 2 and un 3 and un 4 and un 5 and un 10 and un 15 and un 20 and un 25 and un
1 1 and
30 hours
estab reporting. scheduled Under
der 2
der 3
der 4
der 5
der 10
der 15
der 20
der 25
der 30
hour.
and over.
lish
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
ments
report
ing.
White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White Ne White. Ne White Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
•

O'.

Table IV.—Hours worked more than scheduled, by scheduled hours—Georgia.
ALL INDUSTRIES.

60j and 69 hours.

1
2
4
2
2
3
19
17
4
2
1
3
27
2

Total.......

i 86

45 to 48 hours...

50£ to 54f hours.
561 and 56\ hours
57 to 58 hours...

54
20
103
23
69
354
1,638
80
40
2
17
773
117

12
4
9
U4
276
142

22
1

46
26
195
49

2
1

....

*
..................

1 Two textile mills and 1 cigar factory working their departments different hours are entered twice.

............
1
2

1
4

41 1 42

3,290 937

1
15

1
...........
1
3

1
1

W OMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES,

Number of women who worked more than scheduled hours—
Number of
women
Number
of
working
Num
ber of women more than Under 1 1 and un 2 and un 3 and un 4 and un 5 and un 10 and un 15 and un 20 and un 25 and un 30 hours
der 25
der 30
der 4
der 20
der 5
der 10
der 15
der 2
der 3
estab reporting. scheduled
Scheduled
and over.
hour.
hours.
hours. * hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
weekly hours. lish
ments
report
ing.
Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne
White.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.

Table V.—Hours worked more than scheduled,

SS045

CO
CO
o
m
Ul
0

Industry.

to
to

Department
stores..............
5-and-10-cent
stores..............
Textile manu
facturing ........
Knit-goods man
ufacturing __
Garment manu
facturing........
Cigar manufac
turing.............
Food manufac
turing............
Miscellaneous
manufacturing
Laundries.........
Total.......

industry—Georgia.

Number of women who worked more than scheduled hours—
Number of
women
Num Number of working
ber of women more than
1 and un 2 and un 3 and un 4 and un 5 and un 10 and un 15 and un 20 and un 25 and un
30 hours
estab reporting. scheduled Under 1
der 2
der 3
der 4
der 5
der 10
der 15
der 20
der 25
der 30
hour.
and over.
lish
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
ments
report
ing.
White Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne ■White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White,
White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
igro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
•
7

288

193

2,386 192

126

1
1

2
1

3,290 937

104 363
13 197

4
1

1
1
1

7
7

26
2

1
1

1
2

....

W OMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

Table YI.—Length of lunch period, by industryr—Georgia.
Numbers having lunch period as specified.

Industry.

Number Number
of estab of women
lish reporting.
ments.

Cigar manufacturing.......................................................
Food manufacturing.......................................................
Laundries.........................................................................
All industries.........................................................

i 103

1 Excludes 1 establishment with irregular lunch period.

750
213
4,103
301
296
168
127
630
376
6,964

40 or 45 minutes.

More than 1 hour.

1 hour.

50 minutes.

Estab Women.
Estab Women. Estab Women. Estab W omen. Estab Women. lishments
lishments
lishments
lishments
lishments

5
1
3
2
4
7
8
30

964
67
108
18
117
620
231
2,125

2,075 ............ i’ .......... 68'
166
161
143
io
l
12

22
2
2
1

2,557

13
9
6

682
199
1,064

3
1
1

27
7
10

133

2,122

3
1

68
14

W OMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

16
10
33
4
8
4
i5
8
15

Department stores...........................................................

25 or 30 minutes.

Table VII.—Number of women with actual weekly earnings as specified, by industry—Georgia.
LATE PAY-BOLL FIGURES.
All
industries.
Weekly earnings.

Textile
Department. 5-and-10-cent
manufactur
stores.
stores.
ing.

Knit-goods
Garment
manufactur- [ manufactur
ing.
ing.

Cigar manu
facturing.

Food manu Miscellaneous
manufactur
facturing.
ing.

Laundries.

White. Negro. White.! Negro. White. Negro. White, Negro. White Negro. White, Negro. White Negro. White Negro. White J Negro.
White Negro.

142

112

198
193
252
164
87
76
46
23
27

109
3
4

47
52
69
115
153
169

6
32
24
55
31

15
21
5

'72
61
53

146
5,185
$12.20

273
230
218
275
163
299
177
153

15
58
15

10
11
13
8
4
3
6
5
5
10

120
110

5i>

47
42
34
94

106
27
1, 312
458 j
$6.20 $13.20

4
3
7
5
12
6
6
7
7

2ii
257

m
24

119

1
3

193
$9.25

3, 507
$12.45

245
224
$5.95 $10.10

111

390

$6.35 $12.20

34
154
$3.90 $15. ao

1
3
3
6
15
9
9
7
7
4
i

.......1

2
4
6
6
12
G
6
9
7
8
9
6
6
1

1
2
2
4
1
9
13
11
3
12
3
8
1
2

1
i
3

4
4
4
9
6
13
14
7
12
16
7
11
6
5

20
19
41
82
69
101
84
So
22
6
6
4
5
1
2
2

fl
o

1
37
3
67
4
79
9
27
i
23
2
7
1
6
1
2
6
2
2
1
2
"|..........

1
1
2
1
1

66
93
72
$6.55 $10.50 $10.35

123
$9.15

2
489
40
SO. 15 $10.00

a
w
%
GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

Total................
Median earnings........

78
65
85
103
162
235
270
368
379
449
325
371
364
226
415
233
206
l.s2

Ilf

Under $2.............................
$2 and under S3................ .
$3 and under $4.................
$4 and under $5..................
$5 and under $8..................
$6 and under $7..................
$7 and under IS..................
$8 and under $9................
$9 and under $10................
$10 and under $11..............
$11 and under $12..............
$12 and under $13..............
$13 and under $14..............
$14 and under $15..............
$15 and under $16..............
$16 and under $17..............
$17 and Under $18..............
$18 and under $19..............
$19 and under $20..............
$20 and under $21..............
$21 and under $22...................
$22 and under $23...................
$23 and under $24..............
$24 and under $25..............
$25 and over.......................

282
$6.05

1 Not computed, owing to small number involved.

-i
Co

Table VII.—Number of women with actual weekly earnings as specified, by industry—Georgia.—'Continued.
EARLY PAY-ROLL FIGURES.
Knit-goods
manufactur
ing.

Textile
Department 5-and-10-cent manufactur
stores.
stores.
ing.

All
industries.

Garment
manufactur
ing.

Cigar manu
facturing.

Food manu
facturing.

Miscellaneous
manufactur
ing.

Laundries.

Weekly earnings.
|
]
Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro.
White. Negro. White. N egro. White. Negro. White. N egro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White.

$10 and under $11...................

107

58
57
60
111
184
225
110
85
133
71
17
23
12
11
3
9
1
1

2
3
6
17
5
10
41
26
59
31
59
23
17
45
9
11
20
4
16
5
9

76
81
213

4
18

5,252
Median earnings.................... $12.95

460
1,171
$6.50 $12.40

$25 and over...........................

i Not computed, owing to small number involved.

3
1
2
1
1
1

2
7
5
7
10
21
34
61
49
27
8
12
3
2
2

3
1
1

1
1

c1)

252
$8.65

62
63
65
73
88
109
110
120
151
194
192
226
273
233
200
274
204
176
140
97
90
108
54
70
161
3,533
$14.15

5
6

85
8
9
11
19
21
38
S3
44

10
23
23

15
6

13
16

2
3

3
2

4
1
2

16
16
11

22
30
28
22
21

6
2
3
1
1

5
9
10
5
10
17

3
1
13
9
16
2
3
4

11
11
3
1
3

3
3

2
2
1
4
3
9
9
11
14
1
4
7
2
6
1
1

4
3
2
1
3
2
5
7
3
13
8
11
6
6
1
2
3
1

20
23
20
24
52
97
21
8
12
2

2
1
3
5
4
2
5
1
7
1

11
18
14
54
96
88
34
16
19
6
3

5
2
2
1
3

1
3
1

1
10

258
286
$9.30 $10.65

425
122
$6.00 $10.90

131
34
$4.35 $10.70

1
.........
88
77
58
] $8.55 $9.75 $11.15

1
47
279
$6.00 $10.90

359
$5.85

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

$8 and under $9.......................

97
101
110
110
161
200
237
281
301
375
291
376
348
295
289
311
216

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.
Table

VIII.—Weekly rates and weekly earnings—Georgia.
LATE PAY-ROLL FIGURES.

Amount.

Number of white Number of Negro
women for whom
women for whom
the amount speci
the amount speci
fied was—
fied was—
Weekly
Actua 1 Weekly
Actual
rates. earnings. rates. earnings.

Under $4...................................
$4 and under $5..............................
So and under S6............................
$6 and under $7.............................................
$7 and under $8................................
S8 and under S9..........................................
S9 and under $10................................
$10 and under $11...............................
$11 and under $12..................................................
$12 and under $13........................
$13 and under $14.....................................
314 and under $15...................................;........
$15 and under $16.................................
$16 and under $17..............................................................................
$17 and under $18..............................................................................
$18 and under $19..............................................................................
$19 and under $20..............................................................................
$20 and under $21............................................................................ .
$21 and under $22..............................................................................
$22 and under $23..............................................................................
$23 and under $24..............................................................................
$25 and over.......................................................................................
Total.........................................................................................

2
68
69
201
224
246
120
244
179
61
247
60
51
73
10
35
4
13
11
12
29

48
105
99
197
164
196
128
161
158
56
213
67
68
56
19
32
9
16
12
15
30

100
257
158
89
51
48
15
14
7
17
2
2

1,959
$12.20

1,959
$11.45

906
$0. so

906
$6.20

42
114
326
97
96
89
47
13
31
4
20
4
1

85
149
183
76
58
105
49
9
19
10
10
2
8

135
200
123
54
38
34
10
18
3
7
1
1

EARLY PAY-ROLL FIGURES.

$4 and under $5..................................................................................
$5 and under $6..................................................................................
$6 and under $7..................................................................................
$7 and under $8..................................................................................
$8 and under $9..................................................................................
$9 and under $10................................................................................
$10 and under $11..............................................................................
$11 and under $12..............................................................................
$12 and under $13..............................................................................
$13 and under $14..............................................................................
$14 and under $15..............................................................................
$15 and under $16..............................................................................
$16 and under $17..............................................................................
$18 and under $19..............................................................................

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

1
12
42
92
240
241
206
100
270
168
62
296
85
45
77
25
27
12
14
12
27
18

132
* 38
69
81
105
109
162
166
121
196
148
122
131
145
66
51
36
32
20
22
15
20
25

2,072
$12. 40

2, 072
$11.95

889
$3.90

889
$6. 45

Table IX—Weekly earnings, by hours actually worked—Georgia.

LATE PAY-ROLL FIGURES.
Number of women who worked—

Weekly earnings.

Number of
women
reporting.

and under 63 hours and
24 and under 33 and under 42 and under 48 and under 54 and under 57 and under 6063
hours.
60 hours
over.
57 hours.
54 hours.
48 hours.
42 hours.
33 hours.

Under
24 hours.

$2 and under $3.......................
$3 and under $4.......................
$5 and under $6.......................

$25 and over............................

3,299
Median earnings...................... $12.15

41
36
78
161
144
192
124
52
47
31
11
18
3
7
1
1
2

41
46
43
60
103
151
165
253
260
293
205
228
241
139
296
140
130
109
86
62
45
46
31
34
92

37
16
8

41
44
29
29
26
11
3
2
3
1

1
1

1
1
1
2

1
13
14
23
28
24
16
21
6
5
5
3
1
2

3
9
19
16
4

1
12
31
35
36
59
31
43
28
8

1
346
$9.00

420
93
$4. 80 $11.20

949
$6.10

195
$3. 45

63
SI. 71)

162
$7.10

51
$3.70

1
2
8
23
55
36
42
37
33
35
42
26
17
7
13
7
5
11
3
5
4
4
4

...

5
18
28
22
11
5
3

2
15
23
31
29
36
1
4
1

3
8
16
17
52
49
72
46
57
54
38
47
25
17
27
17
12
6
15
8
5
12

603
142
$6.00 $12.65

White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro.

4
17
53
52
70
45
24
11
3
2
2

283 1,096
$6.20 $13.55

36 I
28
$12.25 $9.50 $15. 80

19
95
57. 55 114.50

26
$10.55

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White

*
EARLY PAY-ROLL FIGURES.

Total......................
Median earnings..................

50
63
65
62
97
118
131
173
199
217
174
259
232
188
186
208
165
127
91
68
63
82
30
56
112

43
48
49
86
144
160
69
55
109
59
12
17
9
10
2
9

3,216
*13.00

883
$6. 45

50
62
56
44
43
23
12
6
2
2
1

40
30
5
3

3
9
19
7
2
1
1

1
8
9
21
38
32
20
20
14
7
8
5

7
7
28
20
19
7

10
21

22
66

18
16

17
1
....... - •

1
1
2
1

187
$7.50

42
312
$3.45 $10.10

94
378
$5.20 $12. 45

78
$1.95

5
10
17
23
28

36
36
34
26
19
20
14
7
6
9
3

303
$3.70

2
8
12
25
21
33

2
10
16
35
28
13

42
27
20
12
21
12
6
7
2
3
3
3
6

1
1

1
7'
17
29
23
34
41
36
23
16
11
10
7
9
2

|
7
8
24
37
8
8
2

*
O
K
a
3
M

107

87
51

31
29
1

17
30
58

122
447
$5.95 $12.90

152 1,118
$6. 70 $15. 30

203
45
$7.65 $15. 30

62
366
$5.80 $16.80

91
60
$9.50 $18.00

$11. 75

GEORGIA INDUSTRIES,

Under $2..................................
$2 and under $3...........
$3 and under $4.......................
$4 and under So...........
$5 and under $6.......................
$6 and under $7.....................
$7 and under §8.......................
$8 and under $9.......................
S9 and under $10.....................
$10 and under $11.................
$11 and under $12...................
$12 and under $13...................
$13 and under $14...................
$14 and under $15...................
$15 and under $16...................
$16 and under $17..................
$17 and under $18.............
$18 and under $19...................
$19 and under $20..............
$20 and under $21...................
$21 and under $22................
$22 and under $23....................
823 and under $24....................
$24 and under $25....................
$25 and over.......................

-7
“-4

Table

-7

X.—Weekly earnings, hy years in the trade—Georgia.

ALL INDUSTRIES.
Number of women who had been in the trade—

Weekly earnings.

Number of
women re
porting.

6 months
and under
1 year.

Under 6
months.

and
1 and under 2 and under 3 and under 4 and under 5 and under 10 and under 15 and under 20 years
* over.
20 years.
10 years.
15 years.
5 years.
4 years.
3 years.
2 years.

Under $2.....................
$2 and under $3.........
S3 and under S I.........
$4 and under $5.........
55 and under $6........
56 and under S7.........
57 and under $8.........
58 and under $9........
$9 and under $10.---$10 and under $11---$11 and under $12---$12 and under $13---$13 and under $14---$14 and under $15....
$15 and under $16---$16 and under $17---$17 and under $18...
$18 and under $19....
$19 and under 820...
$20 and under $21...
$21 and under $22...
$22 and under $23...
$23 and under $24...
$24 and under $25...
$25 and over..............
Total...............
Median earnings.......

30
an
49
87
90
155

33
54
65
57
31
16

8
7
12
13
14
11

6
1
1

5
11
12
16
15
16

2
9
9
6
1

5
6
14
11
40
27
43
21
27
7
25
6
7
10
3
2

2,118 365
$12.45 $6.30

11
19
19
6
4
6
1
3
2

1
1
0
8
10
11
21
22
41
19
22
17
11
24
10
6
10
3
4
1
4
2
1

18
50
19
108
$8.00 $4.15

1 Not computed, owing to small number involved.

1
4
8

2
4
6
13
9
13
10
4
4
1
1
1
1

2
4
1
9
7
20
11
23
17
17
23
11
31
11
10
4
5
7
5
1
2
4

1
1
2
6
4
5
4
3
2

1
2
1
5
5
8
11
20
22
12
11
8
7
14
8
7
3
2
2
2
1

1
1
4
7
3
2
1
1

4
6
2
7
15
15
15
23
38
25
35
26
15
41
20
19
21
6
13
6
9
8
5
11

2
4
3
6
9
6
7
3
2

1
1
1
3
4
6
6
12
11
7
10
9
22
16
13
12
13“
4
6
4
1
1
14

1
1
20
177
20
385
42
224
153
28
73
225
255
290
98
39
113
$9.65 $5.70 110.75 $6.75 $11.35 $6.85 $13.05 $7.00 $11.15 $6.55 $13.30 $6.65 $15.05 $5.35 $15.80

1
2
4
1
1
2
1

1
2
1
5
5
5
2
11
11
10
7
12
14
18

2
1
2
4
3
1
1

10
11
6
6
4
5
8
5
14
12

188
$15. 45

14
(0

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

White. Negro White. Negro W'hite. Negro White. Negro White. Negro White. Negro White. Negro White. Negro White. Negro White. Negro White. Negro

Table XI.— Year's earnings of women for whom 52-weelc pay-roll records were secured, by industry—Georgia.
Number of women receiving each specified amount.

Year’s earnings.

Textile
All industries. Department 5-and-10-cent manufactur
stores.
stores.
ing.

Knit-goods
manufactur.
ing.

Garment
manufactur
ing.

Cigar manu
facturing.

Food manu Miscellaneous
manufactur
facturing.
ing.

Laundries.

White. Negro. WTiite. Negro White. ■Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro.

4
3
7
10
26
25
33
35
37
57
40
40
34
36
63
40
34
18
5
2

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

550
$748

2
4
12
9
10
7
8
2
2
1
2

2
1
1

1
3
5
3
5
4

3
1
i

6
8
2
7
2

7
5
4
2

.......

1
2
11
7
13
20
25
35
30
28
22
31
49
29
31
10
1
1

1
3
1
2
1

j 47
$942

23
$485

348
$800

2
2

2
1
2
1

2
1
1
2

4
3
2
4
1

3
2

1
1

4
3

1
1

3
3

3
3
1
2
1

1
59
$413

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

$500

.......
0)

$665

(■>

(>)J-

<>)

p>4

$506

$380

C1)

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

Under $200...............................
$200 and under $250................
$250 and under $300................
$300 and under $350................
$350 and under $400................
$400 and under $450................
$450 and under $500................
$,300 and under $550................
$550 and under $600....... ;
$600 and under $650................
$650 and under $700................
$700 and under $750................
$750 and under $800................
$800 and under $850................
$850 and under $900................
$900 and under $1,000.............
$1,000 and under $1,100..........
$1,100 and under $1,200...........
$1,200 and under $1,400...........
$1,400 and under $1,600...........
$1,600 and under $1,800...........
$1,800 and under $2,000...........
$2,000 and over........................

$342

1 Not computed, owing to small number involved.

Table XII.— Year’s earnings, by weeks worked—Georgia.
ALL INDUSTRIES.
Number of women who worked—

Year’s earnings.

Total
number of
women.

Under 32
weeks.

32 and under 36 and under 40 and under 44 and under 46 and under 48 and under 50 and under
52 weeks.
50 weeks.
48 weeks.
46 weeks.
44 weeks.
36 weeks.
40 weeks.

52 weeks.

cIIIU U11UCI V*'VI' ..........

$1,600 and under $1,800..........
$2,000 and over........................

4
3
7
10
26
25
33
35
37
57
40
40
34
36
63
40
34
18
5
2

2
4
12
9
10
7
8
2
2

1
2
1

3
1

2
1
1

1
2

3
5
2
3
1
1
2
1
1

3
3
2
7
3
4
5
4
3
2
2
5
' 2

1
1
1
1

3
7
10
4
6
5
5
5
4
9
8
1
4
2

1
4
2
6
3
5
9
12
12
10
12
8
9
13
6
6
2
1

4
1
1

i
i

3
5
1
5
3
2
1
1

1
1
6
5
4
10
8
15
13
. 9
10
15
22
18
13
11
3
2

1 1
1

3
6
2
2
3

12
10
3
1

1
550
$748

59
$413

<l)

22
$700

46
$650

74
$710

122
$730

C1)

167
$852

24
$420

i Not computed, owing to small number involved.

1
5
3
5
5
7
3
15
5
8
9

/•>

106
$775

17
$387

W OM EN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES,

j
White. Negro. White. Negro. White.Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro.

Table

XIII,—Weeks lost in 52-week period by women for whom, 52-week pay-roll records were secured—Georgia.
Number of women losing each specified number of weeks.

Weeks lost.

All industries. Department
stores.

5-and-10eent stores.

Textile
Knit-goods
manufactur manufactur
ing.
ing.

Garment
manufactur
ing.

Cigar manu
facturing.

Miscella
Food manu
neous manu
facturing.
facturing.

Laundries.

Noiie.........................................
1..........................................
2....................................
3................................................
5................................................
6................................................
7................................................
8................................................
9................................................
10....................................... ...
11..............................................
12..............................................
13..............................................
14..............................................
15 or over.............................

106
92
75
68
54
42
33
26
19
14
3
3
2
3
1
9

17
9
15
4
4
2
2
3
1

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

550

17
9
7
7
3

8
7
2
1
3
2

1
1

1
1
3
1
1
1

348

4
3
10
4
6
2
2

1
1
1
1
1

2
1
7

I
47

54
61
45
46
37
22
26
18
13
12
3
1

1
i
8

3
5
7
5
4
1
2
1

i
1

2
2
1

20 '

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

White. Negro. White Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro.

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

XIV.—Weeks lost on account of closing of establishment or department
by women for whom 52-week pay-roll records were secured—Georgia.

Table

Number of women who lost each specified number of weeks.

Number of weeks
establishment or
department was
closed.

All in
dustries.1

Textile Knit-goods Garment
manufac manufac manufac
turing.
turing.
turing.

Cigar
manufac
turing.

Miscel
laneous
manufac
turing.

Food
manufac
turing.

Ne White. Ne White. Ne White. Ne White- Ne White. Ne
White. Ne White.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
gro.
73
17

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

154

8
103
1
1

15 and over.................

1
89

...................
32
3

1 Exclusive of department and 5-and-10-cent stores and laundries, none of which reported any weeks
closed.
Table XV.—Nativity

of the women employees ivho supplied personal informa
tion, by industrial group—Atlanta and Georgia.
Number and per cent who were—
Number
of women
reporting.

Industrial group.

Native born.

Foreign born.

Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent.

Manufacturing establishments......................................
Laundries.........................................................................

Table

661
2,268
257

652
2,264
257

3,186

3,173

98.6
99.8

9
4

1.4

100.0
99.6

XVI.—Age of the women employees who supplied personal information,
by industrial group—Atlanta and, Georgia.

Industrial group.

Number of women whose age was—
Num
ber of
50
30
25
40
18
16
women
60
20 and
and
and
and
and
and
re Under and
under under under under under under under years
port
16
and
50
60
40
30
18
ing. years.
over.
20 25
years. years. years. years. years. years. years.

697
Stores..........................................
Manufacturing establishments. 2,378
266
Laundries...................................

22
669

93
306
30

89
369
30

Total................................ 3,341
Per cent distribution................

97
2.9

429

488
14.6

100.0

12.8

136
468
64

102
349
39

137
431
52

88
247
26

22
106
10

668
20.0

490
14.7

620
18.6

361

138
4.1

50
1.5

10.8

368

Table XVII.—Age of the women scheduled, by industry—Georgia.
Number of women whose age was—
Industry.

Total
number
reporting.

16 and under 18 and under 20 and under 25 and under 30 and under 40 and under 50 and under
30 years.
50 years.
60 years.
18 years.
20 years.
25 years.
40 years.

Under 16
years.

60 years and
over.

White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro.

127
53
Laundries.................................

Total, all industries___ 2,249
Per cent distribution.............. 100. 0
Total, all manufacturing industries................................. 1,866

3
7
44

10
22

5
5

33
33
169
21
7
27
5
6
2

14
18

4
3

26
30
208
24
17
12
11
13

26
20

38
28
271
20
32
25
15
16
4

41
34

12
1
9

1
6

33
10
216
13
18
10
8
10

21
25

47
13
276
7
31
7
9
11
9

5
4
1

19
27

35
12
161
7
14
5
2
8
2

1
1
ii
12

i7
1
2

9
1
59
5
3

3
2
2

6
5

4
1
23

1
1
4

U2
151

3
6

405
100.0

69
3.1

9
2.2

303
13.5

39
9.6

341
15.2

68
16.8

449
20.0

93
23.0

' 318
14.1

56
13.8

410
18:2

66
16.3

246
10.9

41
10.1

84
3.7

20
4.9

29
1.3

13
3.2

254

235

285

379

275

341

197

1 One large mill, employing over 100 Negro women, did not report personal information.

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

228
135
1,427

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

Table

XVIII.—Conjugal condition of the women employees who supplied per
sonal information, by industrial group—Atlanta and Georgia.
Number and per cent who were—

Industrial group.

Number
of
women
report
ing.

Widowed, sepa
rated , or divorced.

Married.

Single.

Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent.
Stores............................................
Manufacturing establishments..
Laundries.....................................

660
2,225
247

405
1,062
93

61.4
47.7
37.7

133
687
91

20.2
30.9
36.8

122
476
63

18.5
21.4
25.5

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

3,132

1, 560

49.8

911

29.1

661

21.1

Table

XIX.—Living condition of the women employees who supplied personal
information, by industrial group—Atlanta and Georgia.
Number and per cent who were—
Industrial group.

Number
of
women
report
ing.

Adrift.

At home.

Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent.
Stores................................................................................
Manufacturing establishments......................................
Laundries.........................................................................

679
2,016
224

556
1, 753
193

81.9
87.0
86.2

123
263
31

18.1
13.0
13.8

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

2,919

2,502

85.7

417

14.3

XX.—Scheduled weekly hours—Atlanta.:

Table
All indus
tries.
Scheduled weekly hours.

57£...........................................
58..............................................
Total..............................j

Num
Num
ber of Num ber of Num
estab ber of estab ber of
lish wo lish wo
ments. men. ments. men.
1
4
1
2
1
2
1
5
4
1
1
1
2
26

45
544
74
140
12
70
4
572
92
90
48
8
141
1,840

544

5-and-10-cent
stores.

Box manu
facturing.

552 j

Hat manu Mattress man Preserving. Textile manu
Laundries.
facturing.
ufacturing.
facturing.

Num Num Num
Num
Num
Num
Num
Num
Num
ber o f
ber of Num ber of Num ber of Num ber of Num ber of Num ber of Num ber of Num
estab ber of estab ber of estab ber of estab ber of estab ber of estab ber of estab ber of estab ber of
wo lish
wo lish
wo lish wo lish
lish wo lish wo lish wo lish
wo
ments. men. ments. men. ments. men. ments. men. ments. men. ments. men. ments. men. ments. men.

74
1

Candy manu
facturing.

119

101

416

433

1 For purposes of comparison with the figures for the State, the figures here given represent the women for whom pay-roll data were obtained.

110

111

112

160

340

WOMEN IN GEOEGIA INDUSTKIES.

44 J.............................................
45..............................................
49........................... ..................
m.............................................
50..............................................
52..............................................
52£.............................................
53.............................................
55..............................................

General
mercantile.

Table XXI.—Hours worked less than scheduled, by scheduled hours—Atlanta.
ALL INDUSTRIES.

Scheduled weekly hours.

Number
Number Number of women
of estab of women working
lishreport less than Under
scheduled 1 hour.
ing.
ments.
hours.
19
59
17
38
3
15
2
260
26
33
35

35
544
74
130
37

5
4
1
1

461
79
90
44
8
104

60
Total...................................

Industry.

General mercantile................
5-and-10-cent stores............... .
Box manufacturing.............. .
Candy manufacturing.......... .
Miscellaneous manufacturing.
Laundries................................
Total.

11
1

2 and
under
3 hours.

3 and
under
4 hours.

2
1

1
1

5
4

3
1

30 hours
25 and
15 and
20 and
5 and
10 and
4 and
and
under
under
under
under
under
under
5 hours. 10 hours. 15 hours. 20 hours. 25 hours. 30 hours.
over.
1
2
4

3
10

5
2

532

1,622

Table

1 and
under
2 hours.

8
19
8
13
2
6

2
2

71
7
8
8

43
7

2
152

3
1
2

1
10
1
4

8
2

2
7
4
10

1
24

1
2
51
2
10
3

14
1
1
3

32
3
4
8

XXII.—Hours tcorked less than scheduled, by industry—Atlanta.

Number
Number Number j
of estab of women i working
less than
lish
scheduled 1Under
ments.
hour.
hours.
552
119
89
324
198
340
1,622

59
33
27
232
102
79
532

Number of women who worked less than scheduled hours—
1 and
under
2 hours.

2 and
under
3 hours.

3 and
under
4 hours.

1
10
4
1

4
5
2
1

1
3
7
1

3
3

25 and 30 hours
10 and
15 and
20 and
4 and
5 and
under
under
under
under and over.
under
under
5 hours. 10 hours. 15 hours. 20 hours. 25 hours. 30 hours.

5
3
13

19
8
7
64
24
30

2
3
8
39
11
6

10
5
2
47
11
13

152

19
10
4

4
1
11
7
2

7
8
3
26
20
8

8
3

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

1
4
1
2

Number of women who worked less than scheduled hours—

Table XXIII.—Actual and median weekly earnings, by industry—Atlanta.
88045

All industries.
Actual weekly earnings.

White.

Negro.

Department stores.

5-and-10-cent stores.

White.

Negro.

Box manufacturing.

WThite.

Negro.

Candy
manu
facturing.
White.

Miscellaneous manu
facturing.
White.

Negro.

Laundries.

White.

Negro.

20
11
16
25
24
36
49
67
95
124
103
133
109
64
107

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

1 16.7

4 1.2
8 2.4
3
.9
15 4.4
29 8.6
99 29.2
87 25.7
52 15.3
23 6.8
8 2.4
2
.6
3
.9
2
.6
3
.9
.3
1

1,414 100.0

339 100.0

546 100.0

6 100.0

116 100.0

ST. 15

$16.05

(■)

$12.15

67
59
27
44
23
26
20
12
98
Total...................

0.7

1.4
.8
1.1
1.8
1.7
2.5
3.5
4.7
6.7
8.8
7.3
9.4
7.7
4.5
7.6
3.9
4.7
4.2
1.9
3.1
1.6
1.8
1.4
.86.9

$13.05

4
4
3
8
2
14
20
39
24
49
35
25
45
26
39
32
15
26
12
16
16
7

.7
.5
1.5
.4
2.6
3.7
7.1
4.4
9.0
6.4
4.6
8.2
4.8
7.1
5.9
2.7
4.8
2.2
2.9
2.9
1.3
15.6

1 16.7
4 66.7

3.4

2
3
3
1
6
7

6
5
3
2
2
1

1.7
2.6
2.6
.9
5.2
6.0
6.0
12.1
6. 9
15.5
6.0
4.3
6.0
5.2
4.3
2.6
1.7
1.7
.9

1.7

2.6

14
8
18
7
5

2 66. 7
1 33.3

3 100.0

1
1
2
3
3
4
4
6
9
11
8
9
6
3
4
7
4
2
1
3
1
1
1
1
1

1.0
1.0
2.1
3.1
3.1
4.2
4.2
6.2
9.4
11.5
8.3
9.4
6.2
3.1
4.2
7.3
4.2
2.1
1.0
3.1
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0

96 100.0
$11.50

1 25.0
i 25.0
1 25.0
1 25.0

6
2
8
7
9
11
20
26
44
44
42
41
32
8
20
8
6
10

1.7
.6
2.3
2. 0
2.5
3.1
5.7
7.4
12.5
12.5
11.9
11.6
9.1
2.3
5.7
2.3
1.7
2.8

4
1
2

1.1
.3
.6

5
7
4
7
6
12
17
12
14
14
17
12
19
14
17
5
10
9
9
5
8
6
1
4
6

2.1
2.9
1.7
2.9
2.5
5.0
7.1
5.0
5.8
5.8
7.1
5.0
7.9
5.8
7.1
2.1
4.2
3.7
3.7
2.1
3.3
2.5
.4
1.7
? 5

1 2.0
4 7.8
1 2.0
2 3.9
3 5.9
3 5.9
1 2.0
23 45.1
10 19.6

51 100.0

4 100.0

353 100.0

240 100.0

(>)

$11.00

$12.40

2.0

3.9

$8.45

1.6

2 3.2
1 1.6
2 3.2
4 6.3
4 6.3
10 15.9
9 14.3
14 22.2
3 4.8
3 4.8
3 4.8
4

6.3

1.6

63 100.0
$14.70

2 0.7
4 1.5
2
.7
13 4.7
26 9.5
96 34.9
85 30.9
27 9.8
8 2.9
7 2.5
2
1
.4
1
.4
1
.4

WOMEX IX GEORGIA INDUSTRIES

Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per
ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent.

275 100.0
$6.95

i Not computed, owing to small number Involved.

00
-4

Table

All industries.

XXIV.—Weekly rates, t>y industry—Atlanta.
General mercan
tile.

Box manufactur
ing.

5-and-10-cent
stores.

Weekly rate.
White.

Total..........
Median rate.........

White.

Negro.

White.

Negro.

White.

1
1

1
1
26
18
24
8
7
7

2
1

5
2
2
2

1
1

2
1
3
2

5
2
2
1

56
1,144
$13.05

330
$7. 35

518
$15.30

1
22
88
76
78
47
7
20
5
4
7
3

i Not computed, owing to small number involved.

1
7
ios
133

White,

Miscellaneous
manufacturing.
White.

6
11
1
2
6
6

116
$12.50

68
$15. 25

21
$11. 25

(i)

358
$11.90

White.

1
32
2
11
2
2
5
10
11
16
4
4
3

2
1
1

8
1
1
10
2

3
3

Negro.

4
2

Laundries.

Negro.

7
107
101
36
6
6
2
1

4
1
.
50
$7. 75

63
$15.10

267
$7. 20

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES,

Under S4..............
$4 and under $5...
$5 and under $6...
$6 and under $7...
*7 and under $8...
}8and under S9...
$9 and under $10-.
*10 and under $11.
*lland under $12.
*12 and under $13.
*13 and under $14.
*14 and under $15.
*15 and under $16.
*16 and under $17.
$17 and under $18.
*18 and under $19.
$19 and under $20.
*20 and under $21.
*21 and under *22.
*22 and under $23.
$23 and under $24.
$24 and under $25.
*25 and over.........

Negro.

Candy
manufac
turing.

Table

XXV.— Year’s earnings of women for whom 52-week pay-roll records were secured, by industry—Atlanta.
General mer 5-and-10-cent
cantile.
stores.

All industries.
Actual year's earnings.

White.

Negro.

White.

Box manufacturing.

White.

^ Negro.

Candy manu Miscellaneous
manufac
facturing.
turing.
White.

White.

Laundries.

White.

Negro.

Under J200...............................
$200 and under $250................
$250 and under $300................
$300 and under $350................
$350 and under $400................
S400 and under $450................
$450 and under $500................
$500 and under $550................
$550 and under $600................
$600 and under $650................
$650 and under $700................
$700 and under $750................
$750 and under $800................
$800 and under $850................
$850 and under $900................
$900 and under $950................
$950 and under $1 ,000............
$1,000 and under $1,100...........
$1,100 and under $1,200...........
$1,200 and under $1,40a............
$1,400 and under $1,600...........
$1,600 and under $1,800...........
$1,800 and under $2,000...........
$2,000 and over........................
Total...............................
Median earnings......................

0.6

2
4
6
ii
17
14
10
16
12
11
12
12
8
7
10
10
2
1
2
2
2

1.2
2.3
3.5
6.4
9.9
8.1
5.8
9.3
7.0
6.4
7.0
7.0

1
5
11
1
3
1
3

3.7
18.5
40.7
3.7
11.1
3.7
11.1

7.4

4.7
4. 1

5.8
5.8
1.2
.6
1.2
1.2
1.2

172 100.0
$721

27 ioo.o
*384

4.2

3
2
1
2
3

6.2
4.2
2.1
4.2
6.2

8.3
4
4
8.3
8.3
4
2
4.2
3
6.2
4
8. 3
5
10.4
2
4. 2
1
2.1
2
4.2
2
4.2
2
4.2
48 i 100. 0
$888

1
7
1
1
2
1
2

6.7
46.7
6.7
6.7
13.3
6. 7
13. 3

15 100.0
$546

7.7

2
1
2
2
2
2

7. 7
15.4
15. 4
15.4
15.4

(*)

100.0

1 : 100.0
(l)

1
1
3
3
5
9
4

11.6
20.9
9.3

16.3

3
2
1

7.0
4.7
2.3

2.3

2. 3
2.3
7.0

7.6

43 100.0
$597

2. 2

3
3
3
2

6.5
6. 5
6.5
6.5
4. 3

4
2
2
3
6
4

4.3
6.5
8. 7
4. 3
4.3

14. 3

28. 6
14.3

11
1
2
1
3

3. 8
19. 2
42. 3
3. 8
7. 7
3.8
11.5
7.7

14.3

13.0
8.7

46 100.0
$767

100.0

WOMEN IN GEORGIA INDUSTRIES.

Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per
ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent.

26
100.0
$382

1 Not computed, owing to small number involved.

O
00

PUBLICATIONS OP THE WOMEN’S BUREAU.
BULLETINS.
No. 1. Proposed Employment of Women During the War In the Industries of
Niagara Falls, N. Y. 16 pp. 1918.
No. 2. Labor Laws for Women in Industry in Indiana. 29 pp. 1918.
No. 3. Standards for the Employment of Women in Industry. 7 pp. 1919.
No. 4. Wages of Candy Makers in Philadelphia in 1919. 46 pp. 1919.
No. 5. The Eight-Hour Day in Federal and State Legislation. 19 pp. 1919.
No. 6. The Employment of Women in Hazardous Industries in the United
States. 8 pp. 1919.
No. 7. Night-Work Laws in the United States. 4 pp. 1919.
No. 8. Women in the Government Service. 37 pp. 1920.
No. 9. Home Work in Bridgeport, Connecticut. 35 pp. 1920.
No. 10. Hours and Conditions of Work for Women in Industry in Virginia
32 pp. 1920.
No. 11. Women Street Car Conductors and Ticket Agents. 90 pp. 1920.
No. 12. The New Position of Women in American Industry. 158 pp. 1920.
No. 13. Industrial Opportunities and Training for Women and Girls. 48 pp
1920.
'
No. 14. A Physiological Basis for the Shorter Working Day for Women. 20 pp.
1921.
1
No. 15. Some Effects of Legislation Limiting Hours of Work for Women.
26 pp. 1921.
No. 16. State Laws Affecting Working Women. 51 pp. 1920.
No. 17. Women’s Wages in Kansas. 1920. 104 pp. 1921.
No. 18. Health Problems of Women in Industry. 11 pp. 1921.
No. 19. Iowa Women in Industry. 73 pp. 1922.
No. 20. Negro Women in Industry. 65 pp. 1922.
No. 21. Women in Rhode Island Industries. 73 pp. 1922.
First Annual Report of the Director. (Out of print.)
Second Annual Report of the Director.
Third Annual Report of the Director.
CHARTS.1
I.
II.
III.
IV.

Eight-hour and eight-and-a-half-hour laws for women workers.
Nine-hour laws for women workers.
Ten-hour laws for women workers.
Ten-and-a-quarter-hour, ten-and-a-half-hour, eleven-hour, and twelve-hour
laws for women workers.
V. Weekly hour laws for women workers,
VI. Laws providing for a day of rest, one shorter workday, time for meals
and rest periods for women workers.
VII. Night-work laws for women workers.
VIII. Home-work laws for women.
IX.Minimum wage legislation in the United States. 3 sections.
X. Mothers’ pension laws in the United States. 4 sections.•
•1 Separate charts out of print.

Revised and published in pamphlet form in Bulletin