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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR FRANCES PERKINS, Secretary WOMEN’S BUREAU MARY ANDERSON, Director WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES 1937 Bulletin of the Women’s Bureau, No. 162 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1938 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. Price 10 cents — CONTENTS Letter of transmittalintroduction ________________ Scope of the survey_ Size of establishmentHours of work_ Week’s earnings— Hourly earnings___________ ____ Summary of chief findings Factories____________________ IntroductionHours ______________ Scheduled hours________ Hours worked__ Earnings________________ Average week’s earnings________ Distribution of week’s earnings Extent of piece work Learners_______________ Week’s earnings and hours worked Average hourly earnings________ . Distribution of hourly earuincs Year’s earnings Negro women____________ _______ Retail stores__________________ Introduction__________ ^ Women regular employees__ I_________'____ Hours of work_________________ ~___ Week’s earnings___________ ____ Average week’s earnings and hours worked' Earnings in department stores__ __ ___ _ Earnings in ready-to-wear stores____ “““ Earnings in limited-price or variety stores. Women part-time employees__ i_________ Earnings and hours Laundries__________________________ ~ “ ~ Introduction_______________ _____ Commercial laundries__________ ~___ Location and size____________________~ ' Hours of work_______ Week’s earnings__________ Hourly earnings__________ Year’s earnings__________ Hotel and restaurant laundries. Hours worked____________ Earnings_______________ Dry-cleaning establishments— Hours__________________ Week’s earnings____________ __ —V——— Hourly earnings_______________________ Year’s earnings____________ Hotels and restaurants________________ I—II Introduction____________________~____ Hours_________________________ ~_____ Scheduled hours____________ ~___ ~~~ Earnings__________________ Week’s earnings___________________~~~ Earnings and time worked ............ Tips----------------------------------------------Rate of pay and scheduled weekly hours Uniforms_____________ ' 66138—38 Page V 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 8 8 9 10 10 10 10 11 11 12 12 12 14 14 15 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 20 20 21 21 23 23 23 23 24 25 26 27 27 27 27 28 28 28 29 29 30 30 31 31 34 34 36 36 37 38 IV CONTENTS TABLES Page 1. Number of establishments visited and number of men and women they employed, by industry group-------------------------------------------2. Week’s earnings and hourly earnings of women, by industry group— 3. Number of establishments visited and number of men and women they employed, by industry—Factories-----------------------------------4. Week’s earnings and hourly earnings of women—Factories-----------5. Number of establishments visited and number of men and women they employed—Retail stores---------- ------------------------------------6. Week’s earnings and hourly earnings of women—Retail stores-----7. Number of establishments visited and number of men and women they employed—Laundries---------------------------------- ;----------------8. Week’s earnings and hourly earnings of women—Laundries------------9. Week’s earnings and hourly earnings of women—Dry cleaning------ 10. Number of establishments visited and number, sex, and race of their employees—Hotels and restaurants----------------------------------------11. Comparison of hours of work and spread of hours, long employeedays in hotels and restaurants-------------------- --------:------ -—12. Week’s cash earnings of women, by department in which employed and by whether or not receiving additions to wages—Hotels and restaurants-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 5 9 13 16 19 23 26 29 31 33 33 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL United States Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, Washington, April 19, 1938. Madam : I luve the honor to transmit a report on the earnings and hours of women employed in the industries of Kentucky in the late months ot 1937. The survey was made at the request of the Louis ville League of Women Voters and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Labor, and Statistics. Jr u I very much appreciate the courteous cooperation of the employers and other persons within the State who made this study possible. ie survey was conducted by Ethel L. Best, industrial supervisor and the report has been written by Ethel Erickson, industrial super visor, and by Ora Marshmo and Arthur T. Sutherland, of the editorial division. ’ Respectfully submitted. ,, L, Mary Anderson, Director. Lion r ranges Perkins, Secretary of Labor. v WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES, 1937 INTRODUCTION At the request of the Louisville League of Women Voters and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Labor, and Statistics a survey of women’s wages and hours of work in the important womanemploying industries of Kentucky was made by the Women’s Bureau of the United States Department of Labor in the late months of 1937. The industries covered were factories, retail stores, laundries, dry-cleaning establishments, and hotels and restaurants. The sample obtained was sufficiently large to be representative of the different types of establishment in each industry and of the different areas m the State. The census of 1930 gave 146,678 as the number of gainfully em ployed women 10 years of age and over in Kentucky. The most important fields of work of these women were domestic and personal service, with 35 percent of the total, and manufacturing, professional service, and clerical occupations, each with about 14 percent. The chief woman-employing industries in manufacturing were clothing, cigars and other tobacco products, textiles, food products, and paper and printing. Each employment mentioned, except professional service and clerical occupations, is represented in the present study. Later data on employment figures for men and women separately are not available, but the size of the industries covered is indicated by figures on total employment contained in recent reports of the Bureau of the Census. Reports of the Census of Manufactures and the Census of Business for 1935 gave 4,144 establishments and 86,114 men and women. The vast majority of the employees, 67,456, were in manufacturing industries, not all of which wrere included in the survey by the Women’s Bureau. Important groups also were re ported in the other industries included in this survey; 6,964 were in stores, including department, women’s ready-to-wear, and limitedprice or variety stores; 4,274 were in restaurants; 3,487 in hotels; 3,144 in laundries; and 789 in dry-cleaning plants. According to a report of the State Planning Board, “the concen tration of manufacturing is greater in Kentucky than in any other southeastern State.” More than half of the total in 1929 was in the city of Louisville, and Louisville has relatively larger concerns than other cities in the State. Besides Louisville, important manu facturing centers are Covington, Newport, Henderson, Lexington, Chvensboro, Paducah, and Ashland.1 Data showing this marked concentration are given also in the Census of Manufactures report for 1935. In that year 49 percent of the workers reported were in 1 Kentucky. State Planning Board. Progress Report, 1935, p. 11. 1 2 WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES, 1937 Louisville, and more tlian half of the total pay roll in Kentucky was paid to Louisville workers. Scope of the survey. In the survey by the Women’s Bureau, establishments in the vari ous industries were scheduled in 33 cities and towns.2 Pay-roll data were obtained in 359 establishments, and at the time of the survey these employed 41,418 workers. Of this number, 53 percent were women; by major industry group women comprised from 47 percent of the workers in factories to 83 percent of those in laundries. The distribution of the workers, by industry and by sex, is shown in the scope table following. Table 1.—Number of establishments visited and number of men and women they employed, by industry group Number Industry group Wood and metal furniture__ ____________ ______ ___ lishments Number of employees Men Total 1359 2 41,418 i 155 25 12 4 25 3 13 84 11 14 15 7 34 19 93 41 26 26 4 60 «28 63 18 6 45 31, 537 2 4, 270 2,417 226 3,186 1,001 6, 264 251 817 3,617 4, 763 1,492 679 2, 554 4, 631 2,954 877 800 2, 057 288 2, 905 1,644 1,261 * Women ID, 599 21,819 16,706 2 637 1,480 173 2,049 535 5,310 137 621 1,301 1, 769 1, 421 584 689 992 791 114 87 342 92 1,467 972 495 14,831 3,633 937 53 1,137 466 954 114 196 2,316 2,994 71 95 1, 865 8,639 2,163 763 713 1,715 196 1,438 672 766 i Details aggregate more than total, because some establishments appear in more than 1 industry group. * 1 firm did not report number of men. J1 plant making paper boxes and wooden boxes is entered in both industries. 4 Includes 8 laundries in hotels or restaurants. 5 21 were operated as departments of laundries. •Includes 11 restaurants in stores. Almost three-fifths (59 percent) of all workers reported were em ployed in Louisville. By industry, the proportion in Louisville va ried from 56 percent of the workers in laundries and dry-cleaning establishments, 58 percent of those in factories, and 60 percent of those in stores, to 72 percent of those in hotels and restaurants. All the workers reported in the paper-box and drug and chemical indus tries, and more than 70 percent of those in the furniture, food, metal, 2The places visited are as follows: Bardstown, Bellevue, Benton Bowling Green, Cov ington, Dayton, Elizabethtown, Frankfort. Fulton, Grahamton, Henderson. Hickman, Hop kinsville, Irvine, l.awrenceburg, Lebanon, Lexington, Louisville, Madisonville, Mayfield, Maysville, Middlesbormigli, Mount Sterling, Murray, Newport, Owensboro, Paducah, Princeton, Ravenna, Richmond, Shelbyville, Somerset, and Winchester. The size of the places ranges from a population of under 1,000 to one of over 300,000 ; 6 had under 0,500, 8 had 2,500 and under 5,000, 8 had 5,000 and under 10,000, 6 had 10,000 and under 25,000, and 5 had more than 25,000. INTRODUCTION 3 tobacco, and printing and publishing industries were in Louisville. In all other manufacturing industries the majority of the workers were in other cities. Size of establishment. Laundries, dry cleaners, and hotels and restaurants generally were small establishments, and very few of those reported employed as many as 100 workers; only 3 laundries, 4 hotels, and 2 independent restaurants employed 100 or more workers, and no dry-cleaning plant had so many as 40. Nearly two-thirds of the dry cleaners employed fewer than 10 workers, two-thirds of all restaurants employed fewer than 25, and well over half of the laundries had fewer than 30. Ready-to-wear stores and the limited-price group generally were small establishments, as over three-fifths of the former and nearly half of the latter employed less than 25 workers. However, 2 readyto-wear shops and 1 in the limited-price group employed as many as 100 persons. Department stores were much larger; one-seventh of them had 100 or more workers, the largest employing over 700. Nearly two-fifths, however, had fewer than 25. Over two-fifths of the factories employed 100 or more workers—1 nearly 4,000 and 15 others over 500. Just over one-fourth had 50 and less than 100 workers. Industries with establishments emploving 500 or more workers were the following: Clothing (three plants), tex tiles (three), tobacco (three), distilled liquors (two), metal products (two), leather products (one), furniture (one), and the miscellaneous group (one). Hours of work. The Kentucky law regulating the hours of work of women pro hibits their employment for more than 10 hours in any one day or 60 hours in any one week. Of the 43 States that regulate weekly hours for women, by limiting either the number of hours that may be worked in a week or the number that may be worked in a day, only 9 permit a workweek as long as 60 hours. The scheduled hours of an establishment are the usual hours re quired of employees, day after day, by the management, deviations from the schedule constituting overtime or undertime. The scheduled or normal working hours, reported for 17,611 women, varied considerably in the different industries, but for only a negli gible number of these women was the week as long as the 60 hours permitted by law; in fact, for only 15 percent of them did the week exceed 48 hours, and for 53 percent it was 40 hours or less. This was particularly true of the manufacturing industries, where 60 percent of the women were scheduled to work 40 hours, and less than 10 per cent were scheduled to work as long as 48 hours. In stores the most common scheduled hours were 45 and less than 48; by type of store the proportion on such a schedule varied from 62 percent in the lim ited-price group to 78 percent in department stores and 80 percent in the ready-to-wear shops. In each of the other industry groups, except store restaurants, the prevailing schedule of hours was 48 or more, though in independent laundries and in dry-cleaning estab lishments over a third of the women had a week of over 44 and under 48 hours. In store restaurants—generally serving only one or two 66138°—38----- 2 4 WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES, 1037 . meals—65 percent of the women were on a schedule of 40 hours or less. For a considerable number of the women, the actual hours worked were much shorter than the scheduled hours. As shown in the sum mary following, only in dry cleaning did as many as half the women work 48 hours or more in the week reported, though in stores the large majority worked as long as 44 but under 48 hours. In laundries about equal proportions of women worked less than 40 hours and 48 hours or more, the proportion being just over three-tenths in each case. Ap proximately half the women in the factories surveyed worked under 40 hours, and over three-tenths worked 40 and under 44. The manu facturing industries in which 50 percent or more of the women worked less than 40 hours were wooden boxes and baskets, paper boxes, textiles, and distilled liquors. Over half of those in the tobacco industry worked 40 hours. Industry group * Percent of women who worked— Number of women reported Under 40 40, under 44, under 48 hours 44 hours 48 hours and over hours Total__________________ _____ —.............. 14, 607 39.8 24.0 21.7 14.4 Stores (excluding part-time workers)-------------------Department---------- ----------------------------------Ready-to-wear— -----------------------------------Limited-price or variety------------------------------- 10, 293 2, 636 1, 642 629 365 1,509 169 a 49.8 7.4 6.9 9.7 5.2 8 30. 7 18.9 3 31. 0 2. 1 2.0 1.7 3.3 16.3 9.5 9.5 4 70.0 73. 6 69. 9 54.2 21.4 17.2 9.7 20.5 17.5 18.8 5 37. 3 ^31.5 8 54.4 Dry cleaners----- ----------- -------------------------------- - i In hotels and restaurants the variety of shifts made the figures noncomparable. * 30.8 percent worked under 35 hours. 3 24.5 percent worked 40 hours. 4 33.8 percent worked 45 and under 46 hours, 33.8 percent worked 46 and under 48. 8 22.2 percent worked 48 hours. 8 14.8 percent worked under 35 hours. ' 23.0 percent worked 50 hours and over. *37.9 percent worked 50 hours and over, 10.7 percent worked over 55 to 70. Week’s earnings. Average week’s earnings were not high. They ranged from $8 or $9 in hotels and restaurants, where wage supplements are common, to $14.40 in ready-to-wear stores, the best-paying of all the groups. When it is realized that the form of average used in this study—the median—represents the midpoint, with half the amounts falling be low it, the general level of Kentucky wages cannot be considered encouraging. The women in ready-to-wear stores, 32 percent of whom earned at least $16 and 16 percent at least $20, had the most favorable earnings. Factories, dry cleaners, and department stores followed, with respectively 27 percent, 24 percent, and 22 percent at $16 and over. Only 6 percent of the women in limited-price stores and only 1 percent of those in laundries had earnings of $16 or more. Considering all manufacturing industries together, there was very little concentration of earnings; 27 percent, however, had earnings of $14 and under $17. As many as three-tenths earned less than $10. In the metal and tobacco industries more than half the women earned at least $16, and in distilled liquors, drugs and chemicals, furniture, and printing and publishing the majority earned $14 and over. INTRODUCTION 5 Low-wage industries were wooden box and basket making, where more than half the women earned less than $10, and food, clothing (chiefly cotton garments), and textiles, where half the women or more received less than $12. In laundries nearly nine-tenths (86 percent) of the women received less than $12, over three-tenths (32 percent) less than $8. Over twofifths (42 percent) in dry-cleaning plants were paid less than $12. In hotels and restaurants, where tips and wage supplements in the form of meals are customary, the large majority of the women had cash earnings below. $12. Almost three-fourths in hotels and just over two-thirds in independent restaurants had cash earnings of less than $10. . earnings of the women reported are shown by industry group in the table following. Table 2. Week’s earnings and hourly earnings of women, by industry group Week’s earnings Industry group Factories __ Stores (exclusive of part-time workers)___ Department -. Ready-to-wear. .. Limited-price or variety Laundries ________ Dry cleaners________ Hotels2__ _ Independent restau rants 2.. ____ Store restaurants 2 ] 3 i * Hourly earnings Percent of women who earned— Num Aver ber of age wom earn Un ings 1 der en $8 11,985 $13. 00 Un der $12 Un der $16 $16 and over Num ber of wom en Percent of women who earned— Aver age e rn40 i n us 1 Un Un Un (cents) der der der cents 20 30 and 40 cents cents cents over 19.2 41.7 72.5 27.5 10, 293 35.7 6.8 27.2 63.6 36.4 2,667 1,671 631 13. 60 13.70 14.40 3.2 2.8 3.6 20.2 17.9 13.6 77.9 77.9 68.5 22.1 22.1 31.5 2,636 1,642 629 29.8 30.0 31.2 5. 4 3.1 1.9 52. 1 50.6 34.8 87.8 89.3 78.1 12.2 10.7 21.9 365 1, 715 196 3 672 12. 40 9. 10 12. 65 8.20 4.1 32.1 10.3 46.6 42.1 86.2 41.9 83.8 94.0 99. 0 76. 5 (*) 6.0 1.0 23.5 (4) 365 1,509 169 (s) 26.4 20.8 27.6 21.6 28.2 7.7 88.1 94.4 61.6 97.8 99.7 94.1 2.2 .3 5.9 621 145 8. 65 9.15 42.4 42.8 78.4 76.6 (<) (<) (4) (4) (4) (s) JJ*®’“edian or midpoint, with half the earnings below and half above the amount shown. kase<* on ca\jk excluding tips and allowance for lodging or meals, women employed m restaurant departments of hotels. Not obtainable. Hourly earnings not computed for women in hotels and restaurants. Hourly earnings. It is apparent from the accompanying table that the highest hourly earnings were m factories, followed by ready-to-wear stores and de partment stores, each with average earnings of at least 30 cents. The lowest earnings were in laundries, where the average was only 20.8 cents. The two largest groups in factories, together comprising 58 percent of the women, are shown by unpublished figures to have earned 35 cents and over; in department stores and ready-to-wear stores, 68 and 62 percent, respectively, earned 25 and under 35 cents; and in limitedprice stores 51 percent earned 25 and under 30 cents. Well over threefourths (78 percent) of the women in laundries earned less than 25 cents an hour. Hourly earnings in hotels and restaurants were not available. 6 WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES, 1937 SUMMARY OF CHIEF FINDINGS Date of survey: Fall of 1937. Scope of survey. Establishments visited in 33 cities and towns-----------------------------359 Number of women they employed-------------------------------------------- 21, 819 68 percent of the women were in factories. 17 percent were in stores. 8 percent were in laundries. 7 percent were in hotels and restaurants. 1 percent were in dry cleaners. FACTORIES (Pay-roll data for 11,985 women) Hours. Scheduled hours of work were chiefly 8 a day and 40 or less a week. Not far from three-fifths of the women had a 5-day week. In the pay-roll week recorded, 74 percent of the women worked 40 hours or less. Earnings. Average week’s earnings, all industries combined, were $13. Averages ranged from $8 and under $9 in hosiery, in wooden boxes and baskets, and in the miscellaneous clothing group, to $16 and under $17 in metal products and in cigars and cigarettes. Almost three-fourths of the women earned less than $16; more than twofifths earned less than $12. Only 5 percent earned $20 or more. Average hourly earnings were 36 cents. Averages ranged from 24 cents in wooden boxes and baskets to 46 cents in men’s suits and overcoats. Average year’s earnings, obtained for 739 women, were $675. RETAIL STORES (Pay-roll data for 2,667 women) Hours. Scheduled hours of work were chiefly 7% a day and 45 and under 48 a week. Earnings. Average week’s earnings, all types of store, were $13.60. Averages were $14.40 in ready-to-wear stores, $13.70 in department stores, and $12.40 in the limited-price group. Almost four-fifths of the women earned less than $16; one-fifth earned less than $12. Only 9 percent earned $20 or more. Hourly earnings of almost two-thirds of the women were 25 and under 35 cents, much the larger part being 25 and under 30. COMMERCIAL LAUNDRIES AND DRY CLEANERS (Pay-roll data for 1,822 women) Hours. Scheduled hours of work in laundries and dry cleaners were chiefly over 44 but under 54. In the pay-roll week recorded, 23 percent of the women in laundries and 38 percent of those in dry cleaners worked 50 hours or more. In dry clean ers, 7 percent worked at least 60 hours. Earnings. Average week’s earnings were $9.05 in laundries and $12.65 in dry cleaners. In laundries 87 percent of the women earned less than $12; in dry cleaners, 28 percent earned $15 and over. Hourly earnings of 77 percent of the women in laundries were below 25 cents; for only 6 percent of the women were they 30 cents or more. In dry cleaners, 39 percent of the women earned at least 30 cents an hour, and 15 percent earned 35 cents or more. Year’s earnings of 137 women in laundries averaged $513. INTRODUCTION HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS (Pay-roll data for 1,438 women) 7 Hours. Scheduled hours of work were chiefly these: Over 40 and under 48- 48h!!f 48 ,’'lt„undei' 56. Daily hours on duty were chiefly 9 or less’ but the spread from beginning to end of day was long. In hotels 63 percent and m independent restaurants 23 percent had a 7-day week. Earnings. Average week’s earnings in cash were $S.20 in hotels, $8.65 in independent restaurants, and $9.15 in store restaurants One or more meals daily were given to 44 percent of the women in hotels (almost exclusively the dining-room and kitchen workers), to 75 percent restaurants restaurants’ and t0 82 Percent of those in independent FACTORIES Introduction. Kentucky occupies a middle position among States in the field of manufacturing. According to the 1935 Census of Manufactures it ranks twenty-second in value of manufactured products, twenty-fifth in amount of wages paid, and twenty-sixth in number of wage earners. In two industries—the manufacture of tobacco products and the pro duction of distilled liquors—it ranks among the most important States in the country. In the fiscal year 1937 Kentucky produced more than one-third of the distilled liquors made in the United States. In 1936 it ranked third among the States in the production of smoking and chewing tobacco and snuff, and also in the production of ciga rettes, though the production of the last named is far below that of the two leading States. Both the tobacco and distilled-liquor indus tries are important sources of employment to women wage earners in the State. The Census of Manufactures for 1935 reported 1,637 establish ments in Kentucky, with an average for the year of 67,456 wage earners, but the sex of the workers was not reported and no census since that of 1929 shows the number of women. Louisville is the chief manufacturing center, having a little more than one-third of the establishments in the State and almost one-half of the wage earners. . Outside of Louisville and Jefferson County, the only concentration of factories by type of product is in the manufacture of hosiery and of distilled liquors. A number of hosiery mills are situated in Padu cah and a few small towns in the extreme west, and distilleries are found in a group of counties in the central part of the State. Many of the distilleries have bottling rooms, and the greater proportion of the wage earners in these bottling departments are women. Exclusive of Louisville, Kentucky has only 12 cities with a popula tion of 10,000 and over. Some manufacturing is done in nearly all these, and important plants are scattered here and there in smaller towns throughout the State. _ _ The Women’s Bureau survey in the fall of 1937, in which only plants employing at least 5 women were included, covered 155 estab lishments with 31,537 wage earners, of whom 14,831 were women. The women were fairly equally divided between plants in Louisville and plants in other places in the State. With the exception of three establishments with such large numbers of employees that the data copied were limited to every second, third, or fourth woman on the pay roll, earnings were obtained for all women employees except the supervisory, office, and maintenance staffs. The effort was made to secure sample data from every womanemploying industry in the State and from all sections of the State. Besides Louisville, the places in which data were obtained were S FACTORIES 9 Bardstown, Bellevue, Benton, Bowling Green, Covington, Dayton, Elizabethtown, Frankfort, Fulton, Grahamton, Henderson, Hick man, Hopkinsville, Irvine, Lawrenceburg, Lebanon. Lexington, May field, Maysville, Middlesborough, Mount Sterling, Murray, Newport, Owensboro, Paducah, Princeton, Richmond, Shelbyville, and Win chester. Table 3 gives for each industry surveyed the number of plants and employees covered. Table 3.—Number of establishments visited and number of men and women they employed, by industry—Factories Number of employees Industry All manufacturing of establishments Women Total Men Number Per cent White Negro 155 31,537 16,706 i 14,831 100.0 14,307 524 Clothing. ................................................... . 25 2 4, 270 *637 3,633 24.5 3,490 143 Men’s suits and overcoats Men’s and women's cotton garments. Men’s furnishings______ _________ Other clothing 3............................. ...... 0 10 0 3 *959 2,599 351 361 *228 250 95 64 731 2,349 256 297 4.9 15.8 1.7 2.0 731 2, 263 199 297 86 57 Distilled liquors * ....... ....................... Drugs and chemicals. ................... ............ 12 4 2,417 226 1,480 173 937 53 6.3 .4 937 42 11 Food products 25 3,186 2,049 1,137 7.7 1,056 81 Bakery products............................... . Candy 1 Meat-packing products Other food « 6 4 10 5 591 531 1, 279 785 325 222 1,001 501 266 309 278 284 1.8 2.1 1.9 1.9 265 309 198 284 80 Leather products___________________ Metal products____________________ Paper boxes__________ ____ _________ Printing and publishing___ __________ 3 13 74 11 1,001 6, 264 251 817 535 5,310 137 621 466 954 114 196 3.1 6.4 .8 1.3 466 954 113 196 1 Textiles........... ....................... .................... 14 3, 617 1, 301 2,316 15.6' 2,316 Hosiery......... ............. ......................... Other textiles 1................ ..................... 5 9 1,464 2, 153 425 876 1,039 1,277 7.0 8.6 1, 039 1, 277 Tobacco and its products.......................... 15 4, 763 1,769 2,994 20.2 2, 707 287 Cigars and cigarettes........................... Other tobacco ».................... ............ . 4 11 3, 460 1, 303 1,152 617 2,308 686 15.6 4.6 2,308 399 287 Wood and metal furniture 10 Wooden boxes and baskets________ Other manufacturing u_______ ________ 7 U 19 1,492 679 2, 554 1, 421 584 689 71 95 1, 865 .5 .6 12.6 71 95 1,864 i 1 1 Wage data were obtained for 11,985 women. * 1 firm did not report number of men. * Riding apparel and boys' clothing. J Includes 1 plant making wine, but women do bottling as in other places. 1 Includes 1 establishment making conserved fruits, and so forth * Dairy products, macaroni, pickles, and so forth. ! 1 Plant making paper boxes and wooden boxes is entered in both industries. I X,arns’ thread> and cordage, webbing, blankets, and special weaves. T!jlng«Bn<*- smoklnS tobacco. Includes 2 plants doing tobacco rehandling. ii ®e®ld®s.‘urn!ture some plants make carpet sweepers, kiddie cars, organs, screens, blinds, and so forth. Industries with too few establishments for separate classes. Includes bags, brooms and mops, caskets and robes, electric lamps and tubes, ice-cream cones, machinists’ rags, mattresses and bedding, mirrors, pottery, tents and awnings, tinsel and trimmings, and others. HOURS The Kentucky law governing the length of the working day and week for women was passed in 1912. It provides that women shall 10 WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES, 1987 not be employed for longer than 10 hours in 1 day or 60 hours in 1 week. Scheduled hours. The data secured in the recent survey indicate that industry has been more progressive in limiting hours of work for women than has the legislature. Not far from three-fifths of the manufacturing estab lishments were on a 5-day week. Three-fourths (76 percent) of the women employees had a scheduled workweek of 40 hours or less, 60 percent being on a schedule of exactly 40 hours. Only 6 percent (732 women) were employed in plants with a schedule of 50 hours or more, and no plant had a schedule of 60 hours. An 8-hour day was the schedule in the largest number of factories; more than three-fifths of the women had such hours. Slightly over one-fifth had a schedule shorter than 8 hours. Six estabiislunents, employing a total of only 191 women, reported a 10-hour day, and all these had either a 5-day week or a short day on Saturday. Hours worked. The percentage of women actually working 40 hours or less was almost identical with the percentage having such schedules—re spectively 74 percent and 76 percent. But when the figures are broken down into groups of those working exactly 40 hours and those work ing a shorter time, this difference appears: Whereas scheduled hours show almost four times as many women at 40 hours as at below 40, the hours worked show only half as many women at 40 hours as at below 40. Absence from work for personal reasons may have been responsible for much of this short time. About 10 percent of the women had worked 48 hours or over. Close to one-half of this group were in some branch of the clothing industry, and just over one-fifth were in food plants, candy accounting for the greatest number. Candy was the only industry with any considerable number of women working over 55 hours. EARNINGS Average week’s earnings. Data on week’s earnings were secured for 11,985 women, or 81 percent of those employed in the plants studied. The number of hours worked during the week was reported for 10,293 women. The aver age week’s earnings1 of all women in manufacturing, regardless of number of hours worked, were $13. Average week’s earnings in Louisville plants were $14.60, but in the group of other cities and towns they were only $11.20. Short time or undertime was more prevalent in establishments outside Louis ville, more than three-fifths of the women in other places in contrast to well under two-fifths in Louisville having worked less than 40 hours. Further, in a number of industries hourly earnings were very much lower in the smaller places, candy manufacturing being a notable exception to this. The miscellaneous clothing group, hosiery, and wooden boxes and baskets had the lowest average week’s earnings, all being less than $9. 1 The median or midpoint, with half the earnings below and half shown. above the amount factories 11 SLrdll,ct8 ($16.50), cigars and cigarettes ($16.40), furniture (iplo.bO), and mens suits and overcoats ($15) are the only industries in which average week’s earnings were $15 and more. The exceedingly low average of $4.75 was found for the tobacco industry m the group of places other than Louisville. This was brought about by the inclusion in this group of two rehandling plants, inclusive of these plants, the average is $8.25. It was reported that many women m the rehandling plants worked very irregularly but as time records were not furnished it cannot be stated whether the low earnings were due to the rates of pay or to short time If the rehandling plants be omitted, practically all the women were employed in the chewing- and smoking-tobacco branch of the industiy, m which wages in the plants outside of Louisville compare most unfavorably with those of Louisville. Though the figure for this branch of the industry in Louisville cannot be shown separately be cause only two plants were surveyed there, it may be stated that the average weeks earnings of women in these plants were more than double the average for plants in other places in the State. Distribution of week’s earnings. The distribution of week’s earnings may be judged from the cumu lative percents as shown by industry in table 4 on page 13. percent of the women employed in factories had earned less than $10 m the week studied; 10 percent had earned less than $5 r rom more detailed figures than appear in table 4, it is apparent that there was no concentration at any dollar interval, the highest propor tion at one point being only 12 percent at $16 and under $17 Six teen percent of the women earned $17 or more. The remaining 43 per cent had earnings in the groups $10 and under $16, the maximum proportion in any single interval being 9 percent, at $14 and under $15. .Nearly three-fifths of the women in wooden box and basket plants earned under $10. The two industry groups, clothing and textiles, that account for almost one-lialf of the women in the study had the next highest percentages of women earning under $10 a' week—39 percent in textiles and 38 percent in clothing. In the mens suit and overcoat branch of the clothing industry however only 11 percent of the women earned less than $10. In the highest class of weekly earnings, $16 and over, the tobacco group ranked best with 57 percent of its women employees so paid followed closely by metal products with 56 percent; furniture ranked third with 44 percent, and printing and publishing and distilled liquors followed, each with 41 percent. Among the industries with very small percentages of women earning $16 or more, wooden boxes and baskets ranked lowest, with only 4 percent of its women so paid Food products, drugs and chemicals, and textiles followed, witli respectively 12, 13, and 14 percent of their women employees earn ing $16 or more a week. Extent of piece work. For all but five women it was reported whether they were paid at piece rates or at time rates. Forty-five percent of them were paid according to the time worked, very large numbers having an hourly 66138°—38----- 3 12 WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES, 1937 rate. Tlie others were paid straight piece rates (49 percent of the women) or were under systems combining piece and time, paying piece rates to a group, or other plan (6 percent). In the various industry groups the proportions of women paid at piece rates were as follows: Leather products, 85 percent; clothing, 80 percent; wooden boxes and baskets, 55 percent; metal products, 52 percent; paper boxes, 49 percent; textiles, 48 percent. There were no piece workers in distilled liquors, in printing and publishing, nor in the small group in drugs and chemicals; only one-third of the women in the tobacco industry, a little over one-fifth of those in food products, and only one-tenth of those in the furniture in dustry were on straight piece rates. Learners. Just over 300 learners were found on the pay rolls of 25 manu facturing establishments. They constituted only 2y2 percent of all women with earnings reported. _ Learners have not been excluded from the wage tables. In spite of the fact that their average hourly earnings were not much more than half the average of more experienced women—19.1 cents for learners and 35.9 cents for other women—their number was so small that their inclusion reduced the average hourly earnings of all women by only one-fifth of a cent and the average weekly earnings by only 15 cents. Week’s earnings and hours worked. The average week’s earnings of $8.80 for the women who had worked less than 35 hours in the pay-roll week taken (31 percent of the total) emphasize the hardship of short hours on the woman wage earner unless compensated at higher rates. In only three in dustries with 50 or more women at these hours—metal, tobacco, and leather products-—did women working less than 35 hours average more than the figure for all manufacturing. The average for women working 35 but under 40 hours was $14.70. In establishments making tobacco products, metal products, and distilled liquors, the averages for a workweek of this length were respectively $16.05, $16.20, and $16.55. For women working 40 hours or more in the week, the average earnings for all manufacturing were $14.85. In the five industries with averages shown that exceed this figure, the amounts were $15.70 for printing and publishing, $16.55 for the tobacco group, $16.65 for wood and metal furniture, $18.05 for distilled liquors, and $18.35 for metal products. Average hourly earnings. Hourly earnings—computed separately for each woman by divid ing her week’s earnings by the number of hours she worked—are the key to basic pay rates and indicate the possibilities in week’s earnings if employment is stabilized. Data on this item were se cured for 10,293 women in 132 establishments. For all women in manufacturing, the average hourly earnings were 36 cents. They ranged from 24 cents in wooden boxes and baskets to 46 cents in men’s suits and overcoats. For Louisville the average was 37 cents, and for other cities and towns it was 34 cents. Table 4.—Week's earnings and hourly earnings of women—Factories Week’s earnings Average earnings 1 Industry All women All manufacturing..... ................ ......... 11,985 $13,00 5,166 Clothing.............. ......................„........... ........ . Men suits and overcoats Men and women’s cotton garments Men’s furnishings__________________ _ Other clothing........... ............................... 3,370 731 2,086 256 297 11.50 15.00 10.85 11.10 8.45 1,400 93 1,147 137 23 Distilled liquors__________________ ____ Drugs and chemicals 937 53 14.30 14.45 Food products..................... ........................ . Bakery products___________________ Candy Meat packing products_____ _____ ___ Other food........... ................................. . 1,137 266 309 278 284 12.05 12. 95 11.80 13.00 10. 75 Leather products Metal-products_____________ _________ _ Paper boxes....... ............................ .................. Printing and publishing..... ............................ 466 954 111 196 13. 65 16.50 13.80 14.95 Textiles. .............. ........ ..................................... Hosiery_______________________ ____ Other textiles.......................................... 2,316 1,036 1,277 11. 60 8.85 12.65 732 230 502 Tobacco and its products.............................. Cigars and cigarettes_____ __________ Other tobacco___ ___ _______________ 1,659 973 686 16.15 16.40 9.60 Wood and metal furniture.............................. Wooden boxes and baskets............... ............. Other manufacturings............................. ...... 71 95 617 15. 60 8. 95 13. 75 Women who worked 40 hours or more Num Earn ber ings Total Average num earn ber of ings 1 Under Under $16 and (cents) 25 women $16 over cents Under Under 45 cents 35 and 45 cents cents over Under $10 Under $12 $14,85 29.8 41.7 57.6 72.5 27.5 10,293 35.7 15.3 42.1 85.9 14.1 12.90 0 0 0 0 38.2 10.8 43.7 40.2 65.3 53.9 24.8 58.8 64.5 82.8 70.9 40.6 78.1 75.8 90.6 82.7 58.9 89.7 83.6 96.6 17.3 43.1 10.3 16.4 3.4 2,700 557 1,909 208 26 30.6 46.2 28.5 31.4 23.6 2.7 28.7 27.9 64.1 13.3 77.8 69.7 86.2 43.8 97.1 97.1 13.8 56.2 2.9 2.9 104 36 18.05 32.0 5.7 38.1 30.2 48.0 34.0 59.3 86.8 40.7 13.2 934 42 12.5 84.7 711 209 187 147 168 255 0 0 0 0 13.60 33.9 20.7 31.1 39.2 44.4 49.5 38.7 52.1 44.6 61.6 70.9 66.2 73.5 57.9 85.2 88.4 93.2 86.7 80.6 93.3 11.6 6.8 13.3 19.4 6.7 14. 80 18.35 17.1 5.3 19.3 13.2 28.7 10.8 36.9 19.4 54.4 23.4 51.8 38.3 69.7 43.6 69.3 59.2 14.55 38.8 57.3 23.9 53.8 65.6 44.2 67.3 76.6 59.8 755 529 226 16. 55 0 0 24.8 6.3 51.3 29.2 9.6 57.3 54 40 338 16. 65 (3) 14.20 12.7 56.8 7.2 29.6 72.6 16.6 558 30 153 0 0 15. 70 0 0 1 The median or midpoint, with half the earnings below and half above the amount shown. Percent of total women who earned— Percent of total women who eamed- Under $14 0 43.5 0 1.4 0 0 15.3 0 0 ■ 0 1,053 258 309 234 252 30.6 32.6 29.3 32.6 27.5 27.0 27.1 42.1 .4 32.9 66.8 55.4 62.8 59.0 90.5 97.8 99.2 93.5 99.6 10.0 2.2 .8 6.5 .4 30.3 56.4 30.7 40.8 466 842 78 191 35.5 43.5 41.8 35.8 11.6 1.3 8.4 47.7 12.7 26.9 38.2 81.3 57.1 83.3 81.7 18.7 42.9 16.7 18.3 86.5 84.6 88.3 13.5 15.4 11.7 2,083 845 1, 238 35.5 26.9 35.8 18.6 43.3 1.7 37.6 72.2 13.9 90.9 85.1 94.8 9.1 14.9 5.2 37.0 16.8 65.9 43.5 22.6 73.2 56.5 77.4 26.8 1,175 770 405 40.9 41.0 38.2 6.6 1.3 16.5 14.5 3.6 35.1 85.0 95.6 64.9 15.0 4.4 35.1 39.4 88.4 55.2 56.3 95.8 81.4 43.7 4.2 18.6 69 80 580 35.6 24.4 35.4 14.5 68.8 3.7 46.4 96. 4 45.8 78.3 97.5 94.0 21.7 2.5 6.0 2 Not obtainable. 0 3 Not computed; base less than 50. 0 FACTORIES Total num ber of women Hourly earnings CO 14 WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES, 1937 Excluding the group averages for clothing, food, textiles, and tobacco, 11 of the 19 figures shown for the State as a whole are be low that for all industries. The highest hourly earnings found were in men’s suits and overcoats, distilled liquors and metal prod ucts (alike), paper boxes, and cigars and cigarettes, all averaging above 40 cents an hour, and together accounting for more than threetenths of all the women. Unpublished figures show that Louisville establishments making metal products, distilled liquors, tobacco products, and paper boxes, and employing two-fifths of the women studied in that city, had average hourly earnings above 40 cents. In the group of other places, men’s suits and overcoats and distilled liquors ranked the highest. Distribution of hourly earnings. Other unpublished figures show that the range of hourly earnings was from less than 15 cents to more than 50 cents. Forty-four per cent of the women, practically equally divided at the midpoint group, had hourly earnings of 35 and under 45 cents. The next largest concentration, 27 percent, had earnings of 25 and under 35 cents, with much less than half of this group below 30 cents. For the various industries, 86 percent of the women in distilled liquors, 77 percent of those in the tobacco group, and 70 percent of those in metal products earned 40 cents or more an hour. Paper boxes, with 57 percent of the women at such earnings but with only a small total, ranked fourth. The heaviest concentration in the tex tile industry (43 percent of the women) was at 35 and under 40 cents. Half the women in the food-industry group earned 30 but under 40 cents; two-fifths of those in clothing earned 25 and under 35 cents. More detailed figures show that in the men’s suit and over coat branch of the latter group, three-fourths of the women earned 40 cents an hour or more, nearly two-fifths receiving 50 cents or more. Year’s earnings. Data on earnings throughout the year were requested for 10 per cent of the women employees in each establishment visited. In many plants, however, such records were not available, and in plants em ploying large numbers of women much less than 10 percent of the year’s records wTere copied. For these reasons, the total number for whom such data were obtained (739) is very much less than one-tenth of the women included in the study, and represents only 115 of the 155 establishments scheduled. For this group of women the year’s earnings averaged $675. The figure undoubtedly would have been higher had not 79 plants lost time on account of the flood. All but 10 of these lost more than a week’s time, and while only 8 reported being closed for 4 weeks or more, 2 actually had been closed for 6 and 8 weeks, respectively. Time lost from other causes also contributed to reduce year’s earn ings. Information on the number of weeks worked was secured for 561 of the women, and more than one-fifth of them had lost over 4 weeks’ time during the year. Four percent had lost as much as 10 weeks. FACTORIES 15 Selecting as a convenient dividing line $700, a figure which repre sents approximately $13.50 a week on a 52-week basis, 56 percent o± the women were found to have earned less than this amount. Years earnings below $300 were found for less than 2 percent of the women; 13 percent earned $300 and under $500, and 42 percent— moie than two-fifths of the whole group—earned $500 and under '' contrast to these figures it is encouraging to find that over eainh^Qm } eamed $7°° but less than $900- The number S$90° and represents only 9 percent of the total. least $1*500 W°men had earninSs of S1,000 or more, 2 receiving at The industries in which half or more of the women earned $700 and above were paper boxes, tobacco products, furniture, men's suits and overcoats, metal products, and printing and publishing. NEGRO WOMEN No separate figures for Negro women have been presented in this 524O190q number f°und m the establishments surveyed was only ;ztXzi Exclusive of the tobacco-rehandling plants, the chief Si” on toba“° reh“',,i"g 315 groups ^ were (8 women making prepared chewing and smoking tobacco, 80 in the poultry-aressmg departments of meat-packing plants, and 143 in establishments making clothing. Four establishments employed Neoccupatkms°n y’ °theiS empIoyed NeSroes exclusively i/certain None of the data secured indicate any difference in rates paid to Negro and white women working in the same occupation in the same establishment, but the figures serve to emphasize the lack of opporiXirios of gl'° W01”e" “ ^ manufMt™S RETAIL STORES Introduction. Employment in retail stores is one of the most significant fields of women’s work, both in numbers employed and in general geo graphic extent. In the small nonindustrial community it is one of the few local work opportunities for women. The Census of Business for 1935 showed for Kentucky 64 department stores with an average for the year of 3,633 regular and part-time employees, 208 women’s ready-to-wear stores with 1,110 employees, and 195 limited-price or variety stores with 2,221 employees. In the recent survey by the Women’s Bureau, 93 stores with 3,639 women employees were covered. This group included 41 department stores with 2,163 women, 26 readyto-wear stores with 763 women, and 26 limited-price or variety stores with 713 women. Women workers are preponderantly in the majority in these three types of stores, and in the Kentucky survey they com prised almost three-fourths of the employees in department stores and almost nine-tenths of those in ready-to-wear and the limitedprice group of stores. Table 5 —Number of establishments visited and number of men and women they employed—Retail stores Type of store Total......................... Limited-price or variety---- Estab lish ments 93 41 26 26 Men Women 992 791 114 87 Other places in State Louisville State 3,639 2,163 763 713 Estab lish ments 28 10 13 5 Men Women Estab lish ments Men Women 616 2,164 65 376 1,475 501 81 34 1,297 692 275 31 13 21 290 33 53 866 1/1 438 The stores surveyed were not large; only 9 of the 93 had as many as 100 employees (1 had 700), and 44 had fewer than 25. Stores included in the survey are representative of all parts of the State. Of the 93 establishments, 28 were in Louisville and 65 were in 18 other shopping centers. The list of the other places follows: Bowling Green, Covington, Frankfort, Henderson, Hopkinsville. Lebanon, Lexington, Madisonville, Mayfield, Maysville, Middlesborough, Mount Sterling, Newport, Owensboro, Paducah, Richmond, Somerset, and Winchester. The data concerning women’s wages and hours have been classed in two groups: Those for regular workers employed on a full-time weekly schedule, and those for part-time or extra workers employed to work at the busiest hours, or during special sales, on Saturdays, or as substitutes for regulars. In department stores 23 percent of the women, and in ready-to-wear stores 17 percent, were part-time work 16 RETAIL STORES 17 ers. The limited-price group had the highest proportion of part-time workers. Almost one-half (49 percent) of the women on the pay rolls of this type of store had only part-time work, a large number of them working only on Saturdays. The wage discussions in this report refer to regular workers unless the part-time or irregular group is specified. Selling is, of course, the largest occupational field for women in stores. In the limited-price or variety stores the sales force is the only numerically important group, but in the department stores and the larger of the ready-to-wear establishments the alteration force and office force are significant proportions. In department stores about 66 percent of the women, in ready-to-wear stores 58 percent, and in the limited-price group about 91 percent, were engaged in selling. In the department stores the office workers were about 21 percent. Alteration workers naturally were a larger group in the ready-to-wear stores than elsewhere, remodeling of garments being a necessary practice and engaging 19 percent of the workers. Other employees, such as stockroom workers, elevator operators, telephone operators, bundle and cash girls, and many others, com prised 8 percent of the regular employees in department stores and 11 percent of those in ready-to-wear stores. In all types of stores the great majority of part-time or extra employees were saleswomen. WOMEN REGULAR EMPLOYEES Hours of work. In Kentucky stores the week’s scheduled hours massed largely at 45 and under 48 hours, though in places other than Louisville there were significant proportions at more than 48 hours. For the regular staff, time lost usually may be attributed to personal reasons. The summary following shows the scheduled weekly hours of women regular employees in the State as a whole. Percent of women whose scheduled hours were— Type of store Under 45 45, under 46, under 47, under 46 47 48 4.0 imited-price or variety___________ 69.7 30.9 6.2 8.4 14.6 53.4 48 3.5 11.3 22.5 Over 48 14.2 15.7 This tabulation of hours shows that almost 80 percent of the women in department stores had working hours of 45 and under 48. Readyto-wear stores had the shortest scheduled hours (under 46 for 70 percent of the women) and the limited-price group had the longest (48 or more for 38 percent of the women). Unpublished figures show that hours tended to be much shorter in Louisville than in other cities and towns. Almost nine-tenths (87 percent) of the women in ready-to-wear stores in Louisville were scheduled to work 45 and under 46 hours, and about 85 percent of the women in Louisville department stores had weekly hours of less than 47. Uni formity of hours in the limited-price group in Louisville is evident IS WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES, 1937 from the fact that all the women reported had a schedule of 4? and under 48 hours. In the other places visited, the scheduled hours in stores were decidedly long for present-day standards. Hours of 48 and over were the schedule of 37 percent of the women in department stores, 58 percent of those in ready-to-wear stores, and 67 percent of those in the limited-price group. Daily working hours ranged from 7% to 9, with almost two-thirds of the women on a 7y2-hour schedule. In Louisville no store in the limited-price group had a schedule of more than 7y2 hours daily, and less than 10 percent of the women in department and ready-to-wear stores had daily hours as long as 8. In other places, however, more than one-lialf of the women in ready-to-wear and limited-price stores and one-third of those in department stores were scheduled to work 8 hours and more a day. Week’s earnings. The average earnings 1 of all the women regular employees included in the survey of Kentucky stores were $13.60. From the standpoint of type of store, the lowest wage level was that of the limited-price group, the average being $12.40, and the highest was that of the ready-to-wear group, $14.40. Department stores fell between, with $13.70. Average earnings in Louisville were 3 percent higher than those for the State as a whole and 11 percent higher than those for other places in the State. Unpublished figures show that for the State as a whole there was a concentration of earnings at two points—$12 and under $14 (37 per cent) and $14 and under $16 (21 percent). The proportion of women with earnings of $20 and over was small, and only in Louisville were as many as 10 percent earning this much. About one-sixth of the women in stores outside of Louisville had earnings of less than $10. Average week’s earnings and hours worked. A tabulation of average earnings according to hours worked for the regular employees wdio were paid for 44 and more hours of work follows: Average earnings of women who worked— Type of store 44 hours Department.................. .............................. ....................... Limited-price or variety----- ------- ----- - - --------- $15. 90 (>) (■) 45 or 45H hours 46, under 48 hours $13.70 14. 40 (0 $14. 45 14. 50 13. 35 48 hours $13.80 15.80 9.95 • Not computed; base less than 50 women. In Louisville the women earning less than 25 cents were few, but in the other places they comprised one-third of the total. More than 1 The median or midpoint, with half the earnings below and half above the amount shown. RETAIL STORES 19 three-fifths of the women in Louisville earned at least 30 cents an hour, but outside of the State’s chief city less than three-tenths had such earnings. A tabulation of week’s earnings and hourly earnings, by type of store, follows: Table 6.—Week’s earnings ana hourly earnings of women—Retail stores Week’s Earnings Percent of women who earned— Number Average of women earnings i Type of store Total___ ____________ Department............ ........ Ready-to-wear_________ Limited-price or variety. _ _ Under $10 Under $12 Under $14 Under $16 2,667 $13.60 9.5 20.2 57.1 77.9 1,671 631 365 13.70 14.40 12. 40 6.6 6.5 27.9 17.9 13.6 42.1 54.9 47. 4 84.0 77 9 $16 and over 22.1 94.0 6.0 Hourly Earnings Percent of women who earned- Type of store Total_______________ Department___ _____ Ready-to-wear_________ _ Limited-price or variety____ Number Average > of women earnings (cents) Under 20 cents Under 25 cents Under 30 cents Under 35 cents 35 cents and over 2,636 29.8 5.4 14.8 52.1 79.8 20.2 1,642 629 365 30.0 31.2 26.4 3.1 1.9 21.6 13.2 6.2 36.9 50.6 34.8 88.1 80.8 68. 4 95.3 19.2 4.7 The median or midpoint, with half the earnings below and half above the amount shown. 2 9.4 percent at $20 and under $25, 6.8 percent at $25 and more. [ Earnings in department stores. Average week’s earnings for all women in department stores for whom earnings were reported were $13.70; those for Louisville were 50 cents higher ($14.20) and those for other places almost a dollar less ($12.75). The greatest concentration of the earnings in all occupa tions combined was in the groups $12 and under $16, where 60 per cent of the earnings fell. Among these 60 percent, the actual amounts were $12.50 or $13.50 in more than one-third of the cases and were $14 or $15 in more than one-fourth. For all occupations but office work, the greatest concentration in any single dollar group was at $12 and under $13. The summary following gives the wage distribution by occupation, for the State. It should be remembered that earnings in Louisville tend to be somewhat higher and those in other cities in the State considerably lower. Week’s earnings Number of women____ Average earnings Total 1,671 $13. 70- Sales 1,095 $13. 75 Alteration 102 $13.90 Office 344 $14.35 1 The median or midpoint, with half the earnings below and half above the amount shown. Other 130 $12. 50 20 WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES, 1937 Office and alteration women in department stores had slightly higher earnings than the sales force, the average for alteration work ers being 15 cents higher and that for office workers 60 cents higher. Only in the office group did as many as 10 percent of the women earn $20 or more. A correlation of hours worked and earnings shows that only 1 percent of the women in department stores who had earnings of $12 or more in the pay-roll week transcribed worked less than 45 hours; 10 percent worked more than 48 hours. Forty-nine women with earnings of less than $10 worked at least 45 hours, 30 of them working 50 and more. The highest average week’s wage ($15.90) was that of the group working 44 hours. The women working 45 and 45% hours averaged $13.75 and those working 46 and under 48 hours averaged $14.55. The averages for the 48-hour and the 50-hour groups were respectively $13.80 and $12.30. . Average hourly earnings for women employees in Kentucky de partment stores, irrespective of occupation, were 30 cents; for Louis ville they were 31 cents; and for the other places about 27 cents. Variation in hourly earnings by occupation was slight, except for the miscellaneous group “other.” The sales force averaged 29.9 cents, the alteration group 30.5 cents, and the office force 31.1 cents. .Other workers—which, as before explained, included such jobs as elevator operators, bundle and cash girls, and maintenance women— averaged 26.6 cents. The concentration of hourly earnings was in the groups of 25 and under 35 cents, which included more than twothirds of the women. The largest proportion at any 1-cent interval among Louisville saleswomen was the 18 percent earning 29 and under 30 cents; in the other places it was the 14 percent earning 26 and under 27 cents. Earnings in ready-to-wear stores. Nearly one-fourth of the women for whom earnings data were ob tained were employed in ready-to-wear stores, specializing chiefly in women’s wear. Their average week’s earnings were $14.40, those of saleswomen being $15.25 and those of alteration workers $13.60. Saleswomen in Louisville had an average 90 cents higher than that in other places of the State. The range of week’s earnings was from less than $10 for 7 percent of the women to $35 and more for 2 per cent. Even in this type of store, where the wage level was highest, more than two-thirds of the women had week’s earnings of under $16. A correlation of earnings and hours worked shows that three-fifths of the women worked 45 or 45i/2 hours and had average earnings of $14.40. Hourly earnings of saleswomen averaged 32.4 cents, those of alter ation workers 30.5 cents, and those of office workers 83.7 cents. Thus more than half the workers averaged 30 cents or more an hour in all occupations but the miscellaneous group “other.” Earnings in limited-price or variety stores. Earnings in the limited-price or variety stores were decidedly lower than in the other types of stores. About 84 percent of the RETAIL STORES 21 women in the limited-price group, compared to about 55 percent in department stores, earned less than $14 a week. There is marked variation in the earnings and hours between Louisville and other places in the State. Average earnings were $13.35 in Louisville and $10.60 in other places. In Louisville the proportion of women receiving less than $10 was only about 7 per cent^ but in the other places it was 44 percent; in other words, in Louisville only about 1 woman in 15, but in other places almost 7 in 15, received less than $10. Not only were the earnings less in places other than Louisville, but the hours were longer. Average hourly earnings in the limited-price group were 26.4 cents for the State, 27.7 cents for Louisville, and 21.2 cents for other places. In Louisville about 30 percent of the saleswomen received 27 and under 28 cents an hour, but in other places 24 percent received 18 and under 20 cents and 17.2 percent received less than 18 cents. A correlation of earnings and hours shows that almost nine-tenths of the women in Louisville worked 47y2 hours and had average earnings of $13.50; only 3 women worked longer. In other places the most representative group (almost two-fiftlis) worked 48 hours and averaged $9.95. WOMEN PART-TIME EMPLOYEES Earnings and hours. Almost one-half (49 percent) of the women in the limited-price roup of stores, not far from one-fourth (23 percent) of those in epartment stores, and a little more than one-sixth (17 percent) of those in ready-to-wear stores were on a part-time basis, employed to work at the busiest hours of the day, or on Saturdays, or for spe cial sales, or as substitutes for absentees. A large proportion of these part-time workers were 1-day (prob ably Saturday) extras, but all types of store had some such em ployees who worked 40 or more hours in the week reported. About 60 percent of the part-time emplovees in readv-to-wear and the lim ited-price group, and about 40 percent of those in department stores, worked 10 hours or less. In department stores one-third worked 30 hours or more. Since the large majority of this group worked short hours, their week’s earnings were very low. The average week’s earnings and hourly earnings of part-time workers, by type of store, follow: f Average week’s earnings 1 Type of store State Department_________ _______________ Beady-to-wear _ __ __ Limited-price or variety____ __________ $4.45 2.80 2.30 Louis ville Other places in State $6. 2.8u 3.80 $2.55 1.85 Average hourly earnings 1 (cents) State 27.9 27.8 25.0 Louis ville 29.5 28.0 25.5 i The median or midpoint, with half the earnings below and half above the amount shown. Not computed; base too small. * Other places in State 21.0 (!) 18.8 22 WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES, 1937 In general the average hourly earnings were somewhat lower than those of regular employees. In the limited-price group, G3 percent of the part-time women in places other than Louisville had average hourly earnings of less than 20 cents. In such stores in Louisville, 91 percent of the women averaged 25 and under 26 cents. In de partment stores in Louisville 47 percent of the part-time workers averaged 29 and under 31 cents. Since part-time workers and extras are quite generally expected by their employers to be available on short call for emergency needs, it seems only fair that the short and uncertain periods for which many of them are given work should be compensated by an hourly rate of pay at least as great as that of the regular workers. LAUNDRIES Introduction. The 1935 Census of Manufactures reported for Kentucky a total ot 103 laundries, together employing an average of 3,144 wage earners. Thirty-live of these laundries, with an average of 1,375 \v age earners, wTere in Louisville. The Women’s Bureau survey in the fall of 1937 covered 52 commercial laundries, employing 1,952 wage earners; 22 of these, with 1,058 wage earners, were in Louis ville. In addition, 105 wage earners employed as laundry workers in 8 hotels or restaurants were included in the study, bringing the total number of laundry workers to 2,057. Of this number 1 715 were women—1,444 being white and only 271 Negro. The women studied are the operatives engaged in such occupations as marking and sorting, hand ironing, operating flat ironers and presses, starching, folding, assembling, wrapping, and so forth. Complete records of wages received and hours worked were secured for these employees from the pay rolls for a normal workweek in the late summer or early fall of 1937, all but three plants furnishing records for a week in September. The records secured cover ail women employed in the scheduled week, regardless of the time worked, which ranged anywhere from a full workweek to as short a period as 5 hours (one case). Table 7. Number of establishments visited arid number of men and women they employed—Laundries Type of laundry and race of women Commercial: Number of establishments......... Number of men.................... Number of women___ White....................... Negro. ............... .. Hotel and restaurant: Number of establishments_____ ______ Number of men.................. Number of women.___ ______ White......... ........... Negro____ ______________ State Louisville 52 326 1,626 8 16 89 86 3 Other places in State 22 3 13 79 COMMERCIAL LAUNDRIES Location and size. The commercial laundries included in this study are in the fol lowing cities and towns: Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, Frankfort, Fulton, Henderson, Hopkinsville, Lebanon, Lexington, Louisville, 23 24 WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES, 1937 Madisonville, Mayfield, Maysville, Middlesborough, Owensboro, Pa ducah, Princeton, Ravenna, Richmond, and Somerset. Failure to in clude laundries in the Covington and Newport areas was due to the fact that such laundries were closed down by a strike at the time of the study. The laundries ranged in size from 6 to more than 150 wage earn ers, only 3 having more than 100. Fifty percent employed less than 30 wage earners, somewhat over 25 percent employed from 30 to 49, and the remainder had 50 or more. Hours of work. Since the Kentucky law permits women to be employed 10 hours a day and 60 a week, it is of interest to see how many of the laun dries had a schedule of this length. Though nine laundries, six in Louisville, reported a scheduled day of 10 hours, only one of these had a scheduled week of 60 hours. In all the others the week was reduced to less than 60 hours by a 5- or a 5%-day week. The laundry with a scheduled week of 60 hours was in a small town, and the rec ords for the week studied showed that only one woman worked as much as 54 hours. In 9 laundries, with 208 women wage earners, the scheduled hours varied so greatly from day to day that they are classed as irregular. In the remaining 43 laundries the weekly schedule that affected the largest number of women was over 48 and under 54 hours, 505 women working under this schedule; 494 women had a schedule of more than 44 but under 48 hours; almost equal numbers—123 and 129—had a schedule of over 40 and under 44 hours, and a schedule of 54 or 55 hours. Only 47 women had so short a week as 40 hours. In actual practice few women in the Kentucky laundries worked the full scheduled hours of the plants. As is common in this indus try, in certain occupations there was no work at the beginning of the day on Monday, and on other days women who completed their work left the laundry before the end of the scheduled hours. Fur ther, in some laundries most of the work was completed by Friday night, and few or no women worked on Saturday. This being true, the data show great differences between the scheduled hours and the hours worked. Only 31 percent of the women worked 48 hours and more, as compared with 53 percent on such a schedule; 38 percent worked 40 and under 48 hours, as against 47 percent with this schedule; and 31 percent worked less than 40 hours though none had so short a schedule and only 3 percent had a week of 40 hours. The number at the shortest hours probably includes most of the part time employees and many of the full-time employees who for per sonal or industrial reasons did not work full time in this particular week. Twenty-three percent of the women worked 50 hours or more, but only 1 percent worked as much as 55 hours. Detailed figures, by locality, are shown in the statement following. LAUNDRIES Hours worked Number ot women with hours worked reported 25 State Louisville 1,479 Other places in State 874 605 Percent of women Under 40........... 40, under 48. _ 48, under 50______ 50 under 55______ 55 and over______ 30.8 38.3 8.3 21.8 .9 33.4 43.1 7.1 15.7 .7 26.9 31.2 10.1 30.6 1.2 Week’s earnings. In all but one of the Louisville laundries most of the women workers were paid hourly rates, only a small proportion being paid piece rates or by the week. In the one exception practically all the women were paid by the week. In the places other than Louisville, about a fourth of the laundries paid the majority of their workers daily or weekly rates. Whatever the basis of payment, laundry workers usually are paid only for the time worked and the week’s wages vary greatly on that account. The women in this study who worked less than a full workweek include persons who lost time from work for personal reasons, those employed for part-time work at extra busy periods or to substitute for absent employees, some regular employees for whom there was not a full week’s work, and still a few others who regularly worked only part time. The last named include, for example, several women in one small laundry who worked only 2, 3, or 4 days a week at their own request. Regardless of time worked, the average week’s earnings1 of all women in commercial laundries were $9.05. For the State as a whole there is little difference by race, the averages for white and Negro being respectively $9.10 and $8.70. In Louisville especially were the averages comparable, being $9.60 and $9.40, respectively, but in other places the white women averaged $8.45 and the Negroes only $7.50. Unpublished figures show that in the State as a whole 35 percent of the women had earnings of $8 and under $10; considerable pro portions were in the 1-dollar groups just above and below these; 19 percent earned less than $7; and 20 percent earned $11 or more, only 13 percent earning as much as $12. The group with earnings below $5 is composed almost wholly of women who worked less than 35 hours. However, one small-town laundry, employing less than 10 women and operating only part time in the scheduled week paid such low hourly rates as to warrant the conclusion that a full week’s earnings would have been but little more than $5 for some of its employees. The foregoing data indicate to women their earnings opportuni ties in the laundry industry. It is equally interesting to know what week’s wages represent in terms of return for labor expended, that is, the wage in relation to time worked. The hours worked by 1,479 women and correlated with their earnings show that there iThe median or midpoint, with half the earnings below and half above the amount WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES, 1937 26 was an increase in earnings with hours worked up to and including 50 hours; above 50 hours, earnings fell, illustrating the condition so commonly found in industry that long hours are accompanied by low pay. A week’s earnings and the average hourly earnings for the State as a whole are shown for both types of laundries surveyed in table 8. Table 8.—Week’s Item Total number of women. earnings and hourly earnings of wonen—Laundries and Commer Hotel restau cial laun rant laun dries dries 1, 626 89 WEEK’S EARNINGS women Women who worked 40 hours Percent of total women who earned— Under $6 Under $8...-------- ---------Under $10...___ _______ Under $12......................... . $12 and over................... $9.05 $10.50 1,024 $9. 75 22 Item HOURLY EARNINGS Women with hours and earnings reported: Number of women--------Average earnings 1 (cents). Percent who earned— Under 20 cents.................. 11.0 32.6 67.3 87.1 12.9 c) and Commer Hotel restau cial laun rant laun dries dries Under 30 cents................... Under 35 cents................... 35 cents and over............... 1,479 20.8 (>) 28. 5 76.9 94.0 98.9 1.1 (’> (2) t!) (9 30 C!) 16.8 21.2 42.5 68.5 31.5 i The median or midpoint, with half the earnings below and half above the amount shown. * Not computed; base less than 50. Hourly earnings. • In an industry such as laundry work, where week’s earnings vary so greatly with hours worked, hourly earnings are better than weekly earnings as a key to the adequacy of rates. In the commercial laundries studied the average hourly earnings for women were 22.5 cents in Louisville and 19 cents in the group of other places. Analyzed by 1-cent intervals, the heaviest concen tration in Louisville occurred at the 20-cent interval, with 29 percent of the women; in the other places there was fairly heavy concentra tion at both 18 cents and 20 cents, with respectively 22 percent and 24 percent of the women. In the absence of any other standard for the laundry industry in Kentucky, the rates established under the N. R. A. Laundry Code may be used as a basis for comparison. These were 20 cents an hour for Louisville and 18 cents an hour for other places, but it should be kept in mind that these inadequate rates, which would yield for 40 hours only $8 and $7.20, respectively, were intended to be the minimum below which no one should be paid. The concen tration at 20 cents and 18 cents referred to, and the very large proportions of women with hourly earnings above these amounts, indicate code adherence or better on the part of many employers. This is especially true of Louisville, where only 13 percent of the women had average hourly earnings below 20 cents. In other places, unfortunately, as many as 28 percent of the women had earnings below the 18 cents set by the code. LAUNDRIES 27 It is of interest further to compare hourly earnings in Kentucky laundries with rates established under the provisions of minimumwage laws for women in two adjacent States, Illinois and Ohio, b or purposes of wage fixing in the laundry industry, the State ad ministrative body having this matter in charge divided Illinois into three districts. In district III, comprising the southern counties of the State and the ones most nearly comparable to Kentucky the rate fixed is 23 cents an hour. The rate set under the Ohio mini mum-wage law is 27y2 cents, and it is applicable to the entire State. Year’s earnings. Each laundry operator was asked to furnish a record of a year’s earnings for 10 percent of his women workers. Several commercial laundries were unable to furnish this information, so the number of records obtained represents only about two-thirds of the establish ments and 8 percent of the women included in the study. In choosmg the women for whom the year’s records were to be furnished the employers were asked to include only persons who worked regu larly anc* to make selections from each occupational group. All but 2 of the 137 women for whom records of a year’s earnin<rs were obtained had worked at least 48 weeks, 91 having worked 48 but under 52, and 44 having worked the whole year. Most of the Louisville workers and a few of those in other places lost from 1 to 3 weeks time on account of the flood. The average year’s earnings for the whole group were $512.50. Approximately 12 percent of the women earned less than $400- 34 E6nt *,a™d $400 a?d under $50°; 29 Percent, $500 and under $600; and 15 percent, $600 and under $700. The remaining 11 per cent of the women had earnings of $700 or more, three women earning $850 or better. The lowest earnings for the year of women who worked 48 weeks or more were $353 in Louisville and $295 in the group of other places. The highest earnings were $921 in Louisville and $718 in the other places. HOTEL AND RESTAURANT LAUNDRIES In addition to the women in commercial laundries, 89 women in 1 restaurant and 7 hotel laundries were included in the study All but three were white women. Five of the establishments, employing 79 women, were in Louisville. Hours worked. The number of hours worked during the week for which data were secured was reported for only 30 of the women in hotel and restaurant laundries, but two-fifths of these had exceeded 50 hours. Obviously, the supply of work in a hotel laundry is fairly constant. Earnings. The average week’s earnings for this group of women were $10.50: for Louisville with all but 10 of the women, the average was $10.80. Of the total group of 89 women 11 percent earned less than $5, I, <m'y 2 or these had worked a full week; 43 percent earned less than $10 Thirty-two percent of all the women (35 percent in Louisville) earned $12 or more. DRY-CLEANING ESTABLISHMENTS Twenty-eight dry-cleaning establishments were included in the Kentucky study. According to the 1935 Census of Manufactures, this number represents approximately one-third of such establish ments in the State. The cities and towns represented are Louisville (with 10 establishments, employing 113 women), Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, Frankfort, Fulton, Hopkinsville, Lebanon, Lexington, Mayfield, Owensboro, Paducah, and Richmond. The total number of women wage earners was 196, of whom only 5 were Negroes. Of the 28 establishments 21 were operated as departments of laun dries. Only those independent cleaning establishments that- had at least five women wage earners were studied, but in laundries large enough to be included as such, the data secured for all women in cluded those in the dry-cleaning department, however few, and these cleaning employees have been transferred from the laundry section to the dry-cleaning section of the study. Hours. Prevailing hours were longer and wages were higher in the dry cleaning industry than in the laundry industry. Data on hours worked were secured for 169 women; only 19 percent worked less than 40 hours and more than half (54 percent) worked 48 hours or more, 7 percent working at least 60 hours. The following summary shows the percent distribution of women according to the hours worked. Number of women with hours worked reported— 169 Percent Under 40 hours-------------------------------------------40, under 48 hours------------- --------------------------- 26.7 48, under 50 hours----------------------------------------16-» 50, under 55 hours---------- —------------------------- -o2 55, under 60 hours----------------------------------------60 hours and over--------------------------------------- *-l Week’s earnings. The average week’s earnings of the women in dry-cleaning estab lishments were $13.60 in Louisville and $11.90 in the group of other places. Both averages are very much higher than those for the laundry industry. Only 21 percent of the women in dry-cleaning es tablishments, in contrast to 67 percent of those in commercial laun dries, earned less than $10. In dry cleaning 58 percent earned $12 or more and 28 percent earned at least $15. 28 DRY-CLEANING ESTABLISHMENTS Table 9. 29 Week’s earnings and hourly earnings of women—Dry cleaning Item Total number of women... Average earnings—All women > Women who worked 40 hours or more: Percent of total women who earned— Under $10....... . Under $12 Under $16 _____ $16 and over ____ Week’s earnings 196 $12. 65 137 $13. 60 37.2 41.8 64.8 76.5 23.5 Hourly earnings Item Women with hours and reported: Number of women Average earnings (cents)1 earnings Under 20 cents. ... Under 25 cents__ Under 30 cents____ Under 35 cents .. . 35 cents and over______ 169 27.6 7.8 32.6 61.6 85.2 14.8 1 The median or midpoint, with half the earnings below and half above the amount shown. Hourly earnings. Hourly earnings ranged from 16 cents to as high as 83 cents, the latter amount being earned by one woman only, who received both salary and commission. Average hourly earnings were 29.9 cents in Douisvdle and 24.3 cents in the group of other places. Eight percent of the women earned less than 20 cents an hour and 25 percent earned 20 and under 25 cents; but 29 percent averaged 25 and under 30 cents, 24 percent averaged 30 and under 35, and as many as 15 percent aver aged at least 35 cents. Eighty percent of the women in Louisville, in contrast to 42 percent of those in the other places, earned at least 25 cents an hour. Year’s earnings. Data on year’s earnings were secured for 16 women, or not quite 10 percent of the total. Kecords of some establishments had been lost m Hood, and loss of time from the same cause reduced the year’s earnings of more than two-thirds of the women for whom records were obtained. For the 16 women, year’s earnings ranged from a low of $551, the iqi°f Week for 52 weeks’t0 a hi£h of $1,294, equivalent to $24.89 a week. Five women earned less than $650, four earned $650 and under $750, three earned $750 and under $850, and four earned HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS Introduction. In the survey of Kentucky hotels and restaurants an effort was made to cover a representative number of establishments in all parts of the State. According to the 1935 Census of Business, the State had at that time 355 hotels, with an average for the year of 3,487 employees, and 1,499 restaurants, cafeterias, and lunchrooms, with an average for the year of 4,274 employees. Nearly two-fifths of the workers, 38 per cent of those in hotels and 37 percent of those in restaurants, were in Louisville. In the recent survey, data were obtained for 63 establish ments—18 hotels with 1,644 employees and 45 restaurants with 1,261 employees. Fifteen of the hotels had restaurant-service departments, and almost one-half (47 percent) of the hotel employees were in these departments. The majority of the restaurants, 34 establishments with 1,094 employees, were independent, but 11 establishments with 167 employees were operated in connection with stores. . _ The large majority of the workers reported—69 percent in inde pendent restaurants, 72 percent in hotels, and 81 percent in store res taurants—were employed in establishments in Louisville. Data were secured in 14 other cities and towns.1 _ The wage and hour data secured were for a pay period in September 1937 for all but two establishments, in which a period in October or November was substituted. ,_ Women workers were outnumbered by men in hotels, constituting only 41 percent of the employees, but in independent restaurants women comprised 57 percent, and in store restaurants 87 percent, of the workers. Most of the women were white, but in several occupa tions, particularly in the lodging and kitchen departments, there were substantial numbers of Negroes. Twenty-six percent of the women in hotels, 13 percent of those in independent restaurants, and 6 percent of those in store restaurants, were Negro women. These fields of em ployment offer more opportunities to Negro men than to Negro women. In contrast to the proportions just quoted for Negro women, Negro men comprised 53 percent of all men in hotels, 45 percent of all those in independent restaurants, and more than three-fourths of the small group in store restaurants. _ Practically nine-tenths of the 177 Negro women in hotels were in lodging departments and less than one-tenth were kitchen workers; in restaurants, including both independent and store types, more than four-fifths of the Negro women were kitchen workers. In most cases the establishments scheduled were small. Only 4 hotels and 2 independent restaurants employed as many as 100 work ers; the largest hotel had over 500 employees and the largest inde pendent restaurant had less than 300. The largest store restaurant hadi i Bowling Green, Covington, Frankfort, Hopkinsville, Lexington, Madisonville, Mayfield, Maysville, Middlesborougli, Mount Sterling, Newport, Owensboro, Paducah, and Somerset. 30 HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS 31 fewer than 50 employees. Six hotels, 21 independent restaurants, and 9 store restaurants each employed fewer than 25 workers. Table 10. Number of establishments visited and number, sex, and race of their employees—Hotels and restaurants Number of employees Type of establishment Number of es tablish ments Total Men Women Total White Negro Total White Negro Per cent women are of all em ployees STATE Hotels.......................... . Independent restaurants.............. Store restaurants________ 18 34 11 1,644 1,094 167 972 473 22 455 259 5 517 214 17 672 621 145 495 538 137 177 83 8 40.9 56.8 86.8 379 206 5 354 117 14 453 433 117 350 386 111 103 47 6 38.2 57.3 86.0 163 97 3 219 188 28 145 152 26 74 36 2 47.8 55.6 90.3 LOUISVILLE Hotels___ __________ Independent restaurants_____ Store restaurants..................... 7 15 6 1,186 756 136 733 323 19 OTHER PLACES IN STATE Hotels................ ........... Independent restaurants._ Store restaurants __ 11 19 5 458 338 31 239 150 3 76 53 The data obtained in the survey covered scheduled days and hours of work, number of days worked in the week reported, week’s earn ings, rate of pay, the practice in regard to meals, lodging, and tips, and the policy as to furnishing and laundering uniforms. Earnings data were reported for 1,438 women; 672 were in hotels, 621 in inde pendent restaurants, and 145 in store restaurants. The number with scheduled hours reported was 1,370; of these, 641 were hotel workers, 598 were in independent restaurants, and 131 were in store restaurants. HOURS Scheduled hours. The scheduled days and hours, that is, the regular shifts that the women were supposed to work each week, showed considerable vari ation in the different types of establishment and for different em ployees of each establishment. The most favorable schedules were round in store restaurants—usually serving only one or two meals_ and women in hotels had the longest work schedules. Nearly ninetenths (88 percent) of the women in store restaurants were sched uled to work 6 days, and over one-tenth (11 percent) were on a schedule of less than 5 days. As stores generally are closed on Sundays, none of the women in these restaurants were required to work 7 days. ' As independent restaurants and hotels generally are open for busi ness every day of the week, many workers in these places were sched uled to work every day. In independent restaurants 23 percent of tile women were on a 7-day schedulej but in hotels the proportion WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES, 1937 32 on such a schedule was 63 percent. The largest group in independ ent restaurants, 76 percent, were on a 6-day schedule. The weekly hours showed an extremely wide range, some women having a schedule of less than 32 hours and others being required to work 60 hours or more. As shown in the accompanying table, the largest group in hotels, 35 percent, were scheduled to work over 48 and under 56 hours, but as many as 14 percent were on a 56-hour schedule, and 11 percent were on one of more than 56 hours. Lodging and kitchen workers in hotels had the longest schedule, as 42 and 33 percent, respectively, of the women in these departments had a schedule of over 48 and under 56 hours, and 29 and 24 percent, respectively, were scheduled to work 56 hours or more. The most common schedule of hours for dining-room workers was over 40 and under 56 hours; 40 percent of the women were scheduled to work 48 and under 56 hours and 38 percent were scheduled to work over 40 and under 48 hours. The largest group of women in independent restaurants, 37 per cent, were on a 48-hour schedule; the next largest group, 25 percent, had a schedule of over 40 and under 48 hours. One-tenth of the women were scheduled to work 40 hours or less, but as many as 13 percent had a workweek of 56 hours or more. The scheduled hours of kitchen workers in independent restaurants were somewhat shorter than those of dining-room workers; only 8 percent of the kitchen women, compared to 15 percent of those in dining rooms, were sched uled to work 56 hours or more. . . Store restaurants had the shortest hours. The large majority of women in these establishments, 65 percent, were on a week of 40 hours or less, 44 percent on one of less than 32 hours, and no one was scheduled to work so long as 56 hours; 7 in 10 of the dining room women, but only 4 in 10 of those in the kitchen, had hours of 40 or less. Percent of women whose scheduled weekly hours were— Establishment and department State—Total----------------------------Hotels—Total--------------------------Lodging department.................. Dining room........ ....................... Kitchen-----------------------------Independent restaurants—Total---Dining room............................... Kitchen-----------------------------Store restaurants—Total----- -------Dining room............................. Louisville—Total.......... .................— Other places in State—Total........... Num ber of women Over 40 and 40, under derun 48 48 Over 48, un der 56 56 Over 56, un 60 and over der 60 1,370 13.0 22.4 23.9 23.2 8.5 5.9 3.1 641 368 201 72 598 472 126 131 107 954 416 4.7 5.4 3.5 4.2 10.5 10.8 9.5 i 64.9 3 70.1 12.7 13.7 20.0 7.9 38.3 30.6 24.7 22.9 31.7 23.7 21.5 22.9 21.4 15.0 16.3 14.9 8.3 37.0 39.0 29.4 7.6 4.7 30.7 8.2 35.4 41.6 24.9 33.3 14.4 12.5 21.4 3.8 3.7 18.3 34.4 13.9 16.8 9.5 11.1 4.7 5.1 3.2 8.4 9.2 7.5 6.9 4.5 5.1 2.4 2.7 2.7 1.5 5.6 4.2 4.7 2.4 8.8 7.9 6.1 5.5 .5 8.9 1 44 percent were scheduled at less than 32 hours. * 51 percent were scheduled at less than 32 hours. Scheduled hours were somewhat shorter in Louisville than in other places, but in both groups there was a substantial proportion on schedules of 56 hours or more; 15 percent in Louisville and 22 percent in other places had such hours. The largest proportion in Louisville, HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS 33 31 percent, were scheduled to work 48 hours; in other places the largest group, 34 percent, had a week over 48 and under 56 hours. In hotels and restaurants workers have shifts that are irregular with hours varying considerably from day to day. To show the variation m daily work shifts over a pay period, and also to show the spread of hours or the time from the beginning to the end of the workday, including the periods of free time, the employee-day is a convenient measure. Employee-days are obtained by multiplying each daily work shift, of whatever duration, by the number of times such shift was worked by the employees during the week. For ex ample, an employee working 2 5-hour and 4 9-hour days would con tribute 6 employee-days to the table on hours of work, 2 entered at 5 and under G hours and 4 entered at 9 and under 10 hours. This makes clear the extent to which very short and over-Ion o- hours are the practice in these industries. The number of employee-days in a week generally is about six times the number of women employed. In the table following is shown for each type of establishment the percent of employee-days with certain hours of work and the spread of their hours. In the dining rooms and kitchens of hotels, only 6 percent of the employee-days had more than 9 hours of work but 31 percent of the days had a spread of at least 12 hours (in a few cases 17 or more) between the beginning of work in the morning and the quitting of work at night. In independent restaurants only 5 percent of the days exceeded 9 hours of work, but on 27 percent of t xe days the spread was at least 11 hours, in some cases as much as 16, between beginning and ending work. In contrast to these propor tions, the figures for hotel lodging departments and for store restau rants show a long spread of hours in comparatively few cases. Table 11.—Comparison of hours of. work and spread of hours, long employee- days in hotels and restaurants Hotel lodging depart ments Hours Number of women _ Number of employee-days Percent 368 3,682 of Employee-Days With Hours Over 9, under 10_„ 10_______ Over 10, under 11_____ 11_______ Over 11, under 12__ Percent Hotel restaurant Independ Store ent depart restaurants restaurants ments of Work as Specified 1.3 1.2 2.5 1.8 .3 1.1 1.1 2.6 .5 .4 .4 of Employee-Days With Spread of Over 10, under 11 _ 11, under 12____ 12, under 13__......... 13, under 14_____ 15, under 16............ 16, under 17_____ Hours as 131 710 1 3.4 0. Specified 11.2 10.3 1.2 8.0 6.2 .8 .3 2.5 1.7 1.9 1.4 — 0.4 .7 3.2 34 WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES, 1937 EARNINGS Week’s earnings. In hotels and restaurants it is customary for employees to have their cash wages supplemented by meals or meals and lodging, but the prac tice varies between establishments and between individuals within an establishment. Because of the variations, and also because many em ployers do not report the cash equivalent of meals, their value is not included in the earnings figures shown in this report. However, to indicate the extent of the practice of furnishing meals to employees and the extent to which this practice affects the cash wages paid, tabulations have been prepared for employees receiving and those not receiving meals. Another important item to be considered is that many employers expect the workers, particularly the waitresses, to receive part of their wages in tips from customers. As the amounts received m tips were not learned in the present study, except in a small number of cases, they are not included in the earnings figures shown. In the week recorded the average cash earnings of women varied from $4.70 for the dining-room workers in hotels to $11.35 for the kitchen workers in hotels. For the total groups of employees, the average was highest in store restaurants, in spite of the fact that these establishments had the shortest schedule of hours. In each type of establishment the women working in the kitchen departments had the highest earnings, the averages shown for these women being the $11.35 in hotels just referred to and $9.30 m independent restaurants. . . Dining-room workers, many of whom were reported to receive tips, had the lowest cash earnings, shown by averages varying from the $4.70 in hotel dining rooms to $8.45 in independent restaurants. The women in hotel lodging departments had average cash earnings of $8.60. The average cash earnings in Louisville were $8.65 in hotels, $8.95 in store restaurants, and $9.20 in independent restaurants. In other cities and towns the women in hotels had average earnings of $7, or $1.65 lower than the average for Louisville, and those in independent restaurants an average of $7.60, or $1.60 lower than was shown for Louisville. The importance of supplements as forming a part of the total wage is indicated by the large number of women who were reported as receiving meals. The proportion ranged from 44 percent in hotels— only 5 percent of the lodging-department workers, but 95 percent of those in the restaurant departments—to 75 percent in store restaurants and 82 percent in independent restaurants. The following shows the number of women given meals: 1 meal Hotels------------------- ----------------------------------------- 40 Independent restaurants-------------------------------------- aoo Store restaurants------------------------------------------------95 2 meals 185 — 3 meals meals 62 85 14 374 115 36 The average cash earnings of the women who received meals were $5.90 in hotels, $8.15 in independent restaurants, and $8.95 in store restaurants. Women who did not receive additions had considerably HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS 35 higher averages—$8.55 in hotels and $12.50 in independent res taurants. 12. Week’s cask earnings of women, hy department in which employed and oy whether or not receiving additions to wages1—Hotels and restaurants Table HOTELS Restaurant department Week's cash earnings Total Number of women___ ____ Average earnings 2_______ Lodging depart ment 672 $8.20 379 $8.60 Total 293 $5. 80 Percent of Women with Earnings No cash wage______ _______ Under $2—_ ............ ........ $2, under $6_____________ $6, under $10.......................... . $10, under $14_____________ $14 and over.............................. 0.7 3.9 26.6 42.2 19.6 6.8 2.9 11.9 62.7 16. 1 6.4 Dining room 215 $4.70 as 1.7 5.1 45.8 15.7 24.2 7.5 Women Women receiving not re additions ceiving Kitchen to wages additions to wages 78 $11.35 298 $5. 90 374 $8. 55 1.7 5.0 44.7 15.7 23.2 9.7 2.9 12.2 63.4 16.9 4.5 Specified 2.3 7.0 58.1 13.1 13.5 6.1 11.5 23.0 53.8 11.5 INDEPENDENT RESTAURANTS Week's cash earnings Total Number of women_______ Average earnings 2_________ Percent Dining room 621 $8.65 of Women with Under $2................................... $2, under $6 ____________ $6, under $10______________ $10, under $14 _________ . $14 and over................. .................. Earnings 493 $8. 45 as Women Women not re Kitchen receiving ceiving additions additions to wages to wages 128 $9.30 506 $8.15 115 $12. 50 Specified 27! 7 4.8 STORE RESTAURANTS Number of women__________ Average earnings 2................... Percent or Women Under $2____ $2, under $6__ $6, under $10 _ $10, under $14. $14 and over— 145 $9.15 with Earnings 8.3 10.4 37.9 38.6 4.9 $7.95 as $8.95 36 Specified 10.3 11.2 43.1 31.0 4.3 7.3 10.1 42. 2 36.7 3.6 1 Chiefly meals. In the case of hotels, some lodging. 1 The median or midpoint, with half the earnings below and half above the amount shown. Average and percent distribution not coumuted where base is less than 50. Though the range of cash earnings of the women employed in hotels was from less than $1 to more than $40, 27 percent of the women were in the group earning $8 and under $10, and 28 percent earned $4 and under $8, The largest group of those in the lodging de 36 WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES, 1937 partment (63 percent) earned $6 and under $10, but in the dining rooms just under three-fifths (58 percent) had earnings of $2 and under $6. Over 2 percent of the dining-room workers received no cash wage at all. The majority of kitchen workers (54 percent) earned $10 and under $14. Over one-fourth (27 percent) of the women who earned less than $6, and as many as 45 percent of those who earned $10 or more, did not receive meals or lodging. The range in cash earnings of women in independent restaurants was from less than $1 to over $46; the largest proportion, almost one-fourth, earned $8 and under $10, and in each of the $2 intervals of $4 and under $6, $6 and under $8, and $12 and under $14 there were approximately one-sixth of the women. The greatest concentration of earnings in store restaurants was at $10 and under $14 (39 percent), followed by an almost equal pro portion at $6 and under $10. Earnings and time worked. The number of hours worked during the week was not available in the majority of hotels and restaurants, but the number of days on which the women worked was reported. In hotels, 55 percent of the women worked on 7 days, and 28 percent worked on 6 days; average earnings were a dollar higher for the 7-day workers. In independent restaurants, on the other hand, 63 percent worked on 6 days and only 25 percent worked on 7 days. The difference in earn ings was slight—only 60 cents; and the women receiving meals ac tually averaged less for 7 days than for 6. No women in store restaurants worked on 7 days; 77 percent worked on 6 days, and the remainder worked on less than 6. Actual earnings as distinct from average showed a very wide range in each group. Of those in hotels who received meals, about half (49 percent) of the group working on 6 days and about 1 wofifths (39 percent) of those working on 7 days had cash earnings of less than $6, and only 32 and 21 percent, respectively, of the two groups had earnings of $12 or more. Of the women in independent restaurants who were given their meals, 23 percent of the 6-day group and 15 percent of the 7-day group received less than $6 in cash earnings. . Wages were higher for the women who did not receive meals, and only small proportions had earnings of less than $6 when they worked on 6 or 7 days. Of those working such a week, however, almost a fourth in hotels and more than a fourth in store restaurants earned less than $8. Less than 5 percent of the women in independ ent. restaurants who were not given meals and who worked on 6 or 7 days had earnings below $10. Tips. For many of the women employed in dining rooms, the employers expect tips to make up a substantial proportion of the week’s wage. Tips, however, are a very uncertain source of income, as their amount varies in different establishments and from day to day in the same establishment. The importance of tips in the minds of the employers is indicated by a comparison of earnings of the women who did not receive tips with those who were said to receive them. Three-fourths of the hotel dining-room women were reported to have received tips, HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS 37 of ,raSl1 earnin"fi were $3-70> compared to an average tnrlorf n i * dining-room women who did not receive tips. In independent-restaurant dining rooms, where about two-fifths (39 ZTl°f the ■VomXn recelJef tips, average cash earnings were $5.70 for tliose receiving them and $9.95 for those not receiving them ihe amount received in tips in 1 week was reported for a small ^roup of women—62 m hotel dining rooms and 67 in independentthe hotels waTfe fT™' l?6 TaveraSe amount received in tips in ttie hotels was $3.15 a week. Just over three-tenths (31 percent) of the women received tips amounting to $10 or more. In independ ent rcKfsiuratUs the average amount received in tips ($5.90) was fifths l oer inn nf cash. ($4.50). Nearly threenrtns (5b percent) of the women with tips reported received tins s high as this. To rely on tips to form so large a part of the total income as these figures indicate is a wholly unsound practice. Rate of pay and scheduled weekly hours. Though the amount of earnings actually received is the most im portant consideration to the worker, it is important also to know he rate of pay; that is, the amount that the employer contracts to pay for a specified number of hours of work. As many workerslose time because of personal reasons or because of slack periods of busi ness the actual earnings usually are lower than the rate of pay. The summary following shows the average weekly rate of pay for eStabIi8Wnt * -heduJ-hour gro^in'gs Average weekly rate of pay i Scheduled weekly hours All employees Lodging em ployees Dining-room employees Kitchen em ployees Number Average Number Average Number Average Average rate rate rate Number rate HOTELS Total reporting 2_____ Over 40, under 48_. 48______________ Over 48, under 56. _________ 66 Over 56, under 60.. 638 128 96 226 89 53 $8. 95 7.50 9.90 8. 70 10. 40 9.55 368 $0. 45 60 153 C2 10. 30 8. 75 10. 75 200 77 $5. 35 5. 05 70 $11. 50 457 106 176 59 9.15 7.05 9.65 11. 50 125 9.50 107 55 7.95 6.65 INDEPENDENT RESTAURANTS Total reporting 2_____ Over 40, under 48.. 48_____________ Over 48, under 50.. 582 146 213 9. 25 7.90 9.60 10. 45 86 STORE RESTAURANTS Total reporting 2_. Under 32____ 131 57 9.30 6. 65 1 The martian or midpoint, with half the rates below and half ah ie amount shown. Gompiited only or groups with SO or more women. > Totals exceed details because groups with less than 50 women arp not sbpwa separately. WOMEN IN KENTUCKY INDUSTRIES, 1937 38 The table shows that the average rate of pay was $8.95 for the women in hotels, $9.25 for those in independent restaurants, and $9.30 in store restaurants. In each type of establishment the rate was highest for kitchen workers and lowest for dining-room workers. The average rate of pay for women who received meals was $o.90 in hotels, $8.65 in independent restaurants, and $8.75 m store restau rants For those not receiving meals the average was considerably higher, $9.45 in hotels and $12.80 in independent restaurants. In hotels and independent restaurants weekly rates were very low for large numbers of women scheduled to work more than 40 hours. Unpublished figures show that among the women in hotels whose workweek was longer than 40 hours, more than one-half of those who were given meals had a wage rate under $6 and almost three-fifths of those who were not given meals had a rate below $10. Among the women in independent restaurants with a week ol more than 40 hours, just over one-sixth of those who were given meals had a rate below $6, as many as one-third having a rate below $8 Ut those who were not given meals, only 4 percent had a rate of less than $10, but almost 20 percent had a rate below $12. In store restaurants all women who were supposed to work more than 40 hours had a rate of $10 or more. UNIFORMS Another item very important to hotel and restaurant workers is the policy in regard to uniforms, In some establishments unilorms are furnished and laundered by the employer, but in too many cases they are a considerable item of expense to the worker. In 28 ol the 58 establishments reporting, the uniforms were furnished by the employer for all women employees and m 7 others uniforms were furnished for part of the workers. However, m 23 establishments all the women were required to furnish their own unilorms, any where from 2 to 8 a year being necessary. In 24 establishments all the women were responsible for the laundering, and m 5 others some of the women had that responsibility. Store restaurants generally provided and laundered the unilorms at no cost to the workers, but in the majority of independent res taurants reported, and in just over half the hotels, some or all ol the women were reqidred to meet the expense of supplying the unilorms. The cost of uniforms ranged from $1 to $4. In 14 establishments the cost was reported to be from $1 to $1.95, in 3 establishments uni forms were rented from laundries. Weekly laundry costs were re ported in six establishments; in three the cost was 25 and 28 cents, in one it was reported to be 60 cents, and in two it was respectively $1.05 and $1.60. In 22 establishments it was reported that the women laundered their own uniforms. o
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