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

WOMEN’S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Director

BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU, NO. 32

WOMEN
IN SOUTH CAROLINA
INDUSTRIES

A Study of Hours, Wages, and
Working Conditions

[?»****Q>

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1923

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

WOMEN’S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Director

BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU, NO. 32

WOMEN
IN SOUTH CAROLINA
INDUSTRIES
A Study of Hours, Wages, and
Working Conditions

imj

/ v\1

i LiLJ

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1923

[Public—No. 259—66th Congress.]
[H. R. 13229.]
An Act To establish in the Department of Labor a bureau to be known as the
Women’s Bureau.

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

CONTENTS.

Part

I. Introduction andsummary...................................................................
The textile industry..........................................................................
Scope and method of investigation..................................................
Summary of facts..............................................................................
II. Hours.......................................................................................................
Scheduled hours...............................................................................
Daily hours.....................................................
Weekly hours...............................................
Saturday hours...........................................................................
Lunch periods............................................................................
Night workers’hours........................................................................
Hours actually worked.....................................................................
Lost time....................................................................................
Overtime....................................................................................
Conclusion.........................................................................................
III. Wages....................................................................................................
Week’s earnings................................................................................
Timework and piecework.......... ............................................
Earnings and time worked........................................................
Earnings and rates.....................................................................
Earnings and experience...........................................................
Earnings and age.......................................................................
Comparison of wages for 1920 and 1921...........................................
Year’s earnings..................................................................................
Year’s earnings and weeks worked...........................................
Night workers’ earnings....................................................................
Conclusion.........................................................................................
IY. Working conditions.................................................................................
General workroom conditions..........................................................
Hazard and strain.............................................................................
Sanitation..........................................................................................
Service facilities................................................................................
Employment management...............................................................
V. The workers..............................................................................................
Nativity.............................................................................................
Age..................................................................................................
Education and training....................................................................
Conjugal condition............................................................................
Living condition..............
VI. The employment of negro women..........................................................
The workers.......................................................................................
Hours..................................................................................................
Wages..............

Pate.

1-16
2
6
11
17-28
18
18
21
24
25
25
25
26
27
28
31-49
32
35
36
39
40
41
42
43
45
46
47
51-72
52
59
62
67
71
73-79
74
75
75
77
79
81-85
81
82
82

CONTENTS.

TEXT TABLES.
Table 1. Numberofmen, women, and children employed in tbe establish
ments studied, by industry.......................................................
2. Scheduled daily hours, by industry.............................................
3. Scheduled weekly hours, by industry.........................................
4. Week’s earnings of white women, by industry—late pay-roll
period...... ...................................................................................
5. Median week’s earnings of white women, by hours worked—late
pay-roll period............................................................................
6. Median week’s earnings of white women, by time in the trade—
late pay-roll period.....................................................................
7. Inadequacy of washing facilities, by industry.............................
8. Inadequacy of toilet facilities, by industry.................................
9. Week’s earnings of negro women, by industry—late pay-roll
period..,.....................................................................................

Page.

9
19
22
,
32
37
,,
41
64
66
83

APPENDIX TABLES.
Table I. Scheduled Saturday hours, by industry.......................................
II. Length of lunch period, by industry............................................
III. Hours worked less than scheduled, by scheduled weekly hours—
white women.............................................................................
IV. Number and per cent of timeworkers and of pieceworkers, and
their median earnings—late pay-roll period............................
V. Week’s earnings, by time worked—late pay-roll period.............
VI. Week’s earnings, by time worked—early pay-rollperiod............
VII. Weekly rates and actual week’s earnings, by industry—late and
early pay-roll periods.................................................................
VIII. Week’s earnings by time in the trade, women employees who
supplied personal information—late pay-roll period...............
IX. Week’s earnings by age, white women employees who supplied
personal information—late pay-roll period...............................
X. Week’s earnings, by industry—early pay-roll period..................
XI. Year’s earnings of white women for whom 52-week pay-roll
records were secured, by industry............................................
XII. Year’s earnings of white women for whom 52-week pay-roll
records were secured, by weeks worked...................................
XIII. Weeks lost during the year, white women for whom 52-week pay
roll records were secured, by industry.....................................
XIV. Weeks lost during the year through closing of establishment or
department, white women for whom 52-week pay-roll records
were secured, by industry.........................................................
XV. Nativity of the women employees who supplied personal information, by industry...................................................................
XVI. Age of the women employees who supplied personal informa
tion, by industry........................................................................
XVII. Conjugal condition of the women employees who supplied
personal information, by industry............................................
XVIII. Living condition of the women employees who supplied personal
information, by industry...................................................

89
90
90
91
92
104
115
119
120
121
123
124
124
125
125

„
__

126
<,
127
127

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

U. S. Department

of Labor,
Women’s Bureau,

Washington, June 8, 1923.
I have the honor to submit the accompanying report giving
the results of the investigation into wages, hours, and working condi
tions of women in the State of South Carolina.
At the request of the State League of Women Voters the Gov
ernor of South Carolina invited the Women’s Bureau to make
this survey. The field investigation was begun November 1, 1921,
and continued until January 31, 1922. The work of the agents was
much facilitated by the cooperation of the State officials, who gave
the benefit of their experience and their knowledge of local conditions.
Great appreciation is felt for the cooperation of the Department of
Agriculture, Commerce and Industries, the Boards of Public Health
of Columbia, Charleston, and Spartanburg, and the Columbia and
Charleston Fire Departments, the League of Women Voters, the Legis
lative Council, the City Federation of Charleston, the Young Women’s
Christian Association, and various other organizations.
The survey was directed by Ethel L. Best. The statistical
.material was prepared under the direction of Elizabeth A. Hyde, and
the report was written by Mary V. Robinson.
Respectfully submitted.
Sir:

Mary Anderson,

Director.
Hon. James J. Davis,
Secretary of Labor.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.
PART I.
INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY.

Although South Carolina is traditionally and fundamentally an
agricultural rather than an industrial State, it has the distinction of
being one of the three foremostStates in the country in the manufacture
of cotton goods. As far as women are concerned, the number em
ployed as wage earners, not only in the textile mills but also in other
industries, is sufficiently great to make a study of their wages, hours,
and working conditions in relation to health and efficiency of real
social and economic value.
Recognizing this fact, the Governor of South Carolina, at the request
of the League of Women Voters of the State, invited the Women’s
Bureau of the United States Department of Labor to make a survey.
In response to that invitation the Women’s Bureau sent its agents
to visit industrial establishments employing women in the following
cities, towns, and villages: Anderson, Autun, Bamburg, Bath, Blackville, Camden, Cateechee, Central, Charleston, Cherokee Falls, Chesnee,
Chester, Clearwater, Clifton, Clinton, Clover, Columbia, Conestee,
Cowpens, Darlington, Easley, Edgefield, Enoree, Fairmont, Fort
Hill, Gaffney, Great Falls, Greenville, Greenwood, Greer, Hartsville,
Honea Path, Inman, Iva, Lancaster, Landrum, Laurens, McColl,
Marion, Mayo, Monarch, Newberry, Ninety-six, Orangeburg, Pacolet,
Pelzer, Piedmont, Rock Hill, Simpsonville, Spartanburg, Tucapau*
Union, Walhalla, Ware Shoals, Warrenville, and York.
The field investigation was begun November 1, 1921, and continued
until January 31, 1922. The work of the agents was much facilitated
by the cooperation of State officials, who gave the benefit of their
experience and their knowledge of local conditions. Among these
cooperating agencies were the department of agriculture, commerce,
and industries; the State board of public health; the Columbia,
Charleston, and Spartanburg Boards of Public Health; and the
Columbia and Charleston fire departments. The League of Women
Voters, the Legislative Council, the City Federation of Charleston,
and the local Young Women’s Christian Associations helped by their
interest and advice. Furthermore, much credit is due the manage
ments of the various establishments visited, without whose coopera
tion and assistance the facts themselves could not have been obtained.
l

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLJNA INDUSTRIES.

A brief resume of some of the general features in South Carolina
as revealed by the Bureau of the Census will prove a helpful back
ground for the present study. Although the striking and in some
instances abnormal increases in salaries, wages, cost of materials,
and value of products for the period 1914 to 1919 are to a large
extent traceable to the change in industrial conditions brought
about by the war, the Bureau of the Census points out that a com
parison of the number of establishments, the persons engaged, and
the horsepower used in 1919 and 1914 shows a considerable increase
in the manufacturing activities of the State.1
According to the census,3 in 1919 South Carolina ranked thirtysecond among the States in the value of its products. There were
2,004 manufacturing establishments at that time, with their products
valued at .$381,453,000. The per capita wage in 1919 was only
$787, the lowest in any State, the next lowest being that of North
Carolina—$804. The per capita wage in South Carolina in 1919,
it is true, was 134. 2 per cent greater than that of 1914. This increase
was largely counteracted by the advance in the cost of living in
almost the same interim, since the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows
a 99.3 per cent increase in the cost of living throughout the country
from 1913 to December, 1919.3
It must be remembered that the per capita wage was based on the
average number of employees in each month of 1919, both men and
women having been included, and that if the per capita wage for
women alone could have been obtained, it would have been con
siderably lower. The 1919 census figures show a large number (18,650)
of women wage earners in manufacturing establishments; these
constituted 23.5 per cent of the total number of wage earners in
such establishments.4 The great bulk of these were employed in
^lie textile industry, as is shown by the fact that there were in Decem
ber, 1919, 16,788 women and girls engaged as operatives in the manu
facture of cotton goods and 505 in the manufacture of knit goods.5
The figures on manufactures do not include the women employed
in stores and laundries, the other branches of industry included in
this report.
THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY.

In any discussion of South Carolina industries, special emphasis
must be laid upon the textile industry because of the preeminence
of cotton goods manufacturing in the State and because of the im-* *
1U. S. Bureau of the Census. 14th Census, 1920. Manufactures: v. 9, Table 1, p. 1382.
axJ. S. Bureau of the Census. 14th Census. Abstract of the Census of Manufactures: 1919. Table
223, p. 569.
8United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Changes in cost of living. Monthly
Labor Review, v. 14, no. 5, May 1922, p. 76.
* United States Bureau of the Census, 11th Census, 1920. Manufactures: v. 9, Table 4, p. 1384.
^ Ibid., Table 28, p. 1396.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

portance of the State in the general production of this type of goods
in the country.
According to the Bureau of the Census,6 in 1919 the cotton-goods
industry—that is, the manufacture of yams and cotton woven
goods—was carried on in 29 States, with an aggregate of 1,496
establishments. ■ Most of the mills manufacturing cotton goods
were located in three regions: New England, the South, and the
Middle Atlantic States, the first two sections being of much greater
importance than the third in this respect. New England and the
South were fairly close competitors in the manufacture of cotton
goods, but the former took the lead in the value of the products,
with a total in 1919 of $1,034,765,000 as compared with $900,079,000
for the South. New England had only 459 mills manufacturing
these products, whereas the South had 708. Some idea of the part
played by these two sections of the country can be gained from the
following quotation from a book on textiles published in 1916:
In a general way and with many exceptions New England manufactures the finer
grades of cotton cloths, the Middle States manufacture knit goods, and the South
produces the coarser grades of the staple cotton cloths. * * *
The South has made remarkable progress in cotton manufacture since the Civil
War. It is told that in 1881 there was a cotton exposition in Atlanta in which the
possibilities of cotton manufacture in the South were vividly advertised by the
Governor of Georgia who appeared at the fair one evening dressed in a suit of cotton
clothes manufactured upon the grounds from cotton which had been that day picked
in a near-by cotton field, the whole process having been in sight of the visitors at the
fair.
This gave the public the idea that the raw cotton need not be sent to Massachusetts
or to England in order to be made up into cloth. The South has since gone into cotton
manufacturing on a big scale, locating mills mainly along rivers and streams at points
where power was cheap.
*

* '

It has been stated that there are so many cotton factories all along this Piedmont
region waterfall line that one can almost throw a stone from one mill to the next all
the way from Alabama to Virginia. This is exaggeration, but it emphasizes the extent
to which practically every stream that goes through the Piedmont region has been
utilized.
While, in the main, the South produces the coarser grades of cotton cloths, yet there
are exceptions to this, just as there are exceptions to New England’s producing the
finer grades. For example, great quantities of coarse cotton duck, denim, seersuckers,
drills, and sheetings are made up in Maine, while some mills in Georgia and South
Carolina produce fancy weaves, cotton damasks, fine shirtings, sateens, and fine
white goods. None the less these are exceptional cases. It is to be noted, however,
that there has been a gradual increase in the manufacture of finer goods in the South,
as there has likewise been a gradual change in New England in favor of producing
only the finer grades.7

The foregoing statements give the part played by the South as a
whole in the manufacture of cotton goods. In order to get more
6 U. S. Bureau of the Census, 14th Census, 1920. Manufactures: v. 10, Table 2, p. 159.
’ Nystrom, Paul H., Textiles, 1916, p. 86-90.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

information on the specific position of South Carolina as a cottongoods center it is necessary to turn again to the data of the Bureau
of the Census, which show that in 1919 more than one-half of the
total value of products for this industry was reported by three
States—Massachusetts and the Carolinas. The two latter were
surpassed by Massachusetts, which has held the position of the
most important cotton-manufacturing State for 80 years.8
South Carolina in 1919 ranked next to Massachusetts, or second
of all the States, in the primary horsepower used in cotton mills,
the number of active producing spindles, the number of looms and
the number of square yards of cotton goods manufactured. In
fact it had to its credit over one-fifth (21.6 per cent) of the cotton
woven goods turned out in the country in that year. South Carolina
took third place in the value of the products, the amount of raw
cotton consumed in manufacture, the cost of materials, the number
of wage earners, and the total amount of wages. In regard to the
per capita wage, South Carolina was much less progressive, since it
occupied the fourteenth place among the 23 States listed as important
in this industry.9 Nevertheless, the South Carolina wage of $757
was ahead of the $730 per capita of North Carolina. In fact, in
respect to the per capita wage in the cotton-goods industry, South
Carolina ranked above all the other Southern States with the ex
ception of Virginia, which showed a strikingly higher figure, that is,
$932.
The most important kinds of material and the number of square
yards of each manufactured in South Carolina in 1919 were as
follows: 10
Yards.

Sheetings..................... .......................................................
Print cloth............................................................................
Drills.....................................................................................
Shirtings...............................................................................
Ginghams........... .................................................................
Lawns, nainsooks, cambricB, and similar muslins...........
Twills, sateens, etc..............................................................
Tobacco, cheese, butter, bunting,and bandage cloths........
Ticks and denims................................................................
Towels, toweling, and terry wares......................................
Other woven goods (over 12 inches wide)..........................

472,867,617
450, 997, 849
96,339,969
43,501,177
36,447,592
33, 213,842
27, 682,951
16, 331, 816
14,131, 800
5,772, 656
86,203, 500

Total........................................................................... 1,283,490,769

Sheetings and print cloth are by far the most important cotton
products manufactured, since the former constituted 36.8 per cent
and the latter 35.1 per cent of all the square yards of woven material
produced in the State in 1919. Moreover, in this same year South
8 U. S. Bureau of the Census. 14th Census, 1920. Manufactures: v. 10, p. 157.
e Ibid., Table 47, p. 31.
U. S. Bureau of the Census. 14th Census, 1920. Manufactures: v. 9, Table 19, p. 1392.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Carolina manufactured 34.5 per cent of all the sheetings and 46.2 per
cent of all the print cloth produced in the country; in fact, South
Carolina had to its credit a larger amount of each of these two types
of material than had any other State. In the amount of drills
turned out in 1919 South Carolina also held first place, producing
31.3 per cent of the total amount manufactured in the country.11
A change in the type of materials manufactured in South Carolina
would seem to be taking place, if we can judge from figures for 1914
and 1919. For example, in 1919 South Carolina turned out 51 per
cent fewer square yards of sheeting than in 1914; on the other hand,
there was the enormous increase of 354.6 per cent in the manufacture
of muslins.11
12 Other significant variations were the 103.5 per cent
increase in twills and sateens, the 76.7 per cent increase in shirtings,
the 41.8 per cent increase in ginghams, and the 19.8 per cent increase
in ticks and denims.
A more extensive comparison of the cotton-goods industry in
South Carolina in 1919 and in 1914 is difficult because of the war and
its abnormal effects upon practically every industry. In 1919, how
ever, South Carolina appeared to have somewhat increased its share
in the general production of cotton manufactures in the country,
since it produced in this year 20.6 per cent of the total amount of
woven cotton goods as compared with 19. 7 per cent of the total in
1914.
In view of the preceding discussion it is not surprising to learn
from the Bureau of the Census 13 that two-thirds of the capital in
vested in manufacturing in South Carolina was in cotton-goods
production, and that in round numbers three-fifths of the wage
earners were employed in this industry, the products of which were
valued at three-fifths of the total value of all manufactured products
in the State.
Attention must be called to the fact that the figures quoted as
the most recent available from the Bureau of the Census are for the
year 1919, and that this year is acknowledged to be a high-water
mark of industrial prosperity in the country. The reaction came
quickly, however, and the latter part of 1920 and the whole of 1921
were marked by widespread industrial depression, devastating to
both capital and labor interests, in every State and in practically
every industry in each State. The textile industry perhaps suffered
from the depression more extensively than did most industries.
The situation in South Carolina from the point of view of the mill
managers was clearly presented in a statement by Mr. James D.
Hammett, president of the Cotton Manufacturers’ Association of
11U. S. Bureau of the Census. 14th Census, 1920. Manufactures: v. 10, Table 19, p. 171.
12 In 1914 the Bureau of the Census grouped under the general term “muslins” all tobacco, cheese, butter,
bunting and bandage cloths; lawns, nainsooks, cambrics, and similar muslins; and print cloth.
13 U. S. Bureau of the Census. 14th Census, 1920. Manufactures: v. 9, Table 28, pp. 1396-1397.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

South Carolina,14 *made during the first part of 1921, at the request
of the State department of agriculture, commerce, and industries.
He discussed the prosperity enjoyed by the industry for three or four
years up to the middle of 1920, when the cotton-goods market began
to decline very seriously. During the ensuing months he stated
that the mills in their effort to meet the orders which had been placed
in advance, were compelled to purchase cotton at a high price to make
the goods, and then frequently to sell these products at a loss. In
other instances he had found that buyers, taking advantage of cer
tain technicalities, canceled their contracts for goods. Despite such
unsatisfactory circumstances, Mr. Hammett emphasized the fact that
the great majority of the mills kept their machinery running most of
the time, even at a loss, in order to maintain their organizations and
to give employment to the men and women dependent upon the mills
for a livelihood.
The mills visited during the survey may be said to be representative
of the cotton-goods industry in the State, a fact brought out more
definitely in the ensuing discussion of the scope of the survey.
SCOPE AND METHOD OF INVESTIGATION.

As it was impossible in the limited time of the survey to cover
all establishments wherein women worked, a representative number
of plants in the various industries employing women were chosen.
The stores, laundries, and manufacturing establishments selected
were located in 56 cities, towns, and villages. In some of the localities
visited were many establishments employing hundreds of women,
whereas in others there was only one establishment around which
centered the life of the community.
The manufacturing industries included showed very little diversity,
but this is not surprising in view of the predominance of cotton-goods
manufacturing. The census shows that apart from this industry,
knit-goods manufacturing was the only branch of manufactures
employing as many as 500 women and girls.16 However, during the
survey records were secured from a few printing and publishing
plants and cigar factories as well as from a small group of establish
ments manufacturing such miscellaneous products as wholesale
drugs, paper goods, gloves, clothing, candy, and aseptic goods.
The cotton mills included were representative in regard to both
size and products. The following summary shows the proportion of
m South Carolina. Department of Agriculture, Commerce, and Industries. Labor Division. 12th
Annual Report. 1920. Columbia, 1921. p. 15-16.
16 U. S. Bureau of the Census, 14th Census, 1920. Manufactures: v. 9, Table 28, p. 139G. Because of the
inclusion of tobacco, cigar, and cigarette manufacturing under “all other industries’7 in Table 28, the num
ber of women in the State employed in this industry is not revealed. That they numbered more than
500, however, is evident from the fact that 627 women and girls were reported in the 4 cigar factories visited
during the survey.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

mills reported by the Bureau of the Census,16 as having certain speci
fied numbers of wage earners in 1919, and the proportion of mills
visited during the survey having such numbers of employees:
Per cent of establishments employing 100 or
fewer.
Total number of establishments—
Reported by the Bureau of the Census........................... 145
Included in the survey...................................................... 87

13.1
12.6

101 to
250.

38.6
32.2

251 to
500.

25.5
34.5

501 or
more.

22.8
20.7

This shows that the proportion of small mills (those with 100 or
fewer employees) covered by the survey was similar to the proportion
of this size in the total number in the State. Also, the proportion
of large mills, those with more than 500 employees, visited by the
agents of the Women’s Bureau, approximated the proportion shown
by the census figures to be in this classification.
The mills inspected manufactured a great variety of products,
including twine and cord, yarns of many kinds, prints, sheetings,
drills, twills, ducks, denims, pajama checks, ginghams, poplins, reps,
marquisettes, lawns, table cloths, napkins, toweling, cotton blankets,
bedspreads, bedticking, bag cloth, medical gauze, automobile-tire
fabrics, asbestos cloth, and valve packing. About one-half of the
mills studied reported prints or sheetings or both to be among their
products.
The investigation was carried on along several main lines. Definite
information about numbers of employees, hours, wages, and working
conditions was scheduled by investigators from interviews with
employers, managers, and foremen, from inspection of plants, and
from examination of pay rolls. In order to obtain accurate and
uniform material, wage data were taken personally from pay rolls
by the investigators. A factory schedule was used to record infor
mation as to the number of employees (men, women, and children),
the daily and weekly scheduled hours, the lunch period, Saturday
half holidays, overtime, and the employment policy. In addition
reports were made about the working conditions in each plant.
The spacing, heating, lighting, ventilation, cleanliness of the work
rooms ; the seating arrangements for women employees; the hazards
and strains to which women were exposed; and sanitary and service
facilities provided for their use. On a special form were recorded
the weekly earnings, rates, and hours of each woman in each occu
pational group for two different weekly pay-roll periods, the aim
having been to select weeks as nearly as possible representative of
the normal working hours of the firm. One period chosen was a
Ibid., Table 10, p. 1387.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

current week without a holiday, for the most part in November or
December, 1921, in which the women worked full time, and which
was regarded by the management as a normal week. In some cases
it was necessary to go as far back as the first part of October to
secure wage data for a normal period. During the time for which
records were obtained, even though in some cases certain departments
might not have been running the full complement of hours, the plant
as a whole was on a full-time basis. The other pay-roll period chosen
was in the fall or early winter of 1920; that is, about a year earlier
than the current week selected. With the hour and wage data of
the 1921 week were combined facts concerning age, nativity, experi
ence in the trade, and conjugal and living conditions, taken from
questionnaires distributed in the plant and filled in by the women
employees. Individual yearly earnings for a representative number
of women, usually about 10 per cent in each establishment, were
recorded on 52-week schedules. In addition the investigators, by
means of home visits to some of the women workers, were able to
supplement the foregoing information with personal statements
about the educational and industrial history and the home responsi
bilities of a limited number of women.
The number of establishments in each industry included in the
investigation and the number of employees, by sex, age, and color,
are shown in the accompanying table:

Table 1.—Number of men, women, and children employed in the establishments studied, by industry.
Number and per cent of employees of each sex.

Industry.

Manufacturing:
Printing and publishing.......
Textiles—
Cotton goods...................
Knit goods.......................
Yam.................................
Miscellaneous.........................
General merchandise...................
5-and-10cent stores.......................
Laundries......................................
1

Total
Per cent
of women number
of em
in each
industry. ployees.

Negro women.

Boys (under 16).

Girls (under 16).

Number. Per cent.
Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent.

100.0

132,845

20,452

62.3

10,328

31.4

843

2.6

632

1.9

590

1.8

151

2.2
.6

5.5
.3

712
183

84
150

11.8
82.0

315
33

44.2
18.0

302

42.4

0.1

1.4

4
3
75
10
13
7
16
9
14

85.5
2.4
4.0
1.5
2.0
.8
1.1

76.1
4.3
3.9
2.3
3.6
1.9
2.3

28,096
780
1,320
489
649
247
369

18,461
276
854
227
248
38
114

65.7
35.4
64.7
46.4
38.2
15.4
30.9

8,256
438
427
246
381
205
27

29.4
56.2
32.3
50.3
58.7
83.0
7.3

243
40
4
6
18
2
228

.9
5.1
.3
1.2
2.8
.8
61.8

598
9
18
3
2
1

2.1
1.2
1.4
.6
.3
.4

538
17
17
7

1.9
2.2
1.3
1.4

For one establishment, only the women (132 white and 6 negro) are reported.

White women.

Men.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

All industries....................

Per cent
Number of total
of estab
em
ployees
lish
m each
ments.
industry.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

The table shows that in the 151 establishments 17 included in the
survey there were employed 11,761 women and girls. These consti
tute almost one-half of the 24,147 women reported by the Bureau of
the Census 18 as engaged in the types of industries scheduled by the
Women’s Bureau, a proportion large enough to be significant.
The women and girls comprised a little over one-third (35.8 per
cent) of the working forces reported in the plants visited. Cigar
manufacturing and 5-and-10-cent stores, with the feminine contin
gents forming 88.1 per cent and 84.2 per cent of the total number of
employees, respectively, took the lead in the proportion of women and
girls. The smallest proportion was found in printing establishments,
where only 18 per cent of the employees were women. The only
other industrial groups which did not show a preponderance of women
were yarn and cotton-goods manufacturing, approximately one-third
of the force in each case consisting of women and girls. Although
women outnumbered men by only a small majority in the miscellane
ous manufacturers, they formed between 60 and 70 per cent of the
force in laundries, in knitting mills, and in general mercantile estab
lishments.
By far the vast majority of the women and girls included—that
is, over three-fourths (76.1 per cent)—were concentrated in one
industry, the group designated as “ cotton goods. ” If to this percent
age be added the 3.9 per cent of the women who were employed in
yarn mills, the total proportion in this combined textile grouping is
four-fifths of the women in the survey. Compared wTith this there is
only a sprinkling in each of the other industries, not so much as 6 per
cent in any one.
The figures giving the number of girls under 16 years of age in the
several industries, compiled from the statements of managers,19 show
a total of 590. Although these constituted only 1.8 per cent of the
total number of employees, they formed 5 per cent of the total number
of women, a proportion exceeding the 3.9 per cent in this age classifi
cation reported in a survey of Rhode Island industries in 1920,20 the
2.8 per cent in the survey of Georgia industries in 1920-21,21 the 2.8
per cent in the survey of Maryland industries in the spring of 1921,22
and the 1.2 per cent in the survey of Kentucky industries in the fall of
1921.23 The great bulk of the girls under 16 in the South Carolina
industries—that is, 94.1 per cent—were found in the manufacture of
17 One other establishment was inspected for working conditions but there was no record given of the
number of employees.
18U. S. Bureau of the Census. 14th Census, 1920. Occupations, v. 4, chap. 2.
18The statements of managers were accepted in regard to the number of employees under 16; the investi
gators made no attempt at verification, either by consulting records or by questioning employees.
30TJ. S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau. Women in Rhodelsland Industries, Bui. 21,1922, p. 4.
21U. S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau. Women in Georgia Industries, Bui. 22,1922, p. 14.
22 U. S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau. Women in Maryland Industries, Bui. 24,1922, p. 10.
23 U. S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau. Women in Kentucky Industries, Bui. 29,1923, p. 108.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

yarns and cotton goods. In these branches of industry, however,
only 5.9 per cent of the women were in this age classification. Never
theless, this was a larger proportion than in any other industry. No
girls under 16 were reported in printing and publishing, in general
mercantile, or in laundries.
In South Carolina the proportion of negro women in the industries
included was small, only 7.2 per cent of the total number of women and
girls. It has seemed advisable to present a separate tabulation of
them in certain respects. Since the scheduled hours and working
conditions were practically the same for white and negro women in
the establishments visited, negro women have not been treated sepa
rately in the sections of the report bearing on these subjects. In the
matter of wages and personal information from the workers, however,
they have been separately discussed.
SUMMARY OF FACTS.

I. Data and scope.
This survey of women in South Carolina industries gives, in gen
eral, data on hours, wages, and working conditions in November
and December, 1921. It covers 10,328 white women, 843 negro
women, and 590 white girls under 16 years of age, making a total
of 11,761 employees in 151 establishments—stores, mills, factories,
laundries, and printing plants—located in 56 industrial communities
throughout the State. These women may be considered as represent
ative of the wage-earning women in South Carolina, since they consti
tuted about one-half of the women workers in those industries which
may be characterized as the important women-employing industries
in the State.
II. Hours.
South Carolina is not one of the progressive States in regard to
hour legislation for women. Even though the State law regulating
the hours of labor for women in industry was recently revised—the
maximum weekly hours of all operatives in textile mills having been
reduced from 60 to 55—-the 60-hour week is still permitted in other
industries and the 10-hour day is allowed in all industries. There
is a law prohibiting night work for women in mercantile establish
ments only. The scheduled weekly hours in the plants investigated
were in the majority of cases less than the legal 60-hour week in
force at the time of the investigation. Nevertheless, three-fourths
of the women were working under hour schedules sufficiently long
to be a strain on the health of the women employed. That this
drain on strength and vitality—the inevitable accompaniment of
long hours—is not essential to successful production, is illustrated
hy the many establishments throughout the country operating on
57523°—23----- 2

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

the 8-hour day and the 48-hour week. Very few plants in South
Carolina had adopted so short a schedule.
The following statements summarize the hour data for 148 24
establishments:
1. Daily scheduled hours were—
8 in 5 establishments, employing 4.8 per cent of the women.
Over 8 and under 10 in 43 establishments, employing 9.7 per cent of the women.
10 in 83 establishments, employing 78.0 per cent of the women.
Over 10 in 18 establishments, employing 7.5 per cent of the women.
2. Weekly scheduled hours were—
48 or under in 7 establishments employing 4.9 per cent of the women.
Over 48 and under 55 in 32 establishments, employing 9.2 per cent of the women.
55 in 84 establishments, employing 79.9 per cent of the women.
Over 55 and under 60 in 15 establishments, employing 3.4 per cent of the women.
60 in 11 establishments employing 2.7 per cent of the women.
3. Saturday houre were—
Not any, the place being closed, in 1 establishment.
4 and under 6 in 110 establishments.
6 and under 8 in 8 establishments.
8 and under 10 in 7 establishments.
10 and under 12 in 17 establishments.
12 in 5 establishments.
4. Lunch periods were—
30 minutes in 18 establishments.
40 or 45 minutes in 9 establishments.
1 hour in 118 establishments.
More than one hour in 3 establishments.
5. Lost time.—A little over three-fifths of the women with hour records (61.3 per
cent) worked less than the scheduled hours in the week recorded. Of those
with lost time, three-fourths (74.6 per cent) lost 10 hours or more, and a little
over one-third (34.4 per cent) lost 20 hours or more.
6. Overtime.—Only 1.0 per cent of the women with hour records worked longer
than the scheduled hours during the week recorded.

DDL Wages.

South Carolina is not one of the 12 States that have minimumwage laws. Although a few of the women included received wages
that compared favorably with the minimum wage rates set by law
in certain States, the great bulk of them received considerably lower
wages than the standards set by many minimum wage commissions.
The results of extensive underpayment of large groups of women,
with the lowering of the standard of living below the level not only
of comfort but of health itself and the elimination of all chance of
saving or of providing for the future, can not be too strongly empha
sized. Even when the lower cost of living characteristic of mill
communities is considered, the wages of the majority of women
textile operatives were not sufficient to enable them to live up to
24 Three establishments excluded because hours were irregular or not reported. Sum of establishments
exceeds total because of one establishment having more than one schedule.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

a standard indorsed by American ideals. This is a situation which
should challenge the attention of the employers as well as the other
citizens of the State for the provision of an adequate wage is the
first step toward the elevation of women in industry to a plane where
due recognition is given to the value of their employment in the
industrial world and to the importance of their health, vitality, and
happiness in the community as a whole.
The following statements summarize the data on wages paid:
1921 PAY ROLL.

1920 PAY ROLL.

1. Weeh's earnings and rates.
(a) Median earnings of all women:
White—8,595 women.................... $9.50
Timeworkers, 1,957 women... 9.50
Pieceworkers, 5,969 women... 9.60
Negro—611 women.......................
5.80
Timeworkers, 425 women__
6.00
Pieceworkers, 175 women......
4.90

8,249 women.................................. $14.05
1,031 women..................................

6.80

(b) Median earnings of women in the highest and lowest paid industries and in
the largest industrial group:
Highest.
White—General mercantile, 310
women....................................... $15.50
Negro—Cotton-goods manufac
turing, 164 women....................
6. 25

Genera, mercantile, 280 women... $15.50

White—Knit-goods manufactur
ing, 355 women......................... $7. 60
Negro—Cigar manufacturing, 193
women.......................................
4.85

Knit-goods manufacturing, 334
women........................................ $8.95
Laundries, 200 women.................
5.90

Cotton-goods manufacturing, 328
women.......................................
Lowest.

8.70

Largest industrial group.
White—Yarn and cotton goods
manufacturing, 7,142 women... $9.45
Negro—Laundries, 209 women... 5. 70

Yam and cotton goods manufac
turing, 7,012 women.................. $14.45
Cigar manufacturing, 468 women.
6.45

(c) Median earnings of night workers.26
White—488 women....................... $9.40’| 347 women.................................... $16.25
(d) Median earnings of women in all industries who worked 48 hours or more or on
5 days or more:
White—3,968 women.................... $11.65
Negro—357 women.......................
6.45

3,787 women.................................. $17. 50
387 women..................................... 8.20

(e) Median earnings of women in yarn and cotton-goods manufacturing who worked
55 hours or more or on 5J days or more:
White—2,286 women.................... $12.00 I 2,136 women.................................. $19.05
6.70 | 135 women..................................... 10.6025
Negro—92 women.........................
25 No negro night workers.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

(f) Median, earnings of women with 5 years or more of experience:
White—1,934 women................... $11.25 I Not reported.
Negro—32 women.........................
5.90 | Not reported.
(g) Median rate of time workers:
All industries.
White—1,928 women................... $11.05
Negro—425 women.......................
6.45

1,869 women................................. $15.55
540 women....................................
8.40

Yarn and cotton-goods manufacturing.
White—1,285 women.................... $10. 90
Negro—148 women.......................
6.65

1,289 women.......................... .
$16.25
289 women.................................... 10.20

(h) Of all the women whose week’s earnings were recorded—
71.2 per cent of the white women} cafncd legs th;m $12,)0.
98.4 per cent of the negro womenj
86.9 per cent of the white women}^ ^ ^
.
99.8 per cent of the negro womenj
1920-21 PAY ROLL.

2. Year’s earnings:
(a) Median earnings—all industries.
White—833 women.................................................................................................... $605
Negro—41 women...................................................................................................... 320
(b) Median earningB of women in the highest and lowest paid industries and in the
largest industrial group.26
Highest.
White—General mercantile, 37 women................................................................... $856
Lowest.
White—Knit-goods manufacturing, 25 women.

$442

Largest industrial group.
White—Yarn and cotton-goods manufacturing, 709 women.................................. $605
(c) Of all the women whose year’s earnings were recorded—
49.0 per cent of the white women}
^ ^ $60Q
95.1 per cent of the negro women
96.3 per cent of the white women}
^ than $ 0Q
100.0 per cent of the negro women
99.0 per cent of the white women earned less than $1,200.

IV. Working conditions.
South Carolina has very little legislation regulating working con
ditions for women in industry, and the few existing laws are neither
broad enough to cover many of the conditions discovered in the
investigation, nor definite enough to enable State factory inspectors
to determine and prosecute violations. Although the conditions
in some of the establishments visited were good, and in only a few
26Figures for negro women not given because of small number involved.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

were startinglj bad, in a number of plants there remained much to
be done for the attainment of desirable standards.
In the following summary the unsatisfactory conditions noted in
the 152 27 establishments are stressed particularly in order to indicate
the lines along which improvements are needed:
1. General workroom conditions were as follows:
(a) Gleaning unsatisfactory, because of dirty condition of workroom or wrong
system of cleaning, in only 32 establishments.
(b) Natural lighting decidedly unsatisfactory in 19 establishments, and
artificial lighting inadequate in 80 establishments because of glare or
insufficient light.
(c) Ventilation inadequate in a number of establishments, chiefly because
of failure to solve special problems of lint, heat, and humidity arising
from the nature of the industry; no artificial ventilating devices in 44 of
the 99 textile mills, nor in 8 of the 14 laundries.
(d) Seating inadequate for some or all of the women, in 134 establishments,
33 having no seats whatever for women with standing jobs, 49 having an
insufficient number of seats, 108 having seats without backs, that is,
stools, benches, or boxes for some or all of the women.
2. The report on hazard and strain showed:
(a) A possible strain from uncomfortable posture, continuous pressure, re
peated reaching, excessive speeding, or the lifting of heavy weights, in
a number of establishments.28
(b) A workroom or occupational hazard, such as unguarded belts, unguarded
machinery, or uninclosed elevator shafts, in 67 establishments.
(c) Fire hazards, such as doors opening inward, obstructed exits, or inadequate
stairways, in 97 establishments.
3. The need for improved sanitation is shown by the following:
(a) The common drinking cup in 25 establishments, no cups of any sort in 22
establishments, insanitary bubble fountains in 73 establishments.
(b) No washing facilities in 10 establishments, no towels in 116 establishments,
common towels in 25 establishments, no soap in 99 establishments.
(c) Toilet facilities not up to standard requirements for some or all of the women
in 134 establishments, the defects being improper cleaning or ventila
tion, inadequate screening or equipment, inconvenient location, insuffi
cient number, unsatisfactory system of plumbing, or the lack of separate
toilets for women and men.
4. The record of service facilities disclosed:
(a) No lunch room in 136 establishments.
'(b) No cloakroom in 116 establishments.
(c) No rest room in 134 establishments.
(d) No first-aid equipment in one-third of the establishments, a definite person
in charge of such equipment in only 18, a hospital room in 8, a nurse in
daily attendance in 15, a doctor in daily attendance in 7.
(e) No centralized employment system in 70 establishments, a definite employ
ment manager in only 5.
87 There was no report on the working conditions oi one establishment tor which pay-roll data were
gathered. Another establishment with three buildings in scattered localities was counted as 3 establishmeats in the tabulation of working conditions.
28 Exact number not given because of the impossibility of making a comprehensive analysis in the limited
time of the survey.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

VI. Workers.
1. Of the 11,761 women covered by the survey 7.2 per cent were negroes.
2. Of the 4,199 white and negro women whose nativity was ascertained only 12
were foreign bom.
3. Of the 3,604 white women and 130 negro women reporting on age—
32.5 per cent of the white woment
,
1
, ,
Iwere under 20 years of age.
33.8 per cent of the negro womenj
36.0 per
1 cent of„ the
, white women)Jwere 20 and under 30 years of. age.
37.7 per cent of the negro womenJ
18.3 per
1 cent of. the
, white women!Jwere 30 and under 40 years of, age.
14.6 per cent of the negro womenJ
9.5 per
1 cent of, the
, white women)iwere 40 and under 50 years of, age.
9.2 per cent of the negro womenj
3.7 Fper cent of the white women)Were 50 years of, age and, over.
4.6 per cent of the negro womenj
4. Of the 3,495 white women and 127 negro women reporting on conjugal condition,
49.7 per cent of the white and 46.5 per cent of the negro were single, 35.5 per cent of
the white and 31.5 per cent of the negro were married, 14.8 per cent of the white and
22.0 per cent of the negro were widowed, separated, or divorced.
5. Of the 3,601 white women and 131 negro women reporting on living condition,
94 per cent of the white and 90.1 per cent of the negro were living at home or with
relatives, 6 per cent of the white and 9.9 per cent of the negro were living independ
ently.

Conclusion.
In general, although the hours, wages, and working conditions of
some of the women included in the survey were based on high stand
ards, the industrial life of the majority of wage-earning women
showed need for much improvement. It should be borne in mind
that throughout the pages of this report special emphasis has been
laid upon these unsatisfactory conditions in order to point out the
course to be pursued by those agencies interested in industrial better
ment. Credit must be given to the employers who already stand as
pioneers in this respect. South Carolina can not afford, however,
to rest upon the efforts of these few progressive citizens. While any
women in the State work long hours or receive a wage too low to
permit of a respectable standard of living, and while any women
work in insanitary plants, in uncomfortable postures, with undue
strain upon eyes and nerves, with exposure to unnecessary hazards
and strains, and with little provision in the plants for health and
comfort—then not only are pride and satisfaction out of the ques
tion but definite action for improvement is called for. Since the
effects of industrial evils can not be confined within the walls of the
workshop, but spread into the homes of the workers and into the
life of the community, the cooperation of all forces in the State is
imperative for the establishment of higher industrial standards.

PART II.
HOURS.
The realization of the need for investigating the length of the
working day of women in industry is becoming more widespread
with the increase in knowledge of the detrimental effect of unduly
long hours upon women and upon the community. The protection
of women in industry is necessary, not primarily because of a strik
ing physical inferiority of women to men but because of the need
for conserving women’s energies in the interest of the race. It is
particularly imperative for women to have reasonably short industrial
hours, since so many of them are called upon to perform two jobs—
one as wage earners in factories, mills, or stores, the other as home
makers attending to household duties and caring for the family.
In the various States and in the different industries in each State
there is a general standard of hours of employment which governs
the working life of large groups of women. This standard lor the
State is voiced in the law which regulates women’s hours and for the
industries is shown by the hours of labor generally prevailing.
South Carolina does not rank high in either case. To be sure, the
legal situation in the State has changed somewhat for the better
since this survey was made. The law in South Carolina at the time
of the investigation permitted a maximum 60-hour week for all
operatives and employees in cotton and woolen establishments
engaged in the manufacture of yarns, cloth, hosiery, and other
products for merchandise, and in stores. Although a 10-hour day
was the maximum stipulated, 11 hours were allowed in textile mills
and 12 hours in mercantile establishments. The law did not cover
other types of manufacture. At the 1922 session of the State legis
lature the hour law was amended, limiting hours in textile manu
facturing to 55 a week and 10 a day. Stores, however, were not
included in this new law. That South Carolina still does not rank
high among the States in regard to progressive hour legislation for
women is shown by the fact that 24 States already have set a legal
limit of 9 hours or less daily. Since a 12-hour day is still permitted
in South Carolina stores, and since there is no legal limit for manu
facturing establishments other than textile mills, the State can not
be placed entirely even in the 10-hour class. Nor has South Caro
lina a much better ranking in the matter of weekly hours, in view
of the 22 States with a legal maximum of less than 55 hours.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

To glance from the legal ranking to the industrial hour records
obtained in the survey is somewhat encouraging. The standard
was found to be a little higher by custom than by law, since there
were a number of firms which voluntarily had adopted a shorter
schedule than that sanctioned on the statute books. There are
always firms more progressive than others; these serve as pioneers
in the shortening of hours for women wage earners and tend to
bring the law up to more advanced standards.
SCHEDULED HOURS.

The data given in this section on scheduled hours represent the
normal working hours of the establishments visited and not short
time schedules resulting from the industrial depression. They are
based on information obtained from managers about daily and
weekly hour schedules in force in the establishments, that is, the
number of hours stipulated by a firm that women in its employ
should work regularly each day and each week.
Policies in regard to lunch periods, Saturday half-holiday, and
night work in the various plants were recorded, since knowledge of
such practices aids greatly in determining the suitability of the
industrial hours of women.
It should be borne in mind that scheduled hours do not take into
account overtime or lost time of employees. In fact, the hours
which women actually work during a week frequently do not coin
cide with scheduled hours. Accordingly, so far as possible, data on
the hours actually worked by the women included in the survey
also were obtained and will be discussed later.
Daily hours.
Table 2 shows the length of the daily working hours for the women
employed in the establishments included. These daily hours do not
include the Saturday hours, which usually were shorter, nor do they
include other occasional short days which were sometimes reported.
Accordingly, they may be considered to represent the schedule
for Monday to Friday, inclusive, in the various industries, although
in a few instances they represent the schedules for only four days in
the week.

Table 2.—Scheduled daily hours, by industry.
Number of establishments and number of women whose daily hours wereTotal number
reported.

Over 8 and
under 9.

Industry.

Over 9 and
imder 10.

Over 10 and
under 11.

All industries..............
Per cent distribution............
Manufacturing:
Cigars...............................
Printing and publishing,
Textiles—
Cotton goods............
Knit goods................
Yarn..........................
Miscellaneous..................
General mercantile................
o-and-10-cent stores...............
Laundries...............................

1148

100.0

10,484
100.0

5
3.4

507
4-8

17
11.5

412
3.9

600
33

2
1

442
16

7,894
462
404
252
399
207
233

16
10.8

1
10
3
1

8
278
83
26

4
6
4

298
2.8

13
72
124
89

83
56.1

8,176
78.0

5
3.4

356
3.4

13
8.8

426
4.1

7,301
365
278
187

4
1

339
17

64
6
7
3

5
1
6
1

241
50
126
9

10
6.8

309
2.9

158

2
5

1 Excludes 3 establishments with hours irregular or not reported. Details aggregate more than total because one establishment appears in more than one hour group.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES,

Estab
EstabEstabEstabEstabEstabEstabEstablish Women lish- Women lish- Women lish- Women lish- Women lish- Women lish- Women lish- Women
ments.
ments.
ments.
ments.
ments.
ments.
ments.
ments.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

According to the table the largest proportion of women and of
establishments in any one group were scheduled for a 10-hour day.
In fact, over three-fourths of the women and over one-half of the
plants were found in this 10-hour class.
The revised law does not necessarily mean a reduction of these
hours, although it affects the schedules in the 16 textile mills showing
773 women employees with scheduled hours of more than 10 a day.
The only other establishment covered by the survey which had a
schedule in excess of a 10-hour day was a factory in the miscellaneous
group, with 9 women workers. An analysis of the 10-hour group
shows that none of the cigar factories, printing establishments, nor
stores had so long a schedule, and that of the 83 establishments in
the group, 78—employing 97.2 per cent of the women in this hour
classification—were mills manufacturing knit goods, yarn, and cotton
goods. The Monday to Friday hours of this large group of women
(7,944) would not be affected by the revised law for employees in
textile mills, if a Saturday half holiday was to keep the weekly
schedule down to the 55-hour limit. Consequently, although the
amended statute is a step in the right direction, it scarcely comes
under the head of progressive legislation in this era when the 8-hour
day is the standard advocated for wage-earning women.
That but little progress had been made in South Carolina in the
adoption of the 8-hour day is shown by the fact that of the 148
establishments with hour records, only 5—two cigar factories, one
printing plant, and two general mercantile establishments—which
employed only a sprinkling of the women (4.8 per cent) had so short
a day. Moerover, the great bulk of these women were employed
in the two cigar factories.
Between these two extremes of the large proportion of establish
ments and women having long hours and the small proportion
reporting the 8-hour day, fall the 43 plants employing approximately
10 per cent of the women, with a daily schedule of over 8 and under
10 hours. The industries most conspicuously represented in this
hour span are the stores and laundries. None of the stores had a
schedule exceeding 9 hours a day. The general mercantile establish
ments tended toward a shorter day than did the 5-and-10-cent stores,
since three-fourths of the former as compared with one-third of the
latter had a day of less than 9 hours. The hours prevailing in laundries
were a 9-hour schedule or one between 9 and 10 hours.
As additional proof of the tendency of South Carolina in the matter
of the daily working hours of its wage-earning women is the following
summary, which makes possible a comparison of this State with
several others in which recent surveys of women in industry have
been made by the Women’s Bureau.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.
Per cent of women whose scheduled daily
hours were—
State.

Alabama.........
Georgia........... .
Kentucky........
Maryland.........
Missouri...........
New Jersey___
Ohio.................
Rhode Island..
South Carolina.
Virginia............

Number
of women
reported.

5,643
8,691
9,469
13,377
16,897
34,629
30,464
9,934
10,484
18,011

8 and
under.
8.4
12.3
15.4
31.9
22.5
19.0
29.9
4.9
4.8
11.1

Over 8
and
under 9.
14.9
6.0

13.4
25.0
25.4
41.2
14.8
56.1
3.9
22.5

Over 9
and
under 10.

10 and
over.

9.6
9.8
29.1
30.7
52.0

13.7
17.5
15.7
8.4

53.5
54.5
26.4
4.0

21.6

12.8

54.4
30.9

5.4

2.8

10.9

2.9
9.3

85.4
46.2

It is apparent that the scheduled daily horn's of wage-earning
women were longer in South Carolina than in any of the other States,
since 85.5 per cent of the women reported in South Carolina had a
day of 10 hours or over; Georgia ranking next to last in the scale—
with 54.5 per cent of the women scheduled for such long hours—
was considerably better in this respect than South Carolina. Nor,
as has been pointed out, does the recent amendment of the law
promise any reduction below 10 hours a day for this vast majority of
women in the South Carolina plants visited; it is likely to mean a
leveling down to the 10-hour mark of most of the schedules exceeding
10 hours.
Weekly hours.
The report of daily hour schedules is not sufficient. These tell
only part of the story. The emphasis must be shifted from the
number of hours which women work each day to the fact that they
work such hours day after day. It is the grind of long hours for six
days a week for month after month that takes its toll of women’s
energy and efficiency, and depletes their fund of reserve strength.
Consequently, in conjunction with a consideration of daily hours an
analysis of weekly schedules is significant. The accompanying table
shows the women and the establishments in each industry with
certain specified weekly horn’s:

Table 3.—Scheduled weekly hours, by industry.
Number cf establishments and number of women whose weekly hours were—
Total num
ber re
ported.
Industry.

Over 48
and imder
52.

Over 52
and under
54.

Over 54
and imder
55.

Over 55
and under
60.

EsEsEsEsEsEs
EsEsEsEsEsEstab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo
tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo lishhshhshlishlishlishlishmen
men
men
hshmen
lishmen
men
men
men
lish- men lish- men lish- men
men
ments
ments
ments
ments
ments
ments
ments
ments
ments
ments
ments
ments
A11 industries.... 1148 10,484
Percent distribution.. 100.0 100.0
Manufacturing:
Printing and pubTextiles:
Cotton goods..
Knit goods__
... ,,
General mercantile__
5-and-10-cent stores—
Laundries.........*..........

600

74
10
13
7
16
9
13

7,894
462
404
252
399
207
233

1
0.7

27
0.3

3
2.0

457
4.4

415

3
2.0

25
0.2

9
6.1

179
1.7

145

11
7.4

269
2.6

2
5
1
2

48
131
16
53

5
3.4

247
2.4

158

1
2

1
0.7

16
0.2

6
4.1

254
2.4

84
56.8

8,375
15
79.9 10.1

356
3.4

11
7.4

279
2.7

1
1
1

89
17
16

4
6
2

72
124
38

3
1
5
1

105
50
110
9

69 7,687
365
6
7
278
1
21
1

1
3

51
37

1
5
■
i Three establishments excluded because hours irregular or not reported. Details aggregate more than total because one establishment appears in more than ono hour group.

•WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Over 44
and imder
48.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

In this table, as in the preceding one on daily hours, there is a
decided concentration of the women and establishments under one
classification—that is, a little over one-half of the plants and about
four-fifths of the women were scheduled for 55 hours a week. The
combined textile group—the manufacture of knit goods, yarn, and
cotton goods—is almost entirely responsible for this situation, since
99.5 per cent of the women with a 55-hour week were employed in
these mills. Only 6.1 per cent of the total number of women in the
survey had weekly hours in excess of 55. Among these were found
only 4.4 per cent of the women in the combined textile group, but
approximately one-third of all the store employees included in the
survey. The revised hour legislation will reduce the mill schedules
but not the store schedules which exceeded 55 hours a week. In
addition to the women in mills and stores with long hours were 9
in miscellaneous manufacturing and 43 in laundries.
That long hours prevailed in the South Carolina industries employ
ing women extensively is shown by the proportions of women in each
industry who were scheduled for 55 hours or over. Cigar manu
facturing and printing and publishing were the only two industries
with no women having so long a weekly schedule. In the three
branches of textile manufacturing such long hours were almost
universal. Five-and-ten-cent stores, with approximately three-fifths
of the women scheduled for 55 hours or more, showed a much worse
record than did the general mercantile with less than one-fifth in this
class. Over one-fourth of the women in laundries and slightly over
one-tenth in miscellaneous manufacturing had such a schedule.
Turning to the other side of the question—that is, to a considera
tion of the establishments which had adopted a weekly schedule of
48 hours or less—we find in this class only 7 establishments, employ
ing approximately 5 per cent of the women in the survey. Only two
of the industries had made any striking progress in this respect;
printing and publishing, which showed all of its women employees,
and cigar manufacturing with a little less than three-fourths of its
women employees, scheduled for 48 hours or less. Laundries and
miscellaneous manufacturing, with 11.2 per cent and 3.2 per cent,
respectively, of their women having such hours, were the only other
industries revealing any women in this group.
The industries showing a preponderance of women at neither one
extreme nor the other were general mercantile in which the prevailing
hours were between 48 and 54 a week, and laundries and miscellaneous
establishments which were fairly evenly distributed under the various
hour classifications.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

In regard to weekly scheduled hours South Carolina also had the
lowest record of the States listed in the following summary:
Per cent of women whose scheduled
weekly hours were—
State.

Number
of women
reported.

5,701
8,691
9,330
13,304
16,724
34;615
30,464
9,934
10,484
17,981

48 and
under.
12.7
8.0
21.9
56.9
32.3
55.2
34.7
53.5
4.9
19.3

Over 48
and
under 54.
21.6
27.9
46.7
37.5
57.9
36.4
65.3
40.0
6.6
39.7

Over 54.

5.1
1.7
2.5
.2
9.7
6.1
6.5
.2
.7

60.6
62.3
29.0
5.3
2.2
88.4
40.3

This summary shows that 88.4 per cent of the women included in
South Carolina were scheduled for over 54 hours a week, as compared
with 5.3 per cent in Maryland, 29 per cent in Kentucky, 40.3 per cent
in Virginia, and 62.3 per cent in Georgia, these being the other States
in the list with a 60-hour law for wage-earning women. Alabama,
which has no hour laws protecting women workers, reveals only threefifths of the women included, with a weekly schedule in excess of 54
hours. These comparisons emphasize the lack of progress in respect
to the working hours of the women in industry in South Carolina.
Moreover, the recent passage of the 55-hour law in South Carolina will
affect only 3.7 per cent of the women reported with a weekly schedule
exceeding 54 hours a week.
Saturday hours.
One way of guarding against overlong weekly hours is a Saturday
half holiday. This custom is becoming more and more prevalent in
industrial circles as a result of the realization that women need some
time for rest, recreatioh, and the pursuit of personal activities.
Of the 148 establishments reporting Saturday hours, one had no
work on Saturday and 110 had a working schedule of from 4 to 6
hours. (Table 1 in the appendix.) Accordingly, three-fourths of the
plants, employing 92 per cent of the women, had some respite from
industrial work on Saturday. All of the cigar factories and printing
establishments, all of the mills except one which had no work done
on Saturday, and all but two of the miscellaneous plants, had a half
holiday, but only three laundries reported a schedule of less than 6
hours on that day. A different policy was found in the stores, all of
which had a longer schedule on Saturday than on other days. Fiveand-ten-cent stores, with all women employees scheduled for 11 hours
or over and with 71.5 per cent scheduled for 12 hours, had a much
worse record, than had the general mercantile establishments, in

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

which, although all the women worked at least 9 hours, only 17.5 per
cent worked 11 hours, and not any worked as much as 12 hours on
Saturday. Two department stores in Charleston reported a weekly
half-holiday during the summer months.
Lunch periods.
An analysis of the lunch periods in 148 plants as recorded in Table
II in the appendix shows that the great majority pf the establishments,
that is, about four-fifths, allowed one hour. In the other plants the
lunch interval varied from a half-hour in 18 to 40 or 45 minutes in 9,
and to more than an hour in 3. The length of the lunch period is a
matter to be decided by individual establishments, the needs and
desires of the workers being taken into account, but in every case the
interval should be of sufficient length to enable employees to obtain
a satisfactory lunch.
Night workers’ hours.
One class of workers whose scheduled hours must be treated sepa
rately are the women who were on night shifts in 22 of the mills cov
ered by the survey. It is generally agreed by those interested in the
protection of women that night work is detrimental to the health of
women engaging therein and should be prohibited by law. There is
usually great danger that married women compelled to become wage
earners will attempt to look after their families by day and to work
in a mill or factory by night, snatching a little sleep in between.
Obviously women should not be allowed to carry a double burden of
this sort, as it is a severe tax on human endurance.
During the week for which the pay-roll data were gathered 488
women were reported on night shifts, three-fourths of whom had a
schedule of 11 hours a night for 5 nights, or a total of 55 hours a week.
The others—with the exception of 4 women who worked only 30 hours
a week—had 10 hours a night for 5 nights, or a 50-hour week. In
some cases a special lunch period was allowed during the night; in
others there was no regular break for rest or lunch. It was stated in
one mill that if the workers took a half-hour lunch interval they were
required to remain a half-hour later in the morning. On the whole,
although night work for women was not extensively practiced in
South Carolina, it was reported for a sufficient number of women to
evidence that it was a menace in textile communities.
HOURS ACTUALLY WORKED.1

The scheduled weekly hours of the plants and the hours actually
worked by the women during the week for which the pay-roll data
were taken did not coincide, in many cases, on account of time lost
and overtime.
1 This discussion includes white women only. The hours actually worked by the negro women will be
treated in a subsequent section of the report.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CABOUNA INDUSTRIES.

It was not possible to ascertain the number of hours actually worked
by all the women for whom wage figures were gathered, since no
records were available for the hours of many of the pieceworkers.
Moreover, the practice in a number of plants of recording the time
worked in days rather than in hours greatly reduced the number of
women whose actual working week could he expressed in hourly
terms.
Table Y in the appendix shows that such information was available
for a little less than one-half of the women for whom wage data were
gathered.2 Of this number only one-half (50.5 per cent) of the
women whose hours of labor were reported had worked 48 hours or
more; these, generally speaking, may be classified as full-time
workers.
Lost time.
From a comparison of hours actually worked with scheduled hours
it is evident that there was, on the whole, considerable time lost by
the women whose actual hours of labor were recorded for the week
selected. A certain amount of lost time for women in industry is to
be expected, and the causes of such loss are traceable both to the
workers and to the plants. Since the workers are human heings and
not machines, and are subject to the various vicissitudes of life, they
frequently are compelled to lose time from their jobs. Particularly
is this true of women, since for them family affairs and home respon
sibilities constitute a frequent cause of lost time. On the other
hand, industry is not yet so organized that it can supply work for all
employees all the time. Slackness in an establishment may precipi
tate a partial or entire shut down for the workers, or it may mean for
many of them fewer hours of employment a day or fewer days a week.
Despite the fact that in the survey the effort was made to secure
data for a week with a normal working schedule, a great deal of lost
time was reported for the women workers. In fact, of the 4,196
women with hour records, approximately three-fifths had lost some
time; almost three-fourths of these had lost 10 hours or more, and
slightly over one-third 20 hours or more during the week. This lost
time apparently was not due to any great extent to the business depres
sion which had been crippling industry throughout the country six
months or so prior to the time of the investigation. In only a few
instances were the establishments running on part-time schedules.
A more satisfactory explanation of the excessive amount of lost time
was the custom in the textile industry of employing “spare hands”
for several days of work a week. As it was impossible on many pay
rolls to distinguish these workers from the regular operatives, some
of the spare hands were perforce included in the reports from these
a In those establishments where pay-roll figures were not available, data on hours actually worked for the
women employed therein were not obtained.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

plants. For example, those employees who had worked only three
days according to the pay-roll data might have been regular workers
who had been absent for some reason during the remainder of the
week, or they might have been spare hands not required to work on
the other days. This situation was characteristic only of the textile
industry but would influence largely the figures for the women in all
industries because the great preponderance of textile operatives
heavily weights the total. This same preponderance makes of
doubtful value a comparison of this industry with the others in the
matter of the amount of time lost. Figures more detailed than those
given in this report showed that of the 7,497 women in the combined
textile group less than one-half showed a record of hours worked, and
two-thirds of these-had lost some time. Of those losing time, 76 per
cent had lost 10 hours or more and slightly over one-third had lost 20
hours or more. Apart from the spare hands there evidently was much
time lost by the regular workers. This is especially significant
because of the long hours prevailing in this industry. In regard to
time lost as a result of the personal reasons of the workers, shorter
hours might eliminate a certain amount of such absenteeism. More
over, although the matter of preventing slack seasons in the cottongoods industry is a complicated one connected more or less closely
with the cotton market, it would seem possible and plausible at
certain periods to reduce the scheduled hours and hence eliminate
much lost time resulting from slackness of work in the mills.
For the stores comparatively little lost time was reported, since
of the women with hour records, only 7.4 per cent in the general mer
cantile establishments and 19.2 per cent in the 5-and-10-cent stores
had lost any time. These amounts doubtless were due to absentee
ism, since stores do not reduce the actual hours of operation when
trade is slack as is the custom in the manufacturing world. In
miscellaneous manufacturing—the only other industry with numbers
large enough to be of any significance—one-fourth of the women
had lost some time, but only 6.7 per cent of these showed a dis
crepancy of 20 hours or more below the normal schedule.
Overtime.
Of interest as a contrast to the foregoing discussion is an analysis
of the amount of overtime, or the hours worked in excess of the
schedules reported in the establishments visited. In view of the
prevalence of undertime one would not expect to find much over
time. The detailed figures show this expectation to be justified.
In fact only 44 women of the 4,196 whose hours of labor were re
ported had worked beyond their regular scheduled hours. No
women in stores, laundries, or cigar factories, only 1 in printing and
57523°—23---- 3

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

publishing, 12 in the miscellaneous plants, and 31 in the textile
mills showed any overtime. This small number scattered through
the various industries indicates that at the time of the investigation
overtime was not practiced sufficiently to constitute an evil. Of
the 44 women who had worked in excess of their schedules, only 16
had worked more than 5 hours beyond their regular time; six of
these, however, had worked in all more than 60 hours during the
week.
CONCLUSION.

The foregoing analysis is conclusive evidence of the need for great
improvement in the industrial hours of South Carolina wage
earning women. The recent revision of the State law limiting the
maximum hours of textile operatives to 10 a day and reducing the
weekly hours from 60 to 55, was a legal breaking away from a con
servative stand but was not sufficiently progressive to effect a
benefit for very many working women in the State.
In any discussion of the hours of labor for women it is necessary
to bear in mind that women workers frequently are home makers
as well as wage earners, that many of them take care of families and
perform home duties before and after the hours spent in industrial
establishments. Accordingly, an 8-hour day is the standard ad
vocated by those authorities interested in the safeguarding of
women workers and of the families of such women.
The South Carolina survey revealed very little progress in this
respect, since only 4.8 per cent of the women working in 5 of the
148 plants, had a day of 8 hours or less. On the other hand, twothirds of the establishments, employing 85.4 per cent of the women
were scheduled for 10 hours or more daily.
The record for weekly hours was somewhat better, for despite
the 60-hour weekly maximum permitted at the time of the inves
tigation, only 6.1 per cent of the total number of women in the
survey had hours in excess of 55 a week. When to this group,
however, is added the large proportion with a weekly schedule of
55 hours, the result shows 86 per cent of the women scheduled for
55 hours or over. In contrast to these were the 4.9 per cent with a
working week of 48 hours or less.
An examination of the data for the various industries shows that
the textile industry, including the manufacture of knit goods, yarn,
and cotton goods, which employed over three-fourths of the women
of the survey, was almost entirely responsible for the long industrial
hours reported in South Carolina. Of the women with a daily
schedule of 10 hours or over, 97.3 per cent were engaged in the manu
facture of textiles, and of the women with a weekly schedule of 55
hours or over, 96.7 per cent were textile operatives. The univer

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

sality of these long schedules in the textile industry is shown by the
99.5 per cent of the women mill workers who were scheduled for
such long weekly hours.
Of the other industries, miscellaneous manufacturing had per
haps the record for the longest hours, since over three-fourths of the
women employed therein had a day of 10 hours or over and a week
of 54 hours or more. The stores made a better showing in daily
hours than in weekly. None of the stores had a day of more than 9
horns except on Saturday, but the long Saturday—one of from 10
to 12 hours—found in 21 of the 25 stores was responsible for length
ening the weekly schedule unduly for some of the women. The
hours in 5-and-10-cent stores were much longer than in the general
mercantile, since 92.3 per cent of the women employed in the former
had a week of 54 hours or over, as compared with 18 per cent of the
women employees in the latter. The laundries had a greater variety
of scheduled hours than had any of the other industries, ranging from
one plant with a weekly schedule of less than 48 hours to one with
60 hours. Cigar manufacturing and printing and publishing were
more progressive in regard to hours than were the other establish
ments, since the 3 printing establishments and 2 of the 3 cigar fac
tories had a week of 48 hours or less.
These progressive firms were the exception rather than the rule.
The long industrial hours in force for the great bulk of the wage
earning women in the State point the need for a more effective re
vision of the State law. If women are not protected against over
long working hours, excessive fatigue results, which acts as a poison
to the system, decreasing output and increasing accidents during
working hours' sapping energies and destroying ambition for activi
ties after an industrial day. Women workers, therefore, should
be safeguarded, and extravagant waste of their energies prevented.
In the final analysis the individual women of South Carolina, the
industries, and the community at large would share in the benefits
of such protection.

1.f

•

.Lv

t■
:

* v'

i>5

PART III.
WAGES.

The subject of wages is much more complicated than that of
hours. Whereas the 8-hour day is the standard set by those States
with the most advanced labor legislation for women and by those
industries most progressive in their employment of women, there is
no such single standard for wages even where a minimum-wage law
exists. The amount decreed by various State laws as the sum
below which no wages for women shall drop, varies greatly in different
parts of the country where definite action has been taken. It varies
for different localities in the same State as well as for the different
industries in the same locality. It varies for the experienced and
inexperienced in any one industry. Moreover, the minimum wage
in a locality may fluctuate with changes in the cost of living.
Accordingly, in a consideration of wages paid to women in a State,
account must be taken of the many elements which enter in and
cause at any one time wide variations in the earnings of a group of
working women.
For South Carolina, as for the States where similar studies have
been made by the Women’s Bureau, it has seemed advisable to
analyze the question from two main angles: What women wage earn
ers received for a current week and what they received for the year
immediately preceding the investigation. As pointed out in the
introduction, a representative week in the fall or early winter of
1921 was selected. By that time both wages and cost of living had
suffered some reduction from the 1920 peak. No specific figures on
cost of living for South Carolina or any city in this State are avail
able, but figures for the country as a whole show the general cost
of living to have dropped 18.1 per cent from June, 1920, to Septem
ber, 1921, and 13 per cent from September, 1920, to December, 1921.1
Figures obtained in South Carolina show that wages during this year
had declined more than had the cost of living; for example, the
median rates of time workers in all industries combined show a drop
of 28.9 per cent.
Preliminary to the ensuing discussion it is important to point out
that whereas the term “wages” may be applied to data of different
kinds, the term “earnings” is used to denote the amount of money
actually received by the individual women as distinct from the rate
at which work was undertaken.
1TJ. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Changes in cost of living. MPnthly Labor
Review. Vol. 14, No. 5, May, 1922, p. 76.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

The discussion of wages immediately following includes white
women only; the wages of negro women will be treated in the sec
tion on the employment of negro women.
WEEK’S EARNINGS.

Fluctuations are found in the earnings of an individual worker
week by week in the year, and also in the earnings of a number of
women for any one week in the year. Wide variations in the weekly
earnings of women workers in a particular locality are to be expected
because of the several industries and the many occupations requir
ing more or less skill. Even in any one occupation striking differ
ences are encountered because of a number of modifying factors,
such as the time and piece work systems, the hours actually worked,
employment in different establishments, the seasonal output, and
the length of time in the trade. An analysis of the earnings of a
large group of women for one week is possible from the following
table, which gives the number of women in the various industries
who received certain classified amounts.
Table 4.— Week’s

earnings of white women, hy industry—Late pay-roll period.
Number of women earning each specified amount in—
The manufacture of—

Week’s earnings.

All
indus
tries.

Total...............
Median earnings___

8,595
$9.50

Under $1...................
*1 anrl under *2........
*2 and under $3.......
$3 and under $4.......
$4 and under $5.......
$5 and under $6.......

71
263
272
299
358
440
587
740
810
877
734
672
581
421
348
348
204
173
134
70
69
29
31
17
5
32
4
4
2

$8 and under $9........
$9 and under $10___
$10 and under $11...
$11 and under $12...
$12 and under $13...
$13 and under $14...
$14 and under $15...
$15 and under $16...
$16 and under $17...
$17 and under $18...
$18 and under $19...
$19 and under $20...
$20 and under $21...
$23 and under $24...

General 5-andTextiles.
Print
10-cent Laun
ing and
Mi seel- mercan
tile. stores. dries.
Cigars. pub
lanelish Cotton Knit
ous.
ing.
goods. goods. Yarn.
360
$8.95
82
16
5
16
17
6
20
19
18
20
20
14
12
17
15
13
18
11
5
7
2
4
1
2

31
$13.15

3
2
5
2
2
4
4
2
4

1
1

6,794
$9.45

355
$7.60

348
$9.05

216
$9.00

57
155
218
249
296
360
472
616
639
741
576
556
459
347
286
251
164
124
70
60
37
22
17
9
3
9
1

10
13
25
23
19
28
41
31
31
37
25
16
11
12
2
10
11
2
3
1
1
2

2
10
5
17
15
16
29
37
41
38
24
45
20
16
12
9
4
3
1
1

2
3
6
5
7
14
29
13
29
9
18
15
24
13
8
6
4
1
5
1
2

1
1
1

1
1

310
$15.50

155
$8.90

4
39
8
42
16
18
50
6
24
35
2
20
3
9
5
20
1
4
1

46
27
21
10
-r 7
l
3
1
1
1

26
$10.85

1
6
2
1
2
1
4
2

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

According to this table the earnings of 8,595 women ranged from
less than $1 to $40 for the week’s work. Obviously those in the
lowest classifications in the table did not work a full week, but they
are included in order to give a picture of the actual earnings of all
the women of the survey in the representative week selected. Expe
rience teaches that the standard of living must he maintained on
actual earnings, not on rates; that is, it must be based on probable
rather than on possible earnings. A week could never be found for
which all women in all establishments in all industries of a State had
worked full time. It must be reiterated that industry has not yet
been so organized that it can use all of its workers steadily, and that
workers as hmnan beings are so constructed that they can not work
constantly with machine-like regularity. Consequently, lost time—
whether due to plant or to personal reasons—is an inevitable factor
in the lowering of wages of a certain proportion of women in a given
week, and hence the women who have lost time should not be elimi
nated in any attempt to secure a general index of the wage figures
of a large group of women. Earnings in conjunction with hours
worked will be discussed at a later point.
Irrespective of any qualifications, therefore, the median week’s
earnings of 8,595 women included in South Carolina were $9.50, or,
to put this more concretely, although 4,297 of this representative
group of South Carolina working women earned more than $9.50
for the week, there were a contrasting 4,297 who earned less than
$9.50. This median seems exceptionally low when compared with
medians for women in industry in other States where similar surveys
have been made—a point illustrated by the following summary:
Median.

Rhode Island.................................................................................... $16.85
Georgia.............................................................................................. 12. 95
Kansas.................................................................
11.80
Kentucky........................................... ............................................. 10. 75
South Carolina...................................................................................
9.50

Allowance must be made for the fact that figures in South Carolina
were obtained a year later than those for Georgia and Rhode Island
and a year and a half after the Kansas figures. The Kentucky data
were obtained for practically the same period, however, and the
median weekly earnings in that State were $1.25 higher than the
median in South Carolina.
In the preceding section on hours, stress has been laid on the large
amount of lost time reported and on the possibility that the inclusion
of some spare hands may have had an appreciable effect in increasing
the amount of lost time. Accordingly, to forestall the argument
that the low median in South Carolina is pulled down tremendously
by the women who worked only a few days in the week, it is worth

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

while to attempt to preclude some of these part-time operatives in
order to approximate more closely the median for full-time workers.
An arbitrary elimination of all women who earned less than $5 for
the week will exclude a large number with lost time, although there
is the possibility of dropping out by this method some who worked
full time. Nevertheless, excluding the women who received less
than $5 we find the median for the remainder to he $10.30; excluding
the women who earned under $7, we find the median for the rest to
be $11. Even in the latter case the variation from the $9.50 median
for all women is only $1.50.
To return to a consideration of all women, it is seen that the great
bulk of the women (86.9 per cent) received less than $15 a week,
which in many sections is considered a fair minimum-wage rate, and
that 70 per cent, in round numbers, earned less than $12.
As somewhat of an offset to these figures and in fairness to the
South Carolina textile industry which constituted such an important
part of the survey, a digression is necessary at this point to discuss
certain practices of mill owners which serve to supplement wages.
In the study of the textile mills one fact constantly emphasized by
the managements was the institution of the mill village and the pro
vision of houses under mill ownership which enabled the employees
to live much more cheaply than would have been possible under
other circumstances. Wages, therefore, it was argued, were not so
low as they appeared at face value.
Although no definite housing schedule was used in the investiga
tion, considerable information about housing conditions in mill com
munities was obtained. The mill houses varied in size and kind,
from those devoid of all modern conveniences to those equipped
with electric lights and plumbing. The rent was quoted at so much a
room, the prevailing weekly rate being 25 cents. In a few instances
the rent per room was more than this, and in a number of cases it
was less; in some mills 12\ cents was the maximum weekly charge for
a room, while in 7 mills the employees occupied the houses rent free.
For houses equipped with running water there was, as a rule, no
extra charge for the water supply. Although employees usually paid
for electricity, in some instances this item was covered by the house
rent. The management of some of the villages provided other facili
ties which reduced the cost of living for the inhabitants, such as medi
cal treatment free or at a nominal fee, the services of a visiting nurse,
the chance to buy fuel at cost, or the receipt of a life-insurance policy
after six months of service in the mill.
In comparatively few of the mills visited were there no community
enterprises to help to solve the living problems of the operatives.
One drawback to this system of supplementing welfare facilities is
that those workers who could not, for one reason or another, live in

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

the village and derive the benefits therefrom, were under a great
handicap because of the lower rates of pay in force. In isolated
localities the provision of educational, recreational, and medical
facilities by the mill management is almost essential for the mainte
nance of the community, but it is important that in providing these
facilities opportunity should be given for the development among the
workers of individual initiative and the exercise of the duties and
responsibilities of citizenship.
To return to the discussion of women’s wages in South Carolina, the
following statement, which gives the median week’s earnings of the
women in each industry, makes possible a comparison of the finan
cial opportunities for women in the various lines of employment:
Industry.

Number of
women
reported.

General mercantile....................................................... 310
Printing and publishing...............................................
31
Laundries......................................................................
26
Cotton-goods manufacturing........................................ 6,794
Yarn manufacturing.....................................................
348
Miscellaneous manufacturing......................................
216
Cigar manufacturing....................................................
360
155
5-and-10-cent stores......................................................
Knit-goods manufacturing...........................................
355

Median
week’s
earnings.

$15.50
13.15
10.85
9.45
9. 05
9.00
8.95
8.90
7.60

Employment in general mercantile establishments was by far the
most remunerative type of work for the women included in the survey,
since the $15.50 median places this industry considerably above all
others. If medians be used as an index the general mercantile
establishments paid almost 75 per cent higher wages than did the
5-and-10-cent stores. The latter show, in fact, next to the lowest
median of all the industries, knit-goods manufacturing, with the
extremely low median of $7.60, coming last. The great bulk of the
wage-earning women, as we have seen, were employed in the manu
facture of yarn and cotton goods. The median for the 6,794 women
manufacturing cotton goods is $9.45, which is 40 cents higher than
that for the 348 women engaged in the manufacture of yarn. Some
allowance must be made, of course, for the mill-village system—just
how much it is difficult to estimate; even so, this would hardly suffice
to raise the industry into a high-paying class.
Timework and piecework.
It is generally supposed that pieceworkers, those paid by the
amount of work done, earn more than timeworkers, those receiving
a definite hourly, daily, or weekly rate. On the whole this is apt to
be true. Nevertheless, the earnings of the former are sometimes
reduced by contingencies which do not affect the earnings of the
latter, such as delays in the arrival of work or time lost on account

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

of a poor run of material or of disorders in machinery. Women on
piecework must, as a rule, be highly experienced in order to earn
more than do timeworkers in the same occupations.
Appendix Table IV shows the proportion of time and pieceworkers
and the median earnings of each group in the various industries sur
veyed in South Carolina. At the time of the survey the pieceworkers
greatly overbalanced the timeworkers, since two-thirds of the
women were on the piece system. Cigar manufacturing showed the
largest proportion of pieceworkers, a little over nine-tenths of the
women employees. Over four-fifths of the women in knit-goods
manufacturing, somewhat less than three-fourths of those engaged
in the manufacture of miscellaneous products and of those in cotton
goods manufacturing, and over one-half of those in yarn manufac
turing were paid by the piece.
■
The last named industry is the only one in which the median for
the timeworkers surpassed that of the pieceworkers; the excess,
however, was almost negligible. The medians for the women doing
piecework are not strikingly higher than the medians of the timeworkers in the other industries, with the exception of cigar manufac
turing. In this industry, consisting almost entirely of pieceworkers,
the fact that their median is almost twice as great as that of the timeworkers is due to the fact that 18 of the 21 women paid on the time
basis were listed as beginners, at the rate of only $5 a week.
Earnings and time worked.
The earnings discussed in the foregoing pages were tabulated with
out reference to the time worked during the week. On account of
the large amount of time lost by the women, for one reason or another,
it is especially significant to correlate earnings and time worked in
order to ascertain the wage possibilities in the several industries.
The most satisfactory way of doing this is by a study of earnings in
conjunction with hours actually worked. Unfortunately, it was not
possible to secure the hour data for all women for whom wage figures
were taken because of the custom frequently encountered of not
recording on pay rolls the hours of piece workers; in fact, hour records
were obtained for a little less than one-half of the women (49.1 per
cent). Another method of analyzing earnings in conjunction with
time worked, a little less exact but still accurate enough for general
purposes, is by correlation of the amount of pay received with the
number of days on which work was done. For another large group
of women (41.9 per cent) such information was available. There
remains altogether, therefore, only about one-tenth of the women
for whom no relation between earnings and time worked can be traced.
Wages do not necessarily vary in direct proportion to the number
of hours worked. In any one establishment earnings fluctuate in

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

such a way for timeworkers but not always for pieceworkers. For
the latter, wide variations in earnings are usual even among those in
any one plant who work the same number of hours. Table V in the
appendix gives a correlation of earnings and time worked. In the
hour section of the table the women appear in many classifications,
from under 30 hours to over 60 hours. The following summary
arranged from the table gives the number of women in certain hour
and day groupings together with their median earnings:
Table 5 .—Median week’s earnings

of white women, hy hours worked-—Late pay-roll period.
Women.

Number of hours worked.
Number.
Under 44...................
44 and under 48..............
48 and under 55..........
55..........................................
Over 55........................

Per
cent.

Median
earnings.

$6. oO
..........................................

48 hours and over..........................

One significant thing brought out by this table is that although, on
the whole, there is an increase in median earnings with an increase in
the hours worked, this is not true for the women in the longest hour
group. Those who worked over 55 hours show a median which
drops considerably below that of the women who worked 55 hours
and even below that of the women in the 48-and-under-55-hour
classification. The table also reveals the proportion of women in
several important hour groups. The 48-hour week may be con
sidered a standard; therefore, in the following discussion those women
who had worked 48 hours or more will be termed full-time workers.
Of the 4,196 women with hour records, one-half had worked 48 hours
or over, showing a median of $11.95. In regard to the women with
day records, slightly over one-half had worked on 5 or 6 days in the
week. Many of these had a 10-hour day, and even though they had
worked only 5 days they had put in a standard week’s work of 48
hours or over and may, therefore, be called full-time workers for the
purpose of the discussion. To be sure, there may be included among
this number a few women who did not work the full quota of hours
on each day for which they were recorded on pay rolls as having
received some remuneration, but such possible discrepancies are too
small to have much weight. The median for the women who worked
on 5 days or over is $11.30, which is somewhat similar to the median
of those who worked 48 hours or over. Throwing these two groups
together we find that the median for the total number of full-time
workers is $11.65. In round numbers, 45 per cent of the women of

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

the survey had done a fair week’s work. Of this number one-half
had earned more than $11.65 and one-half had earned less. This
means that many women is South Carolina, even though they were
steady full-time workers, could not earn as much as $12 a week.
An analysis of the individual industries shows that a correlation of
wages and time worked is possible for over 90 per cent of the women
in cigar, yarn, cotton-goods, and miscellaneous manufacturing, and
in 5-and-10-cent stores; for four-fifths of the women in general
mercantile, for over two-thirds of those in laundries, and for over
one-half of those in knit-goods manufacturing. The full-time
workers—those who had worked 48 hours or over or on 5 days or over
during the week—constituted from about 40 to 90 per cent of the
women with time records in each industry. The medians for these
women serve as an index of the possible earnings in the various
industries. General mercantile, with its $15.60 median for fulltune workers, once again takes the lead, by a margin of almost $3
over the next highest median, which is the $12.70 for cigar manu
facturing. The manufacture of cotton goods, the industry which
was the most important employer of women in South Carolina,
comes third with a median of $11.75, the median for yarn manu
facturing being 70 cents lower. When these two textile groups
are thrown together the median for the so-called full-time workers
is $11.70.
A more exact approximation of the earnings of full-time workers
in these two branches of the textile industry is possible, by consider
ing those whose actual hours of work coincided with the prevailing
scheduled hours in mills. In other words, if only the women who
worked 55 hours or over or on 5£ days or over are taken into account,
there are 2,286 with such time records and these show a median of
$12. That the 1,143 women who earned more than $12 a week
did not receive strikingly high wages is shown by the fact that only
15.2 per cent of them earned over $15 and only 3.2 per cent received
as much as $20.
The amount of pay received by full-time workers represents pos
sible earnings in an industry, but even so, many of these steady
employees failed to secure what experts on the subject consider a
living wage. Furthermore, over one-half of the women surveyed
did not qualify as full-time workers and hence earned even less.
From the point of view of the working woman, in the final analysis
it is not possible wages but actual earnings that are most important.
Her budget must be based on what she actually receives and not on
what she might obtain if circumstances were entirely propitious.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Earnings and rates.
A rather definite means for analyzing the difference between actual
and possible earnings, or nominal and real wages, is by a comparison
of the week’s earnings of the timeworkers with their weekly rates.
The rate, or the amount of wages which the employer contracts to
pay for a definite period of work by the employee, may be quoted
for the hour, day, week, or month, the time unit varying in different
establishments. For the sake of uniformity all rates obtained in
the South Carolina survey have been expressed in weekly terms.
It is impossible to include pieceworkers in this discussion because
of the lack of homogeneity in piecework rates.
I he median rate for 1928 timeworkers in all industries was only
$11.05; that is, one-half of these women had weekly rates above this
amount and one-half had weekly rates below.
According to the medians for the individual industries, the one
which paid the best rates to women timeworkers was the general
mercantile, with a median of $15.35. The 5-and-10-cent stores,
with a median rate of $9 drop into a much lower rank in regard to
financial opportunities for women. The great bulk of the timeworkers in the survey, over three-fifths, are found in the industry
designated as cotton-goods manufacturing. This group shows a
median of only $10.95, which is, however, higher than the median
rate for the other two branches of textile manufacture. The $14
median rate for printing and publishing, and the $12.25 median for
laundries are not especially significant because of the extremely
few women employed therein, 30 and 25, respectively. It is only
fair to state that the exceedingly low median rate for the 21 time
workers in cigar manufacturing, $5.60, is caused by the 18 women
who were listed as learners, at a $5 weekly rate. In the cigar esta
blishments included the white women became pieceworkers as soon
as they learned the trade.
A comparison of the median rates with the median earnings of timeworkers show that in all industries except general mercantile and
miscellaneous manufacturing earnings fall below rates. For all
industries combined this decrease is 14 per cent. Cotton-goods
manufacturing, with a 19.6 per cent drop of earnings below rates,
reveals the largest discrepancy, and 5-and-10-cent stores, with al.l
per cent decrease, the smallest. The decline in earnings below the
rate is traceable to lost time and slackened production.
The general mercantile establishments in which there is less lost
time than in most other industries, show a 1 per cent increase of
earnings over rates, a fact explainable by the system found in some
stores of paying, in addition to the rate, a bonus or commission on
sales. In miscellaneous manufacturing, the only other industry

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

with median earnings higher than the median rate, the slight increase
is doubtless due to the bonus system existing in two plants.
Earnings and experience.
One factor naturally expected to be a strong determinant in wage
variations is experience, or the length of time which workers have
spent in a trade. In practically every industry the employee’s
experience in that industry is of value to the employer, and conse
quently should mean an increase in pay as a reward for increase in
ability. Even in occupations requiring practically no skill, greater
length of service should mean higher wages, since the permanence,
speed, steadiness, and trustworthiness of many employees with a
good experience record are an asset to the employer.
A general idea of the steadiness of women as industrial workers
can be gained from Table VIII in the appendix, from which it is
apparent that of 3,475 women reporting their experience only 8.1
per cent had worked in the trade for less than a year. It must be
be remembered, too, that this group includes all the beginners in
these industries. A little over one-third of the women reported
from 1 to 5 years of experience; over one-half, 5 years or more; a
little over one-third, 10 years or more; and a little over one-tenth,
20 years or more of experience in the industry. Because of the
preponderance of textile workers these figures are tremendously
significant. There is a strong tendency among mill operatives to
remain in the industry practically all of their working lives. Almost
invariably the South Carolina textile mill, with its workers, consti
tutes a community. Girls frequently go to work in the mill in their
early teens and continue at their jobs, even after marriage; in fact,
often the whole family is employed in the mill.
The figures on the industrial experience of women indicate that
many women who take up a trade stick to it; but what does this
mean to them in dollars and cents Some idea of the value of ex
perience may be gained from the following summary of Table VIII
in the appendix. The median week’s earnings are given here for
women in each group of years in the trade, also the per cent of increase
for each median over the median for beginners, or those with less than
six months of experience.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.
Table 6.—Median

week’s earnings of white women, by time in the trade—Late pay-roll
period.
Per cent
of increase
Median over me
week’s dian for
earnings. under6-months
period.

Time in the trade.

Under 6 months...........................
6 months and under 1 year................
1 and under 2 years...........................
2 and under 3 years...........................
3 and under 4 years............................
4 and under 5 years..................
5 and under 10 years.....................
10 and under 15 years.........
15 and under 20 years.......................
20 years and over............................

$7.45
8.40
8. 90
9.50
9.95
9.95
10.30
11.55
11.85
11.65

12.8
19.5
27.5
33.6
33.6
38.3
55
59.1
56.4

The medians reveal a steady increase for added experience, except
for a slight drop in the median of those who have worked 20 years
and over below the median of those reporting 15 to 20 years in the
trade. The most significant revelation, however, is that women
with an experience record of 20 years and over show only a 56.4 per
cent rise in median earnings over the median of the beginners in the
industries. A practical interpretation of these medians would be
the outlook of a typical worker, a 16-year-old girl, entering industry
at $7.45 a week. An average girl could not be sure of doubling her
initial salary though she worked steadily in one trade until she was
36 or 40 years old. At that time, she would probably have passed
the peak of her earning capacity in the industry, without even having
received what might be termed a living wage. She would have
worked for years at a wage below the subsistence level, trying to
eke out an existence devoid of the comforts and necessities of life.
After a few years at her peak she would be forced -to face a future of
declining earning capacity with a penniless old age.
Earnings and age.
As further substantiation of the foregoing statement is the sum
mary of Table IX in the appendix, which shows the medians for
workers in the various age classifications:
Age.

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

Number of
women.
....... 604
........ 568
....... 802
....... 497
....... 658
....... 343
....... 99
........ 33

Median
earnings.
$8.65
9.50
10.50
11.35
11.80
10.40
9.45
8.25

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

According to these figures the wage curve mounts slowly upward
to the median of the women between 30 and 40 years of age and
then falls slowly to a point—the median for the oldest age group—
which is below the median for the workers between 16 and 18 years
of age. The peak, or the $11.80 median for the women between
30 and 40 years of age, almost coincides with the $11.85 median
earnings of women who had worked in the trade between 15 and 20
years, the majority of whom probably were from 30 to 40 years old.
Recent years have piled up evidence of the necessity for many
women to support themselves, and frequently dependents, for life.
Many investigations have offered proof of the tendency of women
to acquire a trade and stick to it as tenaciously as do men. Such
evidence emphasizes women’s need, similar to that of men, for
industrial training, opportunities, and advancement, so that the days
of middle age, when responsibilities are apt to be heaviest, may not
bring also a declining earning power.
COMPARISON OF WAGES FOR 1920 AND 1921.

There has been in the last few years a striking fluctuation in
wages. In 1920, as a result of the stimulus of war-time production
and of the labor shortage, they had reached the highest peak ever
known in this country At the beginning of 1921, however, when
the industrial depression was crippling practically all industries,
wage cuts became prevalent. To estimate the decline in wages in
South Carolina, an effort was made to obtain figures on the rates
and earnings of the women for a week in the fall of 1920 in the
identical establishments, so far as possible, in which the 1921 data
were recorded. In a few instances where a fall pay roll was not
available, figures for a week in the summer or the winter were used.
On the whole, however, the 1920 data are representative of wage
conditions in South Carolina in October and November of that year.
From Table 4, page 32, and Table X in the appendix, it can be
seen that there were records for over 8,000 women for both the 1920
and the 1921 period. The slight excess in the number of women in
the later period is due to the inability of four plants reporting at that
time to furnish 1920 figures.
There was a striking reduction in wages in the fall of 1921 from
those of a year earlier. In fact, a comparison of the 1920 and 1921
median earnings for all industries combined shows in general a
33 J per cent decrease for the year. Taken individually some of
the industries reveal a larger cut, others a much smaller one. The
general mercantile is the only industry that discloses no variation
between the two years, although in printing and publishing there
is practically none and in 5-and-10-cent stores only a negligible
decline. In the manufacture of cigars and of cotton goods occurred

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

the greatest decreases in earnings in 1921 as contrasted with 1920,
that is, a drop of 37.2 per cent and 35.1 per cent, respectively.
These reductions in earnings were largely the result of actual wage
cuts. As proof of this statement are the figures on the rates of the
timeworkers in 1920 and 1921. For the timeworkers in all indus
tries combined there was, according to the medians, a 28.9 per cent
cut in rates. General mercantile is the only industry in which the
rates were the same for both years, and printing and publishing re
veals a slight increase for its few women employees in the 1921 median
rate over the 1920. It is significant that the rates of the timeworkers
in the manufacture of cigars, knit and cotton goods, yarn, and mis
cellaneous products were cut one-third or more. The tremendous
drop in the rates in miscellaneous manufacturing, a 50 per cent cut
in round numbers, is largely due to the reduction of the timeworkers
in one establishment from $2.75 per day to $1.25.
No such analysis of the decline in piece work can be given, because
those rates are not sufficiently homogeneous. A comparison of the
percentages of decrease in the earnings of all the women, both pieceand timeworkers, included in the several industries for the two
years, with the percentages of decrease in the earnings of timeworkers,
makes it appear that the rates and earnings of pieceworkers must
have suffered a reduction proportionate to that of the timeworkers.
Additional evidence that wages in general were cut just about onethird during the year is piled up by a comparison of the median earn
ings of the full-time workers—those who worked 48 hours or over, or
on 5 days or more—the median ($11.65) for 1921, being 33 per cent
lower than the corresponding one ($17.50) for 1920. It is interesting
to note here parenthetically that the proportion of full-time workers
for the two periods is strikingly similar—that is, 45.9 per cent of the
women on the 1920 pay roll and 46.2 per cent on that of 1921 belong
in this category. The manufacture of yarn and cotton goods com
bined shows the slightly larger reduction of 36.2 per cent in the median
earnings of its full-time workers.
YEAR’S EARNINGS.

The wage figures presented up to this point haver been for a given
week irrespective of the other weeks in the year. Because of the
fluctuations in the activity of the industries and because of the vicis
situdes in the industrial careers of the women, the wages of individual
workers are apt to suffer considerable variation from week to week.
The question of yearly income is the significant one in judging whether
or not a woman is receiving a living wage, since it is the year’s earnings
which in the long run must regulate her standard of living. Accord575230—23-----4

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

ingly, it is important to know not only what wages women in South
Carolina earned during one specific week but how much they obtained
during the year.
In the study of year’s earnings an effort was made to secure the
wage data of women who were steady, experienced workers, who had
been with the firm for at least one year, and who had not been absent
from their post for more than a few weeks in the year. Altogether
annual earnings were recorded for 833 women, or approximately 10
per cent of the total number.
The incomes ranged from less than $200 to between $1,600 and
$1,800 for the year. The lowest sum was earned by five women,
the highest by one woman in a store. One-half of all the women
received less than $605 and one-half received more than this amount.
The reduction of this yearly wage to weekly terms gives approxi
mately $11.65 a week, which is the same figure as the median for the
week’s earnings of the group of women who had worked 48 hours or
over or on 5 days or more in the week selected, who have been
classified as the full-time or steady workers for the week.
The following statement prepared from Table XI in the appendix
gives the proportions of women receiving certain yearly incomes:
Per cent.

Less than $600 earned by................ .................................................
Less, than $800 earned by..................................................................
Less than $1,000 earned by...............................................................
Less than $1,200 earned by...............................................................

49. 0
82.1
96.3
99.0

If we take as a measure a yearly income of $800—approximately
$15.40 a week, which in many places is considered a fair minimum
wage rate—we find that a little over four-fifths of the women obtained
less than this amount. Only 3.7 per cent of the women earned as
much as $1,000, and only 1 per cent as much as $1,200. It should
be remembered that these yearly figures are representative of steady
workers and not of the rank and file.
The median year’s earnings for the women in the several indus
tries are arranged in descending scale, as follows:
Industries.1

Number of Median year’s
women.
earnings.

All industries,.................................................................... 833
General mercantile...............................................................
37
Cigar manufacturing..........................................................
20
Cotton-goods manufacturing.............................................. 680
Miscellaneous manufacturing...............................................
17
5-and-10-cent stores..............................................................
21
Yam manufacturing.............................................................
29
Knit-goods manufacturing.................................................... 25

$605
856
650
610
563
506
496
442

1 Laundries and printing and publishing not included because of the small number of workers with
year’s records.

WOMEN" IN' SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Of the various industries general mercantile with median year’s
earnings of 1856 for 37 women, still holds first place. In 5-and-10cent stores wages were based on a much lower scale, since the median
for these stores is 8350 less than that for the general mercantile
establishments. In the textile industry the several branches disclose
a wide divergence in medians. The manufacture of knit goods with
the strikingly low median of $442 ranks not only below other types
of textiles but also below all the other industries. Yam manufac
turing, with a median of only $496, is not very much in advance of
knit-goods manufacturing. The median of $610 for the manufac
ture of cotton goods is on a definitely higher scale, but even so can
scarcely be termed a satisfactory wage, especially as one-half of the
women in the industry whose yearly earnings were recorded, failed
to receive as much as this, though considered steady workers. Once
again reference must be made to the living conditions in mill com
munities where in many cases house rents below average tended to
some extent to improve the wage situation.
It is of interest to compare the yearly figures for South Carolina
with those for Kentucky, since the surveys in the two States covered
about the same period. The following statement gives the yearly
median for the several industries found in both States:
Industry.

All industries.........................
Cigar manufacturing..............
Miscellaneous manufacturing
Textile manufacturing 1........
General mercantile................
5-and-10-cent stores...............

Yearly median in
South Carolina. Kentucky.

....... $605
.......
650
.......
563
.......
605
........ 856
........ 506

$618
735
646
738
688
565

Kentucky with its $618 median for all industries exceeds by very
little the corresponding median of $605 in South Carolina. When
the industries are taken individually, however, Kentucky surpasses
South Carolina in all except general mercantile, which shows an
almost 25 per cent higher median in the latter than in the former
State.
Year’s earnings and weeks worked.
The degree of steadiness of the women whose annual earnings
were recorded in South Carolina is ascertainable from Table XII in
the appendix, which shows that only 15.8 per cent of the women
worked 52 weeks, but that a little over four-fifths had worked at
least 46 weeks, or what might be considered a fairly full year. The
median for this group is $636, or only $31 more than the median
for all the women irrespective of the number of weeks worked. The
1 Includes yam and cotton goods but not knit goods.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

132 women who worked every week in the year show a median of
$660.
.
To turn from the weeks worked to the weeks lost, we find that a
little over four-fifths of the 833 women lost one or more weeks.
Although a large proportion of those who lost time lost only a few
weeks—64.6 per cent being out for from one to four weeks—only a
small proportion lost a considerable amount of time, those losing
more than 8 weeks constituting only 13.7 per cent.
It is not possible to analyze the causes of lost time among the
women in the various industries, except in one respect—the number
of weeks which were missed on account of the closing of the plant.
Of the total number of women reporting weeks lost, slightly over
one-half (51.2 per cent) lost a week or more for which the plant was
responsible. Of this number over four-fifths lost from one to four
weeks and the rest lost 6 weeks or more because the establishment
or a department was shut down. These figures are representative
not only of the whole group of women with year’s records, but also
of the women in the manufacture of yarn and cotton goods whose
yearly earnings were ascertained. The only industries which did
not show any lost time resulting from the closing of the plant were
general mercantile establishments, 5-and-10-cent stores, and laundries.
NIGHT WORKERS’ EARNINGS.

The pay-roll data for the plants visited disclose 488 women who
were working on night shifts during the week scheduled. These
women were all employed in the various branches of the textile
industry. As there were only 16 women night workers in knitgoods manufacturing and 11 in yarn manufacturing, the great bulk
(461) were in the cotton-goods group.
The night workers constituted 5 per cent of the total number of
white women in the survey, a sufficiently large proportion to justify
separate tabulation of the information secured about them. Ac
cordingly, the night workers have not been included in the general
wage discussion. The median earnings of the night workers were
$9.40, or 10 cents lower than the median earnings for day work. The
women on night shifts who worked for 48 hours or more during the
week had a median of $12.40, and those with a record of work on 5
nights during the week had the higher median of $13.55. The me
dian for this combined group is $13.10, which is $1.45 more than the
median of the full-time day workers. The payment of higher wages
to night workers is apt to prove a temptation to women compelled
to add financial responsibilities to heavy home and family duties,
but the earnings of night workers in South Carolina were not suffi
ciently greater than those of the day workers to serve alone as a
strong inducement for women to engage in nig'ht work in preference

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

to a day job. Of the 488 women, only 8.2 per cent earned more than
$15 and only 1 per cent earned as much as $20 a week.
The wages paid women for night work in the fall of 1920 were
strikingly higher. The median earnings of the 347 women reported
on night shifts at that time were $16.25, and the median for 138
women who worked 48 hours or more, or on 5 nights or more, were
$23.35. The median for all night workers and the median for the
full-time night workers in 1921 show a cut in their earnings of a
little over two-fifths during the year.
CONCLUSION.

On the whole, the wage data gathered in this survey illustrate the
limited financial opportunities for wage-earning women in South
Carolina. The general wage level was low, since the median earnings
of 8,595 women during one week were $9.50. Perhaps even more
reflective of the low wage scale prevailing is the fact that in round
numbers 70 per cent of the women earned less than $12, 87 per cent
less than $15, and only 2 per cent as much as $20 a week. These
figures sound astonishingly low to those who are accustomed to think
of wages in the terms of a weekly budget and who realize the essen
tials of life to be provided by the contents of a worker’s pay envelope.
The tendency to study wages in connection with the cost of living
has grown with the increasing emphasis placed in recent years upon
the living wage for working women.
The amount of money necessary for a life of comfort and decency
is a subject of controversy. In general the essential items in a
woman’s weekly budget have been outlined as follows: Housing,
food, clothing, medical and dental care, recreation, vacation, laundry,
car fare, life insurance, self-improvement, church, and charity. The
cost of such necessities naturally varies for different localities. No
figures on the cost of living in South Carolina for the period of the
survey are available. Because of the preponderance of mill oper
atives and the lower costs of housing, car fare, and perhaps some
other budget items in certain mill communities, it might be found
that the cost of living for the great bulk of the women included in
the survey was somewhat below the general level for the country at
large, judging from the prices quoted by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
When the median earnings of the women workers scheduled in
South Carolina are used as a measure, none of the industries, with the
possible exception of general mercantile and printing and publishing,
paid to the great majority of the women workers what might be
termed a liberal wage; in fact, the median for laundries is the only one
besides the two already referred to, which rises above the general
$9.50 level for all industries combined. Pive-and-10-cent stores, with

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

a median of $8.90—which is 44.9 per cent less than the median for gen
eral mercantile—ranks next to the lowest in regard to financial op
portunities for women. In this respect knitting mills, with the
exceedingly low median of $7.60, occupy the last place. Nor was
there the practice in this branch of the textile industry of offsetting
low wages by low rents, since only 3 of the 10 knitting mills visited
reported any mill-owned houses.
The figures in the preceding paragraphs are for the rank and file of
the women without any qualifications. The inclusion of the women
who lost time is responsible for pulling down the level to some extent.
Nevertheless, the so-called full-time workers—those who had worked
48 hours or over or on 5 days or more—show a median of $11.65,
which, although $2.15 higher than the general level, seems scarcely a
sufficient remuneration for a full week’s work. Yarn and cottongoods manufacturing shows only a slightly larger difference ($2.25)
between the median of the rank and file and the $11.70 median of those
who had worked 48 hours or over or on 5 days or more. This latter
amount is surprisingly low in view of what it represents. It means
that one-half of the steady textile operatives, many of whom were
skilled or semiskilled workers, received less than this sum. Even
if the lowered cost of living in some mill communities might be equiva
lent to several dollars, such earnings would still seem scant pay for the
time and energy invested by steady workers and would appear inade
quate for the necessities of life. Of all the industries, cigar manu
facturing shows the greatest discrepancy between the earnings of the
rank and file and those of full-time workers, the latter median, $12.70,
being slightly over 40 per cent higher than the former.
In a study of wage opportunities the question of experience in a
particular industry is naturally a significant factor. In the South
Carolina industries, however, the experience of the women did not
prove to be so influential in increasing wages as would be expected.
The median for the 1,934 women who reported 5 or more years of
employment in the industry was $11.25. Even the most experienced
group, the 388 women who had worked in one trade for 20 years or
more, reveals a median of only $11.65, which is but $4.20 more than
the median for beginners.
Nor did a combination of experience and steadiness mean a high
wage, a fact illustrated by the earnings of a picked group whose
year’s records were secured. The median earnings for the 833 women
who were selected for a study of year’s earnings were $605, which is
approximately $11.65 a week. The median for the 132 women with a
record for working every week in the year is $660, which in round
numbers is $12.70 a week. Of the women with a year’s record, over
four-fifths earned less than $800, only 31 women received as much as
$1,000, and only 8 women as much as $1,200. It must be pointed out

WOMEN- IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

that since the yearly earnings were scheduled from the fall of 1920 to
the fall of 1921, for the early part of that period many of the women
were paid according to a higher wage scale than that prevailing in the
fall of 1921. Wage cuts were made rather generally throughout the
country in the opening months of 1921. In South Carolina the median
week’s earnings in 1921 are about one-third less than the corre
sponding median in 1920. Taken individually some of the industries
show a larger cut, others a much smaller one, and general mercantile,
5-and-10-cent stores, and printing and publishing show virtually no
decrease in wages during the year.
It is generally acknowledged that wages tend to decline before the
cost of living goes down, with resulting disadvantage to wage earners.
Falling wages are indicative also of an oversupply of labor. Compe
tition then tends to send wages down even below the subsistence level
and to cause added hardship to workers. Experience has proved that
the great detriment ensuing to women wage earners from the un
checked operation of such economic laws is like an insidious disease
attacking the health and prosperity of the country. When women
who are mothers and future mothers fail to secure a wage sufficient
to keep them in health and comfort, the sequel of the story is the
crippling of the race and of the Nation.

PART IV.
WORKING CONDITIONS.

Just as the direct relationship between women's hours and wages
on the one hand and their welfare and output on the other has been
emphasized, so now the environment in which women work must be
discussed in connection with health and efficiency. It stands to
reason that the physical surroundings in which industrial operatives
spend a third or more of each working day have an important bearing
upon their bodily and mental fitness. The economic importance
of good working conditions in facilitating production has been
proved. When the neglect of safety and hygiene causes the
injury and ill health of employees, with the ensuing incapacity
for work and the loss of time, the industrial world suffers an
unnecessary waste of energies. A more serious harm, however, is
the social waste. So integrally are the health and energies of the
individual bound up with the welfare and prosperity of the community
that the crippling and incapacitating of human beings by industry
means the undermining of the national life. This is particularly
true of women workers, who in many cases are producers not only
of economic goods but of future citizens.
A realization of the need of health measures for women wage earners
has been growing in recent years. Throughout the country more
and more stress is being laid upon the significance of good working
conditions for women in industry. Detailed study of the subject has
been made and definite efforts for improvement have been launched
by individuals and organizations interested in economic and na
tional progress. Industrial, medical, legal, scientific, educational,
and social agencies have joined forces in the work of molding public
opinion and of bringing about necessary reforms. Although great
strides already have been made the millenium is by no means in sight.
Continued cooperation is necessary.
Scientific experts are continually at work devising better methods
of regulating the lighting, heating, and ventilating of workrooms,
assuring their’ cleanliness and safe condition, and providing seating
arrangements for the operatives and the sanitary and service facili
ties required for health and comfort. Although progressive mana
gers are ready to adopt contrivances as soon as their worth has been
established, many others, whether from conservatism, indifference,
or ignorance, are slow to seize upon improvements and must be
counted as stumbling blocks to progress. Consequently, more

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

extensive educational campaigns are necessary to reach and in
fluence such employers. The employees also must be informed
more extensively concerning health and hygiene if high industrial
standards for working conditions are to be maintained. Managers
frequently complain that their inability to comply with such standards
is due to the lack of cooperation on the part of the workers, while on
the other hand excellent results are obtained by those managers
who through educational methods have gained the interest and
help of employees.
An effective means of safeguarding women wage earners is pro
tective legislation. South Carolina is not one of the States which
have forged ahead in this respect. Fortunately a number of em
ployers in this State have proved themselves more progressive than
the law, since their establishments visited during the survey offered
evidence of intelligent interest in the welfare of the workers.
In the following discussion of working conditions special stress
is laid upon unsatisfactory and remediable conditions in order to
point the way for needed improvements. Attention also is called
throughout to the requirements for attaining the standards recom
mended by the Women’s Bureau as advisable for women in indus
trial jobs.
GENERAL WORKROOM CONDITIONS.

Cleaning.
Cleanliness would seem to be one of the first tenets of industry,
since its relation to the welfare and morale of operatives, the health
of consumers, and the quality of the product is too obvious for dis
cussion. As it is within the reach of all industrial establishments
willing to give the necessary time and attention to the matter, there
is difficulty in understanding why dirt and debris are allowed to
accumulate for days in any workroom.
The report on cleanliness in the South Carolina establishments
covered by the survey was unusually favorable, since the workrooms
in 120 of the 152 plants were reported clean. This record is especially
creditable because of the large number of textile mills included.
The dust and lint generated in the manufacture of textiles make the
cleaning of workrooms in textile mills a more difficult task than in
most other factories. In only a few mills was there an undue amount
of lint and waste on account of an insufficient cleaning force or an
inadequate system of sweeping and scrubbing. By dint of con
stant sweeping and frequent scrubbing the majority of the mills
inspected were able to meet the problem. Matters were greatly
facilitated in those plants where vacuum cleaners were used in
conjunction with compressed air for the removal of lint. The
method of cleaning employed in one mill was particularly interesting
and productive of excellent results. The floors first were scoured

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

by an electrical machine consisting of revolving brushes saturated
with soap and chemicals, and then were mopped by another machine
which followed the first and took up the water.
The cleaning in the great majority of the plants was performed
systematically by sweepers and scrubbers especially hired for the
purpose. In a few plants, most of which were laundries, the clean
ing was done more or less irregularly by employees engaged to do
other work. Dirty workrooms usually accompanied this method.
Lighting.
Such highly technical subjects as lighting and ventilation, which
require scientific and individual treatment for the various industries,
could not be given exhaustive consideration in a general survey.
Emphasis must be laid, however, upon the necessity fpr greater
interest in the subject of lighting, since heretofore the attention
given has not been commensurate with the need. Defective illu
mination is apt to damage eyesight and impair health, to cause
accidents, and to limit and spoil production. On the other hand
experts have proved that among the advantages of correct lighting
are less nervous irritability and eyestrain among workers, the reduc
tion of accidents, greater accuracy in workmanship, decreased waste
of material, increased output for the same labor cost, and more
order and cleanliness in the plant. Careful experimentation in one
factory showed that the production in several operations rose from
8 to 27 per cent with improved lighting facilities and that on an
average an increase in expenditure of not more than 5 per cent of
the pay roll for such lighting resulted in an increased production
of at least 15 per cent.1 Satisfactory lighting, both natural and
artificial being taken into consideration, means the right amount of
illumination and well-arranged facilities. Natural lighting wherever
and whenever possible is^to be preferred to artificial. In many
cases daylight can be used almost entirely by careful arrangements
involving comparatively little expense as compared with the cost
of artificial appliances. Sufficient light for each employee can be
obtained by the proper location of windows and skylights, by right
placement of machinery and work tables, by the use of certain
types of glass in the windows and of white paint on the walls. Great
care must be taken in the placement of shades and other devices
to prevent glare, which is a definite cause of eyestrain, headaches,
and fatigue. Likewise much attention must be given to artificial
lighting, which in every plant must be resorted to occasionally and
in some plants must be used constantly for certain processes. Arti
ficial lighting can be definitely controlled by the installation of
suitable facilities, and hence should always be adequate.
1 Caster, Leon. The economic value of good lighting. Organiser, v. 25, no. 2, August, 1919. p. 181.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Judged by these standards natural lighting in the establishments
visited was reported satisfactory in 105 plants, partly satisfactory
in 28, and decidedly unsatisfactory in 19. The 19 unsatisfactory
plants were scattered throughout the various industries.- In only
7 of the 99 textile mills inspected, however, was the natural lighting
unsatisfactory for all the women; in 14 it was unsatisfactory for
some of the women. The lighting was considered unsatisfactory
where women faced a reflection from the sun shining on polished
surfaces, or from uncurtained windows with a western or southern
exposure. Such a glare was prevented in the majority of the mills
by the use of curtains or of opaque glass. In several plants where
some of the glass was painted green, there was a very pleasant light.
Artificial lighting apparently had not received so much attention
as had the'natural, since the adequate natural lighting in most plants
necessitated only the occasional use of artificial arrangements.
However, artificial lighting needs equal care in view of the fact
that in winter months a considerable part of the work is done by such
illumination. In 37 plants artificial facilities were reported-unsatis
factory throughout, and in 43 others poor in some rooms, making
a total of 80 plants in which not enough attention had been given
to the problem. The most obvious defects were eletric lights that
were unshaded or placed too high, too low, or at too great intervals.
A number of women engaged in occupations requiring close applica
tion of the eyes, such as weaving, drawing-in, inspecting, knitting,
and looping in textile manufacturing, or operating sewing machines
in garment factories and in alteration rooms of department stores,
were compelled to use low-hanging, unshaded lights that caused a
bad glare. Inadequate natural lighting necessitated the constant
use of artificial lights in some of those places where they were de
scribed as badly arranged. Even where the work was not taxing
on the eyes a steady glare from high-power electric bulbs seemed
likely to prove injurious to the sight. Some managers apparently
believed that if enough light was supplied the problem was solved, not
knowing that a glare is as detrimental to eyesight as is insufficient
light. Other managers, realizing that unsatisfactory lighting not
only produces impaired vision—-which in turn causes nervous fatigue
of the whole body—but also limits production, had given careful
study to the question. The lighting in these cases was excellent.
Indirect ceiling lighting or individual lights with frosted or blue
bulbs and with proper shades were among the best types of illumina
tion seen.
A few States have already progressed to the point of having
definite codes specifying the amount and distribution of fighting.
Popular education along these fines, with technical guidance, should
have an important place in future developments.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Ventilation.
The matter of ventilation in industrial plants is of vital importance,
since upon it depends so largely the health and efficiency of the
workers. Frequently, ventilation of factories and mills is a compli
cated process not only because of the congregation of large groups
of employees but also because of the heat, humidity, fumes, dust,
and lint prevailing in certain industries. Where such features are
not present ventilation is a much simpler problem and can be effected
by adequate windows and skylights in conjunction with electric fans,
but when the disagreeable concomitants do exist localized exhausts
often are necessary to relieve the situation. In other plants the
necessity for keeping the atmosphere in a certain condition for the
sake of the product causes discomfort to the workers unless careful
attention is given to the ventilating system.
In an English analysis of the factors affecting the health of indus
trial workers the aims to be attained by ventilation have been well
stated as follows:
(a) To maintain an atmosphere sufficiently moving to be bracing, sufficiently warm
to avoid undue loss of body heat, sufficiently cool and dry to permit of the working of
the heat-regulating mechanism of the body, sufficiently free from microbic content
to avoid the spread of infection; and
(ft) To prevent injurious particles generated in industrial processes from gaining
access to the air. 2

The climatic conditions in South Carolina magnified the problem
of ventilation in certain industries—for example, in mills and
laundries—on account of the necessity for regulating the excessive
heat and humidity. The types of humidifier used in mills for main
taining the degree of moisture in the atmosphere desirable for the
cotton made a great difference in the comfort of the operatives.
Illustrative of an unsatisfactory kind of humidifier, found in several
mills, was an antiquated arrangement, which consisted of overhead
pipes emitting jets of steam from many nozzles and creating an
extremely oppressive atmosphere. Equally objectionable was the
condition in the weaving department of another mill where the
humidifiers projected into the room a very fine spray of cold water,
which in striking the warm air caused a fog so dense as to obscure
the far end of the room. In several places the manufacture of very
fine yard goods was given as the reason for an excessively damp
atmosphere. Some of the slashing rooms visited were unduly
oppressive because of the lack of hoods and exhausts for catching
and dissipating the steam generated in the process.
Those mills which were described as unusually well ventilated
had not only a well-regulated system of humidification but also
artificial devices for drawing off the hot, damp air. The arrangement
8 Collis, Edgar L., and Greenwood, Major. Health of the industrial worker. London, 1921. p. 301.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

noted in several establishments whereby in summer cold air was
introduced into the workroom through artificial contrivances pro
duced an exceptionally satisfactory condition. In one, for example,
an hourly record was kept of the outside atmosphere and a contin
uous record of that inside the mill. The temperature in the work
rooms was maintained at from 72° to 76° and the humidity at 83°.
Excessive heat and humidity prevailed in several of the laundries
visited, where no effort had been made to relieve the situation by
the installation of hoods over mangles and of exhaust fans in outer
walls. In one laundry, devoid of exhaust fans though equipped
with electric fans, the workrooms were exceedingly hot even on a
November day. The employees complained of taking cold after
getting into a dripping perspiration and being exposed to the strong
draft of the fans. Only 6 of the 14 laundries were supphed with
artificial ventilating devices.
The heat and fumes in one department of a tobacco factory were
so objectionable that it was almost impossible for the agent to make
an inspection. Each woman employed therein wore a handkerchief
over her nose and mouth for protection.
Another objectionable feature encountered in the survey was the
great amount of lint floating about the workrooms of those mills
which had not taken sufficient care to regulate it, a condition well
illustrated by the following reports:
The lint was exceedingly bad. A blowpipe was used to clean machines. The
women alBO used it on themselves before going out to lunch. The hair of one woman
who had no head covering was white with lint. Much coughing was necessary among
the employees. One woman reported that she had had to give up her job in this
plant because she coundn’t stand the choking sensation caused by the lint.
Lint was thick wherever it could lodge, especially bad on machines, electric-light
cords and shades. Lint also was flying in the air and lying in rolls on the floor. Com
pressed air was used for blowing lint off the machines.
*

Such conditions as these seem inexcusable in view of the fact that
in the majority of mills the use of vacuum cleaners kept the lint so
well under control that it did not appear to be an irritant.
The fact that certain employers fail to grasp the importance of
ventilation has led several States to undertake to regulate the
number of feet of air space required for each worker in any building
and the types of industry that must install special ventilating appli
ances in order to have healthful working conditions. In some States
these rules have been passed as laws by the legislature, but the most
carefully worked out and most scientific rulings are usually made by
commissions or bureaus to which the legislature delegates this power.
The rules of the New York State Industrial Commission and the New
Jersey Bureau of Hygiene and Sanitation are good examples of the

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

means taken by a State to guarantee to its workers adequate ventila
tion. Industries having special problems, as, for instance, laundries,
plants having dusty processes such as shoemaking or woodworking,
and plants using poisons such as lead in printing or pottery manu
facturing and mercury in felt making, have all been carefully and
individually studied. These rules, which have the force of laws,
effectively protect the workers from the more pronounced and special
hazards in each industry.
Seating.
The posture of women at work on industrial jobs is a subject for
scientific analysis. Every worker has a limited amount of vitality
which must be drawn upon for the various activities of life. A dis
proportionate consumption of human energies in industrial operations
means an inadequate amount for personal pursuits outside the factory,
mill, or shop. Moreover, every worker starts the day with a certain
amount of energy; the more expended unnecessarily in overcoming
strained or uncomfortable positions at work, the less is left for useful
production. Obviously, the greater the strain from posture the more
quickly does undue fatigue set in which tends to restrict output and
undermine health. Such are the dictates of common sense, which
unfortunately is not always employed by industrial management in
regard to seating arrangements for women. There has been some
experimentation in the study of physical adjustment of workers to
certain jobs but there is need in this respect for much more detailed
study. In the meantime attention must be called to certain general
ities.
Constant standing or constant sitting is a strain on women workers.
In comparatively few occupations is either of these necessary, since
facilities have been devised whereby workers may sit or stand at
operations in which formerly only one posture was considered possible.
An occasional change of posture is the most desirable arrangement.
Where the job necessitates standing, comfortable seats with backs
should be provided for use when opportunity offers. Foremen who
believe that seats undermine plant discipline by encouraging habits
of idleness and slackness need to realize the value of a few moments
of relaxation in restoring the energy of the workers.
For sedentary occupations each woman should have a seat carefully
adjusted to the machine or work bench. The type of chair recom
mended by authorities on the subject is one with a supporting back,
a slightly saddle-shaped seat rounded in front, and a foot rest if
necessary.
South Carolina must be cited as a State in which but little scientific
consideration has been given to this matter either in industrial

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

circles or through legislation. Nevertheless, a step in the right
direction is shown by the law passed in 1912 which reads as follows:
It shall be the duty of all employers of females in any mercantile establishment,
or any place where goods or wares or merchandise are offered for sale, to provide and
maintain chairs or stools, or other suitable seats, for the use of such female employees,
to the number of one seat for every three females employed, and to permit the use of
such seats by such employees, at reasonable times, to such an extent as may be requisite
for the preservation of their health. And such employees shall be permitted to use
same, as above set forth, in front of the counter, table, desk, or any fixture when the
female employee for the use of whom said seat shall be kept and maintained is
principally engaged in front of said counter, table, desk, or fixture; and behind such
counter, table, desk, or fixture when the female employee for the use of whom said
seat shall be kept and maintained is principally engaged behind said counter, table,
desk, or fixture. Any person who violates or omits to comply with any of the fore
going provisions of this section, or who suffers or permits any woman to stand, in viola
tion of its provisions, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction, shall be
punished by a fine of not less than twenty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars
for each offense.3

The inadequacy of the law is patent since it makes no provision
for women employed in factories, mills, and laundries. The urgent
need for better regulation can be seen from an analysis of the seating
facilities recorded during the recent survey. In at least 90 per
cent of the establishments visited, the great majority of the women
stood at their work. Even though standing was necessary for the
performance of the work for many of the women in stores, mills, and
factories, they had periods of inactivity when sitting was possible
if seats were available. In 82 establishments there were not enough
seats supplied for the women workers, 33 of these having no seats
whatever for women with standing j obs. Such neglect or mismanage
ment caused the women in some plants to sit on window sills, trucks,
cans, or tables when opportunity for relaxation was offered. In
other plants the stools and benches supplied were not much more
comfortable.
The seating in stores was only fair, chairs being furnished for some
or all of the saleswomen in a little over one-third of the establish
ments. In the others, stools of various types were supplied. An
insufficient number of seats was reported for 5 stores.
In textile mills the seating accommodations for women who stood
at work were varied but far from satisfactory. To those acquainted
with the occupations in mills it is obvious that women may sit when
their work runs well, when their supply of materials is not continuous,
or when machines are being repaired. Despite this fact, in almost
one-third of the mills manufacturing yarn and cotton goods, no seats
of any sort were furnished for women with standing jobs. This
neglect was especially culpable in view of the attempts made in other
8 Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1912, sec. 429.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

mills to relieve the strain of standing. To be sure, in only 8 of the
99 mills were seats with backs available for some or all of the women
who stood and walked about in the performance of their duties. The
most usual type of seat encountered was the waste box at the end of
the frame or loom, a makeshift affording little opportunity for real
comfort or relaxation. Only a slight improvement upon this were
the hinged seats attached to the end of the machine. A rather usual
contrivance in weave rooms was a strap or swing seat suspended
between two looms and capable of being transferred from place to
place. The sliding seat provided for the use of weavers in several
mills showed much more consideration for the comfort of the workers.
In the main, however, weavers more frequently than any of the other
operatives were subjected to the strain of constant standing on account
of the lack of seats. The inadequate seating facilities in many mills,
coupled with the heat and humidity of the atmosphere and the long
industrial day of 10 hours, constitute a serious situation, conducive
to an extravagant waste of woman’s energies.
Another industry in which standing is considered necessary for
most of the operatives is laundries. Little effort had been made in
South Carolina to enable women in laundries to sit during the per
formance of their jobs or during occasional rest intervals. In 9 of
the 14 laundries visited no seats of any kind had been supplied, and
in the others were a few scattered chairs, stools, benches, or boxes,
only 3 laundries having an adequate number. Recent invention has
shown that specially devised seats for this industry would do away
with much unnecessary standings.
Not much more care and consideration had been exercised in regard
to the provision of suitable seats for women whose work necessitated
constant sitting. Stools, benches, or boxes giving no support for the
back and causing cramped posture were seen for a sufficient number
of women to indicate the need for more extensive education on this
subject.
In conclusion it should be emphasized that it is possible and desir
able for the sake of health and efficiency to furnish a sufficient number
of comfortable seats for the leisure moments of women at standing
jobs, suitable seats for those where sitting or standing at the job is
optional, and carefully constructed seats to relieve the strain of
constant sitting.
•
HAZARD AND STRAIN.

In addition to the hazard and strain already discussed as attendant
upon incorrect lighting, ventilation, and seating, attention must be
called to certain other industrial menaces to health and safety, in
order that improvements may be effected and care taken to lessen
the possibility of accident and injury.
57523°—23---- 5

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAEOIiINA INDUSTRIES.

In a discussion of this subject it is important to recognize that
certain objectionable factors are inevitable concomitants of some
industries. Conspicuous examples of such encountered in South
Carolina were the constant and close application of the eyes in
sewing, inspecting, drawing-in, and looping, the heat and humidity
in laundries and textile mills, the strain of reaching in the operation
of spooling, and the lowered temperature in chocolate-dipping rooms.
Nevertheless, certain adjustments can be made and appliances in
stalled to lessen the harmful effects of such conditions. Every
possible precaution should be taken to minimize industrial risk and
discomfort. As already pointed out, good lighting, adequate venti
lation, and correct seating aid greatly in preventing fatigue and injury.
Other provisions essential for safety are the contrivances for fencing
and guarding machinery, such as guards for belts, wheels, shafting,
mangles, and punch presses.
Occupational strains.
Although a number of South Carolina plants covered by the survey
had taken steps to safeguard the health and to insure the safety of
their employees, others were extremely lax in this respect. The
reports for a considerable number of establishments revealed a
possible strain for women from uncomfortable posture, continuous
pressure, repeated reaching, excessive speeding, or the lifting of
heavy weights. That these conditions were not necessarily inherent
in the occupations is shown by the correction or avoidance thereof
in other plants having the same occupations. When such evils are
not remedied they mean an unnecessary waste of the energies of
women employees. When they are coupled with a 10-hour working
day, they may cause a fatigue for the operatives so poisonous to the
system as to constitute a hazard. Such fatigue also is conducive to
accidents, since workers when overtired are apt to be less careful.
Occupational and workroom hazards.
Plant casualties are another serious factor in industrial employ
ment. Inspection of establishments proved that not enough heed
had been given to the prevention of accidents. In 67 of the plants
were found workroom or occupational hazards that could have been
eliminated. An extremely common defect was that of uninclosed
belts, of both the overhead and the side variety. The latter were
especially dangerous when they were located close to the floor or
placed obliquely over narrow aisles, because of the possibility of
women’s hair or clothing being caught. Other types of unguarded
machinery observed in a few establishments were laundry extractors
devoid of covers, power sewing machines without skirt guards, and
punch and printing presses lacking sufficient means for accident
prevention. Open or only partially inclosed elevator shafts and wet

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

or slippery floors constituted menaces wherever they were allowed to
exist.
That a “safety first” program had been adopted in some plants
was shown by the excellent means taken to prevent accidents. The
failure of other establishments to install similar devices is largely
attributable to the lack of a workmen’s compensation law in the
State. Such a law is one of the effective means of eliminating or
minimizing many of the hazardous elements in industrial employ
ment. This type of legislation is of comparatively recent origin,
since in 1911 Wisconsin enacted the first effective law on the subject,
although prior to that year several States had passed workmen’s
compensation laws which later were declared unconstitutional.
Since 1911, however, 42 States and 3 Territories have placed such laws
upon their statute books. South Carolina is one of the 6 States which
have not yet progressed to the point of having such a law, despite
the fact that manufacturing enterprises are of great importance in
the State.
,
State compensation legislation not only means protection of men
and women engaged in hazardous types of employment hut tends to
reduce the hazards of industrial occupation by emphasizing the safe
guards necessary for the prevention of accidents. Where insurance
rates are lowered for plants requiring care in regard to protection
of workers against fire; to methods of handling hot, explosive, or
corrosive material and of carrying off fumes; to arrangement of
stock and machinery; to provision of standard guards for machines,
shafting, hand elevators; to the condition of floors, stairs, and hand
rails; to ventilation, cleanliness, and lifting; and to the administra
tion of first aid; then risk in many industrial establishments is
reduced to a minimum.
Another means of guarding against accidents usually attended with
excellent results is a plant safety committee, which through educa
tional campaigns attemps to interest the workers in their own safety.
Fire hazard.
One type of danger which can be carefully guarded against is fire
hazard. Every expedient for fire prevention should be used in
industrial plants and every arrangement made to facilitate escape
from buildings in case of a conflagration. For such a highly technical
subject a thorough inspection is necessary to pass on the adequacy
of equipment for safeguarding against fire, but the investigation by
the Women’s Bureau made no attempt at a detailed and exhaustive
study of this sort. Only the most obvious defects were recorded.
Even by this method 97 establishments were reported as inadequate
in some particular in the matter of fire protection. The most usual
failure was the provision of exits, with doors opening inward instead

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

of outward. All of the doors in 64 establishments and some of the
doors in 28 others opened inward. Other possible causes of disaster
in case of fire were blocked exits and dangerous stairways—that is,
those that were dark, narrow, winding, defective as to treads, and
devoid of a handrail or supplied with a broken one.
Considerable attention had been given to the installation of fire
extinguishing apparatus. Two-thirds of the plants were equipped
with automatic sprinklers. Other types of extinguishers and fire
buckets also were provided in many plants. In textile mills fire
walls and doors were as a rule found between the picker room and
the rest of the mill.
SANITATION.

Besides the causes of injury and illness already presented, there
exist other equally potent and even more insiduous factors detri
mental to the welfare and capability of the workers. Of tremendous
importance both in guarding against ill-health and in advancing
physical fitness is the question of plant sanitation: The failure of
many industrial firms to realize the necessity for complying with
sanitary regulations in the installation of drinking, washing, and toilet
facilities makes it apparent that standards for such essential equip
ment should be stressed. State sanitary rules in detail, enforced
through careful inspection and supervision, may be the most effective
means of producing good results. A number of States already have
enacted such regulations.
Drinking.
The provision of sanitary drinking facilities in industrial establish
ments is one of the important principles of industrial hygiene. Every
body needs to drink water, but the performance of physical labor
which provokes free perspiration necessitates especially the drinking of
large quantities of water to replenish the tissues thus deprived of
their normal amount. Accordingly, adequate drinking facilities are
essential in every plant. The requirements for such a standard are
cool, pure water easily accessible to all parts of an establishment,
together with individual cups or sanitary bubble fountains.
The survey in South Carolina revealed that in 105 of the plants
visited an effort had been made to look after the comfort of the work
ers in this respect, water from bubble fountains or with individual
cups being supplied. In 25 plants, however, the common drinking
cup was found. In 22 others no cups of any sort were furnished, the
women in such cases being expected to bring their own. The evils
of the common drinking cup have been so extensively advertised that
their presence in industrial establishments is an indication of indif
ference on the part of firms to exposure of employees to infection.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

In only one or two cases were reported such primitive practices as a
pail of water and a common dipper.
A number of States have enacted legislation prohibiting the use of
common cups, but South Carolina is not one of these. Many em
ployers in the State, however, had proved themselves more pro
gressive than required by law, and 88 establishments had installed
bubble fountains. Textile mills had forged ahead strikingly in the
effort to furnish better drinking facilities, 79 of the 99 visited having
bubble fountains. Unfortunately only 15 of these had sanitary
fixtures, those in which the supply of water does not fall on the orifice.
The exposure of the danger lurking in what was believed to be an
ideal drinking arrangement was made in an article entitled “Possible
dangers of the bubble fountain” in the Journal of the American
Medical Association several years ago. Here it was shown that an
epidemic of streptococcus tonsillitis in the University of Wisconsin
was traced directly to the bubble fountains in the buildings. This
circumstance led to an extensive bacteriological investigation of the
hygiene of the bubble fountain in general, with the discovery that
it may be a powerful factor in transmitting disease, since germs left
in the jet of water fall back on the fountain and remain a menace for
several hours. This difficulty is obviated, however, if the tube is
inclined at an angle of 15° or more from the vertical and is equipped
with an adequate collar to prevent contact of the lips with the orifice.
The need for education on this subject is urgent, and to quote from
the article referred to, “Danger disguised in the cloak of safety is a
menace of the mosi potent sort, particularly when it receives the
approbation of health authorities in the way that the bubble fountain
has shared it.” 4
The sanitary bubble fountain is not the only satisfactory type of
drinking facilities. In mercantile establishments the use of individual
cups was more prevalent than the bubbler and equally satisfactory.
In a southern climate the provision of some means of cooling the
water is almost necessary to satisfy the thirst. The system of ice
coils about the water tank is much more hygienic than the custom of
putting ice into the water. Although some of the South Carolina
firms expected their employees to use water directly from the faucet,
in two-fifths of the plants visited there was some provision for cool
ing the water.
Washing facilities.
A reasonable and necessary recommendation in the name of health
and comfort is sanitary and adequate washing facilities for women in
industrial plants. Such an equipment aids in the protection of the
health of the employee and of the consumer. Frequent washing of
■‘“Possible danger of the bubble fountain,” Journal American Medical Association, v. 67, No. 20, Nov.
11,1916, p. 145.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

hands is needed in some occupations, but all women workers should
have facilities for washing before eating lunch and before leaving the
plant. The arrangements need not be elaborate, but should include
a sufficient number of conveniently located wash bowls or sinks, hot
water, soap, and individual towels. Wherever operatives handle
sticky or greasy substances hot water and soap are essential for
removing the dirt and expediting the work, but they should be
available for all industrial workers. A separate towel for each
employee is easily provided now that paper towels have been found
to answer the puipose. The use of common towels—a generally
recognized means of spreading disease, especially of the skin—
should be prohibited.
That the South Carolina establishments had a particularly poor
record in regard to washing facilities can be seen from the following
statement:
Table 7.—Inadequacy

Industry.

All industries...............
Manufacturing:
Cigars................................
Printing and publishing.
Textiles—
Cotton goods.............
Knit goods................
Yarn..........................
Miscellaneous.........................
General mercantile................
5-and-10-cent stores...............
Laundries...............................

of washing facilities, by industry.

Number of establishments with inadequate
Number
washing facilities for women employees.
of estab
lish
ments
No
report washing
Common No soap. No hot
No
ing.
towels.
water.
facilities. towels.
152

4
3
76
10
13
7
16
9
14

4
2
4

116

135

2
2

1
1

3
3

72
10
13
4
3
1
9

63
8
13
4
4

73
10
13
5
14
9
5

1
10
7
1

The table shows how little attention had been given to this sort
of equipment. Of the 152 plants, 135 had failed to supply hot
water, 116 had provided no towels and 23 others had provided
common towels, 99 had furnished no soap, and 10 had no facilities
of any sort for washing. The combination of hot water, soap, and
individual towels—an equipment simple enough to be within the
reach of every firm—was reported for only three of those visited in
the State, these being one textile mill and two laundries. Women
in several plants used cotton waste or toilet paper, or, as one manager
explained, “anything handy,” in place of towels. In several
laundries it was stated that employees desiring towels could use
those that were being laundered in the plant. Extensive improve
ment in lavatory arrangements should be advertised by all forces
in South Carolina interested in industrial betterment, since with
the limited means for thorough washing afforded in most of the

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

plants tlie women working therein would not be able to measure up
to the standards of ordinary cleanliness.
TOILETS.

For the proper regulation of toilet conditions in industrial estab
lishments every State should have a detailed law with specifica
tions about the provision of an adequate number of toilets, separate
for men and women, as well as about the location, ventilation,
privacy, lighting, cleanliness, and designation. Such a law is neces
sary for the maintenance of a high standard in this respect. The
only legislation in South Carolina bearing on the subject reads:
Every factory, mercantile, or other establishment or office where two or more males
and two or more females are employed together shall be provided with a sufficient
number of separate water-closets, earth closets, or privies for the use of each sex,
and plainly so designated; and no person shall be allowed to use a closet or privy
which is provided for persons of other sex. Such water-closets, earth closets, or
privies, shall be kept clean and free from disagreeable odors.6

This law is not definite nor extensive enough. In the first place
the number of toilets necessary where considerable numbers of women
are employed is left to the discretion of the owner or manager of a
plant, an obviously poor arrangement, since such elastic terminology
permits of any interpretation. The standard upheld by the Women’s
Bureau recommends one toilet for every 15 women employed in a
plant. In the second place the law makes no stipulations about the
method of ventilation of toilet rooms, a very serious omission because
of the tendency towards carelessness about this matter.
Although some of the establishments visited in South Carolina
failed to comply with prescribed standards of sanitation and privacy,
conditions generally were fair. The following table gives the chief
defects encountered:5
5 Code of laws of South Carolina, 1912, Sec. 869.

Table 8.—Inadequacy of toilet facilities, by industry.

Number of establishments with toilet facilities inadequate for some or all women employees.

For
some.
AH industries__

152

Manufacturing:
< igars.....................
Printing and pubfishing.................
Textiles—
Cotton goods..
Knit goods___

4
76
10
13

Miscellaneous........

16
9
14

For For
all. some.
43

Room
not
sepa- Room not
rate designated.
from
men’s.

Room not
ceiled.

For For all. For For For For For For For For
all.
some. all. some. all. some. all. some. all.
7

13
7
2
2
9
2

1
3
1

1
1
3

Automatic Autoseat flush. flush.

Seat not
inclosed.

work.

1
2

Room not
properly
ventilated.

Room
cleaned
Room
by
not
Room not
Room not women cleaned
clean.
ployed regu screened.
for
larly.

1
1
1
1

6
4
2
6
3
3
11

8
2
1

16
1

2
6

1
1
2

For
For all. For all. For For
some. all. some.
20

10
4
3
4
3

3
1
3
1

4
3
5
3

For For For
all. some. all.

For
all.

30
5
11
2
3

17
3
9

35
1
2

1
1
7
1
1
1
.........

1
7

3
3
3

W O M EN IN SO U T H CAROLINA INDUSTRIES,

Industry.

Num
ber of Number of Room not
estab- seats
inade convenlishiently
quate.
located.
ments
reporting.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

The toilets inspected varied greatly in kind, from exterior earth
closets to those with the most modern and sanitary equipment.
In contrast to the latter wa§ the antiquated type still surviving in
38 textile mills. This consists of an automatic flush, which operates,
in the different plants where it is found, at intervals of from 5 to
60 minutes. Nor was the automatic seat flush, a style of plumbing
in use in 37 mills and 1 laundry, so satisfactory as the hand flush.
In very few establishments was the toilet room inconveniently
located, although in 45, because of an inadequate number of facilities,
there was the possibility of great inconvenience to employees. With
the standard of one toilet for every 15 women used as a test of ade
quacy, 45 establishments had an insufficient number. In compar
atively few plants, however, were there more than 25 women to an
installation. The largest number reported for one accommodation
was 46 women in a mill, but as there were other toilets on the floor
below, the situation was not so bad. In 4 plants men and women
used the same toilets and in a few stores employees shared facilities
with the public.
Even where women had their own facilities, privacy was not always
guaranteed; in 44 plants some or all of the toilet rooms were not
designated, in 39 some or all of such rooms were not screened from
the workrooms, halls, or yards, and in 66 some or all of the toilet
seats were not inclosed. Too frequently the partitions separating
toilet rooms from workrooms did not extend to the ceiling. The
question of ventilation was a serious one in such instances. Also,
in those cases where there was no outside ventilation for toilet rooms,
artificial arrangements were not always satisfactory.
In 35 establishments the toilets were not clean at the time of the
inspection, as an illustration of which is the following excerpt from
a report:
Toilets were bad. Floors wet and insanitary. Plumbing not clean, all old, and
odor bad.

The lack of cleanliness in some plants was due to the practice of
having women employed for other work clean the toilets when oppor
tunity offered. This objectionable arrangement was reported for
20 plants. In the great majority of establishments the custom
of having regular systematic sweeping and scrubbing done by special
cleaners produced excellent results.
SERVICE FACILITIES.

The progressive employer has learned the advisability of setting
apart special and pleasant places in which his women employees
can eat lunch, rest, hang their street garments, and be treated for a
minor injury or a slight indisposition. A considerable number of
South Carolina establishments had failed to provide such arrange

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

ments for the comfort of the women, and other establishments had
supplied service facilities that were unsatisfactory. Some employers
insist that women do not appreciate nor take care of service and
sanitary facilities. That this is not generally true is proved by the
cooperation of employees with the management in other plants for
the maintenance of satisfactory facilities. Education of employees
along these lines sometimes may be necessary to achieve the best
results.
Lunch rooms.
A lunch room or a place of some sort set apart for this purpose is
desirable in every industrial plant to enable employees to have a
satisfactory lunch away from their jobs and the dust, dirt, and con
fusion often arising therefrom. The ideal arrangement gives oppor
tunity for obtaining hot, nourishing food in leisure and comfort, and
tends, therefore, to restore flagging energies.
In only 16 of the 152 plants visited in South Carolina was any sort
of lunch room found; 12 of the 16 were stores. In the majority of
the textile mills lunch rooms were deemed unnecessary, as the
operatives for the most part lived near enough to their place of work
to go home for lunch. This practice was probably the most satis
factory for the majority of the workers. In those plants, however,
where the lunch period was limited to a half hour, women were forced
to hasten home and eat a hurried lunch in order to get back to work
on time. A lunch period spent thus is apt to cause nervous strain,
indigestion, and lowered vitality. Either a longer interval should be
allowed or a pleasant place provided in the mill outside the work
room. In any event such a place is advisable, since there are apt to
be women who for one reason or another prefer to remain in the plant
during the lunch period. If operatives who are on the piece system
eat in the workroom, they are likely, if circumstances permit, to eat
lunch as quickly as possible so as to devote the rest of the time to work.
Thus they fail to gain any real benefit from the break in the day.
Exceptionally bad was the condition in those plants devoid of seats
where women forced to eat in the workroom sat on trucks or tables
with no opportunity to relax.
Although hot food and drinks were available in very few plants,
provision for employees to cook or heat food had been made in sev
eral. In only one establishment, a large textile mill, had a cafeteria
been installed. This had an excellent equipment and enabled
employees to secure a hot meal for 25 cents.
The question of the most satisfactory lunch facilities is one to be
decided by the manager and workers in the individual establishments,
but arrangements which permit the workers to secure a nourishing

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

lunch, with no reminder of the job are justified by the renewed energy
and increased efficiency on return to work.
Cloakrooms.
It seems reasonable to expect adequate facilities for the care of
wraps in every establishment employing women. Such accommoda
tions afford a place not only where the women can deposit street
garments and personal belongings, with a guaranty of their safety,
but where they can change their clothes and shoes if they desire. No
hard and fast lines can be drawn as to the most ideal arrangement,
the size and nature of the establishment entering into the matter.
Full-length steel lockers, clean and well ventilated, have been found
satisfactory in many instances, but arrangements other than lockers
may be just as good. A type of cloak room recommended by authori
ties is one equipped with iron racks, coat hangers, and shelves or
boxes for hats and small belongings. The system of having a matron
supervise the service facilities and look after the cleaning of the
rooms and the comfort of the girls is conducive to the best results.
Also, cloak rooms should be placed with convenient access to washing
facilities.
The investigation of this subject in South Carolina revealed need
for much improvement. Cloak rooms evidently were considered an
unnecessary adjunct, since only 36 establishments had taken the
trouble to supply a definite place. In some of these cases one room
served as a combination lunch, cloak, and rest room, an arrangement
that might be adequate for a small plant, although in several of the
establishments visited such facilities failed to measure up to standard
requirements.
It was customary in the textile mills inspected for the women to
hang their wraps on wall hooks in workrooms, along stairways, or in
halls. Equally haphazard accommodations were observed in other
industries. In several plants, for example, wraps were thrown over
pipes or rods or hung on nails driven into the walls. An inspection
of workrooms and of industrial processes affords conclusive evidence
of their detrimental effect upon clothing hung unprotected about the
walls. Another unsatisfactory arrangement was the small, poorly
ventilated closets set apart in several plants as the only space for
keeping street attire. Very unpleasant and unhygienic consequences
are likely to ensue from the crowding of garments into such places.
Rest rooms.
Experts who have analyzed the relation of fatigue to efficiency
have piled up indisputable evidence of the value of rest intervals and
of rest rooms. Every firm employing women should provide a room
equipped with facilities for use in case of accident, illness, or excessive
fatigue. In establishments where women stand continuously at their

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

occupations, and especially in textile mills and laundries where the
heat and humidity increase fatigue, rest rooms are even more essen
tial. The equipment should include comfortable chairs and couches.
Such an arrangement is an asset both to employer and to employee;
when facilities for resting are available a woman frequently is able
to go on with her duties after a brief interval of rest, instead of losing
the remainder of the day by going home.
That South Carolina employers needed much more extensive edu
cation along these lines was brought out by the survey. A very
small minoi'ity of firms may have indorsed the opinion vouchsafed
by one manager, that women were “paid to work all the time and not
to rest”; but in most cases it was probably thoughtlessness. In
many places there was not an available chair in the whole plant. On
the other hand, a few firms were farsighted enough to realize the
necessity of a rest room and 18 plants had furnished such accommo
dations. Not all of these, however, fulfilled the function for which
they were designed; 12 of the 18 rest rooms were found in stores, in
which too often the employees shared such rooms with the customers
and ran the risk of being crowded out. The policy of expecting a
woman to go home when indisposed prevailed in the majority of
plants—a method which, as already pointed out, means an unneces
sary loss of time. In a number of small plants, noticeably in 5-and10-cent stores where it was not feasible to have a room given over
exclusively to this purpose, there was a combination cloak and lunch
room, with some facilities for resting, which served the purpose
admirably.
Health equipment.
Even though a plant may be supplied with a lunch room, rest facil
ities, and a cloak room, it is incompletely equipped unless there is
provision for aid in case of illness or accident. The size of the plant
and the nature of the industry must be taken into consideration in
recommending the type of health equipment needed. However,
every plant, no matter how small, should have a first-aid kit and a
responsible person readily available during working hours, in charge
of its administration. In establishments with numbers large enough
to justify the expense involved, a hospital room and the services of
a nurse and doctor are advisable. Such promotion of the health and
welfare of the workers will prove a paying investment from both a
humanitarian and an economic viewpoint.
Two-thirds of the plants included in the South Carolina survey
had some sort of first-aid equipment, although in only 18 of these
was there a definite person in charge. Only a few of the plants had
more extensive facilities; 8 had a special hospital room, 15 a nurse
in constant attendance, and 7 a doctor with office hours daily or sev

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

eral times a week in the plant. Occasionally a welfare worker was
employed who acted in the capacity of nurse when necessary. A
considerable number of the plants stated that a doctor was on call
and could be reached in a few minutes. The policy with some firms
was to rush an injured person by means of an automobile to the
nearest doctor or druggist.
In some instances the textile mills which employed a nurse in the
plant expected her to serve as a visiting nurse in the village. Other
mills had an additional nurse for this purpose. In a few of the mill
communities hospitals giving medical and dental treatment free or at
a nominal fee were provided for the care of mill operatives and their
families.
Other welfare activities.
In addition to the medical care furnished, in some of the mill vil
lages other welfare activities were customary. Where the commu
nities were isolated and at a distance from schools and recreational
facilities, the mill management had endeavored to supply these defi
ciencies, in some instances entirely supporting the schools and in
others supplementing the State fun'ds available for the maintenance
of such schools. High-school work was reported in the case of one
mill and kindergartens in several. In one village a day nursery was
found very helpful to working mothers; in one village a few schools
conducted evening classes for adults, sometimes affording oppor
tunity for vocational training. Community houses were fairly gen
eral, as were welfare workers to promote and supervise clubs, classes,
lectures, and recreational activities.
EMPLOYMENT MANAGEMENT.

One other factor influential in maintaining a contented labor force
and a high rate of efficiency is a well-planned method of handling
the personnel in a plant. It is now generally conceded that a carefully
worked out policy of employment management is one of the best
ways of securing labor, of maintaining a low labor turnover, and of
establishing satisfactory relations between employers and employees.
It is not to be expected that a small plant employing but few workers
should have a person devoting full time to this, but it is advisable for
the sake of efficiency and justice that matters of employment and
personnel supervision be in the hands of some intelligent person with
the proper qualifications for the work. When several officials in a
single plant, or the foremen of the various departments, look after
the employing, transferring, and discharging of employees, there is a
greater possibility of injustice to individual workers and of unneces
sary waste of labor than when these matters are centralized under
one head.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Employment management is an extensive subject about which
only a limited amount of information could be obtained in this inves
tigation. The records obtained show that although a definite em
ployment manager was found in only 5 establishments, in 77 others
personnel matters were centralized. In the remaining plants the
foremen of the several departments in an establishment or the fore
men and the manager had authority to employ and discharge the
workers. In such cases more satisfaction would result if all the
foremen acted only after consultation with the manager. By such a
system an employee who was not needed or had not proved satis
factory in one department might be transferred to another. Fur
thermore, misunderstandings between operatives and the foreman
frequently could be adjusted if referred to an arbiter.

PART V.
THE WORKERS.

The human element in industry is undoubtedly its most important
factor. The tendency of some manufacturers to overlook this truism
is probably due to the fact that the labor supply, except in an
occasional abnormal period, usually meets and at times exceeds the
demand. Incapacitated labor can for the most part be easily re
placed. Industrial engineering, however, a development of recent
years, has proved the staggering cost to industry of an excessive
labor turnover. From the point of view of production, therefore, the
workers’ energies should not be subjected to undue wear and tear.
Too frequently the management is prone to over-emphasize the care
and improvement of machinery as compared to the protection of the
workers who operate such machinery. Employers suffer in conse
quence the penalty of slackened output arising from the dissatisfac
tion and disaffection of employees whose interests have not been
sufficiently considered.
Apart from the pure mechanics of the question, the requirements
and safeguarding of the workers are of much greater significance than
the structure and care of machines, since the well-being of the workers
is imperative not only for successful industries but for the organiza
tion that is at the base of all industry, namely, a thriving society.
Analysis of industrial forces proves that women constitute a large
and important part of the wage-earning population throughout the
country and in each industrial State. When so much of what was
formerly women’s work was taken out of the home and developed into
factory industries, women were called upon still to conduct many of
the operations and thus were drawn into the army of those gainfully
employed. Also, because of the present economic organization of the
country, vast numbers of women are compelled to earn a livelihood.
The realization, therefore, that women are indispensable to the
industrial world and that the industrial world is indispensable to
them in their economic struggle has led to a study of women in indus
try. A fact admitted by progressive and farsighted citizens in South
Carolina, as elsewhere, is that essential as it is to protect the interests
of men who are industrial workers, it is of even more immediate
concern to safeguard women since they so often enact the additional
role of mother and homemaker. Moreover, the greater necessity for
control of standards affecting women workers is due to the fact that

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

women have been in a weaker position economically than have men;
they have not been able to control conditions for themselves. The
failure to grasp the importance of this subject, or to build up the
proper safeguards, means that the vitality of the nation will be sapped.
Just as the colossal industrial system was evolved by a gradual
growth, so the evils accompanying it, if not checked, will cause a
gradual deterioration of the race. Consequently, the protection of
women workers is of vital concern.
In a consideration of the subject of women in industry inquiry
along other lines than earnings, hours, and working conditions is
interesting and helpful. For example, what proportion of women
workers in any industry or locality are foreign born ? In what respect
does age enter into the problems of women wage earners 1 Are women
steady in their gainful occupations and does their experience in a
trade prove of value to them? What bearing have the conjugal and
living conditions of the women on their work, and what influence do
their jobs in turn exercise on home responsibilities '?
The following figures on the nativity, age, experience, and conjugal
and living conditions of the white women reporting are interesting
up to a certain point as an index of the industrial situation. Perhaps
their chief value lies in their undermining of certain popular but false
theories which have been nurtured by tradition to the detriment of
the economic status of women. The time has come when fact, not
fancy, must regulate the position of wage-earning women. In the
last few years there has been definite scientific effort to weed out
prejudice and to present truths about women workers. This survey
of South Carolina was in line with such a movement. During the
investigation certain personal information was furnished by between
3,000 and 4,000 women, a group sufficiently large to be representative
of women in industry in the State, and to show clearly the general
background of wage and home responsibilities which characterize
the industrial women of South Carolina.
Nativity.
The number of women in South Carolina reporting on nativity
who were born outside the United States was so small as to be negli
gible. According to Table XV in the appendix, of 3,588 women
reporting on nativity, only 12 scattered throughout the industries
were born in foreign countries, a number too small to affect in any
degree the policy or practices of industry. Consequently, the laboring
forces in .South Carolina stores, mills, and factories as well as the
standards under which they worked and lived, must he labeled
'American.” The theory that foreign labor is responsible for unsatis
factory industrial conditions could not be held in regard to South
Carolina.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Age.
Another theory also to be discarded is that women are transients
in the industrial world; that girls go into factories, mills, and stores
to fill in a gap between leaving school and getting married. A some
what more detailed version of this idea is that, though young girls
are driven by economic necessity to leave school and to go to work
at an early age, they will be relieved in a few years from the need
of earning a living by acquiring a husband to support them. An
analysis of the facts serves to prove the fallacy in this argument.
There were not only women of all ages among the wage earners in
South Carolina but also a considerable number of women with hus
bands. It is of interest to know the proportion of women in the
different age groups who were engaged in the various kinds of occu
pations, and to discover what jobs attracted young workers and which
furnished the best opportunities for older women. There was a
rather general distribution of the women in the several age classifica
tions from 16 to over 50 years. (Table XVI in the appendix.) A
little less than one-third were from 16 to 20 years of age, a little over
one-third from 20 to 30 years, 18.3 per cent from 30 to 40 years,
9.5 per cent from 40 to 50 years, and 3.7 per cent 50 years and over.
Eliminating from the discussion printing and publishing establish
ments, and laundries, in which there were too few women reporting to
make a discussion of percentages of any significance, we find that
5-and-10-cent stores showed the largest proportion of workers under
20, over one-half of the women who reported on age, being in that
group. General mercantile had the smallest proportion of young
workers, only one-fourth of the women reporting in the industry. On
the other hand, general mercantile establishments had the largest pro
portion—a little over one-fifth of the women reporting in the indus
try—in the group 40 years and over. Knitting mills, which showed
a little less than one-fifth in this age classification, came next.
Although the other branches of the textile industry revealed some
what lower percentages of older women than did the manufacture
of knit goods, it was apparent that there was considerable oppor
tunity in these mills for older women. The textile industry is, in
general, one in which women of almost every age can find employ
ment, because of the great variety of occupations, requiring more
or less skill and more or less strength. It is an industry which
attracts whole families, regardless of age and sex.
Education and training.
One erroneous theory leads to another. The idea that women are
transients in industry is largely responsible for their lack of voca
tional training. Such a lack frequently is a great drawback to their
57523°—23---- 6

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

industrial advancement. In only a few communities throughout
the country, and South Carolina is not one of them, have women
been admitted to or encouraged to attend the public vocational
schools.
As was shown in the wage section of this report many women in
South Carolina have remained in one trade for a number of years.
Of the women who reported on their experience, over one-half had
worked 5 or more years in the trade, a little over one-third 10 or
more years, and slightly over one-tenth 20 years or more. It was
also brought out in the wage section that even though these women
remained in one industry for years they did not make striking finan
cial progress.
Another serious handicap to the advancement of women workers
is that many of them enter industry at an early age after a very
limited general education. Although no comprehensive investiga
tion was made of the educational history of the women included in
the survey, a small group of 100 women when visited in their homes
gave such information. As these women were chosen at random they
may be considered as more or less representative. About twothirds of those reporting had left school for economic reasons, the
most usual statements being, “I had to go to work,” "my father
died,” and “ I had to help at home.” About one-half of these women
had left school at 14 years of age or under, some when they were
from 9 to 12 years old. Over one-half of those reporting on the grade
completed, had not gone beyond the fifth; over three-fourths had
not gone further than the seventh grade; six had never been to school.
Two girls who had not attended school before becoming wage earners
had later entered night school and reached the third and fourth
grades, respectively. A third girl, a worker in a garment factory
who was ambitious to better her condition and to do a type of work
more conducive to her development, touched the crux of the matter
when she said, "I don’t want to spend my life working in a factory,
but I am too tired after 10 hours of it to do much studying.” There
is little likelihood that girls will supplement their education by attend
ance at night school after they enter upon industrial jobs, for even
if they had the ambition, the majority would lack the energy at the
end of a 10-hour working day to profit greatly by night classes.
If the conditions cited' may be taken as fairly representative, the
general educational level in the State would seem in danger of being
held down by the economic needs which are forcing young people
into industry. It would appear that the majority of women in
industry in South Carolina, as elsewhere, were engaged in work which
they had not chosen nor prepared for, but had been forced into by
economic necessity; that they had been without opportunities for

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

educational and trade advancement; and that with their limited
training, efficient adjustment in the economic world would be difficult.
Conjugal condition.
The old theory that women do not need trade training because
they marry and abandon the industrial world also is being disproved.
The prejudice against the employment of married women still lingers
in some quarters, where there is refusal to face the fact that it is
frequently an economic necessity for married women to engage in
work outside the home, but did not seem to exist in South Carolina
where there was a strikingly large proportion of married women found
among the wage earners.
Table XVII in the appendix shows that of 3,495 women reporting,
only 49.7 were single, whereas 35.5 per cent were married and 14.8 per
cent were widowed, separated, or divorced. Accordingly, in all,
slightly more than one-half of the women reporting on this subject
either were or had been married, a very striking testimony to the
fact that marriage does not necessarily mean a withdrawal of women
from industry. In fact, marriage with increased financial responsi
bilities means for some women an entrance into the industrial field.
The industry most noteworthy for the proportion of women who
were or had been married was the textile, since in this combined
conjugal class were 59 per cent, 53.5 per cent, and 46.3 per cent of the
women who reported on this subject in the manufacture, of yarn,
cotton goods, and knit goods, respectively. As has been pointed
out in a preceding section, all the various members of a family fre
quently work in a mill. The girls in a mill community usually go
to work in some capacity as soon as they are old enough; in recent
years 14 has been the legal minimum. They marry men who also
are mill operatives and continue to work after marriage as before,
except that in many cases they must shoulder heavier home respon
sibilities. The smallest proportion of married women was found in
5-and-10-cent stores, where more than three-fourths of the women
and girls who reported on the subject were single. This is not sur
prising in view of the fact that this industry revealed the largest
proportion of young workers. In cigar manufacturing and general
mercantile also the single women overbalanced the married ones,
in each case approximately two-thirds of the women being single.
The question arises, Why were so many married women, who in
most cases had heavy home duties, the care of the house and the
family, found by the side of men in the mill and factory? Visits
made by investigators to the homes of these working women disclosed
that in virtually all cases the women’s financial contributions were
needed to keep the family on the subsistence level. As explained
by one woman who had continued to work after marriage except

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

for a short period at the birth of her child, “It takes all my husband
makes to feed us, and what I make clothes us.” Another woman, who
was the mother of five children and who was working in a hosiery
mill, touched the heart of the problem when she remarked, “My
husband doesn’t want me to work in the mill, but with five children
you find trouble making both ends meet.” Other married women
whose husbands were ill or out of work were the whole or partial
mainstay of the family.
A number of widows were interviewed who were compelled to be
the. breadwinners of the family, as well as the homemakers. This
situation is well illustrated by a widow who had been working as a
mill operative for 10 years in order to support her three boys. “I
guess I have raised my family as well as any man could,” she said,
“ I have been both father and mother to them, and that is more than
a man could do.” Case after case could be cited of women, widowed,
divorced, or deserted, who had the full responsibility of earning a
livelihood for their children.
The antiquated theory that women work for pin money is exploded
not only so far as married women are concerned but also for single
women. Many instances were found of daughters or sisters who
were bearing heavy financial and domestic burdens because the mother
was a widow or the father’s wages were too low to maintain the family.
Girls had left school at an early age to become wage earners in order
to support old or ill parents or to help maintain younger sisters and
brothers. Two sisters, each of whom was working in a laundry for
$10 a week, $7 of which was turned over to the family purse, volun
teered the information that it was very hard for them to get along
on $3 a week for “clothes and extras.” As one said, “You have to
save and save and sometimes get into debt buying things on the
installment plan.”
Another fallacy that has been more or less current is that women
go into stores, factories, and mills because they prefer the kind of
labor that they perform there to housework. Although many women
frankly admit that they like working outside better than in the home,
the great majority of wage-earning women must do both; they have
their household duties to attend to in addition to their industrial
job. More than one woman stated that it was necessary for her to
get up at 4.30 or 5 o’clock every morning in order to perform the
necessary tasks, and that the cooking, sewing, cleaning, scrubbing, and
caring for children had to be attended to each day after her indus
trial job. Several women were found at work over a wash tub on
their Saturday half-holiday, as this was the only time possible for
doing the family laundry.
The great bulk of the women lived at home, and even though some
of them did not have the full responsibility of caring for the home

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

they usually assisted with the household tasks at night and on Satur
day and Sunday.
Living condition.
Of the 3,601 women reporting their living condition in South
Carolina, 94 per cent were living at home or with relatives, and
only 6 per cent were living independently. (Table XVIII in the
appendix.) In the several industries a larger proportion of women
in the general mercantile establishments than in any other group
were living independently, the number being 16.7 per cent of those
reporting.
Ihe theory that women who live with their families do not need
such high wages as do those living independently is not only fallacious.
but extremely vicious, since some employers offer it as an excuse
for low pay. Instead of the family income serving to supplement
the girl’s wage, frequently it is only the addition of the girl’s earnings,
meager though they are, that makes the family income adequate to
the family’s needs. Definite proof has been furnished that women
who live at home have heavy financial responsibilities. They
frequently must support not only themselves but dependents as well.
Consequently, they may have even greater need for high wages than
have certain other women who are boarding but who make no contri
bution to the maintenance of others. A woman should be paid ac
cording to services rendered and not according to whether she lives
with her family or in a boarding house. In general so slender is
the wage earner’s pay envelope and so many are the demands made
upon it—whether she is married or single, whether she is aiding in
the support of others or maintaining only herself—that very clever
management is necessary to enable her to meet the vicissitudes in
herent in an industrial job, to keep her feet on the level of present
subsistence, to wipe out past debts, and to save something for
possible misfortune and for old age.

PART VI.
THE EMPLOYMENT OF NEGRO WOMEN.
Negro women are employed in industry in South Carolina to a very
limited extent. They comprised only 7.2 per cent of the total num
ber of women included in the survey. This is a much smaller pro
portion than the 17.5 per cent reported by the Women’s Bureau in
its survey of Georgia industries 1 and the 12.6 per cent found in the
Kentucky industries,2 although it is somewhat larger than the 5.6
per cent reported in the survey of Maryland industries.3 The 843
negro women included were found chiefly in three industries—35.8
per cent in cigar manufacturing, 28.8*per cent in cotton-goods manu
facturing, and 27 per cent in laundries. The importance of female
negro labor, in these industries, however, differed exceedingly. In
cotton-goods manufacturing the negro women who were employed
as sweepers and cleaners constituted only 0.9 per cent of the total
number of employees and only 2.6 per cent of the total number of
women. In laundries, on the other hand, the negro women pre
dominated, since they formed 61.8 per cent of all employees and 89.4
per cent of all the women. Cigar manufacturing occupied a middle
ground between these extremes, the negro women comprising 42.4
per cent of the total working force and 48.2 per cent of all the women.
No negro women were engaged in printing and publishing. In all
the other industries with the exception of knit-goods manufacturing,
which showed 8.1 per cent of the women to be negroes, the number
and proportion of such workers was so small as to indicate that they
were employed only in the capacity of cleaners or matrons in charge
of service rooms. No negro girls under 16 were reported.
The workers.
The number of negro women who gave personal information was
so small that but little significance can be attached to the figures
presented on these facts. However, the distribution in the several
age groups was strikingly similar to that of the white women, since
one-third were under 20 years of age, a little over one-third were
between 20 and 30, 14.6 per cent were between 30 and 40, and 13.8
per cent were 40 years and over. In regard to conjugal condition the
proportion of negro women who were single (46.5 per cent) was only
1 IT. S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau. Women in Georgia Industries. Bui. 22, 1922, p. 15.
2 IT. S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau. Women in Kentucky Industries. Bui. 29,1923, p. 5.
8U. S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau. Women in Maryland Industries. Bui. 24, 1922, p. 10.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

slightly below the 49.7 per cent of the white women in this classifica
tion. The proportion of negro women who were married (31.5 per
cent) was less than the corresponding percentage of white women
(35.5 per cent) and the proportion of negro women who were widowed
or separated from their husbands (22 per cent) was considerably
higher than the proportion of white women reporting such conjugal
conditions (14.8 per cent). The data on living conditions show that
90.1 per cent of the negro women, as compared with 94 per cent of the
white women, were living at home or with relatives. In the matter
of industrial experience there was a rather striking disparity between
the negroes and whites, only one-fourth of the former, as contrasted
with over one-half of the latter, had been 5 years or more in the trade,
and one-tenth of the negroes, as against a little over one-third of the
whites, had a record of as much as 10 years of experience.
Hours.
%
Since negro women who were employed in the same establishments
with white women had the same scheduled hours, there seemed no
reason for separate tabulation in this respect. Accordingly, in the
section on hours all employees were included, irrespective of race.
In regard to the hours actually worked by the women, there is
more significance in comparing the record of the whites and negroes,
because the personal element enters in. Hour records were secured
for two-fifths of the negro women and for almost one-half of the white.
Of 371 negro women with hour records, almost three-fourths worked
48 hours or over during the week; of 4,196 white women, a little over
one-half worked such hours. The great difference in the numbers
of the two types of women makes a comparison difficult. However,
there was a much larger proportion of timeworkers among the
negroes than among the whites, over two-thirds of the former as
compared with slightly over one-fifth of the latter belonging in this
class.
Wages.
That the wages of negro women in industry m a Southern State
fall considerably below the wages of white women is a generally
recognized fact. In the first place the former have not the same
industrial opportunities as the latter.
In most industries, more
over, the occupations of the negro women are different from those
of the white. The work of the negro women is usually of a lower
grade and based on a lower wage scale. However, even in industries
where negro and white women are engaged in the same processes,
the wage rates of the negroes drop below those of the white women.
South Carolina proved no exception in these respects, as is shown
by the following table on week’s earnings of negro women:

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.
Table 9.—Week’s

earnings of negro women, by industry—Late pay-roll period.
Number of women earning each specified amount in—
The manufacture of—

Week’s earnings.

All in
dustries.

Textiles.
Cigars.

Cotton
goods.

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

611
$5.80

193
$4.85

164
$6.25

Under $1.....................
$1 and under $2.........
$2 and under $3.........
$3 and under $4.........
$4 and under $5.........
$5 and under $6.........
and under $7.........
$7 and under $8.........
$8 and under $9.........
$9 and under $10........
$10 and under $11___
$11 and under $12___
$12 and under $13___
$13 and under $14___
$14 and under $15___
$18 and under $19___

9
62
28
20
96
113
128
79
21
30
14
1
5
3
1
1

2
58
13
7
20
19
22
15
6
22
6

5
1
5
6
15
36
56
28
3
5
1
1

2
1

Knit
goods.

Yarn.

30
$4.90

4
3
9
3
9

General
mercan
tile.
Miscella
neous.

3
2
5
2

209
$5.70
2
3
6
4
51
55
40
35
8
1
1

Laun
dries.

1
1

]Not computed, owing to small number involved.

The median earnings of the ’611 negro women for whom wage data
were gathered were $5.80, which is 38.9 per cent below the $9.50
median for the 8,595 white women. The largest group of negroes,
slightly over one-third of the entire number, were employed in
laundries. These show a median of $5.70, as compared with the
median of $10.85 reported for the 26 white women employed in
this industry but engaged in a different type of work from that of
the negro women.
That the median earnings of negro women were not unduly
lowered by a large amount of lost time can be seen from an
examination of the figures in the following summary compiled from
Tables 9 in the text and V and VII in the appendix.

Industry.

Median
earnings
of aU
negro
women.

Median
earnings
of full-time
wokers.

Median
earnings
of timeworkers.

Median
rate of
timeworkers.

$5.80

$6.45

$6.00

$6.45

4.85
6.25
5.70

8.40
6.60
5.80

5.30
6.25
5.75

6.05
6. 65
6.10

1 Includes only those industries employing a sufficient number of negro women to make the findings
significant.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

For all industries, the median rate for the timeworkers, $6.45 is
the same as the median earnings of the full-time workers, those who
worked 48 hours or over or on 5 days or more. This median, which
in one case represents possible earnings and in the other the earnings
of steady workers, is only 11.1 per cent higher than the median earn
ings of all women.
There is very little divergence in the several medians for laundries.
Nor is there any significant difference between those for the cotton
manufacturing groups. In each case the median rate is slightly
higher than the other three figures, and the median earnings of all
women slightly the lowest. In cigar manufacturing there is a striking
discrepancy among the various medians. In the first place the
median earnings of all women are considerably below the median
earnings of full-time workers. The median for this latter group
exceeds by almost $2 the median rate of timeworkers, which in turn
surpasses the median earnings of timeworkers. The explanation of
these figures would seem to be that in this industry two-thirds of the
negro women were pieceworkers, and that whereas most of them
did not have the opportunity or did not make best use of their oppor
tunity to do a steady week’s work, there were pieceworkers who not
only worked a full week but earned much higher sums than did the
timeworkers.
Unlike the white women, the negro women with long years of expe
rience did not show the highest median earnings. (Table VIII in the
appendix.) For the several experience classifications containing a
sufficient number of women to make computation possible, there is
but little difference in the medians. The highest median, $7.40, was
for the women with between 2 and 3 years of experience. The next
highest was $6 for those with from 4 to 5 and for those with from 5
to 10 years of experience. It would seem that experience counted
very little towards wage increases, probably because the labor of the
negroes was almost entirely unskilled.
The figures in Table 9, page 83, and Table X in the appendix show
that there also had been some reduction in the earnings of the negro
women in 1921 as compared with 1920, but not so great a reduction
as for white workers. There were, in fact, considerably fewer negro
women employed in the establishments visited in 1921 than there
were in 1920. For some reason, perhaps because of the reduction in
wages of the white women, about two-fifths of the negro workers had
been dropped. This move was confined to two industries. In the
manufacture of cotton goods the force of negro women had been cut
50 per cent, and in cigar manufacturing more than 50 per cent.
Accordingly, the fact that the median earnings of. the 611 negro women
in 1921 falls 14.7 per cent below the median of 1,031 women in 1920
does not give a satisfactory picture of the cut in wages because of the

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

large difference in the number of women. It seems much more
significant, however, that the median rate of 540 negro timeworkers
in 1920 was $8.40, and the median rate of 425 negro timeworkers in
1921 was $6.45, the ’latter falling 23.2 per cent below the former.
The cut in the rates of the white timeworkers for this period was 28.9
per cent. A comparison of the median earnings of the full-time white
and negro workers for the two periods shows a much greater cut in
the earnings of the white women than in the earnings of the negroes,
since the former were cut more than one-third and the latter about
one-fourth.
The year’s earnings of only 41 negro women were recorded. The
median for this group of steady workers is $320, or in round num
bers 47 per cent less than the median year’s earnings of the white
women. The emphasis already laid upon the inadequacy of the wages
of white women serves to throw- into even stronger relief the meager
earnings of the negro women and their extremely limited industrial
opportunities in South Carolina.

■*

APPENDIX

APPENDIX
Table

I.—Scheduled Saturday hours, by industry.

Number of establishments and number of women whose scheduled Saturday hours were—
Number
reported.

4 and under 5 and under 6 and under 7 and under 8 and under 9 and under
10.
9.
6.
7.
8.
5.

None.

Industry.

10 and un
der 11.

11 and un
der 12.

12.

EsEsEsEsEsEsEsEsEsEsEstab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo tab- Wo
lish- men. lish- men. lish- men. lish- men. lish- men. lish- men. lish- men. lish- men. lish- men. lish- men. lish- men.
ments
ments.
ments.
ments.
ments.
ments.
ments.
ments.
ments.
ments.
ments.
All industries.........
Per cent distribution.......

148 10.484
100.0 100.0

Manufacturing:
Printing and publishTextiles—

600

74 7,894
10
462
13
404
7
252
16
399
207
9
13
233

1
0.7

47
0.4

13
8.8

680
6.5

7
2
1
2

441
30
16
166

97 8,919
65.5 85.1

4
2.7

84
0.8

66 7,406
8 432
12
388
3
38

573

4
2.7

68
0.6

3
2.0

75
0.7

4
2.7

113
1.1

9
6.1

221
2.1

8
5.4

129
1.2

5
3.4

148
1.4

113

216

4
4

70
59

148

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAHOUNA INDUSTRIES,
Table

II.—Length of lunch period, by industry.
Number of establishments and number of women whose
lunch period was—
Number
reported.
30 minutes.

Industry.

40 or 45
minutes.

More than
1 hour.

1 hour.

Estab Wom Estab Wom Estab
Estab
Estab
lish
lish
lish Wom lish Wom lish Wom
ments. en. ments. en. ments. en. ments. en. ments. en.
All industries................. i 148 10, 484
Per cent distribution................ 2100.0 100.0
Manufacturing:
Cigars...................................
Printing and publishing-..
Textiles—
Cotton goods................
Knit goods...................
Yarn..............................
Miscellaneous.....................
General mercantile....................
5-and-10-eent stores...................
Laundries....... ...........................

3
3

600
33

74
10
13
7
16
9
13

7,894
462
404
252
399
207
233

18
12.2

665
6.3

4
1
1
4
i

185
17
86
211
43

107

9
6.1

427
4.1

118
79.7

9,268
88.4

158

2
2

442
17

3
2
3

93
87
89

67
7
9
3
12
9
7

7,616
358
229
41
232
207
126

3
2.0

124
1.2
\

124

1 Three establishments excluded because hours irregular or not reported.
2 Details aggregate more than total because one firm appears in more than one hour group.
Table

III.—Hours worked less than scheduled, by scheduled weekly hours—white women.

Scheduled weekly hours.

Num Number and Number of women who worked less than scheduled
hours to the extent of—
ber of per cent of
women women who
worn a less
for
whom than chedhours uled lours. Under 5 and 10 and 15 and 20 and 25 and 30
worked
under under under under under hours
5
10
15
20
25
30
were
and
Num Per hours. hours. hours. hours. hours. hours. over.
re
ported. ber. cent.

Total...............................
Per cent distribution of those
who lost time.......................

4,196

Over 44 and under 48..............
48...............................................
Over 48 and under 54..............
51...............................................
55...............................................
Over 55 and under 60..............
60 and over...............................

35
15
230
147
3,553
68
148

2,571

12
7
35
36
2, 400
16
65

61.3

34.3
46.7
15.2
24. 5
67.5
23.5
43.9

133

520

671

363

261

171

452

5.2

20.2

26.1

14.1

10.2

6.7

17.6

4
2
15

5
3
10

95
1
2

483
8
8

1
1
1
8
644
1
15

345
2
10

246
1
6

160
1
8

427
2
16

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.
Taupe

IV.—Number of timeworhers and of pieceworkers, and their median week’s
earnings, by industry—Late pay-roll period.
WHITE WOMEN.
Number and per cent of women who
were—
Industry.

Number
of women
reported.1

Time workers.

Piece workers.

Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent.
All industries.....................
Manufacturing:
Cigars.....................................
Printing and publishing__
Textiles—
Cotton goods..................
Knit goods.....................
Yarn...............................
Miscellaneous........................
General mercantile......................
5-and-l 0-eeht stores.....................
Laundries.....................................

Median earnings
of—

Time
Piece
workers. workers.

8, .549

1,957

21.9

5,969

69.8

$9. 50

*9.60

360
31

21
31

5.8
100.0

329

91.4

$4. 95
13.15

*9. 25

6.793
355
309
210
310
155
26

1,210
56
96
52
310
155
26

17.8
15.8
31. 1
24.8
100.0
100.0
100. 0

5,008
296
180
156

73.7
83.4
58.3
74.3

8.80
7. 40
9.00
8. 65
15.50
8. 90
10. 85

9. 70
8.80
9. 40

NEGRO WOMEN.
All industries...............................
Manufacturing:
Cigars.....................................
Textiles—
Cotton goods..................
Knit goods.....................
Yarn...............................
Miscellaneous...............................
General mercantile......................
Laundries.....................................

611

433

70.9

175

28.6

*5. 95

14.90

193

31.6

129

66.8

$5.30

$-1.10

164
30
1
l
13
209

148

90.2
100. 0

9.8
100.0

6.25

1
1
13
209

16
30

6.35
4.90

1 Includes women doing both time and piece work.
2 Not computed, owing to small number involved.

57523°—23-

100.0
100. 0

(2)
5. 70

Table V.—Week’s earnings, by time worked—Late pay-roll period.

<£>

Note.—Only industries with 100 or more women reported are given separately. All are included in the section “Ail industries.”
WHITE WOMEN—A. Women whose time worked was reported in hours.
ALL INDUSTRIES.
Number of women earning each specified amount who workec

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

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

4,196
26
82
107
123
152
191
299
375
431
422
344
333
313
202
195
183
105
88
68
41
43
16
18
10
221
2
3
1

491

166

234

25
77
98
102
74
57
33
14
4
1
2

1
2
5
20
28
30
32
23
14
7

1
1
8
11
33
40
37
39
31
11
7
7
2
2

2
1
1

1
1
1
1

337

1
2
6
6
17
17
8
12
4
2
1
i

2
2
13
17
50
51
39
49
53
13
15
12
7
2
4
3
2

1
1
7
18
10
4
5
2
5
1
1
2
1
1

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

677
1
3
1
11
18
46
71
107
114
67
72
43
29
37
18
13
11
6
6

1
1
5
1
1
3
3
4
2
1
2
3
1

1
1
5
11
8
6
1
9
7
5
5

343
2
1
2
3
14
27
31
42
40
32
34
30
24
11
16
12
8
3
.. 2
2
1
1

2
1

252

1
1
2
3
19
13
30
19
38
17
18
24
7
8
13
2
12
2
4
2
12
2
3

2
1
2
1
1
1
2

113

1
2
8
19
13
9
14
12
8
6
6
4
4
1
4
1
1

1,135

1
7
8
29
51
65
102
84
151
119
90
98
104
58
46
31
28
27
12
14
9
1

3
1
4
31
10
13
5
4
4
2
2
2

12
17
10
8
5
22
7
1
7
1
1
1

2
1
1
1

2,120
2
1
3
15
27
71
130
200
193
193
231
235
154
145
160
85
72
58
34
42
16
18
10
2
18
2
3

W O M E N IN SO U T H CAROLINA IN D U ST R IE S.

Num
Over
Over
Over
Over
Over
ber of
42
33
36
39
30
48
54
55
44
48
50
women Un
Over hours
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
60
and
and
54
55
44
and
50
48
re
60
under
under
under
under
der
30
under
hours.
hours.
hours.
under
and
hours. under hours. under hours. under
under
ported. hours.
hours.
42
36
39
44
33
6C
50
55
48
54
over.
hours. hours. hours. hours. hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.

Week’s earnings.

Table

V.—Week’s earnings, by time worked—Late pay-roll period—Continued.

WHITE WOMEN—A. Women whose time worked was reported in hours—Continued.
COTTON GOODS MANUFACTURING.
Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—

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

3,374

435

Under $1...............................
SI and under $2.....................
$2 and under S3.....................
$3 and under $4....................
84 and under $5.....................
85 and under $6.....................
86 and under $7.....................
87 and under S8.....................
88 and under $9.....................
89 and imder 810...................

21
71
98
101
121
158
232
311
335
345
266
271
242
165
160
145
95
77
45
38
30
15
15
8
1
7
1

20
66
89
89
64
54
30
12
4
1
2

$12 and under $13.................

$22 and under $23.................
$23 and under $24.................
$24 and under $25.................
$30 and under $35.................

2
1
1

155
1
2
2
18
28
29
31
21
12
7
4

211

301

1
1
6
8
29
36
36
38
26
11
7
5
2
2

1
4
15
16
8
12
1
2
1
1

1
1
1

2
2
9
14
39
45
37
47
51
11
14
11
7
2
3
2
2

1
16
9
4
5
2
5
1
2
1
1

1
2
1
5
1
3
1
6
1
2
2
2

613
1
3
1
10
6
36
65
94
107
64
71
42
27
33
17
13
11
5
6

1
2
1
1
2
2
4

1
1

286

1
1
4
11
7
5
1
9
4
5

2
1
1
3
12
19
28
36
33
32
26
26
21
11

10
6
2
2
1

1
1
2
9
4
7
5
8
11
3
2
6
3
1
1
1
2
1
1
4^
1

,
1

1
2

1
1

1,007

6
6
20
40
54
83
72
130
106
81
88
99
57
45
31
27
27
12
14
8

2
1
2
4
3
1
1

7
10
3
4
4
14
5
1
6
1
1
1

2
1
1
1

1,519
2
1
1
9
21
41
85
123
133

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Week's earnings.

Num
ber of
Over
Over
Over
Over
Over
30
33
36
39
42
50
48
44
48
54
55
women Un
and
and
and
and
and
Over hours
and
and
and
and
54
and
60
44
48
50
55
re
der
30
under
under under under under hours. under hours. under hours. under hours. under hours. under
60
ported. hours.
hours.
and
33
hours.
36
39
42
44
48
50
54
55
60
over.
hours. hours. hours. hours. hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
f

Table V.— Week’s earnings, by time worked—Late pay-roll period—Continued.
WHITE WOMEN—A. Women whose time worked was reported in hours—Continued.
YARN MANUFACTURING.
Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—

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

265

1
8
4
12
13
10
21
27
29
33
13
36
17
15
10
7
4
3

1
8
4
10
7
2
3
1

1
1
1
1
2
1

1
3
2
5

2
1
1

1
5
6
2
2
1
2
1

1
2
1

1
2
4
2
5

1
1
1
1
9
9
10
5
20
12
9
10
5
1
1

1
1

4
2

1
2

6
2
2

6
1

2
2
1

1
1

...........i........... i

161

3
1
1

3
7
6
3
1
1
2
,

1
4
1
4
12
22
20
9
33
16
15
10
7
3
2

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Week’s earnings.

Num
ber of
Over
Over
Over
Over
Over
30
36
39
42
33
wo
Un
44
48
54
50
55
48
and
and
and
and
and
men re der
and
and
and
and
44
48
54
and
50
55
60
hours
imder
under
under
imder
imder
port
hours.
under
hours.
hours.
imder
hours.
hours.
under
imder
under
hours.
and
30
44
ed. hours. 33
36
39
42
48
50
54
55
60
over.
hours. hours. hours. hours. hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.

Table V.—Week’s earnings, by time worked—Late 'pay-roll period—Continued.
WHITE WOMEN—A. Women whose time worked was reported in hours—Continued.
MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURING.

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

179

2
1
1
4
4
8
20
12
28
9
18
13
21
10
7
6
4
1
5
1
2

2
1
1
1
1
1

1
1

1
1
1
1

1
3

2
2

2
1
1

1
3
1
2
2

1
1
7
2
1
5
1
2
1
1
1
1

1
1

1
2
8
10
11
5
10
11
7
6
5
4
3
4
1
1

5
1
4

7
1

148

2
3
12
11
25
8
17
13
21
8
7
6
4
1
5
1
2

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA 1NDUSTKIES.

Week's earnings.

Number of women earning each specific d amount who worked—
Num
ber of
Over 44
Over 50
Over 54
Over 55
women Under 30 and 33 and 36 and 39 and 42 and
48 hours
and
and un 60
and un 54
and un 55
under under imder under under
44
and un 48 49
50
report
and
30
hours.
hours.
hours.
der
54
hours.
der
55
der 60 hours.
36
39
42
44
der
48
ed.
33
hours.
hours. hours. hours. hours. hours. hours.
over.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.

1
1

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.
Table Y.—Week’s

earnings, by time worked—Late -pay-roll period—Continued.

WHITE WOMEN—A. Women whose time worked was reported in hours—Concluded.
GENERAL MERCANTILE.
Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—
Num
ber of
30
33
Over
Over
Over
Over
Week’s earnings. women Un and and 36
44
48
50
54
55
48
der un un
and
to
and 50
48
re
and and and hours
ported. 30
der der
44
un hours. un hours. un
55
and
un
hours. 33
36 hours. der 48
der 50
der 54 hours. der 60 over.
hours. hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
Total...........

148

$2 and under $3...
S3 and under $4...
$4 and under $5...
$5 and under SO...
$6 and under $7...
$7 and under S8...
$8 and under $9...
$9and under $10...
SlOand under $11..
SI 1 and under SI2..
SI2 and under $13..
$13 and under $14..
$14 and under $15..
$15 and under $16..
$16 and under $17..
$17 and under $18..
$18 and under $19..
$19 and under $20..
$20 and under $21..
$21 and under $22..
$22 and under $23..
$23 and under $24..
$24 and under $25..
$25 and under $30..
$30 and under $35..
S36 and under $40..

2
19
3
25
7
13
23
1
7
14
1
11
1
3
1
12
1
3

123

1
17

144

1
2

13
21

1
1
1

1
10

1
5

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.
Table

V.—Week’s earnings, by time worked—Late pay-roll period—Continued.
WHITE WOMEN—B. Women whose time worked was reported in days.
ALL INDUSTRIES.

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked on
Num
ber of
Week's earnings. women
5 days
1
A4
2
&
3
re
4
3
5
6
ported. day. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. and
over.
Total............

3,583

103

231

Under SI................
SI and underS2...
S2 and under S3...
S3 and under $4__
S4and under $5...
S5 and under SB...
JO and under $7...
H7and under $8...

35
163
134
138
164
208
240
310
310
359
334
288
210
178
122
131
75
64
50
17
19
8
9
4
1
9
1
1
i

27
40
27
7
i

1
4
7
15
2

3
95
47
35
27
12
7
1
1

$9 and under S10..
SI land under S12..
$12and under $13..
*13and under S14..
S14and under $15..
$15and under $16..
SlOand under $17..
$17and under $18..
|I8and under S19..
$19and under $20..
S20and under $21..
$21 and under $22..
$22and under $23..
$23and under $24..
$24and under $25..
$25and under $30..
$30 and under $35..
$35 and under $40..
$40 and over..........

3
1
1
1

61
3
10
12
13
12
7
1
2
1

195
2
8
14
18
21
36
36
23
10
4
1
1
2
1
1

167

391

2
10
18
20
26
39

2
4
5
14
32
36
39
70

555

345 1,353

3
6
9
22

3
7
12
11

3
9
6
17

32
66

11
4

1
1
1

6
2
1

1,848

6
16

145
196

1
1

150

2
2

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES,
Table

V.— Week’s earnings, by time worked—Late pay-roll period—Continued.

WHITE WOMEN—B. Women whose time worked was reported in days—Continued.
CIGAR MANUFACTURING.

Week’s earnings.

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked on—
Num
ber of
women
5 days
re
ported. 1 day. 2 days. 3 days. 3J days. 4 days. 4\ days. 5 days. 5J days. and
over.

Total....... ...

315

100

81
14
3
7
s
6
18
17
16
16
19
11
11
15
12
12
18
11
4
7
2
4
1

79
12

$21 and under $22...
$22 and under $23...

i
l

195
2

7
1
13
13
14
12
17
g
11
13
11
12
17
11

1
3
2
2

181

1
2
1

2
1
1
1
i

2
1

1
1
3
1
1

2
i

0
12

7
2
4
1

$24 and imder $25...
$25 and under $30.................
$30 and under $35...
1

7
2

1
COTTON GOODS MANUFACTURING.

Week’s earnings.

Under SI............................

$12 and under $13..............

$16 and under $17.. ..........
$17 and under $18..............
$18 and under $19..............
$19 and under $20..............
$20 and under $21..............
$21 and under $22..............
$22 and under $23..............
$23 and under $24..............
$24 and under $25..............
$25 and under $30..............

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked on—
Num
ber of
wo
5
men
li
2
2\
3
a3*
4
4*
5*
5
days
re 1 day. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. days.
days. and
ported.
over.
2,890

29
72
106
125
143
184
208
267
261
319
279
248
180
155
102
86
52
31
19
12
5
3

23
36
26
6
1

1
1
2

26
4
5
15
2

132
3
16
34
34
25
12
7
1

179

3
8
11
13
12
7
1
2
1

1
5
12
17
21
35
33
23
16
10
3
1

......

1
::::::

161

377

2
9
14
20
25
39
21
11
10
4
3
1
1
1

2
3
4
13
29
36
37
68
51
42
39
27
17
6
2
1

525
3
6
6
20
22
28
62
70
105
76
56
21
30
7
9
3
1

301 1,038
i
4
10
8
19
24
26
26
41
31
32
18
19
26
10
5
1

1,339

1
5
4
10
28
47
46
75
109
120
128
121
99
66
65
43
30
19
11
4
3

2
9
14
18
47
71
72
101
150
151
160
139
118
92
75
48
30
19
12
4
3

1
1
2

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES,
Table

V.—Week’s earnings, by time worked—Late pay-roll period—Continued.

WHITE WOMEN—B. Women whose time worked was reported in days—Continued.
KNIT GOODS MANUFACTURING.

Num
ber of
women
re
ported.

Week’s earnings.

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked on—
1
day.

.H
days.

2
days.

3
days.

1
3
]
1

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

127

Under Si............ ........
$1 anu under $2.........
*2 and under S3.........
S3 and under $4.........
$4 and under $5.........
So and under $6.........
§6 and under S7.........
$7 and under S3.........
S3 and under $9.........
$9 and under $10.......
$10 and under $11
$11 and under $12___
$12 and under $13___
$13 and under $14___
$14 and under $15___
$15 and under $16___
$16 and under $17___
$17 and under $18___
$18 and under $19___
$19 and under $20___
$20 and under $21
$21 and under $22___
$22 and under $23___
$23 and under $24___

5
9
9
4
8
8
8
12
6
9
6
5
6
6

3
1
i

A34
4
days. days.
1

A44
days.

5
days.

A54
days.

5 days
and
over.

85
104
— ,==--=

10
8
1
i

8
2
3
1
1
2

°
1

...........

•

1
GENERAL MERCANTILE.

Week’s earnings.

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked
Num
on—
ber of
women
Less
re
days
ported. than 3 3 days. 31 days. 4 days. 4J days. 5 days. 3} days. 6 days. 5 and
days.
over.

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

101

$6 and under $7.......

$8 and under $9.......
$9 and under $10__
$10and under $11...
$11 and under $12...
$12and under $13...
$13 and under $14...
$14and under $15...
$15 and under 818...
$.16and under $17...
$17 and under $18...
$18 and under $19...
$19and under $20...
$20 and under $21...
$21 and under $22...
*22 and under 123...
$23 and under $24...
$24and under $25...
$25 and under $10...
$30and under $35...
$35 and under $40...
$40 and over.......

13
4
7
4
2
18
2
12
14

1
5
1

1
1

92
===== —1
1

1
i

96
1

i
1
1

100

Table V.—Week’s

earnings, by time worked—Late pay-roll period—Continued.

NEGRO WOMEN—A. Women whose time worked was reported in hours—Continued.
ALL INDUSTRIES.
Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—
Number
Over |
Over
Over
of
Over
Over
48
55 and 60
Over hours
54 and 55
50 and 54
48 and 50
women Under 30 and 33 and 36 and 39 and 42 and
44 and 48
under
44
under
60
under
under
under
under
under
under
under
re
under hours.
and
hours.
hours.
30
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
44
39
42
36
60.
55.
ported. hours. 33
54.
50
48
over.
hours. hours. hours. hours. hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
371
Under $1..............................
$1 and under $2...................
$3 and under $4...................
$4 and under $5...................
$5 and under $6...................
$7 and under $8...................
$8 and under $9^............ - - $9 and under $10.................
$10 and under $11................
$11 and under $12..........
$12 and under $13................
$13 and under $14................
$14 and under $15................

7
7
12
12
"3
8
1
15
1
3
2
15
3
3
71
2
1
2
79
2
88
51
12
7
8
1
2
2 .......... ........... ...........

$16 and under $17...............
$17 and under $18................ .......... i' ........... ...........
$18 and under $19..............

2
1
4

1
1
2
7
1

2
17
18
17
13
1

1
1
1

1
1

3
3

1
2
2
4
2
2

1
20
5
10
3
4
2
4
2

..........
..........

.......

129

.......... ...........
1
2
15
6
21
1
1
53
26
1
4
3
2
1
1

228

3
43
46
68
37
10
7
6
1
2
2

12
1

1
2

...........
.......... ....... i'

.........i

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Week’s earnings.

Table

V.— Week's earnings, by time worked—Late 'pay-roll period—Continued.

NEGRO WOMEN—A. Women whose time worked was reported In hours—Continued.
COTTON GOODS MANUFACTURING.

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

164

Under $1.............................
$1 and under $2...................
$2 and under S3...................
S3 and under $4...................
$4 and under S5...................
So and under $6...................
SG and under S7...................
$/ and under $8...................
$8 and under $9...................
S9 and under S10.................
S10 and under SI 1...............
$11 and under $12...............
$13 and under §14...............
$14 and under S15...............
$15 and over......................

5
1
5
6
15
36
56
28
3
5
1
1

5
1
5
2
3
2

—

2
5
1

2
13
3
5

1
1

2
4
2

1
—

6
10
44
22
3
3
1
1
i

108
—

6
16
52
22
3
5
1
1
1

101

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Week’s earnings.

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—
Number
of
Over
Over
Over
Over
Over
women Under 30 and 33 and 36 and 39 and 42 and
48
48 and
50 and 54
54 anc
55 and 60
Over hours
under under under under under
re
44 44 and 58
50
55
30
ported. hours.
60
33
36
39
42
hours. under hours under hours under hours under hours. under hours
44
and
48
50
54.
55
hours.
hours hours hours hours. hours.
60
hours
hours.
over.
hours
hours
hours.

102

Table

V.—Week’s earnings, by li ne worked—Late pay-roll period—Continued.

NEGRO WOMEN—A. Women whose time worked was reported in hours—Concluded.
LAUNDRIES.
Number of negro women reported as having worked during the week—

106

2
2
2
4
33
32
11
15
4

2
2
2

48
hours
and
over.
81

__
1
2

2
1

2
4
1
4

i
..

1
2
2

19
4
7
3
2

6
1
1

9
4

1
1

1
27
27
7
15
3

12
1

IN SOUTH CAROUNA INDUSTRIES,

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

WO.MKX

Week’s earnings.

Num
ber of
Over
Over
Over
Over
Over
30
39
42
33
36
women
Over
55 and 60
and 55
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
54 54
48 48
50 50
44 44
TJ nder under
re
imder
60
imder
under
imder
under
imder
under
imder
under
hours. hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
ported.
30
60
55
54
50
36
42
44
48
33
39
hours. hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours. hours. hours. hours.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.
Table

103

V.—Week’s earnings, by time worked—Late pay-roll period—Continued.

NEGRO WOMEN—B. Women whose time worked was reported in days.
ALL INDUSTRIES.
Number of women earning each pecified amount who worked onNum
ber of
Week's earnings. women
5
1
2
3
3
3
re
4
5
oh
days
6
ported. day. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. and
over.
Total............

211

Under $1...............
$l and under $2...
$2 and under $3...
$3 and under $4...
$4 and under $5...
15and under $6...
10 and under $7...
$7 and under $8...
IS and under $9...
*9 and under $10...
$10 and under $11..
$11 and under $12..
$12 and under $13..
$13 and under $14..
$14 and under $15..

2
50
13
5
24
28
29
23
8
22
3

1
49
7

4
4
1

2
1
4

129

1
19

9
1

2
1
1

....... 2
1

CIGARS.

Numberof
women
re
ported.

Week's earnings.

Number of women earning each specified amount who: worked on—
1
day.

2
days.

3
days.

4
days.

days.

5
days.

5h
days.

5 days
and
over.

2
4
1

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

126

Under $1.................................
$l and under $2.....................
$2 and under $3.....................
$3 and under $4.....................
$4 and under $5.....................
$5 and under $6.....................
$0 and under $7.....................
$7 and under $8.....................
$8 and under $9.....................
$9 and under $10...................
$10 and under $11................
$11 and under $12..................
$12 and under $13..................
$13 and under $14.................
$14 and over.........................

2
49
9

1
49
7

6
11
10
6
4
21
1
1
1
1

1
.

104

Table VI.—Week’s earnings, by time worked—Early 'pay-roll period.
Note.—Only industries shown for late pay-roll period are given separately. All are included in the section “All industries.”

WHITE WOMEN—A. Women whose time worked was reported in hours.
ALL INDUSTRIES.*

Week’s earnings.

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

4,126

697

210

195

81
5
148
191
183
240
237

11
8

248
251
204

188
170
105
131
81
74
192
$40 and over...........................

57
57

11
29

9
10

29
13

26
30
20

8
8
3
3
1

16
14
8
3
4
3
5
1
1

1
3
1
5
7
7
10
10
10
9
10
10
4
3
1
1

325

1
i

16
32
20
31
31
32
28
19
28
22
10
6
6
3
4
1
2
1

5
2
6
2
6
5
10
10
10
9
9
10
1

1
i
6
2
4
2
1
3

1
1
2

2
1
1

506

1
3
2
2
10
12
22
18
50
37
44
52
41
49
36
33
26
16
11
12
6
10
10
1
1
1

2
6
2
4
3
4
10
1
5
2
3
5
3
1

1
1
1
1

2
3
1
1
13
15
4
4
3
2
2
2
3
2
1
1

509

124

1
l
6
4
15
6
11
25
12
27
28
32
33
39
39
48
32
32
20
23
23
13
33
4
2

1
1
13
7
4
5
3
5
1
11
6
3
11
12
4
7
3
6
1
7
11
2

1
1
5
2

4
2
1
2
1
2
1

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

1,021

1
3
4
12
20
5
40
39
44
57
84
39
73
59
79
84
55
70
42
40
123
37
7
. 4

1
1
5
3
4
6

1,980

1
1

1
1
8
8
36
37
47
50
70
107
114
121
155
101
136
139
134
135
89
110
74
63
180
49
11
4

1
1
2
5
6
3
17
11
3
8
4
3
6
3
1
1
2
4

3
2
3
2
4
2
1
2
1
3

W O M E N IN SO U T H CAROLINA IN D U ST R IE S.

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—
Num
ber of
Over
Over
Over
Over
Over
48
Over hours
wom Under 30 and 33 and 36 and 39 and 42 and
55 and 60
54 and 55
48 and 50
50 and 54
44 and 48
under under under under under
44 under
en re
under
under
60
under
under
30
hours.
hours. hours.
hours.
and
hours. 50
hours.
44
hours. 48
36
42
ported. hours. 33
39
60
55
54
hours. hours. hours. hours. hours.
over.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.

Table VI.— Week's earnings, by time worked—Early pay-roll period—Continued.
WHITE WOMEN—A. Women whose time worked was reported in hours—Continued.
COTTON GOODS MANUFACTURING.

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

3,542

625

Under $1...............................
$1 and under $2.....................
$.2 and under $3.....................
S3 and under S4.....................
$4 and under $5.....................
$5 and under $6.....................
$6 and under $7.....................
$7 and under $8.....................
S8 and under $9.....................
$9 and under SI 0..................
SlOand under SI J.................
*11 and under *12.................
Sl2and under S13.................
$13 and under $14.................
$14 and under $15.................
$15 and under $16.................
$16 and under $17.................
$17 and under $18.................
*18 and under $19.................
$19 and under $20.................
$20 and under $21.................
*21 and under *22.................
*22 and under *23.................
$23 and under $24.................
$24 and under $25.................
$25 and under $30.................
$30 and under $35.................
$35 and under $40.................
$40 and over..........................

15
70
72
99
84
81
111
109
149
142
145
208
194
186
218
214
185
188
165
155
147
95
124
74
72
176
49
10
5

15
70
71
91
64
62
72
53
56
22
27
11
8
2

178

3
5
6
17
10
27
36
15
27
13
8
8
8
3
3
1

2
3
4
3
8
7
13
25
24
19
16
16
14
7
3
4
3
5
1
1

1
1
1
1
4
4
6
7
9
7
6
9
4
3
1
1

305

6
2
11
11
29
7
19
31
30
32
27
19
28
20
10
6
6
3
4
1
2
1

1
i
l
l
5
2
6
5
9
9
10
9
8
10
1
1
1
2

455

470

1
3

6
1
4
2
1
2
2

3
2
1
1

2
8
6
21
48
35
33
51
30
48
31
32
23
16
11
12
6
10
10
1
1
1

2
1
1
2
1
1
4
3
1

1
1
5
3
12
2
8
24
10
23
24
28
32
37
38
46
31
32
18
23
23

3
1
1
10
12
4
3
2
1
2
2
1

4
2

1
1
1
1
2
1

941

1,617

1
1
2
12
18
4
37
33
40
76

29
30
49
71
1

3
lUi)
7
2

105

190

W O M E N IN SO U T H CAROLINA IN D U ST R IE S.

Week’s earnings.

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—
Num
ber of
Over
Over
Over
Over
Over
wom Under 30 and 33 and 36 and 39 and 42 and
48
and 48
48 and 50
50 and 54
Over hours
54 an:
55 and
under under under under under
44 44
en re
55
60
30
under
under
under
under
under
60
ported. hours.
33
36
42
39
44
hours
hours
hours
hours.
hours
hours
and
48
50
hours.
54
55
60
hours. hours. hours. hours. hours.
over.
hours
hours
hours.
hours.
hours.

106

Table VI.—Week’s earnings, by time worked—Early pay-roll period—Continued.
WHITE WOMEN—A. Women whose time worked was reported in hours—Continued.
YARN MANUFACTURING.
Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—

Total.............................
Under Si.................................
$1 and under $2.......................
$2 and under $3......................
$3 and under $4......................
S4 and under $5......................
$5 and under $6......................
$6 aud ulidei $7..............
$t aud under $8..............
$8 and under $9..............
$9 and under $10.............
S10aud nndei $11............
•ji— aud uiidel olo............

$23 and under $24...................
$2o ainl under $3C............
S3.) aud under $40............

Num
Over
Over
ber of
Over
Over
Over
48
and
Over hours
55 and 60
50 and 54 54 and 55
48 and 50
44 and 48
wom U nder 30 and 33 and 36 and 39 and 42
under
44
under
under
under
60
under
under
under
under
under
under hours.
en re
and
hours.
hours.
30
hours.
hours.
hours.
44
hours.
42
39
36
60
ported. hours. 33
55
54
50
48
over.
hours. hours. hours. hours. hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
264

1
6
6
5
7
11
7
10
10
11
17
14
15
24
12
25
8
13
15
10
15
7
3
4

1
6
6
5
6
8
5
4
1
1
3

1
3
1
1
2
3
6
2

3
1
6
1
2

2
3
2
1

4
3
1
2
4
1

1
1
2

5
2
|

il
i

i
l

2
9
1
1
3

3
2

3
1

1
2

l
1

3
1
2
i

1
2
4
4
4
7
1
7
4
4
9
2
3
3

137

1
1
21

1
1

1
1
3

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

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

15
9
16
6
11

14
7
15
7
3
4
”5
2

W O M E N IN SO U TH CAROLINA IN D U STR IES.

Week’s earnings.

Table VI.— Week’s earnings, by time worked—Early pay-roll period—Continued.
WHITE WOMEN—A. Women whose time worked was reported in hours—Continued.

57523

MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURING.
Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—
Week’s earnings.

122

1
1
2
1
2

1
1
2
1
1
2

i
1
1

3
14
5
10
11
11
10
5
4
5
3
3
4

1
1
1

i
l

i
i

l
l
l

2
2
2
1
1

i
2
2

1
1
11
3
2
2
1
1
i

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

1
11
1

4
1

11
10

5
2
4

2
2
2

1
1

IN SO U T H CAROLINA IN D U ST R IE S.

Num
ber of
Over
Over
Over
Over
Over
36
39
42
30
33
48
women Under and
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
44 44
48 48
50 50
55 55
54 54
60
hours
re
under under under under under hours.
under hours.
under hours.
under hours.
under hours.
under hours.
30
and
ported. hours.
39
42
44
48
50
54
55
60
33
36
over.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours. hours. hours. hours. hours.

108

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES,

Table

VI.—Week's earnings, by time worked—Early pay-roll period—Continued.

WHITE WOMEN—A. Women whose time worked was reported in hours—Concluded.
GENERAL MERCANTILE.
Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—
Num
ber of
Over
women 33 and 36 and 42 and
and
Over 48 hours
under under under 44 to 48 48
50
re
under
50
and
hours. hours.
hours.
ported.
36
42
44
50
over.
hours. hours. hours.
hours.

Week’s earnings.

Under $10...............................
1

$11 and under $12..................
$12 and under $13..................
$13 and under $14..................

2
2
3
1
3
1
4
1
2
1
2
9

4
2

1
1
1
2
1

WHITE WOMEN—B. Women whose time worked was reported in days.
ALL INDUSTRIES.
Number of women earning each specified amount who worked on—
Week’s earnings.

Num
5
ber of
days
m
**
1
2.
3
4
5
6
women day. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. days.
and
re
over.
ported.

Total...........
and under $2...
$2 and under $3...
S3 and under $4...
$4 and under $5...
$5 and under $6...
$6 and
and under
under $7...
*8...
*7
$8 and under $9...
$9 and under $10...
$10 and under $11..
$11 and under $12..
$12 and under $13..
$13 and under $14..
$14 and under $15..
$15and under $16..
$15 and under $17..
$17 and under $18..
$i 8 and under $19..
$1

$21 and under $22..

$35 and under *40..

3,153

124

13
52
54
74
65
86
99
120
127
174
173
152
169
166
181
199
178
165
157
141
115
105
101
71
59
129
23
5

11
43
34
21
11
1
2
1

2
2
2
8
3
9
2
4
1

115
6
10
24
16
15
11
13
11
4
4

2
3
4
5
11
7
9
7
3
2
2

154
1
2
6
7
17
21
18
9
18
17
11
4
9
6
3
4
1

162

246

456

2
2
5
7
6
10
14
23
15
14
20
6
10
6
10
6
2
1

1
4
7
8
16
17
14
14
16
24
24
16
19
16
9
14
5
8
7
1
3
1
2

1
1
3
9
7
8
17
32
26
33
33
42
48
30
45
32
30
22
11
7
10
5
1
3

1
1
1

336 1,220

3
6
5
16
18
16
16
16
9
14
22
23
22
29
15
18
16
H
8
14
8
7
21
2
1

251

1,807

2
3
10
7
19
24
32
36
40
41
67
65
90
69
84
91

5
13
27
40
19
31
4
9
32
12
13
10

5
9
15
23
42
53
75
92
68
86
93
97
144
110
112
119

75
87

53
48
100
21
1

5
5

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.
Table

109

VI.—Week’s earnings, by time worked—Early ■pay-roll period—Continued.

WHITE WOMEN—B. Women whose time worked was reported in days—Continued.
CIGAR MANUFACTURING.
Number of women earning each specified amount who worked on—
Num
ber of
women
5 days
re
ported. 1 day. 2 days. 3 days. 4 days. ii days. 5 days. 5J days. and
over.

Week’s earnings.

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

172

Under $1.................................
$1 and under $2.....................
$2 and under $3.....................
$3 and under $4.....................
$4and under $5.....................
$5 and under $6.....................
$6 and under $7.....................
$7 and under $8.....................
$8 and under $9.....................
$9 and under $10....................
$10 and under $11..................
$11 and under $12..................
$12 and under $13..................
Sl3and under ill..................
$14 and under $15..................
$15 and under $16..................
$16 and under $17..................
$17 and under $18..................
$18 and under $19..................
$19 and under $20..................
$20 and under $21..................
$21 and under $22..................
$22 and under $23..................
$23 and under $24..................
$24 and under $25..................
$25 and under $30..................
$30 and under $35..................

1
1
5
2
3
8
7
11
5
9
7
4
8
14
12
11
10
12
7
5
7
9
3
4
2
4
1

1
2

1
2
1
1

115

138

1
1

11
10

COTTON GOODS MANUFACTURING.

Week's earnings.

Num
ber of
women
re-

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked on5 days
1
ii
2
21
3
31
4
4£
s* and
day. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. days.
over.

Total..........

2,508

112

Under $1..............
$1 and under $2...
$2 and under $3...
$3 and under $4...
$4 and under $5...
$5 and under $6...
$6 and under $7...
$7 and under $8...
$8 and under $9...
$9 and under $10..
$10 and under $11.
$11 and under $12.
$12 and under $13.
$13 and under $14.
$14 and under $15.
$15 and under $16.
$16 and under $17.
$17 and under $18.
$18 and under $19.
$19 and under $20.
$20 and under $21.
$21 and under $22.
$22 and under $23.
$23 and under $24.
$24 and under $25.
$25 and under $30.
$30 and under $35.
$35 and under $40.

10
37
29
21
11
1
2
1

2
2
1
5
3
9
2
4

42
44
63
53
67
77
91
97
118
113
108
119
131
148
143
153
134
134
124
93
92
89
62
57
120

22
2

94
3
8
17
13
11
11
12
11
4
3

135

155

214

439

2
3
4
4
7
7
9
7
3
2
2

1
6
4
13
19
14
9
18
16
11
4

2
2
5
7
6
10
12
18
15
14
20

1
3
4
5
11
14
13
14
14
16
23

1
2
8
7
8
17
30
22
30
32

278 1,001

1,279

5
7
9

12
21

26
26
40
35
38
63
65
91.
85
82
96
93
75
84
76
56
53
117
22

110

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Table

VI.—Week’s earnings, by time worked—Early pay-roll period—Continued.

WHITE WOMEN—B. Women whose time worked was reported in days—Continued.
KNIT-GOODS MANUFACTURING.

Num
ber of
women
re
ported.

Week’s earnings.

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

99
1
2

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked on—
5 days
and
over.

2
days.

3
days.

4
days.

4*
days.

5
days.

51
days.

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

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

1
day.

4
3
7
2
7

1
1
1

1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1

5
5
12
7
6

1
1

1
2
3
1

1
1

4
5
6
2
3
1
1

6
2
o
i

GENERAL MERCANTILE.

Week’s earnings.

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked on—
Number of
women
5 days
re
5 days. 5£days. 6 days.
and
ported. 1 day. 2 days. 3 days. 4 days. 4|days.
over.

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

171

$2 and under S3.......
$3 and under $4.......
S4 and under 15.......
$5 and under S6.......
$6 and under $7.......
S7 and under $8.......
$8 and under $9.......
£9 and under S10---SlOand under $11...
$11 and under $12...
$12 and under $13...
$13 and under $14...
$14 and under $15...
$15 and under $16...
$16 and under $17...
$17 and under $18...
$18and under $19...
$19 and under $20...
$20 and under $21...
$21 and under $22...
$22 and under $23...
$23 and under $24...
$24 and under $25...
$25 and under $30...
$30 and under $35...
$35 and under $40...

147

163

2
4
19
7
18
3
9
25
9
10
8
6
10
1
5
4

3
1
4
21
10
20
4
12
27
9
10
8
6
11
1
5
4

2
1

10
20
12
28
9
10
8
6
11
5

1
1
2
2

3
1

3
1
1

*
Table VI.—Week’s earnings, by time worked—Early pay-roll period—Continued.
NEGRO WOMEN—A. Women whose time worked was reported in hoars—Continued.
ALL INDUSTRIES.

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

457

Under $1.................................
$1 and under $2......................
$2 and under $3.......................
$3 and under $4......................
$4 and under $5......................
$5 and under $6......................
$6 and under $7......................
$7 and under $8......................
$8 and under 39......................
$9 and under 310.....................
310 and under 311...................
311 and under 312...................
312 and under $13...................
$13 and under $14...................
$14 and under $15...................
315 and under $16...................
$16 and under $17...................

4
8
11
10
40
45
62
67
59
35
36
43
8
21
4
1
1

4
8
10
7
8
2
1
1

2
9
5
6
3

3
4
4

2
6
4
4
5

2
1

3
1
4

1
1

1
2
16
25
25
11
9
3
2
2
1

3
1

2
2

1
2
4
8
5
7
6
3
2

2
4
3
3
4
2
1
3
1

318 and under $19...................
$19 and under $20...................
$20 and under $21...................
$21 and under $22...................

13
1

143

1
6
11
35
7
25
35
5
14
2
1

1
3
1

5
5

$23 and under $24...................
$24 and under $25...................
$25 and under $30...................
$30 and under $35...................
i

1
1
1

247
*■*-------

16
9
22
31
43
21
33
40
8
18
3
1
1
1

111

Over
Over
48
54 anc
55 and
Over hours
55
60
under hours
under hours
60
hours. and
55
60
over.
hours.
hours

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES,

Week’s earnings.

Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—
Num
ber of
Over
Over
Over
womer Under 30 anc 33 and 36 and 39 and 42 and
anc
48 and 50
50 anc
imder under under imder under
re
44 44
48
54
30
under
under
ported hours
33
36
39
42
44
hours
hours.
hours under hours
48
50
54
hours hours hours hours hours
hours
hours
hours

112

Table VI.—Week’s earnings, by time worked—Early pay-roll period—Continued.
NEGRO WOMEN—A. Women whose time worked was reported in hours—Continued.
COTTON-GOODS MANUFACTURING.
Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—
Week’s earnings.

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

$13 and under $14...................

ber of
Over
Over
Over
Over
Over
48
wom Under 30 and 33 and 36 and 39 and 42 and
48 and 50 50 and 54
Over hours
44 and 48
54 and 55
55 and 60
44
under under under under under
en re
under
under
under
under
60
30
under
hours. 54
hours.
hours.
hours. hours.
hours. 48 hours. 60
and
36
42
44
ported. hours. 33
39
60
55
hours. hours. hours. hours. hours.
over.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
317

236

4
7
6
7
18
18
34
33
52
28
36
39

4
7
6
7

21
4
1
1
1

2
1
1

2
4
4

6
5
6
3

5
3
4
3

1
1
3

1
1

. l

2
15
7
11
6
3
2
2

1
6
4
6
6
1
2

4
2
1
3
1

128

1
3
6
34
5
25
33
3
14
2
1
1

1
1
1
1

176

1
5
15
38
18
33
36
6
18
3
1
1
1

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES,

in um

Table VI.—Week’s earnings, by time worked—Early 'pay-roll period—Continued.
NEGRO WOMEN—A. Women whose time worked was reported in hours.—Continued.
LAUNDRIES.
Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—
ber of
wom Under 30 and 33 and 36 and 39 and 42 to
under under under
en re
30 under
44
ported. hours.
33
36
39
42
hours. hours. hours. hours. hours.

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

$1 and under $2...................................
$2 and under $3...................................
$3 and under $4...................................
$4 and under $5...................................
$5 and under $6...................................
$6 and under $7...................................
$7 and under $S...................................
$8 and under $9...................................
$9 and under $10.................................
$10 and under $11...............................
$11 and under $12...............................

1
3
3
21
13
16
11
4
1

1
2

2
3

2
1
1

1
3

1
2
1
2
1
1

4
3
3

48
hours
and
over.
57

11
1

113

Over
Over
Over
Over
Over
44 and 48 48 and
and 54 54 and 55 55 and 60
Over
50 50
under hours. under hours.
under hours.
under hours. under hours.
60
48
hours.
50
54
55
60
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.
hours.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Week’s earnings.

114

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAKOLINA INDUSTBIES

Table; VI.— Week's

earnings, by time worked—Early pay-roll period—Continued.

NEGRO WOMEN—B. Women whose time worked was reported in days.
ALL INDUSTRIES.
Number of women earning each specified amount who worked on
Num
ber of
Week’s earnings. women
5 days
5
6
3
3
4
,5i
re
1
2
ported. day. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. days. and
over.
Total...........

222

SI and under $2...

6
8
25
25
57
31
19
16
15
9

S3 and under $4...
S4 and under $5.. .
15 and under S6...
$f> and under $7...
$7 and under S8...
S8 and under SO...
$9 and under $10..

$17 and imder $18..

140

1
4
1
3
1
2
1

1
18
13
5
8
4

7
15
51
21
11
13
10
6

5
4
1

5
3
1

1
10
8
5
10
8
3
5
3

4
1

7
13
29
7
3
4
4

CIGAR MANUFACTURING.

NumWeek’s earnings.

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

Number of women earning each specified amount who
worked on—

women
5 days
re
ported. 1 day. 2 days. 3 days. 4 days. 5 days. 5J days. and
over.
129

4
4
7
18
17
27
16
14
7
11
4

4
1

4
3
1

5
2
1

i
9
7
5
10
8
3
5
3

7
9
21
5
3
4
4

1
1
3

7
9
22
6
6
4
6
1

2
1

♦
Table VII.—Weekly rates and actual week's earnings, by industry—Late and early pay-roll periods.
LATE PAY-ROLL PERIOD—WHITE WOMEN.

Number of women for whom amount specified was weekly rate and number for whom it was actual earnings in—
Manufacturing.
Printing and
publishing. Cotton goods.

Cigars.

Textiles.
Knit goods.

General
mercantile.

Miscella
neous.

Yam.

5-and-10-cent
stores.

Laundries.

Ac
Ac Week- Ac Week Ac W eek- Ac Week Ac Week- Ac Week Ac week Ac Week- Ac
Week tual
Week- tual
tual
tual
tual
tual
tual
tual
tual
tual
iy
iy
ly
iy
ly
iy
ly
ly
earn rate. earn rate. earn rate.
earn
earn
earn
earn
earn
earn
earn
rate. ings.
ings.
ings.
ings. rate. ings. rate. ings. rate. ings. rate. ings. rate. ings. rate. ings.
Total.............................. 1,928
Median..................................... $11.05
Under $4..................................
$4 and under $5.......................
$5 and under $6.......................
$6 and under $7.......................
$7 and under $8.......................
$8 and under $9.......................
$9 and under $10.....................
$11 and under $12....................
$12 and under $13...................
$13 and under $14...................
$14 and under $15...................
$15 and under $16....................
$16 and under $17...................
$17 and under $18....................
$18 and under $19....................
$19 and under $20....................
$20 and under $21...................
$21 and under $22....................
$22 and under $23....................
$23 and under $21....................
$24 and under $25....................
$26 and under $30....................
$30 and under $35....................
$35 and under $40....................
$40 and over............................

2
10
35
50
105
242
309
202
188
228
140
119
121
40
25
50
7
24

1,928
$9.50

4
4

127
67
84
153
177
250
214
166
130
155
72
68
93
22
29
46
5
23
3
9
6

17
1
3
2

22
1
4
2

21
$5.60

18
1

21
30
30 1,189
$4.95 $14.00 $13.25 $10. 95
2
9
7
2

3
2
5
1
1
3
5
2
1
1
4

3
2
5
1
2
4
4
2
4

2
7
13
26
49
152
236
117
142
146
121
90
44
25
5
5
7
1
1

1,189
$8.80

56
$8.65

56
$7.40

96
$9.85

100
44
62
110

6
1
3
15

177
156

8
9

4
8

21
20

88
89
49
37
35
11
4
2
3
1

1
1

26
8
2
8

1
2

i
2

96
$9.00

47
$8.15

310
310
47
$8.25 $15.35 *15.50

°
ii

8
50
12
14
67
18
35

..........
.......... ;

18
24

4
3

2
20
3
9
5

15
1
3
1

20
1
4
1 1

25
154
$8.90 $12.25

1
3
3
8

53
31

46
27

10
7

10
7
i
3
1
1
1

154
$9.00

1
3
1
1
1

2
1
2
2

25
$10.75
1
2
1
2
6

2
1

1
1

3
1

2
1

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Amount.

All indus
tries.

116

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES,

Table

VII.—Weekly rates and actual week’s earnings, by industry—Late and early
pay-roll periods.—Continued.
LATE PAY-ROLL PERIOD—NEGRO WOMEN.
Number of women for whom amount specified was weekly rate and number for
whom it was actual earnings in—
Manufacturing.

Amount.

All indus
tries.

General
mercantile.

Textiles.

Laundries.

Cigars.
Cotton goods.

Yarn.

Ac Week- Ac Week- Ac Week- Ac Week- Ac Week Ac
Week- tual
tual
tual
tual
tual
tual
iy
ly
rafe. earn >y earn raL earn
earn
earn
rate. ings. rate. earn
ings. rate. ings.
ings.
ings. rate. ings.
Total.................

425
425
$6.45 $6.00

$10 and under $11----$11 and under $12___
$12 and under $13----$13 and under $14----$14 and under $15-----

79
74
135
86
19
10
13
3
3
1
1

42
77
95
105
65
16
8
9
1
3
2
1

$18 and under $19----

61
61
$6.05 $5.30
25
5
14
12
1
2
2

147
147
$6.65 $6. 25

15
13
8
12
9
2
2

1 Not computed, owing to small number involved.

7
17
75
30
4
5
5
3
i

15
14
32
53
21
3
5
1
1
2

1
C1)

13
(l)

13
C1)

203
$6.10

203
$5.75

4
2
5

3
2
5

46
52
46
44
10
1
1

12
49
55
39
35
8
1
1

Table

VII.— Weekly rates and actual week's earnings, by industry—Late and early 'pay-roll periods—Continued.
EARLY PAY-ROLL PERIOD—WHITE WOMEN.
Number of women for whom amount specified was weekly rate and number for whom it was actual

earnings in—

Manufacturing.

Cigars.

Printing and
publishing.

Miscellaneous.
Cotton goods.

Knit goods.

General
mercantile.

5-and-10-cent
stores.

Yarn.

Week Actual Week Actual Week Actual Wcek- Actual Week Actual WeekWeek- Actual Week- Actual Week- Actual Week- Actual
ly
ly
ly
earnly
earn
ly
earn
iy
iy
earn
earn
iy
iy
earnly
earnearnrate. ings. rate. ings. rate. ings. rate. ings rate. ings rate. earn
ings. rate. ings. rate. ings. rate. mgs. rate. earnings.
Total.
Median........
Under $4...............
$4 and under $5...
$5 and under $6...
36 and under $7...
$7and under38...
$8 and under $9...
$9 and under 310..
810 and under $11.
811 and under 812.
812 and under 813.
813 and under 814.
814 and under 815.
815 and under 816.
816 and under $17.
817 and under 318.
818 and under 819.
819 and under 820.
820and under 821.
821 and under 822.
322 and under $23.
823 and under $24..
824 and under $25..
$25 and under $30..
$30 and under $35..
$35 and under $40..

1,869 1,869
$15.55 $12. 45

73
79
78
132
142
127
141
254
162
93
107
109
109
51
61
42
21

143
37
44
71
70
113

17
24
24 1,181 1,181
52
52
108
108
43
$7.50 $13.15 $13.15 $16.35 $12.65 $14.00 $12.50 $15.80 $11.30 $16.15
112

3
231

112

128
140
173
118
116
157
87
73
72
45
58

3
87
58
89
115
156
106
59
79

31
15

29
41

262
43
262
166
$9. 50 $15.35 $15.50 $10.20

86
88

50
54
36

27
29
41
40
68

54
61
89
109
76
83
96
65
48
44
36
34
16

5
1
3
4
1
4
7
2
11
4

1
2
3
2
2
8

24
1

8
10

5
29
9
43
13
10
52
16
16
19
1
18
5
6

:::::::
i

2
4
1
6
25
13
32
10
14
44
13
16
18
7
19
2
7
7
2
15
3

16
$15.50

2
3

16
166
$9.70 $15.50

1
7
24
43
37
18
19

15
20
33
24
15
18

1
7
2
3

2
3

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Textiles.

All industries
Amount.

118

Table Nil.—Weekly rates and actual week’s earnings, by industry—Late and early pay-roll periods

Continued.

EARLY PAY-ROLL PERIOD-NEGRO WOMEN.

—----------------■-

.. ...
----------------------—
Number of women for whom amount specified was weekly rate and number for whom it was actual earnings in—

Amount.

General mercantile.

Textiles.

All industries.

Yam.

Knit goods.

Cotton goods.

Weekly |

Median.................................................
Under $4..............................................
$5 and under 86.................................
$6 and under 87................................
$7 and under $8................................
$9 and under *10..............................
810 and under 811............................
$12 and under 813............................
814 and under 815............................
815 and under 816............................
$16 and under $17............................
$18 and under $19..........................

Weeklyrate.

Actual
earnings.

Weekly
rate.

Actual
earnings.

Weekly
rate.

Actual
earnings.

540
$8.40

540
$7.25

61
$7.00

61
$6.35

288
$10. 20

288
$8.70

23
48
90
73
89
51
47
66
13
24
3
9

44
39
74
95
72
63
36
37
39
10
21
4
3

2
2

1
1

...........

21
10

74
38

50
26

9
24
3
2

(l)

C1)

Weekly
rate.

175
$6.50

(>)

(x)

Actual
earnings.

i
i

i
5
1

..........

1
1

Actual
earnings.

(x)

19
12

6
19
11

Weekly
rate.

Actual
earnings.

rate.

..........
•

Laundries.

1
4

Actual
earnings.
175
$6.05
26
40
52
21
8

28
73
31
10
5
1
2
1

1
2
1
1

W O M E N IN SO U T H CAROLINA IN D U ST R IE S.

Manufacturing.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.
Table

119

VIII.—Weed’s earnings by time in the trade, women employees who supplied
personal information—Late pay-roll period.
WHITE WOMEN.
Number of women earning each specified amount who had been in the
trade—

Week’s earnings.

Num
ber of
women
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and
report Under 6 months under
under under under under
ing. months. and
2
3
10
4
5
under
1 year. years. years. years. years. years.

Total............
3,475
Median earnings....... $10.15
Under Si....................
51 and under $2........
52 and under S3.....
53 and under 14........
$4 and under $5........
50 and under S6.....
$6 and under $7........
S7 and under $8........
$8 and under $9.... .
S9 and under S10.......
51 0 and under Si 1__
SIl and under SI 2__
$12 and under $13__
113 and under $14__
$14 and under $15__
$15 and under $1(5__
$16 and under $17__
$17 and under $18__
$18 and under $19__
$19 and under $20__
$20 and under $21__
$21 and under $22__
$22 and under $23__
$23 and under $24__
$24 and under $25__
$25 and under $30__
$30 and under $35__
$35 and under $40__
$40 and over..............

181
$7.45

101

$8. 40

266
$8.90

423
i9.50

308
$9.95

15
20
and
under years
under
and
20
15
years. years. over.
and

742
472
262
332
9.95 $10.30 $11.55 $11.85

388
$11.65

15
32
56
67
115
137
218
299
357
389
313
312
251

31
9

10
21

28
24
28
25
39
36
33

211

153
176
106
85
62
34
28
16
15

34
16
10

7
7
5
4
3

1
1
1

11
2

NEGRO WOMEN.

Week’s earnings.

Number of women earning each specified amount who had been in the
trade—
Num
ber of
6
women
10
15
20
report Under 6 months 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and and
and
ing months. and under under under under under under under years
2
3
4
5
10
and
under
15
20
1 year. years. years. years. years. years. years. years. over.

121
Median earnings....... $5.95
SI and under $2.... .
$2 arid under $3........
$3 and under $4........
$4 and under $5........
$5 and under $6___
$6 and under $7........
$7 and under $8........
$8 and
and under
under S10.......
$9........
$9
$10 and under $11__
$11
_
$12 and
and under
under $12_
$13__
$13 and under $14__
$14 and under $15__

1
2
5
26
28
25
16
7
5
4

13
(>)

C1)

20
$5.80

17
$7.40

1
5
5
6
1
1
1

1
4

99
$6.00

20
$6.00

1
5
3
2

1
5
5
5
2
2

1
2
7
3
2
3

1
1
5
2
4

1 Not computed, owing to small number involved.

11
0)

24
31
1
i

9
.

11
1
3
2

C1)

1
2

120

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES'.

Table IX.—Week’s earnings by ape, white women employees who supplied personal
information—Late pay-roll period.

Number of women earning each specified amount whose age was—

Total........
Median earnings.
TJnder $1..............
$1 and under $2...
$2and under $3...
$3 and under $4...
$4 and under $5...
$5 and under $6...
$6 and under $7...
$7 and under $8...
$8and under $9...
$9 and under $10..
$10 and under $11.
$11 and under $12.
$12 and under $13.
$13 and under $14.
$14 and under $15.
$15 and under $16.
$16 and undor $17.
$17 and under $18.
$18 and under $19.
$19 and under $20.
$20 and under $21.
$21 and under $22.
$22 and under $23.
$23 and under $24.
$24 and under $25.
$25 and under $30.
$30 and under $35.
$35 and under $40.
$10 and over.........

years.

and
under
25
years.

25
and
under
30
years.

30
and
under
40
years.

40
and
under
50
years.

50
and
under
60
years.
99
$9.45

18
and
under
20

3,604
$10.15

604
$8.65

568
$9.50

802
$10. 50

497
$11.35

658
$11.80

343
$10. 40

15
32
56
71

4
8
9
19
22
44
65
72
94
75
56
37
33
17
16
9
12
5
2
1

4
4
10
16
23
25
35
66
63
77
64
48
39
32
19
21
9
4
4
1
1
2
1

1
5
11
15
22
20
39
71
82
96
81
79
64
53
37
44
27
17
16
7
6
1
2
2

1
8
4
14
13
25
37
35
54
37
58
35
36
27
34
23
15
13
8
8
5
3
3

2
10
11
6
20
14
24
36
46
56
56
60
71
56
32
46
28
29
17
12
9
6
3
2

4
2
5
9
13
18
25
22
33
33
20
27
21
18
16
24
10
13
9
5
4
1
3
3

120

139
227
316
372
406
325
318
266
219
156
182

110
86

65
35
29
16
15
11

2
1

1
1

1
1
1
5
2
7
10
17
12
8
7
2
7
6
4
1
2
4

60
years
and
over.
33
$8.25

M O JM M M m W H

Week’s earnings.

Num
ber of
16
women and
report under
ing.
18
years.

1
1

2
1

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.
Table

121

X.—Week’s earnings, by industry—Early pay-roll period.
WHITE WOMEN.
Number of women earning each specified amount in—
Manufacturing.

Week’s earnings.

All
indus
tries.

Total............... 8,249
Median earnings....... $14.05
Under 11...................
SI and under $2.......
52 and under $3.......
S3 and under 84........
$4 and under $5........
$5 and under $6.......
$6 and under $7.......
$7 and under $8.......
88 and under $9.......
$9 and under $10___
$10 and under *11 ..
$11 and under $12...
$12 and under $13...
$13 and under $14...
$14 and under $15...
$15 and under $16...
$16 and under $17...
$17 and under $18...
$18 and under$19...
$19 and under $20...
820 and under $21...
$21 and under $22...
$22 and under $23...
$23 and under $24...
$24 and under $25...
$25 and under $30...
$30 and under $35...
$36 and under $40...
$40 and over.............

45
167
160
217
207
224
271
309
353
388
401
434
464
462
467
509
418
414
393
340
315
225
249
186
149
367
90
18
7

Gen 5-andTextiles.
eral 10-cent Laun
Print
Miscelmer
stores. dries.
Cigars. ing and
cantile.
lanepub Cotton Knit
ous.
lishing. goods. goods. Yam.
227
$14.25

38
$13.25

1
1

4
98
13
9
13
9

8
11

17
15
15
14
14
9
9
9
10

1
1
1

3
4
3
48
32
51

38
2
6

1
1

6,660
$14.55

334
$8.95

352
$12.90

158
$11.05

30
125
130
182

3
9

166
211
226
272
290
283
339
349
347
390
389
359
346
328
301
267
198
229
163
143
337
84
13
7

28
11

14
23
16
19
15
15
10
11

13
32
25
14
9
9
11
7

2
2
1

8
8

14
13
14
14
16
24
24
24
29
16
29
12

18
16

178
5
4
5

2
1

280
$15. 50

180
$9.55

$14.00

3
7

17
15

]

30
13
33
12

1
21
11

146
5
5
4
2
2
2
1
1

14
46
13
8

19
4
7
7
3
16
3

122

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.
Table

X.—Week’s earnings, by industry—Early pay-roll period—Continued.
NEGRO WOMEN.
Manufacturing.

Week’s earnings.

All
indus-

Textiles.
Cigars.

Median earnings........
Utide! $1............. .
and under $i..........
and under $3......
$.1 and under $4.........
(54 and under So.........
355 and under $6.........
$6 and under $i......
$7 and under $8.........
$8urul unaer $9.........
$9 and under $10.......
$10 and under $11---$11 and under $12---$12 and under $13---$13 and under $14---$14 and under $15---$15 and under $16---$16 and under $17---$17 and under $18---$18 and under $19----

1,031
$6. 80

328
$8. 70

468
$6.45

4
7

$1
$2

$30 and under $35...

Knit
goods.

Cotton
goods.

Miscel
laneous.

Yarn.

19
$7.90

1
(0

5-and-10cent
stores.

i
0

)

Laun
dries.

200

$5.90
1

3
4

133
72

34
33
53
29
38
408

96
72
42
36
15

29
57
56
22

2
1

32
2
2

6
1

................

■

)

1 Not computed, owing to small number involved.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

123

Table XI.— Year’s earnings of white women for whom 52-week pay-roll records were

secured, by industry.
Number of women earning each specified amount in—
Manufacturing.
Year's earning.

All in
dus
tries.

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

833
$605

Under $200..... ...........................
$200 and under $250................ .
$250 and under $300......... ........
$300 and under $350..................
$350 and under $400..................
$400 and under 1450..................
$450 and under $500..................
$500 and under $550..................
$■350 and under $600..................
$000 and under $650..................
$650 and under $700..................
$700 and under $750..................
$800 and under $850..................

$1,400 and under $1,600............

14
53
61
87
79
94
79
80
67
50
47
30
41
16
76
1
1

Gen
Textiles.
eral 5-and- Laun
Print
10-cent
ing
dries.
Mis mer
and
can stores.
Cigars. pub
cella tile.
Cotton
Knit
lish goods goods. Yam. neous.
ing.
20

$650

(*j

2
2

1
1

'Not computed, owing to small number involved.

57523°—23------9

25
$442

29
$496

17
$563

3
5

3
56

1
1
2

2
2
10

1
12

680
$61.0

9
38
47
72
67
79
69
69
56
41
41
25
35
11
4
3

37
$856

$506

0) ■

1
1

3
2
l1
32

31
2
1

124

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

Table

XII.—Fear’s earnings of white women for whom 52-week pay-roll records were
secured, by weeks worked.
Number of women earning each specified amount who worked—
ber of
and 48 and 50 and
wom Under 32 and 36 and 40 and 44 and 46
52
under under under under under under under
en re
32
52 weeks.
50
48
46
44
36
40
ported. weeks.
weeks. weeks. weeks. weeks. weeks. weeks. weeks.

Year’s earnings.

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

833
$605
12

14
53
61
87
79
94
79
80
67
50
47
30
41
16
7

18
$458

$395

2
1
1

2
1
2

53
$458

2
2
6
1
1
1
1

13
14
11

15
25
34
38
30
35
19
22

5
38

9
3
5
3
2

3
1

132
1660

302
$638

98
$580

1
2
2
12
8

152
$627

53
$558

11
12

8
10

4
36

1
2

20
11

16
24
11

5
52

4
3
8

2
2

6
11
10
10
22

156
8

7
9
136

27
11
186

2
2
1

3
3

iNot computed, owing to small number involved.
Table

XIII.—Feels lost during the year, white women for whom 52-week pay-roll
records were secured, by industry.
Number of women losing each specified number of weeks in—
Manufacturing.

Number of weeks
lost.

Total...............
Non*

.........
...............................
...............................

10
11
12

14...............................
15 or over..................

Gen 5-and- Laun
All in
Textiles.
eral 10-cent dries.
Print
dus
ing
and
Miscel
stores.
mer
tries. Cigars. pub
laneous. cantile.
lish Cotton Knit Yarn.
goods. goods.
ing.
833
134
149
151
95
57
52
46
30
23
15
238

2
2

51
2

i
1
1

7
30

98
124
129
87
49
44
41
22

18
11

1
2
2
2
1

680

15
5
5
5
5
22

3
32
32

3
41

17
46
1

2
2

31
41

19
4
5
3
2

9
3

1
1
1
1

1
1

125

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.
Table

XIV.— Weelcs lost during the year through dosing of establishment or department,
white women for whom 52-week pay-roll records were secured, by industry.

Number of women losing each specified number of weeks in Manufacturing.
Number of weeks establishment or de
partment was dosed.
All man
ufactur
ing.

Textiles.
Cigars.

Cotton
goods.

Knit
goods.

358

296

.......................................................................
.......................................................................
3.......................................................................
4.......................................................................

199
60
366

178
57
35

.......................................................................
7.......................................................................
8.......................................................................
9.......................................................................
10 or over........................................................

11
1

1
2

Table

3
11
31

1
2
6

Miscella
neous.

Yarn.

19
4

1
6

3
3

XV.—Nativity of the women employees who supplied personal information, by
industry.
Number of women who were—
Industry.

Number
of women
report
ing.

Native bom.
White.

All industries...............
Per cent distribution............
Manufacturing:
Cigars...............................
Printing and publishing.
Textiles—
.Cotton goods............
Knit goods................
Yarn..........................
Miscellaneous..................
General mercantile................
5-and-10-cent stores...............
Laundries...............................

Negro.

Foreign
born.

4,199
100.0

3,576
85.2

611
14.6

360
9

166
9

193

2,871
226
140
119
155
104
215

2,704
194
138
117
142
100

164
301

209

0.3

1
1

13
4

126

Table XVI.—Age of the women employees who supplied personal information, by industry.
Number of women whose age was—

Industry.

women
reporting.

and under 25 and under 30 and under 40 and under 50 and under 60 years and
60 years.
50 years.
40 years.
over.
30 years.
25 years.

White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro.
All industries.......................................... 3,604
Per cent distribution....................................... 100.0
Manufacturing:
Cigars..........................................................

167
9

Textiles—
Cotton goods........................................... 2,719
195
Knit goods..............................................
142
_ rXa^—...................................
117
142
106
7
Laundries.........................................................

130

604
16.8

351

100.0

13
241
1

459
28
18
14
10
372

7
5.4

568
15.8

37
28.5

24
3
1
1

419
29
20

29
22.3

497
13.8

281

601
32
24
34
38
292

383
32

2
8

24
26
20
5

802
22.3

3
1
21

15.4
2

13
13.
6
17

658
18.3

19
14.6

343
9.5

9.2

99
2.7

5
3.8

33
0.9

29
3

509
36
34
17
25
5

4
4

261
18
16
9
27
4

1
6

14
9
2
2

5
3

1
0.8

6
41
1

W O M E N IN SO U TH CAROLINA IN D U ST R IE S.

16 and under 18 and under
20 years.
18 years.

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAKOLINA INDUSTRIES.
Table

127

XVII.—Conjugal condition of the women employees who supplied personal
information, by industry.
Number of women who were—

Industry.

Number of
women
reporting.

Single.

Widowed, sep
arated, or
divorced.

Married.

White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro.
All industries.......................
Per cent distribution............................
Manufacturing:
Cigars...............................................
Printing and publishing...............
Textiles—
Cotton goods............................
Knit goods...............................
Yarn.........................................
Miscellaneous manufacturing.......
General mercantile...............................
5-and-10-cent stores...............................
Laundries...............................................

Table

3,495
100.0

127
100.0

1,738
49.7

59
46.5

1,241
35.5

40
31.5

164
9

109
7

36
1

2,630
190
139
115
141
100
7

12
23
1

1,222
102
57
67
91
77
6

3
10

1,014
56

7
8

1
82

516
14.8

1
394
32

32
45

22.0

2
5
1
15

XYIII.—Living condition of the women employees who supplied personal infor
mation, by industry.

Industry.

Number of women who were living

Number of
women
reporting.

At home.

With relatives.

Adrift.

White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro.
All industries............................ .
Per cent distribution............................
Manufacturing:
Cigars...............................................
Printing and publishing...............
Textiles—
Cotton goods............................
Knit goods...............................
Yarn.........................................
Miscellaneous.................................
General mercantile...............................
5-and-10-cent stores...............................
Laundries..............................................

3,601
100.0
9
2,709
196
141
119
149
106
7

131
100.0

3,294
91.5

149
7

13
24
1

2,509
'184
133
98
118
90
6

1
85

108
82.4

91
2.5

10
7.6 .

216
6.0

13
9.9

2
13
18
1
1
69

64
3
10

128

WOMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIES.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU.
BULLETINS.
No. 1. Proposed Employment of Women During the War in the Industries of Niagara
Falls, N.Y. 16 pp. 1918.
No. 2. Labor Laws for Women in Industry in Indiana. 29 pp. 1918.
No. 3. Standards for the Employment of Women in Industry. 7 pp. 1919.
No. 4. Wages of Candy Makers in Philadelphia in 1919. 46 pp. 1919.
No. 5. The Eight-Hour Day in Federal and State Legislation. 19 pp. 1919.
No. 6. The Employment of Women in Hazardous Industries in the United States.
8 pp. 1919.
.
No. 7. Night-Work Laws in the United States. 4 pp. 1919.
No. 8. Women in the Government Service. 37 pp. 1920.
No. 9. Home Work in Bridgeport, Connecticut. 35 pp. 1920.
...
No. 10. Hours and Conditions of Work for Women in Industry in Virginia. 32 pp.

No. 11.
No. 12.
No. 13.
No. 14.
No. 15.

Women Street Car Conductors and Ticket Agents. 90 pp.- 1920.
The New Position of Women in American Industry. 158 pp. 1920.
Industrial Opportunities and Training for Women and Girls. 48 pp. 1920.
A Physiological Basis for the Shorter Working Day for Women. 20 pp. 192 L.
Some Effects of Legislation Limiting Hours of Work for W7omen. 26 pp.
1921.
No. 16. State Laws Affecting Working Women. 1920. 104 pp. 1921. [Supple
ment, 1923.]
No. 17. Women’s Wages in Kansas. 1920. 104 pp. 1921.
No. 18. Health Problems of Women in Industry. I I pp. 1921.
No. 19. Iowa Women in Industry. 73 pp. 1921.
No. 20. Negro Women in Industry. 65 pp. 1922.
No. 21. Women in Rhode Island Industries. 73 pp. 1922.
No. 22. Women in Georgia Industries. 89 pp. 1922.
No. 23. The Family Status of Breadwinning Women. 43 pp. 1922.
No. 24. Women in Maryland Industries. 96 pp. 1922.
No. 25. Women in the Candy Industry in Chicago and St. Louis. 72 pp. 1923.
No. 26. Women in Arkansas Industries. 85 pp. .1922.
No. 27. The Occupational Progress of Women? 37 pp. 1922
No. 28. Women’s Contributions in the Field of Invention. 51pp. 1923.
No. 29. Women in Kentucky Industries. 114 pp. 1923.
No. 30. The Share of Wage-Earning Women in Family Support. 170 pp. 1923.
No. 31. What Industry Means to Women Workers. 10 pp. 1923.
No. 32. Women in South Carolina Industries. 128 pp. 1923.
No. 33. Proceedings of the Women’s.Industrial Conference. 190 pp. 1923.
No. 35. Women in Alabama Industries.
.
First Annual Report of the Director. 1919. (Out of print.)
Second Annual Report of the Director. 1920.
Third Annual Report of the Director. 1921.
Fourth Annual Report of the Director. 1922.
Fifth Annual Report of the Director. 1923.

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Full text of Women in South Carolina Industries: A Study of Hours, Wages, and Working Conditions : Women's Bureau Bulletin, No. 32

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