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/•/. 3: / 5'• ~ - Teachers Collie Library UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WOMEN’S BUREAU Bulletin No. 132 WOMEN WHO WORK IN OFFICES I. STUDY OF EMPLOYED WOMEN II. STUDY OF WOMEN SEEKING EMPLOYMENT UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR FRANCES PERKINS, Secretary WOMEN’S BUREAU MARY ANDERSON, Director + WOMEN WHO WORK IN OFFICES I. STUDY OF EMPLOYED WOMEN II. STUDY OF WOMEN SEEKING EMPLOYMENT By HARRIET A. BYRNE ^tNT rrcs Bulletin of the Women’s Bureau, No. 132 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1935 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. • « « , Price 5 cents CONTENTS Letter of transmittal __ v IntroductionIII.IIIIII.. i Part I Study of employed women2 Scope of study"__________________________________________________ " 2 Summary _ I 2 Age-..,--------- ------------------------------------------------ IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 2 Occupation 3 Education and training g Hours~ ~ ■" g WagesIII' 8 Part II Study of workers seeking employment 14 Scope of study14 Summary _ _ . ___ _ _ __ " u Age--------------------------------------------- 1::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 15 Marital status lg Education and trainingI.I.IIII 16 Type of business_________________________________________________ 17 OccupationII.-IIII 17 Time in office work"III 20 Duration of present unemployment_____ .. .. _____ _____ 21 wages-............................................. .............................22 TABLES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Chief occupation, by age—employed women g Chief occupation, by maximum general education—employed women.. Wage and age—employed women 9 Weekly wage, by chief occupation—employed women 10 Weekly wage, by maximum general education—employed women.. —_. Age of women, by city—women seeking employment 16 Chief occupation, by city—women seeking employment 18 Chief occupation, by age—women seeking employment 18 Duration of present unemployment, by age—women seeking employ ment______________________________________________________________ 10. Weekly wage, by city—women seeking employmentIII 11. Wage and age—'women seeking employmentI 12. Median wage, by occupation and city—women seeking employment... Page 7 11 21 22 23 27 I LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL United States Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, Washington, March 29, 1985. I have the honor to transmit a report based on question naires replied to by women and girls whose occupations are clerical. In conjunction with this Bureau’s survey of the employment of women in offices, based on employers’ records, two studies were carried on among office workers themselves. Questionnaires were distributed by the Young Women’s Christian Association among girls and women in their clubs and camps, and other forms were given to women applying for office jobs at employment agencies in several cities covered by the broader survey. This cooperation by the Y. W. C. A. and the various employment agencies is gratefully acknowledged. The material was gathered under the direction of Ethel Erickson, industrial supervisor, and the report has been written by Harriet A. Byrne, assistant editor. Respectfully submitted. Mary Anderson, Director. Hon. Frances Perkins, Secretary oj Labor. Madam: v WOMEN WHO WORK IN OFFICES INTRODUCTION . An intensive survey of office work for women was made in 7-cities in 1931 and 1932 by the Women’s Bureau. This study was confined to certain types of offices—advertising agencies, banks, insurance companies, investment houses, mail-order houses, public utilities, and publishers. Data were obtained from personnel records, from pay rolls, and by personal interview with someone representing the management. The number of women covered was almost 43,000.* To supplement these figures it was thought important to get some what similar information from a group of workers themselves as well as from unemployed women seeking clerical work at public employ ment offices. The cooperation of the Young Women’s Christian Association was secured in distributing questionnaires to employed business women in clubs and camps sponsored by that organization. The women them selves filled in the questionnaires, giving personal data and certain facts as to their work. The data thus obtained, though not entirely comparable with those secured from office records, are significant. Unemployment had. begun to be a serious problem at the time of this survey but very little information was available in the offices, so the questionnaire was again resorted to as a means of securing informa tion from women themselves. This was made possible through the cooperation of employment agencies, both fee-charging and non-fee charging, where questionnaires were left by the Women’s Bureau to be filled in by women who came to make application for work. The study was confined to 5 of the 7 cities in which the survey of offices was made. In another city data concerning women applying for work over a 3-month period were copied from the (records of the only non-fee-charging agency in the city. Information secured through the cooperation of the Young Women’s Christian Association will be discussed in part I of the present report and data on unemployed women in part II. ‘U. S. Department of Labor. Women’s Bureau. The Employment of Women in Offices. Bui. 120, 1 Parti. STUDY OF EMPLOYED WOMEN [Information obtained from office workers attending clubs and camps of tbe Young Women's Christian Association] SCOPE OF STUDY Questionnaires were filled in by 5,039 women office workers at clubs and camps conducted by the Young Women’s Christian Associa tion throughout the country, giving facts as to personal information, their schooling, and their work. Almost three-fourths replied through clubs and the remainder, 1,393, through camps. Thirty-nine States and the District of Columbia were represented, though from some States only a few questionnaires were received; from others, hundreds of women replied. Almost three-fifths of the women were in States classed as northern, almost one-third as southern, and almost onetenth as western. SUMMARY Period of survey: Fall of 1930 to spring of 1931. Number of women: 5,039. Chief occupation (5,020 reporting): Secretary, 17 percent; stenographer, 41; bookkeeper, 13; cashier or teller, 2; typist, 8; clerk, 15; machine operator, 3; miscellaneous, 2. Age (5,017 reporting): Under 20 years, 12 percent; 20 and under 25 years, 46; 25 and under 30 years, 23; 30 and under 35 years, 10; 35 and over, 9. Education (4,898 reporting): Grammar school, 4 percent; high school, 77; normal school, 6; college, 14. Commercial training (4,818 reporting): Had commercial training, 4,510 (in high school 38 percent, in business school 62 percent); no commercial training, 308. Scheduled daily hours (4,821 reporting): Less than 7 hours, 6 percent; 7 and less than 8, 55; 8 hours, 29; over 8 hours, 10. Scheduled weekly hours (4,481 reporting): Less than 40 hours, 19 percent; 40 and less than 44, 39; 44 and less than 48, 30; 48 and over, 12. Week’s earnings (4,915 reporting): Median $24.60, ranging from $19.85 for cashiers or tellers to $28.65 for secretaries. Distribution.—Under $15, 5 percent; $15 and under $20, 20 percent; $20 and under $25, 23 percent; $25 and under $30, 24 percent; $30 and over, 27 percent AGE All but 22 of the 5,039 women in the study reported their ages. As would be expected, they were a young group. Less than onetenth were as old as 35 years. The great majority, somewhat over two-thirds, were 20 and under 30, and about one-eighth were under 20. 2 3 STUDY OF EMPLOYED WOMEN These proportions are very similar to those for the 41,000 women with age reported in the larger study. In that survey the proportion 20 and under 30 years old was only slightly less than two-thirds, while the proportion as much as 30 years of age was somewhat over onefourth, as compared with somewhat less than one-fifth in the present survey. Women who reported Age Number Percent Total------- ---------------------------------- 5,017 100.0 Under 20 years 20, under 25 years---------- -----------------------25, under 30 years 30, under 35 years _________________ _ 35 years and over_____ _________________ 616 2,310 1,148 505 438 12.3 46.0 22.9 10.1 8.7 OCCUPATION A large proportion of the women were employed in very small offices. A third reported that they were emplo3Ted in offices where there were fewer than 5 persons, and only a third were in offices with as many as 25 persons. Women in small offices usually have various duties to perform. It is not surprising, therefore, that a large proportion of the total had a variety of duties. Such combinations as secretary and book keeper; or secretary, stenographer, bookkeeper, and cashier; or stenographer, bookkeeper, cashier, and switchboard operator, were very common. The difficulty in making an occupational classifica tion in such cases will be understood. The method chosen necessarily was an arbitrary one. For example, since the position of secretary connotes more responsibility than that of stenographer, the occupation was classed as secretary if this was checked on the questionnaire even though several other occupations may have been checked also. The order of precedence in classifying the chief occupation was as follows: Secretary, stenographer, bookkeeper, cashier or teller, typist, clerk, machine operator, miscellaneous. According to this method of classification, much the largest propor tion (more than two-fifths) of the 5,020 women who reported their type of work were stenographers. The next largest number were secretaries, about 1 in 6 being so classed. This was to be expected, as so large a proportion of the women were in small offices where there is little specialization and where it is customary for most of the em ployees to have stenographic training. More than one-half of the secretaries, in contrast to one-third of all the women, were employed in offices of fewer than 5 persons. About 1 in 7 of the total were classed as clerks and about the same proportion as bookkeepers. Only about 1 in 14 were typists. A very small proportion were machine operators only. The remainder, less than 4 percent, were cashiers or tellers and miscellaneous workers, not previously mentioned. 126506°—35-----2 4 WOMEN WHO WORK IN OFFICES Women who reported Chief occupation Total............ ........... ............................... Secretary_________ _____ ______ Stenographer_____ ___________ ________ Bookkeeper________ _____ _____ Cashier or teller.. ___________ Typist______ ______ ___________ Clerk__ _____ ___ _____ _ Machine operator_____ ________ Miscellaneous________ _______ _____ Number Percent 5,020 100.0 2,035 660 91 40.5 13.1 1.8 162 96 3.2 1.9 Machine operations Of special interest during this study has been the extent to which office workers are using machines other than typewriters. Is there in the use of machines a pronounced trend toward specialization, or is it a common thing for an office worker to use a variety of machines in the course of a day’s work? The results both of this and of the larger survey show that machines are being used extensively, the kinds used naturally conforming to the demands of the business. For example, the bookkeeping machine is used widely in banks, but in insurance companies much more extensive use is made of the tabu lating machine. Calculating, duplicating, and addressing machines are used in varying degrees in most offices. As would be expected, due to the large proportion of small offices, the women included in this survey were less frequently out-and-out machine operators than in the larger survey mentioned. Only 162 (3.2 percent) gave their entire time to machine operating, the majority using one type of machine only. Most of these women, practically two-fifths, were operators of calculating machines, next in number tabulating, and next bookkeep ing. The remainder used various other kinds of machines. Close to one-eighth of this group operated two types of machines, among them some combination of adding, calculating, bookkeeping, and tabulating machines. Only 3 women reported operating 3 or more types of machines. In an effort to determine how extensively machines were used by the women whose principal job was not machine operating, it was found that over 1,300 women used some machine in connection with their work. In other words, of the 5,020 women reporting, almost three-tenths used some machine in addition to the typewriter all or part of the time. Of the 1,326 women whose principal occupation was other than machine work and who reported the types of machines they operated, more than three-fifths operated 1 type, nearly three-tenths 2 types, and the remainder 3 or more. The proportions of women who reported operating some type of machine though not primarily machine operators varied from prac tically one-fifth of the secretaries to well over two-fifths of the book keepers. As would be expected, many of these operated bookkeeping machines, and some used adding, calculating, and tabulating machines in addition. Certainly the data secured in the survey indicate the extensive use of machines and suggest, as a result of this, the advantage to the workers of being familiar with a variety of types. 5 STUDY OF EMPLOYED WOMEN Chief occupation Number of women reporting Women who used machines Number i Percent Total....................................... 6,020 1,488 29.6 Secretary_______________ Stenographer Bookkeeper..___ ______ ____ Cashier or teller___________ _____ Typist________________________ Clerk_____ ____________ ______ Machine operator________ ____ Miscellaneous .................... ............ 865 2,035 660 91 384 727 162 96 166 627 288 23 126 189 162 7 19.2 26.9 43.6 25.3 32.8 26.0 100.0 7.3 1 1,500 women reported use of machine; 12 did not report number nor type of machines used. As just stated, the largest proportion of any group of workers reporting the type of machine used was 288 of the 660 bookkeepers. Of these, 3 in 5 operated one type of machine at work, the largest proportion an adding machine, next a bookkeeping or billing machine, and next a calculating machine. Though not used so extensively as these, some duplicating, tabulating, teletype, and other miscellaneous machines were reported. Of the 84 bookkeepers who operated two types of machines, 63 used an adding machine with some other kind, for example, bookkeeping or calculating. The 31 bookkeepers who operated more than two types of machines had used adding, book keeping, and calculating machines to a great extent. Although typing was considered their main job, 126 typists reported using some machine such as adding, bookkeeping, calculating, dic tating, and duplicating in addition to a typewriter. One hundred and eighty-nine of the women clerks had used some machine in performing their duties, usually an adding, a bookkeeping, or a calculating machine. Of the 527 stenographers reporting as to type of machine used, three-fifths had used one machine in addition to a typewriter. The largest proportion, slightly more than one-half of those operating only one additional machine, had used an adding machine, while next in rank were duplicating, calculating, dictating, and bookkeeping machines. For the stenographers who used two types of machines in addition to a typewriter, the adding machine again was most usual, though calculating, duplicating, bookkeeping, and dictating machines were used rather extensively. Among the stenographers using 3 or 4 types, the same machines as just mentioned were most frequentlv reported. About one-fourth of the 91 cashiers or tellers used some machine, for the most part adding, calculating, and duplicating machines. The smallest proportion of women in any specified occupation who reported using machines was the 19.2 percent of the 865 secretaries. As was noted for the other occupations, the machines most commonly used were adding, bookkeeping, calculating, and duplicating machines. Occupation and age Of the group reporting age, all but 17 reported their occupations as well. As would be expected, the ages of the women in the different occupations varied considerably. Somewhat under 1 in 10 of the secretaries, as compared with about 2 in 10 of the typists, were not 6 WOMEN WHO WORK IN OEEICES yet 20. At the other end of the age scale, less than 1 in 20 of the machine operators, in contrast to about 1 in 6 of those who were clerks, had reached 35 years. Other variations may be seen in table 1. Table 1.—Chief occupation, by age—employed women Percent w th age as specified All wom en report ing Under 20 20, under 25, under 30, under 35 years 25 years 30 years 35 years and over years Chief occupation Total—N umber. _............................ Percent.................................. 5,000 100.0 615 12.3 2,301 46.0 1,145 22.9 501 10.0 438 8.8 Secretary__ ____ ___ ____ _____ Stenographer.. _______________________ Bookkeeper. ......... ........ ........................ ... Cashier or teller. ___ ________ _____ Typist Clerk... . Machine operator------- -------- -------------Miscellaneous----------------------------------- 862 2,029 656 91 382 722 162 96 9.0 13.9 7.8 9.9 18.1 12.6 13.0 13.5 40.1 51.4 42.2 52.7 48.7 38.8 51.9 38.5 25.9 22.2 25.2 15.4 19.6 22.4 18.5 27.1 13.5 7.9 12.7 8.8 7.3 10.5 12.3 9.4 11.5 4.5 12.2 13.2 6.3 15.7 4.3 11.6 Occupation and size of office An indication may be had as to the occupations carried on in the smaller versus the larger offices. The proportions of the women who were in the smallest offices—those of fewer than 5 persons—ranged from about one-sixteenth of the machine operators to somewhat more than one-half of the secretaries. On the other hand, only about oneninth of the secretaries as compared with more than one-third of the machine operators were in the offices employing 100 or more. Approximately one-third of the bookkeepers were in the smallest offices and one-tenth were in the largest. This indicates the trend in the larger offices away from hand bookkeeping and toward the use of machines. About 1 in 10 of the typists were in the smallest offices and more than 1 in 4 were in the largest. More than one-half of the secretaries and almost two-fifths of the stenographers were in offices with 1 to 4 employees, as compared with about one-eighth each in the offices employing 100 or more. EDUCATION AND TRAINING General education Since this is a comparatively young group of business women, it is not surprising that a large majority, more than three-fourths of the 4,898 women reporting as to their maximum schooling, had attended high school, and that seven-tenths of these had completed the course. More than 1 in 8 of the total reporting having attended college or university had carried such training to completion. About 1 in 20 of the total had attended a normal school. The remainder (3.8 percent) reported their maximum schooling as less than high school. Education and occupation.—The proportions in the various occupa tions who had not even attended high school varied from 2.5 percent of the machine operators to 5.6 percent of the typists. Especially in the past, machine companies, eager to have their machines widely used and to furnish operators to businesses desiring them, gave free instruction in operating and even sometimes paid girls while learning. 7 STUDY OF EMPLOYED WOMEN Machine operating appealed to girls seeking work who had attended only a grammar school. About two-thirds of the clerks and almost nine-tenths of the cashiers or tellers reported attendance at high school as their maximum school ing. Few of the cashiers or tellers, in contrast to about one-eighth of the machine operators, had attended normal school. This large proportion of machine operators with normal training may be due to the fact that persons who find teaching distasteful, after having spent some time in preparation, can take a shortcut—a course in machine operation—into the business world. Less than 1 in 25 of the cashiers or tellers had attended college, but about 1 in 5 of the clerks and of the secretaries reported such training. Table 2.—Chief occupation, by maximum general education—employed women Percent with education as specified Chief occupation All women than reporting Less high school High school Normal school College Total—Number. Percent______________ ___________ 4,881 100.0 184 3.8 3,745 76.7 293 6.0 659 13.5 Secretary __________ _____ _____________ _____ Stenographer Bookkeeper._________ ________________________ Cashier or teller________________ _ Typist— ______________________ _____ ______ Clerk.___ _______ _____ Machine operator___ _______ _ ____ _____ Miscellaneous. ------- --------------------------------------- 846 1,990 631 86 377 700 159 92 3.4 2.7 4.9 4.7 5.6 5.0 2.5 6.5 72.0 82.1 75.6 89.5 77.5 67.3 78.6 65.2 4.8 4.7 8.1 2.3 5.8 8.4 12.6 5.4 19.7 10.5 11.4 3.5 11.1 19.3 6.3 22.8 The size of office seems to have little effect on requirements as to education. In offices with fewer than 5 employees 4.3 percent of the workers, and in offices of 100 or more 5.1 percent, had less than a high-school education. Likewise, 11.7 percent of those in the smallest offices and 11.3 percent of those in offices of 100 or more had had some university training. Grouped according to maximum schooling received, the proportions of women who considered themselves self-supporting varied not more than 3 points from 90 percent. Commercial training As would be expected, a large proportion (93.6 percent) of the women reporting as to commercial training had had some type of instruction along these lines. Over three-fifths of those who had had commercial training had received their instruction in business schools. As commercial training was made available in high schools much later than business schools came into existence, it is not surprising that larger proportions of the women trained in high schools than of those trained in private business schools were young. Of the women who had attended business schools, only about one-half were under 25 and practically one-tenth were at least 35; of those trained in high schools the corresponding proportions were almost three-fourths and only one-fortieth. The lowest proportions of the specified occupa tional groups with commercial training were about four-fifths of the general clerks and seven-tenths of the miscellaneous employees; the largest, as would be expected, was that of stenographers—almost 100 percent. 8 WOMEN WHO WORK IN OFFICES HOURS Scheduled daily hours It is well known that office hours usually are not long. Of the 5.039 women in the present study, 4,821 reported the length of the scheduled working day. Approximately equal proportions (about three-tenths) had a day of 8 hours and one of more than 7 and less than 8 hours. For about 1 in 4 the hours were exactly 7, for about 1 in 20 they were less than 7, and for about one-tenth, they were more than 8. Only 24 women, or one-half of 1 percent, had a day longer than 9 hours. More than three-fourths of the women reporting on the time allowed for lunch had a noon recess of an hour or more. The lunch period varied somewhat with the length of the working day. Scheduled weekly hours The scheduled weekly hours of most of the workers were reasonable. Practically two-fifths had a schedule of 40 and less than 44 hours, about three-tenths had one of 44 and under 48, about one-fifth worked less than 40 hours, and the remainder 48 or more. The smallest offices had the greatest variety of weekly hours. Though about one-fifth of their women workers, in contrast to only one-twentieth of those in the largest offices, had hours of 48 or more, the proportion with hours of less than 40 also was largest in the small offices. • Overtime Of the 4,688 women reporting on the question of overtime, almost one-half (2,263) had worked some time in addition to their regular hours. For the most part this overtime was irregular, but in about 1 of every 6 cases reported it was periodic. The hours spent in overtime work were not excessive, more than two-thirds of the women averaging less than 10 hours a month, and well over one-half of these less than 5 hours. The proportions in the various occupations working overtime varied from about 2 in 5 of the cashiers and tellers to practically 3 in 5 of the secretaries. More than one-half of the bookkeepers had worked over time. Overtime was a more frequent practice in the offices with long weekly hours than in those with shorter hours; 58 percent of the women with a week of more than 48 hours reported overtime in contrast to 47 percent of those whose schedule was less than 40. Lost time Time lost during the past year was reported on by approximately 4,300 women. Of the 637 who had lost some time for reasons other than personal, and who reported the amount, more than two-fifths had lost less than 1 month and approximately one-fifth had lost 3 and less than 6 months. Roughly one-eighth in each case had lost 1 and less than 2 months, 2 and less than 3, and 6 months or more. WAGES Weekly earnings were reported by 4,915 of the women who filled in questionnaires.2 Earnings probably were the same as scheduled rates, and the terms are used interchangeably in the present discussion. 2 For purposes of comparison with the survey of offices (see Women’s Bureau Bui. 120J, the weekly amounts may be converted to a monthly basis by multiplying by 4H- STUDY OP EMPLOYED WOMEN 9 Women who reported Weekly wage Number Percent 4,915 100.0 Total................................... Median earnings.................................... Less than $15............ .................. $15, less than $20......................... $20, less than $25_________ _____ $25, less than $30_____________ $30, less than $35.................... .......... $35, less than $40___ ____: $40 and more.............. ...........■__ 255 * 1,145 1,197 688 419 1 217 23. 3 14. 0 8.5 4.4 * Includes 1 woman earning $80. The median of the week’s earnings was $24.60 and the range was from under $15 to $40 or more. Almost one-half the women (48 per cent) earned $20 and under $30; one-fifth earned $15 and under $20. Small groups earned less than $15 and amounts in the highest brackets. Wages and age That the age of the worker has some relation to her salary was apparent in the report on offices referred to. Median earnings were highest for the older vvomen, whose greater experience probably was the basic reason for this. In the present study the median for those under 20 years was $17.60, and for those 35 or older it was $32.90, not far from twice as much. For those 20 and under 25 years it was $22.55; for those 25 and under 30 years, $26.75; and for those 30 "and less than 35 years, $29.90. Almost one-fifth of those under 20 years of age had a wage of less than $15 a week, but in other age groups only small percentages— from 5 to less than 1—were paid such small amounts. Table 3.— Wage and age—employed ivomey All women reporting Percent with wage as specified Weekly wage Number Percent Under 20 20, under 25, under 30, under 35 years years 25 years 30 years 35 years arid over Total—Number......................... Percent............ .............. 4,900 $15, less than $20................................. . $20, less than $25............... ............ . $25, less than $30............... ............ ...... $30, less than $35................................... $35, less than $40___ ____ $40 and more.................................... . 255 992 1,140 1,194 686 418 • 215 $24. 60 100. 0 605 100.0 2, 252 1,00. 0 1,125 100.0 491 100.0 5.2 20.2 23.3 24.4 14.0 8.5 4.4 18.8 48.9 21.2 8.8 2.1 .2 5.2 24.1 30.4 25.7 11.5 2.4 .6 1.5 9.,0 19.8 32: 5 19.4 13.3 i 4.4 .4 5.9 14.7 24.6 20.4 23.0 11.0 427 100.0 .’9 5.4 7.7 17.6 22.5 23.2 22.7 $17.60 $22. 55 $26. 75 $29.90 $3-2. 90 1 Includes 1 woman who earned $80. The wage level rose steadily with age, a strong indication of the value of experience in this line of work. To illustrate, roughly two-thirds (65 to 68 percent) in the various age groups were massed in these wage classes: Under 20 years, under $20. 20 to 24 years, $20 and under $35. 25 to 20 years, $25 and under $40. 30 to 34 years, $25 and under $40. 35 years and over, $30 to $40 and more. 10 WOMEN WHO WORK IN OFFICES Wages and chief occupation The median week’s earnings for the group as a whole reporting earnings and occupation (4,896) were $24.60. Median earnings were highest, $28.65, for the 840 secretaries. Next in rank were the medians for the 639 bookkeepers, $24.75; the 160 machine operators, $24.55; the 707 clerks, $24.0.5; and the 1,998 stenographers, $23.65. Con siderably below these amounts was the median for the 375 typists, $20.90. The lowest for any group was $19.85, for cashiers or tellers. Table 4.—Weekly wage, by chief occupation—employed women All women reporting Weekly wage Num ber Percent--------- 4, 890 Less than $15........................ . 253 $15, less than $20__ ____ 988 $20, less than $25 __ 1, 142 $25, less than $30__________ 1, 192 $30, less than $35........... ........ 688 $35, less than $40___ ______ 418 $40 and more........................ i 215 Median wage............... .......... $24. 60 Percent with wage as specified Per cent Ma Mis Cash Secre Ste Book ier or Typist Clerk chine cella nogra tary pher keeper teller opera neous tor 100.0 840 100.0 1,998 100.0 639 100.0 84 100.0 375 100.0 707 100.0 160 100.0 93 100.0 5.2 20. 2 23.3 24.3 14. 1 8.5 4.4 2.1 10.4 16.2 23.5 18.3 17.5 12.0 5.4 20.9 25.7 26.8 13.6 6.4 1.3 4.2 16.4 25.5 25.8 13.6 9.1 5.3 11.9 35.7 20.2 16.7 7. 1 7.1 1.2 8.0 32.5 26.7 18.7 10.4 2. 1 1.6 6.5 23.6 20.7 20. 1 14.3 9.5 5.4 2.5 21.9 25.0 36.9 12.5 .6 .6 10.8 26.9 28.0 10.8 10.8 3.2 i 9.7 $28. 65 $23. 65 $24. 75 $19. 85 $20. 90 $24. 05 $24. 55 $20.90 -....... 1 Includes 1 woman who earned $30. About 1 in 20 of the total group reporting earnings and occupa tion earned less than $15 a week. As would be expected from the medians just referred to, those in the three occupations with the highest medians—secretaries, bookkeepers, and machine operators— had the lowest proportions at less than $15. Stenographers, clerks, and typists had 5, 7, and 8 percent, respectively, reporting salaries of less than $15, while 12 percent of the cashiers and tellers earned as little as this. Practically one-fifth of those reporting earnings and occupation had earnings of $15 and less than $20. Women engaged in the same four occupations—secretarial work, bookkeeping, stenography, and ma chine operation—having the lowest proportions earning less than $15 a week, also had the lowest proportions earning $15 and under $20, although not in the same order. Cashiers and tellers, followed by typists, had the largest proportions at $15 and under $20. Somewhat less than one-fourth of the total earned $20 and under $25 a week. For specific occupations the proportions were one-sixth of the secretaries, about one-fifth of the clerks and of the cashiers and tellers, and about one-fourth each of the stenographers, book keepers, typists, and machine operators. Secretaries are the only group with proportions of any size earning as much as $35 a week. Wages and self-support Practically seven-eighths of the 4,764 women reporting as to their earnings and ability to care for themselves were self-supporting. A 11 STUDY OF EMPLOYED WOMEN great contrast was noted in the median earnings of those who did and did not so consider themselves, the figures being respectively $25.05 and $17. It is surprising that more than two-fifths of the women earning less than $15 a week reported self-support. As earnings increased, the proportions supporting themselves increased to the point at which all who earned $40 or more stated that they were self-supporting. Wages and education For the 4,783 women who reported education as well as earnings the median earnings were the same as for the total—$24.60. For one group, those who had completed high school, comprising more than one-half of all reporting, the median was below that for the total group, being $23.05. The highest median was $30.15, for the women who had completed college. The wage level rose with education, as it is shown to have done with age. More than 60 percent (from 60 to 68 percent) in the various education groups were massed in the wage classes following: No high school, and high school incomplete, $15 and under $30; high school complete, normal school, and college incomplete, $20 and under $35; college complete, $25 and under $40. Only about 1 in 50 of those who had completed college, in con trast to practically 1 in 16 of those who had attended normal school, had weekly earnings of less than $15. The largest proportions earn ing $35 and under $40 and $40 and over were for the college graduates, and the smallest were for those who had completed high school. Table 5.— Weekly wage, by maximum general education—employed women All women re porting Weekly wage High school College Less than high school Incom plete Com plete 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1000 5.1 20.4 23.1 24.4 14.0 8.6 4.3 3.3 12.5 25.0 28.3 16.3 10.3 4.3 5.1 19.2 22.6 26.0 13.4 9.3 4 6 5.5 24.8 24.9 24.3 12.1 6.2 2.2 5.9 12.9 22.7 20.3 19.9 12.6 5.6 4.6 11.3 18.7 22. 4 19. 2 13.5 10.3 2.1 6.9 10.3 16. 6 17.9 $25.15 $24. 75 $23. 05 $25. 25 $27. 75 $30.15 Number Percent Percent........... Percent with wage as specified Normal Incom plete Com plete 4,783 Less than $15 $15, less than $20 $20, less than $25____ _____ $25, less than $30....... ........... $30, less than $35, . $35, less than $40 $40 and more........... ......... . 246 975 1.106 1,169 670 409 208 Median wage........ ............ $24. 60 The range of median earnings among women who were not depend ent was from $24.55 for those who had completed high school to $30.75 for those who had completed college. Among the groups who con sidered themselves not self-supporting, the range of median earnings was from $16.60 for the women who had completed high school to, $19 for those who had attended college. Wages and training More than 4,700 women reporting their earnings reported also as to commercial training. More than 4,400 of these had had such training. For this group the median of the earnings was $24.60. 126506°—35-----3 12 WOMEN WHO WORK IN OFFICES For the 1,615 women whose commercial training had been secured in high schools the median was $22.65, and for the 2,738 who had been trained in business schools it was $24.95. This difference may not have been the result of training only but due to experience as well. However, when age and typo of training are correlated with earnings, those with commercial-school training still had higher earnings than those without such training. For the women who had received their commercial training in high schools, the median rose from $17.20 for the women under 20 years of age to $30 for those 30 and under 35. For those whose commercial training was in business schools, the medians advanced from $18 for those under 20 to $32.20 for those 35 years of age or more. Wages and hours For the women who had worked less than 39 hours and 39 and less than 40 hours, the medians were alike, $24.75, and for those who had worked 40 and less than 42 hours the amount was only 5 cents less. The highest median was $28.55 for those who had worked 42 and less than 44 hours, practically one-fourth of the reporting group. For those who had worked over 48 hours, median earnings were $19.60, the lowest of all, though representing the longest hours of work. Only 1,547 of the 2,263 women who had worked some overtime reported as to whether or not they had been paid for such work. Less than one-third (30.6 percent) were reimbursed in any way. Well over one-half of those reporting as to method of reimbursement had been paid for their overtime work; the remainder had been given time off. Various amounts were paid to the 224 who reported money com pensation for overtime. Such reports as these were given: $1 an evening for a clerk at $14 a week. 50 cents an hour for a clerk at $15. 75 cents for supper for a clerk at $20. $1 an evening for a secretary at $18. Time and a half per hour for a bookkeeper at $24. Supper money for a stenographer at $20. Time and a half for a secretary at $15. $1 for 2 hours’ work for a stenographer at $28. 75 cents for supper for a stenographer at $28. 75 cents for supper (3 hours’ overtime) for a stenographer at $25. $1.75 for two hours for a file clerk at $31. 50 cents an hour for a file clerk at $18.75. $1 for dinner for a clerk at $90 a month. $1 a night for a typist at $40 a month. The median of the earnings of those who worked overtime was slightly less than the median of those who did not, $24.55 as com pared with $24.80. The median of the earnings for the 616 women reporting lost time and earnings was $20.05. As the time lost increased, the median earnings decreased from $20.90 for those who had lost less than 1 month to $18.25 for those who had lost 6 and under 12 months. Bonus Of the 4,141 women reporting as to whether or not they had received a bonus in addition to their salary, one-eighth reported that they had received some amount in this form of additional remuneration. Of these 517 women, 263 reported the exact amount of money they had received. About one-fourth of these had received less than $25, STUDY OP EMPLOYED WOMEN 13 about one-fiftli $25 and under $50, another one-fourth $50 and less than $100, and the remainder $100 and over. Of the 83 women who reported that they had received as a bonus a proportionate part of their salary, 39 had received 5 percent of their salary and only 4 had received as much as 20 percent. Little difference was noted in the median earnings of those who received a bonus and those who did not, $24.60 for the first and $24.90 for the second. Less than one-tenth of the typists, in contrast to almost one-fourth of the cashiers or tellers, reported the receipt of a bonus. Practically one-eighth of the women in the other specified occupations had been paid a bonus. Bonuses were less common in the smallest offices than in the others. Establishments with 50 or more workers paid bonuses to about onefifth or one-sixth, but the practice affected only about 1 in 9 of the employees in places with fewer than 5 workers. Part II. STUDY OF WORKERS SEEKING EMPLOYMENT [Information obtained by questionnaire from women applying for office work at employment agencies] SCOPE OF STUDY This part of the report deals with the information given by women on questionnaires left at various employment agencies in 5 of the 7 cities where the Bureau conducted its extensive survey of the employ ment of women in offices. Both fee-charging and non-fee-charging agencies cooperated. In another city, Atlanta, information was secured from the records of the Community Employment Service, a non-fee-charging agency that handles most of the employment work of that city. The information obtained, though for a relatively small group of the office workers unemployed at the time, gives an indica tion of the types of workers affected. In the summary below it will be seen that data concerning 4,331 women, most of whom were unemployed at date of filling in the questionnaire, were seen red Number of women City Total______ __ _______ _____ ____ New York____ _____ _ _ _______ Philadelphia__ _____ __ Atlanta., __ ..._____ _____ Chicago _ _______ _ __ St. Louis _ ____ _ _________ Des Moines._ _ ______ ____ _____ __ __ _ _ _ Percent 4, 331 100. 0 1, 061 367 724 1, 505 528 146 24. 8. 16. 34. 12. 3. 5 5 7 7 2 4 SUMMARY Period of survey: 1931 to spring of 1932. Number of women, 4,331. Age (4,249 reporting): Under 20 years, 16 percent; 20 and under 30 years, 68; 30 and under 40 years, 14; 40 years and over, 2. Marital status (4,183 reporting): Single, 83 percent; married, 10; widowed, separated, divorced, 7. Education (4,205 reporting): Grammar school, 8 percent; high school, 72; normal school, 4; college, 16. Chief occupation (4,297 reporting): Secretary, 26 percent; stenographer, 28; typist, 10; bookkeeper, accountant, etc., 12; cashier, 4; clerk, 15; general office and miscellaneous, 5. Time in office work (3,240 reporting): Less than 1 year, 7 percent; 1 and less than 5 years, 40; 5 and less than 10 years, 35; 10 years and over, 18.1 1 The date of filling in these questionnaires varied from city to city with the time of the year in which the particular city was visited. The survey as a whole extended throughout 1931 and the first few months of 1932. 14 STUDY OF WORKERS SEEKING EMPLOYMENT 15 Time unemployed (3,534 reporting): Less than 3 months, 48 percent; 3 and less than 6 months, 22; 6 and less than 12 months, 18; 1 and less than 2 years, 9; 2 years and more, 4. Week’s earnings, present or last job (4,331 reporting): Median, $23. Distribution.—Less than $15, 8 percent; $15 and less than $20, 27; $20 and less than $25, 24; $25 and less than $30, 22; $30 and less than $35, 12; $35 and more, 9. Median of the week’s earnings by age (4,249 reporting): Under 20 years, $16; 20 and under 25 years, $21.10; 25 and under 30 years, $25.75; 30 and under 40 years, $27.85; 40 years and over, $25.65. Median of the week’s earnings by occupation (4,297 reporting): Secretary, $28.20; stenographer, $20.85; bookkeeper, $25.10; cashier, $18.80; typist, $20.25; clerk, $20.70; miscellaneous, $21.80. Median of the week’s earnings by schooling (4,205 reporting): Grade school, $21.05; high school incomplete, $21.35; high school complete, $22.95; college or university incomplete, $25.45; college or university complete, $29.40; normal school attended, $23.75. • Median of the week’s earnings by business school training (4,265 reporting): With business school training (1,683), $23.15; without business school training, (2,582), $22.90. AGE As was true of the girls in Young Women’s Christian Association clubs and camps, the women seeking work through the employment agencies covered were a young group. Of the 4,331 who made out the questionnaires, 4,249 reported their ages; more than two-fifths were 20 and under 25, and more than one-fourth were 25 and under 30. The summary following shows a relative similarity to the other study in the various age groups. Women re plying through Women ap camps and plying for clubs of work at Young Wom employment en’s Christian agencies Association Age Total reporting--Number _____ Percent__ Under 20 vears _ 20, under 25 years ________ 25, under 30 years___ 30 years and over.. _ _____ ... 5, 017 100. 0 4, 249 100. 0 12 46. 22. 18. 15. 41. 26. 16. 3 0 9 8 5 4 6 5 The ages of unemployed women varied considerably from city to city. Fewer than 1 in 7 of those in Chicago, compared with almost 1 in 4 in New York, were under 20. Proportions in other cities fell between these two, with the exception of Atlanta, where only 1 woman in the 704 was under 20. More nearly similar proportions, roughly two-fifths of those in each of the 6 cities, were 20 and not yet 25. In every city but Philadelphia and Atlanta approximately one-fourth were 25 and under 30. The proportions falling in the next age group, 30 and not yet 40, varied from one-tenth in New York to more than onc-sixth in Philadelphia and in Atlanta. Only very slight propor tions of the women as a whole and in each of the 6 cities were as much as 40. 16 WOMEN WHO WORK IN OFFICES Table 6.—Age of women, by city—-women seeking employment Women replying to questionnaire Age All cities New York Philadel phia Atlanta Chicago St. Louis Des Moines Num- Per- Num- Per- Num- Per- Num- Per- Num- Per- Num- Por- Num- Perber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent 4,249 100.0 1,043 100.0 Under 20 years___ 658 15.5 20, under 25 years-. 1,758 41.4 25, under 30 years.. 1,131 26.6 30, under 40 years.. 609 14.3 40 years and over _ _ 93 2.2 252 414 246 111 20 24.2 39.7 23.6 10.6 1.9 355 100.0 704 100.0 1,485 100.0 521 100.0 81 132 65 63 14 1 .1 314 44.6 244 34.7 124 17.6 21 3.0 96 233 121 62 9 22.8 37.2 18.3 17.7 3.9 203 608 422 227 25 13.7 40.9 28.4 15.3 1.7 18.4 44.7 23.'2 11.9 1.7 141 100.0 25 67 33 22 4 17.7 40.4 23.4 15.6 2.8 MARITAL STATUS Practically five-sixths of the women seeking work were single, about one-tenth were married, and the remainder were widowed, separated, or divorced. In 5 of the 6 cities the proportion of single women varied by not more than about 10 points from that for the whole, but in Atlanta the proportion was much less, fewer than onehalf being single. Close to 2 in 5 in Atlanta were married, while in the other cities the proportions of married women were very small. Atlanta also had the largest proportion of widowed, separated, or divorced women, and Des Moines the next. EDUCATION AND TRAINING As was noted for the groups of women in the Young Women’s Christian Association clubs and camps, close to three-fourths of the women by whom maximum education was reported had attended high school. More than one-half of these had completed the course. About one-sixth had been to college, though only 1 in 4 of these had attained a degree. The remainder had either attended normal school or stopped after the grammar grades, 4 percent and about 8 percent, respectively. Practically two-lifths of those who reported as to business schooling had had such training. Three-fifths of those who had gone no further than the grammar grades in school had attended a business college, while less than two-fifths of the high school students and only about three-tenths of the university students had received such training. Women who reported Maximum general education Number High school _____ College-_ ______ - _ . . _____ - _ _ --------- Percent 4, 205 100. 0 329 3, 028 1, 39(5 1, 632 171 677 507 170 7. 8 72. 0 4. 1 16. 1 STUDY OF WORKERS SEEKING EMPLOYMENT 17 TYPE OF BUSINESS Of the 3,116 women in the 6 cities who reported the line of business of their present or last employer, the largest number were from offices connected with manufacturing or mechanical industries, the next largest from mercantile and sales corporations, and the next from the professional group. Only in Atlanta were offices of these types in cluded in the Bureau’s report on the employment of women in offices. Other lines in which the women seeking employment had been engaged were insurance, public utilities, bonds, publishing, mail order, and banks. In the largest cities included, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia, the same three types of business as for the group as a whole were most frequently reported. In Chicago the largest number of women (235) had been employed in manufacturing, with mercantile and sales houses following, as for the total, the professional offices ranking third. Work in professional offices was reported by the largest group of women in New York, with manufacturing second, and some mercantile or sales pursuit third. In Philadelphia the same three were reported most frequently, but the rank was manufacturing, professional, and mercantile and sales. Manufacturing, mercantile and sales, and public utilities were reported most often by the women in St. Louis, and the second and third of these were mentioned most frequently on the Atlanta records. The next two groups in Atlanta, an equal number in each, were mail order and manufacturing. Only 112 women in Des Moines reported their employer’s business, and of these the largest number had been engaged in insurance. OCCUPATION Almost 4,300 of the women who filled in questionnaires reported their work on the present or last job. As was true in the returns to the Y. W. C. A., many gave more than one occupation, and because of the nature of the data an arbitrary classification of the chief jobs was necessary. The same classification was used in both studies, with the exception of machine operators. The list for the women seeking employment follows: Secretary, stenographer, bookkeeper, cashier, typist, clerk, other. The largest group, almost three-tenths of the total, was the stenog raphers, followed closely by the secretaries, who comprised more than one-fourth of all. The smallest group, about 1 in 25 of the total, was that of cashiers. In Philadelphia, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Des Moines the largest proportions of women seeking work were stenographers, while in Chicago and New York secretaries were most numerous. In each city the smallest group (except those combined as “other”) was the cashiers. WOMEN WHO WORK IN OFFICES 18 Table 7.—Chief occupation, by city—women seeking employment Percent of women with occupation as specified Chief occupation All cities Total reporting—Number. _ Percent... Clerk __ ........................... New York Philadel phia Atlanta Des Chicago St. Louis Moines 4,297 100.0 1,061 100.0 367 100.0 715 100.0 1,485 100.0 525 100.0 144 100.0 25.7 28.4 11.6 4. 1 10.0 15.2 5.1 25.9 18.8 15.5 3.9 7.1 22.5 6.4 25.9 34.9 10.6 4.1 8.7 13.4 2.5 10.8 36.4 10.6 5.9 7.3 17.9 11.2 33.9 26.4 10.6 3.4 11.0 11.4 3.2 24.2 36.0 8.8 3. i 18.1 36.8 10.4 6.9 14.6 10.4 2.8 10.1 1.7 Occupation and age In the six cities considered together the largest proportion, approxi mately two-fifths, of the women reporting age and occupation were 20 and under 25 years. The largest proportions in the seven occu pational groups also were of these ages. The range was from about one-third of the secretaries to close to one-half of the typists. The occupations with more than the average proportion of women as much as 40 years old were bookkeepers and secretaries, but even these had only small percentages so reporting. Table 8.—Chief occupation, by age—women seeking employment Chief occupation Percent.......... ...........-..........- All women report ing Percent with age as specified Under 20, under 25, under 30, under 40 years 20 years 25 years 30 years 40 years and over 4,215 100.0 654 15.5 1,742 41.3 1,123 26.6 605 14. 4 91 2.2 1,081 1,198 489 171 420 642 214 9.0 22.5 11.0 14.0 19.0 16.4 11.7 34.0 43.5 41.7 37.4 48.3 46.4 39.3 33.5 21.7 29.7 26.9 22.4 24.0 29.0 20.4 10.8 14.1 19.9 9.3 3.1 1.6 3. 5 1.8 1.0 1.4 17.3 In New York the largest proportions of secretaries, bookkeepers, and clerks were 20 and not yet 25, but the largest group of stenog raphers were under 20. Equal proportions of the typists fell m these two age groups. In each occupational group much the smallest proportion were 40 years and over. In Philadelphia only two occupations—secretaries and stenog raphers—had as many as 50 women. The largest proportion of the secretaries were 30 and not yet 40 years of age, and of the stenog raphers 20 and under 25. , . In Chicago four occupations had their largest proportions m the age group 20 and under 25 years, but in the case of secretaries well over one-third were 25 and not yet 30. In St. Louis also the modal age group was 20 and not yet 25 in four of the occupations. In Des Moines only stenographers were sufficient in number for analysis. Considerably more tban two-fifths of these were 20 and under 25 years. STUDY OP WORKERS SEEKING EMPLOYMENT 19 In Atlanta all occupations but secretary had their largest propor tions in the age group 20 and under 25 years; for secretaries the modal age group was 25 and under 30. Occupation and education The proportions of women with little and with considerable school ing show quite a range according to occupation. Only about 3 percent of the secretaries and about 7 percent of the stenographers had stopped school after the grammar grades, compared with about 12 percent of the cashiers, typists, and clerks. Varying proportions in the different occupations reported high school as their maximum education; about five-eighths of the secretaries did so, as compared with close to four-fifths of the stenographers, cashiers, and typists. Only 6 percent of the cashiers had attended a university, but close to 30 percent of the secretaries reported such training. Approximately three-tenths of the secretaries who had been to college or university had completed the course. The proportions of women who had attended normal school varied much less, from 2.7 percent of the typists to 5.7 percent of the bookkeepers. In New York the largest proportion of the women in any city included (more than 1 in 5) had had some university training and the smallest proportion in any city reported high school as their maxi mum. Only 1 in 40 of the secretaries, compared with 1 in 8 of the typists, reported their maximum as the grammar grades. About one-eighth of the typists, the stenographers, and the bookkeepers had attended a university, as compared with more than two-fifths of the secretaries. For 3 of the 4 occupations in which a comparison was possible of those who had had business training and those who had not, much higher proportions had gone directly to business training from grammar school. In contrast to New York, a much smaller proportion of the women seeking work in Philadelphia reported university training, and a larger proportion gave the grammar grades as their maximum schooling. For only two occupations (secretary and stenographer) was informa tion available as to type of education. Close to 1 in 10 of the secre taries and about 1 in 6 of the stenographers had only a grammarschool education, as compared to more than 1 in 8 of the former and only about 1 in 33 of the latter who had some university training. For the group as a whole the proportion with business training who reported grammar school as their maximum education was much greater than of those without such training, 23.5 percent as compared with 4.3 percent. In Atlanta the proportions who reported specified types of general education were quite similar to the group of six cities as a whole, a somewhat larger part having been to high school and a smaller pro portion to college. About 6 percent of the secretaries, in contrast to 3 percent for the group of six cities, had only grammar-school training. The proportions of those who had attended high school were very nearly the same for the various occupations as for all women in the Atlanta study. One in 12 of the bookkeepers and about 1 in 7 of the secretaries had been university students. Only for stenographers in Atlanta was it possible to compare those with and without business schooling. The conditions as to general education were much the same as in other cities. 20 WOMEN WHO WORK IN OFFICES In Chicago the proportion with grammar school as a maximum was only about one-half as great as that for the six cities as a whole and that for New York. The proportion with college training was some what greater than for the six cities combined, though not quite so large as for New York. It was three times as great as for Philadelphia. The proportions of those in the various occupations who had been only to grammar school ranged from one-half of 1 percent of the secretaries to 10 percent of the cashiers. Those who had been to a university ranged from 2 percent of the cashiers to more than 30 percent of the secretaries. For three occupations, secretary, stenographer, and typist, comarisons have been made of those with and without business training, n every case larger proportions of the women in these positions with business training had only a grammar-school foundation. As else where, and as would be expected, larger proportions of those with university training had not attended a business school. The education reported by the women in St. Louis was quite dif ferent. A much larger proportion than in the other mid western cities or in the six cities considered as a group (15 percent) had only a grammar-school background, and a much smaller proportion (6.6 percent) than in the group as a whole had university training. The proportions differed greatly with the occupations, for four of which—secretary, stenographer, clerk, and typist—comparison was possible. From one-twelfth of the secretaries to three-tenths of the clerks had only grammar school as their maximum. About 1 in 25 of the clerks, as compared with 1 in 8 of the secretaries, had attended a university. For those with and without business training the conditions were those previously described: Larger proportions of those with business schooling than of those without had only grammar-school training, and smaller proportions had university training. The same trend was noted for two occupations, secretary and stenographer, the only two on which comparisons could be based. A much smaller proportion in Des Moines than in Chicago had no more education than that afforded by a grammar school, and a much larger proportion than in Chicago, Atlanta, or the 6 cities considered as a whole had been to normal school. Due to the small numbers, only the groups as a whole with and without business training can be compared. As appears throughout, the proportion with college training was much greater for those without business schooling than for those who had had such schooling. f TIME IN OFFICE WORK In 5 of the 6 cities (Atlanta the one excepted) women seeking em ployment reported the time that they had been employed in office work. Of the 3,114 women who were unemployed at time of inquiry and who reported the time they had been in office work, about 1 in 15 had had less than a year’s experience, and a somewhat larger proportion, about 1 in 12, had had 1 and less than 2 years’ experience. Proportions approximating one-tenth had worked from 2 to 3, from 3 to 4, and from 4 to 5 years. More than one-third had worked in offices 5 and less than 10 years, and somewhat less than one-fifth had had experience of 10 years or more. In general there was little difference in these proportions in the various cities. STUDY OF WORKERS SEEKING EMPLOYMENT 21 DURATION OF PRESENT UNEMPLOYMENT Of the 3,534 women who reported the time they had been out of work, almost one-half had been unemployed for less than 3 months, about one-fifth for 3 and less than 6 months, and a slightly smaller proportion for 6 months to a year. Practically 1 in 8 of the women had been out of work for a year or longer, some for as long as 5 years. When the 6 cities were compared, New York had the largest propor tion (96 percent) unemployed for less than 1 year, and Atlanta the smallest (70 percent). By age Though the majority of the unemployed women were young, it was the older women who had been out of work for long periods. Of those unemployed for less than 3 months, close to 3 in 5 were women under 20 and only about 1 in 5 were 40 or more. At the other extreme, those who had been unemployed for a year or longer increased with age from less than 7 percent of the women under 20 to 26.3 percent of those 40 or older. The same conditions were noted in each of the six cities as for the group as a whole. Table 9.—Duration of present unemployment, by age—women seeking employment Percent with unemployment as specified Duration of present unemployment Total—Number______ ____ _ Percent_____ ___________ Less than 3 months___________ .. 3r less than 6 months ___________ 6, less than 9 months.............. ............ . 9, less than 1 year__________ ___ 1, less than 2 years........ .................. All women reporting Under 20 20, under 25, under 30, under 40 years years of 25 years 30 years 40 years of age of age of age age of age and more 3,476 100.0 505 100.0 1,462 100.0 934 100.0 499 100.0 76 100.0 1,665 761 369 247 305 129 57.2 22.6 8.1 5.3 6.3 .4 51.2 20.0 10.9 7.7 8.2 2.0 45.4 23.3 9.7 7.4 8.5 5.7 37.3 24.2 12.2 6.4 12.4 7.4 22.4 21.1 21.1 9.2 15.8 10.5 By marital status More than one-half of the single women reporting duration of unem ployment had been out of work less than 3 months, and somewhat under one-fourth for 3 and less than 6 months. Quite a different situation was noted among the married women, of whom more than three-tenths had been out as long as a year. Of the widowed, separated, or divorced women, more than one-third had been out of work less than 3 months and somewhat less than threetenths for a year or longer. Only for single women was it possible to make such comparisons m the six cities. The largest proportion of single women who had been out of work less than 3 months was about 3 in 5, for the women in New York City. The smallest proportion, was about 1 in 5, for those in Atlanta. Close to one-fourth (22.2 percent) of the single women reporting in Atlanta, in contrast to only 3 percent of those in New York, had been unemployed for a year or more. Wide variations were shown among the married women in the two cities in which it was possible to make comparisons, Atlanta and Chicago. In Atlanta only about one-eighth of the married women 22 WOMEN WHO WORK IN OFFICES had been unemployed for less than 3 months, in contrast to nearly one-half of those in Chicago. Close to two-fifths of those in the southern city, as compared with about one-fifth of those in Chicago, had been out of work for a year or more. Conditions among the widowed, separated, or divorced women in Atlanta were much the same as among the married women. By schooling When duration of unemployment was correlated with schooling, education appeared to have little effect on the length of time out of work. This was true not only for the group as a whole but for the cities considered separately. By time in office work Among those unemployed for less than a year, length of experience seemed to have little or no relation to such unemployment. How ever, of those with experience of 5 and under 10 years or of 10 years or more, naturally the older women, the proportions unemployed for at least a year were greater than for any other group, about 1 in 10 and 1 in 6, respectively. This same condition was found true for 4 of the 5 cities in which comparisons could be made. WAGES Weekly wages 2 on their last jobs—or their present jobs if still employed—were given by all the women covered. The median of the wages was $23 for the group as a whole. For the two largest groups of women, those from Chicago and New York City, with respectively about one-third and one-fourth of the total, the medians were higher than for all women and were very nearly alike—$25.05 and $25.15. The median wage in Atlanta, with about 1 in 6 of all the women, was $21.55, and in Philadelphia, with about 1 in 12, it was $20.25. In St. Louis and Des Moines, with about 12 and 3 percent, respec tively, of the women, the median wages were the lowest, $18.80 and $16.90. . . The proportions of all women and of the women in each city earn ing some amount within specified groups may be seen in table 10. Table 10.—Weekly wage, by city—women seeking employment Women replying to questionnaire All cities Weekly wage New York Phila delphia Atlanta Chicago St. Louis Des Moines Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent 528 724 100.0 1,505 100.0 367 100.0 4,331 100.0 1,061 100.0 Median wage____ $23.00 — $25.15 — $20. 25 — $21. 55 — $25. 05 — $18.80 97 58 3.9 84 11.6 40 10.9 41 3.9 351 8.1 182 298 19.8 202 27.9 135 36.8 267 25.2 $15, less than $20-.. 1,149 26.5 380 25.2 145 195 26.9 89 24.3 201 18.9 $20, less than $25.._ 1, 038 24.0 77 396 26.3 148 20.4 62 16.9 228 21.5 929 21.5 $25, less than $30___ 16 238 15.8 58 8.0 31 8.4 153 14.4 $30, less than $35-__ 498 11.5 135 9.0 11 37 5.1 10 2.7 171 16.1 366 8.5 $35 and more____ * For use of term, see foot of p. 8. 100.0 — 18.4 34.5 27.5 14.6 3.0 2.1 146 100.0 $16.90 — 31 65 28 18 2 2 21.2 44. 5 19.2 12.3 1.4 1.4 23 STUDY OF WORKERS SEEKING EMPLOYMENT Wages and age Of the 4,249 women reporting age and the weekly wage on the last job, almost equal proportions, close to one-fourth, had wages of $15 and less than $20 and of $20 and less than $25. A slightly smaller proportion, about one-fifth, had received $25 and less than $30. More than one-tenth (11.5 percent) reported as their last wage some amount from $30 to $35. Almost equal proportions, about onetwelfth, had weekly wages of less than $15 and of $35 and more. The largest proportion of the women whose stipend weekly was less than $15 was that of the women under 20 years of age, about one-fourth. For the most part the proportions earning some amount below $15 varied inversely with ago. For the women whose weekly wage was $15 and less than $20, the largest proportion also was for the women not yet 20. In general, as age increased the proportions earning these amounts decreased. The largest group of women earning $20 and less than $25 was the women 20 and under 25 years old, close to one-third of whom reported such wages. Only about one-sixth of the girls under 20 had a wage of as much as $20. Between 20 percent and 30 percent of all the women but those under 20 reported a wage of $25 and less than $30; only 3 percent of the youngest group had earned this much. Close to one-fifth of those 25 and under 30 years and 30 and under 40 years had earned $30 and under $35, and about the same proportion of those 30 and under 40 and 40 and over had a wage of $35 or more. Median earnings increased with age from $16 for those not yet 20 to $27.85 for those 30 and under 40. For the highest age group, 40 years and over, the median dropped to $25.65, almost identical with that for women 25 and under 30 years. Table 11.— Wage and age—women seeking employment All women reporting Percent with wage as specified Weekly wage Number 4,249 350 1,130 1,014 910 487 358 $23. 00 Percent Under 20 years of age 20, under 25, under 30, under 40 years 25 years 30 years 40 years of age of age of age of age and over 100.0 658 100.0 1,758 100.0 1,131 100.0 609 100.0 93 100.0 8.2 26.6 23.9 21.4 11.5 8.4 26.0 67.6 12.9 3.0 .2 .3 7.5 29.5 31.3 21.4 7.3 3.0 3.1 14.6 21.2 27.3 20.1 13.7 1.8 9.4 18.9 29.6 18.9 21.6 2.2 11.8 24.7 26.9 16.1 18.3 $16.00 $21.10 $25.75 $27.85 $25.65 In New York the earnings reported were the highest in any of the cities, though not very unlike those in Chicago. Only about 1 in 25 women had wages of less than $15; a somewhat larger proportion had earned $15 and less than $20. More than 3 in 10 of the women re ported $30 and over. Naturally, the median of the wages of the New York women were the highest of any, $25.15. 24 ■WOMEN WHO WOBK IN OFFICES In general, larger proportions of the younger than of the older women had small weekly wages. Approximately 12 percent of the girls under 20 had earned less than $15, as compared with only 1 per cent of those 20 and under 25 or 25 and under 30. About three-fifths of the women under 20 years, as compared with about one-twentieth of those in the groups 25 and less than 40 years, had earned $15 and under $20. The proportions earning the highest amounts, $35 and more, increased directly with age, from less than 1 percent of the women under 20 to nearly 50 percent of those 30 and under 40. Median earnings likewise increased with age, from $18.10 for the women under 20 to $30.95 for those 30 and under 40 years of age. In Philadelphia larger proportions than in New York City had earned small amounts: About 1 in 9 reported less than $15, and more than 1 in 3 some amount between $15 and $20. Only about 1 in 9 had earned $30 and more. As was true of the women in New York, there was a close relation between earnings and age. Nearly all the women under 20, about one-half of those 20 and under 25, three-tenths of those 25 and under 30, and about one-seventh of those 30 and under 40 had earned less than $20. No one under 20 had earned as much as $25, though more than one-eighth of those 20 and under 25 years, more than two-fifths of those 25 and under 30, and close to seven-tenths of those 30 and under 40 had earned at least $25. As age increased, the median earnings increased from $15.35 for those under 20 years to $25.70 for those 30 and under 40 years. Of the 724 women in Atlanta reporting their last wage, the propor tions were not very different from those of the group as a whole. How ever, a smaller proportion in Atlanta than in all cities had earned as much as $30, about one-eighth as compared with one-fifth, while close to one-eighth of the women in Atlanta, in contrast to about one-twelfth of the total, had earned less than $15. The median earnings increased as age increased from $18.60 for those 20 and under 25 to $25.40 for those 30 and under 40. As in other cities, the proportions in the lower-wage groups de creased as age increased. For those earning $30 and under $35 the proportions increased with age, but the wage group $35 and over had more women of 30 and under 40 years than of 40 years and more. Of the 1,485 women in Chicago who reported age and wage, only 3.9 percent, exactly the figure for New York, had a wage of less than $15. Almost one-fourth of the women—not so large a proportion as in New York, but larger than in Philadelphia—had a wage of as much as $30. The largest proportion earning less than $15 was of the girls under 20, about one-fifth of whom had such earnings. The same group had the largest proportion, close to two-thirds, who earned $15 and less than $20. In the next wage class, $20 and less than $25, the largest group was close to two-fifths of the women 20 and under 25 years old. For those earning $35 and over, proportions increased with age from 2.5 percent of those 20 and under 25 years to close to 30 percent of those 40 years and older. Median earnings increased as age increased from $17.10 for those under 20 to $29.25 for those 30 and under 40. There was a slight decline for the women of 40 or more. STUDY OF WORKERS SEEKING EMPLOYMENT 25 St. Louis had the largest proportion, Des Moines alone excepted, of women who had earned less than $15. The figure was slightly under one-fifth. St. Louis had next to the smallest proportion— only about 1 in 20—of women who had earned as much as $30. In general, the proportions at the smaller amounts decreased and those earning the larger amounts increased with age. More than 3 in 5 of the women under 20, but only about 1 in 20 of those 25 and under 30, had earned less than $15; and only about 1 in 200 of those 20 and under 25, in contrast to 1 in 16 of those 30 and under 40, had earned $35 or more. The median earnings increased from $12.90 for those under 20 years of age to $24.25 for those 30 and under 40. Larger proportions of women in Des Moines than in any other of the cities, more than 1 in 5, reported wages of less than $15 and of $15 and less than $20. As would be expected, women in this city reported next to the smallest proportion earning $20 and less than $25 and the smallest proportions earning $25 and less than $30 and $30 and less than $35. None had earned so much as $35. For only one age group, 20 and under 25 years, were there sufficient numbers on which to base any comparisons. About equal proportions, approxi mately three-tenths, of the women of these ages had earned less than $15, $15 and under $20, and $20 and under $25. Only a small pro portion had earned $25 and under $30. The median earnings for the 141 women were $16.75. Wages and marital status No great variation appears in the earnings of women of different marital status for the group as a whole, but in some of the cities there were such differences. The greatest difference in averages was for New York, where the median earnings of the married women were $30 and those of the single women were approximately $25. In Chicago the medians for single and married women were almost alike, approxi mately $25, but for the widowed, separated, or divorced women the figure was higher, about $28. Wages, education, and training For those who reported their schooling, earnings followed the logical course of advancing with education. The lowest median earnings, $21.05, were for the women whose maximum general educa tion was grammar school; the next were for high school, $22.20; the next for normal school, $23.75; and the highest, $25.70, were for university training. Very little difference was noted in the median earnings of those who had attended a business school, thus supple menting their general education, as compared with the earnings of those who had not. For the 1,050 women in New York City who reported earnings and schooling, the median earnings according to education showed a range of more than $8. The lowest median ($21.75) was for normal-school students, the next, $22.65, was for the women who had gone no higher than the grammar grades, $24.70 was for the high-school students, and $29.95 was for the university students. For the women with business-school training, the median earnings were $25.05 for those whose general education was high school and $28.60 for those who had been to a university. For the women with out business schooling, the group with high-school education had 26 WOMEN WHO WORK IN OFFICES median earnings of $24.30 and those with university training had a median of $30.20. In Philadelphia it was possible to compare only the median earn ings of high-school trained women. For this high-school group as a whole the median earnings were $19.85, while for those who had had some additional business training the median was $20.45, and for those without it was $18.90. In Atlanta those who had not gone beyond grammar school had slightly higher median earnings than those whose maximum educa tion had been in high school. The highest were for those who had attended a university. Somewhat less variation in earnings according to extent of school ing was apparent in Chicago. For those whose maximum general education was grammar school, the median of the earnings was $23.50; for high school it was $24.05; and for university it was $25.90. In the business-school group, only a slight difference existed in median earnings according to high-school or university background—$25.15 and $25.70, respectively. For these general education groups but with no business schooling, the medians were $26.10 for the univer sity women and $23.75 for those with high school as their maximum. In St. Louis only slight differences were noted. For the highschool trained the median of the earnings was $18.70, increasing to $18.95 for those with business training and decreasing to $18.50 for those without. Only for the high-school group in Des Moines were any comparisons possible. The median of the earnings of all the 109 women was $16.80. For the 65 of these with no special business schooling, it was $15.85. For only one group, those whose maximum education was high school, was it possible to compare the earnings of those who had and had not attended a business school. The median earnings were $23.05 for those who had been to business college and $20.05 for those who had not. Wages and experience That experience in office work brings higher wages is clear from an analysis of the data regarding the women in five of the cities, Atlanta being excepted. Median earnings for the group as a whole increased with office experience from $15.55 for women with experience of less than 1 year to $28.60 for those who had been in such work 10 years or more. The largest proportion in the wage group of under $15 is the women with experience of less than 1 year, more than two-fifths of the total. Well over one-lialf of those with experience of 1 and less than 2 years had earned $15 and less than $20. More than one-third of those who had worked for 4 and less than 5 years had earned $20 and less than $25, and close to one-third of those with experience of 5 and less than 10 years had wages of $25 and less than $30. Almost one-fourth of those who had worked for 10 years or longer had a weekly wage of $30 and under $35, and a like proportion of $35 and over. STUDY OF WORKERS SEEKING EMPLOYMENT 27 Wages and occupation Wlien the women’s work was correlated with weekly wage, great variations were noted. The highest median earnings were $28.20 for those employed as secretaries and the lowest were $18.80 for the cashiers. Well over two-fifths of the secretaries, as compared with about one-tenth of the stenographers, earned $30 or more a week. Some what more than one-fourth of the bookkeepers had earned as much as this, but much smaller proportions of clerks, cashiers, and typists reported a wage of as much as $30. In 5 of the 6 cities, Des Moines the one excepted, secretaries had the largest proportions with wages of $30 or more, bookkeepers ranked next, and stenographers next. There was, however, great variation in the proportions of the secretaries earning as much as $30. Close to two-thirds (63 percent) of those in New York had earned $30 and more, while in St. Louis only about one-seventh had earned so much. The proportion of stenographers earning $30 or more was highest in Chicago, where about one-sixth had earned at least $30, but the figure for New York was only slightly different. The median earnings for secretaries ranged downward from $30.75 in New York to $22.75 in St. Louis. For stenographers the highest median was $23.35, the Atlanta figure, and the lowest was for St. Louis, $18.35. For medians for women engaged in the various occupations see table 12. Table 12. Median wage, by occupation and city—women seeking employment Median of the weekly wages reported City Total New York____ _______ Philadelphia ......... .. _ ... ... Atlanta________ _____ __ Chicago.. _ ... __ St. Louis. _____________ Des Moines ____________ _ $25.15 20.25 21.55 25.10 18.80 17.00 Secre tary $30. 75 25. 25 27. 50 29. 30 22. 75 o Stenog rapher Book keeper $20. 30 18.65 23. 35 23.15 18. 35 18.40 $25. 65 $22. 25 $20.60 23. 20 25.85 20.15 20. 90 17.00 17.85 21.40 16.15 Cashier $20.95 Typist Clerk