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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. 49
WOMEN WORKERS AND
FAMILY SUPPORT
A STUDY MADE BY STUDENTS IN
THE ECONOMICS COURSE AT THE
BRYN MAWR SUMMER SCHOOL
UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
PROF. AMY HEWES
LEG
fry COLL -G -
A Y.
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTI NG OFFICE
1925
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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR,
WOMEN'S BUREAU,
Washington, July 24, 1925.
Srn: There is transmitted herewith a report on a study made o:f
the family support of women workers. This study was made by
the students of the economic courses of the Bryn Mawr Summer
School for Women vVorkers in Industry under the direction of
Prof. Amy Hewes.
The Bryn Mawr Summer School for ·women vVorkers in Industry
is in its fifth year and was organized :for women working .with the
tools of their trade. This arrangement brings from all parts of the
country to the Bryn Mawr summer school about 100 students each
year, women working in factories and mills.
Therefore this study has a special significance in answering the
question that comes up very frequently-whether women are working for pin ~oney or whether they are supporting themselves and
have, in addition, family responsibilities. Let the report speak for
itself.
MARY ANDERSON, Director.
Hon. JAMES J . DAVIS,
Secretary of Labor.
II
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WOMEN WORKERS AND FAMILY
SUPPORT
The burden of family support which rests on the shoulders of
women who work for wages is less conspicuous than that borne by
men. It has often been assumed that the woman worker, instead of
contributing to the family a sum over and above the expense of her
own maintenance, more often receives such help and can accept a
lower wage in consequence. The preference of many employers for
girls who live at home may not be unconnected with this assumption.
Yet it is true that women's wages do go toward the support of dependent members of the family, that a very considerable number of
women have persons wholly dependent upon them, and that even
when they are not part of the same household they make regular
contributions to the support of their parents, to that of younger
brothers and sisters, and not infrequently to the support of the
families of their married brothers and sisters.
In an endeavor to get at the facts of the case the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor recently made two studies 1 of the
share of wage-earning women in family support. · One of these was
concerned with women living in four selected cities-Jacksonville,
Fla.; vVilkes-Barre and Hanover Township, Pa.; Butte, Mont.; and
Passaic, N. J.-and the other was a study of the family responsibilities of men and women wage earners in Manchester, N. H., including also a summary of data in 51 miscellaneous reports which
contained pertinent information.
In the summer of 1924 a group of students in the Bryn Mawr
Summer School for Women · Workers in Industry, composed of
women from all over the United States, became interested in a plan
to study their own collective experience and to discover to what
extent their economic position was determined by their relation to
the variously constituted household groups to which they belonged
or contributed. It was their hope that some information of value
might be added to the fragmentary facts then known.
1 U. S. Department of Labor.
Women's Bureau. Family status of breadwinning
women in four selected cities. Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 192·.3. 144 p. (Bulletin
No. 41.)
U. S. Department of Labo,r . Women's Bureau. Share of wage-earning women in
family support. Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1923. 170 p. (Bulietin No. 30 ..)
59259°-25-1
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1
2
WOMEN WORKERS AND FAMILY SUPPORT
The group studied.
The students of the school numbered 101 women between the ages
of 21 and 36. They had been the r ecipients of scholarships which
made it possible for them to leave their work for eight weeks _of
study. They came from 19 States, including the Pacific coast and
the South Atlantic States as well as the industrial States of the
North and East. Only 8 of them h ad married, and in no case had
marriage resulted in their withdrawal from industry. The majority
were native-born American citizens. The foreign born numbered 33,
and for the most part they had been in the United States 10 years or
more, long enough to have made a good occupational adjustment. A
few, however, were recent arrivals and included a Macedonian, not
yet a year in this country, and a Russian here less than a year and a
half at the opening of the school. The work of the women studied
was that of the major women-employing industries in the country.
The two largest groups were comprised of 31 garment workers and
24 textile workers. The only other groups numbering as many as
five workers were those of millinery, shoe, and telephone workers.
It may be assumed that workers who could afford to give up their.
r egular occupation for eight weeks would not be expected to hav3 a
h eavy burden in the care of dependents and that their experience
would undermeasure the burden of dependency for women in industry in general. It is probably true, however, that the majority of
them represented the higher wage levels, as the requirements for
admission as to educatio:r:i and experience would suggest, and that
their income was such as would leave a wider margin beyond their
own necessities than that of the majority of women workers. A
number stated that they could not have come to the school a year or
t wo earlier on account of younger brothers and sisters who had since
become self-supporting.
The method employed.
The group of stlldents who undertook the study drew up a s,imple
schedule covering the pertinent items and easily secured the cooperation of each of the 101 students, who willingly gave the facts from
their own experience in interviews carried on entirely by the investigating students. The data asked for were those belonging to the
year ended June 1, 1924. The exercise proved to be of value in
making them familiar w.ith objective methods in the interpretation
of their own industrial experience and in furnishing a body of facts
which were more than once drawn upon by the students for illustration during their discussions in a course in economics.
The dependents of women workers.
The question of deciding what persons should properly be considered dependents presented the usual difficulties. Should a person
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3
WOMEN WORKERS AND FAMILY SUPPORT
be considered as the dependent of a worker "if the latter's wage,
whether large or small, had to be shared between the two, but no
equivalent in service was demanded from the former," according to
the definition in the outstanding English study in this field,2 or
should the emphasis be put on the amoimt contributed, without attempting to distinguish total and partial dependents, after the manner of the American reports already cited. It was decided to try
to show separately the number of total dependents, because they
indicate the seriousness of the burden resting on the worker. The
total dependent was, therefore, defined as a person who had no other
means of support; that is, if a worker were the sole breadwinner for
herself and her mother, the mother was considered as totally dependent on the worker in spite of the fact that the mother might be
keeping house for them both.
It is a striking fact that nearly a fifth of the workers, 19 of the
101, were the sole supporters of other persons. ( See Table 1.)
Four of these supported two other persons and one supported three
others. A majority of the women with total dependents (13) were
women of 25 and over, but in two cases women who were the sole
supporters of two other persons had · not themselves reached their
twenty-fifth birthday.
TABLE
1.-Su,pport of total d ependents, b1f age of worker
Number
of
workers
Age of worker
Number of workers who reported their
total dependents asNone
2
----------------1----1-----------TotaL ___ __ ____ _____ __ ___ ____ __ ______ ____ ___ __ _
21 and under 23 years________________________________
23 and under 25 ye('lrs_______ _______________________ __
25 and under 27 years___________ ___________________ __
27 and uru:ler 29 years________________________________
29 and under 31 years__ ______________________________
31 and under 33 years________________________________
~~ :~~ ::~:~ ~~ ;::~:==============~=================
101
14
82
4
1---1-------'ll---l---l---
23
20
17
26
8
4
~
21
2
16
2
12
4
21
4
6
2
4 ----------
- - - ------ 2
1
------ ----------------------
---- - ------ -- --- --- --------1
---------------- ---
1 ---------- ---------- ---------1 ---------1 ----- -----
The large proportion of workers with total dependents in this
group is probably representative of the burden carried by other
women workers. A summary of various investigations tabulated by
the Women's Bureau in the report already cited shows the percentage of women in each study included who were the sole support
of dependents. These proportions ranged from 2.5 per cent to 56.5
per cent. The largest group reported on was composed of more
3
2 Rowntree, B. Seebohm, and Stuart, Frank D.
Responsibility of women worker s for
dependents. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1921. p. 8.
3 U. S. Department of Labor.
Women 's Bureau. Share of wage-earning women in
family support. Washington, Govt. Print. OJI., 1923. (Bulletin No. 30.) p. 127.
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4
WOMEN WORKERS AND FAMILY SUPPORT
than 8,000 women in Connecticut, in 1915-16, and the per cent of
these with total dependents was a little over 19, almost exactly the
proportion found in the present study.
In another way the present study emphasizes a characteristic
which is probably more common in the dependents of women than
in those of men. Whereas those dependent upon the latter are
usually their children, who will one day be self-supporting or even
contribute to the support of the parents, the dependents of women
are more frequently the older parents, who will never be selfsupporting again, who become increasingly dependent, and who
naturally fall to the care of the unmarried daughters.
It became a more difficult matter to say how many of the women
partially supported other persons. The amount contributed each
week to the family was asked for, but where the women lived as
members of cooperative household groups they were not able to distinguish the amount properly considered as the maintenance of the
worker herself from that which went to the support of other members of the family. The v\-.,. omen's Bureau met the same difficulty
in the Manchester study, and the report stated :
It is not practicable in studying a large group of persons with varying standards of life and necessities to set aside a certain amount per week or per year
which shall be considered the cost of food and lodging for one person, and to
consider all contributions up to that amount merely as support for the contributor but above that amount as contributions to the support of others.4
Some of the women frotn southern manufacturing cities reported
that board and room could be obtained for $5 a week, while those
from New York and Chicago insisted that it could not be secured
for less than twice this amount, and a number put the figure at $15.
With such discrepancy among estimates it was found impracticable
to fix an amount to tnark the boundary between self-maintenance and
contribution to family.
The amounts actually given in to the :family purse each week
varied all the way from nothing at all- to '$40. Only 1 of the 13
who made no contribution was· living with her family; the others
were boarding away from home. The largest group (29) contributed $5 and under $10 to their :families, and a majority of the
whole number (53 of the 101) gave $5 and less than $15. (See
Tables 2 and 3.)
A larger proportion of the group of women who were at least 29
years of age than of those under 23 contributed $15 or tnore to their
families. However, more of the older than of the younger of these
two groups made no contribution at all. In fact, the younger girls
customarily gave all or practically all of their earnings to the family.
4 U. S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau.
Share of wage-earning women in family
support. Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1923. (Bulletin No. 30.) p. 54.
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5
WOMEN WORKERS AND FAMILY SUPPORT
Of the women under 23, those giving $10 or 1nore each week constituted more than one-half, a larger proportion than those in the next
age group or all the other age groups combined.
TABLE
2.-0ontribution to family supvort, by age of worl.;er
Number of workers who contributed to family support-
NumAge of worker
TotaL __ ___ ___________________ _
21 and under 2o years _______________ _
23 and under 25 years ____ ___________ _
25 and under 27 years ___ ____________ _
27 and under 29 years _______________ _
29 and under 31 years ___ ----------·-31 and under 33 years _______________ _
33 and under 35 years _____________ __ _
35 and under 37 years ________________ _
ber of
workerS
and $10 and $15 and $20 and
Under $5
and
under under under under $25
over
$5
$10
$15
$20
$25
-----.-- - 29
24
12
9
13
8
6
Nothing
--
101
23
1
2
7
20
3
2
6
17
3
1
3
26
1 ________
12
8
33 ________
4 ________ ___ __ ___ ________
~
7
5
4
5
2
1
-------- -------- ------~- -------- .
3
2
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
22 ________
11
1
2 ______ __
1
--------i
1
The number contributing more than $15, the outside amount given
by those living in the largest cities as necessary for self-support, and
exclusive of those already counted as having dependents is ascertained from unpublished figures to be 18. This is in no sense an indication of the whole number of women with partial dependents, as is
manifest from the use of $15 instead of $10 or less as the cost of selfsupport at home. Therefore it is safe to say that to the 19 women
reported in Table 1 as having total dependents may be added more
than 18 who contributed to the family fund an amount in excess of
the cost of their own maintenance.
Boarding and living at home.
It is generally the case that girls who live at home assume a larger
share 0£ the family expense than do those boarding with strangers.
The degree of responsibility felt for other members of the family is
likely to be greater if the good and bad fortunes are intimately
shared. There is often overlooked the fact that though a woman
. enjoys the economies of cooperative living and the help of the mother
in the family group, she is exposed to all the risks of the other members of the group. If another member of the family is ill or out of
work, it frequently becomes necessary for her to give assistance for
which she would not be called upon if she were boarding. On the
other hand, when she herself is ill she is entitled to help from the
family.
.
A large majority of the women (78 of the 101) li-ved at home, and
all but one of these contributed to the family expenses. (See Table
3.) The classification " at home " was taken to mean living in a
:family group organized as a single household. For example, a girl
living with a married sister was considered as living at home.
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6
WOMEN WORKERS A.ND FAMILY SUPPORT
Thirty-three of those living at home stated that they were expected
to pay" board" even when they were out of work.
Nearly a quarter of the whole number, that is, 23 of the 101,
boarded away from home, but 11 of these contributed to the support
of their families, 4 of them having persons completely dependent
on them. If the other 7 contributing to the family income but
of no expense to the family be added to the 18 who, contributing
over $15, are considered as more than paying their way, there is a
minimum group of 25 who may be said to have partial dependents.
T ogether with the 19 who stated that they had one or more persons
totally dependent upon them, t hey make a total of 44 women in the
101 ( 43.6 per cent) whose earnings must provide money for the
support of others. It is obvious that any estimate of the economic
position of women which takes no account of their responsibilities
for the support of others leaves out a very important factor.
T ABLE
3.-0ontribution to family support, by living cond·i tion
Number of workers
who were-
Amount contributed to family support
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -1--- - - - -- TotaL ____ ____ ___ ______ ___ _________________ ____ ___ __ __ ______ __ ___ __ _
101
78
23
1-------1---t---
N othing __________ _________________ ---- -- --- _______ -- ______ ____ ___ __ __ ____
Under $5 __________________ ______ __ ------ - ----- _-- _-- _---- ___ __ __ __ ____ __ _
$5 and under $10__ ___ __ _________________________________________________ __
$10 and under $Hi_ ____________ __ _____ _____________________________________
$15
$20 __ _______________
---------------------------------------------------$20 and
and under
under $2;;____
___ ______________________________________
13
$25 and over-------- -- ---------------------------------- - -----__ __________
8
6
1
2
12
4
4
3
29
24
25
21
129
12 --- -- --- -9 ---------8 ----------
According to unpublished data one-half of the women ( 51) had
received help from their families or friends at some time during the
year. This help ordinarily was in the form of board without charge
during the period when they were not working, but it also included
strike and sick benefits from unions and money and clothes from
friends and family. In general, those who had received help in
money were among those who had had full-time work for only a few
weeks.
Weekly wage rates and the amount contributed.
The amount of responsibility which a worker may assume in
family support is definitely limited by the amount she can earn.
Even a small amount contributed from a wage which is small or
irregular may be a heavy burden. The irregularity of the work in
the various kinds of employment and the absence of records of actual
amounts received made the full-time weekly rate the only basis on
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7
WOMEN WORKERS AND FAMILY SUPPORT
which the workers could be compared with regard to earnings. It
must be remembered that this rate is far from an indication of
actual earnings, for the reason that comparatively few weeks were
:full-time weeks. The rates ranged :from $12 to $45 a week. More
than one-half of the women ( 57) had a full-time rate of les.s than
$25. (See Table 4.) Twenty of these women were in the groups
. contributing to their families $10 and under $25. In general, the
women who h ad the highest rates contributed the largest amounts.
TABLE
4.-0ontribution to family support, by average f-ull-Nme weelcly wage
A verago full-time wage per week
Number of workers who contributed to family supportNum- ,-----,------,---:-------.--------r--ber of
work- Noth- Under $5 and $10and $15and $Wand $2Sand
ers
ing
$5
under under under under
over$10
$15
$20
$25
- - - - - - - - - - - !·- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TotaL _____ ____________________
Under $15 ___________________________ _
$15 and under $20 ___________________ _
$20 and u nder $25 ___________________ _
$25 and
and under
under $30
__ - -----------·-· ---_
$30
$35 ___________________
$35 and under $40_,. ________ ,. ______ _
$40 and over ________ __ ,-~-------------
101
13
6
. 29
4· -------. 1
2
26
4
2
11
27
6
1
10
15
1 -------2
15
1 -------3
6
1
2 --------
8 ----- --- --------
1
24
12
8
1 -------- --- ----- -------6
3 - ---- - -- ---- ---4
4
2 --------
5
2
1
5 -------1
2 -------- --------
5
1
1
4
1
4
1
Extent of full-time work.
Uncertainty as to whether the full-time rate or only part of it
will be receiv:ed is the crux of the problem of support for many wageearning women to-day. Five of the 100 women reporting on this
had no :full-time weeks of work during the year ended June 1,,- 1924.
(See Table 5.) Nearly one-third of the workers (32) had less than
30 full-time weeks, and more than one-half of them (52) had less
than 40 full weeks of work. Only 15 workers had 50 weeks or more
of foll-time work, entitling them to practically a year's full-time
pay. Those with total dependents, therefore, had to save enough
from the foll weeks to carry the burden o:.f support for others as
well as themselves during the time when they either were not earning
anything or were receiving much less than their weekly rates; other•
wise they were forced to witness. the suffering of those dependent
upon them. It appeared to be true that those whose full-time rate
was smallest had the largest number of foll-time weeks, and, conversely, those whose rate was highest were unemployed a good part
of the time.
-
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WOMEN WOR-KERS AND FAMILY SUPPOR'l'
TABLE
5.-Average f,ull-Unie weekly wage, by number of fitll-tvnie weeks of work
(cumulative)
Number of workers whose average full-time wage per week .wasNumber 1 - - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - . . - - - - - , - - - - - - 0!
$30 and $35 and
$15 and $20 and $25 and
Under
$40 and
workers
under
under
under
under
under
$15
over
$30
$35
$40
$20
Full-time weeks of
work
$~5
5
7
11
14
19
27
32
None ___
-------------_
Under
5_____________
Under 10 ____________ _
Under 15 ______ __ ____ _
Under 20 _____ _______ _
Under 25 _____ _______ _
Under 30 ____ ___ ____ __
Under 35 ____________ ._
Und er 40 __________ __ _
Under 45 __ __________ _
Under 50 ___ ___ ______ _
52 and under_ _______ _
1 One
2
3
4
4
4
6
7
9
1
3
-
42
52
4
2
7
10
16
20
26
2
3
3
3
70
85
1 100
10
17
22
27
1
1
1
1
3
5
6
8
9
12
15
1
1
1
1
2
2
4
5
6
1
4
2
3
6
6
6
6
7
8
8
8
8
4
4
4
5
6
6
7
9
11
14
15
6
woman did not report number of full-time weeks.
The character of the worker's trade plays a large part in determining the number of full-time weeks in the year. Nearly onethird of the women were employed in garment trades, conspicuous
£or a highly seasonal character. (See Table 6.) More than onehalf of these garment workers put in less than 25 :full weeks in the
year under consideration. On the other hand, only 4 of the 24
textile workers worked less than 25 full-time weeks. Industrial depression was not the sole cause for short-time work. Illness 13,nd
vacations were reported as explaining some of it, but by far the
major part of the time lost was due to the fact that the work itself
was not available.
TABLE
6.-Emtent of full-time ioork, by industry
I
Full-time weeks of work
Number of women in each specified industry
Num- , - - - - - - - - - - - - , - - - -,c------,.----ber of
TeleElecworkers Gar- Textile Milli- Shoe
ment
nery
phone Cigar trical Other 1
- - - - - - - -- --- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --Total__________________
None _______________________ _
Under 5 ___ _________________ _
5 and under 10 __ ____________ _
10 and under 15 _______ __ ____ _
15 and under 20 _____________ _
20 and under 25 __ ___________ _
25 and under 30 _____________ _
30 and under 35 __ __ _________ _
35 and under 40 __ ___________ _
40 and under 45 _____________ _
45 and under 50 _____________ _
60 and over _________________ _
2
100
30
24
5
2
2
2
1
4
3 -------- -- --- -- - -------- -------- -------- --------
3
5
8
3 -------- -------- -------- -------- ---- - - -- -------- -------4 -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------1
4
1
1 -------- -------1 - - -----1
1i10
18
15
15
------32
3
2
4
6
4
4
22
1 -------- -------- -------- -------1
: ------i- ------~- ------i- ------~- ======== -------2
6
4
4
2
1
1
1
1 -------1
1
2
1 ------ -2
2 -------3
7
6
3
1 Includes workers in the following industries: Automobiles, buttons, corsets, foodstuffs, horseshoe nails,
jewelry boxes, metal goods, paper, p1inting, railroad, rubber, toilet articles, typewriters, woodwork, laundry, and domestic and personal service.
2 One woman did not report number of full-time we(}kS.
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WOMEN WORKERS AND FAMILY SUPPORT
Steadin:ss of employment was a problem for both union and
nonunion workers, although a comparison is not possible here between organized and unorganized workers in the same industries.
About a third of the group (34:) were Jl'._Jmbers of trade-unions.
(See Table 7.) Of these, 19 worked less than 25 full-tjme weeks, as
compared with only 8 of the nonunion workers. Only one unionist
worked 50 or more full weeks, while 14 nonunionists worked as
long as that. The contrast in employment here is reaJly between industries rather than between organized and unorganized workers,
for practically all of the trade-nnionists worked in the highly seasonal garment industries in which there is little or no work during
several months of each year.
TABLE
1.-Ex tent of trade-imion m e-mbcrsh'iP, by nimiber of f itll-time weelcs
of wo rlc ( cwmiilativ-e)
Number of workers
who were-
Full-time weeks of Number
of
work
workers
Trade- Not tradeunion
union
members members
Number of workers
who wereFull-time weeks of Number
of
work
workers
Not
Tradetradeunion
union
members members
--None ______________
Under 5____________
Under 10 ___________
Under 15 ___________
Under 20 ___________
Under 25 ___________
1
5
7
11
14
19
27
2
3
6
9
14
19
3
4
5
5
5
8
Under 30 ___ ___ _·____
Under 35 ___________
Under 40 ___________
Under 45 ___________
Under 50 ___________
52 and under_ ______
32
42
52
70
85
20
23
26
30
33
19
26
4.0
52
1100
34
66
12
One woman did not report number of full-time weeks.
The larger number and by far the larger proportion of those in
the higher wage groups were trade-union members.
early 65 pev
cent of the unionists had an average weekly full-time wage of $30
and more, as against 10 per cent of the nonunion workers.
TABLE
8.-Extent of tra-de-union membership, by average fitll-Ume weelcly ivage
Number of workers
who wereNumber 1 - - - - - - of
Not
workers Tradeunion
tra~emem bers ; e~b~rs
Average full-time wage per week
- - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1-- -- - - - - - - -TotaL____________________ ___ ___ ___ __ __ ____ ___ __ __ __ __ ____ __ ___ _____
101
34
67
f - - - - - - 1 - - -- :- - - -
Under $15 ___________ __ __ _____ ____ ___ ______ ________________ __ __________ __ _
$15 and under $20___ ____________________________________________________ __
$20 and under $25____ _______________________ ___________ ___________________
$25 and under $30------------------------ -" '- -----------------------------$30 and under $35______________________________________ ______ _____________
$35 and under $40__ ______________ ____ ________________ _________________ ____
$40 and over__________________________ __ _____ __ ___________________________
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4.
26
27
15
15
6
8
3
2
7
10
5
7
4
23
25
8
5
1
1
10
WOMEN WORKERS AND FAMILY SUPPORT
Conclusion.
It is evident that, so far as the workers at the Bryn Mawr summer
school are representative, the burden of family support borne by
women in industry constitutes, generally speaking, so large a proportion of their actual earnings that it determines the economic
position of the worker in a very important way. Some of the
women in the group studied already were sharing their earnings
with others, even though these women were younger than their
brothers, who had married and in that way become responsible for
the care of dependents. For nearly one-fifth of the workers the
burden included the support of one or more total dependents. Even
the workers who boarded away from home still contributed to
family support in about one-half the cases.
Probably at least one-half of all the women had the problem of
family support in some degree, in view of the more than two-fifths
whose earnings definitely contributed to the support of total or partial dependents, and in view of others whose contribution to the
family income probably exceeded the cost of their own maintenance.
This had to be met from wages that were not, except in a few cases,
at high rates, and from earnings that were frequently interrupted
by periods of unemployment. The Bryn Mawr summer school workers, however, did not include many representat ives of the hardestpressed workers. They were at least so situated that-their maintenance being covered by scholarships-they could spare two months
away from their employment and forfeit their earnings for that
time. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that the share in family
support of women workers in general is probably an even heavier
burden than that carried by the group studied.
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