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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU, NO. 67
WOMEN WORKERS
IN FLINT, MICH.
[Public—No.
259—66th Congress]
[H. R. 13229]
An Act To establish in the Department of Labor
Women’s Bureau
a bureau to be known as the
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be
established in the Department of Labor a bureau to be known as
thSEC°?eThat the said bureau shall be in charge of a director, a
woman, to be appointed by the President, bv and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, who shall receive an annual compensation of
&5 000 It shall be the duty of said bureau to formulate standards
and policies which shall promote the welfare of wage-earning women,
improve their working conditions, increase their efficiency, and ad
vance their opportunities for profitable employment The said
bureau shall have authority to investigate and report to the saidde
partment upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of women
industry. The director of said bureau may from timo to time publish
the results of these investigations in such a manner and to such
extent as the Secretary of Labor may prescribe.
Sec 3. That there shall be in said bureau an assistant director,
to be appointed by the Secretary of Labor, who shall receive an
annual compensation of S3,500 and shall perform such duties as
shall be prescribed by the director and approved by the Secretary
0fSEac.04. That there is hereby authorized to be employed by said
bureau a chief clerk and such special agents, assistants, clerks, and
other employees at such rates of compensation and iu such numbers
„„ Poo cress mav from time to time provide by appropriations. _
SEC.g5. Tha/the Secretary of Labor is hereby directed to furmsh
sufficient quarters, office furniture, and equipment for the work of
thSEcUr6a That this act shall take effect and be in force from and
after its passage.
Approved, June 5, 1920.
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
JAMES j. DAVIS, Secretary
WOMEN’S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Director
BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU, NO. 67
WOMEN WORKERS
IN FLINT, MICH.
SjjTaa of.
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHING TON
1929
ADDITIONAL COPIES
OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM
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WASHINGTON, D. C.
AT
15 CENTS PER COPY
CONTENTS
Page
Letter of transmittal____________________________
Introduction________________________
Summary____________________ ____________ III
"’"I
Character of population______________________
Insecurity of employment_______________________ IIIIIIII.II
Conditions in various industries_______________________I
I
Week’s earnings______________________________ _
Year’s earnings_________________________________ _
~~~ '
Earnings and weekly hours___________________ _
_
~
Daily hours_______________________________ "
"
Working conditions_____________________"
Sanitary conditions_____________________ II 'I
Equipment of homes___________________ IIIIIII.I.............
Women’s employment status_____________IIIII.II.IIIH _
Boarders and lodgers____________________________
I
Personal data___________ '______________II
Reasons for married women working. _ __
_ _
Problems in Flint________________________ "
Scope and method_______________________ II
Hours__________________________
Daily hours_________________________________ I'
Saturday hours____:___________________
Lunch period___________________
Weekly hours_______________________
Earnings_________________________
Week’s earnings_________________________
Full-time earnings, undertime earnings, and overtime earnings
limeworkers and pieceworkers___________________________
Earnings and experience________________________
~~
Earnings and time with the firm________ I_I._II.III
Earnings and age_____________________________
Earnings and schooling_____________I___IIII.IIIIII.II.I"
Year’s earnings and weeks worked.________________ __
Restaurants________________________
Daily hours_______________________II.I_.III"
Weekly hours_______________________
Earnings_______________________
Working conditions_________________________ I _I"I" I
Stairs_______________________
Lighting__________________ I___IIIIIII____ I ""I
I
Seating_________________________
Heating________________________
Drinking facilities__________ II____ I.III.I..IIIIII '
Washing facilities___________________ II.II.I.I
Toilet equipment_________________________ I.I.I
Service equipment_________________________
Employment department_______________
Personal history_____________________
Nativity_____________________ I" H
_I”
Age----------------------------- -I-II-IIIII_IIII_IIII_IIH‘I_I
Schooling_________________________
Conjugal condition__________________ I_II_______ IIIIII
Industrial experience of women wanting work_____
_
Living condition_____________________________ I.IIII
Living with relatives or living independently______
Boarders and lodgers___________________________
Houses owned, being bought, or rented________________ II_I
Appendix A—General tables__________________________
Appendix B—Schedule forms___________
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hi
TEXT TABLES
Page
Table
1. Number of men, women, and children in the establishments
visited, by industry--------------------------------------------------------
2. Composition of the units surveyed, by employment status of the
women
3. Daily hours, by industry-----------------------------------------------------4. Weekly hours, by industry. --------- --------------------------------------5. Median earnings, by industry or occupation. _---------------------6. Median earnings of ail workers and of full-time workers, by
industry or occupation..--------------------------------------------------7. Median earnings, by time in the trade---------------------------------8. Median earnings, by time with the firm-------------------------------9. Highest median earnings in the industry or occupation, by age
group in which found------------------------------ ---------- -------------10. Median earnings, by extent of schooling—all industries---------11. Year’s earnings, by industry------------------------------ ----------------12. Length of employee-day, by number of schedules in a week—
restaurants---------------------------------------.------------------------------13. Number of periods off duty, by type of restaurant----------------14. Weekly hours, by occupation—restaurants--------------------------15. Nativity, by industry or occupation-------------------------------------16. Age, by industry or occupation--------------------_-----------------------17. Age distribution of the women who were working or had worked
during the year and of women wanting work--------------------18. Extent of schooling of employed women, by industry or occupa
tion in which employed-------------- -------------------------------- --
19. Extent of schooling of women wanting employment, by kind
of work desired_________________________
20. Conjugal condition of employed women, by industry or occupa
tion in which employed— 21. Conjugal condition of women wanting employment, by kind of
work desired----------------------- --------------------------------------------22. Kind of work desired, by experience----- ------------------------------23. Living condition, by industry or occupation-------------------------24. Living condition, by age-------------------------------------------------------
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APPENDIX TABLES
Table
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Scheduled daily hours, by industry--------------------------------------Scheduled weekly hours, by industry-----------------------------------Scheduled Saturday hours, by industry--------------------------------Length of lunch period, by industry-------------------------------------Week’s earnings, by industry or occupation--------------------------Week’s earnings of full-time workers, by industry or occupa
tion
Week’s earnings, by time in the trade—all industries or occu
pations
Age, by employment status
Conjugal condition, by employment status---------------------------Nativity, by employment status------------------------------------------Living condition, by age and employment status-----------------
Number and size of units surveyed, by number of roomers in
the home__________________ _------------------------------------------- Number of units owning, buying, or renting home, by extent
of improvements--------------------------------------------------------------Length of employee-day, by occupation—restaurants-----------Scheduled weekly hours, by type of restaurant and by occupa
tion—restaurants________
IV
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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
United States Department of Labor,
Women’s Bureau,
Washington, June 25, 1928.
am submitting herewith the report of an investigation of
hours, wages, and working conditions, as well as the economic status
and living conditions, of girls and women workers in Flint, Mich.
^ The survey was undertaken at the request of the Young Women’s
Christian Association of Flint, who felt that information in regard to
the economic status and living conditions of the girls and women
among whom they worked would be of benefit to them. The sec
retary of the chamber of commerce and the secretary of the industrial
bureau believed that such a survey of Flint by the Women’s Bureau
would help them in their wrork also, and all three of these organiza
tions extended their fullest cooperation.
The survey was made by Mrs. Ethel L. Best, who also wrote the
report.
A preliminary report of this investigation was issued in order that
the facts ascertained would be available to the persons interested
before the full report could be distributed.
Respectfully submitted.
Mary Anderson, Director.
Hon. James J. Davis,
Secretary oj Labor.
Sir: I
v
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
INTRODUCTION
The city of Flint is in the lower part of Michigan, fifty-odd miles
from Detroit as the crow flies but not located on the through trunk
lines running east and west. It is near no large body of water, so its
manufactured products must be shipped by train, by auto, or under
their own power. In spite of no special natural advantages Flint
grew from 13,103 inhabitants in 1900, ranking fourteenth among
Michigan cities, to 91,599 in 1920, exceeded only by Detroit and
Grand Rapids.1 This remarkable increase is due entirely to the
growth of a single industry, the making of automobiles and their
accessories. Therefore, to understand the present composition of
Flint and its problems two facts must be steadily borne in mind—•
the rapid increase of its population and the cause of that rapid
increase, the automobile industry.
•
In the 30 years from 1890 to 1920 there was a great increase in
population of all the principal cities of Michigan. Detroit, the
largest and most important city, had nearly five times as great a
population in 1920 as it had in 1890. Lansing more than quadrupled
its population and Battle Creek, Grand Rapids, Jackson, and Kala
mazoo at least doubled theirs during these years. In Flint the
population was multiplied a little more than nine times, so that in
1920 there were 91,599 people compared to 9,803 in 1890.2 Fortu
nately, I lint is in rather a flat plain with no natural barriers, and
though in the downtown sections there are a few high buildings the
city as a whole has spread out and become one of detached houses
and small apartments. The city covers a wide area and many work
ers live at considerable distance from their employment. Rents are
high in the locations more convenient for the workers and therefore
lodgers are taken or the houses are divided into tenements. Both
these factors are, of course, very generally true of towns or cities where
the population increase has been rapid. Where Flint differs markedly
from most other places is that it is a one-industry city, and this fact
determines to a considerable extent its composition. Most cities
that increase in size have one industry after another springing up,
and though one kind of manufacturing may predominate it is gener
al not to such an extent as to affect the character of the population.
Flint has grown up around the automobile industry and because
of it. In this industry the proportion of men is very high. In 1919,
according to the Census of Manufactures, only 4.4 per cent of the
wage earners in the manufacturing of automobiles and automobile
1
' BrRta.u
Census. Fourteenth Census: 1920. v. 1, Population, pp. 232 234.
tion^ p.^Tlurteenth Census: 1910. v. 1, Population, p. 91; and Fourteenth Census: 1920.
v. 3, Popula-
1
2
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
bodies and parts were women.3 Men flock to Flint in large numbers
from all parts of the country. Some bring their families and settle
down, but many single men are attracted by the flourishing industry
and the report of good weekly earnings. Though comparatively few
women ar© employed, in the automobile industry, nevertheless single
women also flock to Flint from the surrounding small towns and
farms, coming as do the men because they hear of the high wages
to be earned, but, unlike the men, not succeeding in securing
employment.
Certain conditions obtain in the manufacture of automobiles and
their accessories that vitally affect the worker, man or woman, after
a position in the industry has been secured.
Passenger cars, which are the chief product of Flint, are a cross
between a luxury and a necessity. The industry is still, compared
to many others, in its early stages. In 1899, when Flint was a small
city, only 2,500 cars were made in the entire United States during
the year. In 1926 the number of passenger cars made was 3,768,631.4 *
With this increase constant improvements and changes are being
made. New models are put on the market each year to tempt the
purchaser, and installment payments are becoming more and more
customary. In 1923 the United States was said to be spending more
for automobile service than for railroad transportation, shelter, or
heat and light—more, in fact, than for any other item in the national
budget except clothing and meats.6
The worker who comes to Flint seeking employment in the auto
mobile plants realizes that the industry is a tremendous one and
growing, and he expects to share in the prosperity. Certain other
facts he may not realize with equal clearness. The automobile
industry, though not so markedly seasonal as lumbering or candy
manufacturing, for example, nevertheless has its busy and slack
periods within the year. In Ohio, where the manufacture of parts
is an important branch of the industry, employment figures for 9
years in the 11-year period 1914 to 1924 show consistently that
employment in the automobile industry fluctuates much more than
does employment in all manufacturing, sharp peaks and valleys
within the year being not uncommon.6
During the slack months, automobile factories do not run 534 days
each week, but 3, 4, or 5 days instead. For the worker this means
either a lay-off or part time and low pay.
Another condition serious for the worker is the marked changes
in production in successive years. In 1917 passenger cars to the
number of 1,740,792 were made in the United States, and in the
following year, due to war conditions, the number of passenger cars
fell to 943,4367—a decrease of nearly one-half (45.8 per cent). The
depression of 1920-21 caused a drop of 23.8 per cent in the number,
followed by an increase in 1922 of 59.2 per cent. Such violent
changes in production have an even greater effect on the worker and
s u. S. Bureau ol the Census.
Fourteenth Census: 1920.
v 10, Manufactures, 1919 p. 8fiS, Table 4
* National Automobile Chamber of Commerce. Facts and figures ot the automobile industry, 1927
National Geographic Magazine, October, 1923, p. 343.
___
• U. S. Department of Labor. Women’s Bureau. Report on trend of employment of women m Ohio.
^Natfonaf1 Automobile Chamber of Commerce.
edition, p. 4,
Farts and figures oi the automobile industry, 1927
INTRODUCTION
3
on the town of Flint than have the ups and downs of the industry
during the course of one year.
May is normally a month when production is good, but in May,
1919, and again in May, 1924, according to State employment figures,
nearly 19 per cent of the men and about 20 per cent of the women
lost employment in the factories making automobiles and parts in
Ohio.
In a city such as Flint the ups and downs of production are felt
by all. The stores suffer, with fewer people to buy and less money
to be spent; the restaurants fail, for it is cheaper to cook one’s own
food than to have others do it and there is a decrease of single men
without homes who normally eat at restaurants; the laundries feel it,
and complain that people do their own washing and send out com
paratively little; the boarding and lodging houses are only half
filled and many houses and apartments are empty; in short, all
Flint suffers when times are bad in the automobile industry and
rejoices when times are good.
Figures from the relief organizations in Flint indicate that relief
follows closely the curve of unemployment in the automobile industry.
The effect of the predominance of one industry does not stop with
the growth of the city and the variation in employment but may be
seen in the composition and character of the population.
It has already been noted that the automobile industry is essentially
man-employing, so it is not surprising to find that of the total pop
ulation of Hint the proportion of men (56.4 per cent) is greater than
in any other city of 25,000 or more in Michigan. When figures for
industrial centers of approximately the same size as Flint in 1920
are taken for all over the country the same is true, and the preponder
ance of men is greater in Flint than in Erie, Pa., Evansville, Ind
Ft. Wayne, Ind., Jacksonville, Fla., Lynn, Mass., Tacoma, Wash ’
Utica, N. Y., or Waterbury, Conn.8
It is natural that when a city offers work for men rather than for
women it should attract and hold the one and not the other. The
census of 1920 has shown this to be true of the population, and it
also shows that, compared to other such cities, Flint has a large
proportion of males 10 years of age and over at work and a small
proportion of employed females.9 Of the women of Flint who are
employed, more are between the ages of 16 and 2410 than in other
cities, and the probable reason has been mentioned by one of the
employment managers, who stated that for the workers in her plant
most of the foremen preferred women under 25 years of age, as the
work was fine and older women were likely to learn less easily and to
be less efficient. On account of the large number of women employed
in this plant, this fact influences the age groupings of all women wage
earners in Flint.
Two social surveys made some years ago, one in an eastern and
one in a western city, emphasize in their reports the effect of rapid
changes of population on the social whole. In the eastern city the
manufacturing was diversified. This report states:
There is, however, no one industry over-shadowing all others, a situation
which is usually considered of industrial and commercial advantage since it
' U. S. Bureau ot the Census. Fourteenth Census. 1920. v. 2, Population, Table 8, pp. 117-135.
• Ibid., v. 4, Population, Occupations, pp. 284-325.
■ Ibid., pp. 467-472.
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
4
tends to prevent wide fluctuations in local prosperity brought on by unusual
general depression in any one industry. Especially is such a condition advanta
geous to the merchant and shop-keeper.11
The report of the western city envisages the effect of change in
population on community well-being rather than, as in the Newburgh
survey, the effect on business life. It says that a vagrant population
due to the present competitive social system results in a breaking down
of the powerful disciplinary influences of social groups against anti
social individuals, and that unless the social group can hold the support
of more or less permanent residents that group will not be able to
preserve its integrity and the effect will be felt on home, church, and
State.*12
.
The problems of Flint or of any other one-industry city therefore
are largely tied up with the industry in question, as it determines
both the economic rise and fall of the community and the character
of its inhabitants. As a background to the exposition of the facts of
the Women’s Bureau survey, which is concerned with the wage
earning women of Flint, the following conditions must be emphasized:
1. The growth of Flint in the last 30 years has been phenomenal.
2. This growth has been due to the large expansion of one industry.
3. The one industry is owned largely by one corporation.
...
,
4. Opportunities of work are predominately with the one industry and the
one corporation.
5. Employment fluctuates considerably within the year and to an even greater
extent from year to year.
„
,
6. A bad year in the automobile industry means a bad year tor all Mint.
7. The work for women in this industry is limited.
All these facts not only affect the physical life of the working women
in Flint but determine to a considerable extent their standards of
living and sense of values.
u Russell Sage Foundation. The Newburgh survey. 1913, p. 78.
u Lind, Andrew W. A study of mobility of population in Seattle.
1935, pp. 10-11.
SUMMARY
No list of conditions nor any one array of facts is of great signif
icance without knowledge of how these conditions or facts are
correlated and of how they fit into the larger whole.
Character of population.
In Flint the outstanding features to which all other facts are
related are the very rapid growth of the city and the cause of the
rapid growth—the increase in a single industry, the manufacture of
automobiles and their accessories.
These two factors influence the very composition of the population.
There is a larger proportion of men among the inhabitants than is
found in any other city of 25,000 or over in Michigan. This naturally
would be the case, for the automobile industry is a man’s industry
with only a small per cent of women. Though an effort was made to
include in the survey all the large woman-employing establishments
and many of the small ones, it was found that women comprised less
than a tenth (9.7 per cent) of the working force in the establishments
visited.
Insecurity of employment.
The automobile industry, though not strikingly seasonal, has its
busy and slack times within the year and its even more marked peaks
and slumps from year to year. The prosperity or the depression of
this great industry affects all employment in Flint. Either earnings
are high, many transients flock in, and everyone is busy, or earnings
are low, many people are laid off and leave Flint, and everyone suffers.
This means a lack of security; “you never can tell how long work
will last in Flint.” For the improvident worker it also means spend
ing freely when times are good and incurring obligations which, when
times are bad and earnings are lowered because of slack work, can
not be fulfilled.
When the factories are running full, large numbers of men and
women come to Flint to find work. One plant reported 3,338 women
applying for work during the year, with placements of 271. Without
doubt, many of these applicants were transients, for in the house-tohouse canvass made during the survey in four industrial sections of
the city only 178 women were reported as wanting work. Manufac
turing was the kind of work usually' preferred by these women, and,
though the choice was made regardless of the worker’s experience,
the kind of factory work wanted was influenced by the woman’s
industrial history. Women who had been machine operators in gar
ment factories usually preferred that job, and women experienced in
textile mills would have liked mill work.
Conditions in various industries.
By far the largest group of women who were at work was found in
the automobile industry. Conditions of work varied considerably not
5
6
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
only in the actual work performed but in the earnings and hours.
The median of the week’s earnings was highest for women in the
automobile factories and lowest for those in the 5-and-10-cent stores.
The higher week’s earnings in the automobile industry perhaps
account for the preference for factory work of the women wanting
jobs, though employment is far steadier in stores, offices, and laun
dries than in factories. In manufacturing, through no fault of the
employee, there is likely to be much lost time. In other lines of
work—notably stores and offices—there is a week’s work if the
worker can come each day. Also, each hour lost by a factory worker
generally means a decrease in pay, while in many cases a store or
office worker is paid for a full day if a few hours only are lost.
Week’s earnings.
The median of the week’s earnings of all wage-earning women
included in the survey 13 was $16.50, one-half of the number earning
less than this amount and one-half earning more in the week selected
(see Appendix Table 5). Often it is impossible for women to work
every day, because of illness or other personal reasons or because, as
may happen in the case of factories, there is no work. In factories,
however, occasional overtime is worked, which, as far as earnings are
concerned, compensates to some extent for the lost time. That this
compensation is only partial is shown by the slight difference between
the earnings of women working the full' week and those of all women.
The median for full-time workers in the industries surveyed was
$16.70, only 20 cents more than the $16.50 for all women regardless
of time worked.
Women in restaurants generally receive one or more meals a day
as well as their pay, and waitresses frequently receive tips, so the
median of the week’s earnings of restaurant workers, $12.20, can not be
compared with the median earnings of women workers in other
industries.
Year’s earnings.
The amount earned in a year’s work in the industry was obtained
in the case of 132 women who had been with the employer for at least
12 months. Complete data could be secured in only stores, laundries,
and manufacturing other than automobiles and accessories. The
median of the year’s earnings of the 132 women was $775. Ninetyone of the 105 women for whom weeks worked, as well as amount
earned, was reported, worked at least 44 of the 52 weeks, and for these
the median for the year was $766. The highest earnings were in
specialty shops and the lowest were in laundries. (See Text Table 11.)
Earnings and weekly hours.
When women work less than their scheduled or weekly hours the
effect is observed in earnings, but there exists no close correlation
between earnings and the scheduled weekly hours. The median of
the week’s earnings in the automobile industry was the highest of
all, and this industry also had the largest proportion of women with
weekly hours of 50 and under. The lowest median was in 5-and-10cent stores, and for all workers employed in such stores weekly hours
were over 52. The most usual week in the manufacturing industries
i* Restaurant workers excepted.
SUMMARY
7
was 50 hours and in stores it was between 50 and 54. In laundries
the most common week was between 48 and 50 hours. The women
in restaurants had by far the longest week. A fifth of the restaurant
workers reported a schedule of over 58 hours, which excessively long
week was largely the result of a 7-day schedule that existed for a
little more than two-thirds of the women. (See Appendix Tables 2,
5, and 15.)
Daily hours.
The most usual workday found in Flint was one of 8^2 or 9 hours,
and only small proportions of the employees, a little over 2 per cent
in each case, had hours of more than 9 or of 8 and under. Daily
hours were shorter in stores than in manufacturing establishments,
but laundries had a larger proportion of days of nine hours and over
than was found in any other industry. A shorter day was worked
on Saturday in almost all the factories and laundries, but this was
not true of stores, where hours were in many cases as long as on other
days and for more than half of the women were longer. (See Ap
pendix Tables 1 and 3.)
Working conditions.
Though two of the most important facts for the wage earner are
earnings and hours, it has long been realized that good working con
ditions also are a decided factor in the contentment and efficiency of
the working force. In Flint more attention had been given to lighting
than to ventilation. The majority of employers seemed to realize
that both quantity and quality of work are likely to suffer with poor
lighting, but the effect of excessive heat and steam on the worker
and therefore on the work had not received equal attention. In
laundries and restaurants, though general ventilation had been taken
care of, the importance of good hoods, with exhausts, over machines
and stoves where steam is generated was little realized. Another
need noted was more adequate seating facilities for women in laun
dries and in some automobile plants for workers wTho were employed
on standing jobs.
Sanitary conditions.
It is now a well-known fact that the insanitary bubbler,14 as well
as the common drinking cup, is a carrier of germs. Nevertheless,
31 of the 34 establishments with bubblers had those of the insanitary
type and in 21 plants there were common drinking cups. The com
mon towel, which also may be a germ carrier, was found in 56 estab
lishments, and there were no towels in 24. The absence of towels
may be more sanitary, though that is open to question, but the in
convenience due to lack of towels can not be questioned. Toilet
facilities were in all cases connected with the city sewers and of the
flush type, but in 13 the number of seats was insufficient, in one-fourth
of the rooms the ventilation was poor, and about a quarter had doors
on which there was no designation. The provision last named is
required by law in many States and is an aid to privacy and decency.
It is often said in excuse of poor sanitary or comfort provisions
that they are as good as those to which the workers are accustomed
at home. The fallaciousness of any comparison between conditions
14 One where the water falls back on the orifice.
8
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
in a home and in a factory where many men and women are working
side by side in large or small numbers is, of course, apparent, and the
far stricter and more explicit laws for work places in most States
show clearly the realization of this difference.
Equipment of homes.
Sanitary provisions in the 853 homes where visits were made and
information was obtained were so general that almost 90 per cent of
the homes were equipped with running water, flush toilet, bath, and
sewer connection, and less than 1 per cent had no improvements.
(See Appendix Table 13.)
Women’s employment status.
In visiting the homes, certain sections were selected where it was
known that large groups of industrial workers lived, and where, there
fore, a high percentage of working women might in all probability
be found and interviewed. In spite of this method of selecting the
districts, less than a quarter of the 3,648 households visited contained
women who were either working or desiring work. Naturally, in
some households or units 15 several women were working. The total
number of women in units having women workers was 1,633, of whom
946 were employed or had worked during the year and 178 wanted
work. The average size of the unit was 4.5 persons. It was some
what less where women did not work nor want work outside the
home and somewhat larger where they did. It is significant that
there was a larger per cent of men in the households where women
did not work. (See Text Table 2.)
Boarders and lodgers.
Where the family income is not sufficient it may be supplemented
by the renting of rooms as well as by the wife going out to work, and
this method was resorted to in about 30 per cent of the units reporting
on this: Of course, most of the lodgers or boarders were men, but
the number of women who reported living away from their families
and in the homes of strangers was unusually high. Three in every
twenty women were living in rooms or boarding, and that this is an
exceptionally large proportion is shown by the fact that in only 2 of
16 States where similar facts have been gathered by the Women’s
Bureau was the proportion of women living independently so high.
(See Appendix Tables 11 and 12.)
Personal data.
When it is realized that half the women in the survey were under
25 years of age, it may be scon that the problems confronting those
who are interested in either the welfare of young women’or the social
conditions in Flint are of greater magnitude than in most cities of like
size. Perhaps one thing that should make it less difficult to improve
conditions is the rather low proportion of foreign-born women (12.1
per cent) and the fact that of this group nearly two-thirds were from
English-speaking countries. Married women formed a considerable
proportion of the women workers, and if to those are added the women
A unit is a group of persons keeping house together.
house or apartment.
There may be two or more such groups in one
SUMMARY
who had been married, that is, the widowed, separated, and divorced,
they constituted more than half (53.7 per cent) the 1,738 women
for whom such data were secured. (See Appendix Tables 8, 9, and 10.)
Reasons for married women working.
The reason for working was obtained from 143 married women and
in the majority of cases insufficient income due to irregularity of the
husband’s work was given as the cause. This irregularity was due
to the opportunities of work, not to the man’s failure to work. As
one man said, and many confirmed, “Between lay-offs and short
time you can’t count on anything.”
Problems in Flint.
It seems somewhat like a circle, and that the end of the survey
leaves off near the beginning, so far as the special problems of Flint’s
women workers are concerned. Constantly with them is the uncer
tainty of work, their own and their men’s together, in Flint’s major
industries, with little opportunity for the good times in one industry
to offset the bad times in another. For the woman worker there is
also keen competition because of the limited number of jobs and the
difficulty of establishing a way of living for herself and family that
is justified by the wide fluctuations in earnings.
Nor are the problems much simpler for the man or woman who
desires Flint’s best welfare. Besides the usual economic and social
difficulties that exist in every large city are those occasioned by a
single dominating industry, owned by one corporation, and whose
operations require thousands of men, a considerable proportion of
whom must be mobile, able to come at call and leave when work is
slack. In any attempt at local action for improving opportunities
and conditions for the woman worker in Flint, the facts collected in
this survey not only must be considered but an estimate must be
made of their significance in the larger economic background in
which Flint is a small part. The far-reaching effect of such condi
tions is well summed up by Doctor Elkind:
To-day the family and the community are determined largely by the char
acter and the location of the industries on which they are dependent. The
economic, the social, and the political status of our population has been colored
by the rapid and phenomenal development of modern industry.16
is Elkind, Henry B. Behavior studies in industry, in Journal of Industrial Hygiene, January, 1925,
v. 7, No. 1, p. 17.
SCOPE AND METHOD
The survey was undertaken at the request of the Young Women’s
Christian Association of Flint, which felt that it should have further
knowledge of the economic and living conditions of the girls among
whom the work was conducted and for whose benefit the organization
was established. The secretary of the chamber of commerce and the
secretary of the industrial bureau believed that a survey of the women
of Flint by the Women’s Bureau would help them in their work also,
and they extended their fullest cooperation. Certain facts were
wanted by each of the three organizations interested in the survey
and an effort was made by the bureau to obtain such material as
would show, for the wage-earning women of Flint, hours, wages,
working conditions, nativity, age, marital status, schooling, present
position, experience, and training. Effort was made to ascertain from
those wanting jobs what their past experience had been, and to find
why the married women wanted work. The number of young
children whose mothers were working or wanting work was obtained
in order to have some idea of home responsibilities. The numbers of
people working and not working in each family unit also were re
corded, and whether the family had boarders or roomers. The
schedule contained so many questions that little attempt was made
to go into the housing situation, but notes were taken as to the number
of homes owned, being bought, or rented, and the sanitary provisions
in each dwelling.
This information was obtained from three sources—from the
employer, from cards distributed to the women in the plants visited,
and from the workers in home visits.
Factories, stores, laundries, arid restaurants were included in the
survey. Women employed in these places but doing clerical work,
telephone operating, supervising, and other noncomparable work have
been tabulated separately from the women ip the usual industrial
jobs. Every concern employing large numbers of women and many
firms employing only a few workers were visited. The information
from the plants was secured solely through agents of the Women’s
Bureau. Whenever possible a week’s earnings for each woman
employee were copied from the pay roll, together with the hours she
worked and her occupation. Where such records were available,
year’s earnings also were copied for 10 per cent of the women in each
plant. In some of the smaller establishments no pay-roll records
were kept and the earnings and hours were given by the owner or
manager. When earnings were not obtainable in the plants the
earnings and hours worked as reported by the women themselves
were accepted.
In all the plants visited a brief inspection was made of the working,
sanitary, and comfort conditions for the women workers.
10
SCOPE AND METHOD
11
Cards were distributed among the women in the establishments,
on which the workers were asked to record age, nativity, marital
condition, length of service in the present trade and with the present
employer, and the grade at leaving school, together with present
living condition, whether with the family or other relatives or board
ing or lodging.
The house-to-house canvass, made to obtain additional social and
personal information, covered only certain sections of the city where
numbers of women workers were thought to reside. For this reason
the data, though probably representative of the wage-earning women
°f Flint, can not be said to illustrate the composition or the living
conditions of the city as a whole. The sections visited were selected
with the help of persons who know Flint, and those chosen were in
the school districts of Dort, Doyle, Homedale, and Parkland. With
in these areas every house and tenement was visited—frequently
many times before all the information could be obtained. The
secretaries of the Young Women’s Christian Association and a few
social workers of Flint helped the agents of the Women’s Bureau in
making these visits.
In the selected areas where visits were made, details were secured
only where there lived a woman who was actually working, or who
had worked during the year, or who wanted work. Questions were
asked regarding the number in family, number in home, number of
roomers or boarders, chief male wage earner and his relation to the
woman interviewed, his occupation, and whether or not he had been
out of work for a month or longer during the past year. For the one
or more women workers or would-be workers facts were obtained as to
nativity, age, marital status, grade left school, special training,
former jobs, present work, length of service with present employer,
unemployment during year, and earnings and hours worked during a
given week unless that material had already been furnished at the
place of work. When a woman was not working but desired work the
kind of work she wished to do was recorded. Information as to
whether the family owned, were buying, or rented their home also
was ascertained, as was the existence of certain sanitary conveniences.
For a few of the questions the information secured was too slight to be
worth tabulating.
The Young Women’s Christian Association, the chamber of
commerce, the manufacturers’ association, and the industrial bureau
had been consulted on the importance to each of them of the inclusion
or exclusion of different items in the survey and as to the availability
of certain material. The field work of the survey was begun October
20, 1925. It was terminated by the Women’s Bureau December 22,
but the Young Women’s Christian Association continued the collec
tion of material for six weeks longer. This organization was invalu
able both in the actual work it accomplished and in the constant
advice and assistance it gave. Without its help in the selecting and
routing of districts and in the home visiting the bureau could not
have undertaken, with the time and the staff at its disposal, the
collection of the facts on personal and living conditions that form a
useful part of this report.
6089°—29------2
12
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
According to the United States Census there were 45,054 17 wage
earners 10 years of age and over in Flint in 1920. In the 138 estab
lishments visited in the present study 29,048 men, women, and
children 18 were employed.
Table 1.—Number
of men, women, and children in the establishments visited, by
industry
Industry
Number
All
of estab
lishments employees
Men
Women
138
29,048
100.0
26, 231
90.3
2,814
9.7
22
13
27,097
499
25, 346
347
1,751
152
11
4
34
16
38
378
166
274
226
408
98
28
145
79
188
280
138
128
147
218
Boys
under 16
0)
8
Manufacturing:
Stores:
i
2
1 Less than 0.05 per cent.
These figures show pretty accurately the distribution of the women
in the various industries of Flint. Of course, all small stores and
restaurants could not be included, but a fair sample was taken and all
the larger woman-employing establishments were visited. The largest
numbers of both men and women were in manufacturing industries,
and the importance of the automobile and automobile-accessory
establishments to the worker of Flint is shown by the fact that 96.6
per cent of the men and 62.2 per cent of the women in the plants
visited were engaged in the automobile industry. That nearly
two-thirds of the women were working in automobile factories is
especially significant when it is realized that the other industries were
largely woman-employing industries in which the proportion of
women, as a rule, is greater than that of men. The explanation of
this large number of women in an industry that is preeminently a
man’s industry is the considerable number employed in the auto
mobile-accessory group, wherein, unlike automobile or body manu
facturing, the proportion of women is high.
These figures all refer to the numbers of men and women at work
in the different plants visited and were obtained from the plant
records. However, this was only one source of information concerning
the women workers in Flint. The second source was visits to the
workers in their homes. In not quite one-quarter (23.8 per cent) of
the homes visited were women found who worked 19 or wanted work.
The sections visited were among the more crowded and less prosperous
ones of Flint, where the economic pressure would seem to force
women to work; nevertheless, only about one in every four units
contained women who worked or wanted work. This situation is
somewhat accounted for by the fact that the proportion of young
17 U. S. Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census: 1920. v. 4, Population, Occupations, p. 265.
18 Persons under 16 years of age.
19 Includes women who were working or had worked within the year.
13
SCOPE AND METHOD
women workers is high, as is the proportion of women living away
from their homes. Thus several workers or would-be workers might
be grouped in the same unit.
The size of the unit was much the same in the homes where women
did not work as where they did, and averaged 4.5 persons, being
slightly larger in the units where women worked or desired work than
where they were supported.
Figures from the school-attendance records showed a larger number
of children from the same family attending school in the districts
included in the survey than the average for other districts. Neverthe
less, the average number of children under 16 years was only 1.3 for
all the units surveyed, being 1.1 where tho women worked or wanted
work and 1.4 where they neither worked outside the home nor desired
to do so.
Table 2.
Composition of the units surveyed, by employment status of the women
Units in which—
Number
of units
surveyed
Number of units........... ......................
Number of men and women.....................
Men—
Number_____ ______ _______
Pe»- cent...............................................
Women—
Number.________________________
Per cent.................................
Number of boys and girls under 16_______ _____ ____
Some
women
worked or
desired
work
No women
worked or
desired
work
3,648
867
2,781
11,436
3,155
8,281
6, 592
57.6
1, 522
48.2
5,070
61.2
4,844
42.4
11, 633
51.8
3, 211
38.8
4, 824
993
3,831
------- ----------------------------------------------------•_______________________
1 Of this number, 509 neither worked nor desired work.
The small proportion of children is without doubt due to the large
numbers of roomers and boarders found in the sections visited and
the uniting of several women for housekeeping purposes. Many
units contained two women living together, or a family with possibly
several children but also several roomers. One feature, however,
is most marked, and that is the very much smaller proportion of men
in units where women were employed or wanted employment. In
such units men comprised a little less than half the total number of
persons 16 years of age and over, while more than three-fifths (61.2
per cent) were men where women neither worked nor wanted to work
outside the home. Only a comparatively small number of women
were found who expressed themselves as wanting work, but this
figure can not be considered indicative of the possible woman labor
supply. Many young girls and older women come to Flint from
neighboring cities and if work is not available either return home or
move on to another city. From the standpoint of women wanting
work it is of more significance to know that in one large manufactur
ing establishment alone 3,338 women applied for work during a single
year and only 8.1 per cent of them were taken on. This large number
14
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
of women seeking work at one plant would indicate that the oppor
tunities in Flint for women are considerably less than the number of
women seeking jobs. To sum up the findings:
1. The number of establishments visited was 138 and they employed 29,048
persons.
2. Nearly two-thirds of the women (62.2 per cent) and almost all the men
(96.6 per cent) were engaged in the automobile industry.
3. Home visits were made to 3,648 units, i. e., groups of persons keeping house
together.
4. In less than one-quarter of the homes in the industrial districts were women
employed in industrial work or wanting such work.
5. The average size of the unit was 4.5 persons. This was much the same
figure in the units whose women did not work (4.4) as where they worked or
desired work (4.8).
6. The units that contained women working or desiring work had a smaller
proportion of men than had those where women were not employed and did
not want employment.
7. The average number of children under 16 years of age was slightly less in
units where women were working or wanting work (1.1) than where women were
not working (1.4).
HOURS
Daily hours.50
The most usual working day in Flint was one of 8 or 9 hours.
Over one-half (55.1 per cent) of the women had such hours and com
paratively few had hours of 8 or less (2.8 per cent) or more than
9 (2.1 per cent) a day. No plant reported daily hours so long as 10
and only 5 establishments had scheduled hours of more than 9.
(See Appendix Table 1.)
Table 3.—Daily hours, by industry 1
Number
of wom
en re
ported
Industry
Total1.......................................................
Manufacturing:
Automobiles and accessories.....................................
Other.... _ ............... .............. ...
Stores:
General mercantile..............................
5-and-10-cent-_.......................................
Other....... ............ ...
Laundries_________ ____
1 Excludes restaurants, tabulated elsewhere
Per cent of women whose daily hours
were—
8 and
under
Over 8
and un
der 9
9
Over 9
2,594
2.8
40.0
55.1
2.1
1,751
150
.1
12.7
28.8
21.3
70.2
58.0
.9
8.0
138
128
147
1.4
96.8
100. 0
1.8
32. 0
4.8
6.8
3.9
70.1
18.4
(See p. 29.)
In manufacturing industries and laundries the majority of women
had a 9-hour day, but in stores the hours were in most cases botween
8 and 9. A larger proportion of women in specialty stores than in
other stores had hours of eight or less. In no store were regular daily
hours more than nine. In manufacturing and in laundries 7 in every
10 women worked nine hours a day.
If the daily hours of wage-earning women in Flint are compared
with those of women engaged in manufacturing industries in other
States, it is found that Flint shows less tendency toward scheduled
hours of eight and under. In the 12 States in which metal products
were included in the surveys made by the Women’s Bureau, a little
more than one-half of the women working in this industry had
scheduled hours of nine a day and nearly one-tenth (9.4 per cent)
had hours of eight or less. In Flint more than two-thirds (70.2 per
cent) of the women in automobile and accessories plants had a 9hour day and only one plant, employing two women, had a day of
eight hours or less.
The hours of general mercantile establishments in Flint also were
longer than the average in most of the 16 States in which scheduled
hours have been tabulated for this industry by the Women’s Bureau,*
* Restaurant hours are reviewed in another section of this study (see p. 28).
15
16
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
but the 5-and-10-cent stores and laundries followed the hours pre
vailing in other States. Due possibly to smaller numbers, the varia
tions in hours of the 5-and-10-cent stores were less than in most places.
To summarize briefly the findings in Flint, the records show that—•
(1)
were
(2)
(3)
(4)
The prevailing daily hours in manufacturing establishments and laundries
nine.
_
The prevailing daily hours in stores were between eight and nine.
One in every 35 women had scheduled daily hours of eight or less.
One in every 50 women had daily hours of more than nine.
Saturday hours.
The custom of the shorter day on Saturday has become very gen
eral in manufacturing establishments. However, this is not the case
in stores, where hours seldom are shorter and frequently are longer
on Saturday than on other days of the week. (See Appendix Table 3.)
What has been found to be the case throughout the country is
equally true in Flint. All but seven of the manufacturing establish
ments had Saturday hours of five or less, and the plants with the longer
Saturday were small ones employing only a few women.
Only four stores, each employing one woman, had hours shorter on
Saturday than on other days of the week. In the general mercantile
establishments the hours were the same on Saturdays as on other days,
and in the smaller stores Saturday hours were longer. This longer
Saturday also was found in all the 5-and-10-cent stores and in the
large majority of the specialty stores characterized as ‘•other.”
Laundries as a rule had a shorter day on Saturday and in a few cases
Monday hours also were shorter than on other days of the week.
Six plants where hours were the same on Saturday as on Monday to
Friday were dry-cleaning establishments, and in only one of these
was more than one woman employed. Some dry-cleaning plants
had a short Saturday.
A summary of these facts shows that—
(1) A shorter day on Saturday than on other days was scheduled for 98.9
per cent of the women in manufacturing establishments.
(2) A shorter day on Saturday was scheduled for 92.5 per cent of the women in
laundries.
(3) A shorter day on Saturday was scheduled for 0.7 per cent of the women
in stores.
(4) A longer day on Saturday was scheduled for 50.2 per cent of the women
in stores.
Lunch period.
From the viewpoint of the worker, probably there is no one ideal
lunch period. If she lives near her work and can go home for dinner,
she prefers a longer time than when she must eat in a plant cafeteria
or near-by lunch room. Again, if the hours of work are long more
time is needed for rest and change than when the day is a short one.
The large majority of the women in factories (83.4 per cent) and in
stores ■'(79.3 per cent) had an hour for lunch, but in laundries the
prevailing time was 30 minutes. In two factories three-quarters of
an hour was given the workers and in seven half an hour. In no
store was the time allowed less than one hour and in a number of the
smaller stores the time for lunch was more than an hour. (See
Appendix Table 4.)
1. In manufacturing establishments a little more than four-fifths of the women
(83.4 per cent) had a lunch period of one hour,
HOTJRS
17
2. In stores almost four-fifths of the women (79.3 per cent) were allowed one
hour for lunch.
3. In laundries a little more than two-thirds of the women (67.3 per cent)
had 30 minutes for lunch.
Weekly hours.
To know how the weekly hours in Flint compare with those in other
parts of the country, it may be well to consider what are the most
common weekly hours in other States and cities. Figures compiled
from studies by the Women’s Bureau in 18 States and 2 cities sh< i
that, when all industries are combined, the largest group of women,
a little less than one-fifth, had a week of 50 hours. This also is the
weekly schedule for the largest group in Flint. (See Appendix
Table 2.)
Table 4.—Weekly hours, by industry 1
Industry
Total1
........................................................
Per eent of women whose weekly hours were—
Num
ber of
Over
Over
women
52 and Over
48 and 48 and
50 and includ
re
50
ported under uq^ler
under ing 54
54
52
2, 59(5
12.1
15.0
50.5
12.6
9.6
1,751
152
13.9
33.6
15.0
4.6
69.0
50.7
1.3
2.1
9.9
280
138
128
147
.7
.4
1.1
96.8
7.8
6.1
10.2
72.1
16.4
26.6
12.9
Manufacturing:
Stores:
1 Excludes restaurants, tabulated elsewhere.
(See p. 31.)
1.1
100.0
38.3
8.8
0.8
2 Less than 0.05 per cent.
One-quarter of the establishments reporting had a week of 50 hours,
and these hours affected one-half (50.5 per cent) of the women
employed. A little more than a fifth of the women (22.4 per cent)
had hours over 50 and a little over one-fourth (27.2 per cent) had
hours less than 50. The 50-hour week was most prevalent in manu
facturing.
In 9 of the 11 department stores the weekly hours were less than
52, the prevailing hours being between 50 and 52, the schedule for
96.8 per cent of the women in general mercantile establishments.
Hours for all the women in 5-and-10-cent stores were in one group,
with a week of more than 52 and less than 54 hours.
In laundries the majority of workers had shorter weekly hours than
those prevailing in manufacturing establishments and stores. Ten
of the 16 laundries, where more than three-fourths of the women
were working, had weekly hours of 48 and under 50.
The lack of the Saturday half holiday in stores lengthened the
weekly hours, so that, though their daily hours were shorter than was
general in factories and laundries, stores as a rule had weekly hours
longer than those in manufacturing or laundering.
1. In manufacturing establishments the 50-hour week was the most frequent
and a little over two-thirds of the women (67.6 per cent) had this schedule.
2. In stores nearly 90 per cent (89.7) of the women had weekly hours of over
50 and less than 54.
3. In laundries nearly three-fourths (72.1 per cent) of the women had weekly
hours of over 48 and less than 50.
EARNINGS
Week’s earnings.21
The consideration of week’s earnings is difficult to make significant
to most people, especially to those who have never had to figure
their own living costs and make every penny count. Even with
imagination the difficulty of realizing what it means to live on a
weekly wage of $16.50 is of two kinds: First, due to the fact that very
rarely does a weekly wage of $16.50 mean that such amount is
received invariably each week, and, second, that what it costs to live
varies with time and place but probably even more with the individual.
It may be generally admitted that everyone must have shelter, food,
and clothing, but in importance these various items certainly have
various weightings. One woman may feel that a quiet, clean room
all to herself is of vital importance and that food and clothing are
secondary, while another may not mind sharing a room but finds
essential three substantial meals a day. Where the emphasis is laid
depends not only on the individual but to some extent on the stand
ards of those among whom she works and lives.
In Flint the emphasis was laid on clothing, and two factors were
largely responsible for this: One, the general custom of installment
buying, and the other, the large proportion of young men in the
community, who naturally favored the better-dressed girls. Perhaps
a third contributing cause may be the many young girls who come to
Flint from the farms and smaller towns. They are not used to a city
and have not the balance and background that a home would give
them; therefore the importance of clothes looms large.
The median 22 of the earnings of the 1,530 women for a single week
in the autumn of 1925 23 was $16.50. This median is, however, $1.60
more than was averaged during the year by the 132 women who were
exceptionally steady workers and for whom year’s earnings were
obtained. The median of $16.50 includes all workers but those in
restaurants, and the survey was in a period prosperous for the auto
mobile industry. In Flint the prosperity of this main industry also
meant prosperity for most of the other industries. As times were
good in the automobile industry, stores sold more goods, commissions
were higher, and more girls were employed (the season of the year, in
the late fall, also contributed to this); laundries were busy, for when
the women were working they sent out the family wash; restaurants
also reported business as good at the time of the survey. The effect
of the prosperity in Flint’s major industry was felt everywhere and
earnings in all industries reflected the good conditions of the auto
mobile industry.
» Excludes restaurants, discussed elsewhere. (See p. 32.)
» Half the women earned more and half earned less.
« A week was selected from the period between the latter part of September and the latter part of Novem
ber. The exact date varied, because it was considered desirable to take a week where the selected plant
was running full time and in which there were no holidays.
18
19
EARNINGS
Table 5.—Median earnings, by industry or occupation 1
Industry or occupation
Total.
Manufacturing:
Automobiles and accessoriesOther..................... .....................
Stores:
General mercantile.
5-and-10-cent_____
Other........................
Laundries.......................
Office work_____ _____
Telephone operating...
Service 3_____________
Supervisory positions. .
Number Median
of women earnings
reported
1 1, 530
$16.50
397
161
20.10
14.05
286
138
142
150
184
22
28
16
16.00
11.50
18.40
13.30
19.20
18.20
13. 75
19.00
1 Exclusive of restaurant occupations, discusser! elsewhere. (See p. 32.) Total includes women selling
candy, cigarettes, etc., in restaurants, too few for the computation of a median.
3 Elevator operators, cleaners, charwomen, etc.
Women’s earnings in the automobile industry for the one week taken
were the highest of all industries, $20.10, but this probably did not
represent weekly earnings throughout the year, at least to the extent
that the $19.20 median did for office work, the $19 for supervisory
work, the $18.20 for telephone operating, or the $15.45 for all women
in stores. The regularity of employment in these latter groups is
far greater than in the automobile industry, as will be shown later
when lost time is considered. The lowest earnings were in 5-and-10cent stores and laundries, where the medians were $11.50 and $13.30,
respectively, closely followed by the service group, with a median of
$13.75.
Earnings in manufacturing establishments other than automobile
and accessory plants show a median of $14.05, considerably lower
than those in several groups but higher than in 5-and-10-cent stores,
laundries, and service. As would be expected, the earnings in super
visory positions are high and those in service low. Nevertheless, the
median for women in supervisory positions was lower than the rank
and file in automobile factories and in office work. (See Appendix
Table 5.)
1. The median of the earnings of all workers for one week was $16.50.
2. The highest median for any one industry was $20.10 in automobiles and
accessories.
3. The lowest median was $11.50 for women in 5-and-lO-cent stores.
Full-time earnings, undertime earnings, and overtime earnings.
It has been noted that the median of the earnings of all workers
was $16.50, and that the median for different industries varied con
siderably from this sum. Since half of the workers earned less and
half earned more than the median, in a given industry the variations
above or below the average may be due to differences in earning
ability or in the number of days or hours worked.
Scheduled weekly hours may be 50 a week, for example, but a worker
may be ill or the work may be slack so that a few hours or even days
are lost; or there may be extra work and more hours may be worked
than those scheduled. In other words, one marked cause of variation
in earnings is that the employee has worked less time, which is under
20
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
time, or more time, which is overtime, than her scheduled or plant
hours.
The proportion of women who reported a full week, according to
the scheduled hours or days of their establishments, was not quite
three-fifths (58.3 per cent) of the women for whom time worked was
reported. Not quite two-fifths (38 per cent) lost some time during
the given week and 3.6 per cent worked overtime. Naturally,
earnings are affected both by the group losing time from their work
and by those who worked longer hours than the schedule. The group
of overtime workers is so small as to have little effect on group earn
ings, but the lost time is greater and does affect earnings to a consider
able extent in some industries.
The median of the earnings of full-time workers—those working
the required hours or days of the establishment—in all industries
was $16.70, only 20 cents more than the median for all workers. (See
Appendix Tables 5 and 6.)
Table 6.—Median
earnings of all workers and of full-time workers, by industry or
occupation 1
Industry or occupation
Total i............................................................................................................................
All
workers
Full-time
workers
$16. 50
$16.70
20.10
14.05
21.30
14. 55
10.00
11. 50
18. 40
13. 30
19. 20
18. 20
13. 75
16. 60
12.00
18. 55
18. 50
19.30
18. 20
14.00
Manufacturing:
Stores:
1 Exclusive of restaurant occupations. Totals include selling occupations in restaurants and supervisory
positions in various industries, numbers too small for the computation of medians.
* Elevator operators, cleaners, charwomen, etc.
In two industries the difference between full-time earnings and
earnings that included undertime and overtime work was marked.
Laundries had a median for the full-week group of $18.50, while that
for all workers was $13.30, a difference of $5.20. In the automobile
industry the difference between the two medians was not so great as
in laundries but it was significant nevertheless; the medians were
$20.10 for all workers and $21.30 for full-time workers. There was
some overtime in both these industries but, as is shown by the earnings,
not enough to compensate for the time lost. The number of women
losing time was high; almost three-quarters (73.3 per cent) of the
women in laundries lost some time during the week, as did slightly
more than four-fifths (81.2 per cent) of the women in the automobile
industry.
In the interviews with the women working in the automobile
industry the irregularity and uncertainty of employment constantly
was emphasized. Some of their complaints were founded on their
own experience and some on the experience of their husbands or
fathers. Married women frequently said that they were working
because their husbands’ earnings were so uncertain; one husband,
EARNINGS
21
after reviewing the ups and downs of his work, said, “That’s why nay
wife is working. We’ve got to have something to count on.” Another
woman whose husband was in an automobile plant wanted work be
cause, as she explained, “You can’t ever tell how long work will last
in Flint.” One girl said that for four or five months during the previ
ous year she had had work only three or four days a week; as a girl’s
mother expressed it, “If they was to wc k steady and hard they might
make a living.” The actual amount of involuntary lost time was
not possible to ascertain, but short time and occasional shutdowns
frequently were mentioned, and it was evident that they affected
very generally the outlook of the working people. Several couples
spoke of buying and settling in Flint but said they were afraid because
of possible bad times in the automobile industry. Their fears per
haps were well founded, for more than a few persons spoke of losing
houses or furniture that they were buying on installments because
short time came and they could not keep up the payments.
Women in stores and in office work reported large per cents (from
79 to 95 per cent) working the full week; in these industries, there
fore, the medians for all workers were fairly close to the normal or
expected wage. In manufacturing other than automobiles there was
a difference of but 50 cents between the median for all workers and
that for full-time workers. The per cent of women losing time was
very much less than in the automobile industries (only 36.5 per cent
as compared with 81.2 per cent). Overtime was worked by more
women in “other manufacturing” than in any other industry group,
which compensated for some of the time lost. Telephone operating
was the only industry in which the earnings of all workers and of
full-time workers were the same. As the number of workers also
was the same in both groups, either no time was lost and no overtime
worked during the week taken, or a full wage was paid regardless
of time worked.
1. The median of the earnings of full-time workers was $16.70 compared to a
median of $16.50 for all workers.
2. Laundries showed the greatest difference in medians between full-time and
all workers, the figures being $18.50 and $13.30.
3. Telephone operators had the same earnings for full-time workers and all
workers.
4. Of all the women for whom time worked was reported, including restaurants,
62.8 per cent worked a full week, 34 per 'cent lost some time, and 3.2 per cent
worked overtime.
5. The automobile industry liad the smallest proportion of women working
full time—only 13.1 per cent of the 388 women for whom time worked was
reported.
Timeworkerg and pieceworkers.
There are two general methods of payment in industry—one based
on the hours, days, or weeks worked and the other on the amount
produced by each worker or group of workers. All but three of the
women in this study who did office work, telephone operating, or
worked in laundries, restaurants, and stores were paid for the time
worked. In the manufacturing industries workers were paid by
both methods, time and piece, and in some cases the same worker
was paid part of the time by one method and part by the other. The
largest per cent of women in manufacturing industries were paid
by the piece and their earnings were higher than those of time workers
in the automobile factories, though not higher than those of time
workers in other manufacturing.
22
WOMEN WORKERS IN ELINT, MICH.
Earnings and experience.
A beginner in an occupation almost never receives the same pay
as a more experienced worker, and it seems reasonable to suppose
that the longer the time spent at a given job the more efficient and
therefore more valuable a worker becomes. The figures secured in
Flint show this to be true.
Table 7.—Median earnings, by time in the trade
Women who had been in the trade—
Industry
Under 1 year
1 and under 5 years
Median Number Median
Number earnings
earnings
Total <......................................................
Number
Median
earnings
146
$12. 20
175
$15. 25
183
$17. 95
11
32
13. 75
14.00
1
• 21
(*)
15. 75
14
30
24. 50
15.00
17
61
4
24
12. 45
11.05
(2)
11. 80
39
44
34
29
15.40
12. 85
18.35
14.50
62
5
37
29
18.00
(2)
20. 85
14.40
Manufacturing:
Stores:
5 years and over
1 Exclusive of restaurant occupations. Totals include selling occupations in restaurants, office work,
service, and supervisory positions, numbers too small for the computation of medians.
1 Not computed, owing to small number involved.
In Flint there was a fairly uniform increase of median earnings with
length of time in the trade. Women in all industries with experience
of less than one year had median earnings of $12.20, while beginners
with less than three months' experience had a median of $11.70.
Earnings steadily increased, with slight exceptions, until for workers
with 15 years and over in the same trade the median was $20.65.
(See Appendix Table 7.)
In individual industries the most marked difference in earnings
between workers with less than a year’s experience and those who had
worked a number of years was in general mercantile establishments,
where for workers with service of less than a year the median was
$12.45, and for those with service'of 15 years and over it was $21. In
this same industry—general mercantile—the proportion of women
remaining for five years or longer in the trade was more than one-half
(52.5 per cent) and their median was $18. In manufacturing other
than the automobile industry the increase of earnings with experience
was very slight. Of the 83 women reporting, workers with less than
a year in the trade had a median of $14, while those with five years and
over had one of $15. Only 26 women in the automobile industry
reported earnings and time in the trade,too few to make their records
significant for the industry as a whole.
Women in laundries showed a considerable increase ($2.70) in the
median between workers with less than a year’s experience and those
who had worked one to five years. After 5 years earnings remained
practically stationary, though a small group of women in the industry
15 years or more had a high median.
The proportion of women remaining in the same trade for five years
and over was a little over one-third (36.3 per cent) of the women
23
EARNINGS
reporting. The industries with the highest per cents of employees as
much as 15 years in the trade were general mercantile establishments
and specialty stores.
1. The median for workers with less than 1 year’s experience was $12.20.
2. The median for workers with experience of 15 years and over was $20.65.
3. The greatest increase in any one industry was in general mercantile stores,
with a median of $12,45 for workers of less than 1 year’s experience and a median
of $21 for women of at least 15 years’ experience.
4. A little over one-third of the women (36.3 per cent) had remained in the
same industry for five years and more.
5. General mercantile stores had the highest per cent of long-time employees,
i. e. 15 years and more in the trade.
6. Five-and-ten-eent stores had the lowest per cent of long-time employees
(not any so long as 10 years in the trade).
Earnings and time with the firm.
Increased time with one employer usually adds to a woman’s
efficiency in the plant, because, as she becomes experienced in a
certain job, her services are increasingly valuable to the firm. How
ever, if she comes to her present employer experienced in the kind of
work required, her earnings naturally will be higher than if she is a
beginner in the work.
Table 8.—Median
earnings, by time with the firm
Women who had been with the firm—
Industry or occupation
Num
ber of
women
report
ing
Under 1
year
Per
cent
To talV
Manufacturing_____
Stores.............. ...........
Office work________
Telephone operating.
Median
earn
ings
1 and under 5
years
Per
cent
Median
earn
ings
5 years and
over
Per
cent
Median
earn
ings
10 years and
over
Per
cent
Median
earn
ings
622
44.1
$16. 75
40.7
$20.15
15.3
$21.65
1.3
(2)
355
42
179
43.1
66.7
40.2
31.8
18.20
12. 45
16. 65
(J)
39.7
31.0
42.5
20.70
14. 75
21.65
1.4
(2)
68.2
18.90
17.2
2.4
17.3
(*)
23.15
........
1.1
22
20.10
(’)■
1 Exclusive of restaurant occupations. Total includes laundries, service, and supervisory positions, num
bers too small for the computation of medians.
2 Not computed, owing to small number involved.
Length of service with the present employer was reported for 622
women. Almost one-half (44.1 per cent) of these women had been
less than a year in the establishment, and this high per cent of women
with such short length of service is specially interesting when wages
are observed, for the median for workers with less than a year of serv
ice was 116.75, a comparatively good median for new workers. It
would appear, therefore, that the reason for shifting from one estab
lishment to another was due to causes other than dissatisfaction with
wages. The medians show that wages increased rather steadily up
to 4 years and after that showed slight increases. The median of the
earnings was $4.90 higher for workers with as much as five years with
the same employer than it was for those less than one jmar with the
firm.
A very small number of women, only eight, reported 10 or more
years with their present employer, but with the exception of telephone
24
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
operators every group showed a large proportion of women with less
than 1 year’s service in the establishment. This large per cent of
women in the short-service group and the small per cent who reported
10 years and over with the same employer emphasize the rapid
growth of Flint in the past 10 years.
1. Women with less than a year with their present employer composed 44.1 per
cent of the 622 women reporting.
2. The median of the earnings for women with less than a year of service with
the same employer was $16.75.
3. The median of the earnings for women who had been with the same employer
for five years and over was $21.65.
4. Only eight women reported as much as 10 years with the present firm.
Earnings and age.
There is no doubt that in most industries the period of maximum
earning ability in a woman’s life lies between the ages of 20 and 40
years. The specific period within these years when earnings are high
est may vary according to the demands of the industiy, as will be
seen in the table following.
Table 9.—Highest median earnings in the industry or occupation, by age group in
which found
Age group having highest median
Industry or occupation
25 and under 30
years
30 and under 40
years
40 and under 50
years
Per cent Median Per cent Median Per cent Median
of women earnings of women earnings of women earnings
16.9
$19.10
20.0
21.95
Manufacturing:
18.0
* 29.1
$15. 25
28.7
15. 40
3 9.9
$18. 65
22.50
1 Exclusive of restaurant occupations. Total includes selling occupations in restaurants, telephone
operating, service, and supervisory positions, numbers too small for the computation of medians.
2 The groups 20 and under 25 years, with 21.4 per cent of the women, and 25 and under 30 years, with 19.4
per cent, had a median of $15.
* The much larger group, 30 and under 40 years, with 21.7 per cent of the women, had a median of $18.15.
In the industries of Flint the highest median in automobile manu
facturing was that of women 25 and under 30 years of age, $21.95,
while in other manufacturing an older group, 30 and under 40, had
the highest earnings, $15.25, followed closely by the groups 20 and under
25 and 25 and under 30, each with a median of $15. In stores the
highest median was that of women 40 and under 50 years of age,
$18.65, but a much larger group, the women of 30 and under 40 years,
had a median of $18.15. The highest median among laundry workers
was the $15.40 of women 30 and under 40 years of age. In office
work the group 25 and under 30 years outranked the others, with a
median of $22.50.
The age group with the highest earnings is not always the largest
group. In the automobile industry, though women of 25 and under
30 had the highest earnings they constituted but a fifth of the workers,
EARNINGS
25
while women 30 and under 40 comprised another fifth, and women
between 20 and 25 were a little over one-third. Women in stores had
their highest earnings between 40 and 50 years, but the largest group
of women, nearly a quarter of the whole, were between 20 and 25
years of age and more than a fifth were 30 and under 40. In “other
manufacturing” and in laundries the largest group of workers and
the highest-earnings group were the same.
In some industries small groups of women much older or much
younger than those for whom medians have been computed had earn
ings as high as or higher than the average presented in the table. In
automobile manufacturing a woman of 60 or more earned $22, two girls
of 16 and under 18 years earned $25 and under $30, and one in the same
group earned $24. In stores five women 50 and under 60 years of
age averaged $18.75. In office work a woman between 50 and 60
earned more than $25 and two between 40 and 50 earned more than
$30.
When all the 1,179 women who reported age and earnings are
considered, regardless of industry, the highest median ($19.10)
occurs in the group of workers between 25 and 30 years. The pro
portion of women in this group, however, is only one-sixth (16.9
per cent) of all the women, while between the ages of 20 and 25
are found three-tenths (29.8 per cent) of all, and one-fifth were 30
and under 40 years.
1. Highest earnings for all women, regardless of industry, were for those
between the ages of 25 and 30 years.
2. In the automobile industry and in office work highest earnings were reached
between 25 and 30 years.
3. Highest earnings were reached in “other manufacturing” and laundries in
the group 30 to 40 years.
4. Highest earnings in stores were reached by workers between 40 and 50
years.
Earnings and schooling.
The relation between schooling and earnings can not bo treated
as though an increase in the first necessarily would mean an increase
in the second. In a given job, the native ability of one worker
may make her more valuable than any amount of schooling could
make another worker. Furthermore, the prestige or supposed
social standing of certain kinds of work may make them preferred,
by the graduate of high school, to easier work and better pay in
less favored industries. That these two factors, the worker’s per
sonal equipment and the social standing of the work, weigh more
than the actual number of grades completed, would seem to be the
case, for among 1,158 women who reported their earnings and school
ing, the highest median, with the exception of the earnings of workers
who had taken special training courses, was the $18.25 for women
none of whom had gone beyond the sixth grade.14 Workers who
reported having completed or partially completed the eighth grade
had a median of $17.10, while those who had attended high school
but had not reached the fourth year had lower earnings than appear
for workers in any other group.24
24 Slightly higher earnings were shown for women in some of the lower grades, but too few women were
reported to make computation of medians significant.
26
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
Table 10.—Median earnings, by extent of schooling—all industries
Extent of schooling
From first to sixth grade, inclusive_______________
Left during or on completion of eighth grade__
Left during or on completion of first year of high school____ _
Left during or on completion of second year of high school..
Left during or on completion of third year of high school... _____
Left during or on completion of fourth year of high school.. ____
Had attended college or business or commercial school...
Number Median
of
earnings
women
137
162
74
116
121
$18.25
17.10
15.55
15.90
15. 55
17.65
19.50
1 Exclusive of restaurants.
Probably the most important cause of this strange result of corre
lating schooling and earnings is the composition of the groups.
Earnings in the automobile industry were comparatively high and
almost two-thirds (64.2 per cent) of the women in this industry
had only grammar-school education. Many of the high-school
workers, 214 of 489, were in stores, where average weekly earnings
for the industry were lower than in offices or in the automobile
industry. The women doing office work, where wages were next
to the highest of any industry or occupation covered, had in many
cases taken special courses, and for the 86 women who reported attend
ance at college ora commercial or other business school as part of
their training, the median ($20.65) is the highest shown for any
group of office workers.
1. The highest median was in the group of workers with special training.
2. The next highest median was $18.25 for workers with schooling in the
sixth grade or below.
3. The occupation determined earnings to a greater extent than did schooling
unless special training courses were taken.
Year’s earnings and weeks worked.
It has already been shown that a full week’s earnings can not be
counted on by the average worker; a certain number of hours or
days invariably are lost, and this affects earnings. What is true of a
week’s earnings is even truer of a year’s earnings, and the proportion
of women reporting year’s earnings who worked every week in the
year was only half so great as the proportion who worked a full week.
Of the 105 women who reported both year’s earnings and number of
weeks worked, only 3 in 10, a little less than one-third, had worked
for 52 weeks. This was the case in spite of the fact that the records
taken were of women selected by the management as steady workers
who had lost comparatively little time during the year.
In the group of women who worked every week in the year, one
woman earned between $500 and $550 and another between $1,600
and $1,800. Between these two figures were scattered those of 29
women, with no more than 5 women whose earnings even fell in the
same $50 group.
The median of the year’s earnings of the entire group of women—
the 105 reporting the number of weeks worked and the 27 not so
reporting—was $775. These women worked in factories,24
25 stores,
and laundries, and their earnings give a fair picture of the yearly
24 No women in the automobile industry reported number of weeks worked, but for eight the year’s earn
ings were reported.
27
EARNINGS
income that the average woman worker in Flint may expect. Of
course, the median of $775 does not mean that each of the 132 women
earned that amount; half earned more and half earned less. There
were wide variations in earnings.
Of the 105 women for whom weeks worked was reported, only 91
had worked as much as 44 weeks of the 52. The median of the earn
ings of these women was $766, only $9 less than the figure for all
women for whom year’s earnings are reported. The distribution of
these 91 women is shown in the table following.
Table 11.— Year’s
earnings, by industry 1
Number of women in—
Year’s earnings
Manu
Number facturing
of women
other
reported
than
automo General
biles and mercan
tile
acces
sories
Stores
5-and10-cent
Total____________________________
i 91
10
30
21
Radian earnings...............................................
$766
$900
$840
$709
$450 and under $500___________ _____ ___
1
2
5
10
8
16
11
10
7
5
5
6
4
$750 and under $800_________ _____ _____
$850 and under $900__________ _________
$1,000 and under $1,100______ __________
*1,400 and under $1,000..................... ..............
$1,600 and under $1,800 ________________
1
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
2
1
3
4
5
6
2
2
2
2
Laun
dries
Other
9
21
$669
1
2
2
4
9
2
1
2
2
2
'
"i..................
1 Includes only women who had worked at least 44 weeks.
3 Not computed, owing to small number involved.
1. The median of the year’s earnings (44 weeks and over) for women in stores,
laundries, and factories other than automobile was $766.
2. The median for women who worked for 52 weeks was $788.
3. The highest year’s earnings were reported for the women in specialty stores,
too few for the computation of a median but averaging nearly $1,100.
4. The lowest year’s earnings were among laundry workers, with a median
of $669.
6089°—29------ 3
RESTAURANTS
Restaurant work is a cross between industry and domestic service.
In any analysis of the hours, earnings, and working conditions of
women employed in restaurants, due emphasis must be laid on the
varying factors that set restaurant workers apart from the women in
the other industries included in this study.
The hours of the restaurant worker are regulated to a great extent
by the demands of the public upon her service, and it is the public
that frequently supplements the amount of her pay envelope.
Considerable planning is necessary, especially in the larger estab
lishments, to have a sufficient number of workers at hand during meal
periods and to arrange for their withdrawal when the rush period is
passed. Such a scheme likewise must take cognizance of the State
law and see that no woman’s working hours are longer than those
permitted by law. To do this and at the same time to maintain a
working force constitutes the problem of the management.
Working conditions in a restaurant and in a factory differ; though
the worker in the latter has sanitary facilities and welfare provisions
especially for her use, the woman in a restaurant must share these
with the public. In the case of washing facilities, women in restau
rants occasionally must use those of the hidustry itself.
Restaurant workers’ wages are not given as in a store or factory,
so much for the time worked and services rendered, but usually are
supplemented by meals and by tips from the customers. These
conditions must be constantly borne in mind in the consideration of
hours and earnings of restaurant workers.
Daily hours.
In a consideration of the daily hours of restaurant workers there
are three points to be considered—the length of the day, the division
of the day into one or more periods or shifts, and the over-all within
which the woman’s working period lies. Furthermore, different
hours may be worked on different days of the week, an arrangement
liked or disliked by the worker according to the nature of her home
duties.
If a worker is living away from home, possibly in a rented room by
herself, as a quarter (25.5 per cent) of the restaurant workers were
doing, different hours on the various days of the week may matter
very little and possibly may be preferred as allowing a free afternoon
on one day and a free evening on another. If, for example, her hours
on one day are from 7 a. m. to 2 p. m. and on the next are from 3
p. m. to 10 p. m., such variations may be well adapted tocher mode
of life. But the opinion of the married worker, and two-fifths (40.6
per cent) of the women were married, as to one daily schedule or
different daily schedules, probably would not be the same as that
of the single woman; for she might have a husband returning home
28
RESTAURANTS
29
in the evening or children to get off to school in the morning, and their
schedules would not be changed from day to day as was hers.
lhe majority of the restaurant women (84) reported the same hours
each day of the week, while 69 worked on two different schedules and
16 on three schedules. An analysis of the length of the day of the
84 women who worked the same shift each day of the week shows
that nearly two-fifths of the employee-days 26 were of 8 hours. None
of these days exceeded 9 hours, but a little over one-fifth (22 2 per
cent) were as long as 9 hours. (See Appendix Table 14.)
When hours are not the same each day they usually are so arranged
that hours worked are long on one day and short on the next, which
would account for the wide variation in hours found in the employeedays where two schedules were worked. The group of 69 women with
two schedules had a smaller proportion of 8-hour and 9-hour days
and more short ones of less than 6 hours. When three schedules
were worked, the proportion of employee-days with short or lon^
J?°ur? was even greater than under the two-schedule arrangement”
1 ne following table shows that, when one schedule was worked, almost
three-fourths of the employee-days were of 8 and 9 hours, none under
6 nor over 9; in the two-schedule employee-days, there were small
per cents of days with hours less than 6 or more than 9; while about
30 pel cent of the employee-days in the three-schedule arrangement
were of more than 9 hours and 13.5 per cent were of less than 6 hours.
Table 12.
Length of employee-day, by number of schedules in a week—restaurants
Sehedules in one week
Total_________
One (uniform schedule)___
Two . ............
Three................ ..............
Per cent of employee-days
Number
whose hours were—
of em
ployeedays
Under 6
8
0
Over 9
1,128
553
464
111
3.9
30.3
21.5
5.1
6.3
13.5
37.3
27.6
/.z
22.2
18.1
31.5
5.2
29.7
When all employee-days—those of one schedule, those of two and
those of three—are grouped together, the largest number in any hour
group (30.3 per cent) is m the 8-hour classification and the next
largest (21.5 per cent) is in that of 9 hours. More days of short
hours and more of long hours were worked in independent restaurants
than m restaurants in hotels or in stores.
The arrangement of the daily hours varies. Sometimes the 8
or 9 hours are in a, straight shift; sometimes the hours are broken
by one or more periods when work is slack and the worker is off duty.
lhe advantages or disadvantages to a worker of a straight or‘a
broken shift probably would depend largely on the individual worker,
it the worker s home was near and the free period of sufficient length
the interval between shifts would be useful and many odd jobs might
be accomplished. However, if the distance from home was too great
or the time too short, the free period with nowhere to go might be
anything but useful or restful. It must also be remembered that
“ Total Uljinlllir of flays worked by all women, each day’s work considered as a unit.
30
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
with time off between shifts the spread of the day is much longer, and
the hours of beginning and ending—in other words, the over-all
hours—-cover a very long day. When a woman starts at 6 and works
until 10, has two hours off duty, begins again at 12 noon and works
until 2.30, is off again for three hours, and then is on duty from 5.30
until 8, her actual working hours are nine but she has been more or
less tied to her job from 6 in the morning until 8 at night.
The unbroken shift was the rule for nearly one-half (47.3 per cent)
of the employee-days worked in Flint. For about the same number
of days (47.1 per cent) there was one break in the employed period,
and only a small proportion (5.6 per cent) had two periods off duty.
Table 13.—Number of periods off duty, by type of restaurant
Per cent of employee-days
with—
Type of restaurant
Number
of
employeedays
Un
broken
shift
Shift
broken
by one
period
off duty
1,128
47.3
47.1
5.6
9f>4
49
115
50.4
48.1
1.5
100.0
41.7
58.3
Shift
broken
by two
periods
off duty
Where one break occurred in the day’s work, this break in nearly
one-half (45.2 per cent) of the cases was of three hours or more
duration. In a quarter (25.2 per cent) of the cases the period between
the shifts was less than two hours. When the day was divided into
more than two shifts the total amount of time off was greater, but
the number of employee-days where this occurred was much less.
A little more than three-fourths (77.8 per cent) of these employeedays had an aggregate between shifts of four hours and over, and on
no day did the periods between shifts amount to less than two hours.
The broken day occurred most frequently in hotels, while the single
shift was more prevalent in independent restaurants and caffe. In
restaurants in stores there was no instance of a shift being broken by
two periods off duty.
Women who are engaged in housework, either in their own homes
or in the homes of others, frequently complain that their work is
“never done.” The same might be said by restaurant workers who
have long over-all hours. Though they, like housewives, have periods
during the day when they are not actually working, in most cases
they do not live where they work and therefore can not rest or relax
as can the worker within the home. A spread of the workday ovre
12 or more hours occurred in more than one-fifth (21.6 per cent) of
all the employee-days, and a spread of 10 hours and over occurred in
43.1 per cent of the days.
The women who worked a single continuous shift, and who had,
therefore, the same actual and over-all hours, with no time for meals
except while on duty, were responsible for almost one-half (47.3 per
cent) of all the employee-days. The women whose shifts were
31
KESTAUKANTS
broken reported an over-all of 12 or more hours for about two-fifths
(4f-l per cent) of their employee-days; four-fifths (81.8 per cent) of
the days had an over-all of 10 hours and more. The time off between
shifts varied considerably. Of the broken employee-days less than
two hours off duty was found in 22.6 per cent, while one-half (50.7
per cent) had three hours and more of leisure time. This illustrates
one aspect of the restaurant workers’ problem, that of intermittent
hours of work, necessitating long over-all hours broken by periods
on duty, in many cases far from home.
Weekly hours.
It has been observed that the prevailing day for workers in res
taurants was in most cases not a long one, but when the hours sched
uled lor a week are recorded the result is a surprisingly long week
for many women. (See Appendix Table 15.)
Table
14.—Weekly hours, hy occupation—restaurants
Tefal
number
of
women
Occupation
Total...................
2169
Waitress____ _
Cook........ ...
Dishwasher_____
Per cent of women whose weeklyhours were—
48 and
under
17. 2
Over 48
and in
cluding
54 i
Over 54
Over 58
39.6
43.2
45.5
40.4
14.1
48.0
24. 0
20.7
•-----------------------J Sn.e-?f.th,ofihe wom3n CM-1 P3r rant) had a week: of 54 hoars.
I te°ofsignificance? women not liste<1 sePari«ely because number in each occupational group too small
A larger proportion of women had hours of more than 54 (43 2
per cent) than had hours of less than 54 (36.7 per cent). One-fifth
of the women had a schedule of more than 58 hours. The apparent
contradiction of daily hours where only 5.1 per cent of the employeeclays were longer than 9 and weekly hours that were more than 58
ioi 20.7 per cent of the women is explained by the number of women
who reported a 7-day week. Two-thirds (67.5 per cent) of the
169 women reported a week of seven days, and the tremendous
diiieience this made m the weekly hours is shown when the hours
of the 6-day and the 7-day week are compared.
6-day
week
Hours
Number of women reported
Per cent distribution _
Per cent whose hours were—
48 and under_______
Over 48 and including 54.
Over 54....-------
.......... ...........
.................................
------- ----------- -------------
55
32.5
7-day
week
114
67.5
6.1
■---------------------------------------------------------~____________
Piactically six-tenths (59.6 per cent) of the women working a
7-day week had hours of more than 54, and less than one-tenth
(.9.1 per cent) of the women working a 6-day week had an equally
32
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
long schedule. Evej^ with reasonably short daily hours ■ a 7-day
week will mean long weekly hours and give very little leisure time
for the worker.
The occupations of the women in restaurants appear to have had
some relation to their hours. Cooks generally had longer daily
hours than others and of all the groups they had the largest per cent
with long weekly hours. Dishwashers had the highest per cent
of workers with weekly hours of more than 54, and a quarter (25.1
per cent) of their employee-days were of 9 hours or oyer.
From the facts obtained it would appear that in Flint the actual
daily and weekly hours of women employed in kitchens were longer
than those of women employed in dining rooms, but the over-all,
or time from the beginning to the end of the working period, was
longer for waitresses. Of women for whom this information was
obtainable a little more than two-thirds of those with a long over
all were dining-room workers.
1. Of the days worked in restaurants, almost a third (30.3 per cent) were
of 8 hours and a little more than a fifth (21.5 per cent) were of 9 hours.
2. One-half of the women (49.7 per cent) had the same daily schedule of
hours all week; two-fifths (40.8 per cent) had two alternating schedules of hours;
and almost one-tenth (9.5 per cent) had three different schedules of hours.
3. One continuous shift was worked on 47.3 per cent of the employee-days;
about the same proportion (47.1 per cent) had a shift broken by one period off
duty; and one-twentieth (5.6 per cent) had a shift broken by two periods off
dU-L More than two-fifths (43.2 per cent) of the women had a scheduled week
of over 54 hours; one-fifth (20.7 per cent) had a schedule of over 58 hours.
5. A little more than two-thirds (67.5 per cent) of the women worked a 7-day
" 6. Actual daily and -weekly hours of kitchen workers were longer than those of
dining-room -workers; dining-room workers had a longer over-all than had
kitchen workers, due to their time off duty during the day.
Earnings.
There are two reasons why earnings of women in restaurants can
not be compared with those of women in factories and stores; In
restaurants one or more meals usually are given to waitresses, and
tips received by them frequently add to cash wages, so that the mere
statement of the week’s wage does not give the whole picture of a
woman’s earnings.
.
The median of the pay-roll earnings for one week for women in
restaurants was $12.20. The amounts upon which this median is
based include the earnings of women who worked the full scheduled
week and those who worked fewer hours or more hours than were
scheduled. The earnings of full-time workers and of all workers
might indicate considerable lost time and overtime that would more
or less balance, or but little of either. This last evidently was the
case, because of the 249 restaurant workers reporting only 1 in 11
lost any time and only 1 of the 249 worked overtime. The median
of the earnings of those women who lost time was $8.25, a third less
than the median for full-time workers._
The increase of earnings with experience was not marked. In the
records of 114 women there was an increase of $1.20 from the median
of $12.20 for those with less than a year’s experience to the median
of $13.40 for those with experience of 5 years and more. The number
of women who remained in the industry over a considerable period
of time was fairly high, nearly two-fifths (38.6 per cent) of those
RESTAURANTS
33
reporting length of time in the trade having been in restaurant work
^ or more years. This closely approaches the proportion of women
who had remained in manufacturing industries for this length-ofservice period and it is higher than the per cent in laundries (35.4)
or in stores (35.5). In automobiles and accessories only 26 women
reported time in the trade.
Though restaurant workers showed a tendency to romain in restau
rant work, they changed quite often from one restaurant to another.
Of the 27 women for whom the length of time witli the present
employer was recorded, 20 reported less than 6 months’ service and
only 4 reported employment in the present establishment of as much
as a year.
When earnings are correlated with the age of the worker the highest
earnings are found in the group of women 40 and under 50 years of
age. Their earnings show a median of $15.25, an amount $2.75 in
excess of the median of all the women in the restaurants for whom age
and earnings were recorded during the course of this survey. It is
not true, however, that the older women were more valuable as res
taurant workers regardless of their occupation. The probable reason
for the higher earnings in the older group is the proportion of cooks,
whose earnings were, as a rule, greater than those of waitresses. Of
the restaurant women who reported their age and earnings, only a
small per cent (3.8) of the waitresses, compared with more than onehalf of the cooks, were 40 years of age and over.
As with other workers, the women in restaurants differed consider
ably m the amount of their schooling. A small proportion, less than
10 per cent, had not gone so far as the sixth grade, but nearly one-half
(46.7 per cent) had completed or partially completed the eighth
grade and almost three-tenths (28.9 per cent) had had some highschool work or higher education. Compared with workers in other
industries, a larger per cent left school in the last two grades of
grammar school and fewer continued beyond.
Year s earnings were obtained for 17 restaurant workers and the
median of this group was $675. Four of these women lost from three
to six months, and their earnings can hardly be considered as signifi
cant of what the year’s wage would mean to a fairly steady worker.
Only 3 of the remaining 13 workers reported the number of weeks
in which they worked, and the earnings of these 3 showed wide varia
tions, $1,047, $765, and $575. They were engaged on different work;
1 was a cook, 1 served at a steam table, and 1 was counter and floor
girl. These three women worked at least 48 weeks during the year.
The year s earnings of those who did not report time worited varied
from 1 worker who earned only $360.45 to another who earned $1,300
the median for the 10 women being $733.50.
1. The median of the week’s earnings of restaurant workers, exclusive of meals
and tips, was $12.20.
2. Of workers reporting experience, those with less than one vear in the trade
had a median of $12.20; those with five years and over, $13.40.
3ProP°ftio/n of women less than six months with the present employer
was ir u °r <len^ Only f°ur women had remained as much as a year in the present
establishment.
4 The median of the year’s earnings of 10 restaurant workers, regardless of
weeks worked, was $733.50; 1 earned as little as $360.45 and 1 as much as $1,300.
weeksworkedeSwasr$675WOrkerS th6 median of the year’s earninSs> regardless of
WORKING CONDITIONS
A worker in Flint who is employed the prevailing day of 8)4 or 9
hours naturally must spend more than half of her waking hours
within the walls of her establishment. Whether these hours are
spent comfortably and contentedly depends not only upon her wages,
hours, and occupation, but upon the conditions under which her work
must be done. Hazards must be reduced to a minimum, strains
must be avoided so far as possible, and lighting and ventilation must
be adequate in order to have a good work place; sanitary and comfort
facilities must be in convenient locations and have the proper equip
ment so that the workers may use the provisions profitably.
In a brief survey it was impossible to eovei more than a few of the
many factors that go to make up a well-equipped establishment.
Certain outstanding conditions, however, were noted, such as the
safety of stairways—lighted and with hand rail; the adequacy of light
ing, seating, and ventilation in the work rooms; the provision of
drinking, washing, and toilet facilities, of cloakroom, lunc-h room,
rest room, and first-aid equipment; and finally the care taken in select
ing and placing workers by the use of employment departments.
For these many conditions that help to constitute good surroundings
for workers there are no absolute standards, though in a number of
cases there is a minimum standard incorporated in the State law.
Two considerations, however, are of special importance when working
conditions are judged: One is the kind of establishment and the other
is its size.
_
.
.
Four different groups of industries—factories, stores, laundries,
and restaurants—are considered in this survey, and the importance
of the different conditions surrounding the worker varies with each
industry. For example, the lighting arrangements are more impor
tant in factories than in stores or laundries; the provision of seats is
more important in stores than in restaurants; good ventilation is more
of a problem in laundries and in kitchens than in stores.
Industries such as stores, and to a less degree restaurants, have a
closer connection with the public than have factories and laundries.
In stores the public has the same ventilation and light, and occasionally
the same drinking and toilet facilities, as have the workers, and this
use by the public and the workers frequently is the practice in small
restaurants. Where this occurs the public acts as somewhat of
an inspecting force, as good or bad conditions help to make or mar
the reputation of an establishment. The conditions in factories and
laundries, however, are seldom seen by the public, and adequate
provisions usually arc due to the standards of employers and to legal
specifications. In all establishments, whether stores, factories,
laundries, or restaurants, certain minimum provisions of safety and
comfort are a necessity, but this minimum may not be the same in
plants with only a few people as in plants where larger numbers are
34
WORKING CONDITIONS
35
employed. For this reason, in the present study the establishments
with more than five employees are tabulated separately from those
having five or fewer.
Stairs.
In considering the factories with more than five women employees,
the stairs were found in good repair in 19 of the 22 buildings for which
this was reported. The lighting of the stairs and the provision of
a handrail were found satisfactory in almost all cases. Four largo
laundries were visited and in only one was the repair and lighting of
the stairways bad. In two there was no handrail, a lack that always
means a hazard, especially where girls are hurrying and crowding
at night. In stores the stairs were satisfactory in every respect
and in many cases they were supplemented by elevators, some
establishments allowing the workers to use these in coming and
going.
_
The establishments with five or fewer women employees rarely
had stairs, as usually they were on one floor. Two laundries and three
stores had stairs. In the former the stairs were not in good repair; in
one there was no handrail and in the other the lighting was poor.
One store had a stairway with open rises, no rail, and an abrupt
turn. There were few stairs in the other establishments and no men
tion was made of bad repair or inadequate lighting.
Lighting.
Natural lighting was good throughout in 8 of the 24 buildings of the
larger factories. In artificial lighting the record was much better, with
a total of 18 establishments where the lighting was satisfactory. The
chief trouble with the natural lighting was its inadequacy, but with
artificial lighting more defects were due to glare than to inadequacy.
In the small factories lighting, both the natural and the artificial, was
rather better than in the larger plants. Where conditions were not
satisfactory, glare was more likely than inadequacy to be the fault.
The natural light in the stores was as a rule poor, but this was remedied
by excellent artificial lighting. In all the larger stores there was
plenty of artificial light, and in only one case was it accompanied
by glare. The small department stores were satisfactory m their
artificial lighting.
, The need of ventilation in restaurants and laundries is especially
important, due to the heat and steam created by the various processes.
All but 7 of the 38 restaurants made some effort to improve ventila
tion, principally by the installation of exhausts and, to a less degree,
of hoods over the stoves. In three restaurants there were neither
hoods nor exhausts, but in two there was found an excellent ventilat
ing system that took care of the heat and steam. In laundries and
cleaning establishments more attention was paid to exhaust fans in
the walls to carry out the heat and steam than to hoods with exhausts
over the machines. In two or three laundries there were exhausts in
the washrooms, but rarely was a hood found over machines doing flatwork ironing. _ The importance of removing the steam at the source
without allowing it to escape into the room seemed to be little recog
nized, and the placing of exhaust fans in the walls to carry off the gen
eral heat and steam in a room, though valuable, no more takes the
place of local exhausts than would heating equipment be considered
satisfactory if no panes of glass were in the windows.
36
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
Seating.27
The necessity of seats for women workers has very generally been
recognized. This is shown by the fact that 46 States and the District
of Columbia have included in their laws some provision regarding
seats for women who are engaged in work outside the home.
Some occupations require constant sitting, some constant standing,
and in some the work may be carried on either sitting or standing.
In most manufacturing plants where women are employed on a number
of occupations, all three types of work are carried on. In stores the
large majority of women are selling, and while performing their work
they must stand; therefore, women in stores have very largely standing
jobs. In laundries some of the occupations, such as hand ironing
or small flat-work ironers, require constant standing, while there are
other jobs, such as feeding or taking-off from the large presses, that
can be done either sitting or standing.
Of the 35 factory buildings included in the investigation only 9 sup
plied seats with backs to all their workers regardless of whether the
girls had sitting or standing jobs. Even when the job required that the
worker be seated, the provision of seats frequently was haphazard,
some places having chairs, some stools, and some boxes. In occupa
tions where the work had to be done standing, chairs or stools were sup
plied in most places, so that a woman might occasionally sit down, but
in 12 cases seats of any description for this group of standing workers
were lacking. In establishments where the women worked standing,
or alternated between sitting and standing, there were 16 cases in
which there appeared to be an inadequate number of seats. In
laundries and cleaning establishments, where much of the work must
be done standing, 3 of the 16 establishments showed standing jobs
that supplied chairs for all and 3 others had some kind of seats.
Seats were supplied in practically all the stores visited. In most
cases the seat was a collapsible stool behind the counter, though in
some places the chairs provided for customers were used by the sales
women when they were not busy.
When the floor is of cement or concrete the strain of constant
standing is considerably augmented. Three laundries had such
floors in one or more of their departments; in only one was there a
wooden platform for the worker to stand on. Of manufacturing
establishments a less proportion had cement or concrete floors, and
a covering of wood or of rubber was provided in practically all cases.
Heating.
In a northern climate such as that of Flint the winters are severe
and the problem of heating is an important one. Nevertheless, it is
practically impossible in a single inspection to pass on adequate or
inadequate heating. It would seem, however, that the heating from
the industry alone frequently would result in too great heat for workers
near the ovens, furnaces, or steam presses, and too little for those at
a distance. This condition was found in three establishments.
With the exception of these three plants the heating arrangements
were satisfactory in the establishments reported upon.
87 Large and small establishments are included in this section.
WORKING CONDITIONS
37
Drinking facilities.
The two healthful methods of providing drinking water where many
people must use the facilities are individual cups and sanitary bub
bling fountains. When bubbling fountains, commonly called bubblers,
came largely into use, any bubbler was considered sanitary. It has
been discovered, however, that the bubbling fountain is a menace
to health rather than a safeguard unless the jet of water is projected
at an angle of 30° or more, so that the water does not fall back
on its orifice.28 Only 3 of the establishments visited in Flint, con
sidering all stores, laundries, and factories, were equipped with sani
tary bubbling fountains, whilo 31 had bubblers that were insanitary.
There was a general prevalence of insanitary bubblers and of common
drinking cups. The latter were found in one or more places in 21
establishments, including factories, stores, and laundries. In 40
establishments no cups were supplied. Individual cups were provided
in 5 stores, 2 of which had only 1 employee each. In some factories
and laundries the workers supplied their own glasses.
Washing facilities.
The need in each work place of suitable provision for washing is
apparent. When various materials, frequently dusty or dirty, must
be constantly handled, the necessity of soap and water before and
after eating is clear.
Washing facilities, usually a basin or sink, were found in all but one
of the factories, stores, and laundries visited in Flint. A considerable
number of plants (39) left a good deal to be desired in the way of
equipment. Common towels were found in 33 establishments,
individual towels in 43, and no towels at all in 22.
The importance of adequate and well-equipped washing facilities
for women serving in restaurants is especially obvious. In every
restaurant visited some provision was made; that is, a basin or sink
was provided, and usually it was clean. Common towels were used in
23 restaurants and no towels were supplied in 2, while a few had soap
and no hot water and 2 had hot water and no soap. In only one in
four of the establishments was the equipment complete, with indi
vidual towels, soap, and hot water.
Toilet equipment.
A brief inspection was made of toilet provisions and certain con
ditions of decency and comfort were noted. According to the stand
ards of the Women’s Bureau, the number of seats supplied should
be 1 to every 15 women. The toilet rooms should be kept clean and
properly lighted and ventilated. To insure privacy they should be
designated, screened, and the seat inclosed.
There was an insufficient number of seats in 13 of the 99 establish
ments, and a third of the toilet rooms were not clean at the time of
the inspection. In about one-fourth of the rooms ventilation was not
good, as there was no window nor artificial outlet, but lighting as a
rule was satisfactory, whether supplied by natural or artificial means.
In eight establishments there was poor screening, the interior of the
toilet room being easily seen from the workroom, and in about a
sixth of the establishments the seats were not inclosed. On the doors
of more than a fifth of the rooms there was no designation.
18 American Medical Association. Journal, Nov. 11, 1916. v. 67, No. 20, p. 1451.
38
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
Service equipment.
In every establishment where women are employed provision should
be made not only for good working and sanitary conditions, but for
aid in case of accident, for a rest room in case of fatigue or illness,
and for places other than the workroom in which to eat lunch and
to hang wraps. The completeness and elaborateness of these provi
sions depend on the number of workers employed and the standards
of the employer. In a small establishment the cloakroom and rest
room or the cloakroom and lunch room sometimes are combined,
but in a large establishment, employing hundreds of women, such a
combination is most unsatisfactory. There is no hard and fast stand
ard except that there should be some suitable provision for the com
fort and welfare of the workers along the lines mentioned.
In a great majority (83.3 per cent) of the larger factories, stores,
and laundries surveyed in Flint there was a cloakroom, and in 16 of
the 35 buildings this was combined with a lunch room or rest room;
in 7 plants no room was provided. The equipment in many cases
consisted of lockers or racks, but frequently there were only wall
hooks or nails.
It is important that during the lunch period women should have a
change of surroundings and should not eat where they work. Rooms
separate from the workrooms were provided by more than half (54.8
per cent) of the establishments; sometimes these rooms were for
lunch purposes solely and sometimes they were combined with cloak
or rest room. Factories were more likely than were either stores or
laundries to supply lunch rooms; only a third of the stores provided
lunch rooms and in no laundry was such provision made.
Rest rooms were found more generally in the largest plants, while
in those employing fewer women a cot frequently was placed in the
cloakroom and no separate rest room was provided.
In only two cases had restaurants a regular rest room, though
where women work on broken shifts a rest room in which to wait
between the periods of employment is especially needed.
The importance of first-aid treatment in case of accident or sudden
illness has been very generally realized. This is especially true of
manufacturing establishments, and in Flint all but one plant had
first-aid facilities. All laundries with five or more women had firstaid equipment, but the absence of a hospital or, generally, a rest
room might make its application more difficult and certainly more up
setting to the workers and the work. Only about one-fourth of the
restaurants had first-aid equipment. Regular hospital equipment
with doctors and nurses in attendance was found in four of the large
manufacturing establishments.
Employment department.
The provision of a special person or department by whom the
entering and departing worker must be interviewed has been found
to be a more satisfactory method than that of having three or four
different people hiring and discharging independently. In large
plants there usually is an employment department, with one or two
employment managers and several clerks to keep the records. In
small plants this is unnecessary and the hiring may be done by the
owner or superintendent. Where the employing is not conducted by
either of these two centralized methods it usually is done by each
foreman for his own department.
WORKING CONDITIONS
39
In Flint a centralized system of hiring workers was found in all but
one of the manufacturing establishments. In the smaller plants
this function was performed by the manager or foreman, but in the
large automobile factories there were regular employment departments
that did the hiring and kept individual records of employees.
In all the stores and laundries having more than live employees
and in all but one restaurant one person was responsible for the hiring
of workers, and in most instances the power of discharge also was
centralized.
Working conditions may be summarized as follows:
FACTORIES, STORES, AND LAUNDRIES
1. Stairs were satisfactory as to lighting and hand rails in—•
All stores.
All but two factories.
All but three laundries.
2. .Natural lighting was good throughout in 8 of 24 factories where more than
5 women -were working, and in 8 of 11 where 5 or fewer women were employed.
3. Artificial lighting was good throughout in 18 of 24 of the larger factories.
4. In laundries and cleaning establishments wall fans were installed generally,
but few plants had exhaust hoods over flat-work ironers.
5. Seats with backs were supplied to all workers in 9 of the 35 manufacturing
establishments.
6. In 12 manufacturing establishments no seats were supplied for workers
whose jobs required constant standing.
1
7. In laundries and cleaning establishments seats were supplied for standing
jobs in 6 of the 16 plants.
8. Practically all stores had seats for their workers.
9. Bubble fountains for drinking were found in 34 establishments. Only three
of these were of the sanitary type of construction.
10. Common drinking cups were found in one or more places in 21 establish
ments.
11. The common towel was found in 33 factories, stores, and laundries, and in
22 no towel was provided.
12. One-third of the toilet rooms were not clean at time of visit and in 13
establishments the seats, according to the Women’s Bureau standard, were too
few.
13. Ventilation in toilet rooms was lacking in nearly a fourth of the rooms
visited, and doors were not designated in almost as many cases.
14. Cloakrooms were provided in 35 of the 42 larger establishments reporting.
15. Lunch rooms separate from workrooms were found in more than one-half
of the establishments.
16. Best rooms were provided in three-fifths of the plants having more than
five women employees, and cots were supplied, sometimes in the rest rooms and
sometimes in the cloakrooms, in 22 establishments.
17. First-aid equipment was provided in all the larger laundries and in all but
one of the larger manufacturing establishments.
18. Of the larger places, a centralized system of employment was found in all
stores and laundries and in all but one of the manufacturing establishments.
RESTAURANTS
1. Most restaurants had satisfactory lighting; a number had unshaded bulbs
in the kitchen.
2. Ventilation was provided for in 33 of the 38 restaurants by exhausts, hoods,
dr other device. Hoods over stoves or dish-washing machines were found in
. one-half the places.
3. In 23 restaurants common towels were supplied for the washing facilities,
and in 2 no towels at all; 5 had no soap, 11 no hot water, and 3 of these had
neither soap nor hot water.
4. In three-fourths of the restaurants toilet conditions were satisfactory.
5. In 33 restaurants only hooks or nails were provided for wraps; 2 had lockers.
6. Two restaurants had rest rooms and nine had first-aid equipment.
PERSONAL HISTORY
When information concerning the wage-earning woman is desired,
the mere collection of facts that relate to her working life no more
gives a true picture than if an artist, in painting a portrait, should
give careful attention to the sitter's clothes and neglect to include the
face and hands. For this survey information was desired not only
as to the conditions of work for Flint women but also as to the women
themselves. Were there many foreign-born workers? Were the
majority of workers young or old, married or single? What had been
their work in the past and what was it at present? What kind of
work was wanted by those seeking work? These are a few of the
many questions for which answers based on facts were desired.
The survey was neither extensive nor intensive enough to permit
of a final answer to all these questions, but facts were obtained that
give an indication of the character and living conditions of Flint’s
working women.
The personal facts obtained came from two sources, cards filled
out by the women at work and visits to their homes. Calls were
made on 3,648 units,29 comprising 16,260 men, women, and children.
According to the United States census estimate of Flint’s population
in 1925 (130,316) this is one-eighth of the inhabitants of Flint. As
the sections of the city visited were in Flint’s industrial districts, the
facts showed different groupings as to nationality, age, schooling,
work experience, and so on, than probably would have been found in
Flint as a whole. The sections of the city where visits were made
were comparatively old, but the people were as a rule fairly recent
comers to Flint. Though the rapid growth of Flint is industrial the
effect is social as well, and because, as was said of an industrial city
in the East, “the impulse for growth has never come from within the
city’s own life, but always from abroad,” 30 the difficulties of assimi
lation and adjustment are greater and the actual conditions harder
to know than in a normally developed city.
The difficulties of providing for the many newcomers to Flint are
recognized. In an article published by a newspaper of Flint in 1925
the following paragraph appeared:
Flint’s industries grew so fast from 1910 to 1920 that difficulty was experienced
in attracting and housing sufficient people to meet even the factory require
ments. The people that serve the factory worker were slower to come. Homes,
schools, churches and other public buildings could not keep pace, because the
supply of building labor was not available. Development of adequate retail and
wholesale facilities was left to follow in time. The same was true in the matter of
professional men, transportation help, domestic servants, etc.
*******
* * * Flint had only 3.7 persons in population for each factery worker in
1920. A normal figure for cities of the United States ranges from six to seven.
» A unit is a group of persons keeping house together.
» Todd, Kobert E., and Sanborn, Frank B. The report of the Lawrence survey.
Andover Press, 1912, p. 15.
40
Lawrence (Mass.),
41
PERSONAL HISTORY
The remaining five or six persons represent the families of workmen together with
the building labor, the tradesmen, the public utility and public service men, the
professional, domestic and clerical occupations that serve the workmen.*1
The more that can be learned of the workers themselves, their
composition and desires, the better able will the people of Flint be to
meet the city’s growing needs.
Nativity.
Of the 1,784 women who were working or had worked during the
year, a little less than one-eighth (12.1 per cent) were foreign born,
and of these 216 women nearly two-thirds (63.9 per cent) came from
English-speaking countries. This fact probably accounts for their
distribution, for though the greatest number were in the automobile
industry the largest proportions were in specialty stores and laundries.
This is contrary to the findings of surveys in other cities and States,
where the foreign born in manufacturing industries claim by far the
largest per cent. Very few negro women were found in any of the
industries, only 9 of the 1,784 women. (See Appendix Table 10.)
Table 15.—Nativity, by industry or occupation
Industry or occupation
Total- .................................................
All manufacturing-.................................................
Stores:
General mercantile. ...................................... .
5-and-lQ-cent.....................................
Other___________ _________
Laundries..................... ..............
Restaurants—.............................................
Office work _______ ____ _______________
Telephone operating................... .................
Service z__........ ................... .
Per cent white
Number
of women
reporting Native Foreign
1 1, 784
87.4
12.1
085
87.9
12.1
165
131
123
122
217
256
27
31
87.9
91.6
81.3
80.3
85.3
92.2
100.0
71.0
12.1
8.4
18.7
18.9
12.9
7.8
16.1
Per cent
negro
0.5
.8
1.8
12.9
1 Total includes selling occupations in restaurants, supervisory positions, and occupation not reported,
numbers too small to be significant.
2 Elevator operators, cleaners, charwomen, etc.
Of the 176 women reporting on nativity who were not working but
who wanted work there was about the same proportion of foreign
born, 12.7 per cent, as among the women working. The proportion
of negroes was slightly greater than this, though still small, consisting
of only eight women. The largest group of foreign-born women who
wanted work did not desire it in the industries where the per cent, of
foreign-born women already working was high, specialty stores and
laundries, but in factories. The native-born white women preferred
factories and their second choice was office work, desired by very
few foreign-born workers.
Age.
The largest number of wage-earning women in Flint were in the age
group 20 to 25 years. This included women in all occupations but it
does not follow that this was the predominating age group in each
industry. Only three—automobile manufacturing, office work, and
telephone operating—showed the ages of 20 to 25 to be their largest
H Flint Journal, Dec. 20, 1925.
42
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
group. In manufacturing other than the automobile industry, stores
exclusive of 5-and-10-cent stores, and laundiies the largest group of
woikers was in the 30-to-40-year group, while in 5-and-10-cent stores
it was from 18 to 20 years. (See Appendix Table 8.)
In the following table the ages of the women are grouped:
Table
16.—Age, by industry or occupation
Number
Industry or occupation
Total..............................................................................................
Manufacturing:
Automobiles and accessories................ .....................................
Stores:
General mercantile and specialty____________ ______ _____
5-and-10-cent_______ ____________________ ________ _____
Office work. ...................................... .................. ...................................
women
report
ing
Per cent of women whose age
was—
Under
25
years
25 and
under
40 years
40 years
and
over
i1,755
51.6
36.7
11.7
535
145
49.5
40.7
41.1
44. 1
9.3
15.2
273
132
119
254
213
38.8
89.4
36.1
67.7
44.1
44.3
9.8
46.2
J9.1
35.7
16.8
.8
17.6
3.1
20.2
1 Total includes 84 women in industries or occupations each having fewer than 35 wom«n.
The per cent of workers under 25 years of ago was high in 5-and10-cent stores and in office work and comparatively low in other
stores and laundries. As would be expected, the proportion of older
women, over 40 years of age, was high in these two latter industries
and also in restaurants. In the automobile industry the workers were
almost evenly divided between those under 25 years and those 25
years and over.
The proportion of workers under 25 years of age found in this survey
is almost identical with the proportion reported for Flint by the United
States Census of 1920. One-half (51.3 per cent) of the wage-earning
women in Flint were reported there as under 25 years, which was a
higher per cent of young workers than was found in any other city
in Michigan of 25,000 and over.32
The women who were not employed but wanted work were, on the
whole, an older group than were those working. Of the 174 for whom
age was reported, the age distribution was wider also, both the pro
portion under 20 years (27 per cent) and the proportion 40 years and
over (21.8 per cent) being higher in the nonworking than in the work
ing group.
Age seemed to have little significance in the kind of work wanted.
On the whole, the women 30 years and over preferred factory work,
while not so large a proportion under 30 years wanted factory jobs.
Office work was more in demand with workers under 30 years than
in the older groups, and more in the younger groups expressed them
selves as being willing to take any kind of work. Whether this was
due to a lack of experience in the different kinds of work or more
eagerness to work it was not possible to discover.
32 U. S. Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census: 1920. v. 4, Population, Occupations, Table 28, pp.
466-472.
43
PERSONAL LIBERTY
Table
17.—Age distribution of the women who were working or had worked during
the year and of women wanting work
Women
who were
working Women
or had
wanting
worked
work
during
the year
Age
1,755
174
22.2
29.3
16.6
20.1
8.9
2.8
27.0
16.1
7.5
27.6
14.9
6.9
Per cent who were—
Schooling.
Of the 1,834 women for whom definite records were obtained as to
the amount of schooling they had received, one-third (33.4 per cent)
reported either the completion or the partial completion of the eighth
grade, a sixth (16.5 per cent) stopped short of the eighth grade, and
exactly one-half took some high-school work or special courses. Only
two women had never attended school, and the women as a whole
showed a surprisingly large number, 1 in every 11 workers, who had
taken special courses or attended college or other higher schools.
Of the employed women, those in office work, as would naturally
be expected, showed a larger per cent who had completed high school
and a very much larger proportion who had taken special courses
than were found in the other employment groups. The extent of
schooling among store workers was considerably more than among
those in factories, restaurants, and laundries. In laundries a little
over a quarter of the women had never reached the eighth grade of
grammar school and in factories and restaurants a little under a
quarter had never reached it. This is in strong contrast to the
records of women in office work and in stores, where very small
proportions (1.6 per cent and 4.3 per cent, respectively) stopped
before reaching the eighth grade.
Table
18.—Extent of schooling of employed women, by industry or occupation in
which employed
Extent of schooling
Per cent who had—
Stopped below eighth grade1......... .............................................
Had 1 to 3 years of high school......... .......................................
Completed or were in fourth year of high school................ .
l Includes a woman who had had no schooling.
6089°—29----- 4
Fac
tories
Stores
Laun
dries
Office
Res
work taurants
1631
397
117
249
203
23.1
42.6
26.1
4.9
3.2
4.3
28.7
45.3
16.4
5.3
27.4
49.6
19.7
2.6
.9
1.6
7.6
27.7
18.9
44.2
23.2
43.3
29.1
3.4
1.0
44
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
The records of schooling of women wanting work did not show so
large proportions of women who had reached the eighth grade nor
who had taken continuation work as among the women who were
working. This may have been because the women not working
were an older group, practically one-half being 30 years and over
compared to less than one-third of the women who were working,
and the older group may have had less opportunity for education.
Whether their opportunities were fewer or not, a smaller proportion
than of the women who were working had completed high school or
taken other courses.
Table 19.—Extent o} schooling of women wanting employment, by hind of work
desired
Women who desired—
Extent ot schooling
Factory Office
work
work
Number of women reporting 1___________ ____
Per cent who had—
Stopped below eighth grade *...............................................
Completed or were in eighth grade...........................
Had 1 to 3 years of high school............ ______
Completed or were in fourth year of high school...... .............................
Had other courses..................... ......................................
Sales
work
Any
work
97
40
24
21
38.1
24.7
29.9
3. 1
4.1
2.5
10.0
16.7
52.5
12.5
22.5
12.5
4.2
38.1
33.3
23.8
4.8
* Includes a woman who had had no schooling.
Among the women wanting work who had finished high school
or had taken special training courses the preference was somewhat
more for office work than for factory work. Twenty-four of the 38
women who had completed grammar school expressed a desire for
factory work and only 4 wanted to do office work. The desire for
factory work was expressed by so many in each education group that
it can not be closely tied up with any special educational equipment
or lack of it. However, it is more surprising that women who had
gone through high school or taken college or business courses should
express a preference for factoiy work over other jobs than that those
with only grammar-school equipment should prefer it.
In this survey, as in one made several years ago in an Ohio city,83
education seems to have “a social rather than a business value”
but in the present study this judgment is based on actual week’s
earnings, not on the relative efficiency of well educated and poorly
educated workers on the same work or over a period of time during
which the result of mental training would be noticed. This same
report states further that the employers declare that “the need for a
higher grade of general intelligence for the rank and file of their
workers is imperative. Ignorance, failure to understand, and inabil
ity to think out the problems that arise in the course of the day’s
work react upon the skill of the workers and inevitably upon the
quality of the product.” 33
" Cincinnati. Chamber of Commerce. Industrial survey of Cincinnati.
Cleo Murtland. 1917, pp. 34-35.
Garment making industries.
45
PERSONAL LIBERTY
Conjugal condition.
The number of women in each marital group is not determined, as
in the case of age, by the demands of the industry. Occasionally an
employer may prefer single women or married women, but as a rule
a good worker is wanted regardless of her conjugal condition.
In Flint a rather curious situation exists, probably caused by the
peculiar make-up of the city’s population. The records of 1,738
women show the proportion of married workers to be nearly twofifths (38.7 per cent) of all the workers, and if those who had been
married are included with the married a little more than one-half
(53.7 per cent) were or had been married. Of the women wanting
work, 72.1 per cent were or had been married. These are larger pro
portions than are found in studies made by the Women’s Bureau in
eight industrial States, including New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, and
Missouri, and it is especially surprising when it is remembered that
the proportion of young women in Flint is unusually high, over onehalf of the women for whom ages were recorded being under 25.
This condition is due partly to the high cost of living and partly to
the large number of young men in the population, for it is likely that
girls will marry younger in a city like Flint than in localities where
the proportion of men is not so high.
Single women predominated in 5-and-10-cent stores and in offices
and telephone exchanges, while the proportion of married women was
highest in laundries, manufacturing other than automobiles, and
stores other than 5-and-10. (See Appendix Table 9.)
Table 20.—Conjugal condition of employed womenf by industry or occupation in
which employed
Per cent of women who were—
Industry or occupation
Total.............................................................................................
Manufacturing:
Stores:
5-and-10-cent-------------------- ----------------------------- -----------Restaurants . ---------------------------------------------------- -------------
Number
of women
reporting
21,
Single
Married
Wid
owed,
sepa
rated, or
divorced
736
46.3
38.7
15.0
529
145
45.0
30.3
37.2
55.2
17.8
14.5
161
132
114
117
207
276
36.0
74.2
31.6
26.5
33.8
73.2
47.8
20. 5
53.5
58.1
40.6
21.4
16. 1
5.3
14.9
15.4
25.6
5.4
1 Includes women who had worked during the year.
1 Total includes 55 women in industries or occupations each having fewer than 35 women.
dix Table 9.)
(See Appen
When the marital condition of women wanting work is considered
and compared with that of women workers, the most striking feature
is the greater proportion of married women among those wanting
work. Nearly three-fifths (57.1 per cent) of the latter group were
married and only a little over one-fourth (27.6 per cent) were single.
The following summary of the conjugal condition of women wanting
work shows the per cent in each marital group.
46
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
Table 21.—Conjugal condition of women wanting employment, by kind of work
desired
Per cent of women who were—
Number
of women
reporting
Work desired
Total...................................................... .......
Single
Married
Wid
owed,
sepa
rated, or
divorced
1170
27.6
57.1
15.3
109
26
41
32
16.5
53.8
46.3
40.6
64.2
38.5
46. 3
46.9
19.3
7.7
7.3
12.5
Manufacturing____ _________ ..
Stores_____
__
Office work and telephone operating____
Other____________________
1 Details aggregate more than tofel, because some women appear in more than one class of work desired.
Reasons were given by 143 married women as to why they were
working or wanted to work. One-half (50.3 per cent) of the women
found it necessary to work because the earnings of their husbands
were insufficient to support the family. The most general reason
why the husbands’ earnings were insufficient was irregularity of work.
This same cause accounted for other reasons for working, such as “to
keep up payments on house, as husband’s work is too uncertain to do
it”; “wife wants work because husband will not start buying a home
on his uncertain earnings”; “wouldn’t work if husband were sure of
steady work, but he never is.”
Other women gave as the reason for working a special object such as
savings or to pay debts incurred by illness, death, or other unavoidable
cause, and 11 women said they worked, or would like to, in order to
have a little money of their own. The cause last mentioned consti
tuted but a small proportion of the total reasons given.
Of 172 mothers reporting number of children under 12 years of age,
121 were at work or had worked during the year and 51 wanted em
ployment. Of the 121 working mothers, 77 had 1 child under 12
years, 32 had 2 children, and 12 had 3 to 5; of the 51 wanting employ
ment, 32 had 1 child under 12 years, 12 had 2, and 7 had 3 to 5.
Indus trial experience of women wanting work.
The extent to which experience determines the kind of work wanted
seems to be negative rather than positive. The women who had had
only one job were not usually anxious to repeat their former experience.
Table 22.—Kind
Experience
of ivork desired, by experience
Num
ber of
women
report Factory Store
ing
Total-.............................................
169
96
9
Factory................... ............... .
Store______ _______
Restaurant............. .........
Office_________________
Telephone operating—................... .
Other _________ ______
No experience........ .........................
Two oceupations........ ..........................
Three or more occupations....................
34
13
6
14
2
23
40
28
9
29
6
4
1
2
15
15
20
6
5
1
1 First choice only.
Women wanting work in i
Res
Office
taurant
3
33
—
Tele
phone
oper
ating
Other
line
1
5
Any
line
22
3
1
1
1
3
4
PERSONAL HISTORY
47
Of 13 women who had done sales work in stores, 6 preferred trying a
factory job and 3 wanted office work; only 2 wanted to go back to
selling goods. Of 6 who had worked in restaurants, 4 wanted factory
work and 2 had no choice but were willing to take any job, and of 23
women who had tried various kinds of work, such as nursing, domestic
service, and sewing, the majority, 15 women, wanted factory work.
Factory work was wanted by 29 of 34 women who had tried factory
work and office work by 12 of 14 women who had had experience in
offices. Experience in factory work and the skill thus acquired
frequently determined the kind of factory work desired. This was
especially true of women who had worked in garment factories on
power sewing machines and of those who were skilled in some operation
in textile mills. A number of women expressed the desire for work on
power machines and those who had worked in textile mills hoped that
some day a textile mill might be opened in Flint.
The great demand of all workers, regardless of experience, was for
factory work, and over one-half (56.8 per cent) of all wanting work
gave as their first choice work in factories. This preference is without
doubt due to the higher weekly earnings obtainable in the factories
than in most of the other industries of Flint. The only other industry
whose earnings compared favorably with those of factory employ
ment—office work—required more training and therefore was not
open to many women who had not taken special courses.
Of the women with wider experience, who had tried more than one
kind of work, 26 of 37 preferred factory work. Among these 26,
factories were preferred to restaurant service by 12 women, to domestic
work by 8, to sales by 6, to office work by 5, and to laundry work by 2.
Of the 37, 25 had had experience in factories. Of the 11 women who
preferred other work to that in factories, 6 wanted office work, 1
sales, and 4 were not specific and merely desired “any kind of work.”
The six who preferred office work had tried work in factories, stores,
telephone exchanges, and other places.
1. Foreign-born women comprised 12.1 per cent of the number reporting.
2. Nearly two-thirds of the foreign born, 63.9 per cent, were born in English
speaking countries.
3. One-half of the women, 50.8 per cent, were under 25 years of age.
4. The largest group, 28.i per cent, were from 20 to 25 years of age.
5. The women not working but desiring work were older than those working,
practically one-half, 49.4 per cent, being 30 years and over.
6. Of the 1,834 women reporting, 33.4 per cent had either completed or partly
completed the eighth grade.
7. One-half (50 per cent) reported taking some high-school work or special
courses. Only two women had had no schooling.
8. Nearly twice the proportion of women wanting work as of women working
had not completed grammar school. About the same per cent in the two groups
had had high-school work, but fewer of those wanting work had taken special
courses.
•
9. Of the women reported as working, single women constituted 46.3 per cent,
married women 38.7 per cent, and those widowed, separated, or divorced 15
per cent.
10. Among women wanting work, the single were 27.6 per cent, the married
57.1 per cent, and the widowed, separated, or divorced 15.3 per cent.
11. The reason given by the majority of married women for working or wanting
work was the husband’s insufficient earnings due to irregularity of employment.
12. Of the women reporting kind of work desired, the first choice of 96 was
factory work, 33 preferred office work, and 22 merely said “any work.”
48
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
Living condition.
In this study the subject of living condition could be little more
than touched upon. Essentials such as food, shelter, and heat are not
discussed, but the facts reported may serve to call attention to what
the physical and social needs must be where many workers are living
away from their families, where many are young, and where lodgers
are a social as well as a family problem. The number of families
owning, buying, or renting homes was recorded, as giving some idea
of the stability, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say the hope
for stability, of the working families in Flint.
Living with relatives or living independently.—When young people
are living at home, that is, with their immediate family or with rela
tives, it may be considered that, as a rule, more interest is taken in
their welfare, and that in cases of illness or other misfortune proper
care will be given. With young girls especially it is taken for granted
also that there will be other supervision and not the physical only.
Any city with a large proportion of young men and women living
away from their families has problems far greater than those in a
community with most of the population living in normal family
groups.
In Flint more than a seventh (15 per cent) of the 1,922 women
reporting on living condition were boarding or lodging, away from
their families and other relatives. This is a larger proportion of
women living independently than has been found in 14 of 16 State
studies by the Women’s Bureau in which living condition was inquired
into. In the table correlating living condition and industry it is seen
that in the automobile industry the proportion of women living away
from their homes or relatives was considerably greater, being one in
every five women, while in restaurants the highest proportion was
reached, with one in every four women boarding or lodging. Tele
phone operating, general mercantile establishments, and laundries
had the largest proportions of workers living at home or with relatives.
Table
23.—Living condition, by industry or occupation
Per cent of women
who were—
Industry or occupation
Number
of women
reporting Living Boarding
at home1 or lodg
ing
1,779
83.9
16.1
538
145
79. 6
89.7
20. 4
10.3
165
132
121
122
216
257
83
91. 5
87.1
83.5
91.0
74. 5
86.0
90.4
8. 5
12.9
16. 5
9. 0
25.5
14. 0
9. 6
Manufacturing:
Stores:
•
1 With immediate family or relatives.
49
PERSONAL HISTORY
It is of interest to note that the automobile industry has a higher
per cent of single women and a greater proportion under 25 years of
age than are found in the other industry groups where the per cent
of women living away from home is high.
A very small number of women wanting work, only nine, were
living away from their homes. This naturally would be the case, as
a worker dependent on her own earnings would not remain long in a
city where she was unable to obtain work.
The effect on the individual and on society of many women living
away from their homes and without the influence of home surround
ings probably would be more important in the case of young girls
than in that of older women. Of the various age groups, that of 20
and under 25 showed one in every five women to be living away from
home. For women under 20 the proportion was not quite so high;
nevertheless, a larger per cent were away from home among girls
from 18 to 20 (14.7 per cent) than among women 25 years and over
(13.5 per cent).
Table
24.—Living condition, by age
Number
Age
reporting
Per cent of women
who were—
Living Boarding
at home 1 or lodging
1,922
85.0
15.0
122
313
542
945
95.1
85.3
79.9
86.5
4.9
14.7
20.1
13.5
1 With immediate family or relatives.
Boarders and lodgers.
In many homes in Flint rooms are rented as an additional source
of income. A few of the roomers in the districts visited had their
meals supplied as well as their lodgings, but in most cases the room
only was rented and the lodger either did light housekeeping or went
out for his or her meals.
Records as to the number and relationship of persons in one unit34
were taken for 867 homes. Of these households or units 29.9 per
cent had one or more lodgers—either men or women, and in some
cases boarding as well as lodging—besides the regular members of
the group or family. Though the correlation is not perfect it may
almost be said that the larger the family the more certain they were
to have one or more roomers. Households of only 2 to 4 persons in
most cases had no roomers, but nearly one-half of the units of 5 to
9 persons had roomers, and units of 10 to 15 persons had 1 or more
lodgers in nearly two-thirds of the cases.84
84 A unit is a group of persons keeping house together.
50
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
Units reporting
Size of unit or household
Number
2 and including 4 persons.........
3 and including 8 persons...
10 and including 15 persons.
442
307
41
Per cent
having
lodgers
13.1
46.6
65.9
By far the greatest number of units that had roomers (44.4 per cent)
reported only one lodger, but a substantial number, nearly one-fourth
(23.6 per cent), rented rooms to four or more persons.
Houses owned, being bought, or rented.
It has been pointed out that the districts visited were in the older
sections of Flint. This fact may have some bearing on the subject
of ownership. Without doubt, in newer sections of the city more
houses would be in process of purchase, if not already owned. The
tenure of the homes reported upon was as follows:
Owned________________________________________
_
Being bought
.Rented~
Per cent
22 7
iq'-,
53’ 3
Nearly three-fifths of the houses in the districts visited were
rented and not owned. How this would compare with most cities
it is impossible to say, but in a survey made in 1917 in a city in
Kansas 85 a very different condition was found. In that city nearly
one-half of the homes (46.8 per cent) were owned by the persons who
lived in them and less than two-fifths (38.7 per cent) were rented.
Sanitary conveniences were found in most of the houses in the
districts surveyed jn Flint, whether owned, being purchased, or
rented. Running water, with flush toilet, bath, and sewer connec
tion, was supplied in 87.2 per cent of the houses visited. In each
group the per cent of houses with no improvements was small, the
highest being in the houses in process of purchase, where 2.4 per cent
reported no running water and no sewer connection.
1. The proportion of women living away from their homes and relatives was 15
per cent.
2 In the industries where the per cent of women boarding or lodging was
high, the proportions of single women and of women under 25 years of aee also
were high.
s
3. Of 867 households where information was obtained 29.9 per cent rented
rooms to lodgers.
4. The largest proportion (44.4 per cent) of the households renting rooms
had but one lodger; 23.6 per cent had four or more lodgers.
5. Nearly three-fifths (58.3 per cent) of the houses were rented, 22.7 per cent
were owned, and 19.1 per cent were being paid for by installments.
M Kansas University, Department of Sociology. Lawrence social survey. 1917. p. 18.
APPENDIXES
APPENDIX A—GENERAL TABLES
APPENDIX B—SCHEDULE FORMS
APPENDIX A
GENERAL TABLES
daily hours, by industry1 * 1 2
Number of establishments and number of women
whose scheduled daily hours were—
Manufacturing:
Automobiles and accessories............. .
Other....................... ............. ...............
8
100.0
a
1
25
18
1.0
H
....
2 22
12
1, 751
150
1
1
Stores:
General mercantile-............................. 11
5-and-10-ccnt__.......................................
4
Other.............................. ......................... 2 34
280
138
128
1
2
3
34
Laundries........................................................
147
2
3
4
16
s
a
o
48
1.9
2
14
45
....
8
1,037
40.0
28
5
4
504
32
13
5
2
2
271
138
37
5
4
20
3
11
4
4
10
1
|
J
Women
a
<x>
1
Establishm ents
2, 594
+2
Women
99
Establishm ents
Women
2
Establishm ents
All industries 1................. ............... .
Per cent distribution_____ ____ _______
1
Industry
Over 9
and
under 10
9
1,430
55.1
5
....
W omen
Over 8
and under
9
8
8
Establishm ents
Under
W omen
Number
reported
Establishm ents
Table 1.—-Scheduled
54
2.1
1, 230
87
2
1
12
103
2
27
3
4
1 Excludes restaurant occupations, tabulated elsewhere. (See p. 28.)
2 Details aggregate more than total, because some establishments appear in more than 1 hour group
Women alternating different shifts are divided between the 2 hour groups.
* Includes 2 of 4 women alternating a 9-hour day with one of 5 or 6 hours.
52
53
GENERAL TABLES
Table 2.—Scheduled weekly hours, hy industry 1
Number of establishments and number of
women whose scheduled weekly hours were—
Over 44
and
under 48
All industries 1...................................... 2 100
Per cent distribution................................... .
2, 596
100.0
7
22
2 13
1, 751
152
1
2
11
4
34
280
138
128
2
*2
16
147
2
3
1
22
0.8
Women
Establishm ents
7
2
0.1
....
248
9.6
8
43
1.7
3
2
241
4
2
32
5
1
263
7
1
1
2
3
1
5
3
* 13
5
6
5
106
....
Manufacturing:
2
p
<a
E
c
£
|
W omen
Establishm ents
|
Women
Establishm ents
W omen
E stablishm ents
Industry
Over 48
and
under 50
48
Establishm ents
44
Women
Under 44
Establishm ents
Number
reported
2
15
15
390
—- 15.0
Stores:
2
1
2
........
Number of establishments and number of women whose
scheduled weekly hours were—
Over 50
and
under 52
50
Over 52
and
under 54
52
Over 54
and
under 55
54
Manufacturing:
12
2
1, 209
' 77
2
2
Stores:
Other................... .........................................
23
Women
Establishm ents
Women
Establishm ents
....
J
6
0.2
|
2
Women
....
|
326
12.6
Establishm ents
13
Women
25
Establishm ents
All industries 1__...................................
Per cent distribution.....................................
Women
Establishm ents
....
j
Women
1,310
50.5
|
Establishm ents
Industry
230
8.9
3
1
36
2
2
3
5
271
9
21
4
34
1
2
1
4
13
1
138
44
2
19
1
4
1
9
4
....
18
0.7
2
13
1
2
1
3
1
....
1
1
«
1
1 Excludes restaurant occupations, tabulated elsewhere. (See p. 31.)
J Details aggregate more than total, because some establishments appear in more than 1 hour group.
Women alternating different shifts are divided, one in each group.
* Less than 0. 05 per cent.
* Includes 1 of 2 women working alternate weeks of 42 and 49 hours.
54
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
Table 3.—Scheduled Saturday hours, by industry 1
Number of establishments and number of women whose
scheduled Saturday hours were—
Over 4
and un
der 5
Laundries............. ............
280
138
128
16
147
Over 6
and un
der 7
47
1.8
14
1
2
2
9
8
2
1
36
7
628
24.2
16
516
29
13
2
1,290
49.7
4
9
0.3
1.4
1,212
77
Women
Women
Establishments
Women
Establish
__ ments
Establish
ments
1
1
6
|
1
11
4
3 34
Women
;
Stores:
General mercantile
5-and-10-cent___
Other........ ...........................
Women
1, 751
150
4
Establish
m ents
Establishments
Manufacturina:
Automobiles and accessories 222
Other. _________ .
12
1
Women
Establishments
....
1
2,594
100. 0
1
All industries 1.......... ....... 2 99
Per cent distribution.................
6
Establishm ents
4
Industry
Women
Number
reported
0.2
26
31
83
3
8
Number of establishments and number of women whose scheduled
Saturday hours were—
Industry
Over 7
and un
der 8
Over 8
and un
der 9
Over 9
and un
der 10
Over 10
and un
der 11
si
Xi
a
g 6
xe
£ | OT- S©
£ w
xjceC/l M®6
a -X ,
a
£ :to S
£ w
All industries L.
Per oent distribution..
75
2.9
si
.22 «2
2g
I
g
a
fl
i os 2
-a £ tgS
w £ W
w3
23
Manufacturing:
Automobiles and acces
sories....... ............ ............
Other................................
Stores:
General mercantile..
5-and-10-cent______
Other................. ........
2
5 617
1234*
.... 4
25 17
Laundries..
1 Excludes restaurant occupations, tabulated elsewhere. (See pp. 28 to 32.)
2 Details aggregate more than total, because some establishments appear in more than 1 hour group
Women alternating different shifts are divided, 1 in each group.
3 This woman alternates 5 and 9 hours.
4 This woman alternates 6 and 9 hours.
* Less than 0. 05 per cent.
8 Includes 1 woman alternating 5 and 9 hours and 1 alternating 6 and 9 hours.
4
0.2
55
GENERAL tables
Table 4.—Length of lunch period, by industry 1
Number of establishments and number of
women whose scheduled lunch period was—
Stores:
General mercantile......................
5-and-10-cent______________
Other. ............................ .............
Laundries............... ..........................
1,751
152
11
4
2 33
280
138
123
16
147
4
3
35
28
2
248
9.6
67
2,054
79.3
20
239
16
10
1,463
124
1
1
9
11
<3
E
O
5=
2
0.2
14
51
4
99
123
4.7
No def
inite
lunch
period
allowed
Establish
m ents
w
2 g
la
w
Women
3
Establish
m ents
E stablish
m ents
162
More
than 1
hour
Women
a 22
13
10
.... 6.3
1 hour
Women
Manufacturing:
Automobiles and accessories...........
2, 591
100.0
Women
All industries L.................................... 2 99
Per cent distribution....................................
Women
Establish
m ents
Industry
30
45
minutes minutes
Establish
m ents
Number
reported
38
1
i Excludes restaurant occupations, discussed elsewhere. (See p. 30.)
‘ Details aggregate more than total, because some establishments appear in more than 1 hour group
YV omen alternating different lunch hours are divided, 1 in each group.
> Includes 1 of 2 women having no lunch period on three 6-hour days and having a 1-hour lunch period on
cnree y-nour days.
Table 5.—Week’s earnings, by industry or occupation 1
Number of women earning each specified amount in—
Week’s earnings
1, 530
$16.50
397
$20.10
161
$14.05
286
$16. 00
138
$11.50
29
22
16
4
1
1
1
4
5
8
14
17
14
12
25
34
35
21
26
27
23
21
22
66
11
5
14
8
7
8
9
6
9
7
12
12
27
7
7
6
5
8
2
3
2
1
2
3
3
6
8
7
47
11
8
48
15
15
40
3
21
5
10
2
5
17
6
3
8
5
44
85
71
121
91
69
161
76
88
135
53
92
53
39
33
134
31
18
1 Excludes restaurant occupations, discussed elsewhere.
2 Selling candy, cigarettes, etc.
* Elevwtor operators, Gleaners, charwomen, etc.
* Not computed, owing to small number involved.
General 5-and-10mercan
cent
tile
(See p. 32.)
1
1
3
10
31
25
19
15
4
5
8
2
2
1
Selling
occupa
tions in
restau
rants 12
Other
142
$18. 40
6
150
$13. 30
2
2
2
2
2
11
23
12
16
18
14
14
9
4
3
2
3
1
2
1
2
1
5
4
11
3
5
23
2
6
20
2
11
6
7
1
2
21
4
5
1
1
2
Super
Tele
Service 3
visory
phone
operating
positions
Office
work
Laun
dries
3
6
1
184
$19. 20
22
$18. 20
I
1
2
2
1
3
9
7
19
8
16
20
16
20
11
3
13
1
21
8
2
28
$13. 75
16
$19. 00
2
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
5
4
2
1
3
3
2
4
1
8
1
1
2
2
1
2
3
3
2
1
2
WOMEN W ORKERS IN FLIN T, MICH.
Median earnings...................................................................
Stores
Manufacturing
All in
dustries
Automo
or occu biles
and
pations
Other
accesso
ries
•
Table 6.—Week’s earnings of full-time workers, by industry or occupation 1
Number of full-time workers earning each specified amount in—
Manufacturing
Week's earnings
883
$16. 70
Auto
mobiles
and
acces
sories
51
$21.30
8
3
18
49
40
92
46
39
116
37
46
97
25
26
30
18
14
71
22
9
4
1
1
2
7
5
1
7
3
4
3
8
3
Stores
General
mer
cantile
Other
79
$14. 55
4
2
2
4
4
5
7
7
8
12
5
5
2
2
1
3
1
1
254
$16.60
5-and10-cent
109
$12.00
Selling
occupa
tions in
restau
rants 2
Other
136
$18. 55
6
Laun
dries
34
$18. 50
5
7
47
13
12
39
3
21
4
10
2
5
17
6
3
27
23
19
14
4
5
7
2
2
1
1
5
4
10
3
5
21
1
6
19
2
11
6
7
1
2
21
4
4
1
156
$19. 30
Tele
phone
operat
ing
Service 3
22
$18. 20
26
$14.00
1
2
1
1
2
4
4
3
3
1
2
3
1
2
3
6
1
1
2
2
1
3
7
7
15
6
10
19
13
18
8
2
11
1
19
8
1
1
Super
visory
positions
«
10
2
1
1
1
2
5
5
3
Office
work
1
1
2
2
2
2
5
4
2
1
...........
3 ..................1
3
2
2
3
1
3
8
1
1
2
GENERAL TABLES
Median earnings........ ........................................................ -
All
indus
tries or
occupa
tions 1
3
1
T
1 Excludes restaurant occupations, discussed elsewhere. (See p. 32.)
* Selling candy, cigarettes, etc.
> Elevator operators, cleaners, charwomen, etc.
* Not computed, owing to small number involved.
CT*
Ci
Table 7.—Week’s earnings, by time in the trade—all industries or occupations
00
Number of women earning each specified amount who had been in the trade—
Week’s earnings
Total
.................................. .
Median earnings-----------------------------------
3 and
under 6
months
66
13.1
$11. 70
34
6.7
$12.00
28
5.6
$12. 60
1
2
15
13
13
8
2
4
1
1
2
4
9
2
5
1
2
1
1
2
5
2
4
2
2
4
1
4
1
1
1
1
1
504
100.0
$15.05
3
7
3
9
15
39
42
54
41
30
69
21
21
39
8
24
9
11
7
8
30
6
3
1
9 months
6 and
under 9 and under
months
1 year
18
3.6
$15. 20
1 and
under 2
years
2 and
under 3
years
3 and
under 4
years
4 and
under 5
years
146
29.0
$12. 20
41
8.1
$13. 10
58
11.#
$14. 65
45
8.9
$15. 70
31
6. 2
$17. 30
3
3
2
1
5
7
26
24
23
17
5
15
2
1
6
2
4
2
5
1
1
1
3
2
1
2
3
11
i Excludes restaurant occupations.
Total
under 1
year
1
3
5
8
5
1
7
3
1
I
1
1
I
1
I
1
1
3
2
8
4
5
8
11
1
4
4
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
6
4
11
5
1
1
1
4
3
1
3
1
1
1
2
1
2
3
4
5
5
1
1
1
2
2
5 and
10 and
15 years
under 10 under 15 and
over
years
years
106
21.0
$17.00
40
7.9
$18.50
$20. 65
1
1
1
1
1
4
3
3
3
9
6
7
11
5
9
15
2
6
2
2
4
1
12
37
3
1
3
1
3
7
1
4
5
1
2
2
1
5
2
3
4
2
2
4
1
1
1
1
5
4
4
W O R K ER S IN F L IN T , M IC H .
of
women
3
reporting Under
months
Table 8.—Age, by employment status
A. WOMEN WHO WERE WORKING OR HAD WORKED DURING THE YEAR
6089° — 29
Women whose age was—
Num
ber of
women
report
ing
18 and
under 20
years
20 and
under 25
years
25 and
under 30
years
30 and
under 40
years
40 and
under 50
years
50 and
under 60
years
Under 16
years
16 and
under 18
years
ber
cent
ber
1,755
6
0.3
93
5.3
291
16.6
515
29.3
291
16.6
353
20.1
157
8.9
43
2.5
6
0.3
Manufacturing:
Automobiles and accessories.
Other—.......................................
535
145
1
.2
13
6
2.4
4.1
73
16
13.6
11.0
178
37
33.3
25.5
109
24
20.4
16.6
111
40
20.7
27.6
41
14
7.7
9.7
6
7
1.1
4.8
3
1
.6
.7
Stores:
General mercantile.
5-and-10-cent...........
Other........................
161
132
9
28
5.6
21
13.0
32
19.9
27
9
15
16.8
6.8
13.4
45
4
34
28.0
3.0
30.4
23
1
16
14.3
.8
14.3
4
2.5
3
2.7
1
23
30
1
44
2
1
(4)
19.3
15.0
(4)
17.3
7.4
3.2
21.1
1
32
42
3
30
(4)
26.9
21.0
(4)
11.8
7.4
19.4
15.8
18
23
3
6
1
7
4
15.1
11.5
(•)
2.4
3.7
22.6
21.1
2
15
1
2
1.7
7.5
(9
.8
1
1
.8
.5
3
9.7
Industry or occupation
Cn
Selling occupations in restaurants1
Laundries........................... -............
Restaurants, public............................
Restaurants, other 2_.........................
Office work..........................................
Telephone operating..........................
Service 3...................... .........................
Supervisory positions.......................
1. o
112
5.4
(4)
6
119
200
13
254
27
31
19
Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per
cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent
2
1.0
2
11
1
3.2
3
1.7
5.5
(4)
3.1
Occupation not reported.
9.7
13
11. 6
2
16
36
2
46
(4)
5
2
13.4
18.0
(<)
18.1
33.3
16.1
10.5
25
25
40
1
118
10
5
6
22.3
21.0
20.0
(<)
46. 5
37.0
16.1
31.6
4
2
6
3
GENERAL TABLES
Total
60 years and
over
1 100.0
J Selling candy, cigarettes, etc.
.
* Restaurants in factories or schools and soda-fountain lunch service.
^Elevator operators, cleaners, charwomen, etc.
<Not computed, owing to small number involved.
Cn
CD
60
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH
Table
8.—Age, by employment status—Continued
B. WOMEN WHO WANTED WORK
Typo of work desired
Number of women whose age was—
NumDer oi
women 16 and 18 and 20 and 25 and 30 and 40 and 50 and 60 years
report under under under under under under under
and
ing
18 years 20 years 25 years 30 years 40 years 50 years 60 years over
Total_________ ______
Per cent distribution ............
Caf61..........................................
174
100.0
19
3
1
8
2
1
2
1
1
6fP
7
1
7
7
1
1
4
1
1
1
1
1
22
4
6
2
1
1
1
23
13.2
24
13.8
28
16.1
5
1
4
4
1
1
2
1
13
7.5
48
27.6
1
6
1
1
3
1
6
1
1
24
1
26
14.9
6
1
8
1
1
3
3
1
1
1
1
11
2
1
1
2
2
6
1
1
3
1
1
6
1
1
1
1
5
1
3
2
1.1
1
1
4
2
10
5.7
1
2
1
1
1
2
5
1
2
1
1
1
1
i
...k...
1
1
1
Table 9.-—Conjugal condition, by employment status
A. WOMEN WHO WERE WORKING OR HAD WORKED DURING THE YEAR
Women who were—
Industry or occupation
Number
of
women
report
ing
Single
Widowed, sepa
rated, or
divorced
Married
Number Per cent Number Per cent Number Per cent
Total...... .................... ............... .......
1,738
804
46.3
673
38.7
261
15.0
Manufacturing:
Automobiles and accessories............
Other........................................... .........
529
145
238
44
45.0
30.3
197
80
37.2
55.2
94
21
17.8
14.5
Stores:
General mercantile......................... .
5-and-10-cent.......... .............................
Other......................................................
161
132
114
58
98
36
36.0
74.2
31.6
77
27
61
47.8
20.5
53.5
26
7
17
16.1
5.3
14.9
61
GENERAL TABLES
Table
9.—-Conjugal
condition, by em-ployment status—Continued
A. WOMEN WHO WISE WORKING OR HAD WORKED DURINO THE YEAR—Continued
Women who were—
Number
of
women
report
ing
Industry or occupation
Single
Widowed, sepa
rated, or
divorced
Married
Number Per cent Number Per cent Number Per cent
Selling occupations in restaurants i___
Laundries________ _____ ______ _____
Restaurants, public. ................................
Restaurants, other *..................................
Office work____________ ____ ___ ____
Telephone operating________________
Service 4............... .....................................
Supervisory positions—............................
6
117
194
13
248
28
30
19
6
31
66
4
183
19
14
7
Occupation not reported..........................
2
1
(>>
26.5
34.0
1
68
76
8
52
7
11
7
m
73.8
67.9
46.7
«
1
(*)
58.1
39.2
0
21.0
25.0
36.7
0
18
52
1
13
2
5
5
15.4
26.8
0
6.2
7.1
16.7
<*>
«
■ Selling candy, cigarettes, etc.
1 Not computed, owing to small number involved.
* Restaurants in factories or schools and soda-fountain lunch service.
4 Elevator operators, cleaners, charwomen, etc.
B. WOMEN WHO WANTED WORK
Number of women who were—
Type of work desired
Number
of women
reporting
Single
Widowed,
Married separated,
or di
vorced
Total.................................................... ....................................... .
172
48
27.9
97
27
Any....... ................ . ...............................................................................
Any but housework................................................................................
Any but restaurant......................... ............. ..................................
Automobile factory................................................................................
Beauty shop........ ............................................ ............. ......
Cafe....................... .................. ........................... ............. .............
Caf6 or factory..................... .............................................................
Cigar factory.......................... ...............
Cleaning cores.................................................................. ...........
Factory.................................................. ............... .............. ................ .
Factory or store. ............... ...........................................
Factory or daywork......................................................... ..................
Factory or office____________________ _______ ___ ...
Factory, store, or office................................... .
Factory, store, or laundry........... ........................................................
Factory, hotel, or store...................................................
G arment factory___ ______________ ____ ______
Garment factory or nurse ................... ........................... ................
Home work.......................................... ..............................
Housework................................................
Laundry.................. . .......... ...................................... ......
Light work....... ...........................................................................
Office.......... ............................. ......................... .............
Office or sales.............. ............................................................
Sales____________________ ______________ _
Sewing-machine operating..................................................
Tailor shop.............. ..............................................................
Telephone or office...... ........................ ......................... .......
Textile..................... ................................ .............. .................
19
3
1
8
2
1
2
1
1
64
7
1
7
7
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
21
4
10
1
7
1
1
Type not reported ...................................................... .......................
2
1
1
1
2
1
g
3
1
41
4
15
1
6
5
1
1
I
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
62
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
Table 10.—Nativity, by employment status
A. WOMEN WHO WERE WORKING OR HAD WORKED DURING THE YEAR
Women who were—
Industry or occupation
Num
ber of
women
report
ing
Nativ e-bom Native-born
wllite
negro
Foreign born, by country ol birth
All countries
Num Per Num Per
ber cent ber cent
Num Per
ber cent
Total.
1,784 1, 559
87.4
Manufacturing:
Automobiles and ac
cessories..................
Other............................
538
147
473
129
87.9
87.8
Stores:
General mercantile...
5-and-10-cent........ ......
Other........ ................. .
165
131
123
120
100
145
87.9
91.6
81.3
Selling occupations in
restaurants 3....................
Laundries...........................
Restaurants, public
Restaurants, other 8..........
Office work............ ..........
Telephone operating.........
Service 8............................. .
Supervisory positions..II
204
13
256
27
31
19
236
27
100.0
18
71.0
94.7
2
2
100.0
Occupation not reported.* •
6
122
4
98
173
12
22
<<)
80.3
84.8
(<)
92.2
9
0.5
1216
12.1
89
27
65
18
12.1
12.2
16
12
3 20
11
12.1
.8
1.5
(<)
1
12.9
1
223
28
(4)
18.9
13.7
12
8
1
2
4
20
7.8
11
5
16.1
5.3
2
- auv uuw "Uiuou loyui Lea as ioreign Dorn out country not specified.
■ o ,14 681 Tom^n reported as foreign born but country not specified.
• Selling candy, cigarettes, etc.
J Not computed, owing to small number involved.
Restaurants in factories or schools and soda-fountain lunch service.
• Elevator operators, cleaners, charwomen, etc.
9
69
19
3
1
18
8
11
2
1
21
8.4
18.7
23
3
Can Eng Po Scot
ada land land land Other
2
2
2
1
1
6
63
GENERAL TABLES
Table 10.—-Nativity, by employment status—Continued
B. WOMEN WHO WANTED WORE
Number of women who were—
Type of work desired
Total................................
Caf6........ .....................................
Num
ber of
women
report
ing
Native born
Foreign born, by country of birth
All
coun Canada
tries
White
Negro
176
143
8
22
19
3
1
8
2
1
2
1
1
65
7
1
7
7
1
1
4
1
1
1
1
2
1
22
4
6
2
1
1
1
11
3
1
8
2
1
2
5
3
52
6
2
11
1
1
1
1
6
Eng
land
Poland
Other
Nativ
ity not
re
ported
1
6
9
3
1
1
1
4
4
1
6
7
1
3
1
1
1
1
1
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
21
4
6
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
64
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH
Table 11.—Living
condition, by age and employment status
All women
Age
Total
report
ing
Women who were working
Number who were
living—
At
home
With
rela
tives
Total
Inde report
ing
pend
ently
Total...............................................
Per cent distribution.................. ..........
1,922
100.0
1,512
78.7
121
6.3
289
15.0
16 and under 18 years............ ............
Per cent distribution_____ _____
18 and under 20 years.............................
Per cent distribution.......... ..........
20 and under 25 years.............................
Per cent distribution___________
25 and under 30 years.............................
Per cent distribution.......................
30 and under 40 years... .................
Per cent distribution._____ _____
40 and under 50 years....... .....................
Per cent distribution.._________
50 and under 60 years..................... .......
Per cent distribution.......... ..........
6
100.0
116
100.0
313
100.0
542
100.0
303
100.0
400
100.0
181
100.0
53
100.0
8
100.0
6
100.0
103
88.8
240
76.7
390
72.0
232
76.6
340
85.0
152
84.0
42
79.2
7
w
7
6.0
27
8.6
43
7.9
19
6.3
16
4.0
7
3.9
2
3.8
6
5.2
46
14.7
109
20.1
52
17.2
44
11.0
22
12.2
9
17.0
1
Women who had worked during
the year
Age
18 and under 20 years.............................
Per cent distribution
With
rela
tives
Inde
pend
ently
1,650
100.0
1,274
77.2
113
6.8
263
15.9
6
100.0
85
100.0
269
100.0
476
100.0
275
100.0
345
100.0
146
100.0
42
100.0
6
100.0
6
100.0
75
88.2
205
76.2
336
70.6
206
74.9
289
83.8
119
81.5
33
78.6
5
o
6
7.1
24
8.9
40
8.4
19
6.9
15
4.3
7
4.8
2
4.8
4
4.7
40
14.9
100
21.0
50
18.2
41
11.9
20
13.7
7
16.7
1
(■)
Women who wanted work
Number who were
living—
At
home
With
rela
tives
With
rela
tives
98
100.0
80
81.6
1
1.0
8
100.0
20
100.0
38
100.0
15
100.0
7
100.0
9
100.0
1
100.0
7
0)
15
75.0
31
81.6
13
86.7
5
0)
9
100.0
1 Not computed, owing to small number involved.
At
home
Number who were
living—
Total
report
ing
Total.............................................
Per cent distribution.............................
Number who were
living—
Total
number
report
Inde
ing
At
pend
home
ently
17
17.3
174
100.0
158
90.8
7
4.0
9
5.2
1
23
100.0
24
100.0
28
100.0
13
100.0
48
100.0
26
100.0
10
100.0
2
100.0
21
91.3
20
83.3
23
82.1
13
100.0
46
95.8
24
92.3
9
(>)
2
100.0
1
4.3
2
8.3
3
10.7
1
4.3
2
8.3
2
7.1
w
1
5.0
Inde
pend
ently
4
20.0
7
18.4
2
13.3
2
0
1
100.0
1
2.1
1
2.1
2
7.7
1
«
651 2 * 4
GENERAL TABLES
Table
12.—Number and size of units 1 surveyed, by number of roomers in the home
Units In which the number of roomers was—
Num
ber
5
4
3
2
1
None
of
units
sur
]
veyed Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Num Per Nc m- Per
cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent
ber cent ber
Size of unit
608
867
Total.................
70.1
14 100.0
14
198 2195 98.5
102 84.3
121
87 70.7
123
68 53.5
127
45 53.6
84
25 41.7
60
35 61.4
57
23 49.0
39
4 26.7
15
0
5
13
0
2
5
0
1
4
0
3
2
1
1
2 persons.....................
3 persons......................
4 persons..................
5 persons.............. .......
6 persons......................
7 persons......................
8 persons......................
9 persons.....................
10 persons....................
11 persons..................
13 persons...................
15 persons...................
18 persons. .................
115
13.3
3
17
<27
<33
13
«13
6
1
1.5
14.0
22.0
26.0
15.5
21.7
10.5
2.6
1
(>)-
1
(>)
57
6.6
2
8
18
11
11
2
1
1
1
1
1
1.7
6.5
14.2
13.1
18.3
3.5
2.6
6.7
0
0
0
26
3.0
1
7
7
5
4
1
.8
5.5
8.3
8.3
7.0
2.6
1
(!)
28
3.2
1
6
4
7
7
2
1
.8
7.1
6.7
12.3
17.9
13.3
0
i6
1.8
2
<2
3
3
2
2
1
2.4
3.3
5.3
7.7
13.3
0
0
w
1
i ...... 1
i
Units in which the number of roomers wTas—
14
11
9
8
7
6
Size of unit
15
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
Total
6
0.7
5
0.6
2
0.2
10 persons............
11 persons...........
2
3
1
5.1
20.0
0
1
2
1
1
2.6
13.3
0
0
1
6.7
1
00
13 persons..........
1
0.1
0.1
1
1
1 100.0
1
I
1
0.1
1
0.1
ioo.o
1 |
(?)
1
(?)
1 A unit is a group of persons keeping house together. There may be 2 or more such groups in one house
or apartment.
.
.
, _
2 Not computed, owing to small number involved.
»Includes 1 unit of 2 girls, both working, interview not obtained.
4 in 1 case the “roomer” was the housekeeper.
* In 1 case the “roomer” was the maid.
66
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
Table 13.—Number of units 1 owning, buying, or renting home, by extent of im
provements
Units
surveyed
Units
owning
Units
buying
Units
renting
Extent of improvements
Num- Per Num
ber
cent
ber
Per Num- Per Num- Per
cent ber
cent ber cent
Total.............................................................
860
noo.o
195
100.0
Running water, flush toilet, bath, and sewer
Running water, flush toilet, and bath...........
Running water, flush toilet, and sewer_____
Running water, bath, and sewer__________
Running water and flush toilet_____ ______
Running water and sewer_________________
Flush toilet, bath, and sewer______________
Flush toilet and sewer. ___________________
Bath and sewer____ _______ _______________
Running water. . _........ ........................................
No improvements_____________ ___________
Improvements not reported_______________
744
87.2
181
92.8
.1
10.0
1
21
85
.....
4.6
100.0
143
.....
420
"6.7
65
1
.
.2
.8
.2
7
2
.1
1
31
.
.1
.4
.7
6
7
2100.0
87.2
1
12
85.0
.2
13.2
.2
.4
.4
6
.2
.2
.2
.6
2.4
1 A unit is a group of persons keeping house together. There may be 2 or more such groups in one house
or apartment.
1 Based on total after excluding those not reporting improvements.
Table 14.—Length of employee-day,1 by occupation—restaurants
A. ALL WORKERS
Number of employee-days * of—
Occupation
Ail occupations..
Per cent distribution........ ................
Num
ber
of
wom
en
169
..........
Num
ber of
Over
Over
Over
5
6
7
em Un
8
9
10
ployee- der and and and
8
and
9
and
10
and
11
under under under
days
5
hours under hours under hours under hours
6
7
8
hours hours
9
10
11
hours hours
hours
hours
hours
1,128
31
13
120
173
342
150
242
39
8
7
100.0
2.7
1.2
10.6
15.3
30.3
13.3
21.5
3.5
0.7
0.6
2
8
2
1
5
6
3
2
2
Dining-room:
Bus girl.... .............
Counter girl.........
Soda-fountain
clerk.
Vegetable checker
Waitress............ .
1
6
7
42
1
1
99
7
7
662
Kitchen:
Cook---------------Chocolate dipper.
Dishwasher___ _
Kitchen girl.........
28
2
25
5
187
12
167
30
i
7
Not reported........ .
1
6
4
6
1
16
61
20
4
1
117
3
253
98
28
6
50
26
1
6
116
14
5
24
0.3
26
6
34
6
3
i Because of the irregularity of daily hours, each day's work is taken as a unit—the employee-day how
ever short or long. Totaled, they amount to 6 or 7 times the number of women employed.
*
67
GENERAL TABLES
Table 14.—Length of employee-day,1 by occupation—restaurants—Continued
B. WORKERS ON A UNIFORM SCHEDULE
Number of employee-days i of—
Occupation
All occupations..
Per cent distribu
tion___________
Num
ber
of
wom
en
Num
ber of
5
6
7
em Un
ployee- der and and and
8
under
under
under
days
5
hours
6
7
8
hours hours
hours hours
84
Over
Over
Over
8
9
10
and
and
9
10
and
11
under hours under hours under hours
9
10
11
hours
hours
hours
553
63
85
206
76
123
100.0
11.4
15.4
37.3
13.7
22.2
64
166
56
73
7
6
27
7
21
13
25
6
13
6
Dining-room—wait
ress.........................
57
379
20
Kitchen:
Cook
Chocolate dipper.
Dishwasher
Kitchen girl........
9
2
11
5
58
12
74
30
19
24
C. WORKERS ON TWO DIFFERENT SCHEDULES
All occupations..
Per cent distribution_____ ______
Dining-room:
Bus girl..................
Soda-fountain
clerk________
Waitress
69
......
464
24
5
49
79
128
71
84
13
1
7
3
100.0
5.2
1.1
10.6
17.0
27.6
15.3
18.1
2.8
0.2
1.5
0.6
1
6
3
87
39
33
13
23
7
13
30
21
1
6
1
7
1
39
7
263
6
4
39
4
50
Kitchen:
Cook.....................
Dishwasher
14
13
94
86
3
15
1
5
5
19
6
Not reported............
1
7
i
11
3
D. WORKERS ON THREE OR MORE DIFFERENT SCHEDULES
All occupations..
Per cent distribu
tion.......... ..............
16
111
7
8
8
9
8
3
35
26
7
100.0
6.3
7.2
7.2
8.1
7.2
2.7
31.5
23.4
6.3
8
Dining-room:
Counter girl
Vegetable checker
Waitress................
6
1
3
42
7
20
2
1
Kitchen:
Cook.....................
Dishwasher..........
5
1
35
7
3
1
2
2
1
3
4
4
1
5
20
10
3
5
15
5
1 Because of the irregularity of daily hours, each day’s work is taken as a unit—the employee-day. how
ever short or long. Totaled, they amount to 6 or 7 times the number of women employed
Table
15.—Scheduled weekly hours, by type of restaurant and by occupation—restaurants
05
00
Number of women In each occupation whose scheduled weekly hours were—
Type of restaurant and occupation
Dining room:
Bus girl...............................................
Counter girl____________________
Soda-fountain clerk-------------------Vegetable checker..............................
Waitress............ ...................................
Kitchen:
Cook....................................................
Chocolate dipper...............................
Dishwasher.......................................
Kitchen girl................. ................. .
169
100.0
61
1
991
28
12
7.1
7
4.1
5
3.0
5
3.0
10
5.9
4
2.4
5
3.0
14
8.3
34
20.1
1
55
hours
Over
Over
Over
65
55 and 58 and
60 and hours
60
and
under under hours under
58 hours 60 hours
65 hours over
3
1.8
35
20.7
1
3
2
24
1
9
1
3
1
2
5
3
2
1
6
3
1
2
3
2.1
35
24.3
18
12.5
5
3.5
8
5.6
1
3
1
4
7
2
1
2
2
25
5
2
9
1
1
1
1
3
10
23
2
1
3
6
1
2
1
7
4.9
27
18.7
3
Dining room:
Bus girl.................................................
Counter girl..__________________
Vegetable checker............. ...............
Waitress..................... ........................
Kitchen:
Cook.................. ..................................
Dishwasher........................................
Kitchen girl—....................................
Not reported........................... ..................
5
3.0
9
5.3
2
1.2
1
1
1
Not reported—..................... .....................
Independent restaurants—total..
Per cent distribution______________
19
11.2
144
100.0
8
5.6
1
831
7
4.9
2
1.4
3
2.1
21
5
4
2.8
2
7
2
2
1
5
3.5
,
1
6
26
10
6.9
9
1
3
3
4
19
2
1
2
5
2
1
2
2
1.4
1
1
24
1
8
1
3
1
2
6
5
3
3
1
1
2
1
1
WOMEN W ORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
All restaurants—total....................
Per cent distribution..____ _________
Number
of
Over
Over
Over
Over
Over
40
women
48 and 50 and
52 and
54
48
52
40 and 44 and
reported hours
and
under under hours under under hours under hours
54 hours
50 hours 52 hours
under 44 hours 48 hours
Dining room—waitress...................................
Kitchen:
8
4
4
4
2
1
1
3
2
1
17
1
1
1
12
1
1
1
7
7
1
6
1
4
1
Dining room:
Kitchen:
Chocolate dipper........................................
1
1
1
1
GENERAL TABLES
2
1
1
o
CO
APPENDIX B
SCHEDULE FORMS
Schedule I
[This schedule was used for recording the numbers of employees, scheduled hours, plant policies, and
data on working conditions in factories, stores, and laundries employing more than five women.]
U. S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau
1,
2.
3.
4.
Agent__________________
Date___________________
Name of firm Address----------------------------------------------------Product City--------------------------------------------------------- ----
Person interviewed Position.
Person interviewed Position.
Number employed:
Day
Night
White
"White
Total
Colored
Colored
Total
6. Firm’s scheduled hours:
Begin
End
Reg. wk. days...........
Lunch
Rest
Total
Begin
End
Reg. wk. hrs............................ Reg. wk. days...........
Rest
Lunch
Total
Reg. wk. hrs.
6. Seasonal or overtime.
7. Home work given out__
8. Wages:
Length pay period
Same work done in shop___
Vac. without pay
Identical rates___
With pay___
Deductions.
Bonus or commission
Overtime pay.
9. Employment policy:
Employment manager_____ Other centralized method----- Other----Records kept:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
70
71
SCHEDULE FORMS
10. Stairways:
Location
Mate
rial
Wind
ing
Hand
rail
0. K.
Light
0. K.
Nar
row
Steep
Repair
Other
Notes
11. Employees allowed to use elevators
Workrooms:
.
12. Rooms
Workroom
Code
13. Floors
FI.
Mat. Rpr.
14. Aisles
15. Ventilation
16. Other
problem
Cln. Other Obstr. Narr. Nat. Artif. Spec.
probl.
Notes:
17. Cleaning: Sweep, by whom Frequ
Scrub, by whom________________
Freon
18. Natural light:--IIIIIIIIZ_____
Shades or awnings..
In roof____________
Glare______________
General statement..
19. Artif. light: General
Indiv., hang., or adj.
Glare______________
General statement-_
20. Seating:
Seats
Foot rests
Occupations
Notes
Kind
Sit.............................................
No. 0. K.
Kind
Need
72
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH
21. Heating
23. Washing facilities
22. Drinking facil
ities
Share
with—
Floor
Kind
M. P.
Towels
Hot Soap
Individual Common
Cln. water
Furn.
Kind Freq. No. Freq.
1
1
. ..
Notes:
24. Toilets: Kind________ Paper______ Instr.--------Seat rpr Clean__________ Hand fl.__ Seatfl----------Plbg. rpr._ ... Clean____Autofl... Frequ------------
Room cleaned by—
Sweep... Frequ—
Scrub.. Frequ...
Ventilation
No. using
Light
Fir.
No. No. Seat Room
Room
Room
of per incl. desig. Scrn. nonFI. Women
cln.
ceil. Out.
ab
Oth. Out. Art.
Art.
sorb.
M. P. seats seat
wnd.
rm. wnd.
W. Oth.
25. Service facilities:
Lunch
FI,
Comb. Cln.
with—
Artif.
light
Toilet
Out. ventil. Supr. Caf . Tab. Seat
wnd.
into
Hot Hot Ck.conv.
food drink
Comf. ch.
Rest
Cot
Chairs
Cloak
Lkr.
Shivs. Racks Wall hks.
Bench
Seats
73
SCHEDULE FORMS
26. Uniforms requ. by firm............. ..
Laundered by firm------------------27. Health service:
Hosp— First aid..
Other.. JSioresp...
Kind---------------Free___________
Supplied by firm
Cost to girl............ ..
Chg. of doctor full time__ Doctor part time
Med. exam............... ..
Other welfareI
Schedule
II
schedule was used for recording the number of employees, scheduled hours, and data on working
conditions in factories, stores, and laundries employing five or fewer women.]
8
U. S. Department
op
Labor, Women’s Bureau
Name of firm
Product_____
Person interv.
Date _
Agent
Address
City__
Position
Number employed:
Firm’s scheduled hours:
White
Col.
Total
Men.................
Women______
Girls....................
Boys................. .
Begin
End
Lunch
Rest
Total
Reg. wk. day
Reg. wk. hou rs...........
Total___
Natural light-------------- ----------Artificial light Glare
Glare
Adequate
Adequate
Seating:
Seats
Footrests
Occupations
Notes
Kind
No. 0. K.
Kind
Need
Sit.....................
Stand...............................
Both .....................
Drinking facilities: Bubbler______ Cooler _
Faucet
— Other
Washing facilities: Kind ________ Clean
_ Ind towel ________
Com. towel
Toilet facilities: Kind............ No. using
Women
._ Men
Public
No. seats------ No. per seat............ Room ceiled _
Vent.: Outside
window--------- artif. vent.----------- vent, other rm. _______
Light: Outside
window--------- artif.room clean
Notes:___________________
"
74
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
Schedule
III
[This schedule was used for recording the number of employees, scheduled hours, plant policies, and data
on working conditions in hotels and restaurants.]
U. S. Department
op
Labor, Women’s Bureau
Date____________ _____
Agent_________ _______
1. Name of firm Address
Person interviewed_______________________________________
2. Type of restaurant________________________________________
3. Hours open for business:
Daily Sunday Extra.
Total
4. Number of men Boys.
Number of women,
Girls.
Total__________________ _______
5. Location of building___________________
6.
Workroom conditions: a. General description of use of floors.
6. General impression of workrooms.
c.
Cleaning
d.
Heating
e.
Lighting.
/. Ventilation.
7.
Occupations (describe general duties of various employees):
8. Sanitation:
Drinking facilities.
Washing facilities
Hot water.
Soap.
Towels.
75
SCHEDULE FORMS
Toilets:
a. Location
b. Ventilation
c. Lighting—Daylight Artificial
d. Screened from workroom
e. Describe—ventilation; cleanliness; cleaned when and by whom; type of toi
let; type of seat_____________________________________________
—.. ---------------- /. Number of seats______ Number of women per seat.
Uniforms: Supplied__________
Required__________
Laundering_____
9. Service and welfare facilities:
Lunchroom_____________________________ ______________________________
Rest room
Cloakroom and locker facilities
Health service: Medical examination__________
Health records
First-aid equipment________________________ __________________
Other welfare equipment_______________________________________
10. Employment management: a. Hiring and discharge centralized
Other_______________________________________________________________
Records kept_______________________________________________________
Worker Race Occupation
11. Hours worked by employees:
Hours
Meals
M 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 M
12
12
On
duty
Sunday............ .
Thursday_____
Friday................
Saturday...........
1
...
't"
Total weekly
(The individual record of hours worked was repeated for each employee.)
6089°—29—6
Off
duty
Total
hours
76
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH.
Schedule
IV
[Pay-roll information was copied onto this card, one card being used for each woman employee.
information was added later from Schedule V.]
Certain
U. S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau
Establishment
|
Employee’s No.
Department
Name
Male
Address
1 Female |
Age
Conjugal condition
Occupation
S
1 Piece
Rate
of
pay
Regular
Days
weekly
worked
hours
1
Hour
Day
Week
Hours
$
Overtime
hours
$
Undertime
hours
$0.
this period
| Began work
: Age
At home
D
| NR
Additions
$
Earnings
This period
Time at work
W
Month
Yz month
$
$
Country of birth
M
$
Deductions
Computed for
regular time
$
In this trade
$
This firm
.
Board
Pay-roll period
___ days ending
Schedule
V
[This schedule was distributed in the factory to be filled outlby each woman employee.
tion was transferred later to Schedule IV.]
U. S. Department
Establishment
Name
of
Certain informa
Labor, Women’s Bureau
Employee’s No.
Department
'Male or female
Address
Single, married, widowed, sepa__________________ _____________________________ rated, or divorced
Country of birth
Age------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How old were you when you began to work for wages?
How long have you been in this trade or business?___
How long have you been working for this firm?_______
What is your regular work here?_____________________
Schooling—last grade completed?__________________________________
Do you live with your family?With other relatives?
Do you board or room with persons not relatives?...................... .............
I
■I
SCHEDULE FORMS
77
Schedule VI
employees a yeaTof morer^thhtCratabllshmmf,Th& s^edufe being'usedT^™ number of the women
U. S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau
Firm_________
- City.................
Em
ployee
W. N.
W. N.
W. N.
W. N.
Occu
pation
T. P. B.
T. P. B.
T. P. B.
T. P. B.
Week
Wage
Remarks
1............
2............
3............
EEEEEEEE
4............
—
5...
6............
7______
8............ .............. .......... ..................
9............ — .............................
Wage
Remarks
Wage
Remarks
Wage
Remarks
"------------------ -
— — _____
— --------------------- — I________
f-—
:::::::::::::::: ;............ —........ —
........ -...............
—
............. .......... .................. -............ _________
........
................... ........ — ......................... — ______ --------------- [
.........................
.............. ---------- --------- ______ i_____ .
j—................—11..........
........ ------12.......... ------ .......... .........
..............
13..........
—
—
—
14.........
______
_
........ ...........
.......... ...............
.............. ............................. -........ — -........ .................
16__III
E.EEEEE"
EE:
.— ..........
EE
17..........
----- ..........----.............
..........
19.......... ;;
— ............................ -..................... . _______
20..........
21.........
............................. —........ -....................... ........
---....................
_______
22.......... —
............ -.......... ........ . ........ —................ —
23.
24_____
.......... —- .......... . ............................ .............. -.......................
25___ .............. ........................."
EEEEEEE.
26_____
:::::::::::::: -............ — ..............
.......... —..............
..............
28_____
29_____
W
— ..............-.......... - — ........................
30.......... _______
— — —
31_____
—
............................. — —
32_____ ............- —
—
—..................... .............. ............................ ..............
33..........|
............................ _______
34.......... !
:::::::: :::::::::::: :::: ---------- -------35_____ ............ ............................. .............. ........................ ..
36
37..........
— — — ..........................J
38_____
....................... ~E
—
— —
—...
39..........
40_____ —:
............................ .............. ......................... - —
—................
...........................41_____
—
42_____
::::::::::::::::
................. -......... ............. —
.............
-------------------43___
.............
44..........
—
............ ..............-............. ............ ............................
45
■ — — ---------------------1
46......
—
47..........
----------- ------ —
48.......... i]
:::::::
49............
EEEE —_
50............
............ ------ ----------51............. ............! _____________
52.............
............................. ............ ........ -.........---------— —....................
Amt........... Wks. wrkd___
Amt------ Wks. wrkd. Amt------ Wks. wrkd. Amt---- Wks. wrkd.
Wks. clsd... Wks. lost............... Wks.elsd.. Wks. lost-.
Wks. elstl.. Wks. lost
Wks. clsd. Wks. lost..
78
WOMEN WORKERS IN FLINT, MICH
Schedule VII
{This schedule was used in the house-to-house canvass to record information where there were women
who worked, who had worked during the past year, or who wanted work.]
U. S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau
Agent.......................................................
Date.......... .............................................
1. Address
2. Family name
3. Number in
family
4. Number persons
in home
6. Number roomers
or boarders
Housing: 6. Own home
7. Buying on contract or mortgage
8. Rent home
9. Number of rooms
10. Running water
11. Flush toilets
12. Bath
13. City sewerage
14. Wage
earners
18. Present job
17. Age
16.
15. Nativ
left
Pres
ity
ent age school Occupation Industry
19. Date 20. Special 21. Experience:
Former jobs—
began
training
kind of work
work
0
22. Non
wage earn 23. Nativ
ity
ers 16 years
and over
29.
25.
24.
27. Will 28. Regu
26.
Pres Age
continue Want lar
Grade
left
ent
in school work work
age school
31.
30.
33. Kind
Part Special 32. Ex of work
time train perience wanted
work ing
*
34. Under
16 years:
38. Work wanted
36. Present time
35. Wage
earners
37. Unemploy
Unemployment Part-time work ment during
year, seasons
Vol.
39.
Remarks:
Invol.
Vol.
Invol.
Job
Regular
wanted
Part
time
Kind of work
SCHEDULE FORMS
79
Schedule VIII
[This schedule was used in the house-to-house canvass to record general information where there were
so women who worked, who had worked during the past year, nor who wanted work.]
U. S. Department
op
Labor, Women’s Bureau
1. Address
2. Family name
Family:
Roomers:
No------------ Male-------------- Female___________
No____ Male_____Female
Under 16
16 and over
Married "
Single and other__
PUBLICATIONS OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU
Any of these bulletins still available will be sent free of charge upon request.
No. 1. Proposed Employment of Women During the War in the Industries of Niagara Falls, N. Y.
16 pp. 1918.
No. 2. Labor Laws for Women in Industry in Indiana. 29 pp. 1919.
No. 3. Standards for the Employment of Women in Industry. 8 pp. Third ed., 1921.
No. 4. Wages of Candy Makers in Philadelphia in 1919. 46 pp. 1919.
*No. 5. The Eight-Hour Day in Federal and State Legislation. 19 pp. 1919.
No. 6. The Employment of Women in Hazardous Industries in the United States. 8 pp. 1921.
No. 7. Night-Work Laws in the United States. (1919.) 4 pp. 1920.
*No. 8. Women in the Government Service. 37 pp. 1920.
*No. 9. Home Work in Bridgeport, Conn. 35 pp. 1920.
*No. 10. Hours and Conditions of Work for Women in Industry in Virginia. 32 pp. 1920.
No. 11. Women Street Car Conductors and Ticket Agents. 90 pp. 1921.
No. 12. The New Position of Women in American Industry.
No. 13.
*No. 14.
No. 15.
No. 16.
No. 17.
No. 18.
No. 19.
*No. 20.
No. 21.
*No. 22.
No. 23.
No. 24.
No. 25.
No. 26.
No. 27.
No. 28.
No. 29.
No. 30.
No. 31.
No. 32.
No. 33.
No. 34.
No. 35.
No. 36.
No. 37.
No. 38.
No. 39.
No. 40.
No. 41.
No. 42.
No. 43.
No. 44.
No. 45.
No. 46.
No. 47.
*No. 48.
No. 49.
No. 50.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
No. 67.
No. 68.
158 pp.
1920.
Industrial Opportunities and Training for Women and Girls. 48 pp. 1921.
A Physiological Basis for the Shorter Working Day for Women. 20 pp. 1921.
Some Effects of Legislation Limiting Hours of Work for Women. 26 pp. 1921.
See Bulletin 63.
Women’s Wages in Kansas. 104 pp. 1921.
Health Problems of Women in Industry. 11 pp. 1921.
Iowa Women in Industry. 73 pp. 1922.
Negro Women in Industry. 65 pp. 1922.
Women in Rhode Island Industries. 73 pp. 1922.
Women in Georgia Industries. 89 pp. 1922.
The Family Status of Breadwinning Women. 43 pp. 1922.
Women in Maryland Industries. 96 pp. 1922.
Women in the Candy Industry in Chicago and St. Louis. 72 pp. 1923.
Women in Arkansas Industries. 86 pp. 1923.
The Occupational Progress of Women. 37 pp. 1922.
Women’s Contributions in the Field of Invention. 51 pp. 1923.
Women in Kentucky Industries. 114 pp. 1923.
The Share of Wage-Earning Women in Family Support. 170 pp. 1923.
What Industry Means to Women Workers. 10 pp. 1923.
Women in South Carolina Industries. 128 pp. 1923.
Proceedings of the Women’s Industrial Conference. 190 pp. 1923.
Women in Alabama Industries. 86 pp. 1924.
Women in Missouri Industries. 127 pp. 1924.
Radio Talks on Women in Industry. 34 pp. 1924.
Women in New Jersey Industries. 99 pp. 1924.
Married Women in Industry. 8 pp. 1924.
Domestic Workers and Their Employment Relations. 87 pp. 1924.
See Bulletin 63.
Family Status of Breadwinning Women in Four Selected Cities. 145 pp. 1925.
List of References on Minimum Wage for Women in the United States and Canada. 42 pp. 1925.
Standard and Scheduled Hours of Work for Women in Industry. 68 pp. 1925.
Women in Ohio Industries. 137 pp. 1925.
Home Environment and Employment Opportunities of Women in Coal-Mine Workers’ Fam
ilies. 61 pp% 1925.
Facts About Working Women—A graphic presentation based on Census statistics. 64 pp. 1925.
Women in the Fruit-Growing and Canning Industries in the State of Washington. 23 pp. 1926.
Women in Oklahoma Industries. 118 pp. 1926.
Women Workers and Family Support. 10 pp. 1925.
Effects of Applied Research upon the Employment Opportunities of American Women. 54 dd.
1926.
Women in Illinois Industries. 108 pp. 1926.
Lost Time and Labor Turnover in Cotton Mills. 203 pp. 1926.
The Status of Women in the Government Service in 1925. 103 pp. 1926.
Changing Jobs. 12 pp. 1926.
Women in Mississippi Industries. 89 pp. 1926.
Women in Tennessee Industries. 120 pp. 1927.
Women W'orkers and Industrial Poisons. 5 pp. 1926.
Women in Delaware Industries. 156 pp. 1927.
Short Talks About Working Women. 24 pp. 1927.
Industrial Accidents to Women in New Jersey, Ohio, and Wisconsin. 316 pp. 1927.
The Development of Minimum-Wage Laws in the United States, 1912 to 1927. 616 pp. (and
index). 1928.
Women’s Employment in Vegetable Canneries in Delaware. 47 pp. 1927.
State Laws Affecting Working Women. 51 pp. 1927. (Revision of Bulletins 16 and 40.)
The Employment of Women at Night. 86 pp. 1928.
The Effects of Labor Legislation on the Employment Opportunities of Women. 498 pp. 1928.
History of Labor Legislation for Women in Three States; Chronology of Labor Legislation for
Women in the United States. (In press.)
Women Workers in Flint, Mich. (80 pp. 1928.)
Summary: The Effects of Labor Legislation on the Employment Opportunities of Women.
(Reprint of Chapter II of Bulletin 65.) 22 pp. 1928.
*
Annual Reports of the Director, 1919*, 1920*, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928.
*Supply exhausted.
80
o
@FedFRASER