2. In those states in which one or more of the four industries peculiarly adapted to women were important, few women were receiving training in courses preparing for those industries.12 3. Courses for women were limited to preparation for traditionally female occupations even in those places where there was a demand for women workers in other lines of work and the women were actually employed in such work.

4. The same efforts which were made to induce boys to educate themselves along industrial lines were not made in the case of girls.

A few instances will make these statements clearer. In Ohio there were in 1920 over fifty-three institutions giving trade and industrial courses. The majority of these schools were receiving aid from the United States government, but only five reported the enrollment of women. These five schools confined their courses to dressmaking, costume designing, dress pattern making, embroidery, power machine sewing, and pottery making. Although these were the only courses open to females, there were many women in the state employed in the machine shops and in the metal trades. The women were not prevented from attending schools teaching these and other occupations, but they were scarcely encouraged to do so. In the words of one Ohio vocational school superintendent who answered the questionnaire sent out by the Women's Bureau: "Unfortunately, we have had no courses open that were available to women. However, they have not been denied. They have not availed themselves of the privilege, since our work is all designed for men."

Buffalo had five day and five evening schools teaching metal working and wood working. The Women's Bureau found that these were men's courses. Women were admitted only to a course in photography. Rochester reported three day and three evening public vocational trade schools. These schools had women pupils, but all of them were receiving instruction in dressmaking and millinery only. Of the sixty-eight public industrial schools of New York State, women were enrolled in but eleven. Male pupils were reported in sixty-five.

In Pennsylvania there were forty-seven trade schools under state supervision for men and boys. These schools taught a variety of trades, among them those in which women are particularly adept. Only five schools were maintained for girls.

The public vocational trade schools of Chicago offered courses

12 These states comprised Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania. New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

NEED OF TRADE EDUCATION FOR GIRLS 213

in machine shop practice and other kindred subjects to men and boys, but the girls were taught sewing, dressmaking, millinery, and glovemaking.

Connecticut had twenty public trade schools. These schools gave such courses as machine-shop practice, tool making, blue print reading, mechanical drawing, pattern making, etc., to men and boys. Girls were taught the clothing trades and bookbinding. Even during the war when there was a demand for women in many new occupations, the industrial training given them by the public training schools was largely confined to preparation for the traditional woman occupations. The comparatively few schools which did broaden their training to include many of the subjects taught to boys were semi-public and charged a small fee for instruction.

The annual report of the Federal Board of Vocational Education for 1923 called attention to the narrow field of industrial training open to women. It stated that this training was obviously inadequate considering the trend of woman labor from the woman-employing industries into wider fields and the fact that women had taken advantage of new courses when they had been offered to them. The report pointed out that the usual fate of the girl to-day was to enter industry young and unskilled. She had little opportunity for advancement and was forced because of home residence to accept any job offered by the local market. It stated that an enlightened public opinion was necessary if women and girls were to be reached with a program for vocational education and recommended the extension of training opportunities for women.

Even were women's opportunities for employment as circumscribed to-day as they were before the war, there would be no legitimate reason for limiting their chances for industrial training. While this is done, their choice of occupation and their possibilities for advancement into skilled and responsible positions will always be less than men's. The bettered position of women in industry creates a still greater reason for giving women the same educational opportunities along industrial lines as are given

to men.

XV

THE DISCRIMINATIONS WOMEN

ENCOUNTER IN THE
ECONOMIC WORLD

(Continued)

Low RATE OF PAY OF WOMEN WORKERS

With limited opportunities for industrial training and forced to encounter the opposition of some trade unions, women's chances to occupy the skilled positions in industry are circumscribed. Still largely ununionized, their bargaining power is low. They are also compelled to meet the competition of some members of their sex who do not actually need to work and are willing to accept a small sum to piece out their living. They are sometimes handicapped by their attitude toward their work. Each of these factors helps to lessen the earning capacity of female workers. Precedent and prejudice operate to lower the demand for their services and to confine them to the traditional womanemploying industries. The supply of women workers in these industries again decreases the demand for their services and hence their wages. "The price paid for any particular grade of labor is determined by the relation of the supply of that class to the demand for it." The opportunities and variety of occupations open to women are not only fewer in industry but in government service and in the professions as well. Most of the factors which operate to lower their wages in the one type of work are present in the other types. Certain occupations practically preempted by women pay especially poor wages.

The Women's Bureau made studies of women wage earners employed in several of the states in manufacturing, in offices, in department stores, hotels, laundries, telephone exchanges, etc. In some of the occupations women have practically a monopoly. These studies were made during 1920 when wages were on the whole exceptionally high.

In Kansas an investigation of the wage records of more than 4,300 women for a representative week showed almost 20 per cent receiving less than $9.00 a week, more than 50 per cent less than $12.00 a week. The women working in the meat-packing industry

were better organized than the other women workers and received the highest wages. Half of them earned $17.50 or over. Office workers received a median wage of $13.55. Fifty per cent of the clerks in the 5-and-10-cent stores made less than $8.10.

A more adequate idea of the mean earnings of a group of workers can be secured by ascertaining their annual earnings. A twelve-month period allows for the unavoidable deductions caused by the vicissitudes of life-sickness, accident, unemployment, wage cuts, fines. The annual wage of 1,077 Kansas women was obtained. Twenty-eight and six-tenths per cent of them received less than $600.00; 42.2 per cent earned from $600 to $900; and but 29.2 per cent made over $900. These low wages become more striking when the dependents and home responsibilities of the workers are considered. Thirty-five per cent of the women contributed all of their earnings to the family, 36 per cent contributed part of their earnings, and but 24.8 per cent contributed nothing.1

A similar study in Rhode Island covered 70 establishments where 10,350 women, or one-third of the total number of workers, were employed. The wage scales for a representative week were found to be higher than those in Kansas. Half the women received over $16.85, half under that amount. Wages were highest in the rubber industry with a median of $20.70 and lowest in the 5-and-10-cent stores where half the girls made less than $11.90. The annual wage for a small group of 617 workers who had been steadily working at the same job for at least a year was likewise determined. Approximately 44 per cent of this group received $800 or less. About 56 per cent made over that amount. No woman was making as much as $1800 a year. Only 4 made $1600 and under $1800, while 54 made $600 or less.2

Other studies of the Women's Bureau included Georgia, Virginia, Kentucky, Iowa. They revealed inadequate wages, long hours, and poor working conditions for large numbers of working women.

In Georgia a survey was made covering some 10,000 women. The median wage for a representative week received by the white women in the group was $12.20. That received by the colored women was $6.20. The annual wages disclosed an even lower rate. One-half the white women made less than $748 a year, and one

1 Women's Bureau, Bulletin No. 17, "Women's Wages in Kansas," 1921, passim.

2 Women's Bureau, Bulletin No. 21, "Women in Rhode Island Industries," 1922, passim.

half the colored less than $413. These low wages were combined with long hours and poor sanitary conditions. Practically 74 per cent of the total number of women worked 55 hours or more a week. Dirty rooms, unguarded machinery, unsanitary and inadequate drinking, washing, and toilet facilities were found in many of the plants.

3

In Kentucky some 8,800 white women and 1,100 colored women employed in 149 establishments were studied. Half of the white. women, a large number of whom were working ten hours a day or over, received less than $11.05 a week. Half of the colored, working the same long hours, made less than $8.30 a week.*

A special investigation was made of a representative group of 59 women in Virginia. Most of them worked in the cigarette factories and textile mills. Thirty-seven of this group were responsible for the total or partial support of other persons. Their wages were low. Four workers, having from two to five dependents, made but $10 to $11 a week. Two young girls, the sole support of their mother and four grandchildren, received only $7.50 and $11 respectively. The remaining 31 made from $10 to over $20, but only five were included in the upper part of the wage scale. Half of the entire group of women earned less than $15.07.5

In Indiana the average weekly wage for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1922, was $12.88. This figure was obtained by the industrial board of Indiana and was based on information procured from women injured in industry and seeking compensation.

The vast difference between the wages of men and women in industry is shown by a study made by the Women's Bureau of 2,200 men and women employees in Manchester, New Hampshire. Of the men 44.9 per cent earned $25 or more a week; of the women only 1.6 per cent earned more than that amount. Approximately one-fourth of the daughters and two-thirds of the sons in a family received $17.50 or over. Almost seven-tenths of the fathers and under 2 per cent of the mothers earned over $25 a week. The same conditions existed in regard to annual earnings. Less than one-tenth of the women and over six-tenths of the men received more than $1,000 a year. The great differences in

3 Women's Bureau, Bulletin 22, "Women in Georgia Industries," 1922, passim.

4 Women's Bureau, Preliminary Report, "Hours, Wages and Working Conditions for Women in Kentucky," 1922, passim.

5 "Hours and Conditions of Work for Women in Industry in Virginia," 1920, passim.