Xiv r ~~ r HD <&Q96 rtbfcfel MAY 1219 WARTIME REPLACEMENT IN THE CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS PUBLISHED BY THE VOCATIONAL INFORMATION SERVICE I OF THE WOMAN'S OCCUPATIONAL BUREAU,^ 204 Transportation Bldg., Minneapolis WARTIME REPLACEMENT IN THE CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS Complimentary Copy OCCUPATIONAL BULLETIN NO. 2 Published by The Vocational Information Service of the Woman's Occupational Bureau, Transportation Bldg. Minneapolis. M. 5220 Price, Fifteen Cents Copyright, April, 1919 Elizabeth Johnston and Woman's Occupational Bureau TABLE OF CONTENTS WAR-TIME REPLACEMENT IN THE CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS I. Introduction. A. Survey as Representative Study for Replacement in Middle West- ern City. B. Effect of Geographical Location. C. Proportion of Replacement according to Kinds of Business. D. Special classification in Clerical and Stenographic Replace- ment. E. Information Included in Survey. II. Kinds of Business. III. Kinds of Work. IV. Comparative Wage and Hours. V. Replacement as Shown by United States Employment Service. VI. Relation of amount of Replacement to the Total Number of Men who entered the Service. VII. Demobilization of Women. CHARTS 1. Table No. I Proportion of Replacement to Business. 2. Table No. II Clerical and Stenographic Replacement. 3. Table No. Ill Comparative Wage of Men & Women in Replacement. 4. Table No. IV Comparative Hours of Men & Women in Replacement. 5. Table No. V Replacement of Men by Women, U. S. Employment Service. PREFACE The tables presented in this report were compiled from data collected in- the Industrial Survey of Women Employed Outside the Home, under the auspices of the Minnesota Public Safety Commission, the State Council of National Defense, and the Department of Labor and Industries, with the local co-operation of the Woman's Occupational Bureau, the Civic and Commerce Association, the Committee on Women in Industry of the Council of National Defense, and numerous other agencies and individuals. Special acknowledgment should be made to Miss Katherine A. King, Examiner, Women's Division, United States Employment Service for the valuable information furnished on Industrial Replacement from August to November. Through her courteous co-operation a more complete and com- prehensive report has been made possible. ELIZABETH JOHNSTON, Editor, Asst. Director Vocational Information Service. March, 1919. I. INTRODUCTION A. Survey as Representative Study for Replacement in Middle Western City "One of the commonplaces of the great war is the changes which it has produced in every phase of human relationship ; not the least of these being the opening of the professions, business and industry to women to a far greater extent than ever before."* This is especially true in Europe, but in this country it is the enlarging of present opportunities rather than the opening up of new fields of action. As a result of the Survey of Women in Industry outside the Home in Minneapolis itaken under the auspices of the State Department of Labor, the Council of National Defense, and the Woman's Occupational Bureau, statistics of replacement (have been com- piled with most illuminating results. Thirty-six hundred employers have co-operated in furnishing information concerning 82,000 employees. While the Survey does not pretend to be absolutely complete or exhaust- ive, it presents a fairly accurate representation of conditions existing ait tihe time the Survey was compiled in September, 1918. The scope of its information has been enlarged by the supplementary records of the United States Employment Service of Minneapolis which adds to the completeness of the picture. Replacement of men by women in industry, due to the pressure of the emergency created by the war, is comparatively small in Minneapolis. Of the 22,555 women employed outside the home in this city there are only 647 women who replaced men, concerning whom the relative wages of both man and woman were given. These 647 women, at an average wage of $15.25, replaced 622 men at an average wage of $21.19. Beyond this, there are 186 women who also replaced men, of whom, however, information is lacking concerning the man replaced. For example, in a manufacturing establishment engaged in war contracts, fifty-five women employed on piece work for munitions, while not replacing men in a strict sense, neverthless were engaged in work ordinarily performed by men. "Clear distinction should be made between the normal employment of women and the sub- stitution of women for men. The wide variety of work in which women are now engaged may easily create an exaggerated idea of such substitu- tion." ** B. Effect of Geographical Location We find a far greater readjustment in the East. Our geographically cen- tral location has proved fortunate as the severity of fluctuations of cost of living and readjustment of industry felt so suddenly in eastern and western cities, have been modified by time and distance in reaching us. Although women have replaced men in a large variety of occupations, yet the actual number is negligible in the proportion, 1 to 27. Of the total number of women employed in the city, less than a hundred such women have received wages so exceptionally high that a return to the .present average for all others would be noticeable. * Opportunities for Women in Municipal Civil Service, New York, p. 74. Published by The Intercollegiate Bureau of Occupations, New York. ** Wartime Employment of Women in Metal Trades, Research Report No. 8. Published by National Industrial Conference Board, 15 Beacon St., Boston. WAR-TIME REPLACEMENT PROPORTION OF REPLACEMENT ACCORDING TO KINDS OF BUSINESS TABLE NO. I. Kind of Work Number Women Average Wage (Women) Average Age Number Men Average Wage (Men) 1. Trade 350 14.48 23% 331 17.93 2. Mfg. and Mech.. 115 14.01 25 112 17.42 3. Domestic and 1 Personal 46 I 12.47 28 45 13.30 4. Transportation . 77 | 20.66 30 77 21.54 5. Cler. and Steno. not otherwise listed 41 15.94 25% 39 19.23 6. Public service. . 10 1 18.76 25 10 21.65 7. Professional . . . 8 | 22.96 26 8 33.24 TOTAL 647 | 622 TOTAL AV.. | 15.25 | 25 21.19 186 women not replacing any special men. 833. Total 1 in 27 replacement. C. Proportion of Replacement According to Kinds of Business I. Trade As indicated on Table No. 1, one-half the women replacing men are to be found in the fields of trade, which includes grain, fuel, flour mill and lumber industries, real estate, bonds, retail and wholesale firms, insurance, rentals, banks, and commercial miscellaneous. There are 350 women who have taken places of 331 men, indicating that in a few instances, two women have replaced one man; e. g., for a retail store, two clerks at $14 and $12 respectively a week, replace one man at $23. Also, two discount tellers at $31.25 and $17.50, respectively, replaced one man at $40. The men had probably been in the employ of the firms for a long period of time, and were of more value in experience and ability. The average weekly wage for women in trade is $14.48, and the average weekly wage for men is slightly more, $17.93. It will be noted that the average age of women in trade, 23 l /2 years, is the lowest average of any branch of industry, probably due to the fact that a large number of high school girls of eighteen or nineteen years have entered banks. II. Manufacturing and Mechanical Second to replacement in Trade in Minneapolis, is replacement in Man- ufacturing and Mechanical industries, where dramatic and radical readjust- WAR-TIME REPLACEMENT 7 ment has been universally made. Women numbering 115 have replaced 112 men, that is, a little less than one-sixth of the total number of women replacements, and one-third of the number in Trade. This is a compara- tively small proportion, as such figures loom large in England and the Eastern States. Twenty-one thousand women were working on aeroplanes alone in England, and 1,000,000 women were employed in munitions. After all, the figures show that this part of the country had a small share in the production of war materials, and therefore the problem of the readjust- ment of women workers will nofc be serious. Notable exception to this generalization may be found in the case of a large factory engaged in the manufacture of munitions where girls were employed on piece work on gun carriage limbers and shells. Sash and Door companies employed a number of women to make sashes, run cut-off saws, to pin sashes, nail, cut light lumber, to patch doors, etc. The printers have replaced with a number of women, as press-feed- ers, transfer cutters, and compositors; food factories and knitting mills also feature in readjustment. At a metal products manufacturing com- pany young women were being employed to build furnaces, tanks, torches and equipment used in the manufacture of ships. They were do- ing the oxy-acetylene welding, testing the torches, assembling the small pieces of the various kinds of machinery, and running drill presses. The eight girls engaged in the work wore khaki-oolored overalls and close- fitting caps with visors. At a motor company engaged in war contracts, twelve girls were employed to assemble small parts for the motors and to do light work around the machine shop. An interesting sidelight on replacement in machine shops is the fact that the women who replaced men were frequently girls who had high school education, whereas the men were in many cases foreign born, and frequently unable to speak English fluently. The average wage of women in Manufacturing and Mechanical in- dustries is $14.01, the average wage of men is $17.42, probably due to the fact that untrained women were replacing unskilled workmen. The average age for women in this line is 25 years. III. Domestic and Personal In Domestic and Personal service one finds that 46 women are re- placing 45 men, at an average weekly wage of $12.47 and $13.30, respec- tively. There is very little difference between the wages of the two sexes and it is also noteworthy that one finds here the lowest average of wage, as is to be expected, as the work, which includes laundry workers, eleva- tor operators, dish washers, waitresses, cooks and kitchen help in cafes is unskilled. The average age is rather high, being 28 years. IV. Transportation In Transportation 77 women have replaced an equal number of men at an average weekly wage of $20.66; the men replaced received an aver- age salary of $21.54. The wage is high, next highest to professional wo- men, due to the increase of railway employees' salary by the govern- ment. This classification includes all railroad offices, car shops, tele- graph and telephone companies. The average age of women, 30 years, might indicate that railroad offices require mature, experienced help; which is true to a certain extent, but it is. also true that women employed 8 WAR-TIME REPLACEMENT in car shops as sweepers, glass cleaners, car cleaners, and unholsterers are generally married women which, consequently, brings up the average age. For example, thirty-nine women employed by a railway company for rib track labor, coach cleaning, upholstering, sweeping and coupling have an average age of 35. They are, with eight exceptions, women of foreign birth. Their children range from one to twenty years, the majority having from four to seven in number. Investigation by the women in Industry Service and locally by vari- ous other social agencies, has proved that in the majority of cases, wo- men thus employed on railway work had husbands holding comparative- ly well paid positions of semi-skilled type. The women abandoned their large families of cihildren under the age of sixteen to the mercy and care of an older child or to the neighbors, while they spent from nine to nine and a half hours daily at work. The increase in the family income did not sufficiently compensate for the family neglect. It is the opinion of the investigators that the greatest evil is found in the resultant effects upon the home life, and upon the moral and physical well-being of the family. V. Clerical and Stenographic The classification of Clerical and Stenographic workers does not, by any means, include all clerks, stenographers and bookkeepers replacing men in industry, but only those working in firms not otherwise classi- fied. (For complete list of clerical workers, see Table No. 2.) In this classification are included employment agencies, Education- al Institutions, Moving Picture Firms, Gas and Electric firms. The aver- age age of such clerical help is 25 V& years, 40 women replaced 39 men, at $15.94, and $19.23, respectively. VI. Public Service In public service, which includes U. S. Grain Supervision, Civil Serv- ice, City Water Department, City Engineer, County Treasurer, Board of Education and Court Commissioner, there are ten men replaced by an equal number of women at an average weekly wage of $18.76 and $21.65 respectively. The average age is 25 years. VII. Professional The last, and smallest classification of industry is Professional, in which there are to be found eig*ht women replacing an equal number of men at $22.96 and $33.34, respectively. The wide discrepancy between the comparative wages is due to the fact that the man replaced, in some cases, was doling considerably more than that which was done by the woman replacing him and, no doubt, was replaced by a woman of less professional skill and ability. E. g., in a hospital, a woman executive at a weekly wage of $43.90, replaced a physician at $104.50 weekly. Music teachers ait a school of music were replaced at lower wages; also piano players in moving picture theatres. It may be said, in passing, that school teachers are not included in this survey, which reduces the num- ber of professional women. .Thus, total replacements, including the seven classifications of in- dustry above considered may be summed up as follows: 647 women, at an average age of 25, and an average wage of $15.25, replaced 622 men at $21.19. WAR-TIME REPLACEMENT 9 PROPORTION OF REPLACEMENT ACCORDING TO KINDS OF BUSINESS TABLE NO. 2 CLERICAL AND STENOGRAPHIC. | No. Women |Av. Weekly Wage| Av. Age" 1. Trade 231 15.47 25 2. Manf. and Mech 51 16.76 24 3. Transportation 52 19.22 25 4. Clerical 32 15.16 25 5. Professional 3 12.34 22 6. Public Service 10 18.76 26 Total 429 ' Average Wage 16.11 24 Total Clerical 225 10.28 Total Steno. and Bkk. . . . 197 17.04 N. B. 7 clerical workers replaced 5 boys in a bank of which no wages are given. Added to the total clerical and total steno. and bkk. (225 + 197-j-7)=429. D. Special Classification in Clerical and Stenographic Replacement As stated before, Clerical and Stenographic workers are to be found in every field of business and industry, in fact, 66 per cent or 429 of the 647 women replacing men in the seven classes of employment are stenog- raphers, bookkeepers, or clerical workers. Their average wage is $16 and average age, 24. Clerical workers, of which there are 225 in replacement, have a low- er wage than stenographic workers: an average wage of $10.28 as con- trasted with $17.04. In the classification with clerical workers we find all clerks (except sales clerks in stores), stock clerks, receiving clerks, adding machine operators, bill clerks, order clerks, file clerks, exchange clerks, multi- graph operators, ledger clerks, etc. In classification with stenographic workers we find stenographers, bookkeepers, dictaphone operators, typists, cashiers, assistant cashiers, ledger bookkeepers, tellers, discount tellers, comptometer operators and secretaries. E. Information Included in Survey The Survey records show, in relation to the firm: 1. No. women replacing men. 2. No. men replaced. 3. No. men replaced in Service. 4. Total weekly wage Women. 5. Total weekly wage Men replaced. In relation to the individual: 1. Kind of work women. 2. Nature of Man's work. 3. Woman's wages. 10 WAR-TIME REPLACEMENT 4. Man's wages. 5. Hours per week Women. 6. Hours per week Men. II. KINDS OF BUSINESS The kinds of Business in which replacement is found are as follows: I. Trade Investment Companies. 5 and 10 Cent Stores. Stocks & Bonding Companies. Oil Companies. Real Estate. Automobile Equipment Companies. Mortgage Companies. Paints, Varnishes and Oil Stores. Life, Fire & Marine Insurance Co. Trunk and Baggage Stores. Inspection Bureaus. Lumber and Coal Companies. Banks. Medical Supply Co. Trust Companies. Gas Fixture Companies. Tea and Coffee Companies. Moving Picture Film Firms. Jewelry Stores. Optical Co. Paper Companies. Cigar Stores. Brewing Companies. Drug Stores. Wholesale Grocers. Grocery Stores. Wholesale Distributors. Creameries. Packing Companies. Hardware Companies. Grain Companies. Dry Goods Stores. Mills & Elevators. Clothing Stores. Distilled Water Firms. Photographers. Plumbing & Heating Firms. II. Public Service Board of Education. Colleges. County Offices. Libraries. Court Commissioners Office. Hospitals. III. Professional Law Firms. Music Schools. Contractors and Builders Office IV. Transportation Railway Ticket, Freight and Executive Offices. Car Shops. Telephone & Telegraph Companies. V. Manufacturing and Mechanical Electric Companies. Foundries, Iron and Metal Ware Mfg. Companies. Printers and Publishers. Bakeries, Ice Cream and Biscuit Mfg. Cos. Knitting Mills. Agricultural Implements Mfg. Gas Light Companies. Box Manufacturing Companies. Oil Refineries. Sash and Door Companies. Casket Factories. Granite and Marble Works. WAK-TIME REPLACEMENT VI. Domestic and Personal Laundries and Dry Cleaners. Office Buildings (Elevator Operators). Cafes and Lunch Rooms. Hotels. HI. KINDS OF WORK The following is a list of the kinds of work in which women re- placed men: I. Domestic and Personal Washers (Laundries). Ironcrs (Laundries). Elevator Opera-tors. Dishwashers ) I Waitresses Outside the H,, P Head Porter (Hotel). Bus Girls (Lunch Rooms). Sweepers Glass Cleaners R it> Track Labor Car Cleaners Coach Labor v I f In Railway and v Car Shops Scrubbing Cars Janitresses. Barbers. II. Manufacturing and Mechanical Lead Burners. Assemblers. Telephone Repair Workers. Slag Sorters. Press Mac'hine Operators. PrlTf Bindery Workers. Doughnut Packers. Hosiery Finishers. Upholsterers. Jewelry Repairers. Finishers. Shellac Workers. Glue Workers. Sash Makers. Workers-Running Cut-off Saw. , Cutting Light Lumber. . D <><> r Patching. Cream Testers. Casket Liners. III. Professional Teacher of Telegraphy. Draftsman. Music Teacher. Executive. Laboratory Worker and Teacher. Pharmacist. Anesthetist. Piano Player. Short Buyers. Saleswomen. IV. Other Occupations Clerk (Stores). Flo-or Ladies. 12 WAR-TIME REPLACEMENT V. Clerical and Stenographic In Trade, Manufacturing and Mechanical Industries, Public Serv- ice, Transportation, etc. General Clerical Workers! Transit Clerks. Record Clerks. Multigraph Operators. Order Clerks. Exchange Clerks. Ledger Clerks. Clerical (listing, sorting). Traffic Clerks. Tellers. Bill Clerks. Insurance Underwriters. Rate Clerks. Cash Accountants. Shop Clerks. Caslhiers. . Reclaim Clerks. Bookkeepers. Filing Clerks. Stenographers. Card Record Clerks. Dictaphone Operators. Comptometer Operators. Assistant Managers. Adding Machine Operators. Office Managers. IV. COMPARATIVE WAGE AND HOURS TABLE HI Comparative Wages of Men and Women in Replacement No. of | Women 1 Per cent of Total | Replacement Equal Wage 154 | 23.8 Lower Wage for Women ...... 342 | 55.9 Higher Wage for Women 73 | 11.2 Exceptional Cases 3 cases in which 1 woman replaced 2 men. 20 cases in which 2 women replaced 1 man. 1 case in which 3 women replaced 1 man. IV. COMPARATIVE WAGE AND HOURS As a rule there is no flagrant injustice in the comparative wage paid men and 'the women who replaced them in Minneapolis. It may be noted in this connection that the U. S. Department of Labor has declared itself in favor of equal wages far women performing the same work as men on government contracts, and that a similar position has been taken by the Director-General of Railways in ordering .the recent wage in- creases, and by the National War Labor Board which has defined its policy in the following terms: "If it shall be necessary to employ women on work ordinarily per- formed by men, they must be allowed equal pay for equal work." In the business and industrial practice of Minneapolis the following points relating to the wages and hours have been considered: I. Equal Pay Of the 647 women replacing men, 154 of them, or 23.8 per cent re- ceived pay equal to that of the men. Where women are a new feature, WAR-TIME REPLACEMENT 13 we find that they are likely to receive equal pay; e. g., 23 women in a Sash and Door Company, where women 'have made their initial entrance owing to the undue shortage of labor, have replaced 23 men at equal wages, ranging from $9 to $11 per week. Three teachers of telegraphy replaced three men at equal wages, namely, at $25, $22.50 and $20. In railway offices there is a high standard wage and, as a rule, the salaries of men and women replaced are equal. Some cases are noted where the man replaced received considerably less, which indicates that the man left before the automatic governmental increase took place, and that the woman who replaced him received the increase some time after her entrance. Where help is unskilled and there is no question of personality, the tendency is for equal wages; cooks, dishwashers, waitresses, and bus-girls in lunch rooms and cafes, receive the same wages as the men replaced. There are rare cases of replacement with equal wage in pro- fessional lines; e. g., in a large hospital a woman replaced a man at a similar wage to that which he had received, $41.50, working from 48 to 72 hours weekly at laboratory work and teaching. ..Also a pharmacist is replaced by a woman at the same rate, $18.75 a week, each working 48 hours. II. Woman's Wage Lower In over one-half, or 55.9 per cent, of the cases the women received a lower wage than the men they replaced. That is, 342 out of 647 wo- men stepped into men's places for less pay than the men had received. Where the wages of women are less, the difference usually is from 10 to 50 per cent. Various reasons were assigned for the lower wage scale. a. Experience. A good reason given for lower wage for women is lack of experience on the part of the women. Some employers stated that women's wages are gradually being increased as they become more efficient. In several places women are paid a lower rate while learning. For example, a woman at $25 a week replaces an assistant manager of a Teachers' Agency at $37.50; also one at $23.07 sells electric ranges in place of a man at $35.77. Both are positions which require gradual adjustment to insure efficiency. A chief clerk in an electric concern who received $25.38 is replaced by a woman at $19.21; another clerk at $23 is replaced at $13.85. An office manager at $40 per week has left his position to a woman who receives $25 weekly. Although it is im- possible to accurately judge the justice of the wages unless one has an insight into the personal qualities of the individuals, however, the trend of wage can be shown with indications for its cause. b. Necessity of Providing with Helpers. Another reason offere4 for lower wages of women is the necessity of providing them with help- ers to set up machines, to make repairs, and to bring up stock. For example: Press feeders in printing offices, though receiving equal wages in three cases, vary from two to nine dollars less per week than the men replaced. Employers of these firms have given as a rea- son for this discrepancy in wage the necessity of hiring boys to keep the machines in order. A college replaces a man at $21 in clerical work by a woman at $10, but the man was also a chauffeur. In a library a woman in charge of an office receives $25 for 36 hours work, whereas the man replaced received $35.25 for the same number of hours; how- ever, the man also made repairs. The question arises at this point: Is the deduction more or less than the cost of the extra labor? 1 4 W AR-T I'M E REPLACEM ENT c. Prejudice of Employer. Sometimes the discrepancy in wage paid is so great and the apparent reason for it so slight, that one is in- clined to believe that the employer is guided by traditions of lower paj for women's work, irrespective of the comparative quality of work aecomplished. Two girls at $9 each a week replaced two men as soda fountain clerks at $20 and $24. Also, in a bag manufacturing company a girl does machine sewing for $5 a week where the man received $18. In a laundry a woman washer at $12 a week replaced a man at $17; like- wise, in another laundry, a woman at $16 replaced a man at $20. There would seem to be no reason why women running elevators should re- ceive less than men, and yet with the exception of three individual op- erators this is true. III. Women's Wage Higher In a comparatively small number of cases, 73 out of 647, or 11.2 per cent, women have received higher wages than the men replaced. This may often be explained by the war-time emergency. It was ncessary to fill a man's place immediately in a number of cases, and, if the suit- able person could be found, she was hired at a higher wage than could have been obtained had there not been a shortage of labor. However, in 42 cases of the total number, 73, the variation in wage is only from one to two dollars; mot an appreciable gain for the woman. Other cases whidh constitute the really exceptional replacements are to be found in railway offices and sihops, insurance companies, banks, grain companies, oil refineries, etc. In a railway office a reclaim clerk at $24 working 48 hours, replaces a man who worked for 52% hours at $17. Two otiher cases of the sort are found in another railway office where two girls at $20 and $21.50 respectively, replace two men at $10.50 and $16.50. In a railway car s'hop a woman at $21.50 replaces a man at $16.50. These remarkable cases, ranging from 25 per cent to 50 per cent increase for the women, are due to the fact of automatic "rise" in rate of wage for railways. An office girl in a life insurance company receives $22.50 in place of a man at $13.75. Four girls who are stenographers or bookkeepers in grain companies receive from $2.50 to $4.20 more for their wark. Two girls in banks, as well as two more in fuel companies, also receive pro- portionately more. IV. Special Cases The most interesting and unusual type of replacement is that in which one woman replaces two men, or two or more women replace one man. Such cases show more plainly than any others the problems of war-rtime readjustment and the difficulties which the emergency brought forth. There are three cases in which one woman replaced two men. For a railway office, a woman at $24.70 weekly, was doing the work of both a bill clerk at $22.50 and a stenographer at $18. Also, a girl at $21.87 did the clerical work of two men who had worked, at $18.75 and $15, respectively. In the office of a scale company a stenographer at a not- ably lower wage, $12.50, replaced two men who had received $18.75 and $20. WAR-TIME REPLACEMENT 15 One cannot be too careful in drawing conclusions in this matter. Superficially, one might say that in three cases we find proof of the superior efficiency of women to that of men, however, a number of ele- ments miglht have entered into the consideration of the employer in thus replacing two men with one woman. The business might have suffered on account of the war depression, thus making a retrenchment possible; the woman might have been a mature, experienced business woman and the men replaced, young and lacking in training; or the more care- ful supervision on the part of a higher member of the firm might have lightened the responsibility of the woman who entered in place of the two men. On the other hand, there are twenty cases in which two women were necessary to replace one man, and one case where three women filled one man's position. In the latter instance three stock clerks at .$8 were necessary to Jill the place of one man ait $16.75 in a Moving Pic- ture Film company. In these instances, one should be equally cautious in drawing conclusions as to the superior ability of the men who were replaced. Could not lack of experience on the part of the girls, and the possibility of enlarging the office force by hiring girls ait lower wages, and increase in business be good reasons for this unusual adjustment? Lack of care in selecting girls, and the lack of incentive for the girls because of the feeling of the temporary character of the job, might be further elements in determining this unusual readjustment. In a printing firm, two girls at $15 each, replace as press-feeders one man at $17; also, at a chair manufacturing company, two girls employed on chair sandpapering at $12 each replace one man at $16. In trade, we find in an insurance office two bookkeepers at $17.50 each, replacing one man at $25.38; also, two ledger bookkeepers, in an- other firm, at $11.25 replacing one man ait $16.50. In a freight office, two girls employed as clerks at $24 and $18.75, respectively, replace one man at $25. One finds in a lunch room, two waitresses at $7 each filling the place of one man at $12. Therefore, in all instances noted where two women replaced one man the women worked for less wages than the men, and their hours of work were the same. TABLE IV Comparative Hours of Men and Women in Replacement No. of Cases Per cent of Total Equal hours 504 77.8 % Longer hours for 'higher wages man with ' 95 14.6 % Shorter hours for higher wage . women with 10 .01% V. Hours of Work For the most part, the hours of work for men and women are equal, that is, in 504 cases of 647, or 77.8 per cent. Thus, in over three-fourths of replacement cases, whether the man had received larger pay, equal or less than the woman replaced, the hours of work were not a consid- eration. However, in 95 cases, 14.6 per cent, in which the man received a higher wage, theTact that he worked longer hours, undoubtedly justi- fied his greater recompense. 16 WAR-TIME REPLACEMENT A cook in a lunch room, working at $12 for 54 hours replaced a man at $14, who worked 70 hours. Also, a clerk in a grocery store work- ing 50 hours for $6 replaced a man at $13 work who worked 72 hours. This is a frequent occurrence in small retail replacement wlhere the wage of the girl is always noticeably less than that of the man replaced. How- ever, there are only two cases where 'the girl who took the place of a man received $6, this wage being below the minimum wage far the state of Minnesota. In 10 cases women receive a higher wage for shorter hours. Tfiis occurs, in two instances, in transportation, which has been previously explained as due to governmental increase of wage. Also, a woman doing clerical work in a bank, 45 hours weekly, for $12.50, replaced a man at $10.60, wo'rking 50 hours. A lady barber in a hotel ait $30 per week, working 66 hours, replaced a man at $25 for 70 hours. V. Replacement in Minneapolis as Shown by United States Employment Service The records of the Survey have been supplemented by the replace- ment records of the United States Employment Service in Minneapolis. The Survey includes only sucih replacement as existed at the time of investigation, that is, during the months of August and September; whereas, the report of the United States Employment Service in Minne- apolis includes the replacement from July through October. The latter does not include ordinary factory placements, only those cases in which a woman actually took the place of a man; and, so far as can be determined, it does not include replacement of women displaced, who were in turn taking men's positions. It does not intetfd to state that the total replacements stated for each firm were true at any one time, although such might have been the case, but the report is the total aggregate of all replacement calls filled for the firms who left calls with the Employment Service. These records of the Employment Service include all Industrial and Domestic replacement, but they do noit include clerical, stenographic and professional readjustments. The total number of replacements noted by the United States Em- ployment Service in Minneapolis was 545; of this number, 132 were in- cluded in tlhe Survey, leaving 413 cases of readjustment not included in Survey totals. Total replacement (Survey) 647 Total replacement (U. S. E. S.) 413 Total replacement 1,060 The minimum wage noted by Employment Service was $7 (appren- tice), $10 (regular workers), while the maximum wage was found to be $18.90. Average wage is $9.15. I WAR-TIME REPLACEMENT 17 TABLE NO. V. Replacement of Men by Women U S> Employment Service. Industry Occupation No. Women Replaced in MpU. Firing Wage * Wholesale Paper . . . Weighers Truckers Order Clerks 15 $12 (init.) Wholesale Clothing Order Clerks 50 10 (init.) 36 Wholesale Grocery . Packers 10 12 (init.) 4 Retail Clothing Delivery clerk 2 15-18 (init.) 7 Office Buildings Elevator operator 8 15 (iwit.) 5 Implement Mfgs Welders Riveters Drillers Benc/h work, etc. 150 13.50 18.90 7 Oil Pump Mfg Machine operator 2 16.80 Printing Office Apprentice printers 15 7.00-9.00 4 Retail Grocery Deliverers 2 12.00 Telegraph Co Messenger girls 30 11.25 2 Paper Mill Beaters Off-bearers 45 16.20 p Roofing and Tiling. . . Shingle makers Sorters and packers Truckers Car loaders Sample girl 45 16.20 ? Storage Battery Bat. & stk. woman 1080 5 13.50 ? Flour Mills Sack packers Sack cleaners Sack menders Sack sorters 30 15.00 Electric Company . . . Meter readers 5 15.00 7 Creamery . D asteurizers i handlers Packers 15 13.50 8 Wood Factory | Glaziers 15 11.88 Food Manufacture . . .i 1 Shakers Packers 15 10.00 ? Broom Industry .... Corn sorter 1 12.00 Trunk Manufacture . Upholsterers 5. 16.20 4 Furnisher Mfgrs Finishers 25 11.88 Telephone Cos. . . Repairers 25 12.50 4 TOTALS .545 132 Number Womeji Recorded' by Survey as Replacing Men in Same Firms Dur- ing August-: September. : 18 WAR-TIME RKPLACEMENT VI. Relation of Amount of Replacement to the Total Number of Men Who Entered the Service A conservative estimate of the number of women entering business and industry in the places of men who entered the service may be set at 1500.* As contrasted with the number who left, 15,000, the number seems very inadequate, but one-tenth. A number of valid reasons for this wide discrepancy a're immediately evident. 1. The number of women ordinarily employed increased greatly during the war period. Although women have been in industry for years, the war emergency accentuated the demand for the woman work- er. Normal employment of women increased tremendously. War con- tracts necessitated the enlargement of office forces, and extra employ- ment of workers, recruited largely from women, in machine shops. While not in the exact sense of the word, replacement, in some cases, there was a doubling up of responsibility on the part of the men who were left, and an increase in employment of female help for detailed routine work. 2. Another factor in explaining the small number of nominal re- placements lies in the fact that older men replaced men leaving for the camps. 3. The large exodus from high and grade schools indicates that the sdhool boy replaced men leaving for war to a large extent. No doubt work was undertaken as a vacation opportunity, but the lure of the hith- erto unusual salary tempted and often succeeded in inducing the boy to retain his position at the price of losing a complete high school edu- cation. 4. Lastly, it is a well known fact that many businesses suffered greatly during the war, so that instead of expansion resulting in addition of female help, retrenchment resulted. VII. Demobilization of Women As to the demobilization, that is to say, the readjustment to a peace basis of women workers, several tendencies are at work: 1. Patriotism is a motive which moves employers to dismiss their women workers in order that they may take back the returning soldiers. The average employer feels an obligation, if only an ethical one, to pro- vide for any of his own help who had been displaced because they had answered war's call. 2. In cases where a woman has very ably filled a man's position, it is a frequent occurrence for tlhe employer to retain her, leaving her the bulk of her work, and nominally giving back to the re-employed soldier his former position, while leaving him only a few of his former duties, with the hope that he will work into the firm in a larger capa-city. *N. B. The figures of the Survey combined with those of the U. S. Employment Service total 1,060, (647, Survey, and 413, U. S. E. S.). The reason for the estimate of 1,500 comes from the fact that there are two notable omissions in the records. 1 The large department stores did not co-operate in contributing information to the Survey. 2 No record of Clerical, Stenographic, and Professional replacement has been made since the Survey was completed in the middle of September. (U. S. E. S. com- pleted the figures of Industrial replacement.) WAR-TIME REPLACEMENT 19 3. The fact that women are willing to work for less wages than men and also the fact that returning men are often dissatisfied with their old positions and former salaries, often influences the employers to re- tain the women. 4. Some firms, especially banks, railroad companies, and telegraph concerns, have taken a census of their women employees, requiring them to state whether they were dependent solely on their own support and whether they had any one dependent on their earnings. In either case, they were retained; if not, discharged, thus following an economic law. Men who had been replaced were then given the vacancies. One large Wholesale clothing store has dismissed most of its women. An iron manufacturing concern which employed a hundred women has released the majority of them, but is now taking them back in the weld- ing departmen/t, as that work is done with greater skill and dexterity by feminine fingers. In a roofing and tiling concern where women were employed as car-loaders, sorters, packers, and at a vafiety of other kinds of manual labor, for 30c an hour, by no means what the men replaced had received, the employer promptly replaced the girls with returned soldiers. How- ever, he (has since replaced the soldiers again with women, as he says "the boys did no work, only stood around talking about their expe- riences in France." "That was all right for a couple of days," he re- marked, "But after a week I expected them to get some work done." Maybe the wage he offered to the men, 35c an 'hour, was also an element in determining the double replacement. Two of the flour mills have taken all their men back, thereby dis- placing girls. A third mill has kept all of its girls and taken on several in addition since the armistice, as the employment manager of the firm says that women are quicker and more efficient as sack cleaners, mend- ers, and sorters, and as power machine operators. On the other hand, as finishers, planers, and sanders in a furniture manufacturing company, women proved far less capable than men, according to the head of that establishment, and have therefore been discharged for male help. In metal industries, women excel in semi-skilled work of repetitive charac- ter, in which rapidity, lightness of touch, and natural dexterity are more important than skill acquired through long training and experience. The ability and efficiency which women have shown in all of the various lines of industry and business on which they have embarked have proved their permanent value. Women have been entering indus- try for years and will remain in industry largely because of economic pressure. The war merely accelerated the movement and when the temporary depression is over, new needs for both men and women will arise and war-time experience will bear its fruits in the trust and confi- dence given to the woman worker. S BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. AUG 1940 LD 21-100m-7,'39(402s) 593294 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY