Workers

The Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor gave out the results of an investigation into the question of women wage earners. In all, about 8,500,000 women in this country earn their own living, but their ages and vocations are considerably different from those of men :

% OF ALL % OF ALL WORKING WORKING WOMEN MEN

AGES* Less than 20 20% 10% 20 to 24 22% 12% 25 to 44 41% 48% More than 44 17% 30%

Under 25, most women are engaged in manufacturing and clerical work, the next greatest number being in domestic service.

Over 25, most women are employed in domestic service, with manufacturing ranking next, except that over 65 years agriculture is second.

More women are engaged in domestic service (although the total number has decreased since 1910) than in any other one occupation; but of these women over three quarters are more than 24 years old, and nearly one third are over 44.

Native white women predominate among working women in every occupation except in agriculture, where Negro women predominate, and in domestic service where both Negro and foreign born white women are greater in number.

The greatest proportion of women working in any one state is in South Carolina, where more than a third earn their own living. The least proportion of women working is in West Virginia, where about one ninth of all women earn their living.

The highest median wage for women in any of the states investigated is $16.85 per week in Rhode Island. The lowest median wage is $8.80 in Alabama.

In general, where wages are lower, hours of work are longer, and vice versa.

* Figures given here are approximate.