The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-02-12
STATISTICS OF LABOR
An Interesting Chapter Regarding
Work and Wages.
INCREASE OF FEMALE WORKERS.
In the Decade Ending with 1890 the In
crease of Female Lsborers Was a.46 Per
Cent, While Male Laborers Decreased
2.48 Per Cent, in the Same Period.

crease of Female Laborers Was a.46 Per
Cent, While Male Laborers Decreased
RAG Per Cent. In the Same Period.
Washington, Feb. 1.-THE 11th an
nual report of the department of labor,
Just transmitted to congress by Com
missioner Wright, relates entirely to
the work and wages of men. women
and children. 1t shows that the pro-
portion Of women to the whole work.
ing class is increasing, while that of
children is decreasing. The report was
prepared In pursuance of a joint reso-
luton of congress directing an inves-
tgation relative to the employment of
men, women and children. This report
is confined strictly to a comparison of
the extent of employment and wages
In 1886. or present period" with
the conditions which pertained some
years Uermed former period') ante
dating the present period by at least
ten years.
The definite purposes of the inyesti-
cation were to determine to what ex-
tent, if any, women were superseding
men: to show the conjugal condition
compare the relative efficiency of men
and women, and finally to show the
relative rates of wages received by
each sex in each industry.
The agents of the departments Sc
cured information from 1,OG7 establish
ments of various kinds, located in 30
different states, and employing 14S, 1857
persons. The complete data sought for
was obtained from only 931 establish
ments. These 931 establishments en-
ployed 64,560 persons in the former and
1OS,64S in the present period OF this
number, In the first period, 26,479 were
males Is years of age or over, as
against 43,195 in the second; and 4175
males under Is years of age, as against
7,54O in the second. In the first period
2ilb3 were females 18 years of age and
over, and 6,743 females under IS years
years of age, as against 45,162 and
2,15l. respectively, in the present pc
riod.
From these figures it Is seen that
male employees Is years of age or over
increased in the present period over
the former period 63.1 per cent, while
female employees of the same age in
under Is years of age increased 500 per
cent, while female employees under IS
years of age increased 89.1 per cent.
As collateral information an inter-
esting showing is made of the figures
of the past three census concerning the
employment of women. The proportion
Of females 10 years of age and over
employed in all occupations in the
United States rose in its relation to
the whole number employed from l46S
per cent. in 1870 to 1922 per cent. in
1890, while males decreased in propor-
tion from S5.32 per cent. in 1870 to S2.7S
per cent. in 1880.
The report throws considerable light
upon the much discussed question as
to married women in industrial pur-
suits. For the present period out Of
an aggregate of 1887 women 70,921, or
SS.I per cent, We're single; 6,T75, or S5
, per cent married.; 2011, or 2.5 per cent
divorced, and 2f4, or $40 of / per cent
unknown. The last census figures on
this point are also analysed. OF the
3,9l4,57l females ten years of age and
over engaged in gainful pursuits in the
United States in 1899 1884 per cent
were single, or their conjugal cond-
tion unknown; 1916 per cent were
\married, 1910 per cent were widowed,
and 80 per cent we're divorced. In 45G
OF the establishments canvassed the
agents secured data as to the rela-
tive efficiency of women and children,
and Of men working at the same occu-
pations. OF 1882 instances in which
men and women work at the same oc-