The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-04-12
WOMEN AND WAGES.


Some Economic Reasons Why They
Are Paid Less than Men.
Horace G. Wadlin, in the Club Woman.
The question most frequently asked with
reference to the wages of women is, Why
are they not paid the same wages as men
for doing the same work.? Nevertheless
It is becoming more and more the
and transitional cases and in certain en-
Payments requiring special talent, profess
sional skill and extended education. women
do not DO the same work as men, II the ad-
jective same" Is used in the sense of iden-
teal, as relating TO the kind OF work with
out regard TO its quality, and one of the
reasons that women do not in general re-
ceive so large wages as men is because
they do not in general do the same work.
In many industries women do better work
than men and are preferable to men for
various reasons They gravitate toward
certain employments for which they are at
present better fitted In these empioyments
they drive out the men previously employ
ed, and while this operation is going on
they compete with men for employment and
undoubtedly for wages; but these are gen.
orally under present conditions, employ
ments requiring no particular skill nor
tended training, and therefore large num-
berS or women seek them.
The time is exceedingly short in any in
dustry during which women perform the
same work as men. The work best adapted
to women becomes not worth the mans
while; he goes into other employments. For
try do not compare with men, but with
other women, and this is one of the lead
ing causes of their lower wage level.
Again, the wages OF women are affected
by their lack of training and by the fact
that the adult woman completes with the
young woman. Experience as rule brings
no larger reward to the woman worker, for
the work mainly open to her is mechanical
and routine work. Besides this, the fact
that women have not generally entered the
higher positions of skill and trust operates
man in industry has hope OF advancement;
the woman. except TO very limited de-
gree, cannot as yet look forward to such
preferment; she mainly looks forward TO
marriage. Marriage generally takes her out
of industry. Not so with men. Women
workers. too. are largely unorganized and
are, therefore, unable to present the united
front in opposition TO attempts TO reduce
or prevent the advance OF wages which, to
a greater or less extent, is presented by
There is another economic reason for the
lower wage standard of women workers.
As rule wages, which constitute the price
paid for services, are fixed by the cost or
production of such services, and the cost
of living for women is lower than for men,
because, Notwithstanding numerous excep-
tional instances, they do not in general
support others, and in many cases the
young women constantly entering industry
| and taking the places OF those who, through
leave it, are partially dye sup }eisnt
training for women In industry Will raise
the wage level of women workers, the fur
Their advance of women into the higher pur-
suits operating as an incentive, Will also
tend in the same direction, and the INDUS
trial organization of women workers Will,
in the future, do much to advance the sex
industrially, as it will help TO place them
on an equality with men workers who are
already organized.
Besides the opportunities to support her
self and to aid in supporting others there
comes to the woman in industry sense
of independence. She Is no longer bur-
den upon certain members OF society, but
| an active factor in its growth and progress
| In the early days woman did much work
at home in connection with her regular
household duties. She bound shoes ana
sewed straw, but these Industries became
| concentrated in the factory. In 1875, in
| Massachusetts, there were 3O,9l6 women
| who were furnished with mechanical work
| at home. The household employment OF
| women in the production of manufactured
| articles has now almost entirely ceased. 1t
still fingers in the clothing industry, but
esedy being dspaeed by tSe Factory
| Such displacements increase the number or
| factory employed women, but always
| the workers The conditions surrounding
| the industry are bettered In every way.
| The "sweated'' worker is very largely a
| tenement worker
| Has the entrance of women into indus
| try diminished the number of marriages,
| increased divorce, or otherwise affected the
status OF the family Ihere Is nttie airee ecu
4
| Of marriage has been slightly raised. 1t Is
not so necessary as formerly for women TO
marry in order to obtain support. The ad-
| vanced education of women has opened to
them opportunities in mercantile life, so
| that their relations to industry are not en-
| tirely those of wage-workers. They are
| to-day very largely investors in productive
| and mercantile enterprises, either as part
ners or stockholders, or in direct control,
and still more largely they are consumers
| of manufactured products, particularly
clothing
| AS an investor a woman may exercise a
| certain liberty Of choice, and to the extent
| of her interest may influence the conditions
| under which the enterprise is conducted.
| To the extent of her interest she is en-
| ployer, and has, SO far, the duties and re-
| sponsibilities Of an employer. In that
branch of industry in which women are
most largely employed, domestic service,
| the enlightened employer who appreciates
| the problems and takes an interest in solv-
| ing them may do much to improve the
| status of the hOuseWorker.
| The entirely unorganized, or perhaps we
| should say unsystematized, condition of
| the service undoubtedly accounts for many
| of the evils with which We are familiar.
/ This employment is on the whole better
| paid, considering the skill of the average
worker, than factory service, and the phys
| ical conditions surrounding the worker.
| as to food and lodging, are frequently bet
ter than In other employments. But the
| hours of labor and rules of service gener-
| ally subject to the will, sometimes to
| the caprice, of the individual employer.
There is no common rule, ana In many
minor matters the houseworker must sink
| her individuality, her independence, in that
| Of the family. She Is in the family, but
| not OF it. She has lost the status of serv-
| ant and has not acquired that of the indie
| pendent worker. And there Is always the
| social bar. more sharply drawn in this en-
| ployment than in other, separating the
woman in domestic service from other
| women of industry. 1t is in this field espe-
| cially that women who are not themselves
workers but employers may find oppor-
| tunity for betterment. And as consumers
| we all have a certain responsibility, as the