The Washington herald., 1907-05-23
SOME FEMININE OCCUPATIONS.

Well B0rers. .s'..s.s'.s. II
Boiler Makers. s............,....
Every fifth woman you meet nowadays
works for wages, and some OF them are
holding down pretty hard jobs.
That is the Information gathered from
the reports Of the Twelfth. United States
Census, and just made public by Census
Director North in an interesting census
pamphlet.
The report throws some light on the
magnitude of the servant problem, as
over 100000 Of the women who work for
wages are domestics.
Classified not only according TO age.
race. nativity. marital status. and Occu-
patton, but also 10 their relationship 20
the families in which they live. nearly
500o90 women. from the age Of sixteen
upwards, are recognized in this report 70
be entitled to a position in the ranks OF
the worlds workers. out of the S03 occu-
pations distinguished by the report. there
are only In which women are not rep
resented.
Nearly Five Millions at Work.
In continental United States-by which
Is meant the United states exclusive Of
Alaska. Hawaii. and all other outlying
territories or possessions-the exact num-
her of women at work is reported TO be
4S33. $50. This includes LU1,g65 native
white women. whose parents were also
native Americans; l0to.7H native white
women. one or both Of whose parents
were immigrants. Sioal1 white women
who were themselves immigrants ;.lI962l
negro women. and II ,2SS Indian and Mon
g0lian women. II is, therefore. 90 be seen
that native white women Of native paren-
tage. constitute 35T per cent or more
than one-third of the total number of
bread-wlnning women in the United
States.
Most Of the women at work are young.
6S4 per cent being under thirty-five years
Of age. #2 per cent under twenty-five
years of age, and 256 per cent under
twenty-one years of age These figures
are in marked contrast with those OF the
male sex. the proportlon8te difference be
tween the number of men of advanced
years at work and youths under age be
ing much greater This IS owing TO the
fact that many Of the bread-winning
women marry and cease their daily lab0rs
in the commercial field.
Mostly Farm Hands and Servants.
Notwithstanding the increasing diver
sity of empl0yments for women, domes-
tic service still remains the most i'm
portant by far Of the occupations in
which they are engaged. OF the 4.S3, $50
women in continental United States re-
ported as engaged in g3inful occupations
at the time Of the Twelfth Census, 1.l24-
2S3. or almost one-f5urth Of the total
number were returned as servants 1t
may seem surprising that the next most
important occupation for women is that
of farm laborer, and that the number of
women reported as following this occupa-
ton was 456.45, or almost half a million.
The significance Of the figures win be
better understood If it is pointed out
that 442U16. or SIS per cent. Of these
female farm laboTers were reported from
the Southern States, and that 36l S04. or
1913 per cent, Of the total number We're
Of the negro race. Moreover, Il appears
that 277,727, or 6o.g per cent, Of the total
families, representing the wives and
grown-up daughters assisting IN the work
on the home farms.
Next 90 these two leading occupations
come four occupations not far apart I'm
numerical importance. though widely diff
fereut in character They are the ocCu-
patiOns of dressmaker. laundress, teacher
and farmer. The largest Of these occupa-
tiOns-that of essmaker-empl0yed S3S. -
IA women. and the smallest - that Of
farmer - employed 3J7,7Cf. OF teachers
there were 327.2C6. of laundresses, 32S, go
More Married Women working.
It is interesting to note that of the ten
leading occupations. FIVE. comprising the
occupations OF domestic servant, dress
maker, laundress, housekeeper, and
seamstress. are what might be termed
distinctly feminine pursuits. They repre-
sent work connected with the care of the
family which was formerly done almost
exclusively by women at home as part
Of their regular household duties. and
although these occupations have now be
come to a considerable extent differen-
tiated as professional pursuits. they are
still mostly in the hands Of women.
A comparison with the census Of 1890.
as regards the number Of women who are
bread winners in each marital class. re-
veals a very noticeable increase in the
employment of married women. The per-
Centage Of breadwinners among married
women is small as compared with the
corresponding percentages for single.