New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-08-21
CASTEIN WOMEN'S WORK
a Girls Social Position Determines
Her Trade IN England.

r--,o-,en's Work and Wages by Edward Cad
o-41 r-o1isb book reprinted for American circula-
~ Fv he University Of Chicago Press but much
!. :, snplies TO American conditions quite as well
. . English ones, for the problem Of women's
S. nd woinen's wages exhibits as the preface
sojnfs cut many identical features wherever it
develops ,,,.., .
80 u be very similar TO conditions often noted
- American social workers is the existence Of
s,;5 class distinctions among manual workers
-.sT-ese distinctions familiar TO most social
o-ters" say the writer's but those who speak
nerallv Of the working classes or the poor can
boTs no conception Of their influence their ex-
-.,- Even financial prospects have less impor-
20 IN the eyes Of the more refined girls than
- great question OF caste Generally speaking
me soon learns that most kinds of work are per
sa--,es hr distinct classes Of girls, and we must
o+ imagine that this IS always due TO the refining
.s,enee Of the better kinds OF work 1t is OF
11,-se better for girl to do work requiring skill
as attention than 10 feed a power driven machine
- ~ handle dainty material than 20 mend socks:
~, in most girls class is fixed before she
+.-fs work, and this is the determining influence
- her choice Of a trade. But sometimes a girl
those ambition has been aroused through the
swing influence OF her evening club Sunday
class raises herself 10 q higher social level by
changing her situation. either leaving heavy
sIrtr work for lighter duties Of the kind
giving up ordinary factory work for place in
warehouse small shop or. more rarely, domestic
service Because one trade IS more respectable
mere fashionable than another. there viii be great
ro-petirion To enter II, and consequently a de-
r-essng effect on the wages given OF course,
tbsre are many exceptions. but. TO take an
emile II is probable that warehouse girls would
hsTe better prospects not that occupation the
general refuge Of the poorer girls who make some
sstsrrained attempt at refinement, Just as clerk
sims are sought by girls and boys alike who want
% rise into the ranks OF business distinguished
from manual work
TIE prejudice against domestic service seems 10 be
mite IS great in England in America. Some
.es factory girl can be persuaded TO take a
srrv chosen domestic situation. but such cases
rere One girl thus states why she prefers factory
vrrk 10 domestic service: Because there is fixed
tine for meals, and YOU DO know when you are
dcne You not engaged ali hours OF the day.
70 as many classes you like in a week You
tsve got Saturday and Sunday TO yourself. and
Won can see q bit u life, and we not shut up
al day Ne have only got To serve, and we
have only got one amount of work 10 do in day
And you dress how you like in a factory, and
prefer 10 work in factory"
The inquiry into wages shows almost COM
-lefe division Of labor between men and women.
Il accordance with which men do not only the
heavier bit also the more interesting and better
pga work. while 10 women are assigned the monot-
onous unin eresting and poorly TeHunerated tasks.
The great exception is that Of the Lancashire
xeavers where the men and women work under
The same conditions. at the same work. for the
same rate OF wages. This is explained by the fact
that the men and women n union, and
both sexes WOULD consider their wages be 1T
stake il any attempted reduction Of the wages cf
either II the union were to break down, has
already happened in other parts OF the country
the men would leave the trade entirely, and the
women would soon be reduced to the customary
wage OF the district.