, 1922-04-27

became effective on June 5. 1920. According to the
act creating il, sit shall be the duty of the bureau to
formulate standards and policies which shall promote
the welfare of wage-earning women, improve their
working conditions, increase their efficiency and
advance their opportunities for profitable employ
nent" The farreaching effects of such work is
easily realized when it is known that between 5000. 900
and 5000 900 are at present engaged in gainful pur-
suits.
One of the tasks at hand which the vonen's bureau
is effectively handling is that Of winning recognition
Of the principle of an equal wage for men and women
engaged in like work. This principle was laid down
for industry during the war by the war labor board
at the time Chief Justice Taft was its chairman With
the passing of the war labor board the work for equal
wage was taken up by the women's bureau
The chief barrier to the e-onsummation of this
work is the traditional belief so prevalent that women
workers are DESTROYS of earning merely pin money"
and that at best they are ~supplementing the income
Of the family and that their wage is not essential to
the support of anyone else or even of themselves alto
gether. Too many employers have assumed that
women workers had only themselves to support at the
most, whereas the average man had to be paid a wage
sufficient to support not only himself but a family.
Acting upon this assumption, women's wages were
kept abnormally low.
The women's bureau has compiled data to refute
this assumption. This data was compiled from a sur
vey of 1000 women workers. This survey disclosed
the fact that dependents were supported wholly by g.
per cent of all the women in the survey; by 1874 per
cent of women whose weekly wage was between $500
=rd $3.50; by 1877 per cent of women whose weekly
wage was between $3.50 and $4,000, and by ID per
cent of women whose wages were $4,000 or more a
week
Approached from another angle, the survey showed
that SO Per cent of all women employees contributed
ali their earnings to the common family expenses and
SO per cent contributed a part of their earnings. Such
statistics put a very serious phase upon the question
Of wages for women and have been very instrumental
in persuading employers to adopt the policy of paying
equal wage for like work, regardless Of sex Of en-
ployes.
Another activity of the bureau is to promote the
enactment of uniform state legislation governing con-
ditions under which women work. Unfortunately.
much of the legislation regulating women in industry
has been enacted on a hit or miss basis and what is
permissible in one state is illegal in another. This has
proved a detriment to those employers in states which
have more rigid laws because the product Of such
employers entering into interstate commerce in COM
petition with products in states having lax laws are at
a disadvantage on account of the difference in pro-
duction costs. The efforts of the bureau is being
directed to standardize legislation in the 48 states.
The bureau has proved its worth to both employee
and employer. Woman labor, as a whole, is standing
solidly behind the work of the bureau, which is steadily
gaining support and cooperation from employers who
are realizing that as a result of the bureaus work a
higher standard of labor is being obtained and with
it n better spirit among employees.