New Britain herald., 1922-05-05
WANT BETTER HOURS
 FOR WORKING GIRLS
US. Report Shows Need for Im- pr0Yement in Rhode Island

The need for shorter hours, min
 imum wage and better working con-
 ditions for women are emphasized in
 a bulletin entitled "Womcn in Rhode
 Island Industries" which is soon to be
 issued by the Womens Bureau of the
 U. s. Department of Labor, as a re-
 suit of survey made in Rhode Is-
 land in the fall of 1920.
 One of the pertinent facts set forth
 in the bulletin is, that of a group of
 1o,S52 women employed in 70 rep
 presentative stores. factories and
 laundries in this important industrial state, almost one-half (46.5 per cent)
 had working week of more than AS
 hours. Such statement is of par ticuar interest at this time because of recent legislative failure in Rhode Island to enact the 4S-hour week bill after it's passage in the House. Fortu- nately, certain firms included in the survey had proved themselves more adopting a schedule of 4s hours a week or less for women employed in their plants
 The importance of protecting wom- en workers in Rhode Island is appar- ent from certain facts quoted in the bulletin. About one-third of the fe- males over ten years of age in the state were gainfully employed, al larger portion than in the neighbor- ing states of Massachusetts, Connec- ticut and New York. Two-thirds of all tho cjr1c haf of age in the state were wage -earners. Furthermore, about one fourth of the women of the survey who reported on conjugal conditions were married, widowed or divorced.
 The bulletin points out what some legislators and employers fail to realize, that "the burden of women wage earners is likely to be double .hat of bread maker as well as bread they perform not only heir industrial jobs outside the home, | put household duties besides, fre- luently doing the cooking. cleaning, ironing, sewing, and caring ,or the family before and after their 'egular working hours. When these hours are unduly long the women are Unable to do justice to the job, to the | nome, or to themselves, but driven by | economic necessity they must struggle | along under their burdens. If the | and health of women, who | Ire the mothers and future mothers )f the race are broken down, then the | strength and efficiency of the nation Ire weakened, for America will be as strong as her women.
 Would Improve Conditions.
 Another essential step for the safe guarding of women wage earners in Rhode Island, discussed at length in he bulletin is the improvement of | conditions in the various in- lustries employing women. Despite | he commendable efforts of some em- oloyers to look after the welfare of | heir employees, the health of a num- ,er of women workers in certain es- was reported to be en- langered. The strain of standing all | lay without chair in sight, or of .rd of operating an unguarded ma hine, or of working near an unpro- ected belt. the risk of using the ommon drinking cup and common owel, the discomfort of being obliged 0 lie when ill on the concrete floor f toilet room and of having wraps tolen or ruined, for lack of proper ervice facilities, are all circumstances ot only avoidable, but inexcusable. these conditions were ound in Rhode Island plants, some yith disturbing frenuency
 Store Girls Underpaid.
 The wage figures reported in the ulletin, which were taken at the ighest peak ever reached in the state, ave already lost some of their signi- canoe since they are an index of the rest of wages and not of the present ownward trend. Although the med m earnings of women surveyed in .hode Island in the fall of 1920 were 1885 that, is half earning less than nd half more than this amount, such ages .were due largely to the rub CT, metal and electrical establish rents which were paying unusually pod rates and which employed a lrge proportion of the women of the irvey. Textile mills were not includ- d. Women in the 5-and-1 o-cent ores were the lowest paid group; ne- half of them received less than L1.90 weekly, while more than one ,urth earned less than $10 a weeN. le' medium weekly earning for omen in paper box manufacturing, undries and department stores were ,newhat higher-S123 $12.45, and 1920 respectively. Only 6.2 per mt of the women in department , ores earned s20.00 or more week compared with over one-half of I eswomen in rubber establishments ] rer one-third of those ip metal shops Id over one-fourth of those in elec- ical manufacturing.
 Yearly earnings are more significant r an weekly earnings since they show f hat the wage -earners actually get b ter weathering industrial vicissi- Ii des. Among 617 women, a picked I cup of steady, experienced work s, none received as much as- $i, 800
 year and only one-fourth received tween $1.0o0 and s1,Soo. None of e women in stores and laundries rned as much as s1,200 a year, only
 per cent in stores and 5.9 per cent