The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-09-04
AVERAGE WORK
WEEK DECLINES
Cut Down SO Minutes in Last
Two YearS-DomeStic Serv-
ants Have Long Hours.

! New York. The length of the
working week of the average Ameri-
| can employe has declined SO minutes
| in the last two years, according to
a statement by the National Bureau
of Economic Research summarizing
the results of a nationwide inveSu-
cation which was undertaken for the
business cycle committee of President
Harding'S conference on unemploy-
ment Outlining the results of the in
vestigation, DR.. Willford |. King, of
the staff of the national bureau of
economic research, under whose SUI
pervision the facts were gathered, said:
According to some historians, our
great-grandfathers thought twelve
hours reasonable days work. For
more than hundred years, however,
the length of the working day has
been declining steadily until the av-
erage American In the first quarter of
1922 was expected by his employer
to work only SOB hours week, just
trifle more than the eight hours for six
days set forth as an ideal by re-
formers of generation or two ago.
The detailed figures covering all In
dustries in the United States show
declined SO minutes during the two
years covered by the study"
Domestics Work Longest Hours.
OF all classes of employers report
ing, those engaged in rendering do
nestle and personal service record
the longest full-time hours for those
working under their direction, the av-
erage being slightly more than eight
hours daily for a seyen-day week.
Farmers and retail merchants each
require over fifty three hours Of work
per week from their employees. EN-
ployers in considerable group of in
dustrfes usually call for less than forty
eight hours per week from their
workers. This group includes build
ing and construction, finance, public
and professional service, paper and
printing establishments, and factories
making textiles. clothing, leather and
leather goods ,
1.-The figures presented in the re-
port" continued Dr. King, indicate |
the man who is anxious to have a |
steady job in dull times as well as |
in good times should seek a position |
with small employer. However, if he |
few years, he may have discovered
that he gained less than he expected |
by the choice, for the tables show
that in the last quarter for which re-
ports are available, he was asked to
work fifty-three hours each week In
he small enterprise instead of the 47.8
hat the large establishment on the
average, required him to serve. This
1 &c or.11xy |
he fact that farmers form so large
4 portion of small employers.
Big Firms, Shorter Hours.
However, the farmers are not the
'nly ones of this class that call for
onger hours than the average. In
line out of seventeen industries, en-
,loyers hiring fewer than twenty-oned
workers required their employees to
york over fifty-four hours per week
n the first quarter of 1922. In the
,roup employing twenty-one to 100 i
long hours for EMPLOYEES
proved to be even more common than
n the smaller enterprises at the same
late, for twelve out of seventeen in
lustrial groups had full time hours |
# more than fifty per week. Only
q concerns employing over 100 men
we're shorter hours the rule In that
,rOup only seven of the seventeen
Industries expected their men to work I