New Britain herald., 1930-11-10
WOMEN'S PAY LOW.
 SURVEY D|SCLOSES
Labor Bureau Official Opposes
 Double Wage Standard

men Tn the present stress and strain 1 resulting from tke amount of un- employment may seem on the sur face like tying a weight to a per son who is struggling to keep from drowning. In reality such a plea at such time is analogous to showing ! a person how to move his arms and legs to keep his head above water.
 To pull out of a morass of unem- p!oyment and underconsumption it is necessary to develop ways not only Of maintaining but of increas- ing the purchasing power of the | rank and file of the people.
 The present depression differs from similar slumps in the past Tn the efforts inaugurated by President Hoover to prevent wage cuts. To keep wage rates from slipping how ever, is not such a simple matter. Though employers maintain the rates of workers all eady on the'r pay roll, starting rates for new cr- ployecs are likely to seek lower levels.
 An army of unemployed faced ! V th the possibility of falling into the bread line are likely to feel that | +. regard to a job a half loaf is bet 1 ter than none and to accept lower pay than they could command in a nore prosperous period for the type l Of services rendered.
 Double Standard Two Edged
 It is at this point that the double /! wage standard-one for mems work | and a lower one for women's-gets 1 in it's deadly work as a two-edged | sword, The custom and tradition i still prevailing in many quarters Of l paying women less than men for the same kind and amount of labor | is always an injustice to women, but l may react very disastrously against l n en in a time of depression if en-
 ployers try to substitute women for l men on the basis of paying women | less. Despite the hue and cry now | being raised it is a debatable ques- | ton whether such substitution has heen occurring to any extent. Wo- men also are suffering extensively | from unemployment. In fact the | Women's Bureau has found that Wo- men are more irregularly employed | in industry than men, even in good 1 times. But if there are cases where | women have in recent months taken | mems jobs. it is not the fault of the l women but of the double wage sys- tenn.
 Strikngly apparent at this time | are the force and wisdom Of the | standard, stressed by the |. S. Wo- ! mems Bureau during the past dec ade, that wages should be establish ed on the basis Of occupation and | not on the basis of sex or race, and | the minimum rate should cover the | cost Of living for dependents and | not merely for the individual.
 Women Poorly Paid
 All wage studies made by the Wo- mems Bureau stress the outstanding fact that the great majority of wo men in industry fail to receive earn 1 ings adequate to cover the bare es- sentials for even the individual.
 Take the figures in a Womens | Bureau analysis of the earnings of | 149,O0O white women in 2,379 fac
 tories, stores. and laundries in IS | states-Alabama, Arkansas, Dela-
 ware, Florida. Georgia, Kansas, l Kentucky. Mississippi. Missouri, New | Jersey. Ohio, Oklahoma Rhode
 Island. South Carolina and Ten
 i,, 1920 to 1928. Using as a measure | the median of weeks earnings - which means that half the women | earned more and half less than the | amount-we find that 3 of the | states showed medians below Slj ! and of these states a medan of less than SIP.
 The highest minimum wage rate | for experienced adult workers in ef | feet for industrial and mercantile ! establishments in the United States today Is the California rate of SIG 8 | week. This means yearly earnings Of only sS32. with employment every | week which is a rare occasion. | Anybody who thinks these figures look satisfactory on paper would | soon discover in trying to live on such sum just what the pinch Of poverty means.
 Have to bc Conjurers
 Equal to the magician who pro- duccs rabbits from a silk hat arc
 the women who with less than SS50 year can secure the various items considered essential in an individu- als hudget-food. ''@-tng. clothing, | carfare, laundry. recreation. insur- ance. savings, and allowance fo such things as vacation, church, doctors and dentists and oculist's bills, and self-improvement just to the extent of purchasing newspa- pers; and also try to have something left over for dependents.
 Don't brush aside the problem by suggesting that most women reside at home and do not need q living V age. Plenty of convincing evidence i .; available in Women's Bureau re- ports to prove that the vast major ity of women wage earners must rot only finance themselves but contribute to Iamily support. There in industry living at or below the poverty line is relatively large.
 Also far from encouraging IS the report recently published by the University of Michigan on earnings or 14,000 generally representative women in business and the profess
 sions. This study points out that
 with d few spectacular exceptions
 business and professional women
 are not highly paid. that the median
 Of the years earnings of the women