the length of the working week, and only one laundry reported a week shorter than the regular one because of "hard times." Business depression may be manifested in two other ways-by a decrease in the number of persons employed and by lowered earnings. In order to gauge somewhat the trend of the wage rate and opportunities for women, wages were taken not only for the most recent full working week, but for an earlier week in the spring of 1920, when earnings were at their height. The comparison thus made possible of the number of workers and their earnings in the early week with the corresponding figures for the later week shows a slight decrease in the total number of women at work and a slight decrease in their earnings. It must be borne in mind that these figures represent only the pay roll for the actual week in question, and other factors than business depression would affect the numbers at work. The number of white workers on the most recent pay roll taken showed a decrease of 1.3 per cent from the number on the pay roll at the earlier period. The decrease appeared in all industries but the manufacture of cigars and food products and miscellaneous manufacturing, in which groups numbers were larger for the later. period. In cigar manufacture the increase was due to the fact that one department in the largest establishment for which records were taken was not operating during the earlier pay-roll period. The total number of Negro workers was greater for the later than for the earlier period, the slight decrease in most industries being more than made up by an increase in two industries where Negro women were introduced to take the place of white workers. Earnings for the later period were 5.8 per cent smaller for white women in all industries. (See Table VII, Appendix.) The greatest reductions were in miscellaneous and textile manufacture, while reductions also occurred in knit-goods manufacture and laundries. Stores, and cigar, garment, and food manufacture had increased median earnings for the later period. Earnings of Negro workers show a median 4.6 per cent lower for the second week than for the first week, somewhat less of a reduction in earnings than that reported for white workers. These smaller earnings in the late week might be due to lower rates of pay or to fewer hours worked. The former probably was the case in most instances, as the firms' regular weekly hours were the same in the early and late weeks. In a number of establishments wage reductions or a discontinuance of the bonus took place between the last pay-roll week taken and the time the plant was visited. For certain groups of workers these reductions were considerable. The wages of workers in textile mills were seriously affected. When piece rates were lowered an estimate of earnings at the lower rate obviously was difficult to de termine, but in certain firms weavers and spinners had a bonus withdrawn or a per cent reduction of their weekly earnings which made possible an estimate of the wage reduction since the last pay roll. The following figures show the estimated weekly earnings, figured on the wages for the last full week worked and the reductions which had since been made, for weavers and spinners in certain mills where wage reduction had taken place since the last full working week. TABLE 7.—Estimated reductions in wages because of changes reported at time of surrey Georgia. It must be remembered that these were not actual earnings. The estimated decrease of 21.8 per cent for weavers and 18 per cent for spinners is merely an indication of the probable extent of the fall of wages between the autumn and early winter of 1920 and the spring of 1921. At that time most mills were running only part of the week and earnings were probably much below these "estimated" earnings, which are figured for a full week. Not only had wages been lowered and bonuses discontinued at the time of the investigation, but in many places work was available on only 3 or 4 days a week, and in some cases the entire plant had been temporarily closed. One girl said she used to average $15 a week, but since Christmas her average earnings had been $10. Another said that working short time they "made just enough to pay for their room and food." A Negro girl reported that she had worked since September for $7.50 a week, but that recently she hadn't got so much, as "they haven't been running full time most weeks." A Negro woman who was on piece rates reported that she used to make $0.90 or $1 a day, but since they were running only three days a week she "couldn't make much.” As far as the workers were concerned, the situation at the time of the survey was summed up in the remark of the woman who said, "Short time makes it very bad." There is no doubt that the combination of lowered rates and short weeks made it difficult to earn a living, and it must be remembered that the figures on earnings next presented show conditions during a week of full employment and not the more distressing conditions which prevailed at the time the survey was made. Weekly earnings. The amount which it is necessary to earn each week in order to live decently and not lose in health and efficiency is a much discussed question. Leo Wolman says that "standards of living" are estimated and discussed "as if there existed in this country some generally accepted standard of living that workingmen should be permitted to approach but not to exceed." 24 That there can not be a fixed standard is shown by the figures collected by different wage boards in Massachusetts in the same year.25 One board found $10, another $13, and still another $17.50 necessary for a woman's maintenance. This certainly illustrates the fact that there is no fixed sum for a living wage. With each individual, as with each wage board, the cost of living varies. The difference in the cost of living for a Negro and for a white woman may be no greater than between two white or between two Negro women, or between the findings of two wage boards. It is therefore impossible to determine how many women in Georgia were earning a wage sufficient to live on, but from a summary of Table VII in the appendix it would appear that many were receiving less than enough to cover such essentials as decent food and shelter. One woman who made the remark that she objected most "to low pay and unnecessary dirt" stated that her earnings for the past week had been $7.50 and for the week before $6.50, and that when she had finished paying what she already owed for food she had just 40 cents left. The median weekly earnings in the different industries during the late pay-roll period were as follows: Wolman, Leo. The cost of living and wage cuts. New Republic, v. 27, No. 347, July 27, 1921, p. 238. Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission. Annual report, 7th, 1918-19, Boston, 1920, pp. 32-33. These medians or middle points may be taken as fair indexes of earnings in the various industries. Cigar making had the highest earnings and showed a median of $15.90. This is $3.70 above the median of $12.20 for all industries, and $6.75 and $6.65 above the lowest medians, which occur in miscellaneous manufacturing and the 5-and-10-cent stores. The proportion of white women who earned less than $8 a week is nearly one-fifth (19.2 per cent) of all those engaged in industry. If we compare these figures with those of Kansas and Rhode Island-other States where surveys were made at about the same time we find approximately one-fifth of the women in Kansas receiving less than $9 and one-fifth of those in Rhode Island receiving less than $12.50. A greater proportion of Georgia workers, therefore, earned under $8 than in either Kansas or Rhode Island. Laundries and miscellaneous manufacturing had the greatest proportion of white women earning less than $8, laundry workers showing 42.5 per cent and miscellaneous manufacturing 42.9 per cent of the women with earnings in this group. Of the women engaged in the manufacture of knit goods 28.1 per cent and of those in food manufacturing 32.3 per cent earned less than $8 a week. The Negro worker. Median earnings of Negro women were considerably lower than those of white women. The median for Negro workers in all industries was $6.20, while the highest median for any Negro group was $10.35 for workers in the manufacture of food products. In many industries the occupations of these women are not of the same character as those of white women and therefore their earnings are not comparable, but in knit goods and garment manufacturing some plants had white and others had Negro women engaged on the same proc The difference between their earnings was most marked in garment making, where the median earnings were for white workers $12.20 and for Negro workers $3.90. Most of these earnings were based on piecework and indicate a considerable discrimination. against Negro women. In the plant where Negro workers were employed in manufacturing garments the rate was lower than that formerly paid to white workers on the same processes, and in one plant making knit goods white workers had been replaced by Negro women at a lower rate, although the manager stated that the work of the Negro women was more satisfactory. White and Negro workers had median earnings of almost the same amounts in foodproducts manufacturing. This was a low-paid industry for the white worker, due largely to the inclusion of the confectionery industry which paid a lower wage. The wage of Negro workers in food manufacturing compares favorably with that of white workers, |