Wage Earning and Education

by R. R. Lutz

R.R. LUTZ

THE SURVEY COMMITTEE OF THE
CLEVELAND FOUNDATION
CLEVELAND · OHIO
1916

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Copyright, 1916, BY
THE SURVEY COMMITTEE OF THE
CLEVELAND FOUNDATION

WM. F. FELL CO. PRINTERS
PHILADELPHIA

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FOREWORD

This summary volume, entitled "Wage Earning and Education," is one of the 25 sections of the report of the Education Survey of Cleveland conducted by the Survey Committee of the Cleveland Foundation in 1915 and 1916. Copies of all the publications may be obtained from the Cleveland Foundation. They may also be obtained from the Division of Education of the Russell Sage Foundation, New York City. A complete list will be found in the back of this volume, together with prices.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

		Page
[Foreword]		5
[List of Tables]		10
[List of Diagrams]		12
Chapter
[I.] The Industrial Education Survey		13
	Types of occupations studied	13
	The Survey staff and methods of work	14
[II.] Forecasting Future Probabilities		18
	The popular concept of industrial education	19
	The importance of relative numbers	20
	A constructive program must fit the facts	23
	An actuarial basis for industrial education	24
[III.] The Wage Earners of Cleveland		25
[IV.] The Future Wage Earners of Cleveland		29
	The public schools	29
	Ages of pupils	32
	Education at the time of leaving school	34
[V.] Industrial Training for Boys in Elementary Schools		38
	What the boys in school will do	40
	Organization and costs	44
	What the elementary schools can do	45
[VI.] The Junior High School		47
	Specialized training not practicable	48
	A general industrial course	49
	Industrial mathematics	52
	Mechanical Drawing	54
	Industrial science	55
	Shop work	56
	Vocational information	58
[VII.] Trade Training During the Last Years in School		60
	The technical high schools	62
	A two-year trade course	66
[VIII.] Trade-Preparatory and Trade-Extension Training for Boys and Men at Work		69
	Continuation training from 15 to 18	74
	The technical night schools	76
	A combined program of continuation and trade-extension training	80
[IX.] Vocational Training for Girls		83
	Differentiation in the junior high school	86
	Specialized training for the sewing trades	88
	Other occupations	90
[X.] Vocational Guidance		92
	The work of the vocational counselor	92
	The Girls' Vocation Bureau	94
[XI.] Conclusions and Recommendations		97
	SUMMARIES OF SPECIAL REPORTS
[XII.] Boys and Girls in Commercial Work		101
	A general view of commercial work	106
	Bookkeeping	108
	Stenography	108
	Clerks' positions	109
	Wages and regularity of employment	110
	The problem of training	111
[XIII.] Department Store Occupations		115
	Department stores	115
	Neighborhood stores	116
	Five and ten cent stores	117
	Wages	118
	Regularity of employment	122
	Opportunities for advancement	123
	The problem of training	124
	Character of the instruction	129
[XIV.] The Garment Trades		131
	Characteristics of the working force	132
	Earnings	135
	Regularity of employment	139
	Training and promotion	140
	Educational needs	143
	Sewing courses in the public schools	145
	Elective sewing courses in the junior high school	147
	A one year trade course for girls	148
	Trade extension training	149
[XV.] Dressmaking and Millinery		151
	Dressmaking	151
	Millinery	153
	The problem of training	156
[XVI.] The Metal Trades		158
	Foundry and machine shop products	159
	Automobile manufacturing	169
	Steel works, rolling mills, and related industries	170
[XVII.] The Building Trades		173
	Sources of labor supply	173
	Apprenticeship	174
	Union organization	176
	Earnings	176
	Hours	178
	Regularity of employment	179
	Health conditions	179
	Opportunities for advancement	180
	The problem of training	181
[XVIII.] Railroad and Street Transportation		187
	Railroad transportation	187
	Motor and wagon transportation	192
	Street railroad transportation	193
[XIX.] The Printing Trades		195
	The composing room	198
	The pressroom	201
	The bindery	203
	Other occupations	204
	The problem of training	206

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LIST OF TABLES

Table		Page
1.	Occupational distribution of the working population of Cleveland	[26]
2.	Nativity of the working population in Cleveland	[27]
3.	Pupils enrolled in the different grades of the public day schools in June, 1915	[30]
4.	Enrollment of high school pupils, second semester, 1914-15	[31]
5.	Ages of pupils enrolled in public elementary, high, and normal schools in June, 1915	[33]
6.	Educational equipment of the children who drop out of the public schools each year, as indicated by the grades from which they leave	[35]
7.	Per cent of total male working population engaged in specified occupations, 1900 and 1910	[40]
8.	Distribution of native born men between the ages of 21 and 45 in the principal occupational groups	[41]
9.	Distribution of third and fourth year students in trade courses in the Cleveland technical high schools, first semester, 1915-16	[63]
10.	Distribution by occupations of Cleveland's technical school graduates	[64]
11.	Time allotment in the apprentice course given by the Warner and Swasey Company, Cleveland	[70]
12.	Course and number enrolled in the technical night schools, January, 1915	[77]
13.	Per cent of total population engaged in gainful occupations during three different age periods	[84]
14.	Number employed in the principal wage earning occupations among each 1,000 women from 16 to 21 years of age	[85]
15.	Per cent of women employees over 18 years of age earning $12 a week and over	[120]
16.	Wages for full-time working week, women's clothing, Cleveland, 1915	[139]
17.	Average wages for full-time working week for similar workers, in men's and women's clothing, Cleveland, 1915	[139]
18.	Proportions and estimated numbers employed in machine tool occupations, 1915	[161]
19.	Average, highest, and lowest earnings, in cents per hour, and per cent employed on piece work and day work, 1915	[162]
20.	Estimated time required to learn machine tool work	[164]
21.	Average earnings per hour in pattern making, molding, core making, blacksmithing, and boiler making	[166]
22.	Estimated number of men engaged in building trades, 1915	[174]
23.	Union regulations as to entering age of apprentice	[175]
24.	Union regulations as to length of apprenticeship period	[175]
25.	Union scale of wages in cents per hour, May 1, 1915	[177]
26.	Usual weekly wages of apprentices in three building trades	[178]
27.	Average daily earnings of job and newspaper composing room workers, 1915	[199]
28.	Average daily earnings of pressroom workers, 1915	[202]
29.	Average daily earnings of bindery workers, 1915	[203]
30.	Average daily earnings in photoengraving, stereotyping, electrotyping, and lithographing occupations, 1915	[205]

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LIST OF DIAGRAMS

Diagram		Page
1.	Boys and girls under 18 years of age in office work	[103]
2.	Men and women 18 years of age and over in clerical and administrative work in offices	[104]
3.	Per cent of women earning each class of weekly wages in each of six occupations	[119]
4.	Per cent of salesmen and of men clerical workers in stores, receiving each class of weekly wage	[121]
5.	Per cent of male workers in non-clerical positions in six industries earning $18 per week and over	[122]
6.	Per cent that the average number of women employed during the year is of the highest number employed in each of six industries	[123]
7.	Distribution of 8,337 clothing workers by sex in the principal occupations in the garment industry	[134]
8.	Percentage of women in men's and women's clothing and seven other important women employing industries receiving under $8, $8 to $12, and $12 and over per week	[136]
9.	Percentage of men in men's and women's clothing and seven other manufacturing industries receiving under $18, $18 to $25, and $25 and over per week	[138]
10.	Average number of unemployed among each 100 workers, men's clothing, women's clothing, and fifteen other specified industries	[141]
11.	Percentages of unemployment in each of nine building industries	[180]
12.	Number of men in each 100 in printing and five other industries earning each class of weekly wage	[196]
13.	Number of women in each 100 in printing and six other industries earning each class of weekly wage	[198]

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