Industries in which female exceeded considerably the number of male labor, were mainly the following:
| Industries. | Females. | Males. |
| Manufacture of woman's clothing | 415,961 | 4,470 |
| Cotton industry | 332,784 | 213,231 |
| Manufacture of worsted goods | 69,629 | 40,482 |
| Manufacture of shirts | 52,943 | 2,153 |
| Manufacture of hosiery | 30,887 | 18,200 |
| Lace industry | 21,716 | 13,030 |
| Tobacco industry | 15,880 | 13,090 |
| Bookbinding | 14,249 | 11,487 |
| Manufacture of gloves | 9,199 | 2,756 |
| Teachers | 144,393 | 50,628 |
Again the wages of women are, in almost all branches, considerably lower than the wages of men for the same hours. In the year 1883, the wages in England were for men and women as follows, per week:—
| Industries. | Males. | Females. |
| Flax and jute factories | 26 Marks | 10-11 Marks |
| Manufacture of glass | 38 " | 12 " |
| Printing | 32-36 " | 10-12 " |
| Carpet factories | 29 " | 15 " |
| Weaving | 26 " | 16 " |
| Shoemaking | 29 " | 15 " |
| Dyeing | 25-29 " | 12-13 " |
Similar differences in wages for men and women are found in the Post Office service, in school teaching, etc. Only in the cotton industry in Lancashire did both sexes earn equal wages for equal hours of work in the tending of power looms.
In the United States, according to the census of 1890, there were 2,652,157 women, of the age of ten years and over engaged in productive occupations:—594,510 in agriculture, 631,988 in manufacture, 59,364 in trade and transportation, and 1,366,235 in personal service, of whom 938,910 were servants. Besides that, there were 46,800 female farmers and planters, 5,135 Government employes, 155,000 school teachers, 13,182 teachers of music, 2,061 artists.[125] In the city of New York, 10,961 working-women participated in strikes during the year 1890, a sign that working-women in the United States, like their European fellow-female wage slaves, understand the class distinctions that exist between Capital and Labor. In what measure women are displacing the men in a number of industries in the United States also, is indicated by the following item from the "Levest. Journ." in 1893:
"One of the features of the factory towns of Maine is a class of men that may be termed 'housekeepers.' In almost every town, where much factory work is done, these men are to be found in large numbers. Whoever calls shortly before noon will find them, with aprons tied in front, washing dishes. At other hours of the day they can be seen scrubbing, making the beds, washing the children, tidying up the place, or cooking. Whether any of them attend to the sewing and mending of the family we are not quite sure. These men attend to the household for the simple reason that their wives can earn more in the factory than they, and it means a saving of money if the wife goes to work."[126]
The closing sentence should read: "Because the women work for wages that the men can no longer work for, and the employer therefore prefers women,"—which happens in Germany also. The towns here described are the so-called "she-towns," already more fully referred to.
In France, there were, in 1893, not less than 15,958 women engaged in the railroad service (in the offices and as ticket agents); in the provincial Post Office there were 5,383 women employed; as telegraphers and telephonists, 9,805; and in the State Savings Banks 425. Altogether the number of women in France engaged in gainful occupations, inclusive of agriculture and personal service, was, in 1893, in round figures 4,415,000. Of 3,858 decisions, rendered by the trades courts of Paris, not less than 1,674 concerned women.