Few women workers were employed in the kitchens and pantries of these hotels. No waitresses were employed.
A comparison of these wage rates may be made with the minimum wage fixed for hotel workers in 1919 in the District of Columbia where the cost of living is comparable to that of New York State. The Minimum Wage Board of the District of Columbia decided that a wage of $16.50 a week was the minimum on which a self-supporting woman could live. In no case do the hotels investigated in New York State pay this minimum when a straight cash wage is paid and the workers do not live in the hotels. It can be seen from these figures that 40 of the 46 hotels pay between $9 and $13 or an average of $11 per week.
Wages including lodging but no meals
In six hotels at which jobs were applied for, lodging was offered, but no meals. The following cash wages were offered to chambermaids and bathmaids in addition to lodging:
| 1 | paid at least | $8 | but less than | $9 | per week |
| 3 | " " | 9 | " " | 10 | " " |
| 1 | " " | 10 | " " | 11 | " " |
| 1 | " " | 11 | " " | 12 | " " |
No information was obtained for pantry workers or waitresses in this group.
The Minimum Wage Board of the District of Columbia, in extending its minimum wage of $16.50 to hotel workers who were living-in, attempted to set a money value on the board and lodging furnished by the hotel. Because there was no way of determining its actual cost to the hotel management, the minimum cost of room and board for a self-supporting woman in the District of Columbia was taken. The figure used is $9 a week for board and lodging; two-thirds or $6 for board, and one-third or $3 for lodging.[[7]] $13.50 is, therefore, the minimum on which a woman can maintain herself while living-in in a hotel but taking her meals outside. None of the hotels in New York State, furnishing lodging in addition to a cash wage, paid this minimum.
[7]. Minimum Wage Board of the District of Columbia. Wages of Women in Hotels and Restaurants in the District of Columbia. P. 16.