“the positions are largely mechanical and require but short time in learning, little responsibility, and great specialization of processes. These positions offer an initial wage which is alluringly high, but hold out little incentive for growth and but slightly advanced wages for the experienced operative.”
Twenty-nine per cent were in the store and the office, “where a few may advance to higher places, but it is evident that a majority must hold low-grade positions which require little preparation or skill.”
A comparison of the employments of both sexes showed that there is no kind of work which both boys and girls will not do. While boys predominate in the store, the office, in messenger service, street trades and skilled trades, girls have the largest number in the factory, in service and in house work. Yet twenty-five girls were exposed to the dangers of street trades and 118 boys were taken out of school to do house work in their own homes without pay. The diagram on the next page shows the percentages and numbers of the total engaged in the various lines of work, and the relative proportion of boys and girls in each.
When it came to tabulating wages the surprising discovery was made that with respect to 35.3 per cent of the total either no wage was received or the amount of it was entirely unknown to the family. Twenty-two per cent received between $2 and $4 a week, and 37 per cent between $4 and $6. Smaller wage divisions are shown here:
| Male | Female | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wages | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent |
| Unknown or zero | 1,961 | 28.4 | 2,893 | 42.2 |
| Under $2 | 19 | .3 | 22 | .3 |
| $2 to $2.50 | 59 | .8 | 75 | 1.0 |
| $2.50 to $3 | 72 | 1.0 | 113 | 1.6 |
| $3 to $3.50 | 728 | 10.5 | 581 | 8.4 |
| $3.50 to $4 | 806 | 11.6 | 624 | 9.1 |
| $4 to $4.50 | 1,338 | 19.4 | 1,130 | 16.1 |
| $4.50 to $5 | 610 | 8.8 | 525 | 7.6 |
| $5 to $6 | 874 | 12.6 | 600 | 8.7 |
| $6 and over | 424 | 6.1 | 286 | 4.1 |
| Total | 6,891 | 100.0 | 6,849 | 100.0 |
Split up by sexes these figures show that 42.2 per cent of the girls were found in the group whose wages were unknown or zero, while only 28.4 per cent of the boys were in that group. For both boys and girls the largest number of those whose wages is known is found in the group which receive $4.00 to $4.50. The detailed comparison is here given:
| Wages | Number | Per Cent |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown or zero | 4,854 | 35.3 |
| Under $2 | 42 | .3 |
| $2 to $2.50 | 134 | .9 |
| $2.50 to $3.00 | 185 | 1.3 |
| $3 to $3.50 | 1,308 | 9.5 |
| $3.50 to $4 | 1,430 | 10.4 |
| $4 to $4.50 | 2,468 | 17.8 |
| $4.50 to $5 | 1,135 | 8.2 |
| $5 to $6 | 1,474 | 10.7 |
| $6 and over | 710 | 5.1 |
| Total | 13,740 | 100.0 |
The average wage for all boys who receive between $2 and $6 is $4.26; that for girls $4.19, the large number of girls who receive a comparatively high wage in factories bringing their average up.
The average increase, between fourteen and fifteen years of age, of the workers noted is thirty-seven cents. It is much less in some of the industries. “Does such a slight return and such a meager raise,” asks the report, “pay for all the loss of mature power, as well as for that efficiency which might be gained by longer continuing in the proper kind of training?”
