Even where men and women are employed side by side
in the same trade they are usually engaged on different
processes. The points where overlapping occurs are,
however, sufficiently numerous to enable us to make
the generalisation that in those industrial processes in
which both men and women are employed the efficiency
or output of the man is greater than that of the woman
worker. In other words, the man is worth more, and
his higher wages are an expression of this fact.
Even where the man's dexterity or skill is no greater
than that of the woman's his wages still tend to be
greater. Usually if an employer can get both men and
women workers he is prepared to pay somewhat more
to a man even though the man's output per hour is no
greater than that of a woman. Put bluntly, a male
worker is less bother than is a female worker. A
female staff is always to some extent an anxiety and
a source of trouble to an employer in a way that a
male staff is not, and to many employers it has the
great defect of being less able to cope with sudden
rushes of work. Men are, after all, made of harder
stuff than women, and only in the grossest cases do
we ever give a thought to men being overworked.
With women, however, not only the Factory Act, but
also decent feeling requires an employer to be vigilant
to see that undue strain is not placed on them.
The greater remuneration of men in those occupa-
tions where both men and women are employed on the
same processes is then due to the fact that the men
are preferred to women, and employers are accordingly
willing to pay more to get them.
Such occupations, however, probably form the ex-
ception rather than the rule, and we have to consider
the cases where there is apparently no sex competition
236 WOMEN'S WAGES IN
whatever. The nursery-maid wheels the baby's
perambulator on the pavement ; the mechanic drives
his motor van in the road. They do not compete for
employment in any sense. Generally, indeed, custom
has indicated with a fair degree of preciseness what are
men's occupations and what are women's. Why, then,
in distinctively women's occupations should the wages
paid be lower than men's ? The answer is not easy,
but the key to the problem is to be found in the broad
statement that the field of employment of women is
much more restricted than that of men. Hence the
competition of women for employment reduces their
general wage level to a lower point than that of men,
or, as an economist would put it, the marginal uses of
female labour are inferior to those of male labour.
What is needed, therefore, is an enlargement of the
sphere in which women can find employment ; not,
be it noted, an increase merely in the number of
occupations, but in the kinds of occupations. Pursuit
of this end will no doubt raise questions regarding the
displacement of male labour, but it is fortunate that in
many cases woman's claim would be most strenuously
contested in respect of those occupations which are
least suited to her, and which she ought not to enter.
The need of discrimination must be emphasised. An
excursion to the black country should convince even the
most ardent feminist that at the present time tasks
are permitted to women which from every point of
view their dirtiness, their arduousness, and the strain
which they impose on certain muscles are entirely
unsuitable. It would be folly to increase the number
of such tasks. Attention should be directed to those
occupations in which womanly characteristics would
have their value, and in which a woman would not be
THE WAGE CENSUS OF 1906 237
physically at a disadvantage. It is to be hoped that
public sentiment would then be the ally rather than
the enemy of the movement. The displacement of male
typists by female typists, and the larger employment
of women in clerical occupations, and as shop assistants,
to say nothing of the introduction of women officials
in the sphere of local and central government, un-
doubtedly represent an advance in the right direction.
Paradoxical as it may seem, an effective means of
enlarging the field of women's activities might be found
in the awakening of public feeling against employments
which are unsuitable. The process of analysis and
comparison which is implied by criticism of such
employments would undoubtedly indicate directions in
which women's work could be utilised more satisfac-
torily. This is a consideration of paramount import-
ance in view of the opportunities and necessities to
which the present war has given and will give rise.
It is for those who influence public opinion to see
that in the readjustment of the economic relationship
between men and women reasonable discrimination is
exercised.
The prohibition of the employment of women on
unsuitable work, combined with educational effort
which would make women capable of better and more
responsible work, would give women -workers access
to many kinds of employment from which they are
practically excluded at present. Much that is unsatis-
factory and regrettable in industrial life is the result
of sheer inertia and drift, and many an employer would
find new and cleaner and more remunerative methods
of employing women if stimulated by the law and
encouraged by an ability on the part of the women to
respond to new methods. The principle of the Factory
238 WOMEN'S WAGES IN WAGE CENSUS, 1906
Acts, and of the minimum wage, requiring a minimum
of safety or comfort and of remuneration, should be
reinforced and strengthened not merely for the sake
of its face value great though it is but also for
the sake of its stimulating effect on the manage-
ment of businesses and its consequent tendency to
increase remuneration. At the same time an attempt
should be made to encourage in girls some sense of
craftsmanship and loyalty to their callings, so that their
organisation in trade unions or guilds would become
possible. With a few exceptions collective bargaining
and the collective maintenance of a standard of re-
muneration are, as regards women's employment, merely
sporadic and intermittent. It is the young woman,
the irresponsible immature untrained amateur worker,
without an industrial tradition to guide her, who is the
despair of organised labour. The irresponsibility and
indifference to organisation which she displays are, as
often as not, due to the fact that her employment may
not afford a decent livelihood, and that she is forced
to look forward to and seek marriage as the only way
out of an impossible life. But it is also true to say
that her inadequate wages are due to her irresponsi-
bility and indifference. There is inextricable con-
fusion between cause and effect a vicious circle which
can only be broken by patient methods of training,
helped by the initial impulse of a legal minimum wage
and a legally prescribed standard of general conditions.
CHAPTER VII 1
THE EFFECTS OF THE WAR ON THE EMPLOYMENT
OF WOMEN
The Shock of War. The great European War broke
out in the summer of 1914.
The shock was felt at once by trade and industry.
July ended in scenes of widespread trouble and dismay.
The Stock Exchange closed, and the August Bank
Holiday was prolonged for nearly a week. Many
failures occurred, and there was at first a general
lack of confidence and credit. Energetic measures
were promptly taken by the Government to restore
a sense of security, and unemployment among men
during the ensuing year was much less than had been
anticipated. Unemployment among women was for a
time very severe. For this unfavourable position of
women there are several reasons.
In the first place, any surplus of male labour was
met at once by a corresponding new demand for re-
cruits and the drafting of many hundreds of thousands
of young men into the army, aided by the rush of
1 This chapter was prepared during the first year and the early
part of the second year of war. It is necessarily incomplete, as war
is still raging ; but it is hoped that a brief summary of the position
of women-workers in war time, and of the expedients adopted to
ease and improve it, may not be without interest.
239
240 THE EFFECTS OF THE WAR
employment in Government factories and workshops,
served to correct the dislocation of the male labour
market. Women were unfortunate in that the cotton
trade, by far the largest staple industry in which a
majority of the employees are women, was also the
trade to suffer the greatest injury by the war.
The Cotton Trade. Employment had begun to be
slack some time previously, and the cutting off of the
German market was naturally a considerable blow.
Exact statistics are almost impossible to obtain, as
the numbers of looms stopped or working short time
varied from week to week; but figures collected for
the week ending October 3 show that between 58,000
and 59,000 members of the Amalgamated Weavers'
Association were out of work, and over 30,000 were on
short time. At Burnley, over half the looms were
stopped ; at Preston, over a third. In November,
when things had greatly improved, about 36 per cent
of the looms were still standing idle.
The amount of short time, or " underemployment, "
was also very considerable, as is shown by the fact
that the reduction in earnings exceeded the reduction
in numbers employed. The following table is taken
from the Labour Gazette, December 1914, and shows
the state of employment in the principal centres of
the cotton trade. The figures include men as well as
women ; but as women predominate in the industry,
they may be considered as a fair index to the women's
position.
ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN 241
WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 28, 1914, COMPARED WITH SAME
MONTH IN PREVIOUS YEAR.
Districts.
Decrease i
Numbers
Employed.
)er cent in
Amount of
Earnings.
Ashton ....
17-6
26-2
Stockport, Glossop, and Hyde
n-6
22'O
Oldham .....
8-4
17-5
Bolton . ...
2-6
I3'5
Bury, Rochdale, etc. .. .
7*4
17-7
Manchester . ;':'
3'3
15-5
Preston and Chorley . .
14-6
31-7
Blackburn, etc
18-0
40-9
Burnley, etc.
4*3
47-6
Other Lancashire towns .
*J
15-4
\ t
32-0
Yorkshire towns . . .
13-0
2O'I
Other districts ...
1 1 '2
2O-6
Total . $i
I2-I
27-1
In all these districts women would be affected much
the same as men, and would be out of work in about
the same proportion, but as women form a majority
of the occupation, a much larger number of women
were in distress and were without any resource com-
parable to that open to the men of recruiting age.
In these circumstances the funds of the Unions suffered
a terrible strain. The workers' organisations were
faced with the dilemma whether to pay stoppage benefit
to members with a generous hand, in which case
they ran the risk of depleting their funds and losing
the strength necessary for effective protection of the
standard of life ; or, on the other hand, to guard their
reserve for the future and leave many of their members
242 THE EFFECTS OF THE WAR
to suffer distress with the inevitable result of loss of
health and efficiency.
As the winter 1914-15 wore onwards unemploy-
ment in the cotton trade gradually became less acute,
but for several months the suffering of the operatives
must have been considerable.
Some other Trades. In London the position was
of course extremely unlike that of Lancashire,
but we again find the women suffering heavily, and
(but for comparatively a few) without the support
and assistance of a union. At the first news of war,
dressmakers, actresses, typists, secretaries, and the
followers of small " luxury trades " (toilet specialities,
manicuring, and the like) were thrown out of work
in large numbers. Not only in London, but in the
country at large, the following trades were greatly
depressed : dressmaking, millinery, blouse-making,
fancy boot and shoe-making, the umbrella trade, cycle
and carriage making, the jewellery trade, furniture
making, china and glass trades. In some cases the
general dislocation was intensified by a shortage of
material due to war : the closing of the Baltic cut off
supplies of flax from Russia, on which our linen trade
largely depends. The closing of the North Sea to
fishers stopped the curing of herrings, which normally
employs thousands of women, and both the chemical
and confectionery trades suffered from the stoppage
of imports from Germany.
The Board of Trade's Report on the State of
Employment in October 1914 gave the reduction of
women's employment in London as 10-5 per cent in
September, 7-0 per cent in October. But this estimate
was for all industries taken together, some of which
were in a state of " boom " owing to the war, and it is
ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN 243
certain that the occupations referred to above must
have suffered much more heavily than the average.
Many girls spent weeks in the heart-sickening and
exhausting search for employment. In November the
dressmaking, mantle - making, and shirt- and collar-
making were in a worse condition than in the previous
month, although trade generally had improved.
The Woollen and Clothing Trades. In these trades
the war brought a veritable " tidal - wave " of pro-
sperity. The industrial centres of our Allies were
to a considerable extent in the hands of the
enemy ; thus, not only new clothes for our regular
troops and reserves, and uniforms for the new armies
that were shortly recruited, but also those for the
troops of our Allies were called for in the West Riding
of Yorkshire. The woollen towns of this district
became the busiest places in the world, and orders
overflowed into Scotland and the somewhat decayed
but still celebrated clothing region of the West of
England.
The first expedient to cope with the enormous
pressure of orders was to relax the Factory Act. In
normal times no overtime is allowed in textile industries
to workers under the operation of the Act (viz. women,
girls under eighteen, boys under eighteen, and children),
and employment is limited to ten hours a day. In
view of the tremendous issues involved, permission
was given to employ women and young persons for
two hours' overtime. The results, as it turned out,
soon showed, however, that overtime is bad economy,
for the number of accidents increased greatly in the
period of greatest pressure, and averaged one a day
in the December quarter, and the secretary of the
Union also reported that the period during which
244 THE EFFECTS OF THE WAR
these very long hours were worked coincided with a
remarkable increase of illness among the operatives
involved. Probably one-third more cases were on the
Approved Societies' books during December than in
September and October. 1 Although the women rose
most pluckily to the occasion and did their heavy
task cheerfully in the consciousness of supplying their
country's need, it is certain that many were taxed
beyond their strength, and in January 1915 the over-
time permitted was reduced to nine hours weekly.
The women, when they complained, complained not
of overwork but of insufficient pay. An increase of
ijd. per hour during overtime was asked, and con-
sidering the strain involved, seems a far from excessive
demand ; but the trade is unfortunately much less
well organised than the cotton trade, and female
workers 73 per cent of the whole could not in
most districts enforce this claim. Khaki is more
trying to the operatives than some other kinds of
cloth to which they are better accustomed, and it is
more difficult to weave. Even with overtime work
the women did not earn much more than they would
working usual hours on ordinary cloth. The wages paid
appear to have been, as so often is the case with women's
work, chaotic. Many employers honourably paid a
fair or recognised price ; others took advantage of the
weakness of the workers to pay rates not far from
sweating prices. In the clothing trade the Govern-
ment was conscientiously paying handsome rates to
contractors for the making of uniforms, but without
effectively enforcing the payment of fair wages to
1 Article by G. H. Carter, Economic Journal, March 1915 ; see
also Notes in the Women's Trades Union League Review, January
1915-
ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN 245
labour by the contractors. Hence even the Trade
Board minimum a low standard, especially consider-
ing the rise of prices was successfully evaded by
some firms. 1
Maladjustment and Readjustment. The question
may well be asked, why women should suffer un-
employment in war-time at all. War produces an
urgent demand for a great deal of the work women
are best fitted to do, such as nursing, the making of
clothes and underclothes, the manufacture of food
stuffs and provisions on a large scale, the organisa-
tion of commissariat and hospitals, the collection and
overlooking of stores. In point of fact, the require-
ments of the troops, as we have seen, provided in-
creased employment for some women, though probably
not for nearly as many as those who suffered from the
shrinkage of ordinary trade at the beginning of the
winter ; later on the demand became so great that
there was an actual scarcity of women workers in
many trades.
One strange feature of those autumn months of
1914 was that while recruits were continually to be
seen marching in plain clothes, without a uniform,
numbers of London tailors and tailoresses were without
employment. Many of the recruits were also, at
first at all events, unprovided with needful elementary
comforts, and amateurs were continually pressed to
work at shirts and knitting for them. Women em-
ployed in the manufacture of stuffs or clothing for the
troops or in certain processes of the manufacture of
armaments or appurtenances were overworked, while
other women were totally or partially out of work.
1 Article by Jas. Haslam, Englishwoman, March 1915, and
information given privately.
246 THE EFFECTS OF THE WAR
The characteristic immobility of labour was perhaps
never more clearly seen.
It may be admitted of course that a wholesale
transference of workers from the area of slump to the
area of boom would never be possible all at once. The
machines necessary for special work will not at first be
forthcoming in numbers sufficient to meet a demand
suddenly increased in so enormous a proportion.
Then, again, a new demand for labour is usually a
demand predominantly for young workers, and the
older women thrown out of work may find it very
difficult to adapt themselves to new requirements.
Skill and practice in the handling of machines are
necessary ; machines differ very greatly. A dress-
maker cannot, off-hand, be set to make cartridges or
even uniforms. In some branches of industry a
high degree of specialised skill may be a positive
disadvantage in acquiring the methods of an allied
but lower skilled trade ; e.g. it has been found that
tailors and tailoresses who have become expert in
the handwork still largely used for the best " be-
spoke " work, the aristocracy of the trade, cannot
easily adapt themselves to the modern " team work "
tailoring, in which division of labour and the use of
machinery play a considerable part ; they may even
impair their own special skill by attempting it. 1
In some processes a delicate sensitiveness of finger is
a first essential for the work, and the operatives dare
not take up any rough work which might impair
this delicacy, their stock-in-trade and capital. Again,
the difference of wage-levels in different industries is
a cause of immobility of labour. Lancashire cotton
workers might have adapted themselves without much
1 See article by C. Black in the Common Cause, February 12, 1915.
ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN 247
difficulty to the processes of the Yorkshire woollen
trade, but they could not have accepted the rates
current in an imperfectly organised trade, and there
would have been obvious difficulty in paying imported
workers at a scale higher than those enjoyed by the
local operatives.
A good deal of dovetailing, however, can be done
to bring the work to the workers or the workers to
the work, and much more could have been done if the
Local Government Board had taken the question of
unemployment more seriously in the years preceding
the war. But the local bodies were uninstructed,
and in many cases had little idea of anything better
than doles. In spite of the funds collected, there can
be little doubt that much suffering, especially among
women, was neglected and let alone, and the irregular
payment of separation allowances at the beginning of
the war added to the distress.
Voluntary effort, it needs hardly saying, was in-
stantly ready to do its best to meet the occasion. The
Suffrage Societies, in especial, did splendid work in
improvising employment bureaux and relief work-
rooms for the sufferers. A special fund and committee
were also formed, under the style of the Central Com-
mittee for Women's Employment, to find new channels
of employment for women. This Committee was
presided over by the Queen, and was aided in its labours
by specialists highly versed in industrial conditions, and
its efforts for adjustment are full of interest.
The primary aim of this Committee was to equalise
employment in factories and workshops. The problem
was how to achieve the adaptation, as far as possible,
of unemployed firms and workers to new and urgent
national needs. It had been supposed that only certain
248 THE EFFECTS OF THE WAR
special firms could make army clothing, and that the
numerous women and girls thrown out of work in
ordinary wholesale tailoring would be unable to do
unaccustomed work. A business adviser of the Com-
mittee suggested to the War Office authorities some
simplifications in the make of military greatcoats
and uniforms. The experiment was tried, with the
result that many thousand great-coats and uniforms
were made by firms which under the dominance of
red tape must have stopped work. In the shirt-
making, also, much unemployment occurred at first,
and the Committee gave information to firms not
previously employed by Government that they could
apply for contracts. Carpet-yarn factories were utilised
for the supply of yarn to satisfy the enormous demand
created by the war. Numbers of orders for shirts,
socks, and belts were placed in dressmakers' work-
rooms, and carried out by women whose normal occu-
pation had failed them.
Another field of this Committee's work was to
stimulate the introduction of new trades and open
new fields of work for women wage-earners. This is
a difficult undertaking at a time when spending power
must be much curtailed, but it may be destined to
have good results in happier times, and in any case
any widening of the field of employment for women,
any development of their technical skill, is much to be
welcomed. 1
Besides these deeply interesting attempts at regulat-
ing and adjusting the market for skilled labour, there
remains the vast army of the unskilled. Here we had
during the first winter of war the influence of a new
idea working, the perception that something better than
1 Westminster Gazette, October 16, 1914.
ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN 249
relief work, something infinitely better than charity,
was possible. In some of the workrooms started by
voluntary effort orders were obtained for underlinen,
toys, etc. On a small scale there need be no great
objection to this if the educational factor were
prominent, but it is necessary to point out that no
real adjustment of the labour market is effected by
inducing ladies to make purchases in a workroom that
they might otherwise have made in an ordinary shop,
the employees of those shops probably themselves
suffering from shortage of employment. The work-
rooms started under the Central Committee for this
class of workers adopted the plan of setting them to
make useful articles, not for sale but for distribution
among the poor, such as layettes for infants and
clothing for necessitous mothers, also to the mending or
remodelling of old clothes, the manufacture of cradles
from banana crates, and so forth. In most workrooms
a good meal was provided in the middle of the day,
and some of the women were instructed in its cooking
and service.
The leading idea of workrooms on these lines is that
temporarily the workers should be taken off the labour
market altogether, that they should be paid not wages
but relief, and that the relief should be robbed of its
degrading associations by being combined with a system
of training the women to do something they could
not do before, or at all events to do it better than