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Economic effects of the world war upon women and children in Great Britain cover

Economic effects of the world war upon women and children in Great Britain

Chapter 83: Appendix A
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About This Book

The study analyzes how the wartime mobilization shifted women and children into industrial, commercial, and professional roles vacated by men, documenting both the immediate hardships of rapid entry and the adaptations employers and communities made. It surveys changes in wages and living conditions, noting that higher pay and welfare measures such as canteens and medical attention supported physical endurance but did not secure pay equality. The work examines effects on child labor and family incomes, describes legislative and administrative responses, and evaluates which wartime gains persisted. It concludes with policy recommendations to protect workers and guide postwar readjustment.

APPENDICES

Appendix A

The following table, from a “Report to the Board of Trade on the State of Employment in the United Kingdom,” of February, 1915, compares the number of males and females on full time, on overtime, on short time, and unemployed, between September, 1914, and February, 1915.

STATE OF EMPLOYMENT IN SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER
AND DECEMBER, 1914, AND FEBRUARY, 1915

(Numbers Employed in July = 100 per cent.)

  September, 1914 October, 1914 December, 1914 February, 1915
M F M F M F M F
Full time 60.2 53.5 66.8 61.9 65.8 66.6 68.4 75.0
 3,913,000   1,337,500   4,342,000   1,547,500   4,277,000   1,665,000   4,446,000   1,875,000 
Overtime 3.6 2.1 5.2 5.9 12.8 10.8 13.8 10.9
234,000 52,500 338,000 147,500 832,000 270,000 897,000 272,500
Short time 26.0 36.0 17.3 26.0 10.5 19.4 6.6 12.6
1,690,000 900,000 1,124,500 650,000 682,500 485,000 390,000 15,000
Contraction in
Nos. employed
10.2 8.4 10.7 6.2 10.9 3.2 11.8 1.5
663,000 210,000 695,000 155,000 708,500 80,000 767,000 37,500
Enlisted 8.8 ... 10.6 ... 13.3 ... 15.4 ...
572,000 ... 689,000 ... 864,500 ... 1,010,000 ...
Net displacement (-)
or replacement (+)
-1.4 -8.4 -0.1 -6.2 +2.4 -3.2 +3.6 -1.5
-91,000 -210,000 -6,500 -155,000 +156,000 -80,000 +243,000 37,500

Appendix B

The following table indicates some of the processes formerly reserved for men on which the factory inspectors found women employed by the end of 1915:

 INDUSTRY PROCESSES
Linoleum Attending cork grinding and embossing machines,
machine printing, attending stove, trimming
and packing.
Woodworking—
Brush making Fibre dressers, brush makers and on boring
  machinery.
Furniture Light upholstery, cramping, dowelling,
glueing, fret-work, carving by hand or
machine, staining and polishing.
Saw mills On planing, moulding, sand-papering, boring,
mortising, dovetailing, tenoning, turning and
nailing machines. Taking off from circular
saws; box making, printing and painting.
Cooperage Barrel making machines.
Paper mills In rag grinding and attending to beating and
breaking machines, and to coating machines,
calenders and in certain preparations and
finishing and warehouse processes.
Printing Machine feeding (on platen machines and
on guillotines) and as linotype operators.
Wire rope On stranding and spinning machines.
Chemical works Attending at crystallising tanks and for
yard work.
Soap As soap millers and in general work.
Paint At roller mills, filling tins and kegs,
labeling and packing.
Oil and cake mills Trucking, feeding and drawing off from chutes,
attending to presses.
Flour mills Trucking.
Bread and biscuits Attending to dough-breaks, biscuit machines,
and at the ovens assisting bakers.
Tobacco Leaf cutting, cigarette making, soldering,
trucking and warehouse work.
Rubber At washing machines, grinding mills, dough
rolls, solutioning, motor tube making.
Malting Spreading and general work.
Breweries Cask washing, tun-room work, beer bottling
and bottle washing.
Distilleries In the mill and yeast houses.
Cement Attending weighing machines, trucking.
Foundries Core making, moulding.
Tanning and currying At the pits, in finishing and drying, and in
oiling, setting up, buffing and staining.
Woolen mills Beaming and overlooking, attending drying
machines, carding, pattern weaving.
Jute mills On softening machines, dressing yarn,
calendering.
Cotton mills In blowing room on spinning mules, beaming,
twisting and drawing, and in warehouse.
Hosiery Folding and warehouse work.
Lace Threading.
Print, bleach and Beetling, assisting printers at machines,
dye works warehouse processes.

Appendix C

The following tables from the second report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science bring out in detail, first, the gradual disappearance of unemployment and short time and the increase of women’s numbers in industry from September, 1914, to April, 1916; second, the changes in numbers of women in the various occupations, both industrial and nonindustrial in December, 1915, and April, 1916, compared with July, 1914, and, third, similar details as to the number of women who were undertaking “men’s work.”

STATE OF EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN AT VARIOUS DATES
SINCE THE OUTBREAK OF WAR, COMPARED WITH STATE
OF EMPLOYMENT IN JULY, 1914

(“Industrial” employment only.
Numbers employed July, 1914 = 100 per cent.)

    Sept.,  
1914
  Oct.,  
1914
  Dec.,  
1914
  Feb.,  
1915
  Oct.,  
1915
  Dec.,  
1915
  Feb.,  
1916
  April, 
1916
Contraction (-)
or expansion (+) in
numbers employed
-8.4 -6.2 -3.2 -1.5 +7.4 +9.2 +10.9 +13.2
Employed on overtime  2.1  5.9 10.8 10.9 13.9 14.5 12.8 ...
Employed on short time 36.0 26.0 19.4 12.6  5.6  6.1  4.6 ...

EXTENSION OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN
IN DECEMBER, 1915 AND APRIL, 1916

Occupations Group Estimated
Industrial
 Population. 
Increase (+) or
Decrease (-)
of Females in
July, 1914,
Females
 Dec., 1915   April, 1916
Building   7,000 + 3,600 +  6,400
Mines and Quarries   9,000 +    800 +  2,300
Metal Trades 144,000 + 71,700 +126,900
Chemical Trades  40,000 + 19,400 + 33,600
Textile Trades 851,000 + 29,700 + 27,800
Clothing Trades 654,000 +  6,700 + 11,700
Food Trades 170,000 + 31,700 + 30,900
Paper and Printing Trades 169,000 ... -    900
Wood Trades  39,000 +  7,400 + 13,200
Other Trades  96,000 + 25,400 + 35,700
All “Industrial” Occupations 2,180,000  +196,500  +287,500
Commercial 474,500 ... +181,000
Professional  68,500 ... +  13,000
Banking and Finance   9,500 ... +  23,000
Public Entertainment 172,000 ... +  14,000
Agriculture ... ... ...
Transport   9,500 ... +  16,000
Civil Service  63,000 ... +  29,000
Arsenals, Dockyards, etc.   2,000 ... +  13,000
Local Government (incl. Teachers) 184,000 ... +  21,000
Domestic Service ... ... ...
Total for “Nonindustrial” Occupations    983,000 ... +310,000
Total for all Occupations 3,163,000 ... +597,500

EXTENT OF SUBSTITUTION OF FEMALE FOR MALE
WORKERS IN DECEMBER, 1915, AND APRIL, 1916.

Occupations Group  Estimated number of Females on work 
in substitution of Males’ work
December, 1915 April, 1916
Building  6,100  8,800
Mines and Quarries  2,700  4,400
Metal Trades 70,300 117,400 
Chemical Trades  9,600 16,200
Textile Trades 57,600 73,400
Clothing Trades 30,400 42,300
Food Trades 29,500 35,000
Paper and Printing Trades 22,500 23,600
Wood Trades 11,400 17,400
Other Trades 27,000 37,400
All “Industrial” Occupations 267,100  375,900 
Commercial ... 189,000 
Professional ... 16,000
Banking and Finance ... 25,000
Public Entertainment ... 32,000
Agriculture ... ...
Transport ... 18,000
Civil Service ... 31,000
Arsenals, Dockyards, etc. ... 13,000
Local Government (incl. Teachers) ... 37,000
Domestic Service ... ...
Total for “Nonindustrial” Occupations   ... 361,000 
Total for all Occupations ... 736,900 

Appendix D

The following table, compiled from the quarterly reports in the Labour Gazette and a special report of the Board of Trade, gives the increase in the employment of women between April, 1916, and July, 1918, for the most of the important occupational groups. It can not be compared directly with the similar tables, previously given, prepared by the British Association for the Advancement of Science, because of slight differences in the estimates of the numbers employed in July, 1914.

EXTENSION OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN THE
UNITED KINGDOM, APRIL, 1916-JULY, 1918

(Classified by employers’ position, not by nature of work.)

  Estimated
No. Empl
July,
1914
Estimated increase since July, 1914
April,
1916
July,
1916
Oct.,
1916
Jan.,
1917
April,
1917
Industrial Occupations[291] 2,176,000 275,000 361,000 393,000 423,000 453,000
Government Establishments[292] 2,000 25,000 79,000 117,000 147,000 198,000
Commercial 496,000 166,000 240,000 268,000 274,000 307,000
Professional (mainly clerks) 50,500 13,000 14,000 15,000 18,000 21,000
Banking, Finance (mainly clerks) 9,500 23,000 32,000 37,000 43,000 50,000
Hotels, Theaters 181,000 12,000 20,000 16,000 10,000 13,000
Agriculture (perm. labor Gt. Britain)   80,000 -14,000 20,000 500 -14,000 ...
Transport (not municipal) 17,000 23,000 35,000 41,000 51,000 62,000
Civil Service 66,000 39,000 58,000 67,000 76,000 89,000
Local Government[293] 198,000 21,000 30,000 34,000 44,000 47,000
Other ... ... ... ... ...
Total  3,276,000  583,000  889,000  988,500  1,072,000  1,240,000
  Estimated increase since July, 1914 Per cent of
increase
July, 1914-
July, 1918
July,
1917
Oct.,
1917
Jan.,
1918
April,
1918
July,
191
Industrial Occupations[294] 518,000 529,000 533,000 537,000 565,000 26.0
Government Establishments[295] 202,000 211,000 207,500 197,000 223,000 11,200.0
Commercial 324,000 333,000 343,000 354,000 364,000 73.4
Professional (mainly clerks) 20,000 50,000 50,000 57,000 ... 4.0
Banking, Finance (mainly clerks) 54,000 59,000 61,000 63,000 65,000 687.0
Hotels, Theaters 22,000 28,000 26,000 25,000 39,000 21.5
Agriculture (perm. labor Gt. Britain)   23,000 7,000 -6,000 9,000 33,000 41.3
Transport (not municipal) 72,000 77,000 76,000 78,000   ...   ...
Civil Service 98,000 116,500 124,000 159,000 168,000 255.0
Local Government[296] 49,000 51,500 51,500 53,000 52,000 26.5
Other ... ... ... ... 150,000   ...
Total  1,382,000  1,462,000  1,466,000  1,532,000  1,659,000 50.6

Appendix E

The following table, compiled from the Labour Gazette, and a special report of the Board of Trade, gives a quarterly estimate of the number of women replacing men for the period between April, 1916, and April, 1918.

NUMBER OF FEMALES SUBSTITUTED FOR MALE WORKERS
IN THE UNITED KINGDOM IN CERTAIN OCCUPATIONS,
BY QUARTERS, APRIL, 1916-APRIL, 1918

  April,
1916
July,
1916
Oct.,
1916
Jan.,
1917
April,
1917
Industrial Occupations[297] 213,000 264,000 314,000 376,000 438,000
Government Establishments[298] 13,000 79,000 117,000 139,000 187,000
Commercial 152,000 226,000 264,000 278,000 308,000
Professional (mainly clerks) 12,000 15,000 15,000 17,000 20,000
Banking, Finance (mainly clerks) 21,000 31,000 37,000 42,000 48,000
Hotels, Theaters 27,000 31,000 30,000 31,000 35,000
Agriculture (perm. labor, Gt. Britain)   37,000 35,000 20,000 23,000 32,000
Transport (not municipal) 24,000 35,000 41,000 52,000 64,000
Civil Service 30,000 41,000 64,000 73,000 83,000
Local Government[299] 18,000 26,000 31,000 40,000 41,000
Total  547,000  783,000  933,000  1,071,000  1,256,000
  July,
1917
Oct.,
1917
Jan.,
1918
April,
1918
(A)
Industrial Occupations[300] 464,000 490,000 503,000 531,000 24.4
Government Establishments[301] 191,000 202,000 197,000 187,000   9,350.0
Commercial 328,000 337,000 342,000 352,000 70.9
Professional (mainly clerks) 21,000 22,000 22,000 22,500 44.5
Banking, Finance (mainly clerks) 53,000 55,000 57,000 59,500 626.3
Hotels, Theaters 38,000 44,500 45,000 44,500 24.5
Agriculture (perm. labor, Gt. Britain)   43,000 33,000 31,000 40,000 50.0
Transport (not municipal) 74,000 78,500 78,000 79,500 21.3
Civil Service 99,000 107,000 123,000 153,000 231.8
Local Government[302] 43,000 44,000 44,000 47,000 23.7
Total  1,354,000  1,413,000  1,442,000  1,516,000 46.2

(A) = Per cent No. of substitutes in April, 1918, is of total No. employed in July, 1914

Appendix F

ESTIMATED NUMBER OF FEMALES DIRECTLY
REPLACING MALES IN VARIOUS BRANCHES
OF INDUSTRY IN JANUARY, 1918.

(Compiled from the Report of the War Cabinet Committee
on Women in Industry.)

Trade  
Metal 195,000
Chemical 35,000
Textile 64,000
Clothing 43,000
Food, Drink and Tobacco 60,000
Paper and Printing 21,000
Wood, China and Earthenware, Leather   23,000
Other 62,000
Government Establishments 197,000
Total 700,000

ESTIMATED NUMBER OF FEMALES DIRECTLY
REPLACING MALES IN VARIOUS BRANCHES
OF COMMERCE IN APRIL, 1918.

(Compiled from the Report of the Board of Trade
on the Employment of Women in April, 1918.)

Wholesale and Retail Drapers, Haberdashers, Clothiers, 41,000
Wholesale and Retail Grocers, Bakers, Confectioners 92,000
Wholesale and Retail Stationers and Booksellers 16,000
Wholesale and Retail Butchers, Fishmongers, Dairymen   30,000
Retail Chemists 12,000
Retail Boot and Shoe Dealers 8,000
Total (including some not specified above) 352,000

Appendix G

ESTIMATE BY THE BRITISH WAR CABINET COMMITTEE ON
WOMEN IN INDUSTRY ON AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS
OF WOMEN IN VARIOUS OCCUPATIONS AT
THE END OF THE WAR.

Earnings under 25s. weekly:

Dressmakers, milliners (first five years), laundry workers, pottery workers (most grades), knife girls and kitchen hands in refreshment houses.

Earning between 25s. and 30s. weekly:

Cutlery workers, soap and candle makers (unskilled), corner tenters (cotton), woolen and worsted weavers, backwashers (Scotch Tweed), dyers and cleaners, biscuit makers, cigarette makers, pottery workers (certain grades), waitresses in refreshment depots.

Earning between 30s. and 35s. weekly:

Ammunition makers (women’s work), chainmakers, salt packers, fine chemical workers, soap makers (most operations), card-room operatives (cotton), clothing machinists, workers in grain milling and brewing, cigar makers, shop assistants (co-operative).

Earning between 35s. and 40s. weekly:

Workers in the light casting trade, chemical laborers, big tenters and ring-spiners (cotton), wool combers, tailoring fitters and cutters, boot operatives, bakery workers, jigger women in potteries, tanners, shop assistants (large stores).

Earning between 40s. and 45s. weekly:

Workers in engineering, chemicals (shift work) and explosives; textile dyers, tobacco machinists, motor drivers (for shop), railway carriage cleaners, telephonists, railway clerks.

Earning between 45s. and 50s. weekly:

Cloth lookers (cotton), hosiery machinists, web dyers, gas index readers and lamp-lighters, railway porters, ticket collectors, telegraphists.

Earning between 50s. and 60s. weekly:

Ledger clerks, Civil Service clerks (Class I).

Earning over 60s.:

Women on skilled men’s work in engineering omnibus conductors (London), gas workers (heavy work for South Metropolitan Gas Co.).

Appendix H

NUMBER OF ORDERS MODIFYING THE LABOR LAWS, ISSUED
FROM AUGUST 4, 1914, TO FEBRUARY 19, 1915

(Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops for 1914, p. 56.)

Textile:       Clothing:  
Wool 748 Uniforms 514
Hosiery 231 Fur coats 9
Cotton 159 Boots 245
Flax 28 Caps 28
Hemp and jute 29 Shirts 73
Silk 8 Bedding 33
Dyeing and finishing 37 Surgical dressings 21
Leather and leather equipment   105 Tobacco 10
Canvas equipment 137 Food 37
Munitions 151 Tin boxes 37
Shipbuilding 15 Camp equipment 52
Electrical supply 35 Wire and wire netting 34
Metal accessories 141 Wagons, etc. 34
Machinery  57 Rubber 16
Wood 44 Miscellaneous 73
    Total  3,141

Appendix I

The following list of modifications of the hour laws in 1915 was compiled from the Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops for 1915.

Industry Persons Affected Latitude
Munitions. Women. As in 1914.
Boys over 14.
Girls over 16.
Woolen and worsted   Women and young persons. 6 hours weekly overtime,
  (from May). in 2-hour shifts on
3 days or 1½ hours on
4 days. No overtime
on Saturday.
Weaving (July-Nov.). Women and young 8 hours weekly overtime
  persons over 16. in 2-hour shifts on 4 days.
Hosiery.   Protected persons. 1½ hours overtime on 4
days, or 1 hour on
5 days, but not on
Saturday or Sunday.
Cotton. Protected persons. 6 hours overtime weekly.
Margarine. Not stated. Not stated.
Window shades. Not stated. Not stated.
Flax. Not stated. Not stated.
Rope walks. Not stated. 6 hours overtime weekly.
Bleach and dye works   Not stated.   6 hours overtime weekly.
(surgical dressings;
raising and finishing
flannelette).
Tanning and currying. Women. 4 hours overtime weekly.
  Boys over 14.  
Canvas equipment. Not stated. 5 hours overtime weekly.
Shipbuilding.   Boys over 14. (a) Overtime, 5 hours a
  week for boys under
  16; 7½ hours for
  those over 16.
(b) Eight hour shifts.
(c) Day and night shifts.
Bread baking. (a) Boys 17. (a) Night shift (not
    exceeding 9 hours).
(b) Boys 15 and over. (b) Any period of 9 hours
    between 4 a.m. and
    8 p.m.
Pastry baking (a) Women and boys (a) Night shift (not
  (Scotland).   of 17.   exceeding 9 hours).
(b) Boys 15 and over. (b) Any period of 9 hours
    between 4 a.m. and
    8 p.m.
Chocolate.[303]   Women. When necessary, on account
of hot weather, between
6 a.m. and 10 p.m. for
for two spells of 4 hours
each, one in the morning
and one in the afternoon.
Leather equipment.[304] Women and young Overtime 1½ hours per day.
  persons over 16.  
Aerated waters.[305] Women. Extension of overtime
    allowed by S. 49.
Glass. Boys over 13   Extension of S. 55.
(educationally qualified).
Oil and cake mills. Women and boys 8-hour shifts, or day
  over 16. and night shifts.
Flour mills. Women and boys 8-hour shifts, or day
  over 16 and night shifts.
Toys and games.[306]   Women. Overtime as allowed by S.49
and night shifts during
the Christmas season.
Dairies. Women and young 5 hours on Sundays, with
  persons. weekly limit of 60 hours.
No other overtime during
the week.
Paper mills. Women. 8-hour shifts, or day
    and night shifts.
Pottery. Not stated. Suspension of certain
    regulations.
Sandbags.[307] Women and young
persons.
Overtime, 3 hours
  per week.
Cement (Essex and Kent). Women. Night shift.
Waterproof capes Women and young (1) Overtime, 4½ hours
(War Office persons over 16.   per week.
  contracts).[308] (2) Permission for Christians
  to work on Saturday
  and Jews on Sunday.
Manchester warehouses. Women and boys Overtime, 2 hours on not
 over 16. more than 4 days a week
and on not more than 12
days in any 4 weeks.
Lace and patent net Women, (1) Different periods
factories (processes girls over 16;   of employment for
of threading, brass boys over 14.   different workers.
bobbin winding,   (2) Where (1) is impractic-
jacking off     able overtime 1½ hours
and stripping).     per day, but with a
      weekly limit of 60
      hours exclusive of
      meal times.
Non-textile works Women, Rearrangement of the
engaged on work for girls over 16; statutory hours but
the Crown, or on boys over 14. period of employment
work required in   not to exceed 14 hours
the national   on any one day, or 60
interest.[309]   hours (exclusive of
    meal times) in any week.

Appendix J

GENERAL ORDER REGULATING OVERTIME
ISSUED BY THE HOME OFFICE
SEPTEMBER 9, 1916.

The following is the full text of the
parts of the order applying to women: