The Federal Immigration Commission’s report of 1910 announced that not one of the 12 basic American industries paid the average head of a family within $100 a year of the minimum for family subsistence, and two-thirds of the 12 industries paid the family head less than $550 a year.[122]
From the exhaustive studies made by Streightoff of incomes and actual expenditures in different parts of the country, he presented for 1911 the following minimum of expenditures necessary for a family consisting of a husband, a wife, a boy between 11 and 14, a child between 7 and 10, and a baby under three. These expenditures obviously include only a minimum of the most essential necessities:
| Food | $297 |
| Rent | 100 |
| Clothing | 120 |
| Fuel | 40 |
| Church and Other Organizations | 20 |
| Medical Attendance | 12 |
| Amusement | 20 |
| Miscellaneous | 40 |
| Total | $649 |
Mr. Streightoff concludes:
“The above would show that it is conservative to set $650 as the extreme low limit of a Living Wage in cities of the North, East, and West. Probably $600 is high enough for the cities of the South. At this wage there can be no saving and a minimum of pleasure. Yet there are in the United States, at least five million industrial workmen who are earning $600 or less a year.”
Streightoff then calls attention to the fact that:
“It will be remembered that 1,116,199 men engaged in manufacturing alone are earning no more than $400 per annum, and 2,009,914 are receiving no more than $500. If all industrial occupations are considered probably four million men are not enjoying annual incomes of $600.”[123]
During the period of 1911–12 a number of wage studies were brought out by the United States Department of Labour. In the cigar industry studied in that period, of 3,615 males investigated, three-tenths received a wage of less than $750, while half of those studied earned wages under $1,000 per year. Four-fifths of the 7,551 females investigated received a wage of less than $750 per year.[124]
The Tariff Board made extensive investigations during the same period of wage rates in the cotton industry. These studies disclosed that in the North five per cent. and in the South 22 per cent. of the males 16 years of age and over in the cotton industry received a wage rate of less than $250 per year. Half of the employés in the North and more than four-fifths of those employed in the South were paid at the rate of less than $500 per year. The figures for women range much lower than those for men.[125]
For the dyeing and finishing woolens and worsted industry the Tariff Board reports that four-fifths of the male dyers earned less than $500 and nine-tenths less than $700 per year.[126]
The wages of employés engaged in woolen, worsted and cotton mills of Lawrence, Mass., in 1911 were similar to those found by the Tariff Board. In that city half of the men studied received wages below $500 while seven-eighths earned less than $600. In the case of female employés more than four-fifths earned less than $500, while 94 per cent. received less than $600.[127]
The U. S. Labour Department in its investigations in the textile industry brought out similar results. In the cotton industry three-fifths of the males and four-fifths of the females received wages of less than $500 per year, while 99 per cent. of the females and 97 per cent. of the males earned less than $750 per year.[128]
In 1911–12 the Oklahoma Department of Labour reported that of 668 male wage-earners in the telephone and telegraph industry 27 per cent. received less than $500; 78 per cent. less than $750 and 95 per cent. less than $1,000 per year. Of the 1,143 female workers employed in the same industry 17 per cent. were earning under $250, 96 per cent. under $500 and 99 per cent. under $750.[129]
A typical Chicago slaughter-house in 1912 paid 82 per cent. of its employés less than 20 cents an hour. This company worked their men on the average of 37½ hours in the week, and this gave the 55 per cent. of the men who averaged 17 cents an hour, an income of $6.37 a week.[130]
From reports compiled by the different State Bureaus of Labour, Nearing found the following percentages of wages during the years 1911–12:
| State | Year | Per Cent Earned Less Than $500 | Per Cent Earned Less Than $750 |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 1911 | 7.7 | 30 |
| Iowa | 1912–13 | 12. | 61 |
| Massachusetts | 1912 | 28. | 67 |
| New Jersey | 1911 | 36. | 71 |
| Oklahoma | 1911 | 17. | 68[131] |
In 1913 Nearing in his book, “Financing The Wage Earner’s Family” (p 97), concluded from his examination of numerous reports and wage studies that:
“The available data indicate that a man, wife and three children under fourteen cannot maintain a fair standard of living in the industrial towns of Eastern United States on an amount less than $700 a year in the Southern, and $750 in the Northern States. In the large cities where rents are higher, this amount must be increased by at least $100.”
A joint investigation carried on during that year by the Consumers’ League of Eastern Pennsylvania and the Department of Labour and Industry of that State, showed that the wages of women in Philadelphia department stores were as follows: 16.5 per cent. received less than $5 per week, 63.8 per cent. more earned between $5 and $10 and only 3.2 per cent. received $15 or over per week.
1914
The year following Prof. J. H. Hollander, of Johns Hopkins’ University, estimated:
“That in order to maintain a decent standard of living in the United States for an average family of five, an annual income of $600 to $700 is insufficient; that $700 to $800 requires exceptional management and escape from extraordinary disbursements consequent upon illness or death; and that $825 permits the maintenance of a fairly proper standard.”[132]
An even higher estimate during the same year (1914) was set by the Bureau of Personal Service of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of New York City, which declared $845 as the least minimum of subsistence for families of unskilled labourers in that city. The New York Factory Investigating Commission declared that $876 was the lowest minimum wage possible for the year 1914.
The actual earnings during this period were found by the Pennsylvania Department of Labour and Industry in a study of over 20,000 industrial establishments to have averaged $720 a year or $14.40 a week for all males—quite below the minimum standard set. The average annual wage for all females was $335, or slightly over $6 a week.
The total amount paid in wages in the States of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania in the year 1914 amounted to $869,262,517. The number of employés in these two States was 1,531,176 and the average wage per worker amounted to $568 per year.[133] The New York State Industrial Commission, which in that year began to compile figures of nearly 600,000 factory and office workers, found that the average weekly wage for the last six months of 1914 amounted to $12.48, which would give an annual wage of $648.96 if employed fifty-two weeks in the year.
In 1915 Lauck and Sydenstricker after a comprehensive study of wages and costs of living stated that four-fifths of the heads of families obtained less than $800 per year, while two-thirds of the female wage-earners were paid less than $400 per year. According to a statement of the Chamber of Commerce of Akron, Ohio, the 30,511 workers engaged in the rubber industry in that city received an average annual wage of $628 during the year of 1915.[134] In the same year the Pennsylvania Department of Internal Affairs, which keeps records of the total pay-roll amounts and the number of workers employed in that State, found that the average weekly wage per wage-earner (exclusive of salaried and office workers) amounted to $581.68. The New York Industrial Commission gave the average weekly wage received in that State during the year 1915 as $12.85, or $668.20 per year. The Final Report of the Commission on Industrial Relations declared that it is certain that at least one-third and possibly one-half of the families of wage-earners employed in manufacturing and mining earn in the course of the year, less than enough to support them in anything like a comfortable and decent condition.[135]
The weekly wages received during the year 1915 throughout the United States in the various industries, have been compiled by the Bureau of Applied Economics from the published surveys of the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics. These were found as follows in the different industries:[136]
| Industry | Per Capita Earnings Per Week—1915 |
|---|---|
| Boots and Shoes | $12.12 |
| Cotton Finishing | 10.54 |
| Cotton Manufacturing | 8.31 |
| Hosiery and Underwear | 7.75 |
| Iron and Steel | 11.76 |
| Men’s Ready-made Clothing | 11.92 |
| Silk Manufacturing | 8.99 |
| Woolen Manufacturing | 9.70 |
| Car Building and Repairing | 13.20 |
| Cigar Manufacturing | 9.33 |
| Automobile Manufacturing | 17.23 |
| Leather Manufacturing | 11.76 |
| Paper Making | 13.20 |
An analysis of the standard of living in the District of Columbia by Professor Ogburn, for the Bureau of Labour Statistics in 1916, led him to conclude that:
“An average family of man, wife and three children, of ages four, six and eight years, in the District of Columbia in 1916 was in debt if the annual income was less than $1,155.”[137]
During 1915–16 the average daily wage for males in many Pennsylvania establishments reported by the Department of Labour and Industry as working on war contracts was found to be only slightly higher in 1916 than in 1914, $2.76 in the latter year as against $2.40 in 1914. For females the rise reported was from $1.11 to $1.30. The average daily wage of males engaged in public service industries, such as street and steam railways, etc., was $2.55.[138] The average wage received by all wage-earners in Pennsylvania as given by the Department of Internal Affairs was $737.96 in the year 1916. Salaried and office workers were not included in this tabulation. In the rubber industry of Akron, Ohio, the average annual wage according to the Chamber of Commerce of that city amounted to $759 in 1916. The wages for that year as found by the New York State Industrial Commission were very similar. The average weekly wage was $14.43, or, if employed for fifty-two weeks in the year, $750.36 per year.
WAR CHANGES IN WAGES AND COSTS OF LIVING
The year 1914 may be considered a landmark for both wages and costs of living. Since then money wages have increased in all industries. Even greater, however, has been the rise in the cost of living. Standards of living in terms of money wages need therefore considerable adjustment, and a revaluation in purchasing power. According to the Pennsylvania Health Insurance Commission, the standard “minimum of subsistence” budgets, estimated in 1914 as $845 by the Bureau of Personal Service of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of New York City for unskilled labourers’ families; $875, the estimate made by the New York Factory Investigation Commission in 1914, and $900, the estimate by Dr. Chapin for a family of five in 1907, became in June, 1918, $1,320, $1,360 and $1,390 respectively. Similar estimates for 1918 were made by the Commission of the Interchurch World Movement in its Report on the Steel Strike.
The Philadelphia Bureau of Municipal Research stated in December, 1917, that the necessary minimum cost of healthful living for a family of two adults and three children was $1,200 a year. But in the autumn of 1918 it found $1,636.79 as necessary for a similar standard of living.
In November, 1918, the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics estimated that the minimum necessary for subsistence for an average family in a large eastern city was about $1,500. In the same year, the National War Labour Board drew up a “minimum comfort” budget which amounted to $1,760 per year for a family of five.[139]
It is interesting to note, that the above estimates regarding the minimum budget necessary for subsistence, although showing some variation as would be expected, do not show considerable differences. However, in 1918 the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics made an investigation of the budgets of working families in a number of cities. The average actual expenditures of these families per year in the different cities investigated follow:
| AVERAGE ACTUAL FAMILY EXPENDITURES IN VARIOUS CITIES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| City | Number of Families Investigated | Average Persons in Family | Total Average Yearly Expense Per Family |
| Baltimore (white) | 195 | 4.8 | $1,260.96 |
| Boston | 407 | 5.3 | 1,438.13 |
| Bridgeport, Conn. | 143 | 4.6 | 1,540.24 |
| Buffalo | 256 | 4.6 | 1,460.00 |
| Chambersburg, Pa. | 77 | 4.9 | 1,241.90 |
| Dover, N. J. | 74 | 5.3 | 1,608.92 |
| Fall River, Mass. | 158 | 5.4 | 1,320.84 |
| Johnstown, N. Y. | 78 | 4.5 | 1,308.51 |
| Lawrence, Mass. | 109 | 5.3 | 1,504.67 |
| Manchester, N. H. | 112 | 5.2 | 1,370.83 |
| Newark | 147 | 4.7 | 1,445.41 |
| New York | 518 | 4.9 | 1,525.66 |
| Philadelphia and Camden, N. J. | 301 | 4.9 | 1,469.40 |
| Pittsburgh, Pa. (white) | 254 | 5.1 | 1,412.10 |
| Portland, Me. | 97 | 4.9 | 1,412.84 |
| Providence, R. I. | 158 | 5.3 | 1,303.18 |
| Rutland, Vt. | 80 | 5.1 | 1,264.29 |
| Scranton | 151 | 5.2 | 1,344.99 |
| Syracuse, N. Y. | 158 | 4.9 | 1,407.03 |
| Trenton, N. J. | 100 | 4.4 | 1,418.50 |
| Westfield, Mass. | 74 | 5.2 | 1,494.84 |
| Wilmington, Del. | 98 | 4.6 | 1,640.50 |
In summarizing the data, the Bureau found that of 12,096 white families investigated in 92 industrial centres scattered throughout the country comprising 4.9 average persons, the average yearly expenses per family was $1,434.36 in 1918.[140]
In 1918 investigations of the Pennsylvania Commission on Health Insurance the following data are given:
“In the Philadelphia Survey which covered 1,850 families in seven districts in Philadelphia the average family income was but $21.60 a week, and almost a third of these families contained over five persons, the normal standard.”
“In the Visiting Nurse Study, 80.6 per cent. of the 438 families had incomes of less than $30.00 a week. In the Sickness and Dependency Study 94.3 per cent. of the families had incomes of less than this amount.”
“Wages for women, proverbially lower than those for men, proved in the Working Women’s study to be in 98.1 per cent. of the cases under $25.00 a week; in 92 per cent. of the cases, under $20.00.”
“In the Pittsburgh Factory Investigation, made in August–November, 1918, covering the work places of over 9,000 women, it was found that in 70 per cent. of the operations the wages were between $5.00 and $15.00 per week. In only two processes were the weekly wages over $25.00.”
“In a study made by the Consumers’ League in New York in 1916–17 among 417 women working in steam laundries, it was found that 78.3 per cent. earned less than $10.00 a week, and almost half earned less than $8.00.”
“The Kensington Survey, which covered the most representative industrial group, showed that more than half—56.6 per cent. of the 608 families had incomes under $30 a week, 42 per cent. were living on less than $25.00 a week.”[141]
From July 1st, 1914, to April 1st, 1918, the wholesale prices of 46 essential commodities given in Bradstreet’s showed a rise of 115 per cent. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, its study of the increase in the cost of living in shipbuilding centres in 1918, showed that the cost of living for white families had risen 67.17 per cent. in August, 1918, over the cost in December, 1914, in Philadelphia; in New York it was 62.07 per cent. in December, 1918, over December, 1914.
While the cost of living and prices have thus increased from 60 to 115 per cent., a study of the rise in wages made by H. S. Hanna and W. J. Lauck, led them to conclude:[142]
“That the rise in wages between 1914–15 and December, 1917, or January, 1918, was only 18 per cent. for anthracite miners; 26 per cent. for machinists in the Philadelphia Navy Yard; 30 per cent. for bituminous miners working by hand, and 34, 36 and 37 per cent, respectively for shipbuilders, and pipe fitters in the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The rise in the building trades was 12 to 20 per cent. The wages in some industries had actually decreased, while some remained stationary.”
The Thirty-third Annual Report of Massachusetts on Statistics of Manufacture states that during the year 1918 the total disbursements in wages paid to labour amounted to $679,401,273. When compared with the year 1913 the increase in the total wages disbursed amounted to 93.4 per cent. However, the average yearly earnings for all wage-earners without distinction as to age, sex or skill which in 1917 were $758.23 per capita, rose only to $944.65 per capita in 1918. Compared with 1913, when the per capita wage in manufacturing industries was $569.43, the increase amounts to 65.9 per cent.[143] During the year 1918, the average wage in Pennsylvania was $1,213.54. In the rubber industries in Akron, Ohio, it was $1,173 and in New York State $1,058.20—quite far below the actual family expenditures during that year as found by the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics in the different cities.
The Administrative Committee of the National Catholic War Council in its Social Reconstruction Program in 1919 reached the conclusion that the average rate of pay has not increased as fast as the cost of living. That this conclusion is fully justified and that a considerable number of wage-earners, both men and women, have not been receiving what is generally considered a living wage, even during the time when money wages were at their highest peak, is clearly indicated by the following recent investigations, which throw some additional light upon the continuous chase and struggle between increased prices and increased earning power.
In 1919, the National Industrial Conference Board, an organization composed of employers of labour, in an investigation of the cost of maintaining a minimum standard of living for a representative wage-earner’s family of five, reached the conclusion that in Lawrence, Massachusetts, in order to maintain the lowest standard, $1,385.79 was required or an average weekly income of $26.65 the year around. A more liberal standard, which would make no provision for savings except such as were secured through insurance, was found to require a yearly expenditure of $1,658.04, or a steady income of $31.88 per week.[144]
In August, 1919, the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics in a study of budgets of government employés’ families in Washington, D. C., set the standard necessary for the maintenance of a family of five in that city at $2,262.47.
The extent to which wages have increased during the same period is significant. The National Industrial Conference Board has recently published a report analyzing the wage changes in several important industries from 1914 to 1919. The average weekly earnings of male employés in the specified industries from 1914 to 1919 follow.[145]
The figures in several instances show actual decreases between September, 1918, and March, 1919, and not a single group earned the minimum wage necessary for the support of a family with the most necessary comfort as conservatively estimated by the employers’ organization itself.
| Industry | Sept. 1814 | Sept. 1815 | Sept. 1816 | Sept. 1817 | Sept. 1818 | March 1818 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boots and Shoes | $14.70 | $15.33 | $16.50 | $18.36 | $24.04 | $25.80 |
| Chemical Mfg. | 12.85 | 13.26 | 16.10 | 20.50 | 26.80 | 26.20 |
| Cotton Mfg. | 10.00 | 10.05 | 11.85 | 14.22 | 20.60 | 17.10 |
| Metal Mfg. | 13.18 | 14.80 | 17.22 | 20.08 | 26.80 | 24.75 |
| Paper Mfg. | 12.75 | 12.75 | 15.03 | 18.03 | 22.40 | 22.40 |
| Rubber Mfg. | 14.00 | 14.85 | 18.60 | 22.80 | 22.60 | 28.35 |
| Silk Mfg. | 11.77 | 12.66 | 14.10 | 15.50 | 21.54 | 22.68 |
| Wool Mfg. | 11.52 | 11.05 | 13.51 | 16.87 | 23.21 | 18.61 |
Early in 1818 the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics conducted extensive wage studies in a number of industries throughout the country. Some of its findings are presented here:[146]
| AVERAGE ACTUAL EARNINGS IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES IN 1818 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Industry and Occupation | Average Actual Earnings Per Week for Male Employés | Average Actual Earnings Per Week for Female Employés |
| Paper Box Mfg. | $18.40 | $11.05 |
| Women’s Clothing Mfg. | 35.11 | 15.85 |
| Confectionery Mfg. | 18.45 | 10.08 |
| Overall Mfg. | 25.02 | 12.06 |
| Cigar Industry | 20.84 | 15.54 |
| Men’s Clothing Industry | 24.78 | 14.75 |
| Hosiery and Underwear | 20.80 | 12.88 |
| Silk Mfg. | 22.78 | 15.28 |
| Brick Mfg. | 20.00 | |
| Chemicals Mfg. | 20.80 | 12.35 |
| Glass Mfg. | 22.66 | 18.38 |
| Leather Mfg. | 26.03 | 13.40 |
| Paper and Pulp | 26.47 | 13.44 |
| Pottery Mfg. | 26.60 | 13.37 |
| Rubber Mfg. | 27.04 | 14.85 |
| Automobile Mfg. | 25.87 | 16.88 |
| Car Mfg. | 26.78 | |
| Elect’l Apparatus Mfg. | 25.53 | 15.30 |
| Foundry Mfg. | 26.28 | 12.66 |
| Machine Mfg. | 26.85 | 12.80 |
| Machine Tool Mfg. | 26.74 | 16.62 |
| Typewriter Mfg. | 26.77 | 14.67 |
It is of interest to note that the above figures show that a living wage was obtained in only one industry—the Women’s Clothing industry—which is now thoroughly organized, and which only a few years ago was one of the most underpaid industries.
The 1818 Industrial Survey made by the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics covered 2,365 establishments, 28 industries scattered through 43 States, 780 different occupations, including a total of 404,758 employés. These investigations[147] disclosed that of the 318,846 men workers, 151,725, or 47.5 per cent., earned less than 50 cents an hour. As the average number of hours per day was found to have been 7.6, at least half of the male workers earned less than $22.80 per week. The average weekly wage for all was $25.58.
In the case of the women workers, of the 85,812 persons investigated, 47,817, or 54.75, earned less than 30 cents per hour. The average number of hours here was 7.5 per day, which means that more than half of the female workers earned less than $13.50 per week. The average weekly wage for all was $13.54.
The 1818 minimum wage standards for women workers in the States that have established such were as follows: District of Columbia (mercantile trade) $16.50; California $13.50; Washington $13.20; Massachusetts (candy occupations) $12.50; and Kansas $11.00. In 1818–1818, the wage investigations of the Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission showed that from 57 to 88 per cent. of the women workers investigated in five industries in that State earned less than $11.00 per week. In New York the minimum weekly budget set for a single working woman in 1818 was $16.13. Studies of 500 working girls chosen at random by the New York State and City Consumers’ Leagues early in 1820 showed that 443 or 88 per cent. of the girls investigated received less than $16.00 per week. In spite of the increased cost of living in 1818, 28 per cent. of the women investigated reported no wage increase during the same year.[148]
In the same year despite the minimum wages established, the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics found the following weekly earnings of women from payrolls:[149]
| Industry | Average Weekly Earnings |
|---|---|
| Glass | $10.12 |
| Confectionery | 10.25 |
| Paper Boxes | 10.88 |
| Overalls | 12.26 |
| Hosiery and Underwear | 13.04 |
That women workers frequently work for less than the amount necessary for their maintenance has recently been revealed from an investigation carried on in 1820 by the Industrial Welfare Commission of Texas. The Commission investigated 2,028 women in 40 cities in Texas. The figures were sworn to and represent actual expenditures on maintenance and not estimates. A study was also made of the weekly wages of 13,311 employés as furnished by employers in these 40 cities. The results are given as follows:[150]
| Industry | Cost of Living Per Week | Average Wages Per Week |
|---|---|---|
| Telephone | $14.14 | $12.31 |
| Mercantile | 15.44 | 12.88 |
| Laundry | 13.78 | 8.38 |
| Factory | 14.65 | 11.52 |
| Average | $14.78 | $11.88 |
In December, 1818, the Bureau of Labour Statistics published a complete study of wages and hours of labour in the coal-mining industry as found in the early part of that year. This study included 551,646 workers throughout the United States. The actual earnings of these miners in the bituminous fields as studied during one-half-month pay-roll by States is given as follows:[151]
| AVERAGE ACTUAL EARNINGS IN BITUMINOUS MINES IN ONE-HALF MONTH PAY-ROLL PERIOD BY STATES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State | Hand Miners | Machine Miners | Loaders |
| Alabama | $40.41 | $45.88 | |
| Colorado | 47.42 | $73.73 | 50.65 |
| Illinois | 47.72 | 61.02 | 51.03 |
| Indiana | 36.47 | 55.78 | 40.02 |
| Iowa | 43.37 | 52.55 | 34.17 |
| Kansas | 42.75 | ||
| Kentucky | 34.38 | 58.62 | 40.42 |
| Maryland | 50.57 | ||
| Missouri | 36.42 | 43.27 | 42.86 |
| New Mexico | 52.12 | 36.45 | 50.80 |
| Ohio | 63.56 | 86.86 | 58.40 |
| Oklahoma | 53.82 | 50.66 | 48.58 |
| Pennsylvania | 57.48 | 72.02 | 55.21 |
| Tennessee | 34.08 | 26.25 | 33.36 |
| Utah | 57.66 | 82.07 | 57.85 |
| Virginia | 52.66 | 38.83 | |
| West Virginia | 52.58 | 71.80 | 47.53 |
| Wyoming | 57.08 | 45.85 | |
| Total | $47.12 | $67.58 | $50.51 |
In the case of the anthracite miners, the average earnings made in one-half month pay-roll period in 1818 are given as follows: Inside occupations averaged $65.17 while those engaged in outside occupations averaged $55.37 per two weeks’ pay-roll.[152] The figures presented by the operators to the Coal Commission in 1820, and which were greatly disputed by the representatives of the miners, showed that the average wage of 68,416 miners examined in 1818 was $1,422, but declined to $1,234.44 in 1818. The miners presented figures of much lower averages.
The Bureau of Labour Statistics also keeps records of the changes in union wage scales. The year 1813 is taken as the basis of the index and set at 100. Accordingly the rates of wages per full-time week are presented as follows:[153]
| 1813 | 100 |
| 1814 | 102 |
| 1815 | 102 |
| 1816 | 106 |
| 1817 | 112 |
| 1818 | 130 |
| 1818 | 148 |
| 1820 | 188 |
Further compilations of increases in union rates of pay per hour from 1814 to 1818 in the building trades in about 30 cities in the United States were made by the Bureau of Applied Economics.[154] The increases received as given by the international unions concerned were as follows:
| INCREASE IN UNION RATE OF PAY FOR THE BUILDING TRADES | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Percent of Increase from 1814 to 1818 |
| Bricklayers | 30.8 |
| Carpenters | 53.8 |
| Cement Workers and Finishers | 36.3 |
| Inside Wiremen | 51.4 |
| Painters | 60.8 |
| Plasterers | 32.2 |
| Plumbers | 50.0 |
| Sheet Metal Workers | 56.2 |
| Steam Fitters | 51.6 |
| Structural Iron Workers | 51.7 |
In the case of the dress and waist industry the increase in wage rates amounted to 52.8 per cent. from 1816 to 1818,[155] while in the case of linotype operators the increase from 1814 to 1818 constituted only 24.2 per cent. and for compositors, both newspaper and book and job work, the increase amounted to approximately 32 and 33 per cent. respectively.[156]
The Interchurch World Movement Report on the Steel Strike concludes that:
“The annual earnings of over one-third of all productive iron and steel workers were, and had been for years, below the level set by government experts as the minimum of subsistence standard for families of five.
“The annual earnings of 72 per cent. of all workers were, and had been for years, below the level set by government experts as the minimum of comfort level for families of five.
“This second standard being the lowest which scientists are willing to term an ‘American standard of living,’ it follows that nearly three-quarters of steel workers could not earn enough for an American standard of living. The bulk of unskilled steel labour earned less than enough for the average family’s minimum subsistence; the bulk of semi-skilled labour earned less than enough for the average family’s minimum comfort.
“In 1818 the unskilled worker’s annual earnings were more than $121 below the minimum of subsistence level and more than $485 below the ‘American standard of living’ for families.
“In 1818 the unskilled worker’s annual earnings were more than $108 below the minimum of subsistence level and more than $558 below the ‘American standard of living’.”[157]
In January, 1820, Professor Ogburn presented to the Bituminous Coal Commission a minimum budget necessary for a miner’s family, at $2,118.84 a year. About the same time the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics, at the request of the Bituminous Coal Commission, in a study of a number of mining towns in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois found the budget varying from $2,044.38 to $2,162.65. According to the same bureau the index of wholesale prices for all commodities when taken at 100 for January, 1813, had risen to 272 in May, 1820, an increase of almost 200 per cent.
On the basis of these budgets and increase in prices, Mr. W. Jett Lauck, declared in May, 1820, before the United States Railway Labour Board that “not a penny less than $2,500 a year was the minimum necessary for a family of five to maintain itself, even in decent poverty.”
The National Industrial Conference Board declared some time ago that the cost of living of American wage-earners has increased 104.5 per cent. between July, 1814, and July, 1820.[158] The United States Bureau of Labour Statistics states that its investigations in a number of industrial centres show that the prices of the essential items making up the family budget have increased from December, 1814, to June, 1820, as shown in the following table:[159]
| Baltimore | 114.3 |
| Boston | 110.7 |
| Buffalo | 121.5 |
| Chicago | 114.6 |
| Cleveland | 116.8 |
| Detroit | 136.0 |
| Houston | 112.2 |
| Jacksonville | 116.5 |
| Los Angeles | 101.7 |
| Mobile | 107.0 |
| New York City | 118.2 |
| Norfolk | 122.2 |
| Philadelphia | 113.5 |
| Portland, Maine | 107.6 |
| Portland, Oregon | 100.4 |
| San Francisco and Oakland | 86.0 |
| Savannah | 108.4 |
| Seattle | 110.5 |
| Average of All Cities | 112.7 |
Thus taking the various estimates into consideration, it would seem most conservative to state that during the first six months of 1820, at which time prices reached their peak, it required at least between $1,800 and $2,000 a year, or approximately between $35 and $40 a week the year round to support a family of five with the necessities of life.
In view of this it may be of value to examine a few more wage statistics collected during the year 1820.
In a recent report issued by the New York City Board of Estimate and Apportionment the comparative rates of wages paid by New York City are given from January 1, 1816, to January 1, 1820. Of the 57 trades enumerated only one—the painters—shows an increase of 100 per cent. in four years. In 25 more trades the increase amounts to 50 per cent. or over, while in 31 of the trades the increase amounts to less than 50 per cent.
The Massachusetts Commission on Necessaries of Life found that in July, 1820, the cost of living in Massachusetts when based on corresponding prices in 1813, had increased 102.6 per cent.[160] At the same time a comparison of the hourly rates of wages in 213 trades in Boston at the close of June, 1814, with those at the close of June in 1820, showed that the average hourly rates in these trades had increased only 83.5 per cent. during the six-year period.[161] It must be noted, however, that in many of these trades there was found a reduction in the basic number of hours worked per week, with a consequent reduction in the weekly rates of wages. When these were taken into consideration, the Massachusetts Department of Labour and Industries found that the average weekly wages had actually increased only 72.7 per cent. as against 88.7 per cent. increase in the cost of living during the same period.
The October, 1820, Review published by the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics presents a detailed study of the union scales of hourly wage rates throughout the country. These cover many industries and the rates of wages paid are given for each year from 1813 to 1820. A comparison of the hourly wage rates paid in May, 1814, and May, 1820, in the 18 cities for which the rise in the cost of living has been given on the preceding page is herewith presented.[162]
In March, 1820, the respective earnings of anthracite miners, including both inside and outside occupations during one-half month pay-roll were $68.56 and $55.81.[163]