WAGES AND SALARIES 



487 



partment stores (252 in all) received in a fifth of the instances less 

 than $250 per year, and in four fifths of the instances less than $500 

 per year.-2 



Although these figures showing the wage rates of clerks are meager 

 in the extreme, they are sufficiently extensive to permit of a tabular 

 statement that will bring out the likenesses and differences existing 

 among them. 



Table I 

 Salary Rates of Male Clekks in Certain Industries 



Industry and Occupation 



Total 



Number 



Employed 



Per Cent, of Male Clerks 

 Receiving Wage Rates 

 per Year of Less Than 



Bell Telephone System (clerks) 



New York Street Railway (general office clerks) . 



New York Gas and Electric Utilities (clerks and 



salesmen) 



Other clerical employees 



Cashiers and bookkeepers 



Table n 

 Salary Rates of Female Clerks in Certain Industries 



Industry and Occupation 



Total 



Number 



Employed 



Per Cent, of 



Female Clerks Receiving 



Wage Rates Per Year 



of Less Than 



8500 8750 8l,0(X) 



Telephone clerks 



Telephone operators 



Stenographers 



New York Street Railway 



New York Gas and Electric Utilities (clerks and 



saleswomen) 



Stenographers and typists 



Washington department stores 



1,852 



16,129 



377 



154 



252 

 209 

 252 



54 



87 

 13 

 66 



29 

 14 

 23 



95 

 99 

 60 



85 



83 

 59 

 82 



99 



96 

 99 



95 

 89 



Those clerical occupations for which data are available pay wages 

 at a rate that does not differ materially from the ordinary wage rates 

 of semi-skilled and skilled labor. Three quarters of the male clerks re- 

 ceive less than $1,000 per year, while less than 10 per cent, are paid 

 more than $1,250. For females the rates are much lower. The pro- 

 portion of women who receive less than $750 for clerical work is ap- 

 proximately the same as the proportion of men who receive less than 

 $1,250. The woman in a clerical position who receives more than 

 $1,000 is the exception, just as the man who receives less than $500 is 

 the exception. At the same time, a large percentage of the women re- 

 ceive less than this figure, while a considerable proportion of the men 

 receive more than $1,000. In only a small proportion of the instances 



22 ' ' Hours, Earnings and Employment of Wage Earning Women in the 

 District of Columbia," United States Department of Labor^ Bulletin 116, 

 Washington, Government Printing Office, 1913, pp. 22 and 23. 



