WAGES AND SALARIES 



491 



Table III 



Wage Rates op Males, California, 1911 

 Eetail Establishments 



The Massachusetts Commission on Minimum Wage Boards reports 

 on the wages of 3,761 women and on the annual earnings of 1,533 who 

 were employed throughout the year. Many of the department-store 

 employees not employed throughout the year leave for new positions, 

 or are laid off in the dull season. All hut 33 of the 1,533 women em- 

 ployed throughout the year earned less than $500 per year. The hour 

 rates of all of the 3,761 women show practically the same ratio. 



Two other sources of information yield similar results. A well-made 

 study of saleswomen and other mercantile employees, not including 

 buyers or clerical assistants, was made in Baltimore by Elizabeth B. 

 Butler. The total number of women covered by the investigation was 

 4,048. Of these women, 2,184, or 54 per cent., received a rate of pay of 

 less than $350 per year, while 95 per cent, were paid less than $500.^® 

 These rates are apparently slightly below the rates in Washington. 

 Among 1,760 saleswomen in the Washington stores, a quarter received 

 less than $250, while less than nine tenths fell below $500.^*^ Compara- 

 tive studies indicate that the department store employees are paid at a 

 higher rate than factory employees. Unfortunately the variations of 

 age between the two occupations have not generally been taken into 

 account. An Illinois investigation covering 2,556 department store 

 employees showed that a twentieth received less than a $250 wage rate, 

 and half less than a $500 year rate. On the other hand, a fifth of the 

 wage rates were over $750.^^ 



It seems evident that for most saleswomen in eastern mercantile 



29 << Saleswomen in Mercantile Stores," E. B. Butler, Baltimore, 1909, New 

 York, Charities Publication Committee, 1912. 



30 ' ' Hours, Earnings and Employment of Wage-earning Women in the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia," op. cit., pp. 22 and 23. 



31 Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 111., 1908, Springfield, 

 1910, pp. 413-592. 



