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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



actual earnings, as well as the wage rates. Thus far, in the course of 

 this study, wage rates have been considered almost exclusively, and the 

 yearly rate has been derived by multiplying the weekly wage rate by 

 fifty-two, and the monthly wage rate by twelve. Under these circum- 

 stance, no allowance is made for loss of time due to sickness, shortage 

 of orders, and other causes of unemployment. The following table 

 for the glass industry makes the contrast in excellent form : 



Table IV 

 Earnings of Women in the Finishing Department of the Glass Industeyis 



The wage scale shown by this table for the glass industry would lead 

 one to conclude that two fifths of the women were receiving less than 

 $250 per year. As a matter of fact, the proportion of women whose 

 earnings were less than $350 per year was nearly three fifths. Deduc- 

 tions in one form or another nearly always drag a wage scale considerably 

 below its face value. 



The wages actually paid in the Chicago slaughtering and meat- 

 packing industry are given in a most satisfactory way by J. C. 

 Kennedy in a recent study. Mr. Kennedy obtained access to the pay 

 rolls, and was thus able to discover the wages actually paid during a long 

 period. The figures are peculiarly interesting, relating, as they do, to 

 one of the chief centers in which one of the great industries in the 

 country is carried on. It is, indeed, difficult to overemphasize their 

 importance as portraying the present income situation in a leading 

 industry. 



Table V 



Weekly Wages Actually Paid in Certain Packing Plants of Chicago** 



A quarter of the women and a tenth of the men are paid less than 

 a $250 rate; two fifths of the men and nine tenths of the women fall 

 under $500. These figures would be further modified if they made 

 allowances for unemployment throughout the year. As they stand they 

 are the result of a simple process of multiplication. 



43 "Woman and Child Wage-earners in the United States," Charles P. 

 Neill, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1913, Volume III., p. 40.5. 



*4" Wages and Family Budgets in the Chicago Stock Yards District," J. C. 

 Kennedy, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1914, p. 12. 



