Front matter
Reading edition
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
DIVISION OF ECONOMICS AND HISTORY JOHN BATES CLARK, DIRECTOR
PRELIMINARY ECONOMIC STUDIES OF THE WAR
EDITED BY DAVID KINLEY
President of the University of Illinois Member of Committee of Research of the Endowment
No. 4
ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF THE WORLD WAR UPON WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN GREAT BRITAIN
BY IRENE OSGOOD ANDREWS
Assistant Secretary of the American Association for Labor Legislation
AND MARGARETT A. HOBBS
SECOND (REVISED) EDITION
NEW YORK OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS AMERICAN BRANCH: 35 WEST 32ⁿᵈ STREET London, Toronto, Melbourne and Bombay
1921
FIRST EDITION FEBRUARY, 1918
SECOND (REVISED) EDITION MAY, 1921
COPYRIGHT 1921 BY THE CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE 2 Jackson Place Washington, D. C.
Press of Byron S. Adams Washington, D. C.
Preliminary Economic Studies of the War
EDITED BY DAVID KINLEY
President of the University of Illinois Member of Committee of Research of the Endowment
1. Early Economic Effects of the War upon Canada. By Adam Shortt, formerly Commissioner of the Canadian Civil Service, now Chairman, Board of Historical Publications, Canada.
2. Early Effects of the European War upon the Finance, Commerce and Industry of Chile. By L. S. Rowe, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania.
3. War Administration of the Railways in the United States and Great Britain. By Frank H. Dixon, Professor of Economics, Dartmouth College, and Julius H. Parmelee, Statistician, Bureau of Railway Economics.
4. Economic Effects of the World War upon Women and Children in Great Britain. By Irene Osgood Andrews, Assistant Secretary of the American Association for Labor Legislation.
5. Direct Costs of the Present War. By Ernest L. Bogart, Professor of Economics, University of Illinois.
6. Effects of the War upon Insurance with Special Reference to the Substitution of Insurance for Pensions. By William F. Gephart, Professor of Economics, Washington University, St. Louis.
7. The Financial History of Great Britain, 1914-1918. By Frank L. McVey, President, University of Kentucky.
8. British War Administration. By John A. Fairlie, Professor of Political Science, University of Illinois.
9. Influence of the Great War upon Shipping. By J. Russell Smith, Professor of Industry, University of Pennsylvania.
10. War Thrift. By Thomas Nixon Carver, Professor of Political Economy, Harvard University.
11. Effects of the Great War upon Agriculture in the United States and Great Britain. By Benjamin H. Hibbard, Professor of Agricultural Economics, University of Wisconsin.
12. Disabled Soldiers and Sailors—Pensions and Training. By Edward T. Devine, Professor of Social Economy, Columbia University.
13. Government Control of the Liquor Business in Great Britain and the United States. By Thomas Nixon Carver, Professor of Political Economy, Harvard University.
14. British Labor Conditions and Legislation during the War. By Matthew B. Hammond, Professor of Economics, Ohio State University.
15. Effects of the War upon Money, Credit and Banking in France and the United States. By B. M. Anderson, Jr., Ph.D.
16. Negro Migration during the War. By Emmett J. Scott, Secretary-Treasurer, Howard University, Washington, D. C.
17. Early Effects of the War upon the Finance, Commerce and Industry of Peru. By L. S. Rowe, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania.
18. Government Control and Operation of Industry in Great Britain and the United States during the World War. By Charles Whiting Baker, C. E., Consulting Engineer.
19. Prices and Price Control in Great Britain and the United States during the World War. By Simon Litman, Professor of Economics, University of Illinois.
[1] 20. Cooperative Movement in Russia. By E. M. Kayden.
[2] 21. The Germans in South America: A Contribution to the Economic History of the World War. By C. H. Haring, Associate Professor of History, Yale University.
[3] 22. Effects of the War on Pauperism, Crime and Programs of Social Welfare. By Edith Abbott, Lecturer in Sociology, University of Chicago.
[4] 23. (Abandoned.)
24. Direct and Indirect Costs of the Great World War. By Ernest L. Bogart, Professor of Economics, University of Illinois. (Revised edition of Study No. 5.)
25. Government War Contracts. By John F. Crowell,
THE CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE 2 JACKSON PLACE, WASHINGTON, D. C.
EDITOR’S PREFACE
The following work on the “Economic Effects of the War upon Women and Children in Great Britain,” by Mrs. Irene Osgood Andrews, Assistant Secretary of the American Association for Labor Legislation, is the fourth in the series of preliminary war studies undertaken by the Endowment. Mrs. Andrews’ monograph is a sympathetic study of the situation by one who has long been familiar with working conditions of women and children in this country and abroad and the methods undertaken for their improvement. The author points out the difficulties and evil results of the hasty influx of women and children into industrial fields vacated by men who had gone into the army, but reaches the conclusion that on the whole the permanent effects are likely to be good. Such a conclusion by an author whose sympathies with laboring women and children are deep and whose outlook is broad is hopeful and cheering.
In the opinion of the editor, Mrs. Andrews has done her country a service in preparing this monograph, for her recital of the difficulties and evils of the British readjustment will enable our people to meet the same crisis when it comes upon us, as it surely will if the war continues, in the light of the experience of our Allies. If we go about the matter intelligently in the light of this study, we should be able to avoid some of the difficulties and evils of British experiences in this matter and open the way for a larger industrial life to women, while maintaining and indeed even improving, as we should, the conditions under which they are called upon to work and live.
David Kinley, Editor.
AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION
Following the publication of the first edition, opportunity came in 1919 to visit again both England and France and to secure first hand information concerning the effects of the war upon the economic position of women. As a member of the commission sent by the Young Women’s Christian Association to study the industrial outlook for women and children, there was occasion to interview many representative people in this field and to collect a large amount of recently published material bearing upon the subject.
The world conflict brought to women, in those countries where the industrial system was kept intact, an extraordinary invitation to active employment outside the home and in new occupations. In England and France millions of women were dislodged from their accustomed tasks and thrown into novel positions in industry, in trade and commerce and even in the professions. Many thousands have remained in the new occupations, and the vast majority will never be content to go back to their former places on the old terms.
The remarkable physical endurance of the women doing war work has been very generally recognized. This endurance has been attributed partly to the zeal of the women, but more particularly to higher wages, which enabled them to secure better food, clothing and lodging. Comfort from increased income was supplemented by canteens, welfare work and greater consideration in general for the health of wage earners.
Will woman’s improved income level be permanent? Careful analysis shows that during the war, despite government pledges, women did not receive equal treatment with men in respect to wages. Moreover, while money wages in many cases were greatly increased, seldom did they keep pace with the advancing cost of living. Furthermore, it became doubtful whether women were to be allowed to retain the more attractive positions if these were desired by men.
No one, since the war experience, doubts the skill and adaptability of women in performing a great number of tasks formerly considered “men’s work.” With the extensive standardization which British industry has adopted many more places can be successfully filled by women. Equal opportunity to secure positions, as well as equality of payment, appeals therefore to many thousands of women as merely a matter of justice. But such a new status for women, it is recognized, calls for more scientific methods in fixing wages. The old basis of sex, family obligation, tradition as to “men’s work” and “women’s work,” must be abandoned. Instead, some definite rate for a specified occupation, and where possible specified qualifications as to ability for such work, must be adopted. Moreover, it is increasingly recognized that the national welfare demands that money wages must be at least equal to the cost of living.
Such a program would place men and women more nearly on a strictly competitive basis, with the awards given to the most efficient. It would practically eliminate the constant “undercutting” now taking place and would introduce a more scientific element into the present chaotic wage market.
The insistent need for a thoroughgoing revision as to methods of determining wage rates is recognized by Mrs. Sidney Webb in her minority statement in the Report of the War Cabinet Committee on Women in Industry, 1919. Mrs. Webb recommends for immediate adoption four main principles. (1) The establishment of a national minimum rate of wage; (2) the determination of a standard or occupational rate above the national minimum; (3) the adjustment of money wages to the cost of living; and (4) wherever possible the requirement of efficiency qualifications. As to children and “young persons” in Great Britain the Fisher Education Act already has indicated a greater emphasis on training and there is hope that their employment will eventually become either subordinate to or, better still, a part of education.
The scarcity of labor now presents an appalling problem in several countries and one of the outstanding effects of the loss of human life in all war stricken nations is renewed interest in the protection of motherhood. In these countries measures are being adopted to conserve the lives of mothers and babies. Better medical and nursing care are recognized as essential, cash maternity benefits are increasing, maternity centers are being greatly extended and in England the endowment of motherhood is proposed.
This revised monograph, while attempting to present a fairly complete history of the industrial experience of women and children during and immediately following the war, is still necessarily tentative. Some years must elapse before it will be possible to measure the full effects of the world war upon the economic condition of women and children. This revision is brought out, however, at this time to supply a demand which quickly exhausted the first edition, and in the hope that it will be of service to those interested in the progress of women industrial workers.
Irene Osgood Andrews.
New York City, April, 1920.
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I Introductory Summary 1
II Work of Women and Children before the World War 14
III First Months of the World War—Labor’s Attitude
toward the War—Unemployment
among Women Workers 20
IV Extension of Employment of Women 28
V Organized Efforts to Recruit Women’s Labor 50
VI Sources of Additional Women Workers 75
VII Training for War Work 84
VIII Women and the Trade Unions 87
IX Control of Women Workers under the Munitions Act 92
X Wages 99
XI Hours of Work 126
XII Safety, Health and Comfort 146
XIII Effects of the War on the Employment of Children 167
XIV Effects of War Work on Women 191
XV Peace and Reconstruction 204
Appendices 229
Index 251