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.[1]
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 Clerks in Certain Industries
| Industry and Occupation | Total Number Employed |
Per Cent, of Male Clerks Receiving Wage Rates per Year of Less Than | |||
| $500 | $750 | $l,000 | $1,250 | ||
| Bell Telephone System (clerks) | 2,650 | 9 | 36 | 71 | 95 |
| New York Street Railway (general office clerks) | 423 | 8 | 27 | 74 | . . . . |
| New York Gas and Electric Utilities (clerks and salesmen) | 1,515 | 9 | 47 | 76 | 91 |
| Other clerical employees | 440 | 22 | 57 | 85 | 93 |
| Cashiers and bookkeepers | 587 | 2 | 5 | 48 | 83 |
Table II
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 | ||
| $500 | $750 | $1,000 | ||
| Telephone clerks | 1,852 | 54 | 95 | 99 |
| Telephone operators | 16,129 | 87 | 99 | . . . . |
| Stenographers | 377 | 13 | 60 | 96 |
| New York Street Railway | 154 | 66 | 85 | 99 |
| New York Gas and Electric Utilities (clerks and saleswomen) | 252 | 29 | 83 | 95 |
| Stenographers and typists | 209 | 14 | 59 | 89 |
| Washington department stores | 252 | 23 | 82 | . . . . |
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 receive 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 proportion of women who receive less than $750 for clerical work is approximately 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 receive less than this figure, while a considerable proportion of the men receive more than $1,000. In only a small proportion of the instances
- ↑ "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.
