Women of the workforce

WOMEN OF THE WORKFORCE

EARLY FACTORY CONDITIONS

LONG HOURS◦12-16 HOUR DAYS

WORKED IN CRAMPED QUARTERS◦LIMITED ROOM TO OPERATE PHYSICALLY HAMPERED AND WEAKENED EMPLOYEES

EARLY FACTORY CONDITIONS

MANY RESTRICTIONS◦BATHROOM BREAKS◦CONVERSATING

DIRTY AND UNSAFE CONDITIONS◦EXAMPLE: MANY DESTROYED THEIR

LUNGS THROUGH INHALING DIRTY AIR

DISEASE SPREAD AMONGST WORKERS

EARLY FACTORY CONDITIONS

MANY DIED IN FACTORIES◦EXHAUSTION◦SWINGING EQUIPMENT◦DISEASE

EARLY FACTORY CONDITIONS

Dear Father, I received your letter on Thursday the 14th with much

pleasure. I am well, which is one comfort. My life and health are spared while others are cut off. Last Thursday one girl fell down and broke her neck, which caused instant death. She was going in or coming out of the mill and slipped down, it being very icy. The same day a man was killed by the [railroad] cars. Another had nearly all of his ribs broken. Another was nearly killed by falling down and having a bale of cotton fall on him. Last Tuesday we were paid. In all I had six dollars and sixty cents paid $4.68 for board. With the rest I got me a pair of rubbers and a pair of 50 cent shoes. Next payment I am to have a dollar a week beside my board...

-Excerpt from a Letter from Mary Paul, Lowell mill girl, December 21, 1845.

MIDDLE CLASS WOMEN

BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY:MARRIED WOMEN WERE EXPECTED TO

STAY HOME

LIVE A DOMESTIC LIFESTYLE

◦ COOK◦ CLEAN◦ TAKE CARE OF THE CHILDREN

MIDDLE CLASS WOMEN

A Wife's Need (Godey's Lady's Book)

Without ignoring accomplishments, or casting a slur upon any of the graces which serve to adorn society, we must

look deeper for the acquirements which serve to form our ideal of a perfect woman. The companion of man should

be able thoroughly to sympathize with him — her intellect should be as well developed as his. We do not believe in the mental inequality of the sexes; we believe that the man and the woman have each a work to do, for which they are specially qualified, and in which they are called to excel. Though the work is not the same, it is equally

noble, and demands an equal exercise of capacity.

From Godey's Lady's Book, Vol. LIII, July to December, 1856.

WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE

1845 – 1960s:FACTORY WORKERS

◦ GARMENT OR TEXTILESHOUSEKEEPERSTEACHING NURSINGDEPARTMENT STORES WORKERSCLERICAL WORKERS

WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE

1970S - CURRENT:ATTEND COLLEGE AND GRADUATE

SCHOOLS◦ EXAMPLE: SIENA HEIGHTS UNIVERSITY –

FEMALE ONLY COLLEGEHEALTH CARELAWBUSINESSDENTALBEGAN TO ENTER FIELDS DOMINATED

BY MEN

WOMEN’S LABOR HISTORY TIMELINE

TIMELINE

WAGE GAP

1830s PHILADELPHIA:WOMEN MADE AN AVERAGE OF $2.25 PER

WEEK WHILE MEN MADE AN AVERAGE $6.50-7.00 PER WEEK

WAGE GAPJUNE 10, 1963:

CONGRESS PASSES THE EQUAL PAY ACT, MAKING IT ILLEGAL FOR EMPLOYERS TO PAY A WOMAN LESS THAN WHAT A MAN WOULD RECEIVE FOR THE SAME JOB.

WAGE GAP

THE WAGE GAP OVER TIME