TABLE 1. Number and Percentage of Time-workers and Piece-workers in the Three Groups of Industries, Classified by Sex and General Character of Work. III. EARNINGS OF EMPLOYEES AS SHOWN BY THE PAY-ROLLS. 1. INTRODUCTORY. The statistics of earnings are presented in this report on an hourly and a weekly basis. Hourly earnings afford a basis for more ready comparison because of the definite time element considered, while weekly earnings show the effect of working-hours on earnings. In obtaining the wage data sought, the field agents were instructed to secure actual earnings for a given representative week from the pay-rolls of the manufacturers. In addition they were directed to transcribe the hours worked. Naturally, a more complete record of "hours worked" is kept for time-workers, but in the case of employees paid by the piece for the performance of definite tasks, many firms keep no adequate records of hours. Occasionally, employees working on a piece-work basis hire their own assistants and pay them from the gross earnings received from the employers; in all such cases it was found impossible to ascertain the compensation of the assistants. As the amounts entered on the pay-rolls for 106 such workers did not represent individual earnings, they could not be included in the tables treating of earnings. 2. WEEKLY EARNINGS. The data as to earnings, obtained in this inquiry, are presented for 12,097 wage-earners, of whom 4,848, or 40.1 per cent, were males and 7,249, or 59.9 per cent, were females. These numbers were distributed through the industries under review in the following proportions: Paper box making, 1,733 males and 4,085 females; envelope making, 890 males and 1,642 females; manufacture of other paper products, 2,225 males and 1,522 females. Variations in weekly earnings are to a certain extent due to differences in the time schedules maintained by the different establishments. Due consideration should therefore be given to the average number of hours actually worked in making comparisons of earnings. In copying the desired wage data from the manufacturers' pay-rolls, it was found that in some instances no record could be procured of the actual hours worked by a certain number of employees; especially was this true in the case of piece-workers. Therefore, although information as applied to earnings was complete, such employees could not be included in those tabulations where earnings were shown in conjunction with the number of hours worked. Detailed tables1 have been prepared so as to show the classified weekly earnings of all groups of employees for whom records of weekly hours of labor were available. The facts are shown for all occupations aggregated, and separately for productive occupations; general occupations in the producing departments; and power, mechanical, and yard occupations. For each wage group the average number of hours worked in the representative week are given. These averages were computed by adding the data for individual employees and dividing the resulting total by the number of employees. It will be seen by reference to the above-mentioned tables that the group $12 to $12.99 represents the median wage group for the total number of males employed in paper box making as well as in the manufacture of "other paper products", while the group $14 to $14.99 represents the median wage group in the envelope making industry. For the female employees, the group $7 to $7.99 represents the median wage group both in the box making and the envelope making industries, while in the manufacture of "other paper products" the median wage group is $6 to $6.99. The number of wage-earners falling in the lower wage groups include not only those paid at a comparatively low rate and working full time (many of them children under 16 years of age), but also others paid at a higher rate and falling in this group because they had been absent from work at some time during the week. A. COMPARATIVE EARNINGS, CLASSIFIED BY SEX AND AGE OF EMPLOYEES. For a brief survey of the earnings of employees, a table of cumulative percentages affords an easy method for bringing out clearly the wage level of the various employees. In the following table the employees, male and female, are divided into two age groups, those under 16 years of age and those 16 years of age and over. In all branches of the work specified the difference between the earnings of males and of females 16 years of age and over is pronounced, and in nearly all branches the earnings of boys. under 16 years of age are greater than those of girls of corresponding ages. It should not, however, be concluded that for identical work the males received a higher rate of pay than females. On the contrary it was found that in but few instances were the males engaged on precisely the same kind of work as females. It will be seen that the range of actual wages for females as well as for males under 16 years of age is much the same in the various occupations, although it will readily be noted that considerably larger percentages of girls than of boys are found in the lower wage groups. 1 See Tables C and D on pages 67 to 80. TABLE 2. Average Weekly Earnings and Percentage of Employees Earning less than Specified Amounts a Week, Classified by Age Groups and Industries. CLASSIFICATION. ber of $6 $8 Weekly Under Under Under Under Under Under $15 and Em- Earn- $5 $12 $15 ployees ings $10 over 1 Not including 47 employees under 16 years of age and 59 employees over 16 years of age whose actual weekly earnings could not be determined. 2 All males. TABLE 2. Average Weekly Earnings and Percentage of Employees Earning less than Specified Amounts a Week, Classified by Age Groups and Industries — Concluded. Other Paper Products. Total Aver- CLASSIFICATION. Em- Earnployees ings ber of Weekly Under Under Under Under Under Under $15 and $5 $6 $8 $10 $12 $15 over Paper Box Making. Of the total number of male employees in paper box factories only 131, or 7.6 per cent, were boys under 16 years of age. The average weekly earnings for this age group were $5.68, while the actual earnings of nearly one-half (45.8 per cent) were $6.00 or over in the representative week. The average weekly earnings, as determined for the 1,602 males 16 years of age and over in the industry, were found to be $13.03; approximately one-third (30.5 per cent) were paid $15.00 and over. If the average earnings ($12.47) of all the male employees be compared with the average ($13.03) for those only who were 16 years of age and over, the effect of the wages of boys under 16 years upon the general average earnings of males becomes apparent. Slightly over one-seventh (14.9 per cent) of the 4,085 female employees whose earnings were reported were under 16 years of age, their average weekly earnings being $5.04. The proportion of this group of workers in the lowest wage group is seen to be large, 57.5 per cent earning less than |