Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/446

 43 2 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

Woman's natural disadvantage, due to her lower productivity, is increased by the force of custom. Where competitive rates of wages prevail, as in the textile industries of the South, women's wages are often equal to those of men.

In spite of the lower productivity of women, there seems to be a tendency to increase their employment in occupations in which they have been at work, as well as to employ them in new fields of industry. This is partly due to woman's greater tractability. It may also happen that the wages of women are lower, when compared with those of men, than is their productivity. Women's lower standard of living, their partial dependence on other means of support, and their lack of combination prevent them from obtaining their true economic wages.

Finally, it must be repeated that these conclusions apply only to manual work. Doubtless they are in a degree applicable also to the higher callings ; but here woman's inferiority is usually less, and the influence of custom, of the standard of liv- ing, and of the irregular and temporary character of her employment is much greater. M. B. HAMMOND, "Women's Wages," in Political Science Quarterly, September, 1900. E. M.