Page:Wages in US 1908-1910.djvu/52

Rh

Following the contrasts, presented in the last section, between the wages paid in the industries employing the largest number of adult males and those employing the largest number of adult females, an attempt will now be made to compare the wages of males and of females in five industries employing equal proportions of males and females. It is commonly assumed that the presence of a large proportion of women in an industry is a sure sign of a low-paid industry, or, put differently, that the women, by entering certain industries, lower wages through their active competition with men. To what extent the presence of women causes or, perhaps better, indicates low wages, it will be the purpose of this section to determine.

Figures purporting to show the relative wages of men and women are, of necessity, unsatisfactory, since the amount and quality of product, and the skill required in production, may all vary from one sex to the other. Hence it is unfair to conclude, because men and women are working in the same industry and receiving different wages, that therefore discrimination exists against