CODEBOOK AND USER'S MANUAL: A SURVEY OF 500 WOMEN WAGE-EARNERS IN INDIANAPOLIS, 1893 REPORTED IN THE FIFTH BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS Version 2.2 April 8, 1993 Susan B. Carter Roger L. Ransom Richard Sutch Hongcheng Zhao Historical Labor Statistics Project Institute of Business and Economic Research University of California Berkeley, California 94720 This codebook is a preliminary draft. The data described here and accompanying this version of the codebook is still in a preliminary format and may contain errors. Those wishing to use this data for research purposes should check with the authors for an update. Neither the collectors of the data or those sponsoring the data collection wish to bear responsibility for the use to which others may make of this data. The financial support of the National Science Foundation, the All-UC Group in Economic History, and of the Institute of Business and Economic Research and the Laboratory for Historical Research, both of the University of California, is appreciated. For further description of the Historical Labor Statistics Project, discussion of the social, economic, and political context in which the data were collected, and an assessment of data quality, see Susan B. Carter, Roger L. Ransom, and Richard Sutch, "The Historical Labor Statistics Project at the University of California," Historical Methods 24 (2) (Spring 1991): 52-65 and Susan B. Carter, Roger L. Ransom, and Richard Sutch, "Doing the Wright Thing: Carroll Wright and the State Labor Statistics Movement." Paper Presented at the Conference on Historical Labor Statistics, Lawrence, Kansas, June 1991. Suggested Citation: Susan B. Carter, Roger L. Ransom, Richard Sutch, and Hongcheng Zhao. Codebook and User's Manual: Survey of 500 Women Wage-Earners in Indianapolis, 1893; Reported in the Fifth Biennial Report of the Indiana Department of Statistics. Berkeley: Institute of Business and Economic Research, 1993. SURVEY OF 500 WOMEN WAGE-EARNERS IN INDIANAPOLIS, 1893 The "almost ubiquitous presence of women in the field of labor" and dissatisfaction with figures provided by the Eleventh Federal Census prompted the Indiana Department of Statistics to conduct its own investigation "into the conditions surrounding female labor as a class" in the City of Indianapolis.[1] The focus was on the "'working girl', corresponding to the 'working man'.... This would exclude all professional classes, teachers, musicians, physicians, dentists, writers, nurses, etc., or those engaged as proprietors, or in any independent business."[2] In 1894, the Bureau published the results of its investigation in its Fifth Biennial Report. Coverage and selection of respondents appear to have been dictated by a desire for a stratified sample. The authors of the Report state that the five hundred female respondents were "chosen to include various grades of skill and all possible varieties of work done by women in twenty industries in which they are found." [3] "[T]he number of dress-makers in Indianapolis must run well into the thousands. The number of employes visited in this occupation was not, therefore, greater than in all other occupations, for the reason the economic condition was more nearly the same through a large number of establishments than in other lines in which fewer women were employed...."[4] Within industries the same selection principal was applied: "Girls were visited at their place of employment, a few selected to represent all grades of work and skill,..."[5] Interviews appear to have been conducted with great care. Most interviews were conducted at the workplace, and respondents "usually instructed by a foreman to give all replies accurately." [6] The Bureau goes on to note, The inquiry was not, for the reason it was made in the 'shop,' hastily made. In many factories work was done by the piece, and advantage was taken of a waiting season to talk at some length with operatives. In many kinds of work hands were so skillfull the work was done mechanically while the girl talked as freely as if sitting at leisure. In some places where work was absorbing, and interruptions a source of delay, the noon hour was made the time for visiting, when girls were able and willing to respond fully to inquiries. In some kinds of work no appreciable delay was caused by stopping for a few moments, the work being taken by other hands.[7] Where employers were less cooperative, "...the agent made a point of securing a full quota of reports in a different, thought no less reliable, manner than the one above described, by talking with operative out of hours, as at the close of the day's work."[8] The care of the surveyors show in the fact that each of the five hundred respondents answered all questions. The only missing values are for typists who apparently were not asked how many minutes they had for lunch. The exact date of the survey is not given although references to depression conditions, and to a shortening of hours in May 1893, and a publication date in 1894 suggest the latter half of 1893.[9] The Historical Labor Statistics Project has transformed these data into machine-readable for using the procedures and codes outlined in the Codebook. Table 1 lists the questions asked in the survey and the variable names assigned to each response in the survey. Table 2 lists footnotes to the responses. Tables 3 through 32 present descriptive statistics on the values and distribution of responses to the questions, including, where necessary, the numeric codes used in entering the data into the computer. Since version 2.1, some of the variable codes and most of the variable names have been changed. Data changes have been made only in WKSVAC, VACPAY and VACNPAY. Users are reminded to be aware of these changes. The data from this sample of 500 women wage-earners in Indianapolis in 1893 has been archived at the Laboratory for Historical Research at the University of California, Riverside. For additional information regarding the availability of these data please contact: Professor Roger Ransom Department of History University of California Riverside, CA 92521 FAX [909] 787-5299 NOTES 1. Indiana Department of Statistics, Fifth Biennial Report for 1893-94, (Indianapolis: Wm. B. Burford, Contractor for State Printing and Binding, 1894), p. 3. 2. Ibid., p. 3. 3. Ibid., p. 5. 4. Ibid., p. 7. 5. Ibid., p. 4. 6. Ibid., p. 4. 7. Ibid., p. 4. 8. Ibid., pp. 4-5. 9. Ibid., pp. 22,43. Table 1 Questions Asked of Respondents Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Name Description PAGE Page in Report on which Record Begins ID Case Number SUB_ID Case Number within Industry IND Industry OCC Occupation POB Nativity, United States PLIVE Are Parents Living or Dead? NPARUS Number of Parents Born in the US NPARGR Number of Parents Born in Germany NPARIR Number of Parents Born in Ireland NPAREN Number of Parents Born in England NPAROT Number of Parents Born in other Countries REARED Where Reared in City or Country FOCC Father's Occupation MS Marital Status KIDS Number of Children WHLIVE Where Living, at Home or Board AGE Age AGEWK Age Began Work YRSOCC Years in Present Occupation NOOCC Number of Occupations Followed HOURS Working Hours Weekdays HRSSAT Working Hours Saturdays WLOSTSIC Weeks Idle, Vacation VACPAY Weeks Idle, Vacation with Pay VACNPAY Weeks Idle, Vacation without Pay WKSSIC Weeks Idle, From Sickness NOWORK Weeks Idle, From Lack of Work LUNCH Time Allowed at Noon HOUSEWK Does Housework at Home SEW Does Own Sewing WAGEWK Wages per Week WKSPAID Number of Weeks Received Wages past Year OTHINC Annual Income outside Wages BOARD Amount Paid per Week for Board RENT Amount Paid for House Rent per Month HELPS Helps Support Others, Yes or No CARFARE Regular Cost of Car Fare per Week HEALTH Work has Injurious Effects on Health DOCTOR Amount Paid in Doctors Bills past Year LAUNDRY Cost of Laundry per Week SAVINGS Amount Saved past Year TOTEAR Total Earnings past Year Table 2 Footnotes in Tables Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 IND w/ code SUB_ID Variable Footnote 2 Candy 6 WKSSIC Sickness in family 3 Carpet 5 RENT Pays half the rent 3 Carpet 9 NOWORK At home 5 Chain 1 SAVINGS Made and saved outside of wages in factory 7 Cotton mills 1 WKSSIC In family 7 Cotton mills 2 NOWORK laid off one month for new engine 7 Cotton mills 13 WKSVAC In school 7 Cotton mills 14 NOWORK Learning millinery trade 7 Cotton mills 14 TOTEAR Spent six months learning a trade, got no wages 8 Dress-making 19 BOARD Sister pays board 8 Dress-making 20 WKSSIC Of mother Table 3 Industries Reported [IND] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Code Response Frequency 1 Card Factories 20 2 Candy Factories 10 3 Carpet Establishments 10 4 Cashiers and Book-Keepers 10 5 Chain and Stamping Works 10 6 Cigar Factories 10 7 Cotton Mills 20 8 Dress-Making Establishments 30 9 Hair-Dressing Establishments 10 10 Laundries 40 11 Mercantile Pursuits 100 12 Millinery Establishments 30 13 Paper Box Factories 10 14 Pork-Packing Establishments 10 15 Printing and Publishing Houses 60 16 Shirts, Pants and Overalls 60 17 Stenographers and Typewriters 20 18 Telephone Exchanges 10 19 Tile Factories 20 20 Woolen Mills 10 Total 500 Table 4 Occupations of Respondents [OCC] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Code Response Frequency 1 Bookkeeper 6 2 Bookkeeper/Cashier 2 3 Box maker 12 4 Business manager 1 5 Candy maker 10 6 Canvasser 4 7 Carpet sewer 5 8 Cash girl 4 9 Cashier 6 10 Chain worker 10 11 Cigar maker 10 12 Compositor 3 13 Compositor, Forelady 1 14 Copy holder 1 15 Cutter 1 16 Draper 2 17 Draw frame runner 3 18 Dressmaker 30 19 Edger 5 20 Enameler 2 21 Feeder 7 22 Finisher 6 23 Folder 9 24 Forewoman, Forelady 9 25 General hand, Forelady 1 26 Glazer 5 27 Hairdresser 10 28 Inspector 3 29 Ironer 25 30 Maker 12 31 Marker 1 32 Numberer 1 33 Pager 3 34 Perforator 1 35 Placer 3 36 Plater 3 37 Press feeder 5 38 Presser 5 39 Proofreader 1 40 Puncher 4 41 Retoucher pictures 3 42 Ruler 2 43 Saleswoman 89 44 Seamstress 44 45 Sewer 11 46 Sorter 14 47 Speeder tender 2 48 Spinner 6 49 Spooler 3 50 Stamper 4 51 Starcher 9 52 Stenographer/Typist 20 53 Stitcher 5 54 Telephone operator 10 55 Tier 2 56 Tipper 2 57 Trimmer 20 58 Trimmer, Forewoman 2 59 Twister 1 60 Warper 2 61 Washer 2 62 Weaver 11 63 Wrapper 4 Total 500 Table 5 Place of Birth [POB] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Code Response Frequency 1 United States 471 2 Other countries 29 Total 500 Table 6 Is Mother or Father Living or Dead? [PLIVE] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Code Response Frequency 1 Both living 249 2 Both dead 54 3 Only mother living 163 4 Only father living 34 Total 500 Table 7 Nativity of Parents Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 # of Frequency parents U.S. Germany Ireland England Other or code [NPARUS] [NPARGR] [NPARIR] [NPAREN] [NPAROT] -9(No response) 200 393 387 466 481 1 parent 53 31 29 19 15 2 247 76 84 15 4 Total 500 500 500 500 500 Table 8 Where are Reared? [REARED] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 1 1 City 420 2 Country 79 Total 500 Table 9 Father's Occupation [FOCC] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Code Response Frequency 1 Laborer 157 2 Mecahnic 200 3 Tradesman 75 4 Professional man 28 5 Miscellaneous 40 Total 500 Table 10 Marital Status [MS] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Code Response Frequency 1 Single 449 2 Married 48 3 Widowed 3 Total 500 Table 11 Number of Children [KIDS] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Number or code Frequency -9(No response) 465 1 child 19 2 6 3 7 5 2 6 1 Total 500 Table 12 Where Living? [WHLIVE] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Code Response Frequency 1 At home 431 2 Boarding 69 Total 500 Table 13 Age [AGE] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Age Frequency 13 - 15 year old 13 16 - 20 162 19 - 25 174 26 - 30 81 31 - 35 34 36 - 40 14 41 - 45 8 46 - 50 7 51 - 73 7 Total 500 Table 14 Age Began Work [AGEWK] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Age Frequency 10 - 11 years oold 13 12 - 13 47 14 - 15 133 16 - 17 151 18 - 19 72 20 - 21 42 22 - 23 18 24 - 25 8 26 - 27 3 28 - 50 13 Total 500 Table 15 Years in Present Occupation [YRSOCC] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Years Frequency 1 - 2 years 164 3 - 4 121 5 - 6 76 7 - 8 43 9 - 10 49 11 - 12 16 13 - 14 10 15 - 16 8 17 - 18 3 19 - 20 6 21 - 32 4 Total 500 Table 16 Number of Occupation Followed [NOOCC] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Number Frequency 1 occupation 372 2 117 3 8 4 2 5 1 Total 500 Table 17 Daily Working Hours Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Frequency Hours Weekdays Saturdays [HOURS] [HRSSAT] 4.0 - 5.0 hours 0 21 5.1 - 6.0 1 22 6.1 - 7.0 1 12 7.1 - 8.0 40 96 8.1 - 9.0 61 121 9.1 - 10.0 376 87 10.1 - 11.0 16 20 11.1 - 12.0 3 0 12.1 - 13.0 0 54 13.1 - 14.0 2 16 14.1 - 15.3 0 51 Total 500 500 Table 18 Weeks Idle Last Year from Vacation Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Frequency Weeks Vacation Vac. w/ pay Vac. w/o pay or code [WKSVAC] [VACPAY] [VACNPAY] -9(No reponse) 236 169 105 -8(Not asked in the survey) 200 300 300 1 week 17 19 28 2 21 12 38 3 12 0 12 4 7 0 8 5 0 0 3 6 2 0 2 7 and over 5 0 4 Total 500 500 500 Table 19 Weeks Idle from Sickness and Lack of Work Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Frequency Weeks Sickness Lack of work or code [WLOSTSIC] [NOWORK] -9(No response) 407 233 1 - 4 weeks 58 99 5 - 8 18 67 9 - 12 6 25 13 - 16 6 21 17 - 20 1 24 21 - 24 1 4 25 - 28 1 22 29 - 39 2 5 Total 500 500 Table 20 Time Allowed at Noon [LUNCH] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Hours or code Frequency -9(No response) 20 -8(Not asked in the survey) 70 0.50 hour 34 0.67 29 0.75 11 1.00 336 Total 500 Table 21 Does Homework and Own Sewing at Home? Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Frequency Code Response Homework Own sewing [HOUSEWK] [SEW] -9 No response 290 320 2 Yes 210 180 Total 500 500 Table 22 Wages per Week [WAGEWK] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Value Frequency $1.25 - 2.00 12 2.01 - 3.00 49 3.01 - 4.00 90 4.01 - 5.00 116 5.01 - 6.00 106 6.01 - 7.00 36 7.01 - 8.00 32 8.01 - 9.00 15 9.01 - 10.00 17 10.01 - 30.00 27 Total 500 Table 23 Number of Weeks Received Wages Past Year [WKSPAID] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Weeks Frequency 13 - 24 weeks 8 25 - 28 27 29 - 32 21 33 - 36 25 37 - 40 48 41 - 44 56 45 - 48 93 49 - 52 220 53 - 58 2 Total 500 Table 24 Amount Paid for per Week for Board [BOARD] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Board or code Frequency -9(No response) 267 $0.50 - 1.00 6 1.01 - 2.00 76 2.01 - 3.00 98 3.01 - 4.00 34 4.01 - 5.00 11 5.01 - 6.00 4 6.01 - 7.00 2 7.01 - 8.00 2 Total 500 Table 25 Amount Paid for per Month for Rent [RENT] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Rent or code Frequency -9(No response) 457 $2.50 - 5.00 14 5.01 - 10.00 20 10.01 - 15.00 7 15.01 - 20.00 2 Total 500 Table 26 Help Surpport Others [HELPS] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Code Response Frequency 1 No 254 2 Yes 246 Total 500 Table 27 Regular Cost of Car Fare per Week [CARFARE] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Cost or code Frequency -9(No response) 305 $0.10 - 0.20 7 0.21 - 0.30 4 0.31 - 0.40 73 0.41 - 0.50 1 0.51 - 0.60 106 0.61 - 0.70 0 0.71 - 1.20 4 Total 500 Table 28 Effects of Work on Health [HEALTH] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Code Response Frequency 1 No 438 2 Yes 62 Total 500 Table 29 Amount Paid in Doctor's Bills Past Year [DOCTOR] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Value or code Frequency -9(No response) 370 $1.00 - 5.00 44 5.01 - 10.00 33 10.01 - 15.00 19 15.01 - 20.00 9 20.01 - 25.00 8 25.01 - 30.00 0 30.01 - 35.00 4 35.00 - 200.00 13 Total 500 Table 30 Cost of Laundry per Week [LAUNDRY] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Cost or code Frequency -9(No response) 461 $0.05 - 0.10 1 0.11 - 0.20 3 0.21 - 0.30 10 0.31 - 0.40 4 0.41 - 0.50 14 0.51 - 1.00 7 Total 500 Table 31 Amount Saved Last Year [SAVINGS] Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Value or code Frequency -9(No response) 399 $12.00 - 25.00 22 25.01 - 50.00 34 50.01 - 75.00 16 75.01 - 100.00 6 100.01 - 125.00 7 125.01 - 150.00 5 150.01 - 175.00 2 175.00 - 200.00 4 200.01 - 300.00 5 Total 500 Table 32 Non-Wage Income and Total Income Survey of 500 Indianapolis Women Wage-Earners, 1893 Frequency Value Non-wage income Total income or code [OTHINC] [TOTEAR] -9(No response) 480 0 $6.00 - 50.00 8 2 51.01 - 100.00 6 28 100.01 - 150.00 2 70 150.01 - 200.00 2 94 200.01 - 250.00 1 85 250.01 - 300.00 1 85 300.01 - 350.00 0 44 350.01 - 400.00 0 30 400.01 - 450.00 0 20 450.01 - 500.00 0 10 500.01 - 550.00 0 10 550.01 - 600.00 0 5 600.01 - 1,440.00 0 17 Total 500 500