Gainfully Employed Women in Chicago

THE STUDY of gainfully occupied women in Chicago, the findings of which are presented in this article, was concerned with the work histories of white workers in the same geographical area, with different types of employment and working under different standards and legal regulations of employment. By studying the working lives of women in employment covered by the Social Security Act as well as women in two major types of noncovered occupations—domestic service and self-employment—it was possible to compare the pattern of employment and unemployment for different occupations. Such a comparison, generally difficult to obtain when material is available only from different areas or for different periods of time, seemed of interest, although the objectives of the study differed for the various groups. Of the 1,235 women in occupations other than domestic service and self-employment, more than nine-tenths were in employment covered by the act. The objective in studying their work histories was to permit comparison of problems concerning the insurability of women in general. The study of domestic workers was initiated to supplement information gathered in studies of Negro domestic workers in Baltimore, made in 1941, and in Philadelphia in 1940, concerning problems which might arise if coverage were extended to that occupational group. The self-employed women were studied to obtain evidence on the special problems inherent in coverage of this group of workers. The evidence obtained from the Philadelphia and Baltimore studies indicated that the problems inherent in extension of coverage, at least to domestic workers, were to a considerable degree the problems of women workers in general. E v i dence from the Chicago study supported this assumption. In the following discussion, an attempt is made to stress both similarities and differences in the employment experience and coverage problems for both occupational groups surveyed, those covered and these not covered.