1 86
THE AMEKICAX JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
but the women themselves were powerless to effect changes for tin- better. Partly in consequence 1 of this the mills began to be filled with a poorer order of workers. In three decades marked degeneration had taken place in the condition of the life of the operatives. At last public sympathy was aroused in their behalf, and efforts were made to make the life more endur- able for women, as it is around them and the children that sym- pathy and legislation have always centered. But notwithstand- ing the increased hardships, the number of women operatives grew greatly. The industrial system drew them in. The increase of women and the relative proportion of the sexes may be seen from the following table: 2
Year
Number employed
Relative proportion
Males over 16
Females over 15
iSso.
731,137 1,040,349 1,615,598
2,019,035 3,745,123
225,922 270,897 323,770 531,639 846,619
I female to 3.23 males I " " 3.8 " I " " 4.9
i ' 3-8 " I ' " 4.4 -
1860
1870
1880
1800
The above statistics are for the whole country. The actual increase has been steady, but relatively there has been a decrease since 1850 as will be seen. The number of women employed in factories is much greater in the New England and Middle States than in the rest of the country. In 1890 they formed 69 per cent, of the women so employed in the United States. The fol- lowing table for Massachusetts is interesting as showing the
mere;
Year
1865
1875 1890
Number of women Percentage
32,239 19 per cent, of men
83,207 25 per cent, of men
Women and children = 5 to - of all employed
In connection with factory laws, it is instructive to note the states employing the greatest number of women in manufacture.
' The opening of other occupations to women must be considered too.
The figures in columns 2 and 3 maybe found as follows: 1850-1880, Tenth
