About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

81 Monthly Lab. Rev. 23 (1958)
The Workweek in American Industry 1850-1956

handle is hein.journals/month81 and id is 47 raw text is: The Workweek in American Industry 1850-1956 JOSEPH S. ZEISEL* ONE of the most persistent and significant trends in the American economy in the past century has been the continuing long-term decline in the work- week in industry. From an average of about 66 hours worked in 1850--the equivalent of 11 hours a day, 6 days a week-the workweek in non- agricultural industries declined to nearly 40 hours in 1956-generally 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. A similar sharp reduction in the workweek on farms has also been reported. This dramatic reduction in hours worked has been accomplished by taking part of the fruits of increasing produc- tivity in the form of greater leisure. The length of the workweek is a basic factor in measuring the Nation's economic well-being. The amount of goods and services that we pro- duce, when related to the number of persons at work and the length of the workweek, provides an estimate of our productiveness. The amount of leisure that we can afford should be considered as an element of our standard of living. Goods and services, produced and purchased by time worked, make up part of our high standard of living; leisure, also purchased, in effect, by work, is another part. Both income and leisure must be considered when assessing the level of living of the American population. Source of Workweek Data Not much comprehensive, reliable information on hours of work is available for the period before World War II. Data for individual industries have been compiled for a number of decades and rough estimates made of overall hours worked in broad sectors of the economy for the past century. One such series of estimates on average weekly hours worked,1 covering the period 1850-1940, is presented in chart 1. These data are rough at best. Also, as with all long-term series, the com- parability of the data is compromised by changing employment classifications and industry defini- tions. Nevertheless, the series provides a reason- ably satisfactory indication of levels and long- term trend.2 For more recent years, the U. S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics has published annual data on average weekly hours for manufac- turing industries, starting in 1919, and for mining, contract construction, and for a few sectors of transportation and public utilities, trade, and service, starting at various later dates.8 In 1941, the Census Bureau began collecting data on hours of work for all employed persons (agricultural and nonagricultural workers, in- cluding groups excluded from Bureau of Labor Statistics figures-workers in agriculture, the self- employed, unpaid family workers, and household workers). The Census data are collected through a household sample survey, and attempt to meas- ure all of the hours worked by individuals in the survey week. The Bureau of Labor Statistics data come from payroll records of establishments and measure the number of hours worked in a given industry. Both of these types of data are valuable; BLS data have the advantage of being fairly precise estimates of average hjurs worked by industry, obtained from a relatively large sample of estab- lishments. *Census data, on the other hand, have broader coverage and provide estimates of all hours worked by individuals; however, they are not based on records and the respondents some- times cannot remember or do not know the hours worked by other members of the household. *Of the Diviion of Manpower and Employment statistics Bureau of Labor sttile. t . Frederic Dewhrst and AsOociates, Amealm's Need and Rouree - A No Survey (New York, The Twentieth Century Fund, 1955), p. 1073. ' Other estimates of hours of work for the period 1840 through 1890 are avail- abl from a ecal Congressional report (S. Rept. 1394, 52d Cent., 2d sm., 1883, Part 1, pD. 178-179) and, for 1880-139O, from Real Wages in the United. States, 1890-192, by Paul H. Douglas (Bosaton, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1930). Both of these sourcm agree in general with the trend of bous Indicated in cbort 1. ' For a detailed lit of Industris fur which hours data ore available plus information on date of origin, ee Guide to Employmont Statistics of BL8- Employment, Hours and Earning, Labor Turnovor (Burveu of Labor statiutics, 19M). 28

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most