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Boston, it is apparent that the two groups of women are fairly comparable. Making use, therefore, of the earnings and cost of living as shown by the results of this investigation (representing the larger and therein more reliable body of information) and the figures for the expenditure for clothes shown by the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, the results may be summarized in the following statement:

Weekly earnings....

Weekly cost of shelter, food, heat, light, and laundry..
Weekly cost of clothes..

$6.67

$3.80
1. 38

5. 18

Margin left for car fare, contributions to dependent relatives, emergencies, and p. 74 amusements..

1.49

Deducting, then, from the average earnings of all women, exclusive of waitresses, the cost of living and cost of clothes, there is left a margin of $1.49. Out of this come car fares, often 60 cents a week; contributions to relatives, which average 44 cents; doctor bills, and all incidental expenses. When it comes to amusements, most of the women have nothing left to spend. Of the 1,568 women who reported on this question, 62 per cent said that they spent no money for pleasure that it took all their earnings to meet their daily expenses. Thirty-eight per cent reported that they spent something, but only 450, or 22.3 per cent, gave a definite weekly amount. These sums varied from 5 cents to $2, but the average for the 450 was 37 cents.

In looking at the margin left after the cost of living (a) expenses and clothing have been deducted, it will be seen that the adrift waitresses have practically the same margin, if the wage only is considered. Their average earnings are $5.71,. their housing, heat, light, and laundry $2.52, leaving a balance of $3.19 (p. 196). Deducting $1.31 for clothes, there is left a margin of $1.88. When it is remembered that their tips often mean an additional weekly income, varying from 10 cents to $10, they at once appear to be better off financially than any others. An illustration of the girls' sentiment on the matter is shown by the statements of two waitresses. One was speaking of some unpleasant features of the work, but said in defense: "It's about the only way a girl can be sure of getting enough to eat and pay her room rent." The other, who had previously worked in a department store, bitterly arraigned the store work and said: "I've come to the conclusion that about the only way a girl can earn an honest living is as a waitress, where she gets her meals and something in

a The average earnings of the waitresses in the investigation of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union included a money estimate of the value of meals received, while the average earnings in this investigation did not. The figures, therefore, can not be compared, except by roughly deducting an estimate for food.

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CHAPTER IV.

LIVING CONDITIONS OF WAGE-EARNING WOMEN IN BOSTON, MASS.

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