But the supposed injustice to woman is illusory. Trade Boards will not
knowingly fix women's rates at a point at which they can undercut men.
Nor if women are properly represented on them will they fix their rates
at a point at which women will be discarded in favour of male workers.
In industries where both sexes are employed, if the women workers are of
equal value with the men in the eyes of the employer, they will receive
equal pay; if of less value, then, but only then, proportionately less
pay. It is because women have received not proportionately but quite
disproportionately less pay that they have been undercutting men, and
the Trade Boards are--very gradually, I admit--correcting this error.
For well-known historical reasons women have been at an economic
disadvantage, and their work has secured less than its worth as compared
with the work of men. The tendency of any impartial adjustment of wages
is to correct this disadvantage, because any such system will attempt to
secure equality of opportunity for employment for all the classes with
which it is dealing. But it is admitted that there is a "lag" in women's
wages which has been but partially made good.
If the standard wage must provide for a family, what must be the size of
the family? Discussion on the subject generally assumes a "statistical"
family of man and wife and three children under age. This is criticised
on the ground that it does not meet the human needs of larger families
and is in excess for smaller ones. The reply to this is that a general
rate can only meet general needs. Calculation easily shows that the
minimum suited for three children is by no means extravagant if there
should be but two children or only one, while it gives the bachelor or
newly married couple some small chance of getting a little beforehand
with the world. On the other hand, it is impossible to cater on general
principles for the larger needs of individuals. The standard wage gives
an approximation to what is needed for the ordinary family, and the
balance must be made good by other provision, whether public or private
I will not here discuss. I conclude that for adult men the minimum is
reasonably fixed at a figure which would meet the "human needs" of a
family of five, and that for women it should be determined by the value
of their services relatively to that of men.[1]
[Footnote 1: I am assuming that this value is sufficient to cover the
needs of the independent woman worker. If not, these needs must also be
taken into account. As a fact both considerations are present to the
minds of the Trade Boards. A Board would not willingly fix a wage which
would either (_a_) diminish the opportunity of women to obtain
employment, or (_b_) enable them to undercut men, or (_c_) fail to
provide for them if living alone.]
How far have Trade Boards actually succeeded in fixing such a minimum?
Mr. Seebohm Rowntree has put forward two sets of figures based on
pre-war prices, and, of course, requiring adjustment for the changes
that have subsequently taken place. One of these figures was designed
for a subsistence wage, the other for a "human needs" wage. The latter
was a figure which Mr. Rowntree himself did not expect to see reached in
the near future. I have compared these figures with the actual minima
for unskilled workers fixed by the Boards during 1920 and 1921, and I
find that the rates fixed are intermediate between the two. The
subsistence rate is passed, but the higher rate not attained, except for
some classes of skilled workers. The Boards have in general proceeded
with moderation, but the more serious forms of underpayment have been
suppressed so far as inspection has been adequately enforced. The ratio
of the female to the male minimum averages 57.2 per cent., which may
seem unduly low, but it must be remembered that in the case of women's
wages a much greater leeway had to be made good, and there can be little
doubt that the increases secured for female workers considerably
exceeded those obtained for men.