Paying for Better Jobs?: Measuring US Working Conditions and Tradeoffs in the 1920s

Vincent Delabastita, Radboud University
Meredith Paker, Grinnell College
Benjamin Schneider, Oslo Metropolitan University

In competitive labor markets, compensating differentials are expected to offset work disamenities and incentivize labor supply for more dangerous and unpleasant jobs. We digitize reports of the US Department of Labor Women's Bureau from the 1920s, covering hundreds of thousands of workers in 13 states, and use them to analyze working conditions and how workers traded off pay against other aspects of jobs such as working time, safety, weekend work, lunch breaks, and physical amenities. We also analyze and compare pay distributions between sectors and career earnings profiles. As the reports paid particular attention to women's labor, they provide a window on gendered differences in job quality and work experiences.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 211. Work, Technology, and Wellbeing