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working for these reasons. have shown similar results. Among married women, a small group (13 percent) stated they were working for definite objectives, such as buying a home. Only 3 percent of the married and 2 percent of the single women stated they were working from choice and not necessity-in order to be independent, to maintain professional skills, or simply because they like working. (See chart I.)

Previous studies by the Women's Bureau

A substantial number of women were the sole wage earners for a family group. Almost 90 percent of the women interviewed lived in family groups, and of these women 16 percent were the sole wage earners in the family. (See charts II and III.)

Among the widowed and divorced women who lived in family groups, almost half were sole wage earners. The proportion of the married and of the single women who were sole wage earners of family groups was smaller, 16 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

Women workers' families were found to be large; 60 percent of the women were members of families of four or more persons.

CHART II.-WOMEN LIVING WITH FAMILY AND WOMEN

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CHART III-WAGE EARNING RESPONSIBILITIES OF WOMEN LIVING WITH FAMILY

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OCCUPATIONAL CHANGES DURING THE PREWAR, WAR, AND POSTWAR PERIODS

Although the employment experiences of the women interviewed cannot reflect in detail changes in the employment status of all Bridgeport women, they do reveal some general trends typical of a large group of Bridgeport women.

Most of the women interviewed were factory operatives, a fact which supports the data previously presented showing that the bulk of the women employed in Bridgeport before the war, during the war, and since the war have been factory workers.

Of the women who were employed in the different periods, the proportion employed in specified occupations in each period remained relatively constant, although a smaller proportion was employed in personal-service occupations in the war period than before the war. (See chart IV.)

Among the women interviewed in February 1946, about 10 percent had left the labor market since the end of the war.

THE WOMEN'S REPORTS ON THEIR WEEKLY EARNINGS IN THE WAR PERIOD AND IN FEBRUARY 1946

The end of the war meant decreased earnings for many women workers. Cancellation of war contracts resulted in plant shut-downs, lay-offs, shorter hours, and elimination of overtime. Reconversion to peacetime products was sometimes accompanied by lowered incentive

rates.

More than half (54 percent) of the women interviewed experienced a change in weekly earnings between the war period and February 1946. Most of the women experiencing a change in weekly earnings had been subjected to a cut, but a few enjoyed increased earnings. Among 510 women who reported earnings from full-time jobs both during the war and in February 1946:

44 percent were earning less per week in 1946 than they had earned during the war.

10 percent were earning more.

46 percent were earning the same amount. (See chart V.)

Not only was there a larger number of decreases in weekly earnings than of increases, but the amounts of the decreases were considerably greater than the amounts of the increases. Only a fourth of the increases were more than 25 percent, while more than half the decreases were greater than 25 percent. (See chart VI.)

Differences between war and postwar earnings reflected chiefly reductions in hours worked and job changes. (For information on hourly rates and earnings on particular jobs, see the preceding section.) Factory operatives experienced more serious cuts in weekly earnings than did clerical employees, both in the proportion of workers affected and in the amount of earnings lost. Ten of every 20 factory operatives were earning less in February 1946 than they had earned during the war period, and 4 of each 20 were earning at least a third less. Only 6 of every 20 clerical workers suffered a decrease in earnings, and only 1 in each 20 was earning at least a third less.

CHART V.-CHANGES IN WEEKLY EARNINGS SINCE THE WAR

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