26

THE FIVE-DAY WEEK

to work a menace to health and continued vigor; and that
in the interest of a present and future physically sound working
 force of high efficiency, an antidote must be found for
this strain.
Another reason frequently cited for the change to a fiveday
 week is the elimination of an uneconomical Saturday
half-day. There are always certain fixed costs inherent in
placing a plant in operation, a fact that is particularly true
when the plant operates its own power house. When these
costs and the usual costs of overhead are spread over a halfday’s
 production, especially when it is a quite general experience
 of employers that the half Saturday production is
usually below a half of the output of a normal week day,
unit production costs naturally rise.
Moreover, efficiency on Saturday forenoons is likely to be
below normal for a number of reasons. In the first place
there is the problem of poorer attendance, particularly in
plants that employ considerable numbers of women. The
loss in wage for only a half day’s lay-off from work is,
in many instances, insufficient to overcome the inertia
against going to work, especially when the daily trip to the
plant involves inconvenience and expense or consumes considerable
 time. Married women also find it advantageous
to take the Saturday forenoons for house cleaning and for
catching up with their domestic duties. In addition, during
the open months of the year, a Saturday forenoon lay-off
permits the enjoyment of a longer week-end outing; and
in these days, when the low-priced automobile has brought
camping and sight-seeing trips within the reach of almost
every one, this is no small factor. While these difficulties
have long been recognized and many employers have endeavored
 to cope with them by various means, the results
have generally not been successful.
Operating a plant with a depleted working force is unsatisfactory
 on any day, but this difficulty is further complicated
when it occurs in differing degree on different Saturdays and
without previous notice to the plant manager. Absentees
from work reduce the productive output not only on their
own account, but also often handicap the work of others
with which their own work is interrelated. If a considerable