CHAP. 10.—PROTECTION OF HOME WORKERS &amp;1

Outside of Paris, however, the action of the French Office for
Home Work could not make itself felt in a strong way, and there was
Practically no other controlling influence. The lack of official enforcement
 was therefore particularly felt in the Provinces. Practical
 increases in wages were brought about by the new legislation,
but when considering such increased wages, particularly those of the
later years, there must be kept in mind the increase in the cost of
living resulting from the depreciation of the franc. In 1914 the
average wage of female home workers was below 1.50 francs per day.
The first decisions made in 1915 by the committees raised these rates
substantially, but, as explained above, not nearly in proportion to
the rapid increase of prices during that period of the war. The
most liberal rates amounted to from 3 to 8.50 francs per day.
During 1916 the hourly wage of 25 centimes showed a tendency to
become general, but in the same period the average wage of an
agricultural laborer living out was about 5 francs per day, and in
small workshop industries the average wage varied between 4.50 and
7.50 francs per day. |
The rates in 1919 and 1920 rose to an average of between 40 and 95
centimes per hour.’® The variations were still very great. While 1.51
francs per hour was prescribed for machine work in the clothing
industry in Paris and vicinity, similar work was to be paid only 25
centimes per hour in the Vendée district on the Atlantic coast. The
wages for this kind of work for 1925 were 1.51 to 1.87 francs per hour
in Paris, and 75 centimes in the Vendée; a general comparison of the
rates in 1920 and 1925 shows that the local differences have decreased
and that the worst sweating wages have disappeared but that real
wages have remained very low, even in urban centers.!s
Professor Picard ** calculates that in general home workers’ earnings
 have increased 600 to 700 per cent, while the general average of
wages in France has increased barely fivefold and the cost of living
not quite sixfold. But in periods between revisions very low * real
wages ” reappeared. The legislator could not foresee that nominal
wages would radically change inside of one year or even less—that a
nominal wage of 40 centimes per hour might mean something quite
different in real purchasing power in January than in November.
This shortcoming, however, may lose its gravity with the next
revision of time and piece rates, after final stabilization of the franc.

2 "Results SE

TO ascertain the permanent value of a law of the French type, the
+ working of its more general provisions must be studied. ~~
1. Is it sufficient to equalize home workers’ pay with shop workers’
pay? Is it permissible to-discard the principle of the living wage to
such an extent as the French law does? . The first obvious answer is
that limited results only can be achieved in that way. Not only will

12 See Bulletin du Ministere qu Travail, Paris, August-October, 1920, pp.” 348-357, for
a complete survey of rates fixed. © " -
- 18 See Bulletin du Ministdre dn Travail, Paris, August-October, 1920, pp. 348-357, and
July-September, 1925, pp. 346-352,
i International Labor Office, International Labor - Review, "Gencva,- August, 1926,
B 243: “The legal minimum wage of women home workers in France,” by Roger
jeard.