Cost of living in German towns

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 866449027

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-93831

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Cost of living in German towns

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: Stat. Off.

Year of publication:: 1908

Scope:: 1 Online-Ressource (LXI, 548 Seiten)

Collection:: Economics Books

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m BARMEN. Textile j rades— An inquiry into warnings, which covered all the principal textile establishments in Barmen, was carried out by the Municipal Statistical' Office, at the end of 1904, when conditions were practically the same as at October, 1905. So far as adult male operatives are concerned, the municipal inquiry gave the following results, which supplement and at the same time confirm the data procurable in the course of a short visit : ! Ranges of weekly earnings of adult male operatives 1 in the principal Textile Establishments in Barmen, in 1904 (in shillings). Occupation. Ribbon Weavers Weavers of upholstery goods and carpeting Braid Makers (i.e., at braiding machines) Warpers (webs, laces and braids manufacture) Dyers of piece goods and yarns . Turkey-red Dyers Finishers or Dressers Glazers or Mercerisers Smiths, Fitters, &c Bookbinders (pattern books, &c.) Stokers Total skilled Packers, kc Workmen in warehouses Labourers, undefined Total unskilled Over 16 to 18 32 6 14 10 1 3 71 20 7 11 38 Over 18 to 20 Over 20 to 22 77 3 21 9 11 2 10 10 2 9 1 155 28 4 26 58 142 1 94 23 39 7 25 25 1 16 4 Over 22 to 24 Over 24 to 26 Over j Over 26 28 to to 23 30 144 79 5 45 3 17 43 6 15 1 377 41 15 31 87 363 40 13 27 80 174 4 23 5 19 10 9 41 6 11 9 311 30 4 17 51 130 18 37 11 8 5 24 7 2 11 253 10 3 5 18 84 15 8 1 6 2 2 11 11 1 11 152 12 Over 30 to 32 42 10 5 74 From the above it would appear that the usual earnings of skilled men in the textile trades in Barmen are from 20s. to 28s., and those of unskilled men from 18s. to 26s. per week. Printing Trades.—The conditions of labour in the principal establishments of the printing trade are regulated by the general agreement in force in all parts of the Empire. This agreement follows the plan of fixing minimum rates, with an additional percentage which varies as between town and town according to the cost of living. The wages given in the Table are the minimum wages for Barmen, including the additional percentage. Miscellaneous Trades.—In the manufacture of buttons and buckles, where the great mass of the operatives are semi-skilled, the predominant earnings are those shown in the Table. The small proportion of more highly skilled operatives, such as engravers, galvanizers. etchers, lacquerers, painters, polishers, fitters, &c., are paid weekly rates, which range from 24s. to as much as 50s., the most highly paid class being the painters, whose work is of a very artistic nature. Municipal Employees.—The municipality of Barmen has altogether some 500 workpeople in its regular employ, exclusive of the drivers, conductors and linemen in the tramway service. Practically the whole of the men are paid time wages—a rate per day which is increased according to the length of service. The work of street cleaning is let to a contractor. Taking the level of wages in Berlin as 100, wages in the building trades at Barmen would be represented by 82 for skilled men and 89 for labourers ; in the engineering trades by 91 for skilled men and 96 for labourers ; and in the printing trades by 88. Housing and Rents. Working class streets are to be found in almost all directions in Barmen and it cannot be said of any particular part of the town that it is a purely working class quarter. Streets of this kind are recognisable rather by the number and appearance of the children on the doorsteps and pavements than by the outward appearance of the houses, which are lor the most part modern and of the stucco-faced four storey type, built to accommodate eight or ten families. The older slate-faced houses are not, as a rule, occupied by workpeople, who prefer the more modern houses, and who have a certain margin of choice owin" to the fact that the supply ot small dwellings is, and has been for long, in excess of the demand. An enumeration of the unoccupied dwellings on November 4 1905, showed the proportion to be 6 8 per cent, of the whole. The great bulk

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