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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222 ELBERFELD. employs large numbers of workers ; there are several machine works of some size ; the largest brewery of the Rhineland is here, and among other manufactures those of paper of various kinds and leather belting are deserving of note. The classification of the “ industrial workpeople ” of the town, employed in factories and workshops under inspection, is shown in the following table :— Group of Trades. Building Metalworking Machine, implement and apparatus making. Textiles Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c Paper ... ... ... ... ». Woodworking and carving Chemicals ... Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c Stone and earth Food, drink and tobacco ... Leather ... ... ... ... Total ... N umber of Establishments. 36 105 51 239 136 41 21 84 13 5 24 284 15 1,054 Number of Workpeople. Male. 855 2,055 688 4,214 344 730 636 955 1,919 170 421 897 146 14,030 Female. 238 8 3,684 1,726 269 513 146 54 9 64 20 6,731 Total. 855 2,293 696 7,898 2,070 999 1,149 1,101 1,973 179 421 961 166 20,761 Of the workpeople here enumerated 7,898 or 38 per cent, belong to the textile industry, and of these 46 6 per cent, are females, though the proportion of female workers in general is only 32'4 per cent. Returns have been obtained concerning the wages paid in over twenty representative factories and other works. These returns are of the earnings of a full normal week, exclusive of overtime, since in the industries affected the piece wage system is most general. In the textile trades male weavers in general earn from 18s. to 19s. 3d. per week, but plush and ribbon weavers, 25s. to 30s. ; 25s. may be regarded as an all round average for weaving. Dyers earn 25s. and 26s. if independent men, except silk and plush dyers, wdio earn up to 32s., though the majority, who are unskilled, earn only 21s. and 22s. ; finishers earn from 22s. to 23s. 2c/., and cotton printers, 35s. In the engineering trades, skilled men earn from 27s. to 35s. 5c/., and labourers from 22s. 6c/. to 24s. 6c/. The rates of wages in some of the building and allied trades are fixed by agreement, the hourly rate for masons and bricklayers being 6c/., for carpenters, 6ic/., for painters, 5and for stucco workers, 8JcZ. A ten hours day is almost universal. Work begins as a rule at 6 or 7 a.m. and continues, with intervals of two hours in the aggregate, until the same hours in the evening, save on Saturday, when it ceases half-an-hour or an hour earlier. In the textile trade a fortnight’s notice as between employer and workman is customary, but in most industries no notice whatever is given on either side. Wages are for the most part paid weekly, except in the textile factories. There are no local holidays, but the statutory ones amount to eight days in the year, viz., New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Ascension Day, Easter Monday, Whit Monday, Penance Day, and Christmas and Boxing Day.

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