The average wage earner only made $16.00 a week. Some trades only made two, three, four, or six dollars a week. The family above spent $2.50 more a week than the father made, and had nothing left for entertainment or clothing. The men driving the horse drawn streetcars in New York in the 1880's made $1.75 a day working 14 to 16 hr. a day.In the 1800's the costg of living was one bag of flour $1.80 - Small measure of potatoes daily at $0.17 per day = $1.19 - One quarter pound of tea .38 - One quart of milk .56 - One pound of cheap coffee .35 - Three and one half pounds Sugar $1.05 - One half ration of meats per week $3.50 - Four pounds of butter $1.60 - Two pounds of lard .38 - Dried apples for treats .25 - Vegetables .50 - Soap, starch, pepper, salt, vinegar, etc. $1.00 - 2 bushels of coal $1.36 - Kerosene .30 - Sundries .28 - Rent $4.00 week = Total $18.50. In this time that amount of money was expensive to them.Women working in factories often faced terrible working conditions and low wages. During the Progressive Era, working-class women, alone and in concert with middle-class women, fought to raise wages and improve working conditions.The Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) represented a partnership between middle-class reformers and working-class women to raise wages and improve working conditions. Founded in Boston in 1903, it was staffed and run by working-class women, and middle-class women served as organizational “allies.” In the early 20th century, it focused on unionizing women workers and supporting women’s strikesMost factory experiences did not begin to offer the workers a sustaining wage. In 1905, an annual salary of $800 was considered the minimum necessary for survival for a family of four. The average factory salary, however, amounted to $400 a year (2).Since women earned from 25 to 67 percent less than men because of their sex, their incomes could hardly be considered a living wage. In addition, deductions for factory supplies such as needles or for seconds (those items determined imperfect by the foreman or manager) further reduced the pittances received.Women now an average make you to 657 dollars on a tipically full time job.Soures-
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