As assembly lines and machinery reduced the need in American factories for skilled workers, employers discovered that they could cut their labor costs dramatically by hiring women and children to do the low-skill tasks on the modern factory floor. The numbers of women in the workforce increased 330 percent over the 20 years between 1880 and 1900. As women began to work in offices and factories, many ceased their labors in domestic service. Their new positions paid not much more than those menial jobs they had once taken in laundries or kitchens, but the work, although dangerous and repetitive, was often far easier on their health.
Office work became a goal for working women, because it offered conditions that were clean and pleasant in most cases. Whereas in 1880, only 4 percent of office workers were women, by 1920, equal numbers of women and men performed clerical tasks.
This is not to suggest that women and men were equal in the workforce, of course; women made far less in hourly wages than men did, and they were rarely given supervisory tasks or allowed in most cases to handle money. One man might supervise a pool of several dozen low-paid women.
As for children, they had always worked in large numbers, particularly on family farms. The need for children to aid with planting and harvesting is the reason our antiquated school calendars still include a summer vacation. However, with the mechanization of factories, thousands of children went to work, often under grueling conditions and for incredibly low wages. In 1890 nearly 20 percent of all children between the ages of 10 and 15 were employed in some capacity. Even after factory work began to be regulated, parents often lied about their children’s ages just to preserve the tiny income their offspring contributed to the family welfare. Following compulsory education laws and Progressive era reforms, the number of children in the workforce began to decline, but it was still not uncommon after 1900 to see children peddling newspapers, delivering messages, and shining shoes in large cities during the school day.
1. According to the passage, the author believes which of the following regarding women in office jobs?(A) Women preferred these jobs to factory or domestic work.
(B) Women enabled men to take on more managerial tasks.
(C) Office jobs paid better wages than any other form of women’s work.
(D) Office jobs had restricted hours, enabling women to care for their children.
(E) Mechanization allowed one woman to do the work of several men.
2. The third paragraph plays what role in the passage?(A) It refutes an earlier allegation about women in the workforce.
(B) It contrasts two different roles of women in the workforce.
(C) It clarifies the status of women in the workforce.
(D) It offers an explanation for the increase of women in the workforce.
(E) It classifies several strata of women in the workforce.
3. From the presentation of information in the final paragraph, it can be inferred that the author believes which of the following about the current school calendar?(A) It is essential for working families.
(B) It helps farm families involve their children.
(C) It changed with Progressive era reforms.
(D) It is traditional but outmoded.
(E) Compulsory education made it obsolete.