PROFESSIONAL WORKERS IN W A R A N D PEACE An Analysis of the Economic Status of the Members of the American Chemical Society, 1941 to 1943 By Andrew
Fraser, Jr., Washington,
D . C.
Based on a survey conducted by the
Committee on Economic Status L. W . Bass, Chairman1, Cecil L Brown, George Calingaert, Walter A . Schmidt, Frank C . Whitmore
Section 1 . Scope and Method of 1944 Survey
could be used to convey some measure of the members' postwar employment pros pects. In December 1943 a first draft of the questionnaire was submitted to A. F. rlinrichs, acting commissioner of labor statistics3, who immediately indicated that the proposed survey had considerable merit. The further question of obtaining the cooperation of the Bureau of Labor Statistics to collect and tabulate the data, a s was done in the 1941 survey, would require some consideration as the bureau's resources were already heavily taxed. Early in January 1944, therefore, the committee was gratified to learn that the bureau would undertake to collect and tabulate the data for its 1944 survey. And before the end of January the final draft of the questionnaire was approved by the Bureau of the Budget. In its final form the information to be requested from the membership of the SOCIETY included 20 specific questions. As numbered below, these questions ap proximate the order in which they are presented in the body of the report and not the sequence of arrangement in the questionnaire. Wherever required, cer tain of the data would be furnished for the three years 1941, 1942, and 1943. In all other instances the end of the year 1943 would be considered the base period. The latter series of questions have been classi fied as including questions (1) to (12), inclusive, which follow: (1) year of enter ing the profession, (2) sex, (3) class of membership, (4) educational level, and (5) major field of education. The wartime status of the membership would be de rived from questions (6), (7), (8), and (9) dealing, respectively, with employment tenure, utilization of training, draft status,
THIS report on Professional Workers in War and Peace was undertaken pri marily to determine the extent to which the professional and economic status of the members of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL
SOCIETY was affected by the conditions stemming from a wartime economy in the period 1941 to 1943. The decision to col lect the requisite data was reached by the Committee on Economic Status of the SOCIETY in December 1943.
On the basis, however, of the analyses contained in its 1941 Survey2 of the Membership, the committee recognized that the status of the members might be affected by their attributes of sex, educa tion, and years of professional experience, as well as by the relationship of these at tributes to the factors involved in their employment status. It further recognized that, since there was an unprecedented response to the 1941 survey, a similar response on the part of the membership might be forthcoming to another survey if a questionnaire modeled on the earlier one was approved for collecting the data. Only two additional aspects of informa tion, proposed by Mr. Fraser, and unani mously endorsed by the committee, were to be included in the questionnaire. It was felt that the time would be opportune to request from the membership specific information concerning their wartime status, particularly with regard t o defer ment, as well as to seek information that ' Communications regarding this report should be addressed to L. W. Bass, Director. New Eng land Industrial Research Foundation, 1029 Statler Building, Boston, Mass. ' The analyses compiled from the 1941 survey, which covered the economic status of the mem bership for the period 1926 to 1941, were pub lished in CHEMICAL ΛΝΟ ΕΝΟΙΝΈΕΜΝΟ NEWS. Volume 20, Numbers 20, 22, 23, and 24, 1942. Reprints (25 cents) of this approved Report of the Committee on Economic Status, also pre pared for the committee by Andrew Fraser, Jr.. Washington, D. C, can be obtained directly from the Mack Printing Co., Easton, Pa.
V O L U M E 2 2, N O . Ι Ο . .
* Acknowledgment of the unstinted coopera tion of the staff of the Bureau of Labor Statistics will be made in behalf of the committee and the members of the SOCIETY in the foreword of the projected reprint of the complete report.
.
MAY * 5, 19 44
and period at which members entered the Armed Forces. Measurement of the post war employment pros=pects of the member ship would be based on (10) postwar geographical location, (11) postwar employ ment prospects of: ambers in the Armed Forces and civilian members with "tem porary" employment tenure, and (12) postwar employment prospects of all members. In the remaining 8 questions the membership womild b e requested to furnish data for cacti of the years 1941, 1942, and 1943, the topics to be covered being (13) annual incomes, inclusive of salaries, fees, and bonuses, (14) base monthly salary rates exclusive of fees and bonuses, (15) base plus overtime monthly salary rates, also exclusive of fees and bonuses, (16) gencraLfieldof employment, (17) geographical location, (18) source of employment, (19) occupational status, and (20) field of specialization. Section 2 . Ra-te of Returns of Questionnaires in 1 9 4 4 Survey On February 23, L944, tlie 1944 Survey of the Economic Status o f the Members of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY was
launched with the mailing of 32,861 questionnaires to individual members of the SOCIETY residing in the United States. On April 11, 1944, the forty-eighth day after mailing, the sujrvey was closed. By that time no less fhan 23,080 question naires had been received, which number comprised 70 percent of t h e original mail ing list of 32,861 individual members (Chart 1). In the process of tabulation only 69 of the questionnaires were found to be unusable. The number of ques tionnaires returned as "unknown" were also negligible. The 23,011 usable returns for the year 1943 clearly evidence the desire on the part of the membership to cooperate with the Committee on Economic Statue. For this cooperation the committee is deeply grate791
data collected in the 1944 survey can be considered merely as an extension through 1943 of the 1941 survey which covered the period 1926 to 1941. According to Chart 2, the returns for 1941 in the 1944 survey exceed those for the same year in the 1941 survey up to the year of entering profession 1930. Thereafter, however, a converse situation prevails. In other words, these comparisons merely reveal what should result from a survey made in 1944 that requested retrospective information: For 1941 relatively more younger members replied up to a certain point followed by relatively smaller numbers of responses from older members. The latter, of course, reflect the effect of deaths, retirements, and possibly some voluntary withdrawals from SOCIETY membership. These comparisons seem to indicate the possibility that the responses to specific questions for 1941 as reported in the 1944 survey would not differ significantly from the responses to corresponding questions for 1941 in the 1941 survey. In anticipation of the analyses it can be said that this situation almost exists with regard to annual incomes and base monthly salary rates. Comparisons also show that no significant differences exist among the 1941 distributions in each survey for the basic attributes of sex, educational level, and major field of education, nor among the factors of geographical location and the three aspects of employment status. This situation, therefore, makes possible the statement that the membership
RATE OF RETURNS OF QUESTIONNAIRES FROM MEMBERSHIP NUMBER OF RETURNS 40,000 9O.000
NUMBER Of RETURNS 40,000
BY STATED OAY FROM OATE OF MAILING
LLÎ Jii'jij| 111 IJIMiiLLNiNJilLQiLUJiUiiLUJ ;;;
2O.000 I
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FEBRUARY J
ful. Of further significance is the fact that 10 days after mailing, responses were received from members located in every State in the Union and the District of Columbia. Furthermore, as Chart 1 shows, the rate of returns was such that no less than 16,598 of the members responded by the tenth day from mailing. This number of returns made it possible for Mr. Fraser to present a Preliminary Report on the Survey* to the spring convention of the SOCIETY at Cleveland, Ohio. Between the tenth and forty-eighth days after mailing of the questionnaires the average daily rate of returns dropped to approximately 170; up to the tenth day, on the other hand, the daily rate of returns averaged 1,660.
vailed in the 1941 survey, in that only 319 of the 19,034 members failed to report year of entering profession for the year 1941, comparisons among the two sets of data for 1941 seem warranted at this juncture to determine whether or not the C«A»T Z
RESPONSES OF REPORTING MEMBERS IN 1941 ΑΙΜΟ 1944 SURVEYS ACCORDING TO YEAR ENTERING PROFESSION
Section 3. Responses of Reporting Members in 1941 and 1944 Surveys The committee was further gratified to learn that in the 1944 survey the responses to the 20 specific questions in each of the three years 1941, 1942, and 1943 rarely fell below 90 per cent. In most instances the responses of the membership were nearer 100 per cent. Only 138 members, for example, failed to furnish information on the year in which they entered the profession. The number of members reporting this attribute in the years 1941, 1942, and 1943 were, respectively, 21,302, 22,262. and 22,873. And since a similar condition of reporting pre« See
CHEMICAL AND ENOINEEBINO
NEWS.
Vol. 22. No. 8, p. 614 et sea. for report of symposium "The Chemist and Chemical Engineer in the Postwar World" sponsored jointly by the Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry and the Committee on Economic Status, L. W. Bass, Chairman, presiding. 792
'25 YEAR
'20
ENTERING
CHEMICAL
Ί5
ΊΟ
•05
Ό01899
PROFESSION
A N D ENGINEERING
NEWS
of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
has
at its disposal a continuous series of data extending over the period 1926 to 1943 that reflects virtually every aspect of its professional activities. The Committee on Economic Status dares to hope that an equal measure of cooperation will be extended to it, or to such bodies as are appointed, to interpret the mass of information that is now available, to the end that improvement can be achieved in the professional and economic status of the membership of the SOCIETY.
Another important observation that stems from the above comparisons has regard to the returns received from the younger members. For the year 1941 in the 1944 survey these returns appear to be disproportionately greater than those for comparable years of entering the profession in the 1941 survey. This observation leads to the belief that the sample of the membership of the members of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY obtained
in 1944 may be more nearly representative of the chemical profession as a whole. This situation did not exist with respect to the sample of the membership obtained in the 1941 survey. Provided comparative statistics can be compiled for the year 1944, the check on the representativeness of the sample as regards the chemical profession as a whole will be presented in a subsequent section of this report.
under peacetime programs would normally occur in 1946 for those graduating from high school in 1942. It is apparent, therefore, that if the sample on which this report is based included members with only bachelors' degrees even the use of 23 years as being the median year of entry to the profession would be subject to but slight qualification. The sample, however, comprises a substantial number of doctors and masters. It also includes members with incomplete college training and no college training at all. Furthermore, the sample could be affected but little by the accelerated program of studies because the impact of that program on age of graduation became general only about February 1943. From the preceding, therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that 23 years of age can still be accepted as being the median age at which members of the SOCIETY began their professional careers. Hence, in the ensuing analyses, years of professional experience can readily be translated to a median age basis by merely adding 23 to any stated experience level.
Table 1.
Distribution in 1943 of All Members Reporting Sex, by Class of Membership, and Major Raid of Education M A J O B FXBLD or EDUCATION
S B X AND CLASS
or
MBUBBBBHXP
Section 4 . The 1944 Data in Relation to Age Another pre-analysis factor to be noted is the relationship of year of entering profession to age of members reporting in the 1944 survey. In the 1941 survey both of these variables were included in the questionnaire, and, when correlated it was found that the median year of entry into the profession of the members reporting in that survey was 23 years of age. In the 1944 survey, year of birth was deleted from the questionnaire. And in the tabular presentation of the 1944 data in this report only years of professional experience, which, of course, correspond to year of entry to the profession, are used. Hence the question arises as to whether or not years of professional experience can he translated to an age basis by merely adding 23 years to any given level of experience of the membership. From information furnished by Emery Foster, chief statistician, U. S. Office of Education, it appears that the median age of graduation of male high school students in the country was 18.2 years in 1940, and 18.1 years in 1942. Assuming each student who entered a college or university for a 4-year course had no interruption in his studies he would graduate at slightly over 22 years of age. But if an allowance be made for interruptions in any year of scheduled studies the median age of graduation with a bachelor's degree would be nearer 22.5 years, which, VOLUME
22, N O .
10
»
»
Section 5. Basic Attributes o f the Membership Because they impinge on every aspect of professional activity it is but propor first to establish how the membership was distributed in 1943 with respect to their four basic attributes of sex, classes of membership, educational levels, and majoêx fields of education. Τfie fundamental importance, however, of years of profmional experience also is recognized by showing the relation ship of this fifth attribute to the othter four. Collectively, these five attributes anay be considered the WHO of the members' pro fessional and economic status. These analyses, it may be remarked, bear out the earlier comment on the high level of reporting to specific questions. Among the 23,011 members reporting for 1943, while 315 or 1.4 per cent did not fuirnish in formation regarding their sex and class of membership, only 20 and 19, respectively, failed to furnish information abolit their educational levels and major fields of education. (a) Sex and Class of Membership. With
TOTAL
Chemistry
Chemical engineering
All other field/»·
Not repor-Ud
NUMBBB
Full members
23,011 19.802
1Θ.248 14,187
5.370 4.397
1.874 1,203
Males Females Junior members
19,130 672 2,804
13,593 594 1,838
4,390
1,182 71
2.715 179 315
1.675 163 223
893 6 74
100.0 86.0
100.0 87.3
100.0 81.9
lOO.O 87.6
Males Females Junior members
83.1 2.9 12.6
83.6 3.7 11.3
81.8 0.1 16.7
82.4 6.2 11.3
Males Females N o t reported
11.8 0.8 1.4
10.3 1.0 1.4
16.6 0.1 1.4
10.6 0.7 1.1
Full members
lOO.O 100.0
70.6 71.6
Males Females Junior members
100.0 lOO.O lOO.O
Males Females N o t reported
100 0 100.0 100.0
TOTAL.*
Males Females N o t reported
899
L9 L5 L·B
»a
'* i
146 ΙΟ IS
*~3
1
PBBCBNTAOB TOTAL*
Full members
PBBCBNTAOB TOTAL·*
71.1 88.5 63.6
23.3 22.2 22.9 0.9 31.0
O.O 6.1 6.9 10.6 6.4
61.7 91.6 70.7
32.9 2.8 23.5
6.4 6.6 4.8
0».l 0>.l 0>.l *d ύ
i'.o
M E D I A N Y B A B S OP PBOrBSSIONAL EXPBBXBNOB
11.6 13.1
10.2 12.5
16.6 17.2
—..
Full members
11.5 13.2
Males Females Junior members
13.1 16.2 2.4
12.9 16.1 2.5
12.5
17.2 16.5 4.0
-;·
2.4 2.2
2.5 2.1
1.9
TOTAL*
Males Females
1.9 β
4.8 2.3
* Includes members in "other field of science and engineering" and "any other field" *c Includes all civilian members and members in Armed Forces. Fewer than 100 members reported. à Less than 0.05 per cent. * Fewer than 10 members reported.
» MAY
2 5,
1944
793
only 851 females reporting in 1943 it is apparent that the membership of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, when con
sidered as a whole, is predominatingly male (Table 1). It is also predominated by full members. Among male members this class was seven times greater than that of junior members; among females, on the other hand, the ratio of full to junior members was 4 to 1. Actually, of the 98.6 per cent in the total sample who reported sex and class of membership 86.0 per cent were full members and 12.6 per cent were junior members, inclusive of both sexes. Within the major fields of chemistry and "All other fields", the respective totals of 16,248 and 1,374 members were distrib uted by sex and class of membership in a manner similar to that just noted for all reporting members. And while these two fields included virtually all females who reported in 1943, no less than 90 per cent had majored in the field of chemistry. In the field of chemical engineering, on the other hand, only 13 females were so classi fied in a total of 5,370 members. In this field the ratio of full to junior members was 4.9 to 1. The corresponding ratio in the other twofieldswas 7.7 t o 1. Table 1 also reveals that the median years of professional experience of full members male and full members female differ markedly. Without regard to major field, the former group of members, in 1943, had a median experience level of 13.1 years in contrast to one of 16.2 years for
Table S.
the latter group of members. Among the three major fields, full male members in "All other fields'1 had a median experience level as high as 17.2 years, whereas the same gift*»?» of members in thefieldsof chemistry and chemical engineering had median years of professional experieace of, respectively, 12.9 years and 12.5 years. The experience levels of all groupe of j unior members were much lower than those of full members. The pattern, however, was similar. Junior members in thefieldof chemistry had had slightly more experience (2.5 years) than similarly classified mem bers in the field of chemical engineering (1.9 years). These two levels, in turn, were relatively much lower than those of junior members (4.0 years) in "All other fields". (6) Educational Levels. Since, in 1943, the proportions of reporting members within each major field with masters' de grees ranged from only 23.8 per cent to 26.5 per cent it is apparent that the desire to obtain this type of training was some what uniform among substantial numbers of the members in each of the three major fields. This situation, however, is in sharp contrast to that which exists at the dortors' and bachelors' levels. In thefieldof chemistry as much as 42.5 per cent of the 16,248 members had doctors' degrees but only 29.6 per cent had bachelors' degrees. Among the 1,374 members in "All other fields" bachelors' degrees were reported also by slightly over 29 per cent, and by as much as 37 per cent who had obtained doc-
Distribution in 1943 of A l l Members Reporting Educational Level, by Major Field of Education MAJOB FIELD OF EDUCATION
EDUCATIONAL· LEVEL
ALL FIELDS
ALL LsvBLsfr Doctor· Masters Bachelors Incomplete college No college Not reported
23.011 7.934 5,637 8.375 892 153 20
Chemistry
Chemical engineering
All other fields*
Not reported
N(J\fHEB
16.248 6.Θ03 3.866 4.811 557 111
5.370 522 1.407 3.160 257 24
1.374 509 304 404 78 18 1
1Θ
100 0 37 26 29 5 1 0
per cent 42+e 40.5 36.5 31.5 26.5 21.5 16.6 12.5 9.5 6.6 4.5 3.6 2.6 1.6 0.6
$17.715 17.940
43+°
$17.715
18,951 14.760 11.037 7.977 5.487 4.848 3.502 3.312 3.047 2.464 2.548 2.065
41.5 37.5 32.6 27.5 22.6 17.5 13.5 10.5 7.5 5.5 4.5 3.5 2.6 1.5 0.6
6 b
17.023 13.524 9.471 6.010 5.001 4.400 3.448 3.735 3.184 3,379 2.730 2.452
$9.870 8.550 9.960 9.676 9.369 7.720 5.761 4.222 4.154 3.236 2.918 2.208 2.027 2.193 1.995
50 per cent 194i $5.100 6.580 6.514 5.609 5,?: 3 4.742 4,558 3.656 3.298 2.952 2.001 1.900 1.996 1.743 1,330
$ 9.787 10,071 9.660 11.368 10.047 8.374 6.325 5.357 4.358 3.493 3,115 3.345 2.826 2.997 2.466 2.037
194S $5.220 6.450 6,324 6.466 5,434 5.171 4,946 4.007 3.616 3.260 2.784 2.469 2,250 2.387 2.043 1.694
$11.871 11.775 11.802 10.760 9.633 7.874 6.893 6.660 5.301 4.375 4.022 3,433 3.710 3.072 3.198 2.665 2.541
$5.050 6.250 6.094 6,241 6.164 5.769 6.260 4,242 3,830 3,455 3,784 3,105 3,336 2.727 2.805 2.963 2.028
25 per cent
75 per cent
90 per cent
$3.450 3.950 3.887 3.902 3.934 3.620 3.191 2.797 2.499 2,068 1.697
$2,830 3.335 3.193 3.219 3,324 2,807 2.475 2.349 2.017 1.747
$3,450 3.860 4.494 4.497 4.531 4,149 3.683 3.234 2.673 2.961 2,240 2.140 1.952 1,700 1.641 0
$2.420 3.230 3,102 3,020 3,146 2,605 2.816 2.404 2,563 2,002 1.962 1.497
$4.100 4,233 4.360 4.221 4.733 3.809 4.050 3.537 3.772 3,226 2.616 2,785 2.975 2,538 2,566 2,256 1,722
$2.760 3.109 3.743 3.556 3.700 3.082 3.285 3,317 2.678 2.915 2.471 2.576 2.394 1.829 2.149 2.198 1.294
e e e e c
e e e e
«e
€
e
1943 44 + e 42.5 38.6 33.6 28.5 23.5 18.5 14.6 11.5 8.5 6.5 5.5 4 5 3.5 2.6 1.6 0.5 β
Prior e o 1900.
$17.670 b 6
15.742 12.688 10.061 7.500 6.339 6.194 4.284 4,534 3,953 4.163 3.598 3.099 2.624 * Over $19.200.
« Under «1.200.
ANNUAL INCOMES OF REPORTING MEMBERS IN 1941, 1942 ΑΝ0 1943 ACCORDING TO YEARS OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 1941
-fn
,0
Λ '*
20
25
SO
35
40
45 0 5 YEARS
ΙΟ OF
194 2
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Ο P R O F E S S I O N A L EXPERIENCE
S
tO
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
INCLU0ES SALARIES, FEES. AND BONUSES
VOLUME
2 2, N O .
10
»
»
·
MAY
25,
1944
799
order of 16 per cent as derived from an in crease of $600 a year by 1943 over the in come of $3,100 a year reported for 1941. In general, while at the other four earn ings levels a similar situation prevailed, the differentials in incomes were smaller. There was also a tendency for the income curve for 1943 to coalesce with those for 1941 and 1942 at the 20 years' experience span. For members with advancing years of ex perience substantial increases in annual incomes over the period 1941-43 were re ported. To exemplify this situation, the median incomes of members who had had 0.5, 9.5, and 21.5 years of experience in 1941 have been selected. The first group of members earned $1,330 a year in 1941 but by 1943 they were earning $2,805 a year; an increase over 1941 of no less than 110 per cent. For members who in 1941 reported 9.5 years experience and there fore by 1943 had had 11.5 years of experi ence, the percentage change over the period was 14 per cent. In 1941 this group earned $3,298 a year and in 1943, $3,830 a year. Incomes of the last group selected, those with 21.5 years of pro fessional experience, increased by 22 per cent as derived from earned annual incomes in 1941 and 1943 of, respectively, $4,742 and $5,769 a year.
CHART 5
ANNUAL JNCOMES OF REPORTING MEMBERS IN 8 9 4 3 ACCORDING TO YEARS OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE DOLLARS
DOLLARS
20,000
20fOOO
J 15,000
15,000 L
1,00 Ο
5
ι,οοο
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 YEARS OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE INCLUOES SALARIES, FEES, ANO
cent income level while the advance in earnings over the same period was from $1,995 a year to $8,550 a year, at the 10 per cent income level it was from $2,065 to $17,940 a year. These respective sets of figures yield over-all increases of $6,555 and $15,875, which in turn yield yearly rates of increase over the 40 years' experi ence span of $164 and $397, respectively. These average rates of increase are in sharp contrast to the average yearly rate cf increase of $131 previously noted for the median level of earnings. Despite the lack of information for cer tain age groups of the membership and such inconsistences as are inherent in the data, the incomes reported in the 1944 sur vey do permit of making another impor tant generalization (Chart 4). This has regard to the changes that occurred in in comes earned in 1941, 1942, and 1943 by members with comparable years of experi ence. Only at the 90 per cent earnings level is it clearly evident that the incomes of such members in 1943 exceeded those of similarly experienced members in 1941 and 1942 at all experience levels. At the experience span of 6.5 years in this earn800
BONUSES
ings level incomes in 1941 were $1,747, but in 1943 similarly aged members were able to earn $2,471 a year, an increase over 1941 of approximately 42 per cent. At succeeding experience levels the differen tial in incomes gradually narrowed, and at the 30 years' experience span was of the
Section 1 0 . Monthly Salary Rates of the Membership, 1941 to 1943 (a) 1944 Rates without Regard to Age. Consideration of the base monthly salary rates which exclude fees and bonuses and payments for overtime, shows that, in 1941, 50 per cent of the membership earned $255 a month and a similar propor tion earned $318 a month in 1943 (Table 13). Over the 3-year period, therefore, but without regard to age, earnings at this level increased by 24.7 per cent. At the lower decile level, however, base earnings of members were only $128 a month in 1941, or one half that reported for the median level. By contrast, at the upper decile level the earnings of $568 a month were twice as great as those reported at
Table 13. Comparison of Five Levels of Monthly Salary Rates in 1941, 1942, and 1943 of All Civilian Members Reporting (Without regard t o any attribute)
PEBCEHTAGB AT SPECIFIED MONTHLY SALABY R A T E LEVEL
MONTHLY RATE IN 1941 FBOM 1941 SUBVEY
1944 8UBVEY
Monthly ealarv rates of more than specified amount 1941 194£ 1943
Amount of change 1941-AS 1941-48 ΙΘ 42-43
B A S E MONTHLY SALABY R A T E S 0
10 25 60 75 90
$558 383 271 205 159
$568 $537 $599 356 393 430 255 273 318 179 219 229 128 J 52 185
$31 74 63 50 57
$-31 37 18 40 24
$62 37 45 10 33
Percentage change 1941 - 4 5 1941-4* 5 20 24 27 44
5 8 7 9 5
1942-43
-5.5 10.4 7.1 22.3 18.8
11.5| 9.4; 16.5 4.6 21.7
-6.5 8.5 4.7 19.3 29.9
10.4 7.0 28.3 18.11 28.5
B A S E P L U S OVERTIME MONTHXY SALARY R A T E S 0 b b b b b
10 $568 $529 $584 25 354 384 411 50 253 265 340 75 1V6 210 248 90 127 165 212 ° Excludes fee· and bonuses. * N o t available
CHEMICAL
$18 57 87 72 85
$-37 30 12 34 38
AND
$55 27 75 38 47
3 16 34 40 66
2 1 4 9 9
ENGINEERING
NEWS
the median level. Over the period 194143 monthly salary rates at the upper decile level increased by only 5.5 per cent, whereas at the lower decile level the in crease reported was as high as 44.5 per cent. At the other two earnings levels the increases over the same period were 20.8 per cent and 27.9 per cent. The former value refers to members' base earnings at the upper quartile level and was derived from monthly salary rates of $356 and S430 a montb reported for, respectively, 1941 and 1943. The 27.9 percentage change was reported for the lower quartile earnings level and is based on a 1941 monthly salary rate of $179 a month and a rate of $229 a month reported for 1943. When these base rates are contrasted with the base plus overtime rates for the years 1941, 1942, and 1943 it is interesting to note that in 1941 the two sets of earn ings are the same. Even in 1942 and 1943 such differences as are found to exist are so small as to convey the impression that overtime payments were not being re ceived by the membership. In some in stances, even the base rates exceed the base plus overtime rates. The first condition merely serves to em phasize an earlier comment that earnings of professional workers have to be inter preted with caution unless they are pre sented on an age basis. The second condi tion, on the other hand, is a reflection of the situation found to exist in the reports on earnings submitted by the membership. In virtually every age group substantial numbers of the members who had stated their base monthly salaries failed to re-insert this information in the appropriate space in the questionnaire. This was requested to be done even if the respondents' earn ings were unaffected by overtime pay ments. Although this situation would lead to the belief that the membership were actually unaffected by payments for overtime, in the ensuing discussion of these data on an age basis it will be seen that overtime payments did affect monthly salaries. (6) Monthly Salary Rates in Relation to Age. From the comparisons of base monthly salary rates for 1941 of reporting members in the 1941 and 1944 surveys (Chart 6), it is to be noted that, at all five earnings levels, only at the 75 per cent and 90 per cent levels are there significant differences among rates reported for cor responding years of professional experi ence. This situation again indicates that the data in the two samples can, with but slight qualification, be considered com parable. From the data contained in Table 14, and the charts of these earnings in Chart 7, it is evident that in 1941 payments to the members for overtime were virtually non existent except at the 90 per cent earnings level. In 1941, therefore, the analyses of earnings can be made with respect to base monthly salary rates. In that year median base monthly earnings advanced from $135 VOLUME
2 2, N O .
10
a month for beginners to $475 a month for members with 40.5 years of professional experience. Ten per cent of the newcomers at this level earned more than $161 a month, and while 25 per cent earned more than $156 a month another 25 per cent earned less than $104 a month. At the upper 25 per cent level base earnings ad vanced from the beginning rate just noted of $156 to $635 a month as reported by members who had been professionally ac tive for 40.5 years. At the 75 per cent earnings level, earnings after 40.5 years professional experience were $301 a month. In 1942, Chart 7 also indicates that over time payments to the membership did not differ significantly from the base rates of the membership in that same year. Only in 1943 can it be said that a relatively clear line of demarcation exists between the two aspects of monthly salary rates. These
can be generalized by stating also that the incidence of overtime payments appears to have fallen on younger members of the SOCIETY, rather than upon the older mem bers. This condition certainly did exist among the earnings reported at the 50 per cent as well as the 25 per cent earnings level. At the former level, base monthly sal ary rates for beginners were $176 a month in 1943, whereas, base plus overtime rates of this same group were $211 a month. For members with 11.5 years of profes sional experience ui 1943, median base rates were $306 a month as against a base plus overtime monthly rate of $324 a month. In so far, therefore, as overtime pay ments are concerned it can only be con cluded that in the period 1941 to 1943 their effect upon monthly salary rates of the
CHART β
COMPARISON OF 1941 BASE MONTHLY SALARY RATES OF REPORTING MEMBERS IN 1941 AND 1944 SURVEYS ACCOR0ING TO YEARS OF FPROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE ACCOR0IN6 DOLLARS
00LLARS
1,000
» » » MAY
1,000
L
A9 0 0
•
9 00 00 Ι9
0
800
r
A8 0 0
/
/ LEVEL /
ιο%/ι /
700 h
/ /
600 L
*
/
/
y~~7>
29
f
I
1
Τ 1
! 1
*
70 0 *
20
ι
!
I
«5
.]
I
\
90
EXCLUOES FEES, ANO BONUSES
35
ι
|
4)0
49
BASE MONTHLY SALARY RATES OF REPORTING MEMBERS IN 1943
8ASE PLUS OVERTIME MONTHLY SALARY RATES OF REPORTING MEMBERS IN 1943
ACC0R0IN6 TO YEARS OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
ACCORDING TO YEARS OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
I
LEVEL I 10%
Γ
/
/ /
k
"/ 71
0
χ\
J9 0 0
"—Ν
800 700
\ \
νΐ
50%
/
A•
29%
0OU.ARS Ι,ΟΟΟ
•
^
6Ο0
Ι /"Τ / /
500
ν
"Ί
4Ο0
/ 75%
«*"
\ 1350 \
ι ι [M \7 fc
ι y 1/
\T^J
y
l·/
90% y'
Ι Λ. Λ
Γ/
/
Λ
ν ^
|,—
