Service and found a woman in war, his old position that the trouble really began, for the situation immediately obtained of two workers for one job, creating a competition that tended inevitably toward the reduction of wages and salaries. This was a bad situation from the labor standpoint, and the fact that some employers were not slow to take advantage of it made it all the more acute. Many of the women continued at work. Hence the inquiry.
"We all know that the mere fact of so many women at work is an important one," says the statement of the women's bureau, "and one that has a touch-bearing on the organization of our present life. But we cannot get the final significance of this fact until we know why so many women are working.
"Women work because they need the money, not only to support themselves, but for an even more urgent service, to help in the support of their families. This statement may be a surprise to you; it is surprising to many people who for some reason think that many women are at work just for fun or excitement. But it is a true statement, and if you will look around you, you will see that it is true."
In the case of single women who are working the bureau found that an invalid mother or a worn-out father are not uncommon charges for the working woman.
In the United States as a whole, about one woman of every five is gainfully employed.
Only about one-fifth of the wage earning women are married, but this one-fifth is working for the same reason as the other four-fifths—because they need the money.
Woman Makes  Furniture. 