How Work in the United States Changed over the Course of the 20th Century
A noteworthy period for the American worker was the twentieth century, as wages increased, working conditions enhanced and fringe benefits rose. At the conclusion of the century, the American workforce was much better off compared to its initial state. Additionally, statistics that were utilized in gaining a comprehension of the working Americans’ conditions also showed great improvement over the course of the twentieth century.
Several transformations are seen through assessing the state of American workforce at the termination of the twentieth century and at the start of the century. While some changes are dramatic others are less tremendous. While some changes are well-known, others are unknown. During the 20th century the size of American workforce increased approximately by close to six times. In 1900, the workforce registered twenty four million while the year 1999, the workforce had increased to one hundred and thirty nine million. It is not only the numbers that increased but the compensation, composition, nature of work and the workplace also transformed over the course of the century (Calhoun, Light & Keller, 1997).
The labor force composition changed from industries subject to primary production occupations, such as foresters and farmers, to industries dominated by technical, professional and service workers over the twentieth century. Close to thirty eight percent of the labor force worked on farms at the beginning of the century. The figure was less than three percent by the end of the century. Similarly, the total percentage of workers who worked in goods production industries like manufacturing and mining reduced from thirty one to nineteen percent. The growth sector during the twentieth century were service industries that rose from thirty one percent of the total workforce in the year 1900 to seventy eight percent of the workforce in the year 1999 (Calhoun, et al., 1997).
Work organization also drastically changed over the course of the century. One aspect that greatly transformed was the average workweek. The average workweek in manufacturing was fifty three hours in the year 1900, and by the end of the century, the workweek had reduced to forty two hours. Since the workweek is extremely sensitive to business conditions, the decline was dynamic. The average number of hours per workweek in manufacturing dropped as low as 34.6 during the Great Depression. The figure rose to 42.5 hours at some point during the Second World War (Calhoun, et al., 1997).
Social control is also involved in the change that took place over the twentieth century. Changes in gender culture and social attitudes played a fundamental role in increasing the fraction of American mothers in the workforce, especially during the last phase of the century. Tremendous implications for the expectations of women concerning motherhood and marriage were owed to decreasing birth rates, contributed partly by availability of birth control. Another impact that should not be underestimated is that of women’s movement. The ideology of gender transformed profoundly with participation of women labor force. Although it did not entirely fade away, the idealization of the male breadwinner family lost its dominance.
Only 18.8 percent of all women were in the labor force in 1900 compared with eighty percent of men. In the course of the century, the labor force participation of men gradually fell while women labor force participation rates increased gradually. There was hastening of the increases in women labor force participation rates in the last phase of the century, particularly on the 1960s and 70s. By the year 2000, the rate had increased to 60.2 percent (Calhoun, et al., 1997).
In conclusion, it is evident that work in the United States transformed in the course of the twentieth century in terms of labor force, organization and social control.
Reference
Calhoun, C. J., Light, D., & Keller, S. I. (1997). Sociology (7th Ed). McGraw-Hill, pg 402-434
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