We now examine the conditions of working life, because trade has turned life into junk and this inalienable right of mankind has to be first dealt with. Let us see what the poor can deal with and how they can live.
Wages for laborers in Berlin
1. Women’s Jobs
Job description | daily wages in silver pieces | months without work per year |
washerwoman | 10-12 | 4 months |
ironer | 8-10 | 4 months |
hairdresser | 6-10 | 4 months |
seamstress | 8-10 | — |
florist | 7½ | 4 months |
embroiderer 1) | 3-8 | 4 months |
gold and silver embroiderer | 10 | — |
silver polisher | 7½-10 | 8 months |
metal polisher | 6-7 | 2 months |
crocheting | 5 | — |
fabric sorter | 5-7½ | 4 months |
thread stringer | 3-5 | 4 months |
reeler 2) | 3-6 | 3 months |
box girl | 5 | — |
light packer | 4 | 2 months |
silk reeler | 3-4 | 3 months |
spooler 3) | 3-4 | 3 months |
layout at the printer | 3 | 2 months |
fashion worker 4) | 3-7½ | — |
tailor 5) | 5-7½ | 4 months |
blanket seamstress | 4 | 4 months |
glove seamstress 6) | 3-4 | 4 months |
shoe binder | 2½-3 | 3 months |
cap maker | 5-6½ | 3 months |
straw hat maker | 4-8 | 6 months |
factory girl 7) | 3-6 | — |
cigar maker 8) | 2-4 | (?) |
tavern girl 9) | 2½-4 | — |
servant girl 10) | | — |
daily farm worker 11) | 4-6 | 4 months |
1) Different kinds. The working girls in fine embroidery have to compete with the women and daughters of the middle class who earn their pocket money in this fashion and of course, deliver very cheap products.
2) Wool spinners perhaps 5-8.
3) Children get at the most 10-12 silver pieces per week, which is an average of 1-5 silver pieces a day.
4) Director, 10-15.
5) The tailors who work for families also receive board and a somewhat smaller wage. Those who work for shops are the worst paid; for a high-quality expensive shirt which takes at least a day to make, they receive 4-5 silver pieces and have to pay the materials themselves. When the master craftsmen have time off, most work for the shops and so-called manufacturers.
6) The yearly average is 2-3 silver pieces.
7) Children 15-22½ silver pieces per week.
8) Mostly paid by the thousand, although they have to pay for wasted tobacco. Deveining is done by children, who get 7½-10 silver pieces per week.
9) With board.
10) 8-12 thalers a year plus board. Some receive a “house key,” which essentially means that they have to prostitute themselves to make ends meet. Most are sent into the armies of prostitution anyway, and the fare in Berlin is so meager that they usually resort to theft and fraud.
11) Receive less in wintertime.