Commercialized Prostitution in New York CityKneeland, George J. (George Jackson)
History
Commercialized Prostitution in New York City
Kneeland, George J. (George Jackson)
Prostitution -- New York (State) -- New York
How far direct economic pressure is responsible for prostitution, it is
difficult to state. A calculation of the wages previously received reveals
great discrepancies. Seventeen former domestics averaged $5.55 a week,
plus board and lodging; 18 factory workers received from $3 to $7.50, 20
received from $8 to $14 a week; 110 shop-girls averaged $8.24 a week. The
above salaries range, however, from $3 to $15 weekly, the majority
receiving $6, $7, and $8. Eleven receive $10; eleven, $12 apiece; and
three, $15 each. Twenty former stenographers earned on the average $11.25
a week; of the eight women who claimed to have been school-teachers, one
had earned $80 a month, and one $90. One hundred and thirty-nine girls (12
per cent) declared that they went into the life for economic reasons.
Thirty-three put it this way, "I could not support myself"; fifty-five
declared that they could not support themselves and their babies,
sometimes their parents; forty-five said they were out of work and could
not get it; nine were in ill health or had some defect keeping them out of
work. Many more cited in explanation of their conduct the deprivations to
which they would otherwise have to submit. Their alleged earnings as
prostitutes, even if exaggerated, suggest a startling contrast: former
servants claim that their receipts from soliciting vary from $26 to $68
per week; thirty former factory workers claim average weekly returns of
$24; 40 more profess an average of $76 a week; a group of stenographers
(17) average $55 per week.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account