That the wages of working women are lower everywhere than those of workingmen, even for equal work, is a well known fact. In this respect the private employer does not differ from the state or community. Women employed in the railroad and postal service receive less than men for the same kind of work. In every community women teachers receive a lower salary than men teachers. This may be explained by the following causes: Women have fewer needs and are, above all, more helpless; their earnings are in many cases only additional to the incomes of fathers or husbands, the main supporters of the families; the character of female labor is amateurish, temporary and accidental; there is an immense reserve force of female workers which increases their helplessness; there is much competition from middle class women in dressmaking, millinery, flower and paper goods manufactory, etc.; women are usually tied to their place of residence. All these causes make the hours of work longest for women unless they are protected by legislation. In a report on the wages of factory laborers in Mannheim in 1893 the late Dr. Woerishoffer divides the weekly wages into three classes.[141] The lowest class comprises weekly wages up to 15 marks ($3.75), the middle class from 15 to 24 marks ($3.75 to $6), and the high class above 24 marks ($6). These wages were distributed among the workers as follows: Low class Middle class High class All the workers 29.8 per cent 49.8 per cent 20.4 per cent Male “ 20.9 “ ~56.2~ “ 22.9 “ Female “ ~99.2~ “ 0.7 “ 0.1 “ The majority of the working women were paid starvation wages, as the following table shows: A weekly wage of less than 5 marks ($1.25) was paid to 4.62 per cent “ from 5 to 6 “ ($1.25 to $1.50) “ “ “ 5.47 “ “ “ “ 6 “ 8 “ ($1.50 “ $2.00) “ “ “ 43.96 “ “ “ “ 8 “ 10 “ ($2.00 “ $2.50) “ “ “ 27.45 “ “ “ “ 10 “ 12 “ ($2.50 “ $3.00) “ “ “ 12.38 “ “ “ “ 12 “ 15 “ ($3.00 “ $3.50) “ “ “ 5.30 “ “ “ more than 15 “ ($3.75) “ “ “ 0.74 “ “ An inquiry by the department of factory inspection of Berlin showed that the average weekly wages of working women was 11.36 marks ($2.82); 4.3 per cent. received less than 6 marks; 7.8 per cent. 6 to 8 marks; 27.6 per cent. 12 to 15 marks; 11.1 per cent. 15 to 20 marks, and 1.1 per cent. 20 to 30 marks. The majority (75.7 per cent) earn from 8 to 15 marks. In Karlsruhe the average weekly wages of all working women amounts to 10.02 marks.[142]