The 1940 federal census
captures a critical moment between the Great Depression and the United States’
involvement in World War II. It’s no surprise the U.S. government asked 10
specific questions about employment for anyone 14 years of age and older in the
1940 census.
At the time, the federal
and state governments sponsored numerous Emergency Work programs, such as the
Works Progress Administration (WPA), which provided unemployed people with jobs
to keep them off poor relief; the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which gave
men ages 18 to 25 jobs in conservation, typically with national and state
parks; and the National Youth Administration (NYA), which provided high school
and college students part-time jobs.
People ages 14 and older
were asked about their employment status (questions 21-31). People enumerated
on rows 14 and 29 were asked supplementary questions on employment as well
(questions 42-47).
According to the census enumerator instructions, people ages 14 and above were divided by
workers in the labor force and those not in the labor force the week of March
24-30, 1940. Workers in the labor force were broken down into four categories:
1.
In private or
non-emergency federal, state, or local government work (“yes” to question
21). This included people in sales and service; farmers; unpaid family
workers who contributed to the family income by working on the family farm or
in the family business (other than housework or incidental chores); people who
had five or more boarders; and people who worked at home for individual
customers (dressmaker, laundress, etc.) or commercial employers (such as
factory piecework).
2.
At work or assigned to
public federal or local emergency work programs, such as WPA, CCC, and NYA
(“yes” to question 22).
3.
Currently seeking work
(“yes” to question 23).
4.
People who were absent
from work during that week but have jobs, businesses, or enterprises (“yes”
to question 24), whether on vacation, temporarily ill, temporarily
laid off or on strike. This did not include seasonal workers, for example, the
“professional football player and the housewife who works as a saleswoman
during the Christmas season.”
Workers in private or
non-emergency federal, state, or local government were asked how many hours
they worked during the week of March 24-30, 1940 (question 26), while
emergency program workers and job seekers were asked how many weeks they were
unemployed up to March 30, 1940 (question 27). Weeks of working for
public emergency work were to be counted for weeks of unemployment. Workers
also were asked very specifically their occupation (question 28) and
industry (question 29) and what class of worker (question 30):
- PW:
wage or salary worker in private work
- GW:
government worker paid wages or salary
- E:
employer (farmers with hired farm laborers, store owners with paid
employees, etc.)
- OA:
working on own account (lawyers, doctors, farmers, etc., who did not
employ paid helpers or assistants)
- NP:
unpaid family worker who “contributed to the family income, on the family
farm, or in the family shop, store, etc.”
Inmates (“Inst.” for
question 21) of “prisons, reformatories, jails, penal farms or camps; institutions
for the mentally diseased, mentally defective, or epileptic, and home for the
aged, infirm, or needy” did not answer questions 22 through 34.
People not in the work
force, those who answered “no” to questions 21 through 24, were asked in question
25 if they were engaged in housework (H); in school (S);
unable to work for reasons of physical disability, old age, or illness (U);
or, “for any other reason, were not at work, not seeking work, and without a
job” (Ot).
Back to 1939
Question 31 asked how many weeks a person was employed
in 1939, which allowed the football player and Christmas saleswoman to be
counted as employed. Question 32 asked the amount of wages or
salary for Jan. 1, 1939 through Dec. 31, 1939. However, it did not include
business profits, sales of crops, or fees for income. The limit for this column
was “$5,000+.” Question 33 asked about income of $50 or more
from sources other than wages or salary, including business profits, fees,
rents, unemployment benefits, direct relief, interest, dividends, and income in
kind paid as wages. However, it did not include lump sum inheritances or sales
of land (“unless the person regularly earns his living by buying and selling
such properties”). If the person operated a farm, check out the farm schedule
(the number on the farm schedule is included in column 34).
