xt751c1tg72g https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt751c1tg72g/data/mets.xml Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station. 1955 journals 024 English Lexington : Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Kentucky Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station Progress report (Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station) n.24 text Progress report (Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station) n.24 1955 2014 true xt751c1tg72g section xt751c1tg72g Progress Report 24 Mg;-gh |955
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A Study in Economic Area One
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I Figure l. Percentage Distribution of Rural Residents in the Purchase
Area Employed in McCracken County Defense Industries,
by County of Residence.
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EMPLOYMENT OF RURAL PEOPLE IN WESTERN KENTUCKY
Robert E. Gallowayl
The Department of Rural Sociology of the University of Kentucky, in cooper-
ation with the Agricultural Marketing Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture
made a study of rural families living in the Purchase Areaz of western Kentucky dur-
ing May 1953. The principal objectives of the study were to obtain a description of
the contemporary open—country family and to make an analysis of changes that have
taken place in the family since- the beginning of the Korean War (June 1950). This
is the first of a series of reports based on the data gathered for the study. Materials
used in this report were gathered from key informants who furnished information a-
bout 647 rural open—country households located in the 79 area—segments comprising
a single-stage, geographically stratified random sample.
In May 1953, 79 percent of the males and 17 percent of the females 14 years
of 1ge and older in the sample of rural families were employed. This was 2 percent
r more than the proportion of rural males and 1 percent less than the proportion of
rural females in the area that had been reported by the Census as being employed
3 years earlier.
1; Location cf Nonagricultural Employment
Many of the working members of the sample families were employed at places
outside the county in which they lived. Construction of the Gaseous Diffusion Plant
of the Atomic Energy Commission and the Tennessee Valley Authority Shawnee Steam
Plant located in McCracken County near Paducah furnished much of this employment.
Of persons in the sample households working in these plants, 45 percent came from
within the county and 55 percent were from other Purchase Area counties (Fig. 1,
see cover). The families living in the counties adjoining McCracken furnished 47
percent of those working there. However, counties as far away as Fulton, Hickman,
and Calloway also furnished daily commuters to McCracken County.
Each day athird of the employed males who were heads of sample families left
the county in which they lived to work at places outside the county (Table 1). Sons
and daughters also were going outside their home county to work.
1Social Science Analyst, Farm Population and Rural Life Branch, Agricultural
Economics Division, Agricultural Marketing Service, U. S. Department of
Agriculture.
2The Purchase Area (Census Economic Area One) of western Kentucky consists of
the following eight counties: Ballard, Calloway, Carlisle, Fulton, Graves,
Hickman, McCracken, and Marshall, all of which lie between the Tennessee and
Mississippi Rivers.
4 4 r
Table 1. —- Percentage distribution of workers in nonagricultural industries
by position in the family and by location of job
‘
Location Position in family ,
°f j°b Total Male Wife Son Daughter
head »
- — --—- Percent ————————--- ‘
Total 100 100 100 100 100
In county 70 66 88 68 ‘ 65 6
In adjoining counties 26 28 11 27 30
In other Purchase counties 3 4 — 5 5
In other Kentucky counties 1/ 1 — — - l
In other states 1 1 -= —
17 Less than 1 percent
Con struction of the Atomic Energy Plant and the Shawnee Steam Plant fur-
nished the major part of the employment to the nonfarm workers in the sample fam-
ilies (Table 2). However, other industries in McCracken County and especially in
Paducah, the clothing industries in Mayfield, and industries in Murray and Calvert
City were also important sources of employment. More heads of families were
employed in defense industries in Paducah than in other industries., More wives,
however, were employed in the clothing industries in Mayfield,. Ernployed child—
ren living at home worked at more varied locations and industries than did their
parents.
Table 2. ——Percentage distribution of workers in nonagricultural industries
by position in family and location of job ,
Location Position in family _
0f J<>b TMI Mm wife Son Daughter t
head
———— . ———— Percent ——-—-——
Total 100 100 100 100 100
Paducah 54 65 21 41 30
Atomic Energy Plant 31 38 2 18 20
Others 23 27 1.9 14 10
Mayfield 15 8 41 26 30
Clothing industry 9 3 34 13 20
Others 6 5 7 13 10
Murray 11 8 18 14 20
Kentucky Dam and State Park 5 4 4 5 ·-
Calvert City 3 3 — 5 —
Other locations 12 12 16 9 20
Although a few families lived as far as 50 miles from the play of employ-
ment of some of their members, the average distance to their work for persons
employed in nonagricultural industries was 8. 9 miles. Fifty—four percent of those
i employed had less than 10 miles to travel to their work (Table 3)., However,. 9
percent travelled more than 30 miles to work each day. Males who were heads of
families and also children travelled farther to reach their places of employment
than did the wives of the heads. None of the wives nor sons travelled as far as 40
miles to get to work, but 10 percent of the daughters and 5 percent of the male
heads of families travelled at least this distance to their jobs each day.
Table 3. ——Percentage distribution of workers in nonagricultural industries
by position in family and by distance to work
Position in family
Distance Male Wife Son Daughter
to work Total head
Total 100 100 100 100 100
l Under 5 miles 28 25 41 23 25
5 — 9 miles 26 27 23 23 . 25
10 -19 miles 28 27 34 31 35
20 -219 miles 9 10 2 14 5
30 <=39 miles 5 6 — 9 ·
40 miles and over 4 5 — — 10
II. Principal Occupationpf Employed Persons
In the sample families, most employed men were farm operators, craftsmen,
foremen, and laborers, and most employed girls and women were operatives, ma-
chine operators, sales clerks, and technical workers (Table 4). In studying com-
.binations of jobs, it is noted that a larger proportion of sons than fathers were both
Table 4. ——Percentag_e distribution of employed personsi/ by major occupation
and by position in family
Position in family
Major Male Wife -7Son Daughter
occupation Total head
————- — — Percent —~—————— ·- —
Total 100 100 100 100 100
Professional and technical 3 3 13 - 9
Managers, officials, and
proprietors, except farm 2 3 — 2 —
_ Clerical and sales workers 7 5 12 ,. 49
Craftsmen, foremen, and
kindred workers 19 22 7 11 —
Operatives and kindred workers 13 8 52 9 23
Service workers 3 2 12 — 5
Laborers, except farm 18 19 4 19 5
Farm operators 30 34 - 41 —
Farm laborers 3 2 A - 10 9
Unemployed 2 2 — 8 —
17 Age 14 years and older, in sample of 647 rural families. 7*--*-
- 6 .. -
farm operators and laborers on other farms. Also a relatively high proportion of
daughters were working on farms. More daughters than mothers were sales clerks
and clerical workers, while more mothers than daughters worked as operatives and 4
technical workers. About 1 in 10 of the employed children in these families worked
as farm laborers. The number of all the employed persons in these sample families
who worked in nonagricultural pursuits was about twice the number who worked in
agriculture. `
111. Industries in Which Employed Persons Worked
Among the various industries, agriculture was the principal employer of work-
ers in the sample families (Table 5). Almost 4 in 10 of the employed persons report-
ed an agricultural pursuit as their major source of employment. V
Table 5. -—Percentage distribution of employed persons}! by major industry and _
and by position in family 1
Position in family
Major industry Total Male Wife Son Daughter
head
—-————- Percent —————--—~
Total 100 A 100 100 100 100
Agricultural, forestry and
fisheries 36 41 0 56 9
Mining 2/ 0 0 2 0
Construction 26 31 2 15 18
Manufacturing 13 8 56 11 32
Wholesale and retail trade 7 5 11 2 23
Transportation, communications, ’
and public utilities 5 6 2 0 0
Finance, insurance, and real ·
estate 1 1 2 0 5
Business and repair service 3 3 4 6 O »
Other services 6 3 25 0 13
Public administration 1 1 0 0 0
lndustry not reported 2 2 0 9 0
1/ Age 14 years and over, in sample of 647 rural families.
2/ Less than 1 percent.
The principal nonagricultural industries employing family members were construc-
tion, the chief employer of males, and manufacturing, the chief employer of females.
Employed sons of the family heads were most likely to be engaged in agriculture and
less likely than their fathers to work in the construction industry or in manufacturing
plants. Employed daughters tended to be employed in wholesale and retail trades in
greater proportions and less in manufacturing than their mothers. Because of the
large clerical force employed by the builders of the defense plants in Paducah, the
construction industry was an important source of employment for daughters living
at home as well as for their fathers. Many persons whose principal employment
was in nonagricultural pursuits also did some farm work on their home places.
- 7 -
IV. Median Age of Employed Persons
The median age of all employed workers in the sample families was 42 years,
higher for men than for women, 43 and 37 years, respectively (Table 6).
( Table 6. -— Median age of employed persons by occupation and by sex
Occupation Total Male Female
(Years) (Years) (Years)
All occupations / 42 43 37
Agricultura'l‘L 49 49 2/
Nonagricultural 39 40 37
Service workers (including private
household workers) 46 55 43
Professional, technical, Managers,
· officials, and proprietors (except farm) 44 41 47
Craftsmen, foremen, and kindred
workers 39 39 39
Laborers (except farm) 39 39 39
. Clerical and sales workers 38 42 26
Operatives and kindred workers 37 40 35
V
1/ Includes farm operators, farm managers, and farm laborers. The median age
for farm laborers was 39 years.
.2/ Only two females reported their principal occupation as agriculture and both were
farm laborers under 20 years of age.
Persons employed in agriculture were older than those working in nonagricultural
occupations, Employed males were also older than employed females.
In the nonagricultural occupations, service workers were the oldest and oper-·
atives were the youngest employees, as indicated by the age medians. Females em-
ployed as clerks and sales ladies were the youngest among all occupational groups,
but males working in these occupations were the oldest; Persons under 30 years of
age, more so than those older, were employed as laborers, operatives, craftsmen,
and farmers. Males under 30 years of age, were usually laborers, craftsmen, and
farmers. Females of corresponding age were machine operators, sales and clerical
workers, and farm workers. Over 60 percent of the men who were 60 years of age
and older worked as farm operators. Most men of this age employed in nonagricul—
tural industries worked as laborers, craftsmen, and foremen,.
As for industry, persons working in agriculture were older on an average
than those employed in nonagricultural industries (Table 7), Among the nonagricul—
tural industries, manufacturing tended to attract the younger family members and
the service industries attracted the older members. Males employed in agricultur-
al and the service industries had the highest median ages and those in construction
- 3 -
and manufacturing the lowest median ages. Females employed as clerks in the _
offices of construction companies and as sales girls in retail stores had the low- _
est median age and those in the service industries had by far the highest median
age. T .
Table 7. Median age of employed persons by industry and sex Q
Industry Total Male Female
lYears) lYears$ (Years} .
All industries 42 43 37 V
Agriculture 49 49 1/
Construction 38 39 28
Manufacturing 36 36 35
Transportation, communications, and l
public utilities 43 43
Wholesale and retail trades 39 41 2.8
Other services 45 44 46
1/ Too few cases for a median.
l. ZM — 2 -·-55