Employment, Hours and Wages in the Engineering Employers' Federation, 1914-1968

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The complete Engineering Employers' Federation (EEF) payroll data have been transcribed from records kept at the University of Warwick's Modern Record Centre in order to provide electronic access. This is an especially rich source of data, representing roughly 30 percent of UK engineering. Detailed information are provided on wages (rates and earnings) and hours of work at engineering district, section, and occupational levels. Statistics separate pieceworkers and timeworkers as well as males and females. Information on apprentices, journeymen, boys and youths is also given. The statistics cover the period 1914 to 1968 and provide exceptional detail for the inter-war period (including the Great Depression), WWII, and the post-war recovery period. Unemployment rates covering 1926-1968 and matching 28 of the 56 engineering districts are also provided. To date, research work carried out at the University of Stirling on these data include: (a) A comprehensive descriptive analysis of all main features of the data. (b) Wages and hours in British engineering in the inter-and post-war periods. (c) The effect of the business cycles on the piece rates and time rates of pay. (d) Female work and pay in engineering during WWII. (e) Apprenticeship and journeymen relative pay and employment in the interwar period. Main Topics:The EEF data cover the period 1914-1968. They are divided into engineering districts, sections and occupations and by gender, piecework and timework. The available data files contain: (a) District data for men: this covers 36 years between 1914 and 1968 (there are some missing years) for 25 occupations and 56 districts. (b) Section data for men: for 28 years between 1930 and 1968 (again with missing years) for 25 occupations and 43 sections. (c) District data for women: for 27 years between 1935 and 1968 for 55 districts. For 1935 to 1939 and 1945 to 1962 the breakdown is by women aged under and over 18. For 1940 to 1942 this is broken down further into women doing men's work and women doing women and boys' work. For 1966 to 1968 it is women under and over 21. (d) Section data for Women: this is for 25 years between 1935 and 1968 covering 43 sections and with the same breakdown as the district data. (e) Apprentices, Boys and Youths: both the district data and the section data covers 14 years between 1935 and 1958 for 55 districts and 29 sections. (f) Night shift and 2/3 shift working: the district data it is just for two years, 1935 and 1936 for 51 districts while the section data is for five years from 1935 to 1939 covering 28 sections. (g) Apprentices, journeymen and boys: this gives numbers of apprentices, journeymen and boys for 11 years from 1928 to 1938 covering 38 districts and 8 occupations. (h) District unemployment rates: these have been made available for 28 of the EEF districts from 1926 to 1968. Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research.