White Women Displace Black Domestic Workers During Depression

The Great Depression produced a documented displacement of Black domestic workers — the largest category of Black female employment — as economically desperate white women took jobs previously performed exclusively by Black women. In Chicago, the percentage of white women in domestic service rose from 14% to 23% between 1930 and 1935 while Black domestic workers lost positions at twice the rate of white women. The displacement was accompanied by wage cuts; domestic workers who retained employment saw wages fall by 50–70%. The Domestic Workers Union organized in New York, Chicago, and other cities to fight exploitation, but domestic workers were excluded from all New Deal labor protections.