Talk:Charles Winick

A fact from Charles Winick appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 18 August 2015 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that in 1971, Charles Winick found that American prostitutes earned little more than clerical workers?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2015/August. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Charles Winick.

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Income

"Prostitutes were paid little more than clerical workers, earning $5,000 to $6,000 in net income for a six-day workweek."

I don't see the source for this claim (it appears to be paywalled) but it is most likely poorly phrased. As quoted, it implies net income of $5,000 per week, which is a very good income even in 2015, and far beyond reasonable in 1971. I believe this should mean "earning $5,000 per year while working 6 days a week."

The statement "little more than clerical workers" is also somewhat misleading, since it implies that clerical workers were poorly paid. According to the 1970 U.S. Census survey (http://www2.census.gov/prod2/popscan/p60-080.pdf, table 60), female clerical workers were the 3rd highest paying group among 9 major occupation groups.

Finally, the phrase "clerical worker" itself is ambiguous: for me the most natural meaning is "clergy", but, in this context, it apparently means "clerk." --Itinerant1 (talk) 06:40, 18 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed with Itinerant1. Surely a typical prostitute (or clerical worker) doesn't pull in $5,000 per week, even in 2015. In 1971, that sum would equal $29,461, according to the Inflation Calculator![1]– Gilliam (talk) 07:06, 18 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I changed the statement to reflect what the wiki person wrote here. I believe the author intended this... Dinkytown talk 08:18, 18 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]