Henry ford factory workers pay

Today in middle-class history Henry Ford doubled the wages of his production workers in 1914 to $5 a day.

Adjusted for inflation, that would come out to $118.67 in 2015 dollars, almost $15 an hour for an eight-hour day (in 1926, Ford Motor became one of the first major corporations to adopt a five-day, 40-hour workweek).

This applied to male workers and was extended to women in 1916.

Contrary to myth, it was not done so workers could afford Ford automobiles. Instead, it was a reaction to high turnover and the resulting costs from production downtime and retraining.

The turnover ceased and in two years Ford’s profit doubled.

Whatever the proximate cause, Henry Ford’s move had wide repercussions, helping propel the rise of the blue-collar middle class.

It cemented worker loyalty and increased productivity. In addition, workers had more money in their pocket and eventually could buy such pr