Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Wardrobe expenditures of women employed full-time in five occupational categories

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  • The purpose of this study was to examine and compare annual work wardrobe expenditures, work wardrobe expenditure influences, and selected demographic characteristics of women employed full-time in five occupational categories: professional and technical, managerial and administrative, sales, clerical, and other. The survey questionnaire included an itemized list of 37 wardrobe items in five groups representative of clothing and accessories women might wear for work and work-related activities. Respondents indicated the total number of each item purchased and total dollar expenditure per item. Respondents also indicated annual expenditures for dry cleaning, alteration and repair; expenditure influences; and selected demographic characteristics. Following pretesting of the survey instrument, the mail questionnaire was sent to 825 women randomly selected from the city directory for neighboring cities Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Washington, who had been employed full-time during the previous year (1985) and who agreed by introductory phone call to participate in the study. Data from a total of 259 returned, usable questionnaires were included. The sample included an uneven distribution of respondents: 24.3% Professional-Technical, 20.5% Managerial-Administrative, 8.5% Sales, 29.7% Clerical, and 17.0% Other. One-way analysis of variance, post hoc Tukey's test, Kruskal-Wallis One-Way Analysis of Variance, and chi-square test of independence were used to test for significance of differences among occupational categories. Multiple Classification Analysis was used to test for significance of expenditure differences among occupational categories after controlling for the influence of significant demographic characteristics. The Scheffe's test using adjusted mean expenditures was used to reduce the probability of a Type I error. Significant differences among occupational categories were found for educational level, job income before taxes, and total family income before taxes. Significant differences among occupational categories were not found for marital status, age, presence in the home of children 18 years of age and under, years of employment at present job, and total years of employment. Significant differences among occupational categories were found for total work wardrobe, footwear and annual dry-cleaning expenditures. However, after controlling for the influence of significant demographic characteristics, significant differences in total work wardrobe expenditures among occupational categories were not found. The average annual 1985 work wardrobe expenditure of study respondents was $886; average expenditures ranged from $11 to $5925. Average annual work wardrobe expenditures by occupational category were: Management-Administrative ($1019), Professional-Technical ($967), Sales ($943), Clerical ($912), and Other ($535). Survey respondents spent about half (50.3%) of the total work wardrobe expenditure on outerwear, 14.5% on footwear, 14.3% on lingerie, 12.5% on accessories, and 8.4% on protective outerwear. The mean expenditure for outerwear was $460; for footwear, $132. About half of the survey respondents reported annual work wardrobe dry - cleaning expenditures under $25, about one-fourth reported spending from $25 to $50, and one-fourth reported spending $51 or more. Professional-Technical and Managerial-Administrative respondents tended to report higher annual dry - cleaning expenditures, and the Other respondents reported annual dry-cleaning expenditures under $25. Significant differences among occupational categories for expected wear life of work wardrobe garments and for work uniform requirements were found. Most survey respondents reported wearing work wardrobe garments for 2 to 3 years or 4 to 5 years. Professional-Technical and Managerial-Administrative respondents tended to wear work wardrobe garments longer, while the Other respondents reported the least years of wear life. Most survey respondents did not wear a uniform for work; however, about one-half of the Other occupational category respondents and one-fifth of the Professional-Technical respondents reported wearing a work uniform most of the time.
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