Henry Ford's pro-family initiative that rocked the world

Louis T. March

January 09, 2024 3 Reactions

To carry this out, Ford established the Sociological Department and English School.

This was a committee that would visit the employees' homes to ensure that they were doing things the “American way”. They were supposed to avoid social ills such as gambling and drinking. They were to learn English, and many (primarily the recent immigrants) had to attend classes to become "Americanized". Women were not eligible for the bonus unless they were single and supporting the family. Also, men were not eligible if their wives worked outside the home.

Ford associate S. S. Marquis ran the Department, aka the Socialisation Organisation:

Nothing tends to lower a man’s efficiency more than wrong family relations. Henry Ford thought thrift was a very important quality because it indicated that a person had self-control, self-respect, responsibility, and would work steadily and diligently.

Third, Ford established a savings and loan for employees to encourage thrift and personal savings. This was the forerunner of many corporate retirement schemes.

Not only was Ford’s plan good for the corporate bottom line, but there was also a huge public relations benefit. Early first-time car buyers saw what Mr Ford did. They were going to buy their car from that guy.  

And last but maybe not least, a blue-collar worker now had a shot at buying a Ford.

Welfare capitalism?

In the early 1900s, gambling, drinking, domestic abuse and other vices plagued the urban working class, which included large numbers of immigrants. These pervasive social ills inspired reformers such as Jane Addams (Hull House) and galvanised the temperance movement into a potent political force. Churches, social reformers and charities mounted high-profile campaigns against poverty, illiteracy and degeneracy.

Henry Ford stepped into the breach and tailored his groundbreaking compensation plan as a way to boost production while improving the lot of workers. Ford reasoned that workers with problems at home, especially financial troubles, would be distracted at the factory. Distraction was dangerous on a fast-moving, labour-intense assembly line. He wanted to provide the proverbial ‘hand up’ instead of a handout.

The Sociology Department was intended as a benevolent mechanism to help families. Yet it eventually proved impractical and was phased out after almost a decade. A for-profit corporation running a social welfare organisation, however well-intentioned, was not a good fit.  

Nonetheless, Ida Tarbell, the prominent “muckraker” journalist, famous for exposing John D. Rockefeller’s skullduggery at Standard Oil, said of Ford’s initiative: “I don’t care what you call it, philanthropy, paternalism, autocracy. The results which are being obtained are worth all you can set against them.”

Legacy

The American family owes a huge debt of gratitude to Henry Ford. The eight-hour workday and the living wage for industrial workers did much to improve family life. The company savings and loan served as the impetus for a panoply of corporate savings and retirement plans.

Ford proved to the world that investing in workers was good for business. Even uber-woke National Public Radio acknowledged, “The Middle Class Took Off 100 Years Ago... Thanks To Henry Ford?” UC Berkeley economist Harley Shaiken summed it up: "What that [Ford’s plan] gave us was an industrial middle class, and an economy that was driven by consumer demand."

That living wage economy with affordable consumer goods fostered a thriving middle class that defined American life until the advent of globalist winner-take-all economics in the late 20^th century, which has wreaked havoc on the American family. We need another magnate like Henry Ford to advocate for the family. Elon Musk?

Suggestion: Woke media prattle about slavery, which ended here over 150 years ago. Any connection with slavery is justification to topple monuments and rename public spaces. It would be wonderful to see the same passion and exertion challenging today’s wage slavery instead of whining about 19th-century chattel slavery. At least that could lead to some benefit for the beleaguered American family.

*Ford, as principal shareholder, prioritised reinvesting profit into corporate expansion ahead of shareholder dividends. Ford knew the Dodge brothers were using those proceeds to finance starting their own competitor company. Naturally, it landed in court. In Dodge v. Ford Motor Company, 204 Mich. 459, 170 N.W. 668 (Mich. 1919),  the Michigan Supreme Court affirmed “shareholder primacy”, ruling that Ford should prioritise shareholder interests over employee benefits. However, the ruling also validated the “business judgment rule” that allowed Ford a huge measure of discretion in running his company.

Louis T. March has a background in government, business, and philanthropy. A former talk show host, author, and public speaker, he is a dedicated student of history and genealogy. Louis lives with his family in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Image: Henry Ford and schoolchildren at Greenfield Village. Ralph Henry Graves (1948), Wikimedia Commons.