During the last months of the year 1915, Edson published a thirty-seven-page study of The Cost of Living. The Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) interviewed about one thousand workingwomen. During these interviews, women were asked to assess their weekly salaries compared to the prices of clothing, food, and other necessities. From the gathered reports, Edson calculated that the cost of living was roughly $9.63 per week. The Bureau of Labor Statistics proved that half of the working women earned less than nine dollars a week.