WOMEN AT WORK.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1208, 17 August 1911, Page 9

WOMEN AT WORK.

LABOUR DEPARTMENT'S REPORT. The annual report of the Department of Labour states that the AVoinen's Employment Branches, whilst not showing the same result as to the number of persons assisted last year, continue to do very useful work. For the twelve months ended on March 31, 22-ti women and girls were assisted to employment throughout the Dominion, mostly in domestic service. This total represents a decrease of 547 persons assisted over those for the year ending March 31, 1910, and js to be accounted for solely by the fact that applicants for employment were not offering. The difficulty in securing domestic workers (trows more acute from ,dny to day. although the conditions of employment continue to improve, both in regard to wages paid and hours worked. Competent domestics, can easily command positions at from 15s. to r£l per week and found, in addition to obtaining holiday leave weeklv. The fact that such high wages can now be secured by girls prevents any families, where the income is only nio'dorate, obtaining the assistance of nu extra hand. It is pointed out that this must greatly afreet the health of mothers, and, incidentally, tho birth-rate. Of the total number of women assisted (23.i1) IV! were manned and 1827 wexo single or widows; 255 came from Great Britain and 70 from the Commonwealthof Australia, the balance hailing from either the North or South Island of New Zealand. As to the conditions obtaining in Wellington during the year, the officer in charge of the local branch, Miss E. If. Bremner, states that during 1909-10 employment was. found for. 7iß, whilst during the year under review only 595 were assisted, a decrease of 153. This decrease is accounted for by the. fact that the number of applicants for work has fallen off considerably, and it has' becoma increasingly difficult from month to month to effect engagem«nts. A considerable amount of employment has been found for a. very deserving class of women at day-wort—that is, assisting in ironing, washing, or cleaning work— at wages varying from ss. to 6s.'per day. Workers assisted by the Department cover a very wide range of callings, and besides domestic workers include the following:— Nurses, housemaids, charwoman, parlourmaids, lady-helps, cooks, girls to assist, laundresses, ' waitresses, housekeepers, nurse-girls, shirt-machinists, and tailoresses.