Englishwomen's Work In France

Horowhenua Chronicle, 6 November 1916, Page 3

Englishwomen's Work In France

1 ■■■ •' C 1 ■ SCARCITY OiF NURSES AND GOVERNESSES. (From <i Paris Correspondent.) The war changed many things in the order of women's work in (France, but in none is the change greater than in the work which was once done by Englishwomen in French families and French business houses. Before the war the supply of workers surpassed the demand for them, especially for those employed in I' l'eneli families, but now Frenchwomen are calling for English governesses and : English nurses in vain. The lady in charge of the Paris Lodge of the Girls' Friendly .Society, from where most English governesses in France are engaged, says thtt there f.re now 10 applicants for one nurse or nursery governess, and in answer to their questions as to the reason of their difficulty in getting what once was so easy to find, she can only tell them that patriotism seems to be the chief obstacle. Very many English girls and women who were content in times of peace to leave England and

wander about the Continent as dependents in a foreign family have, sih« England went to war, gone back tc work for -..their own country, and ma-nj of them are now making munitions nursng the soldiers, or serving in canteens or some other public organization. Some day they will -probably think of going abroad again, and. it is their future wcrk there which calls for attention. The success of the English governesses in the past has lain rather in their national and individual qualities than in their professional aptitude. AVonien who have never taught children before go out to France to teach French children English. .and only children's nurses who teach nothing but obedience and cleanliness are professionally equipped for their undertaking. The result is an English nunse in France is well paid and has a clearly defined and not uncomfortable position in the household of her employer, whereas the pay of an English governess is generally poor and her position in the family is quite undefinable. In a recent article in The Times an organizer of women's work in England said that tile most difficult women to get work 'for to-day wore these who had returned from abroad where they had been at "the beck and call of other women." She complained that they had no initiative and nothing of that pleasant confidence in tlier v own powers which comes with "knowing one's job" and 1 the resulting good pay. The position of a "nursery governess" or a "mother's help" does not encourage initiative, hut a plain "nurse" or "governess" or "housekeeper" who knows her business has firm ground to stand on. and can claim just consideration and good pay. TRAGEDIES OF IXT'Of\IPCTEX'C'I>. English women rerclurs r"— vorrl" 1 in French families, but they should be trained for their work. English trninel nurses for children have prived competence meets its reward, audi if RngMsh tpachers set tin as high a =tnndnrd' of work ns the nurses French children will learn to speak better Fn-g----'ish and their governesses will hold a rery different position in French families from the one they hold now. Man; -thousands of Englishwomen are employed to tench English in foreign families on the Continent, but very few earn a living wage with a chance to save. The result is that in late middle age they are reduced to living on charity given either by foreigners or their own country people, and in both cases it is bitter to the taste of those who accept it. Many tragedies are the outcome of | these conditions, which if written in detail would seem as cruel as war's worst horrors. The cure for them, happily lies in the workers' own hands; they must know unite iin demanding a just pay for what they do. Another opening for Englishwomen in France, and one which demands firstrate work for vei-y good pay. lies in business offices. But here, again, is the stumhiing-blcck of incompetence on the side of til/* workers. To be of practical use to a business man in France. his secretary must know French as well as English, and lie able to write both languages in shorthand. 1 long-hand, and on the type-writing-machine. Tf a girl enn do this she can ask and get a very generous salary. Even as things are English typists get geodi pay for more or less incompetent work; hut an educated woman who knows both languages, typwriting. and shorthand is assured in Paris of being able to earn a good living, which allow* her to save for the future. The trouble is that such women are very hard to find, and their incompetent stop-gaps threaten to spoil the market.