FIGURES DON'T LIE

NZ Truth, Issue 1208, 24 January 1929, Page 11

FIGURES DON'T LIE

Women Numerically Superior hi Public Administration

The woman V place m the active scheme of things leaves no room for argument.; Of the total number of fair sex m New Zea- •-, land, 21.30 per cent; are total breadwinners ! . . ■

HpHE classification of their various I occupations as supplied by the Official Year Book provides some illuminating information. It is interesting to note that while the greater number of workers In clothing and;- dressmaking industries are women, ma^.has also to bow the knee to woman: In public administration! As against the 8578 men occupied with public administration, there are no fewer than 12,550 women engaged m the same work. ' • In the defined occup>tjoii group there are nearly 27,00Qj.^m©n engaged m clerical and professional work and 14,243 engaged m commercial' occupations. ■ : In these two latter groups there is, of course, a preponderance of men, but the figures quoted are a striking illustration of the grip the modern woman has m the affairs of the business world. Apart from the domestic circle, which naturally belongs by right to the woman, arid also apart altogether from the three callings specified, women have entered into all Classes of occupations and trades. Agricultural and pastoral pursuits, which necessarily call for stamina and robust constitutions, are followed by rio fewer than 3279 women. Women have also shown their versatility and hardihood by following such occupations as trappers, . forestry, stone, cement, glass and earthenware workers. • • . In the textile trades, while not showing a preponderance over the males, their numbers are gradually increasing. In the printing and photographic industry the agile and capable hands of a woman are m demand, and a third of the people engaged m this calling are women. If there are half a million women m New Zealand not engaged m some

gainful* occupation, there are also 242,601 men to be placed m the same category. These figures are the more,significant when it Is realized that., two decades^ago the woman who,' ventured from her/jplace'-besida -.the! : f amily.., hearth was ;j, looked "' v .afJ . askance. >. . "^'' „-.-«u.. ■' -■•*. . '■■■ Can it- be wondered it that when women began to take.;! an active .place m the workaday world with the ; men, they demanded an equal say ih the administration of a country? • W Man, top,, while), something ofr' an overlord , -since >Jth^f ivorld fbegari, .-, has become accustomed to \ the" prospect ;of keen: competition from to-day, but with Roman's advent into tfce ' cbmmercfai'ahd-inidustrlal field, lie has lost for her some "iSf the old-'wortd courtesy .and extended to the gentler sex. Man may not like -to admit this . soft" impeachment, but he cannot deny it absolutely.