DOMESTIC EMPLOYMENT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 85, 17 April 1913, Page 4

DOMESTIC EMPLOYMENT.

A rather startling suggestion is made in the Australasian Medical Gazette on the important subject of the employment of women. Xo sadder sight can meet the eye of him who “loves ids, fellow-men,” the Gazette points out, than that observable at the metropolitan railway stations each morn-

ins between 8 and 9, with the large , proportion of girls in their teens going to work in factories, shops and offices. After a reference to the effect of this employment on the future generation, the Gazette goes on: “The only solution to the problem 1 seems to lie in the passing of legislation which will prohibit the employment of girls and women in any walk of life which is not unquestionably woman’s work, until they shall have passed through an apprenticeship in household work. Such apprenticeship 1 should be for six months, preferably! longer, the housewife being respon- j sible for the conduct of the girl and for giving her opportunities of obtaining knowledge. At the end of her time a certificate would be granted, and thereafter, if she still so desired, she might seek other avenues of employment. The apprenticeship need not he confined to the homes of the well-to-do; in the humblest cottage, provided the mother was accepted as capable enough to teach, a thorough grounding could be acquired. Where there are daughters in the family, these in turn could be articled to the mother, who must be made responsible for their doings. In some such way as this the dearth of assistance in the home would be overcome, mothers would have breathing space, families would increase, the future child-bearers would learn somewhat of their duties and responsibilities, and the ills of infancy would be diminished.”