FARM LIFE

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21214, 10 September 1940, Page 8

FARM LIFE

SOCIAL SURVEY EQUIPMENT OF HOUSES i j EXTENT OF FEMALE LABOUR Analysing data obtained mostly in 1937 and 1938, a survey of housing and household equipment on New Zealand dairy farms by Mr W. T. Doig, secretary of the Social Science Research Bureau, is published by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Of 455 dwellings for which satisfactory information was obtained, 78 per cent were excellent, very good 1 or sound, 15 per cent were defective, nearly 5 per cent were very defective, and under 2 per cent were dilapidated. On the whole, so far as the physical structure' was concerned, housing was considered satisfactory. In an examination of the furniture and condition of the living rooms of 369 houses, it was found that 82 per cent qualified as excellent, very good or good, and the remaining 18 per cent were either meagre or bare, the latter description being applied to those where there was definite impression of poverty or neglect, wallpaper hanging in strips, floors being dirty or bare, furniture being rickety, or boxes being used for tables or chairs. Some With No Drainage

Speaking of water supplies and washing and bathing facilities, the survey says it was not unusual to find water adequately supplied to the cowshed but not to the dwelling. It was found that 85 per cent of the houses had a bath attached to a drainage system of some kind, 46 per cent had a sink, bath, washbasin and washtubs attached, and 7 per cent had none of these facilities attached to a drainage system. There was no drainage at all in 32, or about 7 per cent of the houses.

It is stated that the study of housing and equipment shows the unbalanced nature of possessions. For example, 78 per cent of the dairy farmers possessed a motor-car, while only 16 per cent had a septic tank; 82 per cent had a radio, while only 59 per cent had a wringer; 63 per cent a telephone and 46 per cent a sink,

bath, washbasin and washtubs attached to a drainage system. Share-milkers’ Wives In a survey of the work of 391 wives, it was found that nearly 3o per cent worked on the farms, being engaged for the week before the interview on the average nearly 32 hours. The range of hours worked was from 2 to 81. In the main it was discovered that the wives worked the long hours. About 55 per cent of the daughters who had left school and were living at home worked on the farms, their average being 39 hours a week and the range going from 14 to 92. Many farmers stated that their wives preferred to work on the farm and receive the extra money rather than pay the wages to an employee.