Of Interest to Women.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 3, 1 April 1920, Page 12

Of Interest to Women.

THE PROBLEM OF DOMESTIC LABOUR. (C'ontinued from March 23.) In last week's issue, an endeavour was made to examine the nature of "domesti labour" and its distribution and remuneration. Of the question still to be answered, the next is, "In wliat esteem is domestic labour held as a form of service " The answer may be derived from the wages or emoluments of any kind offered for its performance, from the amount of training demanded for it, from the standard of character asked for, and from the social status of those that make it a vocation. From whatever viewpoint we take the question is complicated by the existing economic conditions within the home and must be answered with regard to no distinct classes of persons. The first is that of the married women. As pointed out in the previous article, the remunera-tion they receive bears no quantitative relaHon whatever to their service. We are led then to conclude that though a man, generally speaking, is prepared to endow a woman with his wordly goods or part of them because she is to be his help-meet and co-worker, as well as his wife, our economic system recognises in no way the value of women 's service to the community as mothers and homekeepers. Further,. as a general rule, women, themselves, to judge by social procedure everywhere, consider a large part of such work irksome and derogatory to dignitv. In this they are in some degree right, since "drudgery and coarse servitude" are things which civilisation tends more and more to remove by labour-sav-ing appliances and other means, of which more anon ; but they are also more wrong than right in so far as they consider the mere opportunity and power to shift their "dirty work" on to other people's shoulders to be a badge of social advancement. To be able to go out calling while another woman scrubs your kitchen floor is no real claira to respect nor any necessarv evidence of high character. The wages of those who hire themselves out as domestic workers are probably less than those of factory workers; they are generally as high as those of girls holding minor positions in offices. I do not think j that the unattractiveness of domestic service (it must be unattractive since so few girls will take it up) lies in the smallness of the wage. Nurses are paid small, ludicrously small wages, in the public hospitals at any rate, girl clerks and typistes are not highly paid ; and yet thcSc avenues of labour are crowded in comparison with domestic service. One cause of the anomaly is certainly the greater independence and the definit hours of work accorded to "outside" workers. Maid-servants are expected to be on duty from seven in the morning till bed-time, except- for their weekly or fortnightly afternoon off or evening out. Why should they beconje domestic servants if they can get into factories, shops, or offices where eyery evening is free or paid for as overtime at double rates ?

When we come to consider the standard of character and training required in domestic labour, we find again the dual answer. Our conventional sentimentality does not take account of such mundane matters as training or even industry and sobriety of character. A man marries a woman for the sake of her fair eyes, not because she is capable or energetic. Education is now bestirring itself on this question, perhaps in some cases with more zeal than discretion; but the esiablishment of "Home Science" in our schools may help to put domestic labour of every kind on a sounder and more reasonable basis. For the average servant, the question of training and character has come to this for its only answer: "You must take what you can get," and can women wonder that there is not a betetr class of girls coming forward as domestic servants when the work is tactitly and geperally considered to be a kind of inferior drudgery. The woman who aspires to be of some importance in her circle, hires a servant, so that she may eacape the lieavier and more disagreeable work of the house and be more free to enjoy the amenities of social life. The maid to whom she dele gates the cooking and baking and serubbing or the care of the children in the afternoon, is of an altogether different and inferior order. Most probably the serYar.t is her mistress's inferior in those things that opportunity and fortune confer, in education, refmemcnt, and accomplishments, but therein lies the very pity of it. Why should children be entrusted to the care of the ignorant and coarse, if by any means we can attract. more educated and refined persons to the work ? And the only way that can be done is by the removal of the badge of social in-

feriority. It has been done in the case of nursing which implies menial duties 110 less monotonous or disagreeable than those of domestic service. One may propose to a parent of respectable middleclass station that his daug-hter should go in for nursing, or typing, but not for domestic service: and yet nursing includes many disagreeable menial ta&kJs, and typing is monotonous and often ill-paid work. The difference is that among us, nursing and typing are considered genteel, domestic service is not. And yet, two generat-ions ago, nursing was a despised profession, taken up by coarse and ignorant persons. There is no doubt that in a home with any pretensions to comfort and cleanliness, where there are youHg children to be cared for, there is work for more than oue woman, and if the mother is to have any rest or recreation, there must be help obtained for her. At present, that help can scarcely be had, and women are forced to put up with ill-performed and inadequate service, largely because they will not so alter the conditions that sensible, welltrained and refined girls will offer themselves for the work.