SOS FROM MOTHERS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 10, Issue 244, 25 February 1944, Page 15

SOS FROM MOTHERS

WOMEN ON THE HOME FRONT. By Christina K. Guy. Progressive Publishing Society. HIS is d book which, it may be hoped, will produce some concrete results. The problem of help in the home for mothers of young families, as well as help in country homes, has become increasingly difficult in recent years. Politicians, the Plunket Society, and various women’s organisations have all made suggestions for tackling it: some of them disagree as to method, but all agree that it is a matter of national importance, especially as it touches on the problem of population. As far back as 1918, Dr. A. B. O’Brien, of Christchurch, advocated some sort of State scheme for raising the status of domestic helpers so that mothers with young families who, he said, were chronically overworked, would be able to get some assistance. But apparently the time was not then ripe. What Mrs. Guy does in this book is to collect in concise and lucid form what all these individuals and groups of individuals think about this pressing

problem. She advances no solution of her own, but contents herself with describing what has already been done by several private groups throughout New Zealand, what is suggested should be done here, what has in fact been done along these lines in other countries, and the difficulties that have been and are likely to be encountered. And she ends with the description of a recent conference of important and representative people-an enthusiastic gathering, but a somewhat inclusive one. This is all very well, and probably necessary, but one gets the impression from Mrs. Guy’s book that the field of research has been pretty well covered, and that what is needed now is not more conferences, even of important and representative people, passing resolutions, and referring back to sub-committees, but action. The author herself strikes this note of urgency throughout.