GIRLS OUT OF WORK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 118, 21 May 1931, Page 14

GIRLS OUT OF WORK.

ACCOMMODATION PROBLEM.

STATE HOSTEL SUGGESTED. MINISTER UNFAVOURABLE. The need of suitable accommodation for unemployed young women in Auckland was urged by a deputation which waited upon the Hon. A. J. Stallworthy, Minister of Health, yesterday afternoon. Tlie deputation, which was introduced by Mr. W. E. Parry, M.P., consisted of Mrs. M. B. Soljak, Mrs. B. V. Cassidy aiul Miss C. McAdam, representing tlie Women's International League. Mr. Parry said the position of many unemployed girls in Auckland was serious, particularly in cases where they had no homes to go to. The State should provide some protection for girls out of work, some of whom were in undesirable lodgings. Consideration should be given to the question of prohibiting the immigration of further domestics, and the Unemployment Act might be widened to include women. Mrs. Soljak suggested that a hostel should be established by the Government to provide accommodation for unemployed girls and for use as a training centre, from which the girls could be sent to suitable employment. The pi'esent provision in Auckland for dealing with tlie needs of unemployed women and girls was certainly not adequate. The Minister askecl the deputation whether it considered that the State could run a hostel at a lower fee than a private person, or whether it was considered that the State hostel should be a free one. Mrs. Soljak eaid those girls in employment would help to maintain those who were out of work. Replying to the Minister, Mr. Parry said girls would need no persuasion to enter the hostel. Similar schemes arc working satisfactorily in several other countries. Mr. Stallworthy said that after exhaustive inquiries he had found that there was accommodation for all girls who found themselves temporarily out of work, and various organisations were co-ordinating to ensure that this was

maintained. There was not a proved ease for the need of a hostel, and it was questionable whether the Government would feel justified in incurring the capital charge and maintenance costs. Even if such a hostel was established he doubted whether girls could be persuaded to live there. There would necessarily bo discipline, and in these days, when young people like their freedom, he doubted whether they would voluntarily submit to the regulations. "I must tsay you have more faith- in State-owned institutions than I have if you think they will provide the ideal environment for bringing up young girls," said Mr. Stallworthy. He would be surprised if such hostels could compare with those that were being so successfully run by other institutions. When normal times returned the State hostel would bo empty and other institutions full to overflowing.

Referring to the .suggestion that women should conio within the scope of the Unemployment Act, Mr. Stallworthy said the Act was already seriously overweighted. He promised, however, to dificixss the position with the Minister of Labour, and also to bring 'it before Cabinet.