The Press. Tuesday, August 18, 1918. Domestic Service.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16289, 13 August 1918, Page 6

The Press. Tuesday, August 18, 1918. Domestic Service.

What i'b Jknowi*. as ' the "Domestio "Help Problem" hadreached an acute stage in New Zealand even before the war t and peedless to say, it has become greatly accentuated during the lost three or four years. Even in England, judging by a conference jield in the beginning, of June in London, under the auspices of the Women's •Industrial Council, domestic service is "now regarded as practically "a dying " industry." Naturally the tremendous demand existing at present for women in munition work has dried up, temporarily at any rate, the supply from which domestic servants were usually obtained, but it is thought that even after the war, women will te kept on in every occupation where they have proved themselves efficient substitutes for men, and that the scarcity qf domestics will continue. The inference referred to was held for the purpose of seeing whether a* practical schemo could be devised to meet (his ever-growing difficulty.

Why Is ifc that domestic service, apart from the influence of the is becoming increasingly unpopular? This was one of tho Questions naturally discussed at the conference, but it cannot.be said that muclrfresh light was thrown upon the subject. The "Spectator," summarising the discussion, says that the feeling against service, 80 far as could be gathered from the-various speeches—confirmed as their words were by applause from the back of the hall—is very largely social. "Servants do not complain of "want of due respect on the part of "their employers, but they complain "thyt by entering service they incur "the social contempt, or, at any rate, 1 " the disagreeable Bocial condescension "of-their own friends and relatives. " They have less chance of advan"tageous marriage than their sisters " in other walks of life and less "chance of making pleasant acquaint"ances. Servants are regarded, to "they say, as a class apart, and are " consequently lonely and unhappy." Whether the remedy suggested by •heWomen's Industrial Council would prove only experience • ran veil. It is proposed to create a ' Household Orderly Corps" of women ffho shall live in hostels planned for -heir, receptioa and do daily domestic vork for the ypriona householder! in

the neighbourhood who may require their services. It is thought that if an eight-hour day can be secured in this way for the workers, and if in addition, they are well-trained, it will tend to raise their status. On the other hand, it is argued that the system would enable a large public who now keep one servant "living in" to keep no servant at all, and a still larger public who now keep two or more to keep one less. The chief difficulty anticipated by the critics is the not uncommon difficulty of finance. Thirty shillings for a week is proposd as a minimum wage. If a girl's time is not filled, the management are still bound to pay her thirty shillings, of which from fifteen to eighteen shillings would have to be deducted for her board and lodging. If the girl is to be paid thirty shillings a wecl. oven if 6ho cannot put in her full time, and if the hostel is to be self-supporting it is obvious that the employer must pay at a still higher rate, probably a shilling an hour. This is decidedly' high pay compared with English rates, and is likely to prove a serious difficulty. We are surprised that more attention was not given to what seems tho most obvious means of lightening the middle-class housewife's worries. The majority of our if questioned, will say that the preparation of meals is tho worst part of housework, and if they were relieved of this they could get on very well. This could bo accomplished, as has before been pointed out in "The Press," by the establishment of catering centres, from which meals could be ordered and delivered piping hot in properly-equipped delivery vans. The numerous war kitchens established in England have conclusively proved that co-operative preparation of food means greater economy, besides affording a much greater variety of choice than can be given in individual households. Christchurch, with its numerous suburbs, has always seemed to us well-adapted for an experiment of this kind, and wo wonder some of its more enterprising citizens have not long ago taken the matter in hand. Whoever solves the problem will rightly be regarded as a social benefactor, and will certainly earn the lasting gratitude of the wives and* mothers to whom we owe so much.