ECONOMIC STATUS OF WOMEN

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22319, 5 February 1938, Page 3

ECONOMIC STATUS OF WOMEN

THE PUBLIC SERVICE INJUSTICES AND ANOMALIES (By ANNE PAGE.) An investigation of the status of women in the Public Service has left me amazed. One expects the State to be a model employer; yet, as far as the Public Service is concerned, it can fairly be accused of exploiting women because of their inferior bargaining power. Women public servants are not only paid much less than men for the same class of work; they are in addition denied reasonable opportunities of advancement, and, in the great majority of cases, are refused security of employment. The New Zealand Public Service is divided into four main divisions—general, clerical, professional, and administrative. The general division, which is the lowest, includes a wide variety of officers, and the salaries for male adult employees do not, except in rare instances, rise above £SOO. The maximum for most branches of the general division is about £4OO. The clerical division, as its name Implies, consists of those engaged in clerical work. It is divided into seven classes and salaries range from £55 a year in class seven, to £765 a year in the first class. The professional division includes all those officers who have professional qualifications, i.e., doctors, engineers, etc. The administrative division consists of a small class -of higher officials whose salaries are determined pn c>i year by special parliamentary appropriations. Women “Temporarily” Employed to the General Division Most of the women in the Public Service are typists, '■ and come in the general division. The starting salary is generally as little as £55 a year. This rises to about £95 by the time a girl is 21, and thence to a possible maximum of £245 a year. Most of these typists are classed as temporary employees, although many of them have served for 10 years or more. Presumably, the object of making them temporary employees is that they can be dismissed at short notice. This is very useful in times of depression. As temporary employees also they have no right of appeal either against dismissal or in the matter of promotion or as regards salaries. Not until fairly recently were they allowed to join the superannuation scheme. Male typists, on the other hand, receive £155 on reaching 21 with an additional £lO for each year of previous service.

It is generally true that, throughout the general division, women are paid substantially less than 1 men where men and women do the same work. Thus in the Tourist and Publicity Department, male hath attendants begin at £l9O and can rise to £250, while female bath attendants begin at £IOO and rise to only £IBO. And in the Labour Department male factory inspectors begin at £230 and can rise to £490; but women factory inspectors begin at £230 and cannot rise above £275. There seems to be very little excuse for such discrimination. It is most necessary to have female factory inspectors, and the work they do is quite as difficult and responsible as that done by men.

Exclusion from the Clerical Division The Public Service Act does not provide for any differentiation between men and women as regards appointments; but since 1921, no women have been appointed to the clerical division of the service except as correspondence school teachers (who come under the commissioners). Probably all the women now employed as clerks entered the service during the war. In this division one does not find different salary scales for men and women; but a survey of the Public Service list shows that, in fact, there is very strong differentiation against women. Very few women seem to have risen above class 6 of the clerical division, which is the second lowest. Yet it would be fair to say that many women in class 6 are better qualified and do better work than men with much better classifications and better salaries.

Professional and Administrative Work In the professional division, interestingly enough, there is apparently no discrimination against women. For instance, women who become school medical officers are paid at the same rates as men. As was noted in a previous article, however, female school inspectors (school inspectors are professional officers) are being advertised for at rates lower than those being paid to males. This suggests the interesting conclusion that where a woman has the protection of a definite professional qualification, she is better treated in relation to men than where she lacks such a qualification. In the administrative division there are no women at all. New Zealand must be one of the few countries m the world where women have not attained to really responsible executive positions in the Public Service. As far as marriage is concerned, the Public Service regulations seem peculiarity barbarous. A woman public servant who marries must resign her position; and there is no right of appeal on the grounds of hardship as in the teaching profession. Should the services of a married woman be required for any particular reason, she can only be employed upon the recommendation of the permanent head of the department and with a special Certificate from, the Public Service Commissioners. It is significant that there is in New Zealand no separate association of women public servants. Unlike women teachers, women in the Public Service have not organised to protect themselves. Nor have they been successful in getting the general Public Servants’ Association to support their claims. As a result, although girls are encouraged to take the same entrance examination as boys, the successful candidates are only appointed to temporary positions in the lower grades of work. A girl who is high on the examination list will not be offered a position as cadet, although many boys with lower marks probably will be. If the girl is lucky, she may become a temporary office assistant with no prospects either of promotion or adequate remuneration. Regulations empower the Commissioners to pass over successful girl candidates if they consider a certain vacancy unsuitable for a woman. It would seem that this has been used in a manner that violates the spirit of the Public Service Act which makes no distinction between the sexes. Are you thinking of selling youi business? The quickest, route between Buyer and Seller is through “The Press" Classified Advertisements—l2 words Is, 3 insertions 2s 6d. 'Phone 33-358.