WOMEN AND WAR WORK

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 299, 15 September 1941, Page 6

WOMEN AND WAR WORK

One of the major problems in Britain, where millions of men have been summoned to join the Colours, has been to maintain, and increase, the output of war materials. Six months ago the JMinister of Labour and National Service, Mr. E. Bevin, said, that they must rely more and more on women to run the industrial machine. It meant that factories must be adapted, and methods of manufacture carefully overhauled, and managements were instructed to make the best use of woman-power. In April 429,820 women of 20 years of age registered, and in the following month a further 281,961 women who were 21 years old, and it was intended to select 125,000 women for a start. It will be realized that the absorption of such a large number of unskilled workers involved problems of a most difficult kind, and apparently the results achieved thus far have not satisfied rhe Minister.

The authorities appointed a women’s consultative committee to advise the Minister and in increasing numbers women have invaded factories and undertaken work formerly reserved for men. Ihe alleged “failure,” mentioned in recent cable messages probably did not'mean that woman-power had proved useless or unsuitable, but that the degree of progress made in utilizing women workers in the industrial sphere had not reached the level of what is required. Ihe fact that in the next twelve months a further 1,000,000 women workers must be found for war factories and the auxiliary services shows not only the extent to which women are being called upon to assist in the war effort, but also the way in which the Mother Country is mobilizing her resources for the struggle.