DOMESTIC HELPERS

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 115, 18 May 1938, Page 9

DOMESTIC HELPERS

POSITION IN ENGLAND

ESTABLISHMENT OF CLUBS

, "The domestic problem is causing housewives in'many countries acute Inconvenience, but it is not too drastic a view to say that in a large numbed of cases the fault lies with the.house- , wives themselves," said Miss Nancye * Bentley, a member of the Women's t Federation in London, who' arrived" at Auckland by the, A'o'rangi eta route to England after, a visit to Australia, states the "New Zealand Herald." . „. .. Miss Bentley found significant the fact that a domestic problem existed to a much larger extent than anywhere else in England, the United States, Australia, and .New Zealand. In her opinion domestic'workers were treated in these couhtries more as a class than as individuals.. , , ( " BETTER CONDITIONS: * , 'In *the last two years people in England have;begun working seriously, in an,-endeavourto better conditions for domestic workers," said , Miss Bentley. ''Before I left London, L at- , tended tho Opening' in Bayswater. of the first of a series of feocial and sports clubs for domestic servants in London, planned by Lady George Cholmondely. "The clubs will be open, to men and women servants and will be equipped, it is hoped, with gymnasiums, and tennis, swimming,? physical fitness; dancing, and dramatic classes" added Miss Bentley. "Each club will have 'an entertainment and lecture hall. They will be non-residential and will » levy an annual subscription of about 10s a year for higher paid servants and te a year for the. lower paid. It is intended that the Scheme shall operate throughout the Greater London area, membership becoming "interchangeable for those moving from one district tc another. The clubs will not be-named after any director, sponsor,, or contributor, but' Will carry'the name of. the districts in which they are situated." LOANS TO GIRLS. - Miss Bentley said thak the latest scheme undertaken by the Women's Employment Federation was the establishment of a permanent loan fund to assist women training for careers. It had frequently been observed by members of the federation that such women very often were forced to forgo meals and live in inadequate accommodation to continue with -.their work. In its appeal the federation had the co-6pera-tion of six other large organisations,! and it was hoped that the larger ac-J tivities would enable the federation to extend the work it was already ( doJng I in this direction. ' j "For som'e time the federation has been assisting women with small grants for clothing, hot dinners, and" other necessities," continued Miss Bentley. "Loans from the federation have also helped girls who have to live in large cities to take their training to rent #«itable living quarters." ' . . «*,.■■ ... »