HELP IN HOME

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 58, 6 September 1945, Page 9

HELP IN HOME

SCHEME COMING

WOMEN FROM SERVICES

She knew the Minister of Health (Mr. Nordmeyer) was going ahead with a scheme for help in the home and believed something would be heard about it in a very short time, said Miss Mabel Howard (Government, Christchurch East) in her Budget speech in the House of Representatives last evening. ! "We can wait no longer to initiate such a scheme," said Miss Howard. "We have the woman-power now with the demobilisation of girls from the Services, and I believe if the help in the home scheme is explained to those, girls we will get all the women we need." ~ Miss Howard Suggested the retention of a camp as a training centre just as there were training centres for the rehabilitation of servicemen. She would like to see the girls trained in elementary nursing, dietetics, plain cooking, and home science. Many of the women in camp were already qualified and would need very little training. When competent they could be registered with the National Service Department, and she would have wages and conditions of employment controlled by that Department or a union, preferably a union. She emphasised that it was essential that the employers # should play their part. BRIDGE-PLAYING WOMEN. She was not interested in providing service for women who went out playing bridge, and golf, and things like that. She felt many of those women would be better off if they were doing their own housework. To make a success of the scheme good conditions were imperative. The reason why domestic work had never appealed to the ordinary woman was because of the bad conditions. They had to remove the "slavey" complex and put domestic service on an honourable status the same as every other job women did. The women's institutes and Women's Division of the Farmers' Union had done great work in the past with a helper scheme, but she did not think the job should be left to them. It had to be a State job organised by some State Department, as were the hospitals. It was too big for one or two women's organisations. She knew those organisations would get behind the Minister when he started his scheme. Miss Howard said she wanted to see women on the back countx-y' farms helped in the next few months, and she also wanted women to be available for homes where there were expectant mothers. ■■=■ • -; >■

Home helpers could also give service to the old people for a few hours daily. She also believed every married woman should have a-fortnight's holiday. Home helpers could be used to enable women to get away to have that holiday. It was her belief that people who could pay for the help in the home should pay, and she believed many people would be only too willing to pay, but as far as the old people were -concerned her opinion was that the cost should be a charge on the Social i Security Fund.