JUVENILE WORKERS

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 August 1930, Page 2

JUVENILE WORKERS

DECLINE’ IN ENGLAND. A sustained demand for boys and girls fresh from the school and little difficulty for young people in finding work are recorded in the annual report for 1929.0 f the London Advisory Council for Juvenile Employment. Discussing the effect of the reduced birth rate during the war years upon child employment, the report says there will be a gradual decline in the number of children leaving school until the lowest ebb is reached between 1932 and 1933. The decrease will vary considerably in different parts of the country, but will be in general between 15 and 30 per cent., in comparison with the number leaving school during the year 1927-28. A sudden rise is probable in 1934, followed by a further decline until al least 1940. As a result of inquiries relating to London and portions of the adjacent counties within a radius of approximately 15 miles from Charing Cross it was estimated that the number of children leaving the elementary schools might be expected to fall from 102,812 in 1928 to 71,102 in 1932, i.e., by 30.84 per cent., while for the more restricted area of the London County Council the corresponding reduction is as much as 37.14 per cent. A decline in the number of those leaving is already evident, but ovei- a number of years the shortage is cumulative in effect, and it appears that by 1932 in the wider area referred to there will be some 77,000 fewer jueveniles available for industry than there were in 1928. To some extent the shortage of juvenile labour will be met by the movement of families from other parts of the country to new industries which are being established round the metropolis; but at present these additions to the great variety of industries already being carried on in the district are creating a marked scarcity of young workers. Hence the council has under consideration such questions as the temptation for boys and girls to seek highly-paid jobs in preference to those offering training and a prospect of advancement in afterlife; the danger of young people being employed for over-long hours during the period of scarcity; and the possibility of these conditions affecting the number of boys and girls undertaking continued education.