Domestic Problem!

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 181, 3 August 1938, Page 15

Domestic Problem!

QUEEN MARY’S INTEREST Queen Mary showed a deep personal interest in the Domestic Services Exhibition which was recently held iu I London at the Royal Horticultural Hall |in. an effort to improve the status and attractiveness of domestic service as an occupation for girls. It aimed, in short, to place domestic service on a definite footing and to encourage more young girls to adopt it as a career. A suggested form of contract was drawn up between mistresses and maids, and included such items as two hours of free time for & maid every day, in addition to two hours for meals, not less than eight hours for sleep, two half-holidays weekly, an adequately furnished bedroora and 14 days ’ holiday with board wages after a year’s service, while the mistress must also undertake to provide as many labour-saving appliances as possible.

Another proposal was to train girls for six months, at a salary of 12s a week. After training, they would be

known as “chartered helps,’ * and would work for regular shifts a day at set wages. The General Council of the .Trades Union Council has been forming a trades union for domestic servants, and employers of all kinds, from butlers and gardeners to between maids, were asked to show a practical interest in the scheme by asking for and supplying information. Many mistresses were ready to support the proposed union, and during the exhibition mistresses and maids joined daily in amicable discussions on the problem of domestic service.