DOMESTIC HELP

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21845, 6 July 1934, Page 12

DOMESTIC HELP

SHORTAGE OF SERVANTS

HOUSEWIVES' PROBLEM MORE IMMIGRATION URGED In spite of the fact that the depression has thrown many girls and young women out of employment, there is at present an acute shortage of domestic servants in Auckland. Inquiries made yesterday revealed that there are plenty of situations offering in good homes at Remuera, Epsom and Mount Eden, but housewives who are in a position to employ servants agree that it has never been more difficult to secure competent domestic help. It appears that one of the main factors responsible for the present position is the prejudice of New Zealand girls against domestic service in private homes. During the last few years many local girls have entered service, have been trained by good employers and have given every satisfaction, but, generally speaking, they prefer work in hotels, boarding houses or restaurants, where they have greater freedom and leisure. Girls Who Marry

Tho bulk of first-class trained domestics, it is stated, are girls who have come from England, either as assisted immigrants under the Government scheme, now suspended, or on their own initiative. That class of servant is now definitely restricted. The girls who came from England obtained good domestic positions, generally at higher wages and with better living conditions than they had experienced previously. However, even in a new country, young girls inevitably meet young men and romances are not slow to develop. As a result, many of these girls are now married, with homes of their own to manage.

"Ono can quite appreciate tho position of these young women," an Auckland lady said yesterday. "I know of a case in which a girl left England in 1922 to come to an assured position in an Auckland household. It was a good position, and the girl, a fine type of young Scotswoman, with ability and character, stayed with tho one family for just on five years and managed to save a fairly considerable sum. "For a part of that time she was engaged to a young man who had a steady position with an Auckland firm. He was also saving and, when the girl left her position to get married, she and her husband were able to afford a home of their own. Her husband has remained in regular employment throughout the depression, and the,girl has never had any call to regret her decision to take up domestic work in New Zealand." Vacancies Not Filled Other English girls, it is stated, havo accepted positions in hotels and restaurants, and a number of welltrained servants have recently left to take up positions in Australia. The forthcoming Melbourne Centenary celebrations are said to be acting as quite a considerable magnet, as the anticipated influx of visitors there in October has resulted in an increased demand for domestics. With the cessation of assisted immigration, there have been no girls coming from England to fill places left vacant.

The net result is that there are insufficient competent, trained domestics to fill the positions that are offering. In several quarters it is held that a solution of the present servant problem lies in the direction of a gradual resumption of State-assisted immigration of English girls, prepared to accept employment as domestics and carefully selected in England. The view is put forward that they would not be competing with New Zealand girls in tho labour market, and that, judging by past experiences, the great majority of them would become useful citizens.