THE WAIPUKURAU PRESS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1935. GIRLS’ EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS.

Waipukurau Press, Volume XXX, Issue 241, 18 October 1935, Page 4

THE WAIPUKURAU PRESS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1935. GIRLS’ EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS.

At a meeting of the Christchurch Girls’ Employment Committee, the secretary reported that during the last two months 420 people had been interviewed, 32 girls had been placed in permanent positions, 10 in temporary positions, and 8 positions were still to be filled. The vocational guidance officer (Miss C. E. Robinson) presented the halfyearly report, which stated that the activities of the com-* mittee had increased considerably during the past six months. The difficulty of finding suitable girls to fill domestic positions was still one of the chief problems, and there was obvious need not only for an organised course of instruction to follow on after a course at a secondary or technical high school, but also for some control of working conditions and rates of pay of domestic workers. The number of girls at present on the register is 117. Registrations from March Ito August 31 were 211. The total number of girls placed from March 1 to August 31 was 114, of whom 41 were placed in domestic positions and 73 in industrial positions, namely, shop, clerical, dressmaking, or factory. Of these girls, 34 were under sixteen years of age. This report is of widespread interest as it indicates the difficulty attaching to suitably placing girls desirous of employment —even in the favourable circumstance of an organised effort on their behalf. As far as the domestic shortage is concerned much of the blame lies at the door of employers inasmuch as there has been a tendency to treat household service as less dignified than work in offices and shops. On the other hand many parents and their daughters are unwilling to become parties to a domestic career —in any circumstance.