MANPOWER NEEDS

Waikato Times, Volume 132, Issue 22151, 24 September 1943, Page 5

MANPOWER NEEDS

BRITAIN’S ACHIEVEMENT “WE HAVE DONE IT” MOST PEOPLE WORKING (Official Wireless) (Received Sept. 24, 1 p.m.) RUGBY, Sept. 23 In the House of Commons Mr E. 1 Bevin, Minister of Labour, opening a debate on manpower, stressed the importance of anticipating heavy j casualties when a second front came i into action. In the gigantic struggle which would be facing us in 1944 every provision must be made for them. Saying that mobilisation has reached a stage in Britain not excelled by any other country, Mr Bevin added: “To date we have registered all women from 18 to 47 years of age, involving the registration of 10,000,000 men and 10,000,000 women. I take it that it is the will of the House that I ought to stop at nothing until we have won, whatever the consequences may be. Of 33,000,000 people between 17 and 64 years of age at my disposal 22,650,000 are in the services, civil defence or paid employment. That includes i 700,000 women doing part-time I work. “Of 16,000,000 males in the counI try between 14 and 65 years of age i over 15,000,000 are in service for the country or in paid employment. Of 17,000,000 women between 14 and 64 years of age 7,750,000 are in the services or paid employment. Over | 1,000,000 are doing unpaid voluntary work and giving service to the country of a national character. Over 9,000,000 children under 14 years of age have to be looked after. This I , regard as national service, i “Of single women between 18 and ' 40 years of age 91 per cent are worki ing. That leaves only 9 per cent for sickness or ailments. Over 80 per ! cent of the married women of that age group without children are engaged in the war effort.” Triumph for Organisation j Commenting on these achievements Mr Bevin declared: “We had to do ! it and we have done it, which I think ,is a triumph for British organisation and genius.” He added that there were over 1,000,000 men and women over 65 years of age in full-time paid employment in the war effort. On the Merseyside and in Manchester the average age of dockers was 51 years and they were giving a remarkable turn-round of ships. “I saw the other day a man 83 years old wheeling 3cwt. bags of Cuban sugar,” he added. Mr Bevin said over 2,500,000 women had been recruited to the forces and industry from non-manual and non-industrial classes. Between January last year and June this year over 1,000,000 persons were added i to the forces and munitions industry. ; Britain was employing 2,250,000 people more on munitions than at the end of the last war. Priority to Aircraft The Cabinet had decided to give priority to aircraft construction and women up to 50 years of age living in aircraft districts could be of great j help if they went in at once. One million six hundred thousand women between 40 and 60 years of age were j already in employment and over i 500,000 between 46 and 50 years. I The Minister said he recognised j that in calling up older women great : care would have to be exercised. He added that he wanted 30,000 men for the mining industry as soon as possible and 20,000 next year if vacancies still existed after use had been made of those who had co-opted j or had volunteered. Professor J. Craik-Henderson (Conservative) said the United States up to now had not conscripted one woman and suggested that there could be cuts in the staffs of Government departments before calling up middle-aged women. Mrs Adamson Labour) said that speaking generally women in Britain were not opposed to the direction of women from 45 to 50 years into industry.