H—ll

for women, it nevertheless has a larger number of employees than at any previous stage in the Dominion's history. The following table reveals the trends in the last twenty years: —

Persons Employed in Registered Factories (Including Working Occupiers)

(3) It may be seen that the percentage of women employed in factories, after increasing to 29-2 in 1943, as a result largely of wartime man-power directions, has declined since and is now at the lowest proportion (22-1 per cent.) since the early 1930'5. This trend and the reasons for it were referred to in the 1947 report. It appears also that factories are receiving a reducing share of the women engaged in all types of gainful employment. These proportions further emphasize the gap between the demand for and supply of female labour. The apparent shortage of female labour is accentuated by the heavy demand for goods produced by women, such as clothing, footwear, and food. Nevertheless, the actual number of women employed is still higher than in any pre-war year, while the number of men employed in factories is over 30,000 higher than ten years ago. It will be noted, also, that the number of registered factories, after declining during the war to 16,010 in 1944, the lowest figure for over twenty years, has rapidly increased since then to 19,700, the highest number ever recorded and 1,858 greater than ten years ago. (4) Location of Factories. —The heavy concentration of industry in the NorthIsland is revealed by the following figures : Factories. Employees. North Island .. .. .. 12,999 109,151 South Island .. .. .. 6,701 55,533 (5) Size of Factories. —It is often stated that the greater part of New Zealand's production is carried on in very small factories, but this is only partly true. Tables XIII and XIV show the number of workers employed in factories of varying sizes, and it will be noted that by far the largest number of factories employ twenty workers or less. These figures tend to over-emphasize the small size of factory units by the inclusion in the definition of " factory " of such establishments as bakehouses, butchers' shops manufacturing their own small-goods, laundries, and other units not usually thought of as factories. Nevertheless, it is correct that factories are preponderantly small, and this fact is important in administering the Factories Act, especially from the viewpoint of

20

Year Ended 31st March, Pf M. arsons Employe F. d. Total. Percentage of Female Workers. Number of Factories. Dominion Population.* Percentage of Population in Factory Employment. 1929 102,795 16,677 1,470,654 7-0 1933 66 j 803 19^334 86,137 22-4 16,176 1,536,964 5-6 1937 85,513 25,528 111,041 23-0 17,126 1,577,109 7-0 1938 93,955 29,646 123,601 24-0 17,559 1,592,108 7-8 1939 .. 94,812 28,911 123,723 23-3 17,842 1,607,826 - 7-7 1940 98,156 31,332 129,488 24-2 18,141 1,632,835 7-9 1941 98,616 34,291 132,907 25-8 17,940 1,634,500 8-1 1942 96,978 37,111 134,089 27-7 17,421 1,631,276 8-2 1943 92,468 38,092 130,560 29-2 16,408 1,636,403 8-0 1944 94,354 38,245 132,599 28-8 16,010 1,642,041 8-1 1945 99,558 39,042 138,600 28-2 16,537 1,676,286 8-3 1946 104,089 37,663 141,752 26-6 17,289 1,728,441 8-2 1947 115,529 37,427 152,956 24-5 18,291 1,784,334 8-6 1948 125,990 36,812 162,802 22-6 19,102 1,823,074 8-9 1949 128,348 36,336 164,684 22-1 19,700 1,861,714 8-8 * Population figures taken to nearest date of factory registration from Abstract of Statistics.