THE GIRL IN INDUSTRY
"The adolescent stage of life has long seemed to me one of the most
fascinating of all themes, more worthy, perhaps, than anything in the
world of reverence, most inviting study, and in most crying need of a
service we do not yet understand how to render aright."
G. Stanley Hall, _Adolescence_, I. xix.
THE
GIRL IN INDUSTRY
BY
D. J. COLLIER
WITH A FOREWORD AND INTRODUCTION BY
B. L. HUTCHINS
AUTHOR OF "WOMEN IN MODERN INDUSTRY"
[Illustration]
LONDON
G. BELL AND SONS, LTD.
1918
CONTENTS
PAGE
Foreword. B. L. Hutchins v
Introduction. B. L. Hutchins ix
Part I. Investigation. D. J. Collier 1
Part II. Recommendations. D. J. Collier 49
Table I. 55
Table II. 56
FOREWORD
The problem of the adolescent at work is a very complex one; not only
the economic, but also the educational, physiological, and biological
reactions of industrial work have to be considered. The present work
does not attempt anything like a comprehensive discussion of the
subject; it is merely a small contribution to existing knowledge of
the facts in regard to one section only: the physiological effects of
industrial work on growing girls.
The young, it is often said, are the nation's capital. If by this we
merely mean that they are the force by which the material goods of the
future will be produced, our view of life is inadequate and rather
brutal, but if the words are given a higher and more spiritual sense
they become full of significance. Youth is the future: from among the
young of to-day the parents, citizens, leaders, prophets, artists of
the next generation will arise. Work at this age should be considered
not only for the shillings it will immediately produce, but partly
for its effects on the worker's productive power later on, partly for
its effects on character, physique, mind. Dr. Stanley Hall says of
modern industry: "Not only have the forms of labour been radically
changed within a generation or two, but the basal activities that
shaped the body of primitive man have been suddenly swept away by the
new methods of modern industry.... Work is rigidly bound to fixed
hours, uniform standards, stints and piece-products, and instead of
a finished article, each individual now achieves a part of a single
process, and knows little of those that precede or follow. Machinery
has relieved the large basal muscles and laid more stress upon fine and
exact movements that involve nerve strain.... Personal interest in, and
the old native sense of responsibility for results, ownership and use
of the finished products, which have been the inspiration and soul of
work in the past, are in more and more fields gone."[1] The conditions
of much work undoubtedly tend to become mechanical, deadening, and
soul-destroying.
A strong impression seems to haunt the minds of some who are
intimately in touch with working-class conditions that adolescent
labour is excessive in amount, and that the resulting fatigue may be
cumulative in its effects and injurious to the continuance of the
race. Thus in 1904 Miss Anderson and her colleagues of the Factory
Department, being invited to report on the subject of married women's
work, found themselves impelled to the consideration of the previous
life-conditions of the women, and stated: "It is the employment
of women from _girlhood_, all through married life and through
child-bearing that impresses itself on the mind. It is useless for any
not familiar with the conditions of mill life to pronounce any opinion
... they have no conception of the stress and strain."[2]
More recently Mr. Arthur Greenwood in a pamphlet (_The Schoolchild
in Industry_, published by the Workers' Educational Association,
Manchester, 1914) states that the fatigue and prolonged standing
characteristic of some factory industries produce serious disease
in girls and young women, "and, in the opinion of many doctors,
sterility." The same impression may be found occasionally among Sick
Visitors and the like, who work among these women. Whether there is a
scientific basis for the belief it is impossible to say; there is not
at present sufficient information.
The investigation embodied in the present volume was undertaken in the
hope that it would yield some information as to the vitally important
subject of the biological effects of early employment, or, in other
words, the reaction on the woman and her offspring of industrial
employment in the adolescent years. No statistical data have, however,
been obtained on this point; probably none such could be obtained
within the limits of a small inquiry directed and financed by private
persons. Even in regard to the effects of industrial work on the health
of girls, without special regard to ulterior effects, there is at
present very little scientific information.
I welcome Miss Collier's report, therefore, as a pioneer effort; it
is limited in scope and matter by the nature of the undertaking,
but I know that she has spared no pains in collecting her facts,
and has set them out without prejudice or bias. Her experience
has suggested to us the desirability of a form of inquiry which is
probably beyond the resources of most private inquirers, but might
well be undertaken either by a Government department or by some public
fund for sociological research. Some years ago, statistics of the
anthropometrical measurements of school children in certain districts
were published.[3] These figures were obtained from elementary school
records in rural and industrial districts, and the results were
valuable and instructive. Such a survey of young people, aged 14 to
18, might usefully include not only those in industry, but also those
attending secondary schools, who in certain districts belong to much
the same social grade, and often come from the same families. Thus the
material for a valid comparison would be available, and the results,
under scientific medical guidance, might be of first-rate social
importance. Possibly also some light might be thrown upon the subject
by investigating the previous occupational histories, from the onset of
puberty onwards, of patients in maternity hospitals, and tabulating the
results with the nature of the confinement, whether normal, difficult,
or complicated.
In conclusion, Miss Collier and I wish here to offer our best thanks to
the many friends who kindly allowed themselves to be interviewed, and
gave the help and information necessary for carrying out the inquiry.
INTRODUCTION
_Numbers Employed._--The whole number of girls employed from 10 to 21
years of age amounted in 1911 to over a million and a half, or about
40 per cent of the total female population of that age. If, however,
we restrict ourselves to the adolescent girls at the ages 14 and under
18, we find that the total number employed amounted to nearly 794,800,
or 58·6 per cent of the whole. The 41·4 per cent unoccupied include
girls of the class in which women do not work for money, girls studying
who intend to follow a profession or occupation, and some girls of the
higher industrial classes who attend school one, two, or three years
beyond the elementary school age. There must also be in this group some
proportion of working-class girls who are kept at home to help their
mothers, and a small number of invalids and imbeciles who are incapable
of work.
Of the 794,800 girls occupied, it is interesting to note that 30·5 per
cent had entered service (including hotel service, but not including
laundry and washing service). If we take the whole domestic group which
includes laundry and charing as well as service, we find it takes up
34·8 of the total girls employed. Considering how much complaint is
frequently made of the unwillingness of girls to enter these ancient
and traditional paths, it is worth noting that one girl in every three
actually does so, and the girls who stay at home to help their mothers,
if we knew their numbers, would bring this proportion up a good deal
higher.
The textile trades employ 16·8 of our occupied girls, and the various
dress trades 19·2. We thus find nearly 71 per cent of occupied girls
are engaged in the occupations constantly associated with their sex
and regarded as "womanly," although in modern times nearly all textile
and a considerable proportion of the dress and laundry trades are
organised on factory lines. The other 29 per cent are dispersed over
the clerical, artistic, and other professions, and in miscellaneous
factory industries.
The proportion of girls employed varies from one place to another;
it is highest in districts where there is a well-marked industry,
especially where textile factories absorb a large proportion of female
labour. Table II. shows the proportion of girls in a few selected
districts. In industrial districts the proportion of domestic servants
is very low, and the figures bring home to us the fact that in certain
districts a large proportion of the female population spends the
transition from childhood to adult life in the mill.
It is, however, useless to spend much time over these figures, which
have become completely out of date through the war. No details for
young workers are obtainable in official statistics, but the increase
in numbers of females employed in industry since the outbreak of war
was estimated in July 1917 at 23·7, while the increase in professional
and other occupations, including transport, was 82 per cent. The total
increase in industry, commerce, and government service of various kinds
amounted to over 1,420,000, or 42·5 per cent.[4] It is probable that
the increase among girls of 14 to 18 was at least no less than among
female workers generally. The net increase in numbers must also be only
an imperfect indication of the enormous changes within the employed
group. The Munitions group, the metal trades, all the textile and other
trades that produce the clothing and other accoutrement of soldiers,
the supply of food and comforts for the army, all these industries
have expanded considerably and have drawn recruits not only from the
unoccupied but from the domestic workers, and from many other less
indispensable occupations. Women and girls have also taken the places
of men and boys in many civilian occupations.
_The Factory Act._--During the war the regulations of the Factory Act
have been considerably relaxed or suspended. The strain of industry on
the immature, however, though undoubtedly intensified by the war, was
already a matter of anxious consideration before 1914. Even in times
of peace the Factory Act vouchsafes to the adolescent worker a meagre
and inadequate protection. As regards hours of work, "young persons,"
_i.e._ such as are between 14 and 18, and also such as though only 13
have obtained a school attendance certificate, are placed on a level,
but for some trifling exceptions, with adult women. The hours of work
for both classes are the same, viz.: 10 hours in textile factories,
10-1/2 in non-textile factories and workshops, plus meal times. It is
thus legal for a girl of 13, a mere child, as most people would call
her, to be at work "all round the clock," or, including meal times, for
full 12 hours. On Saturday there is a half-holiday. The only difference
in regard to hours is that in certain industries women are permitted
overtime, which is prohibited to young persons.
_Medical Inspection._--There is, however, a provision special to
workers under 16, which is of interest, and that is the requirement
of a certificate by the certifying factory surgeon that the young
person is physically fit for the proposed employment. The surgeon has
power to reject boys and girls for work he considers unsuitable to
them, and he may also make certain qualifications or conditions as
to the kind of work on which the boy or girl should be employed. It
is evident that here we have a provision with great possibilities of
good for young people. The unfortunate side of the matter is that the
certifying surgeon is not concerned with the care of the child; he is
merely remunerated by the employer to fulfil a legal formality. Within
a few years the Women Factory Inspectors have, however, taken the
matter up and initiated action in the interests of rejected children.
The system has been shown to be most unsatisfactory. No certificates
are required for other than factory industries, so that in many cases
rejected children go to some employment which may be more harmful than
the one for which they have been rejected, or may even be admitted
by one factory surgeon into the very occupation for which another had
disqualified them.
Equally serious is the absence of any system of medical advice or
treatment for the cases in which physical defect or disease has been
notified. For these and other reasons it is highly desirable that the
factory medical service, so far as it relates to juveniles, should be
absorbed in the School Medical Service, which for nearly ten years
has been doing such good work in the detection and to some extent the
treatment of pathological conditions among school children. This body
is far better placed than the certifying surgeons, as the whole of the
elementary school population passes under its hands. Medical inspection
could then become a condition of all employment, instead of, as at
present, factory employment merely, and suitable arrangements could
be made without much difficulty for medical care and treatment where
necessary. It would be likely, also, that the school doctors would
take a more enlightened view of factory conditions and the needs of
adolescence than the certifying surgeons, and would have the Education
Authority at their backs in urging the importance of healthful
conditions on the employer in the factory.[5]
_The Industrial Conditions needed for the Young._--In regard to
girls the importance of adapting conditions of work to the needs
of the immature woman is a matter of thought and care, of details
intelligently combined into a coherent whole. Given suitable
arrangements it need by no means be assumed that the factory is
inherently injurious to women and girls. Several persons whose views
have been included in the following report even thought that factory
life was beneficial in some respects. Dr. Louis Starr also says: "While
there is no question of the evils of child-labour, more of the young
suffer from too little than too much use of the muscles. Where harm
comes the blame should not be put upon the mere work, but upon the
unhealthy surroundings, bad work-rooms, long hours, great monotony,
over-specialisation and excessive use of the accessory and neglect of
the fundamental muscles."[6]
The principle of economic individualism has been definitely thrown
over by all but a few invincible doctrinaires, and it is coming to be
recognised that the shoe must fit the human foot and not the foot be
cut down to suit the shoe. We are beginning, greatly daring, to foresee
a time when directors of industry will be required to revise their
schemes of management or even to construct new ones, not merely to
avoid injury to workers, but with the view of promoting their healthy
mental and physical development. Hours of work must be considerably
shortened for young workers, rest pauses must be introduced to minimise
fatigue, time must be allowed for physical exercise, education, and
recreation, and the whole surroundings of work modified with a regard
for the personality of the workers. The question of speed is of
special importance in regard to young girls. In America, where speed
and strain have been and still are extreme, it is beginning to be
recognised by the most enlightened employers that it is useless to urge
the human organisation beyond the power of endurance. In some cases
speeds have been reduced to get the best results.[7]
Detailed study is necessary in order to adapt the work to the
capabilities of the workers. In Miss Collier's reports several
interesting notes will be found on the desirability of picking strong
girls for certain kinds of work: on the need of seats, and specially of
the right kind of seats, and other points. When a new Factory Act comes
under consideration, as we hope it may after the war, the needs of
youthful workers will be the point that most urgently requires emphasis
and re-statement, and I venture to hope that the then Home Secretary
will take account of Miss Collier's investigation.
The war has shown us the extraordinary elasticity of productive
power in modern times. In response to an urgent national need,
material production has been stretched to a point that would have
been incredible a few years ago. This is surely an indication
that--apart from the present need for enormous quantities of
war-material--production can satisfy the bodily wants of men and
yield a surplus for the higher needs of civilised communities without
excessive toil, certainly without overtaxing the young and immature.
Further, much evidence collected both before and during the war
indicates that overwork is relatively unproductive compared with work
for reasonable hours. All this shows that we can, if we wish, decide to
be the master of the machine and not its slave. The knowledge and the
power are there: let not the will be lacking.
INVESTIGATION
Little attention has been given until quite recent times to the
effects of industrial work on the health and physique of adolescent
girls. Child labour has been the subject of much discussion, and
medical investigations have shown the detrimental influence exerted
by wage-earning employment on the plastic organism of the growing
child. It is recognised that with children bodily work often produces
a greater degree of fatigue both mental and physical than does mental
work of equal duration. The various legal restrictions limiting the
hours and controlling the conditions of the labour of children,
although inadequate in extent and sometimes only permissive in
character, are evidence of a realisation that the well-being of the
child is of more importance than its immediate commercial utility. This
recognition of the necessity of guarding against overstrain during
the critical early years does not, however, extend to the period of
adolescence. The restrictions of the hours of work and the conditions
of employment of young persons of both sexes differ but slightly
from those applying to adult women. This failure to appreciate the
special problems of adolescence is the more remarkable in that medical
evidence has shown that young children grow and develop despite
great hardships, while adolescence is more dependent upon favouring
conditions in the environment, disturbances of which more easily
retard development and effectively injure the still growing body. "In
late adolescence contrasted with earlier life there is more variation
in growth, much greater liability to retrogression, and increased
susceptibility to outside influences, unfavourable surroundings, and
conditions more readily causing arrest of growth and preventing perfect
maturity."[8]
In the evidence before the Physical Deterioration Committee in 1904,
Dr. Eichholz[9] emphasised the need of close attention to the physical
condition of young girls who take up industrial work between the ages
of 14 and 18, for the conditions under which they work, rest, and
eat doubtless account for the rapid falling off in physique which
so frequently accompanies the transition from school to work. And
the summary of that Committee states: "The period of adolescence is
responsible for much waste of human material and for the entrance
upon maturity of permanently damaged and ineffective persons of both
sexes. The plasticity of the human organisation, the power it possesses
of yielding rapidly towards degenerative or recuperative influences
appears to terminate at 18."
This sketch of the conditions and circumstances of the girl in
industry was undertaken as a contribution to the study of the effects
of industrial employment on the health and physique of the female
population of the country, and it was hoped that in the course of
the investigation some light would be thrown on the question of the
relation of the employment of the young girl to her health after
marriage. Only a minority of women are normally employed at any time,
but as an examination of the figures in Table I. shows, a large
majority of girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are employed, and of
these more than one-half work in manufactures, over two-thirds of the
factory and workshop girls being absorbed in the textile and clothing
trades. It follows from this that the majority of women have been
employed during the critical years of adolescence which have so great
an influence on the physical constitution of later years.
As it was impossible in a private inquiry, such as this, to cover a
wide range, certain industries which seemed to offer the best scope
for the investigation were selected and subjected to as detailed an
examination as was possible. The entrance of large numbers of girls
and young women into the industries connected with the manufacture
of munitions suggested Birmingham and Coventry as fruitful fields of
inquiry, and the increase in welfare supervision with appointment
of matrons and nurses in charge of surgeries and rest-rooms seemed
to indicate that the required information would be easily obtained,
while the abnormal conditions prevailing in these industries offered
a favourable ground for investigation in that they afforded unusual
opportunities of studying the effects of excessive hours of work, night
work, and other variations in hours and conditions of employment. In
addition to collecting evidence from a number of these supervisors in
the factories, I endeavoured to find out from social workers, in touch
with girls outside the factory, how far the abnormal conditions due to
the pressure of war work are affecting the general health of girls. It
is only natural that patriotic zeal and a desire to earn good money
on piece-rates may mask any possible evil influences that long hours
and increased speeding up may exert, so that the evidence from those
in charge of girls in the factories, if considered alone, might not
disclose the true state of affairs. Since it was impossible to get
statistical evidence as to output, accidents, and actual industrial
fatigue, I interviewed secretaries of Girls' Clubs and Care Committee
workers connected with the Birmingham Juvenile Advisory Boards, who
were in touch with girls between the ages of 14 and 16. I saw also a
number of medical men and women with panel practices in industrial
districts. The certifying surgeons were not able to give me any
information, as they deal only with young persons who are commencing
their industrial careers.
But it is from the textile trades that the great mass of the evidence
is derived. The cotton industry of Lancashire and the wool and worsted
industries of the West Riding of Yorkshire, built up as they are on
the labour of children and young persons, offered a much wider field
than the non-textile trades, and here, where the girls join their Trade
Union directly they are working full time, there is much more class
consciousness and reflection upon industrial conditions. Consequently
evidence as to these industries, together with that of the clothing
trade, is derived mainly from the Trade Union officials, particularly
from the Sick Visitors of the Insurance sections, and from meetings
of operatives called together for the purpose by the Trade Union
secretary. In the course of the inquiry I visited a number of mills,
both spinning and manufacturing, and thus gathered a good deal of
information from employers, managers, and overlookers. A certain number
of doctors were also visited, and some of these supplied much valuable
evidence, but it must be remarked here that many doctors, possibly
from stress of work, fail to note the relation between occupation and
disease except in extreme and obvious cases, particularly in towns
where one main industry occupies a large proportion of the inhabitants,
and where one imagines deductions as to occupational disease and
tendencies to disease could be most easily made.
In addition to the engineering and textile trades I have collected
evidence from a few miscellaneous industries in the various towns I
have visited, generally from "good" employers, who have made some
study of industrial fatigue or whose interest in the welfare of their
employees had directed their attention to some of the problems under
discussion.
The evidence from the clothing trade was collected at Hebden Bridge
and from various other towns where wholesale tailoring is merely
a subsidiary industry. The conditions in Hebden Bridge due to the
ever-present shortage of female labour make these clothing operatives
the aristocrats of their trade, so that the general results of
industrial work here had to be correlated with the evidence from the
clothing trade in other towns.
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
_Hours._--The evidence to be considered under this heading is concerned
with various factors: the total number of hours worked each week, the
length of the spells, and the number and length of the pauses for rest
and meals, as well as the time of employment, _i.e._ day or night work.
At the time when the inquiry was initiated (October 1916), practically
all the munition factories in Birmingham were working a 60-hour week,
and only in a very few cases had three 8-hour shifts been tried. This
was due mainly to the difficulty of securing sufficient male labour
for setting tools, etc., and also to the fact that there was already
some difficulty in getting enough female workers. Similarly in Coventry
the total weekly hours ranged between 55 and 60, though at one factory
visited girls under 18 worked only 47 hours, and those over 18 worked
53 hours. The evidence of Welfare supervisors and nurses in charge
of rest-rooms went to show that these long hours had not exerted the
bad effect that had been expected. Various witnesses stated that "no
signs of undue fatigue had been observed," "no increased sickness
since the hours had been lengthened," "the strain of the long hours
is considerable, but actual breakdowns are rare." Another witness is
"quite astounded" at the good standard of health after a long period of
55-hour weeks. One witness, a medical woman who had examined the girls
at a factory working 10 hours and more per day for six and sometimes
seven days per week, found no marked deterioration when she examined
them again at the end of six months. But she stated emphatically that
the good food now obtainable because of the better wages was largely
responsible for this result. It must be remembered that in pre-war
times the average wage for girls on simple engineering processes in
Birmingham and district was about 8s. to 10s. per week, while now they
would get 16s. to 30s., and it must be concluded that some of the girls
under discussion were now adequately nourished for the first time in
their lives. Again, the results of this particular inquiry must be
taken as representing the survival of the fittest, as many of the
girls examined the first time the doctor visited the factory had left,
possibly because of ill-health, before the second visit.
Nearly all the witnesses quoted above insisted that the high standard
of health that prevailed was due mainly to better living and increased
care, which did much to mitigate the possible evil effects of the long
hours. One matron pointed out that girls who are earning good wages
and who are therefore financially independent, get far better care
and attention at home than if they are not earning, and this prevents
breakdowns.
There is, however, another side to this optimistic picture, and this
is presented by some of the doctors interviewed and by Girls' Club
secretaries and Care Committee workers. One woman doctor stated that
there is much increased sickness--anaemia, gastric disturbances,
etc., among girls working long hours. Another doctor declared that
the fatigue resulting from long hours of labour frequently leads to
acute anaemia and then to irregular menstruation, and he said that the
greater part of the work was not too heavy and not entirely unsuitable
for girls, but that the hours were so long as not to allow time to
recover from fatigue.
The secretaries of Clubs and Care Committees were unanimous in their
condemnation of the present system of long hours. They say the girls
they come across are thoroughly worn out, "languid and lacking in
vitality," "pale and nervous," and "incapable of taking an interest
in anything." The fatigue seemed to affect them mentally more than
physically; thus the worker at one Club said that the girls working
long hours, _i.e._ about 60 per week, were quite incapable of
brainwork, so all classes, even needlework, had to be stopped, but
they could stand the most strenuous drill and gymnastic work for two
evenings a week and did not want to stop when the Club closed: the
constrained nature of their work, generally tending automatic machines,
seemed to increase their restlessness, and they are glad to work it
off in any occupation involving movement. In case this point, which
others corroborated, seems to contradict the view that the long hours
made the girls lethargic and apathetic, it must be mentioned that this
same witness said that when any girls were working 1-1/2 hours over
their 10 hours, they were fagged physically as well as mentally and
would not have the energy to drill, etc., but would just sit and watch
the others. As a general rule the girls do not complain of the long
hours, and very few cases of complete breakdown are recorded. This
is attributed to the higher standard of living made possible by the
increased wages and to the fact that many girls have been lost sight of
since the pressure of work has become so great.
The evidence from a few miscellaneous industries, drawn as it is from
the experience of a few "good" employers, is of a very different
nature. Here the hours worked seldom, if ever, exceed 9 per day, and
in some instances experiments had been tried with an 8-hour day with
satisfactory results to both health and output. It must be remembered
that most of the work done by girls in these miscellaneous factories
is of an intensely monotonous nature--packing and sorting finished
goods, "taking off" on printing machines, making cardboard boxes or tin
canisters, but, at the same time, the work is very light and easy and
is learnt in a day or so, although some weeks may elapse before the
maximum speed is attained. The only danger in these light automatic
processes is the temptation, often encouraged by the employer, of
excessive speeding up, but to this I will refer later. As a general
rule, the evidence from this group goes to show that the standard of
health among girls working 8 or 9 hours a day is quite satisfactory,
and the sickness rates are very low. How far these good results are
due to the shortness of the working-day compared with that of the
munition and textile industries, and how far to the various "welfare"
provisions, such as special attention to delicate girls, supply of hot
drinks in the middle of the morning and afternoon spells, gymnastic
classes during work hours and so on, it is difficult to say. It is
interesting to note that one employer reported that the addition of two
hours' overtime to a 9-hour day for three days a week caused excessive
fatigue after a few months, so that the overtime was stopped, but after
a month the pressure of work was so great that they had to return to
it, and now they find that this excessive fatigue is avoided, or,
rather, fatigue so extreme as to diminish output is avoided by working
every fourth week without overtime.
Turning now to the textile industry, particularly the cotton trade of
Lancashire with its 55-1/2-hour week and its 6 A.M. start, we find
opinion somewhat divided. A certain number of employers and their
representatives declared that the hours worked exert no detrimental
effect on young girls, and that the time lost through sickness is very
slight. But these statements are outweighed by the evidence of most of
the inside managers and some of the employers interviewed. One of the
latter firmly believed that the present working hours are too long for
young girls, and had often noticed how they fell off in health. Another
states that young workers find the long hours very tiring and that a
shorter working-day, which would be an advantage for all, is almost a
necessity for young girls, although he has no exact evidence that the
hours worked are actually detrimental.
But the heaviest indictment against the 10-hour day comes from the
Trade Union representatives. Many of these declare that the girls are
utterly worn out at the end of the day and are generally incapable of
any serious work, which accounts for the small proportion of girls who
attend Workers' Educational Association and other evening classes. The
strain of most of the work in cotton factories, both on the preparing
and on the manufacturing sides, is considerable, and the competition to
increase output is very great. Girls and women are indirectly set to
emulate one another and to compete with men and boys. Some observers
say that the girls are tired out by 4.30 P.M., and that if the hours
were reduced the output would be more regular, as at the present time
girls are unconsciously forced to "slack." The Sick Visitors of one of
the large Weavers' Unions in north-east Lancashire state that "shorter
hours are far more important for the well-being of the weaver than
either weavers or manufacturers realise," and they point out that the
girls look much brighter and better when they are away from work with
minor ailments, and certainly the sickness returns show that fewer are
ill when "short time" is general as in the latter half of 1914. This
is confirmed by the experience of other Unions. The weaving master in
one of the technical schools, who had been a working weaver for years,
was convinced that the hours are too long for all operatives, but
especially for growing girls, and he said, "One has only to live in a
household of weavers to notice the extreme weariness and lassitude with
which they sink into chairs as soon as they get home in the evening."
As a proof of the evil effects of the long working-day my attention
was frequently drawn to the physical differences between the girls
attending the secondary schools and those who work in the mills. In
the majority of cases, particularly in north-east Lancashire, both
groups come from the same class and from the same type of home, but the
former are tall, well-built, and rosy-cheeked, while the latter are
often short, always thin, and generally pale and anaemic.
The comparison between the different effects of weaving and winding
is instructive. The latter process is of itself more tiring and
monotonous, and the strain is continuous; yet winders are said to be in
better health and to be much more cheerful and energetic out of work
hours. This apparent inconsistency is explained by the fact that the
winders seldom work a full week; they frequently start after breakfast,
and generally "play" on Saturday and one other morning every week.
One witness emphasised her conviction that the long hours were
mainly responsible for the very prevalent ill-health of girls and of
older women by declaring that no reform of factory conditions can be
effective until the hours are shortened.
The medical witnesses were also unanimous in their belief that the
long hours of confinement in the close atmosphere of the mill is the
cause of much of the ill-health that is prevalent among girls about 16
and 17. The fatigue resulting from the hours of labour weakens their
resistance to disease, and they are liable to fall victims to any
epidemics, while anaemia, gastric and menstrual disturbances are very
frequent about this age.
The worsted industry told the same tale. Many of the employers
interviewed were in favour of a shorter working-day, as the younger
operatives get very tired at 4.30 P.M. and work suffers, while a Trade
Union representative declared that the hours are exceedingly fatiguing
for all female workers, particularly for growing girls, who, unlike
the men and boys, practically in all cases have domestic work when the
factory day is over.
The majority of the employers in the clothing trade had never given
any consideration to the effects of the hours on the health of their
operatives. Consequently they were vehement in declaring that a 52-hour
week exerted no injurious influences. On the other hand, the Sick
Visitors of the local branches of the United Garment Workers' Union
were confident that the 9-1/2-hour day in the confined atmosphere of
the factory was particularly harmful for young girls, and they pointed
out that the sickness returns were always lower during slack time and
during strikes, while other witnesses, although unable to make any
definite statement on the effects of the hours worked, said that very
few girls at the clothing factories have much energy for Continuation
and Workers' Educational Classes after their full day's work.
In non-textile factories 5-hour spells are very common. All the
doctors interviewed spoke very strongly against this practice. It is
noteworthy that far more accidents are reported as occurring in the
5-hour spells than in shorter periods, and the general opinion is that
the spell is too long for health and efficiency. In many munition
factories short breaks for ten or fifteen minutes have been instituted
in the 5-hour spells, and trolleys from the canteens are sent round
with cheap refreshments. The benefit derived from this system is
everywhere acknowledged, and the wonder is that so few experiments with
rest pauses have been tried. The 4-1/2-hour spell also comes in for
much criticism, and some observers say that the girls are thoroughly
fatigued at the end of the time, while the Welfare supervisor at one
works goes so far as to say that the last half-hour even of a 4-hour
spell drags so heavily with the younger workers that a 3-1/2-hour spell
would be a distinct advantage both to health and to output.
The continuous 4-1/2-hour spell allowed by the Factory Acts for the
textile industry is seldom adopted in either the cotton or worsted
trades, the most usual hours being 6 A.M. to 8 A.M., 8.30 A.M. to
12.30 P.M., and 1.30 P.M. to 5.30 P.M. Very little attention has
been paid to the effects of the 4-hour spells as such, and though
many observers say that girls are thoroughly fatigued by 3.30 or
4.30 P.M., this seems to be due mainly to the total number of hours
already worked rather than to the fatiguing influence of the individual
spell. With regard to the early morning start characteristic of these
industries, opinion was sharply divided. Some employers and Trade Union
representatives declared that no ill-effects resulted, while others
were most insistent that the work before breakfast was the cause of
much illness and discomfort. Whilst it is impossible to dogmatise in
the face of these conflicting statements, especially in view of the
fact that neither side can produce scientific evidence in its defence,
so that the statements are probably the result of social and domestic
considerations, it may be assumed that the early start is harmful
in the cold winter months, but that it does not of itself exert any
injurious influence in the summer.
Night work for juvenile workers is now almost universally condemned.
The effects of such work are more marked than with adult workers, the
nervous strain is considerable, and lassitude and weariness invariably
accompany the night shift. This results in spite of the fact that
girls are reported to sleep well during the day, unlike the older
women, whose domestic concerns frequently prevent sleep in the daytime.
Some witnesses from Birmingham and Coventry report that night-work
was still (November 1916) common for juvenile workers. Where Welfare
Workers are in charge, however, they endeavour to restrict it to girls
over 16, though even with these the fatigue is considerable, as sleep
is frequently broken by the mother waking the girl to partake of the
family mid-day meal. Evidence as to the relative merits of long and
short periods of night-work are so conflicting that it is impossible
to draw any conclusions, and as the question is receiving considerable
attention from the Health of Munition Workers' Committee, it was not
made the subject of special investigation.
Some explanation of the conflict of evidence recorded under this
section of the inquiry may be found in the outlook of the witnesses
interviewed. Where increased output and commercial profit were the
chief concern, so long as few actual breakdowns occurred the witness
would report no unfavourable results from long hours of labour, while
those whose main interest lay with the well-being of the worker would
notice any falling off in health with long hours and would report
accordingly. It is obvious that no definite conclusions as to the
immediate or ultimate effect of long hours can be made from evidence of
this nature. In the second part of this report suggestions will be made
as to the lines on which more scientific inquiry should be conducted
in order to determine the exact effects of varying hours of industrial
work on the physical organisation of adolescent girls.
_Protracted Standing and Opportunity for Rest._--Evidence as to the
provision of seats in munition factories is, on the whole, very
encouraging. Most workshops have stools or seats for use during the
short pauses which occur whilst waiting for materials or for the
setting of tools, and where possible younger girls are put on work that
can be done sitting down, whilst Welfare supervisors are generally
ready to recommend that delicate girls be transferred from work which
involves protracted standing to processes which allow occasional or
even continued sitting-down, and foremen are nearly always willing to
fall in with the Welfare Workers' suggestions. Only in a few cases have
there been difficulties in securing seats: where men have been formerly
employed the foremen are sometimes prejudiced against allowing girls
to sit down, but they are soon convinced of the wisdom of making this
concession.
With certain processes prolonged standing is inevitable, but evidence
as to resulting injury was not forthcoming in Birmingham or Coventry.
None of the doctors interviewed was able to make any statement
regarding the effects of a continued standing posture, as no cases
of injury that could be attributed to this cause had come to their
notice. Some of the Welfare supervisors stated that girls got very
tired at first but soon got used to the permanent standing, and that
no serious or lasting injuries resulted, though in a few cases girls
not used to industrial work would get flat-footed or would suffer from
swollen feet. While varicose veins are rare in young girls, every
witness brought into contact with older married women was impressed by
the apparent inevitability of this trouble in later years, but it is
impossible to gather how far work during adolescence is responsible.
Evidence as to the effects of standing on the menstrual function will
be discussed later.
From the evidence received it seems probable that only a small
proportion, and these perhaps the more delicate, are troubled by
prolonged standing, but attention may be drawn to the evidence of one
large factory where 50 per cent of all new workers leave before the
end of six months, and of these 30 per cent declare that they find the
standing so fatiguing that they cannot remain at the work.
In most of the processes of the cotton and worsted industries chances
of resting are exceedingly rare. Girls carrying laps[10] from the
blowing-room to the cards, can-tenters and drawing-frame minders in the
card-room, and winders and weavers, seldom, if ever, get an opportunity
to sit down. Girls on the slubber, intermediate, and roving frames, and
those in the ring-room of the cotton trade and the spinning-rooms of
the worsted industry, are in a better position in that a few minutes'
rest is sometimes possible, and some managers and overlookers believe
that these girls are less tired and show a better sickness record than
the former group. Even where the nature of the work allows occasional
periods of rest, seats are scarcely ever provided, so that the girls
seldom sit down unless the waste-boxes or the skips are in a suitable
position so that they can see down their frames to note if the work is
proceeding all right. Many of the witnesses stated complacently that
the girls soon got used to the prolonged standing, but doctors noted
that prolapsed wombs were not uncommon in young women between 20 and
30, though some felt that the number of cases were not sufficient to
warrant any conclusions. Sick Visitors also reported that prolapse
was not unusual, and that most girls found the long hours of standing
very fatiguing. Cases of prolapse are sometimes reported amongst young
married women who have not worked after marriage and who have had every
care after child-birth, which seems to point to an adverse influence
exerted during adolescence. Sometimes girls complain bitterly of the
lack of opportunity for even a few minutes' rest, and the Sick Visitors
say that conditions of work which do not allow a girl to snatch even a
short respite during a 10-hour day do not give her a chance to get over
any constitutional delicacy. As a general rule, however, the girls make
no complaints, but older women find the continued standing very tiring,
and many witnesses believe that this is due to the cumulative strain
of long years, while some declare that the anaemia prevalent among
young textile workers is largely due to the weakened condition brought
about by long hours of standing.
Reference may be made here to the necessity for attention to the type
of seat provided, particularly in entirely sedentary occupations, as in
the clothing trade and in many of the processes of such industries as
biscuit-making, soap-manufacturing, etc. Witnesses from the clothing
trade laid great stress on the fact that sitting all day on a small
hard stool was extremely fatiguing for growing girls, as it gave no
support to their backs, and the Welfare Worker of a large soap-works,
after trying one of the stools in her own office, is having them all
replaced by chairs with suitable backs in those departments where the
work is mainly sedentary.
_Weight-carrying and Heavy Work._--As far as one can gather from the
rather scanty evidence available under this heading, girls under 16 in
munition works are seldom engaged on work involving heavy lifting and
carrying. The majority of young girls are feeding automatic machines
and working power presses, and all materials are brought and taken away
by special labourers. Many girls over 16 have been substituted for men
workers, but it is exceedingly difficult to gauge the effect which such
work is exerting on their health. Overlookers and Welfare supervisors
declare that tall strong girls are chosen for heavy processes and that
very few injuries result, while a girl can be transferred to lighter
work if the heavy work is too fatiguing. One doctor related how she had
just concluded the examination of 200 women and girls engaged on heavy
capstan lathes and had discovered no injurious effects, but she pointed
out that they were all from the Black Country, where women and girls
have been doing heavy work for several generations, and their physique
was undoubtedly superior to that of the average industrial girl worker.
Another doctor stated that the carrying of weights over 50 lbs. is
exceedingly injurious to adolescent girls, as it causes the heart to
beat too quickly, so that after a time the beat is continuously rapid
and anaemia sets in. This effect is seldom, if ever, noticed in girls
over 20. On the other hand, uterine injuries are practically unknown in
young girls and hernia is very rare.