WOMEN'S PROBLEMS OF WORK--CONTINUED
I--TO-DAY
Clubs may begin this study with the problems of the woman in the
tenement. There is the home itself. She is hampered by a small, crowded
space in which to bring up the family; there is insufficient light and
air, it is too cold in winter and too hot in summer; there are few
conveniences for washing or cooking; beds are generally uncomfortable,
the walls are cumbered with clothing, there is no space for the children
to play and no privacy.
The first paper may describe the home in detail and be followed with a
reading from "How the Other Half Lives," by Jacob Riis.
The next paper may take up certain difficulties of management the woman
in the tenement must contend with. If she takes in work, tailoring, or
flower making, or anything of the kind, space is even less than before.
If she goes out to work, the care of the house falls on the children,
who are overworked and neglected. She seldom knows how to buy
economically, or cook appetizingly, or make clothing for her family. If
the husband loses work, she must feel the stress of need. All the
tenement life tends to send the children to the streets for amusement
and air, the husband to the saloon for entertainment. The boys are apt
to grow up without the instincts of home, and the girls often become
immoral.
The third paper may present some solutions of her various problems.
There are laws requiring space and air in tenements, and landlords who
neglect their buildings may be made to better them; the work of the
Legal Aid Association in these and other respects is to be studied.
Then women of the tenements should be brought into touch with Friendly
Visitors and settlements, taught to clean up, to sew, to buy, to cook,
to make home attractive. The children must be put into day nurseries if
the mother goes out; the school teacher must come in to advise about the
growing children; the music settlement may possibly give a hand;
certainly the classes for boys and girls in the settlements, and the
libraries, and evenings of recreation there may help them. The Little
Mothers' Aid Association, and the fresh air work, the recreation piers,
the small parks, and many other helps may be drawn upon. All these and
others should be described.
Read from the report of the "Housing Reform," published by the Charities
Publication Committee at 105 East Twenty-second Street, New York; also
from the pamphlet on "Remedial Loans," National Federation of Remedial
Loan Associations, 31 Union Square, New York, and the report of the
Little Mothers' Aid Association, 236 Second Avenue, New York, and from
material from the National Federation of Settlements, 20 Union Park,
Boston.
II--THE SICK POOR IN CITY AND COUNTRY
The second meeting may be on the subject of the sick poor, in country
and city. One paper may be on personal experiences among the poor in
country districts--what their conditions are, what is lacking, how to
help them without injuring their pride. Discuss how relief can be given
without pauperization. If possible have some one speak of the work in
the country, such as is done by the neighborly settlement of Keene
Valley, New York.
The state of things among the city poor is even worse than in the
country. Mention the trouble if the man of the house is sick and out of
work, and there is no other wage earner. Speak of the state of things
when there is a new-born baby; describe the sick child alone all day
with few toys or none, and the chronic invalid in the slums. Read "The
Lady of Shallott," by Elizabeth Phelps Ward in Little Classics.
The third paper or talk may present the brighter side of the picture. It
may tell of what individuals have done in great gifts for hospitals,
clinics, and work for cripples and babies, of pure milk and free ice, of
dispensaries, of food for convalescents, of floating hospitals, and
parties of mothers and babies at the seashore. Read from descriptions of
these and other helpful society work.
Notice also what is being done in teaching consumptives to live on the
roof, in keeping babies safely on the fire escape, in the work of the
visiting nurse, the care of the cancerous poor, and the general wave of
helpfulness going out in every quarter. Information on all these points
and others may be had by writing to the charity organization of any
large city, or to a settlement. Club women should make practical these
two subjects--of the tenement-house woman and the sick poor--by
discussing what the club can do to help.
III--THE WOMAN WHO WORKS FOR PAY IN THE HOME
The third problem for study is that of the woman who works for pay in
the home. This naturally falls into two divisions:
There is first the woman who takes in sewing, either by the piece or by
wholesale, making trousers or cloaks, or artificial flowers, or
conducting any of the home trades. Have a presentation of each of these,
with the hours spent on the work, the pay, the effect on health, and the
lack of care the children receive.
The second part of the subject is that of domestic service. One paper
should be on employment bureaus, their worth, the morals of many of
them, and the laws governing them.
A second brief paper may be on references and their ethics. The
subjects of the supply and demand of servants, of the relation of
mistress and maid, of the hours of work, of wages, of the maid's room,
her time off, her friends, the care of sick and old servants, may all
follow. Discuss: What can be done to give us better servants? Do
servants' unions help matters or make them worse? Are clubs for servants
desirable? Can employers combine to make relations between mistresses
and maids better?
IV--WOMEN WORKERS IN MILLS
Work in the factory is the problem which follows next. The sweatshop
work is of great importance. Note how many women are away from home all
day; how there is a season of overwork and a dull season without pay;
the steady use of the sewing machine, with or without power; the poor
ventilation and sanitation of the shops; the dim light, causing loss of
eyesight; the fines; the effect of noise and confusion on the nerves of
the women; all these are of deep interest. Read from the reports of the
National Consumers' League, to be obtained by writing to Mrs. Florence
Kelley, 106 East Nineteenth Street, New York, and let the club women
decide to insist on the use of the white label on the garments they buy.
The work of manufactories and mills may be divided into as many papers
as there is time; there is the work of women in the canneries with its
hours of labor and often with night work; the work in mills, the danger
from machinery, and the impaired health of employees. Read from "Woman
and the Trades" by Elizabeth B. Butler, published by the Russell Sage
Foundation, 105 East Twenty-second Street, New York. Discuss the
condition of women workers in mills and manufactories, and the strength
of their children. Where mills are near at hand clubs may find out if
the machinery is protected, if there is accident insurance or an
employers' liability, and whether there are pensions.
There may be a paper, to close the subject, on strikes of women workers
and how much they have accomplished. Read from "Fatigue and Efficiency,"
by Josephine Goldmark.
V--THE PROBLEM OF CHILD LABOR
The problem of child labor properly comes under the problems of women,
for the mother is responsible for the child's health and development.
The first topic is that of the child at home who must take the mother's
place, do the housework, care for the children, assume the
responsibility. What of her health and schooling?
Then there is the child who does paid work at home, extracts nut meats,
makes artificial flowers and the like. What of its pay? Is it a fair
one? What of the effect of long hours of confinement?
Street occupations come next; these are largely taken by boys, and the
work of the newspaper seller, the district messenger, the boot-black,
the errand boy, should all be studied. Is their health impaired? Are
their morals endangered? Are the boys educated?
The work of children in mills and factories is often most distressing.
Conditions in glass factories, mines, canneries, silk mills, in the
shrimp industry, and in the Southern cotton mills are all to be studied.
Note the great numbers of children so employed: in Pennsylvania in 1914,
33,000; in Massachusetts, 12,000; in North Carolina, 10,000, and in
other States large numbers. Discuss the future of such children.
Compare the work of bound-out children on farms and in the country
generally. Read Mrs. Browning's "Cry of the Children" and E. K.
Coulter's "Children in the Shadow."
One meeting should take up the laws of the State on child labor. See
"Some Ethical Gains Through Legislation," by Mrs. Florence Kelley, which
gives valuable material on this point, and a pamphlet by Josephine
Goldmark, called "Child Labor Legislation," published by the American
Academy of Political and Social Science, Philadelphia. The Child Labor
Committee at 105 East Twenty-second Street, New York, will send
pamphlets free of charge.
VI--THE SHOP GIRL AND HER LIFE
The next great problem of woman's work to-day is that of the workers in
retail shops. This may be made extremely interesting if the chairman of
the program will arrange to have the club members interview in advance a
number of shop girls, and find out something of the conditions under
which they work, of their pay, their home life and other points, and
give personal reports.
One paper or talk may be on the usual hours of work, the kind of work
done, the hours of overwork, the pay, the prospect of advancement. A
second paper may be on the rest-room, the noon hour, the luncheon
provided for pay, and especially on what is known as "welfare work,"
which many large shops do.
A third paper may discuss the relation of the girls to their employers,
or to the floor walker; telling of care or tyranny, of fines, of the
sanitary conditions of cloak rooms, of the effect on health of long
standing.
This may be followed by a third paper on the cost of a shop girl's
living; of room rent, food, clothing, car fares and recreation; how does
the result compare with her pay? Discuss the minimum wage. Is it fair to
pay alike the competent and incompetent? Is immorality due to a low
living wage? Can a girl save for illness? Read "An Unfinished Story," by
O. Henry, in "The Four Million." (Doubleday.)
Have different women suggest what can be done to help the shop girl.
Describe what is called "preventive work," done largely by girls from
college in the evening, and the work of the Y. W. C. A., and
settlements. What can club women do by way of personal acquaintance and
interest? What of short shopping hours and early Christmas shopping?
Read from a paper called "The Club Worker," published by the National
League of Women Workers; address, Hotel Savoy, New York; and from
"Saleswomen in Mercantile Stores," by Elizabeth B. Butler, published at
105 East Twenty-second Street, New York.
VII--THE BUSINESS WOMAN
The problems of the business woman in a larger way will naturally follow
this. One paper may speak of women who are managing farms and ranches,
others who have become the heads of business houses or real estate
offices; some who are chemists, or designers or decorators; those who
have tea rooms, who buy for importing houses or engage in catering. The
work of the great army of stenographers and private secretaries would
also come under this topic.
Present the different fields of work, and illustrate with examples as
far as possible, and then discuss these and similar questions: Do women
naturally incline to business? Is their home training at fault for the
many mistakes of the average woman? Should fathers see that their
daughters understand something of banking, of keeping accounts, of
investments, of managing an income? How much should a girl know of
business? Should every girl be able to earn a living?
VIII--THE PROFESSIONAL WOMAN AND HER DIFFICULTIES
The problems of a professional woman may be made the subject of several
meetings. Present the lives of the doctor, the nurse, the lawyer, the
professor, the school teacher, the writer, the artist, the musician, and
discuss in each case the difficulties she has to contend with.
Such questions as these may follow: Should professional women marry? Are
their home lives well developed? Are they fitted for the career of the
law? Do writers and artists tend to become bohemians? What are the
relations of men and women in the same profession?
IX--WOMAN AND THE STATE
The last subject for the year's study is the relation of women and the
State. One paper may take up some of the laws which govern her,
concerning property; a second may speak of divorce, and show the
diversity of the laws of different States; a third may tell of the
influence of women on legislation, of lobbying and appearing before
committees. The desirability of placing women on certain state and
municipal boards such as health, sanitation, care of defectives, vice
commissions, reformatories, and schools should be fully presented.
The subject of equal suffrage will develop from this last topic of the
year and both sides should be taken up as fully or as slightly as the
club desires. Reports of the progress of suffrage in different States,
what has been accomplished where it is established, and kindred themes,
will suggest themselves. Read from Olive Schreiner's "Woman and Labor"
(Stokes); Ellen Key's "The Woman Movement" (Putnam); and Ida Tarbell's
"The Business of Being a Woman" (Macmillan).