Wanted: a Young Woman to Do Housework | Page 4

that until housework be regulated in such a way
as to give to those engaged in it the same rights and privileges as are
granted to them in other forms of labor, the best workers will naturally
seek employment elsewhere.
THE DISADVANTAGES OF HOUSEWORK COMPARED WITH
WORK IN FACTORIES, STORES, AND OFFICES
Housework, when carefully compared with work performed by women
in factories, stores, and offices, shows to a remarkable degree how
many old fashioned ways of conducting her household still cling to the
modern housewife. The methods that made housekeeping a success in
the time of our ancestors are not adapted to the present needs of a
society in which women who earn their own living are occupying so
much more important positions than formerly. Large stores and
factories, requiring the coöperation of many employees, have done
more to open new avenues of work for women than could have been
dreamed of in former times, when it was the custom for each family to
produce at home as much as possible, if not all, that was necessary for
its own consumption.
Women, as a rule, are not taught self reliance, and many who hesitate
to leave their homes to earn a livelihood, find that by doing work in
stores, factories, or offices, they are not utterly separated from their
families. The work may be harder than they anticipated and the pay

small, but there is always the hope of promotion and of a corresponding
increase of wages. Business hours are frequently long, but they are
limited, and after the day's work is over, the remainder of the
twenty-four hours is at the disposal of the employees, who can still
enjoy the happiness and freedom associated with the life of their own
social circle. Besides they have one day out of seven as a day of rest,
and many legal holidays come annually to relieve the overstrain.
With housework it is very different. The woman who accepts the
position of a household employee in a private home must usually make
up her mind to leave her family, to detach herself from all home ties,
and to take up her abode in her employer's house. It is only
occasionally, about once a week for a few hours at a time, that she is
allowed to make her escape. It is a recognized fact that a change of
environment has a beneficial effect upon every one, but a domestic
employee must forego this daily renewal of thought and atmosphere.
Even if she does not know that she needs it in order to keep her mental
activities alive, the result is inevitable: to one who does nothing but the
same work from early morning until late at night and who never comes
in contact with the outside world except four times a month, the work
soon sinks to mere drudgery.
As to promotion in housework it seems to be almost unknown.
Considering the many responsible positions waiting to be filled in
private families, nothing could be more desirable than to instil into
one's employees the ambition to rise. An employee who has passed
through all the different branches of domestic science, from the lowest
to the highest in one family, must be far better fitted to occupy the
highest position in that family than one who applies for the position
with the training and experience gained only in other families where the
mode of living may be very different. Since there is no chance of
promotion and in consequence of receiving better pay, the domestic
employee is often tempted to seek higher wages elsewhere, and thus the
desire "to make a change," so disastrous to the peace of mind of the
housewife, is engendered in her employees.
In domestic labor the hours of work are longer than in any other form

of employment, for they are unlimited. Moreover, instead of having
one day out of seven as a day of rest, only half a day is granted
beginning usually about three o'clock in the afternoon, or even later.
And legal holidays bring no relief, for they are practically unknown to
the household employee. The only way women engaged in housework
in private families can obtain a real holiday is by being suddenly called
away "to take care of a sick aunt." There is an old saying containing
certain words of wisdom about "all work and no play" that perhaps
explains the dullness so often met with in domestic help.
The hardest thing to submit to, however, from the point of view of the
woman employed in housework, is the lack of freedom outside of
working hours. This prevents her from taking part in her former social
life. She is not allowed to go out even for an hour or two every day to
see her