Sut,—The National Institute of Houseworkers has been opened with a
flourish. But its vague hopes of helping the harassed and overworked housewife are somewhat dimmed by the findings of the Markham Com- mittee last year that the problem is insoluble. As things are, those who most need help in the house cannot possibly afford it, and only rich people or institutions (which can either pass the cost on or recoup them- selves from the tax-payer) can today employ full-time service. I suggest, Sir, that a little less insistence on new inducements and a little more emphasis on existing advantages of such employment might have been more helpful all round. It is a long swing of the pendulum from the " general slavey " in her attic to the privileged " domestic science opera- tive " of today, with her " no cooking, no rough," " heated bedroom essential," "no evening work," &c. It is true that domestic labour is in very short supply. But so is comfortable accommodation. One would have expected these two factors to cancel out. A just and fair allowance should be made for housing, feeding and freedom from rationing responsibility. • Then there is that little matter of income-tax, which is mostly over- looked. Reckoning £2 a week for her board and lodging under present conditions on an " as family " standard, the domestic worker is granted £104 plus £130 (equals £234) personal allowance free of income-tax, unlike a mere £130 for less favoured mortals. Nor are foreign women allowed to relieve the situation to any appreciable degree, however glad they would be of a home and some of these benefits. The employer must not only pay the fare here (and the return fare if and when required), but must also guarantee the minimum wage of £2 a week, " so as not to undercut the domestic labour supply here." One is tempted to enquire, " What labour supply? " A gross rather than a net minimum wage would surely be fairer. And, were provision made for the employment of part-time workers, who would s alue a home, to live in and be there to do certain chores at certain times of the day, it would be an inestimable boon to many a housewife, who cannot herself strike for shorter hours and more attractive conditions of employment.—I am, Sir, yours faithfully,
Lynchmere Green, Haslemcre, Surrey. F. D. MERRALLS.
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