Married Women on Part-time
In his speech at Middlesbrough last Sunday, appealing once again for more women to bridge the big gap in industry which must be filled, Mr. Bevin indicated new ways of approaching the problem. He said that he wanted at least a million married women. He does not expect to get the full time of all of them. He now appears to recognise that there are large reservoirs of female labour which might be turned to account if he asked married women and older women to work part-time, and by so doing release younger women for full-time work. Obviously such a system of employment is only practicable if employers make drastic readjustments in their shifts to admit of the employment of women in relays ; and it is understood that when Mr. Sevin spoke of carrying compulsion further he meant that pressure must be applied to the managements, too, to make the necessary changes in their plans. It is to be hoped that Mr. Kevin, who has gone thus far in recognising that more women's labour can be obtained if the conditions are less exact- ing, will go a little further and recognise that he will get more out of the younger women too by insisting on the relaxation of conditions which tax them beyond their powers. True economy of effort consists in using every worker according to his or her capacity—neither more nor less—and the managements must arrange for more elasticity in conditions of work. The organisa- tions have to be adjusted to the human material that is available.
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