COMMUNITY HOUSEHOLD EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS NATIONAL INTEREST IN STANDARDS FOR HOUSEHOLD EMPLOYMENT Household employment is an important source of livelihood for women. Of the approximately 2 million employed domestic service workers in 1940, 93.8 percent or 2,100,000, were women.1 This number represents 17.6 percent of all employed women at that time. Despite the exodus during the war, there were still approximately 1,520,000 women household employees in April 1946.2 In the decade preceding the Second World War there was growing interest in the problem of establishing household employment as a desirable and respected occupation. A number of national agencies concerned themselves with questions such as the demand for and supply of workers, working-conditions standards, training, and placement. The Women's Bureau issued a number of bulletins on the subject and acted as adviser to a number of interested individuals and groups. Among the private national agencies which concerned themselves with conditions in the domestic service field was the National Council on Household Employment, established in 1928, at a conference called by the National Board of the YWCA and Government agencies. This organization, composed of employers, specialists in domestic science, and other individuals interested in household employment problems, acted mainly as a center for the exchange of information on household employment. It maintained a library on the subject, cooperated with other organizations in promoting better conditions, formulated standards, and carried on research activities. 3 The YWCA had taken an active interest in household employment problems even earlier. In 1915 the National Board formed a commission on household employment. Two studies were initiated at that time and reported to the YWCA's Fifth National Convention. Since then, various National Industrial Assemblies of the YWCA 1 Bureau of Labor Statistics. Monthly Labor Review, August 1947, vol. 65, No. 2, p. 139. 'Bureau of the Census. Supplement to the Monthly Report on the Labor Force. May 12, 1947. Wells, Dorothy P. and Biba, Carol, editors. Fair and Clear in the Homes-A Symposium on Household Employment. p. 4. New York, The Woman's Press, 1936. COMMUNITY HOUSEHOLD EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS NATIONAL INTEREST IN STANDARDS FOR HOUSEHOLD EMPLOYMENT Household employment is an important source of livelihood for women. Of the approximately 2 million employed domestic service workers in 1940, 93.8 percent or 2,100,000, were women.1 This number represents 17.6 percent of all employed women at that time. Despite the exodus during the war, there were still approximately 1,520,000 women household employees in April 1946.2 In the decade preceding the Second World War there was growing interest in the problem of establishing household employment as a desirable and respected occupation. A number of national agencies concerned themselves with questions such as the demand for and supply of workers, working-conditions standards, training, and placement. The Women's Bureau issued a number of bulletins on the subject and acted as adviser to a number of interested individuals and groups. Among the private national agencies which concerned themselves with conditions in the domestic service field was the National Council on Household Employment, established in 1928, at a conference called by the National Board of the YWCA and Government agencies. This organization, composed of employers, specialists in domestic science, and other individuals interested in household employment problems, acted mainly as a center for the exchange of information on household employment. It maintained a library on the subject, cooperated with other organizations in promoting better conditions, formulated standards, and carried on research activities. The YWCA had taken an active interest in household employment problems even earlier. In 1915 the National Board formed a commission on household employment. Two studies were initiated at that time and reported to the YWCA's Fifth National Convention. Since then, various National Industrial Assemblies of the YWCA 1 Bureau of Labor Statistics. Monthly Labor Review, August 1947, vol. 65, No. 2, p. 139. Bureau of the Census. Supplement to the Monthly Report on the Labor Force. May 12, 1947. Wells, Dorothy P. and Biba, Carol, editors. Fair and Clear in the Homes-A Symposium on Household Employment. p. 4. New York, The Woman's Press, 1936. have passed numerous resolutions designed to improve working conditions. They have also made recommendations for improved standards, employer-employee committees, unions, and legislative protection. The influence of YWCA National Board policy was reflected in the committees organized by 64 local YW associations between 1932 and 1935 for the purpose of considering questions related to household employment. Such committees frequently included representatives of other civic and social agencies in the area. By the time of the outbreak of the war, a number of cities throughout the country had organized committees to formulate standards for improving household employment conditions in their communities. Other national groups which have considered specific domestic service problems and supported remedial measures are the National Women's Trade Union League, the National Consumers League, and the National League of Women Shoppers." The war sharply curtailed the work of these groups. Money, time, and energies were diverted to more immediate concerns. Practically all local household committees were dissolved, and the National Council on Household Employment disbanded in 1942. The drawing off of household workers into war industries and service trades was a severe handicap to American households. As soon as the war was over, therefore, new or renewed activity to solve the problem of household employment occurred in localities in all parts of the country. The concern in a solution is reflected in the numerous inquiries, reports, and complaints that are sent the Women's Bureau. Other countries, similarly faced with a shortage of household employees, are dealing with the problems in a variety of ways. The National Institute of Houseworkers, for example, created by the British Government, is developing a broad program including the training of competent domestic workers for employment under specified regulations concerning wages and working conditions." The Canadian Government, through its National Employment Service, is currently attempting to establish a Home Aid Project which will include provisions for wages comparable to rates in other service industries, definite hours of work, and a short introductory course of training under the Canadian Vocational Training Organizations." U. S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau. Household Employment-An Outline for Study Groups. November 1940. p. 8. (Mimeo.) Ibid., pp. 8, 9, 10, 11. • International Labour Office. "The War and Women's Employment," Part I: United Kingdom. Ch. IV. Women in Domestic Employment. Montreal, The Office, 1946. 287 pp. 1 Canada Unemployment Insurance Commission, Ottawa, Oct. 26, 1945, Employment Circular No. 28. Home Aids. nity groups. In the United States there is no government-sponsored household employment program. A number of significant developments, however, have been initiated by national social agencies and local commuThe Department of Social Education and Action, Board of Christian Education of the Presbyterian Church of the United States, recently published a report on Church Women and Household Employment, entitled "Martha in the Modern Age." Designed to help raise the standards of household employment, this report is directed primarily to women in the church study classes and to other similar groups. Local committees representing many social and civic groups, placement bureaus, and vocational and trade schools, as well as employers and employees-that had existed before the war have recently been reorganized; others are newly formed. By the spring of 1946, the Women's Bureau received information on such household employment committees in some 20 communities, about one-half of which had had similar committees before the war. |