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75
In the great majority of cases expectant mothers, going out to
work, give up their work some time before confinement (one to two
months usually). In some work-places there are rules that they
shall do so; where they are allowed to do as they please and work
iscontinuedlater, poverty is invariably the reason given. It is a
usual practice also to allow two or three months to elapse after
confinement before returning to work. Where work is resumed
earlier, poverty again is the alleged cause.
School and office cleaners return to their work at the expiration
of a month after confinement if they wish to retain their situations
as there is much demand for work of this description. The pay is
better than can be earned in many other branches of women's
labour, the work is regular and also it can be done in the mornings
and evenings, leaving the women free during the day to attend to
their own affairs.
The women working in the jam factories state that the work is
very hard, the full legal number of hours are worked and they have
to carry heavy weights.
The woman who prepares sausage skins, in a factory outside
the Borough, states that it is very wet work, her hands are
constantly in water and the floor is always wet, while it is impossible
to avoid wetting her clothing.
For the boot machining the women interviewed use exclusively
pedal machines. Wages in every case are low.
The women working at home often continue their work almost
to the hour in which the baby is born, and women have been found
doing boxmaking, brush drawing and sewing nursery shoes before
they were able to leave their beds after such an event.