View report page

171
[1904
Homework.—The great bulk of the work done at home is that undertaken
by women, who are employed largely by wholesale firms and large
drapers in making clothing for men and women, but mostly for the latter as
will be seen in the particulars given below. During the year 201 lists containing
1,756 names, of which 886 were those of persons living in other places,
and whose addresses were, therefore, forwarded as required by the Factory and
Workshop Act to the Medical Officers of Health of the districts in which they
lived. On the other hand, the names and addresses of 875 persons employed
by firms outside the borough were received. Thus there were 1,748 homeworkers
to be dealt with in Islington.
The lists are required to be presented on or before February 1st and
August 1st, but the law has not been strictly obeyed, for it was necessary to
communicate with numerous employers before some of them were sent in.
The lists due February 1st numbered 101, and contained the names of 881
outworkers, of whom 441 lived in other boroughs, while those due on August
1st numbered 0100, and contained the names of 878 persons, of whom 445
lived outside Islington; 473 names were received from Medical Officers of
Health from lists due February 1st, and 402 from those due August 1st.
It may be stated that the respective lists contain practically the same
names, so that in reality instead of there being 1,948 separate persons to
deal with there were only something like 1,000.
The outworkers were employed as set out in the following statement,
which has been prepared by Miss Gray.