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single penny since their marriage. Even when the father does
wholly or in part support the family, the mother, as often as
not, does not know how much he earns or where he works. It
will be noted that most of the fathers were general labourers.
This term is a generic one : it is the poverty sink of the labour
market, and embraces all those who, from illness, misfortune,
drink, felony, or vicious habits have gradually sunk into the
ranks of loafers, weeds, and "The Unemployed." It is an
index, not necessarily of degradation and type of employment,
but, in this connection of, great poverty, and connotes a tendency
to sink still lower and attain complete loss of recuperative
opportunity.
It sometimes happens that a mother will state that her husband
is a labourer doing casual work. In such cases the neighbours
have been known to volunteer the information that the husband
has been out of employment for 2 or 3 years and will not work,
so that the family is supported entirely by the mother.
Illustrative Examples.
1. There were 11 children of whom only 4 now lived. The
father was in prison for theft. The mother was in hospital after
a difficult and complicated confinement. The baby, 2 weeks old,
was at home and being cared for by the two eldest daughters,
aged 18 and 16 years respectively.
2. There were 7 children, including a baby, 6 weeks, all
living. The mother was ill. The father was a dock labourer
out on strike and receiving 10s. a week strike money. They paid
7s. 9d. weekly for rent. The family was being supported by the
mother taking in washing.
3. The baby was the first child. The mother was having
insufficient food and was losing her breast milk. The father had
been out of work for many months. Work was found for him,
and he was paid Is. 6d. on the first day he was employed. This
he considered too little and struck his foreman. He was locked
up for being disorderly.