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38
Woman's work never ends. In the slums, during the first
months of marriage, before the first child is born, the father and
mother both work so that they may save as much as they can.
Later the husband gradually gives up work, or takes casual
employment, often as a "general labourer." Each year many
instances are brought to the notice of the public health department
where the fathers are anxious for the mothers to go to work and
relieve them of the support of the family.
When the mothers go to work, some of the younger children
are left at home unattended, and may be found running about the
room naked or clothed only in a cotton vest. Sometimes they may
be found sitting on the doorstep in this condition, or throwing
mud or house refuse at one another in the back yard. Sometimes
they lie face downwards on the pavement with their heads just
over the kerb, handling the filth in the gutter or fashioning it
with their hands to the embarrassment of passers-by.
Many mothers are ill-treated, insufficiently fed, and insufficiently
clothed. Some are disfigured by their husbands. They are then
unable to go to a hospital, to a dispensary, or to come to the
weighing centre until they have recovered from their maltreatment.
Other mothers cease attending because they have no decent
clothes, because their clothes have been pawned, or because they
have no shoes. However, mothers who are unable or afraid to go
out will apparently take all risks and adopt all sorts of devices in
order that they may attend the churching.
In slum districts the mothers often worsen their prospects by
marriage. Before marriage they may earn from twenty to twentyfive
shillings per week. After marriage they may have a very
hard struggle to keep out of debt. The commonest occupations of
the mothers are office-cleaning, machining, bookfolding, charing,
street hawking, ironing, working as a laundry hand, or making
cardboard boxes, paper bags, or artificial flowers. Some mothers
pursue a variety of trades. When one trade fails or becomes
slow, they take up another. For example, one mother sold flowers
in a market street in the morning, made wreaths in the afternoon,
and sold newspapers in the evening.