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39
discovered to have left the district. It is obvious that these
mothers who keep moving about cannot be of much use in industry,
because they must be continually changing from one job to another.
The Essential Works Order cannot be applied in practice to the
mother with young children because she is a volunteer in industry.
In some cases, where the child's name remains on the register
of the day nursery for a number of months, it cannot be assumed
that the mother is working throughout that time.
The two following cases are examples :—
(1) 12th October Admitted.
14th October Absent.
I6th November Returned.
17th November Absent and withdrawn.
18th January Re-admitted.
20th January Absent—left.
8th March Re-admitted.
17th March Absent without excuse.
Name removed from register.
(2) 1st September Admitted.
2nd September Absent, mother ill.
2nd October Returned to nursery.
30th November Absent, father home on leave.
15th December Returned to nursery.
1st February Absent—mumps. Withdrawn.
In the first case the child attended 14 days over a period of
five months. In the second, the child was away for six weeks, and
left finally at the end of five months. Both were removals into the
district, and both had verminous heads on admission, suggesting a
low standard of maternal care.
The other striking fact brought out by the figures of children
who have already left the nurseries is the high proportion who left
following an attack of infectious disease. Of those who were in
attendance over two months, half did not return following an
attack of infection. The time of opening the nurseries was probably
unfortunate—towards the end of the summer, while measles, scarlet
fever, whooping cough and chicken pox were epidemic in the
Borough. This meant that the children who were admitted in
poor condition had not time to have their nutrition built up by good
food and open air conditions, before the shorter and wetter days
necessitated having them inside more, and exposing them to more