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The scale of charges applicable to the home,help service was
made the subject of a special report to the Maternity and Child
Welfare Committee in November. The Committee very carefully
considered these charges, but decided to make no alteration in view
of the impending change-over in July, 1948.
As has already been stated, a full-time organiser for the home
help and domestic help service was appointed in October.
Day Nurseries.—The day nursery facilities available in the
Borough remain as set out in the Annual Report for 1944. In this
connection, I can find little to add to the comments which I made
in last year's Annual Report regarding the part which day nurseries
can and should play in the scheme of social medicine. I am still of
the opinion that the continued need for day nurseries is an indication
of a serious flaw in our social system. Unfortunately, it is not within
our power to deal with this flaw, the problem having national rather
than local significance. We must accept the fact that day nurseries
are required, and will presumably continue to be required for many
years to come. Having accepted this fact, we must ensure that
adequate provision is made, and that the nurseries are maintained
and run in the best possible manner, having due regard to special
local requirements.
Investigations carried out by several large authorities have
shown that the maintenance of Day Nurseries makes a very slender
contribution to the availability of women in industry. When the
staffs which have to be maintained at Day Nurseries are set against
the number of women whom the provision of Day Nursery facilities
allows to go to work, the final result is little more than negligible.
When one also sets the physical and mental advantages to the children
against the quite substantial disruption of the family unit, the
permanent value of the Day Nursery as a social factor in the life of
a community is more than ever doubtful. Although these quite
serious considerations must not be allowed to detract from the value
of Day Nurseries as temporary expedients or as a means of assisting
with special problems, it is hoped that the vital importance of proper
home environment will still be recognised as the only basis of a
sound social system.
The waiting lists for admission to our three day nurseries are
invariably long, and point to the fact that the need for day nurseries
exists at present in an acute form in Southgate. It has only been
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