The Washington times., 1915-05-25
Flora Mcdonald Thompson
Urges Federal Commission
, to Extend investigate"
Into Conditions of t
Home Under Act of e.,
gress.
Domestic Labor of Woneu
Wage Farmers One of
Causes of Dissatisfaction,
and Subject to Recon-
mendation In That Body's
Report, She Asserts.
By FLORENCE E. YODER.

~ ESOLNED. That housework
- should be considered work
and that the Commission
OF Industrial Relations in
accordance with its purpose, make
investigation Of the conditions in
the home and the unpaid labor of
wives.
Mrs. Flora IcDonald Thompson,
author and newspaper writer.
urges Chairman Walsh to this end,
holding that such an investiga-
tion is warranted on the grounds
that the unpaid labor Of women
and wives In tho home Ia a factor
in industrial relations. and that
1t is authorized in these words Of
the act creating the commission:
The commission shall seek to
discover the underlying causes OF
dissatisfaction in the industrial
situation and report its conclu-
sicns thereon
The commission shall inquire
int" the effect of industrial condi-
tions on public welfare"
sh" points out that in the hrst
subject Of the Elimination Of
Human Waste" It is stated that:
Not the least important OF the
many questiorf with which organ
lied society has to deal Is that Of
seeing that every human being is
given the fairest possible chance
in the struggle for life"
Factor In Industrial Life.
Now Mrs Thompson has touched
upon n subject so homely. yet 40
vital that It IS scarcely possible
that men or even some women
can have the perspective to see
1t in its true light. Yet there is
actual proof, outside of the hu-
manitarian side Of fairness to
women who do their own work.
which makes this question
tangible and concrete factor in In
duStrial welfare.
The working OF the British ma
tional health insurance act" said
Mrs. Thompson. has produced
mathematical proof that unremu-
neratve domestic pursuits are a Sc
riOus handicap to women In industry.
Tn unremunerative domestic pur-
suits | include motherhood as domes-
tic service. Under present conditions
women in industry are taxed for
that domestic debt which they must
ray the state merely because they
are women. They are forced to lose
IN INDUSTRY tnHt money "n1Cn rheS
forfeit through illness in performing
& duty to the state,
The proof that dome site labor is
a factor in the world OF industry on
the side Of the employer. is contain
ed in the results Of the British ma
tional health insurance act whcrn
It was found by the employers that
woman worker who was III pro-
longed her illness and lost them
money, If she tried to do her house
work.
Deficit Is Caused.
The insurance act occasioned an
enormous deficit due to the over
whelming demand made on estimated
resources in the item of sickness
benefit as APPLIED to the insured
woman wage-earner. The testimony
proved that the source Of this wholly
unexpected amount of sickness
among Wage-earners was caused not
by the con 1itions Of the trades in
which the women wage-earners were
employed, but by the continuance Of
their domestic occupations supple
mentary to their work, which in
Cluded motherhood,
For, curiously explanatory Of the
attitude of the public mind concern
ing the situs ton of women In indus
try, the aCtuaries estimates on
which the british ma rli ap,ept basad