The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1922-07-06


able raw material to the manufactur-
! ing baker. the report sets forth These
| combined services during the period
! Of the survey cost an average of S.4
cents. The average cost of manufac-
turing the flour into bread was 1913
cents of the dollar the consumer pays
for bread
Service Cost Is High.
A considerable factor In the bakers
cost Of distribution is the service ele.
ment His deliveries are made daily
and his individual sales are compare
lively small in terms of dollars. 1t IS
quite possible that the consumer finds
the convenience of being able to get
fresh bread daily Of as great value as
the commodity itself.
However, it seems possible that
greater efficiency can be developed,
which will tend to reduce the manu-.
featuring bakers selling cost and over
head and the retail dealers operating
expense The inquiry does not indi-
eXacted an undue profit in taking 90
cents from the consumers dollar for
manufacturing bread and distributing
it to the retailer
1t would appear, however, that the
retailers operating expense of 10 cents
and the bakers average selling eX-
pense of 1876 cents out Of the dollar
the consumer pays for bread should be
reduced by improvement Of method.
To some degree consumers demand for
variety causes duplication of service on
the part of the several bakeries maxi
ing daily deliveries 10 the same re-
tailers.
The competitive element between
manufacturing bakeries in their efforts
to command markets naturally tends
to increase the amount of service and
the cost of selling. However, cOmpeti-
ton tends to maintain a high standard
of quality and convenience Of service.
Mothers Work; Children Suffer.
Gainful employment of mothers Of
young children frequently means that
the children receive inadequate care
during the day, or no care at all, ac-
aOrding to a report entitled children
Of Wage-Earning Mothers A Study Of
Selected Group in Chicago just
made public by the United States
Department of Labor through the
childrens bureau. Other conditions
found include retarded school prog
ress of the children, over-fatigue and
ill-health of the mothers-with conse-
quent loss to the children-and in
some instances overwOrk by children
who had the responsibility for house
hold tasks beyond their strength.
The report presents the results Of
a study of S43 families Of working
mothers, in which were 2,066 children
under the age of fourteen years. The
group included families known to the
Chicago United Charities and to the
day nurseries, and included also a
special group of 212 colored families
1t was found that the problem Of the
Of mothers had to do with
both normal and broken families.
Where the father was a member Of the
family group and worked regularly his
were, in the great majority
of cases, inadequate for the family
support.
The 10 day nurseries in Chicago at
the time of the study did not maintain
uniformly high standards with respect
to sanitation and child care and train
ing; many of them had not provided
for the care and training
Of the older children. Only two nurser-
les, with a capacity of 20 each, were
to cOlored children. OF the
l ,32S children who were not cared for
in day nurseries, lat least fourth
were left with no provision for their
care aside from that made in the
schools.
School Attendance Is Poor.
The school attendance records of
group of TAP children were obtained,
and these compared unfavorably with
the attendance of all the children en-
rolled in nine selected schools in
workers neighborhoods. A large
Of retardation was found
the children Of wage earning
mothers, over one-third of whom were
below standard grade for their age.
The report emphasizes the skill in
planning and management shown by
many of the women in carrying the
triple burden of wage-earner, house
keeper and mother, and states that a
large proportion were doing their
homework without assistance. More
than half of the $50 mothers whose
arrangements were known
were doing all the washing and cook
ing; the mothers in general showed a
tendency to sacrifice themselves in or
der to save the children from tasks
too heavy for their years.
Measures Tor reducing the necessity
for wage earning by mothers Of young
the report states, include inn
proved economic conditions that will
make the fathers earnings more ade-
quate; training of mothers in house
hold management and the care of chill
dren; preserving the normal family
group through movements for the pre-
vcntion Of accident and the promotion
of health; and providing substitutes
for the fathers support when he Is
an Yft ut al lyF 90