The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1942-11-12
Labor News From Britdin

LondOn.-MOre than a4nilliOn houses
will have to be built in Britain when
the war is over, and thousands OF
houses will have to be reconditoned.
What sort of houses will they be?
The Ministry of Health has set up
a committee on the Design Of Dwell
ings." And the Standing Joint Com
mttee of Working W0men's Organiza-
tions have been asked to give their
views on the planning of houses.
| They have accordingly set our TO
ascertain by means of a questionnaire
circulated to the thousands of Women'S
organizations, women's sections OF To-
cal Labor Parties, WomenS Co-opera-
tive Guilds, and women's groups Oh
local Trades Councils and Trade
Unions, what kind of house the work
ing woman really wants.
Asking The WOmen's Views
Here are some points from the
Questionnaire:
What are the main defects of your
present house?
Would you prefer larger living
room and Il smaller parlor!
What type of windows do you pre-
fer with large or small paneS. and
what height from the floor should the
windows be?
Would you prefer the bathroom up
stairs or downstairs?
an a
fire in living rooms and bedrooms, or
central heating?
Which do you prefer for cooking
coal, electricity, gas?
What buut-in cupboards or built-in
furniture would you like in living
rooms and bedrooms?
Do YOU want garden? What com
munal services should be provided
leg. communal laundries, communal
restaurants. recreational centres, nurS-
cry schools?
Where do YOU think it is essential
YOUR home should be located-near to
your husbands work, childrens school
buses and railway station, or shops?
The women who have framed this
uuestonnaire have asked those who
fill in the answers to say whether
they are over thirty or under thirty
The reason for this is Ghey Say) that
1--WE think it important in planning
new houses to consider very carefully
the desires of women who are begin
ming their married life" Replies arc
invited not only from the younger
married women who may want some
thing different from the older women
but from young women and girls wis
are not yet married.
The questionnaire is framed upon
the assumption that the planning OF
homes after the war cannot be left tC
chance or private enterprise. 1t Shoul'
be the responsibility of a Ministry OF
Planning, working through regional
and local authorities and it should
take account of every aspect of living
both work and leisure.
Although | am not able to report
on the results of the inquiry at th,
present time, | can say that the re
turns from individuals as we'll as from
groups of women, are numerous, anC
= when the necessary task of COLLATION.
. and sitting has been done, the report
should be of enormous interest.
Hours And Output
Again this year, in his Annual Re
port the Chief Inspector Of Factories
hammers at the point that excessively
long hours of work do not necessarily
l | i,rh n
In fact the Chief Inspector has in
sisted time and again in recent report.
f that long hours of work over an eX
: tended period means decreased pro
p duction.
In his latest report, just issued, the
: Chief Inspector says that generally
f speaking it was found that last yea
: considerably shorter hours were beins
s worked than in 1910, when the los
Y of equipment in France led to desper
A ate measures having to be taken t.
|. secure output. But the fact remains
s Che WriteS) that in some Factories
women or young persons over rs were
n employed continuously for so or near
= ly go hours II week and adult me,
:. were employed considerably longe
: hours" In some of these cases, III
J. adds, the hours were adopted agains
e the employers better judgment, wh'
expected them to be unremllnerativ'
e and associated with absence from
$ work. but the fact that such hour
q are OStenSibly worked is in the natur
f of a concession to Il section of OUT
side opinion which is prone to associ
ate reasonable hours with persona
:. Slackness or with alleged waste o