From the Editress' Chair
Whether it is idealistically true or not, the old cliché about a woman’s place being in the home is rapidly going out of fashion; in fact, it has been for some time. Modern conditions usually make it impossible for the average young woman to remain securely in her parents’ home until she is transferred, equally securely, to her husband’s home – provided she is not among the large proportion destined to remain single because of the worldwide man shortage resulting from two World Wars.
The average young woman of today finds it necessary to earn her own living, even if helped to a certain extent by her parents, and she has come to regard this necessity as an opportunity rather than a burden. It is undeniable that the world can be seen in better perspective by a person who is out in the world earning a living from it and while a greater knowledge of current events is certainly no guarantee of contentment, it is a prime essential in any person, man or woman, who wants to be a worthwhile member of the community.
Ignorance is responsible for an incredible amount of trouble in the world today. Not the ignorance of educational neglect, but the sort that stems from a complete lack of understanding and even of interest. By mixing with their fellow humans in the business world, women are learning far more objectivity than they ever achieved previously from within the four walls of their own homes.
Though the feminine reputation for taking the personal view of everything dies hard, it is undoubtedly dying, as proved by the increasing number of women achieving success in public office. To win whatever success they have in public affairs, women must offer a larger amount of talent and determination than men to gain an equal share of success. Wherever else chivalry may exist, it is certainly not in the business and professional world, and that is how every intelligent woman prefers it.
Yet in spite of the strides which women have made towards equality during the past half century, they have generally missed out badly in one aspect – remuneration.
The recent decision of New Zealand clerical workers to seek equal pay for men and women is but another step in the forward march of women towards what they consider to be their rights.
It seems only logical and fair that women should receive the same pay as men if they do the same amount of work, but the answer is not as simple as that. First, it must be remembered that any general increase in wages will put up employers’ production costs and this will be passed onto the public in the form of higher prices. However, with increased production costs spread over a total population of over one million, compared with but 10,000 enjoying the higher wages, the woman clerical worker stands to come out on the right side of the deal.
But presuming the wage question is settled in favour of women, what is likely to be the long-range result? If staffs are reduced, who will go first, the men or the women? There will always be a certain number of women valued and retained but, generally, it will be the women who find themselves jobless, for despite the progress that they have made in recent years and the laurels that thousands earned for their magnificent work during the war, the fact remains that all the old prejudice is not completely dead, and the average employer is likely to prefer a man to a woman if he has to pay the same money.
Moreover, that same average employer realises that any woman whom he finds intelligent, capable and congenial to work with is more than likely to appeal to some other man – as a wife. If she intends to make her marriage a full-time job, he is faced with the prospect of finding someone else to take her place and is fully aware that he may have to repeat the process ad infinitum as long as he continues to employ a woman.
Such difficulties are about to arise as long as women continue to fulfil their destines as home-makers as well as individual citizens with individual interests. But what is the answer? Should women feel that marriage itself is a full-time job?
No matter what she may believe to the contrary, husband, family and home are not enough for any woman with normal intelligence and self-respect.
But that certainly does not mean that the only solution is a career; in fact, it is a rare woman who can complete justice to home and career at the same time. Rather, it means finding a way to contribute something to the life of the community personally instead of through her husband and family. After all, as Eleanor Roosevelt once pointed out, men and women have to live in this world together, so it is only reasonable that they should each take a hand in building it into the sort of world they want.
All human beings find their greatest happiness in service of some sort, whether it is to their loved ones, a worthy cause or an ideal, and at no time more than the present has there been such an urgent need for all to look beyond their own personal horizons to the world beyond.
‘It seems only logical and fair that women should receive the same pay as men if they do the same amount of work’