150
(ii) Females of Chinese Race.
Occupied females are naturally much younger than occupied males.
This youth- fulness applies most of all to the industrial employment of females; personal service, which covers 29 per cent of the whole, showing excess over the general average for the occupied in Table 38 for the whole range from 26 to 50 years of age. Generally speaking, it is, as might be expected, the occupations longest in female hands which return excesses for the numbers employed in later life. These include, in addition to personal service, fishing, agriculture, transport and munication and shopkeeping.
com-
Order I. Fisherwomen. Considerable excess over average is shown in the early age groups because the children, as they grow up in their floating home, are required to assist in the work of the boat. The comments made regarding fisher- men apply equally to fisherwomen; the girls leave to get married or to get work elsewhere and the proportions in early middle life are lowered. Deficiency is shown in the groups from 21-60 but thereafter excess is shown right up to old age.
The same is true of Agricultural female workers. There is excess up to age 16, deficiency between the years 17 and 40, and excess at all ages over 40. The average age in these two groups is, therefore, high.
Female Textile Workers, on the other hand, are mainly youthful. The excess in the age groups 14-16 and 17-20 being over 100% and 120% respectively. The excess continues up to age 30 and there is deficiency at all ages thereafter.
Other Textile occupations such as the making of articles of dress are continued later in life by females than other factory work, probably in association with а practice of continuing at work after marriage to a much greater extent than applies to female occupations generally. There is again excess in the early years 14-20, deficiency from 21-35, and a slight excess at all ages beyond 35.
Female makers of Foods, Drinks cigarette makers, are very youthful. group 17-20 it is as much as 125%. deficiency in every age group.
and Tobacco, who in Hong Kong are mainly Great excess is seen in the years 14-25; in the Beyond the age of 25 there is, however,
Workers in Transport and Communication are on the whole over average in age. There is excess in the early years 5-16, but these are mainly children living afloat who assist in the work of boats and sampans conveying cargo to ships in harbour; there is a slight deficiency from 17-45, but excess is shown in all groups over 45.
of
As with men, women engaged in Commerce (mainly shopkeeping) are mature age. There is deficiency up to the age of 35 and excess at all ages beyond that figure, great excess being shown from 51 onwards.
Women engaged in Personal Service are mainly in domestic service. They return excess at all ages between 26 and 50 and they also resemble factory occupa- tions in presenting excess for juvenile workers between 14 and 16, after which age the influence of marriage may be seen in the form of slight deficiencies up to age 25.
2. INDUSTRIES.
The number of persons of both sexes tabulated under each of the Industrial headings used will be found in the Table attached as Appendix E,
The following Table 39 gives a synopsis of the Industrial Classification.