ENG-1947 — Page 22

torch battery and rubber shoe industries combined. It is difficult to obtain exact employment figures as the majority of female labour is on either a daily or a piece rate basis, and the numbers employed vary from day to day according to the state of business in individual trades. Most of the factory work is light, and, with a few exceptions, semi-skilled. Wages and hours of work vary considerably in different industries. Only a few factories, and those generally European-owned, have an 8-hour day and a 6 or 5 day week. The great majority of Chinese concerns have either a 9 or a 10-hour day and a 7-day week. In some cases, if business is good, work may continue for 11 hours. These hours are, of course, much too long, but efforts to improve them by negotiation have been to a certain extent frustrated by the attitude of the women themselves, who prefer the extra money they can earn to any additional leisure. Such a position is unsatisfactory, and surveys are

are being conducted with a view to ascertaining whether or not measures may be undertaken to secure better conditions in certain îndustries through the medium of trade boards, for the institution of which there is already legislative provision. The women and girls employed in local factories are of all types and ages, including almost as many married women as single. Most of the married women work from economic necessity. There is no upper limit to the age at which women may continue to work; many of the older ones find casual employment in the weaving industry. The enforcement of the lower age limit (which at present is 14 years for young persons of both sexes) is rendered the more difficult by the disparity between Chinese and European methods of reckoning the age of a child. In consequence cases have been brought to light by factory inspectors in which children are employed below the minimum age prescribed by law, whilst in other cases young persons who by virtue of their youth should be employed only within the restricted times laid down by regulation, are found to be employed for the whole of the working day. There are at present some three hundred young persons between the ages of 14 and 18 years registered with the Labour Office; details of wages, hours of work, and in some instances, family circum- stances, are recorded in these cases. Many more are still to be registered.

The inspection work in connection with juveniles entails personal visits to individual factories. These visits, in most cases, have to be repeated frequently owing to the very casual nature of the employment, particularly in the case of girls. It will consequently be some time before a comprehensive list can be compiled.

Little exists at present in the way of social amenities or welfare benefits for women in industrial employment. A few factories provide medical facilities for all their workers, and some of the guilds, with the assistance of the Education Department, have been able to provide additional schools for a small percentage of their members. Practically nothing, however, is done by managements to provide social or maternity

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