one of the most pressing social problems of the day is how the immense number of women—greatly outnumbering the men—in england at the present time are to be supported. the obvious answer is, that they must be taught and encouraged to support themselves. this little book is written in the hope of directing their attention to some suitable and remunerative employments that are not universally known, and it is also hoped it may prove useful to parents who are anxious to arm their daughters for the battle of life with a weapon no one can take from them.
"when land is gone, and money spent,
then learning is most excellent."
and a thorough knowledge of some remunerative employment would do more to make them independent of "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune"10 than the possession of any amount of money, especially in these days of bank failures and general depression of trade.
the great difficulty ladies usually find in securing congenial and sufficiently well-paid employment arises from the pressing necessity they are generally under of earning money at once, which prevents them giving the necessary time to learn whatever calling they may wish to adopt. i have endeavoured to ascertain as exactly as possible the time required to learn all the occupations i mention, as well as the cost of tuition, and, in most cases, i subjoin the rules, or give extracts from the prospectuses of the different schools and classes where ladies may receive the necessary instruction, thinking it may help many to decide upon what they are most fitted for, and what they can best afford to undertake. i have also collected as much information as i could for those whose circumstances make it essential that they should at once receive remuneration for their work; but i must remind them that generally what is worth having is worth waiting and working for, and they must not expect to be as well paid as their more fortunate sisters, who are able to give time and money to learn a business thoroughly. the superficiality of girls' education is very much against them when it becomes a question of how they are to earn their living. if they were taught even one11 thing thoroughly they would probably be able to turn it to account; or at least they would have acquired the habit of learning accurately, which is all important, and one which, i am sorry to say, most women are sadly deficient in. industry, determination, accuracy, and perseverance, would, i am certain, be quite sufficient to overcome almost all the difficulties women at present find in supporting themselves. for those who do not possess or who will not earnestly endeavour to acquire these qualities, i fear this book will be of little service. i have had to listen to bitter complaints of the careless way in which ladies execute work that is entrusted to them, of their want of punctuality and business habits, and their ineradicable conviction that they are conferring a favour upon their employers by working for them at all. all this sort of thing naturally makes large employers of female labour reluctant to try ladies, if they can get sufficient work-girls, who, whatever their faults may be, are at least free from the affectation and conceit of some of their superiors in the social scale. why do not ladies make up their minds to remove this reproach from their class by giving a good day's work for a good day's wage? i heartily wish all women would decide once and for ever to give up the notion that it is humiliating or degrading to work for payment; to my mind the only shame in the matter is in the cases where12 full value is not given for the money received, when of course it becomes more or less an affair of charity.
it is a great pity that girls are brought up to think that the only way in which they can dispose of themselves that will give satisfaction to their friends is to get married, and if from various causes they fail to achieve this end they will be looked upon more or less as social failures. although i am perfectly willing to admit that a happy marriage is the best fate that can befall a woman, surely an unhappy one is one of the worst; and how many of these would be prevented if women only had something else to do and think about, some other means of advancing themselves in life!
i wish parents could be induced to treat their daughters more in the way they treat their sons—that is to say, when they leave school have them thoroughly trained for some profession; it would be much better for them, and many of the difficulties of the "woman question" would disappear, as the untrained women of middle age who have suddenly to depend upon their own exertions are those for whom it is almost impossible to provide any suitable occupation, especially if they object or are unfit to become hospital nurses, and have not sufficient capacity for arithmetic to learn book-keeping. i must refer any of my readers who want personal advice as to their qualifications for13 different occupations to the society for promoting the employment of women, 22, berners street, oxford street, w. miss king, the secretary, or miss lewin, the under secretary, are both able and willing to give advice and reliable information; no fee of any kind is charged. this excellent society has been in existence twenty years; during the whole time a free register has been kept, by means of which many hundreds of women have obtained situations or temporary employment. visits from applicants average about ten daily, and the office has been a centre for the collecting and diffusion of information on all subjects bearing on the employment of women; while many whose names are never entered on the register are put in the way of procuring training or employment, and are warned against persons who, by alluring promises of easy ladylike employment, tempt the unwary to spend their slender means in lessons that are worthless.
with an income which, from all sources, including subscriptions and donations for special purposes, has only averaged ￡319 7s. 6d. per annum, it has trained yearly on an average, thirty young women, obtained regular employment for sixty-three, and occasional employment for one hundred and forty-two.
i must take this opportunity of acknowledging the great kindness i have met with during my search for information while compiling the book. with one14 exception, i have everywhere been treated with the greatest courtesy; all my questions have been most fully answered, and every facility given me for obtaining all the particulars i could possibly desire.
i find that, after common sense and business habits, the qualification most likely to be useful to a woman is a good knowledge of drawing; so i advise any one who has any taste in that direction to sedulously cultivate it.
i am much interested in a scheme for starting a school of tapestry, where ladies could be apprenticed, and after they had acquired the art, work regularly, as they do at the royal school of art needlework. there is nothing in the nature of the work to prevent women doing it, although it is an occupation that has long been monopolised by men. the necessary apprenticeship would be at least two years.
a scheme has lately been set on foot for organising classes for teaching girls who are anxious to obtain engagements in superior houses of business, the regular routine of office work, book-keeping, &c. inquiries may be addressed to miss franks, 23, mortimer street.
i wish i could convince women of a truth they seem singularly slow in comprehending—that is, that if they are to compete with men on anything like equal terms, they must, at the very least, give the same time15 to learn their business that men find necessary. there is always a demand for really skilled labour, and this skill is worth almost any present sacrifice to obtain; besides its pecuniary advantages, the knowledge that one can do something really well (not in an amateur fashion) confers a most gratifying sense of power and independence. i do not agree with those people who think it a hardship for women to have to work for their living; on the contrary, i believe if an average of happiness could be ascertained, it would be found the toilers had a far larger share than the idlers, and when trouble and disappointment come, as come they will, they must remember that—
"their fate is the common fate of all;
into each life some rain must fall,
some days must be dark and dreary."
