Age.
An outstanding feature of restaurant work is the presence in this occupation of a very large proportion of girls and young women. One-fourth of all the workers are under 21, and two-thirds under 30 years of age. ([See Diagram 1]). There are several reasons to account for this fact.
A certain amount of excitement attaches to the work of a restaurant waitress which appeals to young girls. She sees and talks to a great many people; she likes the noise and bustle and cheerful atmosphere of the dining room. Also, the employer prefers young and pretty girls as waitresses, especially where the customers are mostly men. They help to make his place attractive and popular. One waitress remarked, “When the girls get to looking bad, they are laid off and someone else is put in their place.”
As might be expected, restaurant cooks are a somewhat older set of women than the waitresses, not quite one-half being under 30 years. Their work requires experience and the ability to think and plan. Considering the nature and demands of the work, it is startling to find that twenty per cent. of their number are girls not yet 21 years old.
Over seventy-five per cent. of the kitchen girls and other helpers[3] are under 30, and nearly half under 21. This is the youngest group. Their work needs no skill or previous training, the chief requirement being physical strength.
The youth of these restaurant workers gives rise to two distinct dangers, a physical danger and a moral one. Restaurant work necessarily involves many hours of standing and walking, lifting and carrying heavy weights. This is an unavoidable feature, but it is of the utmost importance that it be not ignored. Medical authorities have pointed out the serious results that follow the strain of continued standing and over-work of young girls. Dr. Harris states that in occupations which require such lifting and carrying and such long hours of standing “there is a definite hazard to the child-bearing capacity of women. This is of vital consequence to society as a whole.”
Diagram 1.—Ages of Women Employed in Restaurants by Occupation.
The moral danger of the work is largely confined to waitresses. Because of their position, they are peculiarly exposed to the attentions of men customers. For this very reason, the Baltimore Vice Commission recommends that only older and more experienced women be employed in this capacity, while in Norway the law sets a minimum age limit for waitresses in public places.
If the restaurant worker is to resist the strain of the work and the temptations to which she is exposed, hours and conditions must be so adjusted as to prevent all overtaxing of her strength and elasticity.
Diagram 2.—Nationality of Women Restaurant Workers.