Domestic service

by Lucy Maynard Salmon

CONTENTS

	PAGE
[CHAPTER I] Introduction
Frequency of discussion of domestic service	[1]
Personal character of the discussion	[2]
Omission of the subject from economic discussion	[2]
General reasons for this omission	[2]
Specific reasons for this omission	[4]
Fundamental reason for this omission	[5]
Can this omission be justified?	[6]
[CHAPTER II] Historical Aspects of Domestic Employments
Condition of industries in the eighteenth century	[7]
Inventions of the latter part of the century	[7]
Immediate result of these inventions	[8]
Co-operating influences	[8]
Effect of inventions on household employments	[9]
Release of work from the household	[9]
Diversion of labor from the household to other places	[10]
Results of this diversion to other places	[11]
Diversion of labor from the household into other channels	[11]
Household labor becomes idle labor	[12]
Outlets for idle labor	[12]
General result of change of work in the household	[13]
Division of labor in the household only partial	[13]
Interdependence of all industries	[15]
[CHAPTER III] Domestic Service during the Colonial Period
Domestic service has a history	[16]
Three periods of this history	[16]
The colonial period	[16]
Classes of servants during this period	[17]
Early reasons for colonizing America	[17]
Advantage to England of disposing of her undesirable population	[17]
Protests against this method of settlement	[18]
The freewillers	[19]
Proportion of redemptioners	[20]
Place of birth of redemptioners	[20]
Social condition of redemptioners	[21]
Methods of securing redemptioners	[22]
Form of indenture	[22]
Servants without indenture	[22]
Virginia law in regard to servants without indenture	[23]
Early condition of redemptioners	[25]
Subsequent improvement in condition	[27]
Wages of redemptioners	[28]
Legal regulation of wages	[30]
Character of service rendered by redemptioners	[31]
Service in Virginia	[32]
Service in Maine	[33]
Service in Massachusetts	[34]
Colonial legislation in regard to masters and servants	[37]
Laws for the protection of servants	[38]
Physical protection	[39]
Laws for the protection of masters	[40]
Laws in regard to runaways	[40]
Harboring runaways	[41]
Inducements to return runaways	[43]
Corporal punishment	[44]
Trading or bartering with servants	[45]
Miscellaneous laws protecting masters	[46]
Obligation of masters to community	[47]
Redemptioners after expiration of service	[48]
Indian servants	[49]
Negro slavery	[51]
General summary of character of service during the colonial period	[52]
[CHAPTER IV] Domestic Service since the Colonial Period
Second period in history of domestic service	[54]
Substitution for redemptioners of American “help”	[54]
Democratic condition of service	[55]
Observations of European travellers	[55]
Characteristics of the period	[61]
Third period in the history of domestic service	[62]
The Irish famine of 1846	[62]
The German revolution of 1848	[63]
Opening of treaty relations with China in 1844	[64]
Abolition of slavery in 1863	[65]
Effect of these movements on domestic service	[65]
Development of material resources	[66]
Effect of this on domestic service	[67]
Immobility of labor of women	[68]
Change in service indicated by history of the word “servant”	[69]
Early meaning of the word “servant”	[69]
Use of word “help”	[70]
Reintroduction of word “servant”	[71]
Impossibility of restoring previous conditions of service	[72]
[CHAPTER V] Economic Phases of Domestic Service
Domestic service amenable to economic law	[74]
Many domestic employees of foreign birth	[74]
Geographical distribution of foreign born employees	[75]
Concentration of foreign born women in remunerative occupations on domestic service	[77]
The foreign born seek the large cities	[77]
Foreign countries having the largest representation in large cities	[78]
Foreign countries having the largest representation in domestic service	[78]
Conclusion in regard to foreign born domestic employees	[80]
General distribution of domestic employees	[80]
Domestic employees few in agricultural states	[80]
The number large in states with large urban population	[80]
The number not affected by aggregate wealth	[82]
The number somewhat affected by per capita wealth	[82]
Domestic employees found in largest numbers in large cities	[83]
Proportion of domestic employees varies with geographical location and prevailing industry	[84]
Neither aggregate nor per capita wealth determines number of domestic employees in cities	[86]
Prevailing industry of city determines number of domestic servants	[87]
Competition for domestics between wealth and manufacturing industries	[88]
Wages in domestic service	[88]
Conformity of wages to general economic conditions	[89]
Skilled labor commands higher wages than unskilled labor	[89]
The skilled laborer a better workman than the unskilled	[90]
The foreign born receive higher wages than the native born	[91]
Men receive higher wages in domestic service than women	[92]
Tendency towards increase in wages	[93]
Comparison of wages in domestic service with wages of women in other occupations	[93]
High wages in domestic service do not counterbalance advantages in other occupations	[103]
Domestic service offers few opportunities for promotion	[103]
Time unemployed in domestic service	[104]
High wages maintained without strikes	[105]
Conclusions in regard to wages in domestic service	[106]
Conclusions in regard to general economic conditions	[106]
[CHAPTER VI] Difficulties in Domestic Service from the Standpoint of the Employer
Conditions of the average family	[107]
Difficulties in domestic service	[108]
Prevalence of foreign born employees	[108]
Restlessness among employees	[109]
Employment in skilled labor of unskilled laborers	[112]
Difficulty in changing employees	[114]
Recommendations of employers	[114]
The employment bureau	[115]
Indifference of employers to economic law	[117]
Illustrations of this indifference	[117]
Difference between the employers of domestic labor and other employers	[121]
Difficulties considered are not personal	[122]
Difficulties not decreasing	[125]
Difficulties not confined to America	[127]
The question in England	[127]
Condition of service in Germany	[128]
Service in France	[129]
Summary of difficulties	[129]
[CHAPTER VII] Advantages in Domestic Service
Personnel in domestic service	[130]
Reasons why women enter domestic service	[131]
High wages	[131]
Occupation healthful	[132]
It gives externals of home life	[133]
Special home privileges	[133]
Free time during the week	[134]
Annual vacations	[135]
Knowledge of household affairs	[137]
Congenial employment	[137]
Legal protection	[138]
Summary of advantages	[138]
[CHAPTER VIII] The Industrial Disadvantages of Domestic Service
Reasons why women do not choose domestic service	[140]
No opportunity for promotion	[141]
Work in itself not difficult	[142]
“Housework is never done”	[142]
Lack of organization	[143]
Irregularity of working hours	[143]
Work required evenings and Sundays	[146]
Competition with the foreign born and negroes	[146]
Lack of independence	[147]
Summary of industrial disadvantages	[149]
[CHAPTER IX] The Social Disadvantages of Domestic Service
Lack of home life	[151]
Lack of social opportunities	[152]
Lack of intellectual opportunities	[153]
Badges of social inferiority	[154]
Use of word “servant”	[155]
The Christian name in address	[156]
The cap and apron	[157]
Acknowledgment of social inferiority	[158]
Giving of fees	[158]
Objections to feeing system	[159]
Excuses made for it	[161]
Other phases of social inferiority	[162]
Social inferiority overbalances industrial advantages of the occupation	[163]
Comparison of advantages and disadvantages of the occupation	[165]
[CHAPTER X] Doubtful Remedies
Difference of opinion in regard to remedies possible	[167]
General principles to be applied	[168]
The golden rule	[169]
Capability and intelligence of employer	[170]
Receiving the employee into the family life of the employer	[170]
Importation of negroes from the South	[172]
Importation of Chinese	[176]
Granting of licenses	[177]
German service books	[178]
Convention of housekeepers	[179]
Abolishing the public school system	[179]
“Servant Reform Association”	[179]
Training schools for servants	[180]
Advantages of such schools	[180]
Practical difficulties in the way	[182]
Not in harmony with present conditions	[184]
Co-operative housekeeping	[186]
Advantages of the plan	[187]
Objections to it	[188]
Practical difficulties in carrying it out	[190]
Co-operative boarding	[191]
Objections to the plan	[192]
Mr. Bellamy’s plan	[192]
Reasons for considering these proposed measures impracticable	[193]
[CHAPTER XI] Possible Remedies—General Principles
Remedies must take into account past and present conditions	[194]
Industrial tendencies	[194]
Concentration of capital and labor	[194]
Specialization of labor	[195]
Associations for mutual benefit	[195]
Specialization of education	[195]
Profit sharing	[196]
Industrial independence of women	[196]
Helping persons to help themselves	[196]
Publicity in business affairs	[197]
The question at issue	[198]
Impossibility of finding a panacea	[199]
General measures	[199]
Truer theoretical conception of place of household employments	[199]
A more just estimate of their practical importance	[200]
Removal of prejudice against housework	[201]
Correction of misconceptions in regard to remuneration for women’s work	[201]
Summary of general principles	[203]
[CHAPTER XII] Possible Remedies—Improvement in Social Condition
Social disadvantages	[204]
Possibility of removing them	[204]
Provision for social enjoyment	[205]
Abolishing the word “servant”	[207]
Disuse of the Christian name in address	[209]
Regulation of use of the cap and apron	[209]
Abandoning of servility of manner	[210]
Principles involved in freeing domestic service from social objections	[211]
[CHAPTER XIII] Possible Remedies—Specialization of Household Employments
Putting household employments on a business basis	[212]
Articles formerly made only in the household	[212]
Articles in a transitional state	[213]
Articles now usually made in the house	[213]
Removal of work from the household	[215]
This change in line with industrial development	[215]
Indications of its ultimate prevalence	[216]
The Woman’s Exchange	[217]
The opening up to women of a new occupation	[218]
Ultimate preparation of most articles of food outside of the individual home	[219]
Advantages of this plan	[219]
Objections raised to it	[221]
These objections not valid	[221]
Laundry work done out of the house	[222]
Advantages of the plan	[223]
Possibility of having work done by the hour, day, or piece	[223]
Improved method of purchasing household supplies	[225]
Operation of unconscious business co-operation	[226]
General advantages of specialization of household employments	[228]
Objections raised to the plan	[230]
These objections not valid	[231]
Illustrations of success of the plan	[233]
[CHAPTER XIV] Possible Remedies—Profit Sharing
Industrial disadvantages of domestic service	[235]
Industrial difficulties in other occupations still unsettled	[236]
Possible relief through profit sharing	[236]
Definition of profit sharing	[236]
History of profit sharing	[237]
Advantages of profit sharing in other occupations	[237]
Lessons to be learned from profit sharing	[240]
Domestic service wealth consuming rather than wealth producing	[240]
The wage system not satisfactory in the occupation	[241]
Application of the principle of profit sharing to the household	[242]
Advantages of the plan in the household	[244]
Its advantages in hotels, restaurants, and railroad service	[244]
Substitution of profit sharing for fees	[244]
Objections to profit sharing in the household	[245]
These objections do not hold	[246]
Experiments in profit sharing in the household	[248]
[CHAPTER XV] Possible Remedies—Education in Household Affairs
Lack of information one obstacle in the household	[251]
Difference between information and education	[251]
What is included in information	[251]
Difficulty of obtaining information in regard to the household	[252]
Advance in other occupations through publicity of all information gained	[252]
What is included in education	[252]
Information and education necessary in the household	[254]
Progress hindered through lack of these	[254]
Cause of inactivity in household affairs	[254]
Assumption that knowledge of the household comes by instinct	[254]
Assumption that household affairs concern only women	[256]
Belief that all women have genius for household affairs	[257]
Theory that household affairs are best learned at home	[258]
Tendencies in the opposite direction	[259]
Establishment of school of investigation	[259]
Necessity for investigation before progress can be made	[260]
[CHAPTER XVI] Conclusion
Summary of points considered	[263]
Failure to recognize industrial character of domestic service	[264]
Conservatism of women	[264]
Summary of difficulties	[265]
Explanation of difficulties	[265]
Responsibility of all employers	[266]
Results to be expected from investigation	[266]
Removal of social stigma	[266]
Simplification of manner of life	[267]
Household employments on a business basis	[268]
Profit sharing	[268]
Investigation of household affairs	[269]
Readjustment of work of both men and women	[270]
Difficulty of dealing with women as an economic factor	[270]
Advantages of their working for remuneration	[272]
Division of labor in the household	[272]
Reform possible only through use of existing means	[273]
General conclusion	[274]
[CHAPTER XVII] Domestic Service in Europe
Opinion held in America	[275]
Ideal service not found in Europe	[275]
Influences that affect the question	[276]
External conditions that affect the question	[277]
Architecture a factor in the problem	[277]
Difficulties of the European employer	[278]
Advantages of service in Europe	[280]
Baking and laundry done out of the house	[280]
Legal contracts in Germany	[281]
The German service book	[284]
Employment of men	[286]
Wages in domestic service in Europe	[288]
Supplementary fees and profits	[290]
Allowances	[292]
Insurance	[292]
Difficulty of determining exact wages	[293]
Character of the service	[294]
Other factors affecting the question	[295]
Social condition of the employee	[296]
In England	[297]
In France	[299]
In Italy	[299]
Benefactions for servants in Germany	[299]
Conclusion	[301]
Appendix I. Copy of schedules distributed	[305]
Appendix II. List of places from which replies to schedules were received	[314]
Appendix III. Circular sent out by the social science section of the Civic Club of Philadelphia	[315]
Bibliography	[317]
Index	[323]