Some witnesses report that girls who have no opportunity of sitting down suffer much pain during menstruation and get very fatigued, but the evidence on this point was not unanimous.
Evidence from the textile industry is not so satisfactory. As was pointed out when the provision of seats was under discussion, cotton and worsted factories are lamentably behind other industries in this respect, and as hours are uniformly 10 per day and the pressure of work generally very considerable, it is not surprising that menstrual disorders are reported more frequently than in non-textile trades. It must also be remembered that the large majority of textile operatives start work at 12 or 13 years of age, just at the onset of puberty, while in other industries 14 is the general school-leaving age.
Many girls find the long hours of continued standing very tiring during menstruation, and as these factors conduce to anaemia, failure of the menses and dysmenorrhoea are more common than in other industries.
Most witnesses laid stress on the need for seats and rest-rooms in textile factories as a means of preventing painful menstruation; in many mills girls are not even allowed to snatch a few minutes' rest by sitting on the waste-boxes or on straps slung between their looms, and they frequently experience difficulty in getting permission to go home when feeling unwell unless they can get a substitute. Two men overlookers drew attention to the advantage which results when the foremen and overlookers are married, as they are then more sympathetic about periodical lost-time and are more willing to allow girls to go home at the half-day.
But the doctors interviewed are unable to attribute any permanent menstrual disorders or resultant injuries to these causes, and they are inclined to believe that the active life of the mill is a help rather than a hindrance to the menstrual function.
Realisation of the Needs of Adolescents
Any realisation of the particular problems and needs of adolescents by attempts to fit work to their physical capacity is so rare that the few cases where such provisions are made stand out in marked contrast. In munition and other factories where Welfare Workers are in charge, efforts are generally made to limit overtime and night work to those over 18, but at the time the inquiry was made in Birmingham and Coventry girls over 16 were in most cases expected to take their turn at night work with the older workers, while in some factories, after the first few weeks' probationary period is over, old and young alike have to work on the alternate night and day shifts, although it is now generally acknowledged that night work is more detrimental for young than for adult workers. At one of the larger factories visited, girls under 16 always stop work at 6 P.M. after a 9¾-hour day, while those over 16 work another hour, and when overtime is being worked, another two hours. At another factory all the girls under 18 were engaged on light sedentary work for 42 hours per week, while the heavy work on presses and capstan lathes was done by girls and women over 18 for 53 hours. In some works the majority of the younger workers are on light work, such as "examining," and in others the foremen are willing to transfer girls from work they find specially fatiguing, on the recommendation of the Welfare Worker. This, however, is not general, and few foremen exercise care in the selection of girls for heavy processes. As one witness pointed out, girls are chosen for their bright and intelligent appearance, with little attention to physical capacity.
In the cotton industry the position is even worse. Girls entering the mill at 12 as half-timers or at 13 for full time are expected to conform in every way to factory life. Voluntary reduction of hours by employers for younger workers is completely unknown, and instead of suiting the work to the capacity of young workers, the girls have to adapt themselves to the requirements of their work. As soon as a girl has her own looms—at the present time weavers are on two looms at 13, and frequently on four at 14 or 15—the manager expects her to produce the average output every week, and the strain to do this is responsible for much deterioration in health. The competition between weavers is encouraged by overlookers and managers, and no effort is ever made to teach girls to conserve their energies.
In the worsted industry the majority of the younger workers are employed in the spinning rooms, first as doffers and then as spinners, which one witness describes as the hardest process in the industry. Few girls remain at spinning after they are 18, as the money earned here seldom exceeds 18s. per week, but it is during the critical years of adolescence that they are engaged on this exceedingly fatiguing work, and no effort is made to reduce the burden of their employment.
In the clothing trade of Hebden Bridge the Trade Union officials report that the younger workers are not subjected to heavy pressure of work, and are able to take their ease at the workshops if they so desire, the peculiar circumstances of the trade here preventing any attempt to speed them up by threat of dismissal. In one or two factories learners and young operatives work in a separate room in charge of women overlookers, and in most cases these supervisors are careful about the health of their charges and prevent them working at an excessive pace.