Alternatively, we suggest—
(1) That the Government should inaugurate and recruit a National Domestic Service Corps of young women agreeable to enter the domestic-service profession;
(2) That the recruits be guaranteed continuity of employment and remuneration as long as their service was satisfactory;
(3) That they undergo whatever training is considered desirable at technical school or otherwise;
(4) That they agree to perform service wherever required by the Domestic Service Department, which Department shall ensure that the living and working conditions are up to standard;
(5) That the service be made available to all women, and that first consideration be given to expectant mothers, mothers convalescent after childbirth, and mothers who have young families, and that the service be either free or charged for according to the circumstances of each case.
Again, realizing the fact that many of the considerations involved in this question of domestic help are beyond the scope of this Committee, we recommend that a full investigation should be made of the whole matter.
Obstetrical Aid.—As for obstetrical help, we believe that the position is in the main adequate and good.
As far as the larger centres are concerned, no woman, however poor her circumstances, need lack complete ante-natal supervision, for which no charge is made, and proper confinement care, at most moderate cost, in the St. Helens Hospitals or the various maternity annexes of the public hospitals; where the mother is actually indigent, free provision is available through the Hospital Boards or St. Helens Hospitals.
The country mother in certain districts is, however, much less well placed, although the Health Department through its district nurses, maternity annexes, and subsidized small country hospitals is trying to meet the need.