It is a general rule throughout the Service that a woman must retire on marriage; as already mentioned, a compensating-bonus is granted in respect of the loss of pension thereby sustained. A married woman has no definite claim to return to her employment, should she again desire to earn her own living, and only if widowed is she allowed, in certain circumstances, to return to the Service. Should any other misfortune overtake her, or should she for any other reason wish to become economically independent, she is not allowed to earn her living by means of her own profession of Civil Servant. This rule of the Service undoubtedly acts as a deterrent to marriage for, according to the statistics published, only about 3 per cent. of the whole female staff annually leave to be married. It need hardly be pointed out that in the present state of the law of the land, when no portion of a husband's income is secured to his wife as a right, a woman will not lightly throw up her means of livelihood with no prospect of returning to it should she so desire, in order to take her chance of happiness with a man whom the law permits to hold her in subjection body and soul. There is another aspect of the question: Women Civil Servants have to pass a strict medical examination before entering the Service; they have to furnish satisfactory evidence of respectability, of the health of their antecedents, and of a certain standard of education. They are therefore what is known as "selected lives": if these women are forced to remain celibate as a condition of their employment, it is a distinct loss to the nation of a specially selected class of potential mothers. In these days, when the declining birthrate is causing some concern to our statesmen, it would surely be worth their while to consider how far they are themselves contributing to the condition of affairs which they deplore, by maintaining this rigid regulation for the sake of a worn-out sentiment. The compulsory resignation on marriage is a definite wrong both to the women concerned and to the community at large, for women of selected health and intellect are discouraged from marriage by this regulation. Pending the final settlement of this question which is likely to be a very controversial one, the difficulty might be met by a modification of the existing rule allowing married women who have been Civil Servants to return to their employment should they again desire to earn their own living by means of the only profession for which they have qualified.
Women in the Civil Service are in a peculiar position with regard to their rights as citizens. They are handicapped by all the rules governing the political action of men, while they are without the means of maintaining their status as wage-earners. Although they are prohibited by reason of their sex, from taking part in any Parliamentary election as voters, they are nevertheless bound by the rules of the Civil Service which were drawn up when Civil Servants were first enfranchised. These rules state that "now officers have been relieved of the electoral disabilities to which they were formerly subject, they are eligible to be placed on the Parliamentary Register and to vote at a parliamentary election. Nevertheless, it is expected of them as Public Servants that they should maintain a certain reserve in political matters and not put themselves forward on one side or the other." This rule has been interpreted by the Department to mean that no Woman Civil Servant may take an active part in any Suffrage Society which interferes in party politics. Thus women are forced to accept a subservient position, and are also prevented from taking direct steps to raise their status. The principle of equal pay for equal work, if conceded without equal opportunities, is liable to be evaded, and must be safeguarded by statute, and there is no guarantee that any improvement gained will be permanent until women have political power to enforce their demands, for the masculine point of view dominates every Government Department and colours all administration.
Moreover, it should be borne in mind that women are handicapped by being, to a large degree, dependent on reports of their work emanating from male Heads of Departments who are in many cases prejudiced, sometimes unconsciously, against their employment. Heads of Departments do not as a rule take the same amount of personal interest as a private employer in the women under their control, and so these are frequently the victims of caprice. If the person in authority at a particular office happens to object to employing women, he actually opposes their appointment in that office, and deprives them of the chance of displaying their ability. Whilst they have more than their fair share of routine work, and are excluded from practically all the higher posts, they are on that account actually accused of possessing less initiative, less administrative ability, and less power of acting in sudden emergencies than men. It is indeed a vicious circle. They are prevented by their sex from acquiring these qualities in the ordinary course of their duties and excluded from the examinations for admission to those posts in which such qualities would be of use. It is then seriously urged by responsible officials of the Civil Service as an argument against their admittance to superior appointments, that they are lacking in the necessary qualifications.
Such unreasonable and unfair criticism creates bitterness in the minds of the women, who find themselves, in a large number of cases, saddled with domestic responsibilities as great or greater than those of the officials who would seek to drive them back into the home, and who endeavour to prevent them from rising to any decent positions in their profession. An encouraging sign, however, is the enlightened attitude shown by some of the members of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service; the pertinent enquiries made of the Heads of Departments regarding the position of women tend to show that the question will, at least, receive consideration, and that the evidence placed before the Commission by the women's organisations will not be without its effect on the administration of the Civil Service in the future.
The recognition by the male staff in the Civil Service of the importance of the principle of equal pay for equal work is a sign of advance which should be welcomed by all who have the cause of women at heart. This increased enlightenment was evidenced at the Annual Conference of the Civil Service Federation held at the Guildhall on the 11th October last. Delegates were present, representing approximately 100,000 Civil Servants, and the following resolution, which is important enough to be quoted in full, was passed by a majority of 31 votes to 10.
"That this Council expresses its conviction that equal pay for equal work is the only solution of the problem of male and female labour in the Civil Service, and considers that the establishment of this principle is the only alternative to the competition of cheapness which is the result of the existing double standard of payment, and is affecting so injuriously the conditions of service of both men and women. It therefore pledges itself to endeavour to obtain the abolition of the sex disability."
Women in the Service are realising more and more that their strength lies in effective combination. A new organisation has recently sprung into being as a result of the introduction of Women Clerks into the Board of Trade and the National Health Insurance Service, the Federation of Civil Service Women Clerks having been formed for the purpose of working for the larger interests of the women in the various clerical departments of the Civil Service. The general policy of the Federation will be to afford a ready means of communication between various sections of the Service for the purpose of taking joint action when necessary in the interests of the whole body of Women Clerks, and to enable them to concentrate more effectively on the larger issues connected with the claim for equality of opportunity for women with men in the Civil Service.
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This article will not be complete without some reference to the
Report of the Holt Committee which is engaging the attention of the
Postmaster General at the present time.
When the Report was published in August last, it was generally agreed that the women had been badly treated. The demand for equality of remuneration with the male staff which was put forward by the Women Telegraphists and the Women Clerks has been completely ignored. The Women Sorters are awarded an increase of 2s. a week in the maximum salary, and, as a set off, it is proposed that they shall undertake a larger portion of the minor clerical duties now performed by Women Clerks. The immediate supervision of the Women Sorters is to be met by the establishment of the Senior Sorters (who at present receive a supervising allowance of 3s. a week) as a regular supervising class with a fixed scale of salary, viz., 32s. per week rising by 1s. 6d. to 38s. The ultimate supervision remains in the hands of the Women Clerks. The Committee recommended the abandonment of the tentative new grade of Female Assistant Clerks on the ground that there is no need for a class intermediate between the Women Sorters and the Girl and Women Clerks. A further recommendation, causing widespread dissatisfaction, is that the hours of duty shall be increased by three and a half hours per week. The eight-hour day for manipulative work and the seven-hour day for clerical work has hitherto been the standard working day in the Post Office, and the suggested increase with no compensating rise in salary apart from an immediate increment, not to be carried above the maximum of the scale, has been rejected by all classes with indignation.[3] The Women Telegraphists get nothing, the Women Telephonists nothing, the Women Clerks of the First and Second classes, £10 and £5 increase in the maximum salary respectively. The Women Counter Clerks and Telegraphists in the provinces get nothing, although the men of the same class get 2s. a week increase in the maximum.