| Description | Elizabeth Taylor Cadbury wrote this address for the Annual Conference of the National Union of Women Workers held in Manchester in 1907. Describing Manchester Taylor Cadbury writes 'we are almost overwhelmed by the evidence of enormous enterprise & keen competition, & by the continuous stream of hurrying masses of people.'
Taylor Cadbury's address provides an overview of developments affecting women which had occurred since the Union's 1906 conference. Referring to the Qualification of Women (County and Borough Councils) Act of 1907, Taylor Cadbury remarks that 'the Government has restored women to their proper place in local government'. She also comments that the government had begun work towards 'raising the standard of physical life for our children.'
The theme of the Union's 1907 conference was the economic position of women, focussing on the lives of women who were involved in paid employment. Taylor Cadbury considers the work of female teachers and school inspectors, home workers, factory workers and children forced on to the labour market through poverty. She defines teaching as 'one of the most honourable & important of professions' but expresses concern about the salaries paid to female secondary school teachers. Taylor Cadbury also refers to the low salaries received by female sanitary inspectors and health visitors and provides a harrowing account of women employed in the sweated industries, revealing her anger and contempt for 'the owners of slum property'. She expresses concern about children being forced into employment to supplement their parents' poor wages. Taylor Cadbury also remarks on the debilitating influence of industrial urbanisation on child health, promoting the benefits of living in a healthy rural environment with reference to 'garden villages'.
Taylor Cadbury suggests measures to improve the circumstances of life through a revived emphasis on God's teachings of brotherly love amongst humanity and emphasises the importance of providing for the welfare of employees. She draws on the employee welfare initiatives implemented at the Cadbury chocolate factory in Bournville to advocate changes in the ventilation of factory rooms, reduced working hours and the provision of dining rooms and lavatories equipped with hot pipes for drying wet clothes. She also refers to the provision of gardens and recreation grounds, educational opportunities, bathing facilities and physical training to 'improve the physique' of female Cadbury employees.
The final part of Taylor Cadbury's address examines issues surrounding the provision of working class housing. She considers 'the houses & courts built for the industrious, self-respecting, working men & women' suggesting that these 'dreary, unhealthy, crowded quarters' were 'a menace to the health & morals' of a large proportion of the population. Taylor Cadbury expresses her concern that whilst slum areas were being cleared in cities they continued to appear in the suburbs, appealing to Town and District Councils to provide improved housing through municipal enterprise. |