540 



TRANSACTIONS OP SECTION F. 



Where women have been employed to drive heavy motor or horse vans they 

 have not proved so successful as on lighter cars, and employers are averse to 

 keeping them. They rarely have the necessary mechanical knov^rledge to attend 

 to slight readjustments in the van, and the work is generally too heavy. As 

 drivers of lighter cars, however, they have proved very successful and their 

 employment as chauffeuses is likely to increase. Many doctors have taken 

 women to drive their cars. As drivers of taxis on the streets, however, their 

 employment has many objectionable features. 



Clehical Work. 

 Commercial Clerics* — Summary of Distribution by Industry or Service, Census 1911. 



Industry or Service 



Professional Occupations 



Domestic Offices or Services 



Commercial Occupations 



Conveyance of Men, Goods, and Messages 



Fishing .... 



Mines and Quarries 



Metals, Machines . 



Precious Metals, Jewellery 



Building, &c. . 



Wood, Furniture, &c. . 



Brick, Cement, Pottery, and 



Chemicals, Oil, Grease, &c. 



Skins, Leather, Hair, &c. 



Paper, Prints, Books, &c. 



Textile Fabrics 



Dress .... 



Food, Tobacco, Drink . 



Gas, Water, and Electrical Supplj- 



Other General and Undefined 



Industry or Service not stated . 



Glass 



Totals 



Males 



3,521 



471 



56,150 



14,223 



244 



17,793 



62,564 



4,449 



9,764 



9,456 



4,712 



17,242 



3,101 



18,467 



30,406 



9,864 



48,387 



6,312 



12,145 



40,458 



319,253 



Females 



1,319 

 2,013 

 7,584 

 865 

 10 

 1,167 



12,436 

 4,215 

 1,408 

 2,617 

 876 

 5,116 

 1,163 

 8,652 



11,708 

 6,928 



21,052 



166 



5,383 



22,197 



94,678 



* Including various other commercial occupations. 



In this group the Census figures for 1901 and 1911 show a total increase of 

 313 per cent. — 17'1 per cent, increase of males and 109'8 per cent, increase of 

 females. Clerical work is, indeed, one of those occupations which offer a con- 

 siderable and widening sphere for the employment of women, and since the 

 War there has been a very large addition to women clerical workers, many of 

 whom will undoubtedly be retained. In industry proper, the first displacement 

 of men by women has taken place almost without exception in the office staffs. 

 In the past there has been a distinct tendency to give women the less responsible 

 work, but rnore experience has shown employers that, with training, the 

 peculiar qualities which women possess make them in many cases equal to or 

 superior to men. In spite of this, in those occupations where the War has 

 been the occasion for the first entry of women some adjustment has been made 

 in the work in order to reduce the responsibilities of the women to a minimum; 

 this is notably the case in banks. Where women have been taken on as book- 

 keepers the handling of heavy ledgers has sometimes proved a bar to their 

 further employment. 



Large numbers of women have been taken on since the War in Government 

 departments, and by municipal and other local authorities. Generally speaking, 

 women are given little opportunity of advancement or training, and in many 



