rably paid work is that in trades where
most of the work is done by out-door workers. Such is the lowest stratum
of the "vest and trousers" trade, where English women undertake work
rejected by the lowest class of Jew workers, and the shirt-making trade,
which, in the opinion of the Lords' Committee, "does not appear to
afford subsistence to those who have no other employment." In these and
other trades of the lowest order, 6s. a week is a tolerably common wage
for a work-woman of fair skill to net after a hard week's work, and
there are many individual cases where the wage falls far below this
mark.

It is true that the work for which the lowest wages are paid is often
that of learners, or of inefficient work-women; but while this may be a
satisfactory "economic" explanation, it does not mitigate the terrible
significance of the fact that many women are dependent on such work as
their sole opportunity of earning an honest livelihood.

Sec. 3. Irregularity of Employment.--As the wages of women are lower than
those of men, so they suffer more from irregularity of employment. There
are two special reasons for this.

[Greek: a]. Many trades in which women are employed, depend largely upon
the element of Season. The confectionery trade, one of the most
important, employs twice as many hands in the busy season as in the
slack season. Match-makers have a slack season, in which many of them
sell flowers, or go "hopping." Laundry work is largely "season" work.
Fur-sewing is perhaps the worst example of the terrible effect of
irregular work taken with low wages. "For several months in the year the
fur-sewers have either no work, or earn about 3s. or 4s. a week, and
many of these work in overcrowded insanitary workshops in the season.
Fur-sewing is the worst paid industry in the East End, with absolutely
no exceptions."[35]

[Greek: b]. Fluctuations in fashion affect many women's trades; in
particular, the "ornamental" clothing trades, e.g. furs, feathers,
trimmings, etc.

Employers in these slack times prefer generally to keep on the better
hands (on lower wages), and to dismiss the inferior hands.

These "natural" fluctuations, added to ordinary trade irregularities,
favour the employment of "outdoor" workers in sweaters' dens or at home,
and require in these trades, as conducted at present, the existence of
an enormous margin of "casual" workers. These two chief factors in the
"sweating" problem, sub-contract and irregu