ering
the many responsible positions waiting to be filled in private families,
nothing could be more desirable than to instil into one's employees the
ambition to rise. An employee who has passed through all the different
branches of domestic science, from the lowest to the highest in one
family, must be far better fitted to occupy the highest position in
that family than one who applies for the position with the training and
experience gained only in other families where the mode of living may be
very different. Since there is no chance of promotion and in consequence
of receiving better pay, the domestic employee is often tempted to seek
higher wages elsewhere, and thus the desire "to make a change," so
disastrous to the peace of mind of the housewife, is engendered in her
employees.

In domestic labor the hours of work are longer than in any other form of
employment, for they are unlimited. Moreover, instead of having one day
out of seven as a day of rest, only half a day is granted beginning
usually about three o'clock in the afternoon, or even later. And legal
holidays bring no relief, for they are practically unknown to the
household employee. The only way women engaged in housework in private
families can obtain a real holiday is by being suddenly called away
"to take care of a sick aunt." There is an old saying containing certain
words of wisdom about "all work and no play" that perhaps explains the
dullness so often met with in domestic help.

The hardest thing to submit to, however, from the point of view of the
woman employed in housework, is the lack of freedom outside of working
hours. This prevents her from taking part in her former social life.
She is not allowed to go out even for an hour or two every day to see
her relatives and friends. To ask them to visit her in her employer's
kitchen is not a very agreeable alternative either to herself or her
employer, and even then she is obliged to be on duty, for she must still
wear her uniform and hold herself in readiness to answer the bell until
the family for whom she works retires for the night.

With such restrictions it is not surprising that the majority of
women feel that they are losing "caste" if they accept positions in
private families. There are two more causes to which this feeling of the
loss of caste may be attributed. One is the habit of calling household
employees by their first name or by their surname without the prefix of
"Miss"; the oth