n night shifts--they met their husbands
going to work on the day shift. We followed one woman home. Tired from
the hours in the mill, she nevertheless had to set to work immediately
to get the children fed and off to school. Then she had her house to set
to rights, washing and ironing to do, and dinner to get for the children
and supper to be left for the man when he came back from work as she
went on. In the afternoon she snatched a few hours of sleep, and the
children who were not in school played unwatched and uncared for. She
knew that her home life was not satisfactory, and she did not work long
hours in the mill because she wanted to, but simply because there was
not enough food to go around unless her earnings supplemented those of
her husband.

There are women, however, who work for the love of working. They may
love their homes and their children and still crave the satisfaction of
doing a job themselves. Sometimes it is just because they love the kind
of work they do; sometimes it is because they must have the independence
which being able to earn money gives them.

I know one young woman who has managed to develop for herself work which
she can do in her own home. She feels that her children need her at
home, and yet she was very unhappy without some outside interests. She
had a musical talent which she shared with her husband, and together
they developed a unique project which involved research and execution,
giving them a joint interest and allowing her to earn a little extra
money.

Very occasionally it is possible for a man and a woman to work together
and to have an even closer tie than they would have if the woman
remained the man's helpmate only in the home.

The happiness of husband and wife is often wrecked by too little
dependence on each other, for to be happy two people must need each
other in everything they do. I could tell you many stories of young
people who have drifted apart partly because the man was too absorbed by
his business and the woman did not have enough to do. One story I
remember, however, is a little different, because it was a case in which
both the man and his wife had interests which were so divergent that
neither of them took any pleasure in being with the other or in hearing
about what the other was doing. The man wanted to lead a rather quiet
life, and the woman was young and pretty, active-minded, physically
energetic. She wanted to do something which would bring in mo