Maid of All Work's Life

Maid of All Work's Life

Maid of all work’s life was very different to the life of a middle

class women. They were responsible for looking after the home and

family and were paid to work. They were usually younger, had no

husband, were widowed, unmarried or their husbands has left them,

forcing them to work.

Some also choose to work because their husbands’ wages were too low to

support their family.

Much of their work was poorly paid! The only well paid jobs were in

factories or offices.

The homes of the very rich usually had a large number of servants.

Less well-off middle class households had a maid of all work, or

sometimes a maid of all work and cook!

Maid of all work did all the housework. It was an extremely hard life

and it is not surprising that many women preferred factory work to

this (domestic service work).

The maid of all work had virtually no social life, as they were always

“on - call” at all hours of the day and the evening.

Often their employers could only afford a servant which meant that

their wages and accommodation were low and poor.

Servants and maids were often treated badly and some were even

physically beaten.

They worked from late nights and early hours, had continual fatigue

and hurry, and they were even more anxiety about the future from the

smallness of their wages.

Maids all of work worked until they dropped!

Their prospect was no other than to “Do Housework!”. They were

constantly tired, not only mentally but physically too!

They worked long hard hours, usually from 5am in the morning, after

going to bed late at approximately a few hours after midnight.

Many preferred the jobs of:

A board school mistress, post office clerk, typewriteress, shop – girl

or working in a factory.