(_b_) The second category comprises those wives and mothers who extend their social, and even their public, activities beyond the hour at which they should be home to welcome their children on return from school. Happy and desirable is the home where the children burst in expectantly or full of news concerning something that interests them!
(_c_) The third category of absentee mothers consists of those who give their children money to go to the pictures, while they themselves go to golf, or to a football match, or pay a visit to friends.
When dealing with this kind of thoughtlessness it should be pointed out that fathers are not free from blame. As breadwinners they have necessarily to be away from home throughout the day, but they have opportunities in the evenings and at week-ends to identify themselves with their children's interests and activities.
A satisfactory home life can be attained only by the co-operation of both parents in the upbringing of their children.
In striking contrast to the contention that the cost of living is so high that mothers are obliged to work is the complaint that many young people have too much money. This applies both to school children and to boys and girls who have commenced working.
It cannot be denied that many children have too much spending money, and that others show too great a desire to have it.
It is also a well-known fact that many children are not content to do normal tasks at home when they are able to obtain good pocket money by doing odd jobs for others.
The starting wage for adolescents is often somewhat high, and thrift is not practised by them. A few years hence, these adolescents may be in the ranks of those who complain of their inability to obtain homes. This has prompted people to urge that a compulsory savings scheme should be instituted to guard young people from the evils of misspent leisure and to develop in them that sense of reliability which is so often lacking.
There is certainly something wrong when mothers work to increase the income of the household while youths, who may be paid nearly as much as parents with family responsibilities, spend their earnings on expensive luxuries.
If juvenile delinquents were admitted to probation instead of being admonished or placed under supervision, it might be practicable for the Courts, in suitable cases to make it a condition of probation that the offender paid a portion of his earnings into a compulsory savings scheme. Even if such a procedure could be devised it would apply only to those who have become delinquents when the major consideration should be given to the problem of the pre-delinquents. This is a matter to be considered further in Section XVI of this report.