The labour-force of women is utilised by capitalism on much the same grounds as that of children. Female labour is cheap, the customary wage for women being one-half to one-third of that for men. The reasons for this are as follows. On the average women are more subject than men to bodily disorders whereby their ability to work is interrupted. In many women, wage-labour is merely a subsidiary occupation. Such women are willing to accept lower pay, and thus depress the wages of other women doing the same classes of work. Moreover, they are unorganised, for the obvious reason that in the case of women much less often than in the case of men does wage-labour constitute their permanent life-work, and the centre of their life’s interest is to be found in their actual or expected family life. Women are dexterous and quiet workers, conscientious, punctual, change their dwelling-place less readily than men, and are willing to undertake the most disagreeable and difficult kinds of work (married women do this for the sake of their families). Many girls are compelled to work for absolute vital necessities. In the case of a married couple, the husband’s earnings may be so small that vital necessities can be supplied only when the wife also goes out to work. The most tragic feature of such cases is that the woman is usually forced to go out to work precisely at the time when, in consequence of illness, the large size of the family, &c., she is especially needed at home. _The Consequences of Child-Labour._--A moderate amount of occupation for children accustoms them to bodily and mental activity, cultivates in them a sense of diligence and economy, and safeguards them against idleness and other evil courses. Work affords an important educational influence, and one whose value must not be underestimated. A moderate amount of bodily work in addition to the mental work of school is not merely harmless, but is in most cases desirable. It is not wage-labour in and by itself which is harmful, but the conditions under which that labour is usually carried out. (This applies equally to the labour of women and of children.) The greed of employers, the deficient resisting powers of children, and the poverty of the children’s relatives, make child-labour dangerous in manifold ways for the bodily, mental, and moral health of the child. (_a_) Character: the work is monotonous, difficult, carried on in dusty, evil-smelling, damp places, very early in the morning or late at night. (_b_) Duration: many children work five to six or even eight to ten hours, in addition to their school work. (_c_) Age: even to-day, hundreds of children of six, seven, or eight go out to work for wages; in home-industries, children even of four or five are employed. (_d_) Other conditions: the tragical revelations of official inquiries display very clearly certain other disastrous results of child-labour.