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3.1 Getting a Living

3.1 1 Proportion of Housewives in the sample who were working

There were 18% housewives working in the sample, of these 87% went out to work every day, 7% went occasionally and worked at home. (There were 3% no answers).

The further analysis which follows is limited to housewives who went out to work.

3.1 2 Distances travelled to work

The measured distances from home to work place have been grouped into short distances up to 600 yards (about ¼ mile) and 600 to 1100 yards, (about ½ mile) medium distances 1100 yards to 1¼ miles (about 1 mile) and 1¼ to 3½ miles, and long distances over 3½ miles.

Most working housewives work near their homes. 29% within 600 yards, a further 17% within 600 to 1100 yards, some 16% travel between 1100 yards to 1¼ miles, 22% over 1¼ to 3½ miles and 8% over 3½ miles.

Figure 1

It will be seen that there is a wide range of distances that are travelled by housewives to their work.

3.1 3 Time taken to get to work

The time taken to get to work had a much shorter range than that of distance, pointing to a fact that will be shown again in other parts of this report that time not distance is the most important factor.

Nearly half (47%) of all working housewives spent up to 12 minutes travelling to work (single journey), 25% spent from 13 to 22 minutes, 12% 23 to 40 minutes and 6% over 40 minutes.

Figure 2

3.1 4 Method of Travelling to work

About one-third of working housewives walked to work, the rest used passenger transport services. (A few, 8%, walked some part of the way - over ¼ mile).

3.1 5 Cost of travelling to work

About half of working housewives had travelling expenses. Most of them spent between 1/- and 4/- per week.

Figure 3

It is seen from these diagrams that there is a tendency to control the use of time and energy by the purchase of transport.

3.1 6 The Relation of the home to the work place

Working housewives were asked whether their house was conveniently situated in relation to their work - convenience here is a complex of distance and transport facilities - 79% said their house was conveniently situated and 14% said that it was not. (There were 7% who did not answer). They were then asked how important they considered it was that their home should be conveniently situated for their work. The answers were grouped into very important, somewhat important and not important.

58% of housewives thought it very important to have their work convenient to their home, 16% thought it somewhat important and 15% thought it not important. (11% gave no answer).

3.1 7 The Effect of Town Size

In this analysis towns have been placed into two groups - large towns - Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee and medium and small towns - Paisley, Falkirk, Kilmarnock, Hamilton, Inverness, Hawick and Buckhaven Methil.

This analysis shows how distances are longer in the large towns, that time is about equal and cost much higher in the large towns, a further example of the stability of the time factor in travelling to work.

The difference is also reflected in the proportion who walk or cycle to work rather than use passenger transport services. There are 39% in the large towns and 60% in the medium and small towns. The three abstract tables below show in detail distance travelled, time taken and cost.

3.1 8 Effect of Zone in which the housewives lived

Housewives have been grouped according to whether they live in the inner zone, middle zone or outer zone of the four great Cities. The distances travelled to work show a very marked difference, whereas only 46% travelled over 1100 yards to work in the inner zone, 58% travelled more than 1100 yards in the middle zone and 77% more than 110 yards in the outer zone. The details are given in the abstract table below:-

3.1 9 The Influence of Age

Age is a factor of some importance in determining how far the housewife is willing to travel to work. Dividing our distances into two main groups - up to 1100 yards and over 1100 yards very significant differences are shown between the age groups. The proportions who travel under 1100 yards are as follows:-

These differences are reflected in time taken, the method of travel and the cost. The whole situation is summarised below:-

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3.2 2 Running a Home - Shopping

3.2 1 The purchase of food, clothing and other necessities occupies a considerable amount of the housewives' time. In order to study this activity a number of questions on similar lines to those asked about visits to work places were asked about shopping.

Shopping centres are of two main kinds, local - usually a small group of shops including grocers, greengrocers, haberdashery, ironmongery, etc., and main, shopping centre - shops in the centre of a town or grouped in a locality including drapers and outfitters, furnishers and other large stores catering for the less frequent needs of the household.

In the following analysis visits to the main and local shopping centres are compared.

3.2 2 Visits to Shopping Centres

90% of the housewives interviewed visited local shopping centres, 10% went seldom or never, 79% visited the main shopping centre and 21% seldom or never. Within these main groups there were considerable differences in the frequency of visiting shopping centres.

The most impressive fact is that 59% of all housewives visit local shopping centres every day and a further 23% twice or three times a week; 82% in all. To this figure should perhaps be added some of those who visited the main shopping centre every day or twice or three times a week, since in many of those cases the main shopping centre is also the local shopping centre. There were 14% of housewives who visited the main shopping centre daily and 24% who visited the main shopping centre two or three times a week. In effect most of the 90% of housewives who did shopping shopped every day. The position is illustrated below:-

Figure 4 .

This analysis includes all housewives whether or not they visit shopping centres. The further analyses are confined to those housewives who visit shopping centres, thus 10% in the case of local shopping centres and 21% in the case of main shopping centres are neglected in the further analyses.

3.2 3 Distance to Shopping Centres

There is a considerable difference in the distance travelled to the two types of shopping centres; whereas 80% of housewives travelled less than 600 yards to their local shopping centre, only 19% have their main shopping centre within this distance and whereas scarcely any travel more than 1¼ miles to the local shopping centre some 30% travel more than 1¼ miles to their main shopping centre.

Figure 5

3.2 4 Time Taken to Visit Shopping Centres

Just as there is a considerable difference in the distance travelled to the two types of shopping centre, there is a similar difference in time, modified however, by the fact that a large proportion of housewives use passenger transport services to visit the main shopping centre.

90% of housewives visit the local shopping centre and of the remaining 6% who answered this question almost all of them took less than 22 minutes. Visit to the main shopping centre took longer however. 46% took up to 12 minutes, 36% from 13 to 22 minutes and a further 11% undertook journeys longer than this. Most, however were less than 40 minutes.

Figure 6

3.2 5 Method of Travelling

The differences in distance between the two shopping centres is reflected in the method of travelling; whereas 91% of housewives walk or cycle to do their local shopping, only 43% walk to do their main shopping. The rest in each case use some form of passenger transport.

3.2 6 Cost of Travelling for Shopping

2% of housewives spend up to 1/- in a week and 1% over 1/- to 4/- in a week in travelling to the local shopping centre.

The situation in relation to the main shopping centre is, however, different reflecting the greater distance to be travelled. In this case 35% spend up to and including 1/- and 4% between 1/- and 4/-. Thus although a greater proportion have to spend money in transport for this type of shopping, the amount spent is relatively less because of the less frequent number of their visits.

3.2 7 The Relation of the Home to the Shopping Centres

Convenience to a shopping centre is not a simple concept and it differs for each type of shopping centre. Thus a local shopping centre will be convenient if it is say within 1100 yards, whilst a main shopping centre may be regarded as convenient even when it is much further away. The availability of transport services is also important in this respect.

92% of housewives considered that their local shopping centre was conveniently situated to their homes, only 5% thought it was not so situated.

The attitude to the main shopping centre was not very different; 81% considered the main shopping centre convenient to their home and considered that it was not.

Although these attitudes are very similar housewives’ opinions about the importance of having the two shopping centres convenient to their home were quite different. Some 71% of housewives thought it very important to have the local shopping centre convenient to their home 14% considered it somewhat important, and 8% thought it not important. On the other hand the proportion thinking it very important to have the main shopping centre convenient to their home was only 42%, 25% thought it somewhat important and 23% thought it not important.

3.2 8 The Effect of Town Size

3.2 8 1 Local Shopping Centre

Only small differences between large towns, medium and small towns are shown in the case of the local shopping centre. The most important difference which emerges is that the housewives in large towns go to the local shopping centre more often than those in medium and small towns. The proportions are given below:-

3. 8 2 Main Shopping Centres

Difference between large towns, medium towns and in some cases small towns showed in the analysis how often the main shopping centre was visited, The distance travelled, the time taken, the means of transport and the cost of shopping journeys.

3.2 8 2 1 How Often Visited

The main conclusion of the detailed analysis of how often the main shopping centre was visited is that the number of times is in inverse proportion to the size of the town. Thus only 3% of housewives visiting the main shopping centre in Glasgow went every day, compared with 30% in medium towns and 28% in small towns. Conversely, whereas in Glasgow 44% visited the main shopping centre occasionally in medium towns, the proportion was 10% and in small towns 6%. This is a result of the fact that in the smaller places the main and local shopping centres are the same. Details are given below:-

3.2 8 2 2 Distance Travelled to Main Shopping Centre

The analysis of the distance travelled shows a close relation to the number of visits made. Thus the main shopping centre is most often visited in small towns and least often in large towns. The position is summarised below:-

3.2 8 2 3 Time Taken in Travelling to Main Shopping Centre

The time taken shows the same general tendency as that, shown in the distance table, that is to say in the smaller towns there is a larger proportion taking a short time to visit their main shopping centre. The position however, is

considerably modified by the fact that in the larger towns a greater proportion use passenger transport services. This is analysed is detail below:-

3.2 8 2 4 Method of Travelling to Main Shopping Centre

The use of passenger transport services is correlated fairly closely with the size of town. It is thus highest in Glasgow and lowest in the medium and small towns. The position is given below:-

3.2.9 The Effect of Zone

3.2 9 1 Local Shopping Centre

There was no very great difference in the effect of zone with the use of the local shopping centre. The outer zones appear to be least well provided and a proportion of housewives, in no case more than 10%, in the outer zones had to travel to their local shopping centre by means of passenger transport service.

3.2 9 2 Main Shopping Centre

3.2 9 2 1 How Often Visited

In this analysis the inner, middle and outer zones of the four great cities have been grouped together and the results analysed. It shows that the number of times the main shopping centre is visited is greater in the inner zone and least in the outer zone. The position is summarised below.-

3.2 9 2 2 Distance Travelled to Main Shopping Centre

As might be expected the distance travelled to the main Shopping Centre shows sharp differences between the zones. In the outer zone, for example, no less than 80% travelled over 1¼ miles.

3.2 9 2 3 Time Taken to Travel to Main Shopping Centre

Housewives living in the inner zone spend much less time travelling than those living in the outer zone, although the difference in time is not proportional to the distance because of the use of passenger transport services,

3.2 9 2 4 Method of Travelling to Main Shopping Centre

Housewives in the outer zone are almost entirely dependent on passenger transport services for their visits to the main shopping centre, whereas only half of those in the inner zone are so dependent.

3.2 9 2 5 Cost of Travelling to Main Shopping Centre

Corresponding to this use of the Passenger Transport Services it will be seen that the housewives in the outer zone spend much more on travelling to the main shopping centre than those in the inner zone.

3.2 9 2 6 Relation of the House to the Main Shopping Centre

There is a considerable difference between the housewives' opinions about the convenience of the main shopping centre to their home in the different zones. Whereas 91% of those living in the inner zone considered their house conveniently situated to the main shopping centre, 85% of those in the middle zone have this opinion and only 55% in the outer zone.

There are similar differences in the proportions who think it important to have their home near to the main shopping centre, but these differences are small.

3.2 10 The Effect of Age

3.2 10 1 Local Shopping Centre

Age has very little effect on the use made by housewives of the local shopping centre, the main difference being that the oldest age group visit the local shopping centre slightly less often and it has a larger proportion who do not visit the shopping centre at all.

3.2 10 2 Main Shopping Centre

The differences between the age groups are similar to those in the case of the local shopping centre, the older groups visiting it less often and there being a higher proportion in this group who do not go at all.

3.2 11 Comparison of Housewives with and without Children

11 1 Local Shopping Centre

Housewives with children visit the local shopping centre rather more often than housewives without children and the proportion of housewives without children who go seldom or never to the local shopping centre is larger.

3.2 11 2 Main Shopping Centre

Differences in the frequency of visits to the main shopping centre follow similar lines to those to the local shopping centre. Housewives with children visit the main shopping centre more often than those without and have a higher proportion visiting the main shopping centre.

These differences are in part due to the fact that the housewives without children are older and in part to the fact that housewives with children have more needs.

3.3 Care of Children

3.3 1 Survey studied three main aspects of this problem; visits to clinics, visits to primary and secondary schools and visits to children’s playgrounds. These subjects have been analysed for the children in the same way as the other activities of the housewife. In the case of the younger children, they are of course, usually accompanied by the mother or other guardian.

3.3 2 Visits to Clinic

9% of the housewives in the sample paid visits to a clinic. About 35% of this number visit the clinic once a week or more often and 56% occasionally. 9% did not specify the frequency of their visits.

Two-thirds of the housewives visiting clinics had a journey of less than 1100 yards.

75% of the housewives using the clinic say that it is conveniently situated to their home and an equal proportion consider it somewhat or very important to have the clinic convenient to them.

14% of the mothers of children visited the clinic and 2% of the housewives without children. Of the housewives with children almost all of them were in the 19 to 35 age group.

3.3 3 The Primary School

31% of the housewives in the sample had children attending a Primary school or department, these were 59% of housewives with children.

An analysis of the distance travelled by children to school showed that 21 61% travelled up to 600 yards, 23% between 600 and 1100 yards, 8% 1100 yards to 1¼ miles and 3% more than this, did not specify the distance or the school was not identifiable.

Three-quarters of the children had their school within 12 minutes of the house and all of them within 40 minutes of the house.

Only 7% of children were dependent on Passenger Transport Services to travel to school.

84% of housewives consider the primary school conveniently situated to their home and a similar proportion considered it somewhat or very important to have the school near their home.

3.3 4 Secondary School

Several differences emerge between the analysis of the secondary school and the primary school, reflecting in the main the difference in the age of the two classes of pupil and the fact that there are fewer secondary than primary schools. 12% of the housewives in the sample had children who attended secondary schools. They were 22% of housewives with children.

Whereas 84% of primary school children travel less than 1100 yards to school, only 42% of primary school children have journeys as short as this, the rest travelling between 1100 yards and 3½ miles.

Only 42% of secondary school children have a 12 minute journey to school, compared with 76% of primary school children.

These facts are reflected in the rather important difference in the cost of travel to school. 34% of secondary school children have to spend money in travelling to school, compared with 6% of primary school children.

3.3 5 Children’s Playgrounds

Visits to children’s playgrounds are not exactly comparable with some of the other analyses that have been made because in many districts they are not available. In many cases in the smaller towns the alternative of the open country exists as it does in the case of some houses in the outskirts of large cities. As it was not possible to take account of these differences, the result that 32% of women with children made use of children’s playgrounds should not be taken as necessarily indicating the true position as regards the willingness of housewives with children to make use of these facilities.

Most of the children (62%) who visit children’s playgrounds travel less than 600 yards to them. There were, however, a further 31% who travelled distances further than this, some even more than a 1¼ miles. Almost all these journeys were made on foot.

Some 13% of those who used the children’s playgrounds considered these not conveniently situated to their home, 63% thought it very important to have a children’s playground convenient to their home and a further 16% thought it somewhat important. These are proportions of those housewives whose children use the children’s playground and do not take account of the views of those who made no use of these facilities or who had no such facilities near them.

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3.4 Religious Practice

3. 4 1 Housewives were asked about their attendance at a place of worship and this was taken to refer only to devotional activities not to social activities which have been mentioned either in visits to clubs, halls or meeting places, or in a small group of church social activities mentioned separately.

3.4 2 67% of the housewives in the sample attended religious services, 33% said they went seldom or never.

3.4 3 Frequency of Visits to a Place of Worship

The following analysis refers only to housewives who go to places of worship, excluding the category seldom or never go.

1% of housewives attended a place of worship every day, 3% two or three times a week, 57% once a week and 38% said they attended occasionally.

It is possible that some of these figures are overstatements because of the prestige problem involved in such a question.

3.4 4 Distance Travelled to Place of Worship

About half of the housewives attending a place of worship had to travel up to 600 yards, a quarter up to 1100 yards and 19% more than 1100 yards, 17% gave no answer to the question “How far do you go to a Place of Worship”? This proportion who were unable to state the place of worship visited suggests that these housewives were giving a conventional answer rather than telling the truth. This group was 5% out of the 57% who said they attended once a week and 7% of the 38% who said they attended occasionally.

In almost all other analyses the proportion who were unable to give the necessary information about the place to which they went was between 5% and 10%.

3.4 5 Relation of the House to Place of Worship

86% of housewives attending a place of worship considered that their house was conveniently placed in relation to their place of worship, 10% thought it was inconvenient.

About half thought it very important to have the place of worship convenient to their home, about a quarter thought it somewhat important and a quarter considered it unimportant.

3.4 6 The Effect of Town Size

Small differences appear between the proportions who attend in different sized towns, but they are rather difficult to interpret since the proportions of “no answers” on the distance question varies in different towns. Religious attendance is highest on the raw figures in Aberdeen with 75%, followed by Medium Towns 71%, by Edinburgh 68%, Small Towns 67%, by Dundee 64% and by Glasgow 59%. If however the proportions who were unable to say how far they went are subtracted, the figures are much more nearly equal and the proportions would be as follows:-

If anything it seems that women attend a place of worship a little less often in Glasgow and Dundee than in the rest of urban Scotland.

The distance travelled differs from town to town. It is shortest in Medium and Small Towns where 36% of church goers have less than 600 yards to travel, it is next shortest in Glasgow 34% and Edinburgh 32% followed by Dundee 26% and Aberdeen 20%.

3.4 7 Effect of Zone

The effect of zone shows itself in several ways. In the first instance people living on the outer zone have a higher proportion who seldom or never go to a place of worship 42%, as compared with 33% in the inner zone and 34% in the middle zone.

In addition to this fact the proportion who go occasionally is greater in the outer zone than in the two other zones, 46% compared with 40% in the inner zone and 36% in the middle zone.

This is probably due to the greater distance that housewives living in the outer zone have to travel.

78% of housewives living in the inner zone go up to 1100 yards to their place of worship, 71% of those living in the middle zone have this distance to travel, whereas in ,the outer zone the proportion of housewives in this group is only 66%.

3.4 8 The Influence of age

The Influence of age shows itself in two ways. The oldest group has the highest proportion who attend a place of worship at all and the youngest group he lowest proportion. The oldest group also has the greatest proportion who attend once a week or more.

The position summarised in the table below:-

3. 4 9 Comparison of Housewives With and Without Children

A smaller proportion of housewives with children attend a place of worship than those housewives without children - 63% compared with 71% and at the same time they attend a place of worship less frequently than those without children.

It is believed, however, that this fact is bound up with the age composition of the two groups as well as with the fact of having children to care for.

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3.5 The Use of Leisure

3.5 1 Leisure activities have been studied in two main groups. The first group consisted of activities selected on the basis of the Pilot Inquiry, and about which a specific question was asked. The second group consisted of a number of activities not sufficiently important to have a direct question asked about them, but were spontaneously answered by the housewife to the question “Are there any other outside interests to which you go?”

The first group comprised visits to cinemas, to parks, to clubs or other meeting places, to sports ground and to dance halls.

The second group consisted of visits to public libraries, theatres and concerts, and participation in outdoor sports.

A summary of the position is given in the two groups listed below which show the proportion of our sample who go on some occasion to these places of interest, amusement or sport. The first group are those in which the direct question was asked. The second group are the unprompted suggestions. These should be weighted a little higher them their percentages suggest as no doubt many housewives would have thought of these had they been mentioned to them by name.

Some details are given below about the first group of interests.

3.5 The Cinema

68% of the sample attended the cinema as will have been seen from the above table. The frequency of attendance of this group is as follows:-

27% of them attended twice or three times a week

42% once a week

29% occasionally

1% were unable to say how often

Most housewives attended a cinema within easy reach of their home. 48% went to a cinema within 600 yards, 25% within 1100 yards, 12% within 1¼ miles and the rest distances further than this. There were 8% who were unable to say how far they went. This includes a number of housewives whose attendance was at various cinemas and they were unable to say which they attended most regularly.

Nearly nine-tenths of the sample said that the cinema was near to their home, but only a little over one-third considered it very important to have their home located near to a cinema, 25% considered it somewhat important and 31% not important.

The analysis by town size and by zone show an interesting feature that generally the cinema-going habit is fairly consistent in spite of the greatest distances that have to be travelled by people living on the outside of large towns, although those in the inner zone of Glasgow have a higher proportion (40%) who go more than once a week than in any other town or zone. The position is summarised below:-

There are differences in the age groups which are quite considerable. As might be expected cinema going is most frequent in the youngest age group and least frequent in the highest age group. The position is summarised below.

There is surprisingly little difference between the behaviour of housewives with children and those without children in respect to cinema going as is shown in the analysis below. It will be seen that although amongst housewives without children there is a slightly larger proportion who seldom or never go, this is entirely due to the fact that in this group there are more older women. If housewives are compared with age group it will be seen that generally speaking their habits are very similar.

It will be seen that, in the youngest age group the proportion of wives visiting cinemas is higher amongst those without children - as might be expected- in the oldest group the proportion is higher in the group of housewives with children.

3.5 3 Parks

The second most important outside interest (judged by the proportion of housewives who went) was visiting parks. 44% of the sample were in the habit of visiting parks, 56% were not.

Housewives who visited parks can be roughly divided into two main groups about equal size; those who went to the park fairly regularly and those who went only occasionally. 11% of the sample went to the park every day, 25% went twice or three times a week, 15% once a week. These comprise the group who visit the park regularly. A further 47% said they went occasionally.

38% of those who visited parks had only to travel up to 600 yards, a further 22% travelled between 600 and 1100 yards, 21% between 1100 yards and 1¼ miles and some 13% travelled further than this.

A little over half of the housewives lived within 12 minutes journey of the park they usually visited, a further fifth lived within 22 minutes of the park and 15% had to spend more time than this in travelling. 9%, were unable to state the time it took.

Almost all the housewives walked to the park, only 6% used public transport services.

76% considered their house conveniently situated to the park and about the same proportion thought it very important or somewhat important to have the park near their home. The proportion of housewives visiting parks varies in towns

of different size. The highest proportion was found in the large towns (51%), the next in medium towns (38%) and the smallest proportion in our group of small towns (33%).

Within the large towns there were also important differences reflecting, on the one hand, the greater availability of parks in the centre of Scottish towns, and on the other, nearness of the countryside to dwellers in the outer zone. The proportions of housewives visiting parks in three zones were, inner zone 41% [Text Missing]

Visits to parks by housewives is related very closely to age and to whether or not the housewife has children. 58% of the youngest group visit parks compared with 45% in the 36 - 50 age group and 34% the 51 and over group. The influence of children is displayed by the fact that 55% of housewives with children went to parks, compared with 32% of those who had no children.

3.5 4 Club, Hall or Meeting Place

The key problem in the planning of new housing estates and new communities is to what extent there exists a community interest which can be organised around some central building embracing a variety of social activities. With this in view a specific question was asked about the housewives’ visits to clubs, halls or meeting places for any social activities.

Rather less than one-fifth (18%) of the housewives in the sample visited such centres of recreation.

Housewives who visit clubs can be divided into two main groups; those who attend regularly and those who attend occasionally. The first group comprises two-thirds of the total and those who visit a club occasionally are one-third.

Most of the housewives visiting a club visit one that is situated fairly near to their home - 45% go to a club within 600 yards of their home and a further 25% up to 1100 yards and 20% visit clubs, halls or meeting places that are further afield.

Four-fifths of the housewives who visited this centre of recreation state that it was conveniently situated to their home and a similar proportion though it either very important or somewhat important to have such a centre located nearby.

Clubs were used by a greater proportion of the older group than by the younger groups. 22% of those of 51 and over visited clubs, 20% of those between 36 and 50, but only 11% of those between 19 and 35 years.

3.5 5 Visits to Sports Grounds

Visits to sports grounds either to watch professional sport or to participate in outdoor activities were made by only 8% of housewives in the sample.

About two-thirds of the housewives who visited sports grounds went regularly and one-third occasionally.

Hardly any of the oldest group visited- sports grounds; one-sixth of the 36 to 50 age group and about one-twelfth of the youngest group made such visits.

3.5 6 Dance Halls

Visits to dance halls were made by an even smaller proportion of the housewives in the sample - 5%.

Dances were attended regularly by a smaller proportion of those housewives who went than any of the other interests about which we asked a direct question.

About three-quarters of the housewives who attended dances were in the 19 to 35 age group.