THE PUBLIC WORK OF WOMEN     137
§2. some achievements
Although there are now more women voters than
men, the result has not been a great change in the
composition of the House of Commons, The number
of female M.P/s has taken nearly a generation to reach
its present total of twenty-four—less than 4 per cent
of the whole—a fact which is partly attributable to
the reluctance of party organizations, run on tradi-
tional lines, to give women constituencies where the
party has much chance of winning: as late as the 1935
election rather more than half the women are said to
have been fighting "forlorn hopes.^5' In the House
itself they have been more active than the average
Member, for their sex still gives them a certain promi-
nence, and two women have reached Cabinet rank as
Ministers of Labour and Education respectively.
Nevertheless, it is reasonable to suppose that a genera-
tion must elapse, during which women are educated
to think of themselves as voters, before female
representation takes full effect. But in the meanwhile,
we may point to two out of several possible examples
of social reforms which have undoubtedly been aided
by the women's vote. In 1925 pensions were conceded
to widows, with additional allowances for each
dependent child; and a whole series of Acts have been
brought in to safeguard the position of children in
such matters as their adoption, their employment, and
juvenile delinquency.
In local government, after thirty years* experience,
women now play a more prominent part. Between
1930 and 1935 women councillors increased by 30 per
cent; "Her Worship the Mayor" has ceased to be the
butt of popular witticisms; and just before the war the
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