[Margaret Jenkins was a passenger in her husband's…]
Socialist Press1978 1978-11-15Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 5 →
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Margaret Jenkins was a passenger in her husband's car when a Land Rover coming the other way shed its trailer which smashed into the car and killed her outright.
Her husband, Denis Jenkins, was awarded £1,200 for the shock of seeing her killed and £18,000 for the loss of his wife as "housekeeper, companion and major breadwinner"
Mrs Jenkins' housework was valued at £1 an hour.
When the defenders of family life have finally run through their emotional appeals for stability and security the courts reveal in everyday tragedies that pass through their hands that "women's work'--housework is worth £1 an hour dead.
That is a worthwhile statistic to have in mind when reading in the press or watching on television, campaigns to sap the morale of strikers through an affected concern for their families.
Women themselves are often in the forefront of strikes. They are subject to the same laws of capitalism as men.
But in the fantasy world of the "family newspaper' their role is exclusively passive-unwilling victim, tragic heroine.
The campaign over the "Ford wives' has nothing to do with concern for working class women and everything to do with trying to force Ford workers to give up their struggle for higher wages.
The Telegraph