PENSIONS FOR BUND

Hokitika Guardian, 31 January 1925, Page 1

PENSIONS FOR BUND

ONLY 87 APPLICANTS. AN INDEPENDENT CLASS. WELLINGTON, Jaii. 28. A pension of los weekly supplemented by a subsidy on earnings to the extent of 25 per cent, up to a total of, pension and wages of £3 IDs, is payable to blind persons in New Zealand, but the number of applications for this help is surprisingly small. Pensions for the blind had been urged on the the Government for several years, but inability to make financial provision postponed this boon untii last session. Tho pension became available about mid-December. Preliminary investigations to ascertain the country’s liability for this important extension of the pension system showed that there aro approximately COO blind persons in the Dominion. The Jubilee Institute for the Blind, which carries on educative work with tho object of making afflicted people as self-supporting as possible had a record of 300 cases. Despite these fairly large totals the Pensions Department to date has only received 87 applications for blind pension. It is difficult to know why a larger proportion of those entitled to the pension have not applied. One explanation is that the system Is not generally known, another, probably more correct and satisfactory, is that a good proportion of blind persons are able to make a fair living. Some are earning large salaries as masseurs, their heightened sense of touch making them particularly efficient in this occupation. Applications made to the Pensions’ Department show that a large proportion of blind pensioners have occupations. and in many cases only a small sum will need to lie paid by the State to bring their total weekly income to the maximum allowed under the scheme of £3 10s weekly. The country’s liability for this extension of the pension system will he much smaller than estimated, and as the war pension expenditure is showing a reduction of approximately £150,000 annually, the Finance Minister’s difficulties in finding money are being substantially eased.