FAMILY ALLOWANCES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4877, 14 September 1925, Page 3

FAMILY ALLOWANCES.

A SCHEME OUTLINED. • The questlpn of family allowances is’ touched upon in the course of his annual’ report by the Secretary foi Labour (Mr F. W. Rowley), who suggests that one possible solution of the question in New Zealand wpuld be achieved by providing .that without increasing the total wages now paid by any employer or in industry generally the amounts ordinarily due to the workers would be adjusted, through a central fund, according to the number of dependants (if any) on each worker.

“It is ascertained,” he states, “that there is approximately one child under fourteen years bf age to every adult male worker ; if, therefore, the sum that it is desired to allow lor each child—say, 7s 6d per week—was deducted from each worker’s wages or salary, the amounts so dededuct the sum decided on from the vide approximately that sum for each child less an allowance for administration expenses ; in ae.tual practice each employer would be required to cledcut the sum decided on from the wages of each of his employees and to pay that amount to the central fund in the locality. The. actual wages receivable by the workers would then be as follows : Single man, widower, or married man without children, ordinary wages as> at present less 7s 6d deducted ; married man or widower with one child, ditto, but the 7s 6d (allowance for one child) would be repaid by the central fund ; man with two children ordinary wages plus 7n 6d (the employer deducting 7s 6d and the fund paying 15s for .the children) ; man with three children, ordinary wages plus 15s (the employer deducting 7s 6d and the fund paying £1 2s 6d for the children) ; man with four children, ordinary wages plus £1 2s 6d (the employer deducting 7s 6d and the fund paying £1 10s Tor the children) ; and so on. "It is worth noting that this system would give the married man with two children, who has been regarded as the average upon which the basic rates should be fixed, 7s 6d per week more than at present, while those with larger families would, of course, receive greater amounts-; the benefits would, however, no doubt soon become l?ss because the average size of the families would tend to increase, and the single men would be encouraged to marry, and this, together with the cost of administration, would require to be taken into account. The actual sums to be deducted and paid out would require to be actuarially adjusted from time to time in order that the scheme would be self-siup-porting. Incidentally,, it might be suggested that the institution of such a scheme would remove to some extent at least the vexed question bf equal pay for equal work as between men and women.”