AVERAGE WAGES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1277, 28 July 1914, Page 4

AVERAGE WAGES.

“The average nominaj rate of wages paid to employees in manufacturing industries in the Commonwealth was £2 9s 3d a week for males, and 193 8d for females.” This statement is contained in a report of the Commonwealth Statistician, Mr G. H. Knibbs, obtained from a special investigation in November, 1912, in order to ascertain the distribution ol wages paid to employees in the manufacturing industries of Australia. As regards individual States, the average wage for males was highest in Western Australia (57s pd), followed by New South Wales (51s id), South Australia (48s gd), Queensland (475), Victoria 46s gd), and Tasmania (44s 4d), being lowest. For females the average wage was also highest in Western Australia (22s 6d), followed by New South Wales (20s 6d), and lowest in Tasmania (16s sd) ; but the averages for South Australia (17s 8d), and Queensland (x6s nd) were both lower than that for Victoria (193 1 id). The order of the States in this respect was, therefore, the same for males and females, except that in Victoria the average wage lor males was lower than in South Australia and Queensland, but for females was higher than in both these Stales. This displacement of Victoria was no doubt due mainly to the facts that in that Stale industries in which females were largely employed had been highly developed and organised, and that a greater number of these industries had come under wages boards than in the other States. The summarised results show that as regards male wage earners, out of a total ot 209,128 persons included in the returns, 34,245 or 16.4 per cent., were in receipt of less than 30s a week ; 26,688, or 12.8 per cent., received 30s to 455; 79.785. or 38. i per cent., irom 45s to 60s ; whilst 68,410, or 32.7 per cent., received weekly wages of 60s or over. The average wage for males was £2 qs 3d per week. In the case of females, of the 74,369 workers included 22,415, or 30.1 per ceuc., were in receipt of wages under 15s a week ; 30,218, or 40 7 per cent., Irom 15s to 255; 37,423, or 23.5 per cent., received from 25s to 35s ; and 4,3'3. or 5 7 per cent., received 35s ox over. No fewer than 126,544 t2“riles, or just over half the total, were engaged in industries in which, annual added value for each em-ployee—-that i", the difference between the total value of output and value ol the raw material — ranged from £\so to ,£2OO, and less than .£IOO a year lor 1,321 employees only. The percentage for males employed in industries in which the added value ranged from ' 0 is 20, representidg 46,513 persons. In the industries in which it was over the number was 31,751, or 14 per cent. Of the females, 28,989, or over 35 per cent., were included in industries in which the added value for each employee was less than £IOO a year, while 23,340, or per cent., were engaged in industries in which the value was between and ,£125 lor each employee.