Evening star., 1938-07-03

wv the Social Security Act. the
great files of the Social Sc
curity Board are now being turned
over to the production of facts on the
economic and sociological status of the
Nation. The facts are beginning to
flow from the boards Baltimore ware
house Offices and will be pouring out
in full order this month, in time for
use by congressional campaigners
Are wages in the South lower than
wages in the other geographical areas
Of the United States? Are wages of
unionized workers higher than wages
OF non-unionized workers?
The Social Security Board promises
definite answers to those questions and
to others, controversial or prob
lematical. In its new program Of re-
search into the lives and livelihood of
the 38,000,00o employees and 100000
employers participa ting in the Social
Security Act the board will also try
to find out whether married women
must work to support their families:
whether the migration of workers to
cities is depressing wages in urban
areas. and whether life really begins
at 40 for the average American wage
Garner.
The objectives of the board in its
new role as fact-flnding commission
are impressive. Primarily, it purposes
to furnish the President, Congress and
the general public with accurate and
quantitative information concerning
the operations of the Social Security
Act.
The Social Security Board further
purposes to furnish social scientists
and the economic planners with a
fresh supply of raw material for de-
velopment Of theory and planning.
Finally. it purposes to shed new light
on the New Deals problem of increas-
ing the national income and purchas-
ing power.
T INSUSPECTING co-operators in
the boards entrance into the busi-
ness of national surveying are the
100000 businessmen who are par
ticipating in the Social Security Act.
In filling-ou out their social security pay
roll tax schedules and mailing them
to Washington these 5000 900 busi-
nessmen have been regularly supply
ing the files Of the Social Security
Board with information on the earn
ings. occupations and migrations of
the 100000 workers covered by the
act. This information is essential to
the boards achievement of its pro-
gram of inquiry.
In its program the board plans to
correlate every identifying item of a
worker. furnished in his application for
a social security account number, with
his wages. migration and occupation,
supplied by his employer four times
a year. The correlations will be swiftly
and efficiently accomplished by the
business machines that crowd the
boards offices on the Baltimore Har-
Dor.
Graphs, charts and figures in end
less columns will be the business ma
chimes products. They will sum-
Marie annual earnings of the SO ,000,-
900 employees, comparing those of Diff
ferent geographical areas. ages, sexes,
colors, industries and occupations.
Accounts of pay rolls by area and in
dustry are planned, including analyses
of seasonal and cylical variations.
Employers will be subjected to classi-
f1cation by size, area and industry. In
the field Of employment statistics the
board will seek an analysis of labor
turnover by type of industry.
Movement of workers between the
regional territories of the Social Sc
curity Board, from State to State, in
dustry to industry, and from occupa-
ton to occupation. are being plotted in
turn. With information derived from
claims for death or old-age benefits,
the board will classify the worker and