The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1941-01-23
LABOR news
FROM BRITAIN
. WAGES RISE
. UNEMPLOYMENT FALLS
WAR PRODUCTION
. CONTINUES TO CLIMB
Family Allowances

British trade unionists, hitherto
opposed to the principle of family
allowances, which the Labour Party
on the other hand, is more than half
inclined to accept, have consented to
re-eXamine it as a measure of war
time policy. The II. u. c. General
Council at it's last meeting agreed to
set up joint committee with the La
bour Party for this purpose.
What the unionist objectors feared
was that family allowances might lead
to lower wage standards.
Developments of social policy under
war conditions may lead the Trade
Unions to change their view. The
situation is different now. The prin-
ciple of family allowances is actually
operating in the case of persons re-
ceiving unemployment insurance and
unemployment assistance allowances.
1t is recognized in the case of men
serving with the armed forces, and
under the scheme of compensation to
civilians for personal injuries and
losses due to enemy action. Even the
income tax law admits a scale Of re-
lief for married men with children.
Wartime Earnings
There is certainly a more general
acceptance to-day of the necessity for
providing a supplementary family
wage.
1t is true that trade union pressure
has considerably raised the general
level Of wages. In the first ten months
Of this war year, it is stated by the
Ministry of Labour, more than 7A
million work-people have obtained a
net increase of about 81 100000 in
weekly full-time wages.
Official statistics just published
show a marked rise in the average
weekly earnings of important groups
of workpeople since October 1888.
Average weekly earnings in the
metal, engineering and shipbuilding
industries, rose from 59s.5d in Octo-
Der 1888 to 85s.ld in July 1910. This
is an increase of over 43 per cent. In
the textile industries weekly earnings
rose from 38s.3d to 4Ss10d, in the
woodworking trades from 52s.4d to
6lc.5d, and in the building and con-
tracing trades from 61s.3d to SOs.7d
Nevertheless, social investigation
has shown beyond dispute that the
cost of bringing up a family is not
adequately met by existing wage
standards.
The answer, according to one large
section of opinion, is family allow
ances: Britian---1sags behind many
European countries where family al
lowanccs schemes developed before the
war. We lag behind the countries
overseas.
There is a system of family allow
ances, for example, operating in the
public service Of the Australian Com
monwealth. A Family Endowment
Bill was enacted in New South Wales
in 1927, providing an allowance OF
5s. for each child under ID. In New
Zealand similar legislation, amended
by the Social Security Act of 1898
provides family benefit Of as. pei
child, where the income limit is So q
week.
There has been much discussion OF
the subject in Canada, and also in
the United States-and the conver-
sion of British trade unionists to the
principle of family endowment in sup
Elementary cash additions to norma
wages will probably given an impetus
to the movement in these other coun-
tries.
Employment Still Grows
Latest unemployment figures pub
lished by the Ministry of Labour re-
fleet the increased peace of war pro
duction. Unemployment fell last
month by 45,0OO in the total Of reg
istered applicants for employment al
the exchanges.
The number of men and boys on the
registers Of the exchanges in mid
November was 30S,l31 wholly unem
ployed, and another 96,577 were reg
istered as temporarily suspended from
work on the understanding that they
were shortly to return to their former
employment. About GO per cent o,
the temporarily unemployed were
miners.
The situation is actually better THAI
it looks. A special analysis has beel
made by the Ministry of the duration
of unemployment Of persons who Were
on the register as applicants for un
employment benefit on November 20
The total number Of applicants wa
as high as $4,000. But nearly hal
of these, l54 COO to be exact, had beer
on the register for less than tw'
weeks; and l9l eco had been regis
tered for less than four weeks.
The "hard core" of unemployment
represented by people who have beel
out Of work for a long time is begin
ming to melt away. Actually tn
latest investigation shows that a
compared with mid-May totals tn
number of workless persons who hav
been on the register for twelve month
or more has been reduced by halt
1t numbers now 54,000-and three
fourths of the workpeople in that to
tai We're aged so or over.
SO it may be said that in regar
both to work and to wages, the stu