FAMILY ALLOWANCES.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 103, 5 May 1926, Page 9

FAMILY ALLOWANCES.

DECXUTE XJf GERMA3TT. yosMAi rosDmocssIn view of ihs Coal Commission's recommendation that a system of chil- 1 dren's allowances should be introduced! into the Tnrnrntr industry. an srtiele br j Dr. Busse in the German official -Tteich- -, saxbsitsblatt™ is of interest. In sura- , marising it the International Federation . of Trade Unions' bulletin says:— ■ The practice of allowing a bonus to ' married workers, which was begun ai the i time of the collapse of the mark, when -j the - real wages of German workers drop- . ped to sneh a low level, "ha.~ remained in force in a number of industries iste , and there. Prom Dr. Busses article it would appear, however, that the develop- , ; icent of the last few years has been . against this practice, and that with the 3 return of normal economic ecrffilitions, , ths system is gradually dropping oTit, * A comparison of figures illustrates : this very clearly. Whereas in the year 1922-23, 195 out"of 1496 wage-rate agree- . menis <39.8 per cent) eontamed clauses ; ooEceming family alloivanees, etc, ia 1924-25 there were only 98 {7.2 per cent}. ' In the industries ia which this sjsteza ' has teen prevalent—mining, metal work, . chemicals, papermaking, stone -in-1 pot- ' tstj work, printing allied trades, and the public services—it has <3eelined ia importance. In others, in whidi it : i«evcT was of great importaitee —textiles, ' eommsTee, transport and cominanications, and the food and drink trade —it only occurs in isolated cases. While again in other industries, where it has only rarely and varnishing, building and clothing—it has completely disappeared. To give a few instances. The percentages of wage-rate agreements providing for family sJlo"araiiees. etc_ declined in the TniTnng- industry from 59.1 to 40.6, in the metal industry from 43.9 to 6.6, in the chemical industry from 83.9 to 41-7, in the paper industry from 72.1 to 29.7. in the stone and pottery industry from 60 to 4.7, in the textile industry from 20.9 io 5, in commerce from 31.6 to 3.4, in transport and communications from 33.7 to 3.2. At one time the system was almost universally prevalent among commercial, clerical, and technical employees, but in 1924-1925 only a-quarter to a-half of the existing wage-rate agreements j contained clauses for family allowances. The only Ephere in which the sytein has been maintained intact is in the wagerate agreements for Civil servants.