MEN ON SUSTENANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 108, 8 May 1937, Page 8

MEN ON SUSTENANCE.

Would you very kindly grant me space in the columns of your paper to point out the position that exists regarding the chadless couples endeavouring to eke out an existence on a pittance of 35/ weekly sustenance payment? In my case my overhead costs for rent. etc.. amount to £1 per week, leaving a balance of 15/ for two people to live on for seven days, a little over 2/ per day. I maintain our position is worse torday. It is tree the sustenance rates have been increased 11/ a week, but we do not get milk, boots, so our position is much worse. While the cost of commodities has risen by from 10 to 15 per cent, it is quite impossible for a couple to obtain the necessaries of life on such a miserable pittance, and there is no margin for clothing, or, in case of sickness, there is no provision for that. In my opinion, fit sustenance men should be given work at ful time and at standard rates of pay. In conclusion, I am quite convinced that to obtain private employment in and around Auckland is impossible. OX SUSTENANCE.