UNEMPLOYMENT

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21226, 26 July 1934, Page 6

UNEMPLOYMENT

INCREASED RATES OF SUSTENANCE ! ItST:'' | } ■ «CAIE ANNOUNCED BY j THE MINISTER j _ j PSWCU'LTY OF FINDING | JWTITABL.K WORK j ~ j CProm Our Parliamentary Reporter.] WELLINGTON, July 25. A revised scale of sustenance payments for B class relief workers in cities where suitable work is not available was announced in. the House o" Representatives to-day by the Minister for Employment (the Hon. A. Hamilton). This scheme, he said, would place older men andscmilit men on sustenance rates substantially the same as the rates paid under the No. 5 scheme, and it was hoped that local bodies who were finding it difficult to organise suitable work would derive some relief. The Minister said:"The Unemployment Board has been loath to adopt the sustenance principle, especially in a country such as ours, where authorities might make good use of the money and labour available. The boai'd lus been gradually testing the principle of relief by means of sustenance without work in a few of the main centies, and although sustenance without work may be as badly abused as any other system, there seems to be no escape from this form of payment, and the board has concluded that the sustenance rates might reasonably be increased for a limited period. Public opinion at the moment generally appears to be in favour of increasing the sustenance rates rather than reducing the tax. It is further considered. that these increased rates can be applied to certain classes of relief workers, without undue danger. "When considering further payments to relief workers, the board has to .keep in mind the much desired reduction in unemployment taxation. It is hopeful that before the session ends it will be possible to recommend a measure,of relief of taxation. "In hardship cases, by increasing the payments for sustenance without work to substantially the same amount as is paid under the No.' 5 scheme with wprk, and placing older men and semi- ' fit men on the sustenance rate, it is anticipated that relief will be given to local bodies who are finding it difficult to-organise suitable work and-reduce their financial burden for overhead charges. It should also ensure that the remainder of the men will be employed on better work and under better supervision. "The difficulty experienced by local bodies in finding suitable work has not been confined to the four main cities. Some secondary cities, Palmerston North for instance, are experiencing the same trouble. The board has arranged the following sustenance scale for secondary centres. These rates are to be payable when suitable work cannot be found, and to be confined to older men and semi-fit men. They will also be subject to the usual adjustments in regard to private earnings. The rates are:— A week, s. d. Single men .. .. 7 6 Married men— With wife only .. 17 6 With one child .. .. 20 6 With two children .. .. 23 0 With three children 25 0 With four children .. .. 27 0 With five or more children .. 30 0 "The following are the proposed amended sustenance rates for Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin:— _ s. d. Single men ~ 10 0 Married Men— With wife in receipt of old. age pension .. .. 17 6 With wife only . „ .. 20 0 With one child .. .. 23 0 With two children .. .. 2(5 0 With three children .. 28 0 With four children .. .. 30 0 With five children .. .. 32 0 With six children .. .. 34 0 With seven or more children 36 0 "The milk ration in the four main Cities will be continued during . the winter months. "The problem of unemployment, as regards administration, is rapidly changing from day to day. The board js not proposing to commit itself to these rates for more than 13 weeks, in order that it may check up on 'the result®. It is" also proposed, as soon as it is conveniently possible, to raise all married men's camps .to full-time employment at standard rates of pay as in such camps now controlled by the Public Works Department." "GREAT IMPROVEMENT" DEPUT Y-MA YOIi'S CO MM ENT '"lf the report of the increase in the sustenance rate to be allowed by the Unemployment Board is correct, the new scale is a great improvement on the earlier one," said the DeputyMayor (Mr J. K. Archer), when commenting on the announcement of the new sustenance rates yesterday. "How far it will satisfy the men who will receive sustenance is hard to say. "I should imagine that the outcry from all sections of the community, against the original low scale of sustenance, has borne fruit in influencing the Minister for Employment to revise it. It shows that the people should not allow themselves to be trodden down too much by the Government. ■Nothing has ever been gained without fighting for it." The new scale, Mr Archer added, should ease both the pressure of unemployment and the demands on agencies for the relief of distress. It would now be possible for the City Council to go into the question of the men on its staff who were to have received sustenance, but who were retained pending a revision. CONTRIBUTIONS TO MAYOR'S FUND Jash contributions to the Mayor's relief of Distress Fund have now reached a total of £3047 5s lid, cash and goods promised amount to .£2397 10s, making a grand total of £5444 15s lid. Latest contributions are: — £ s. d. acknowledged 3036 1 7 Butler Timber Co., Ltd. 5 0 0 M.S. and M.Y.S. .. 10 0 Staff Ernest Adams, Ltd. (2nd cont.) .. I 13 10 Staff Christchurch Boys' High School (2nd cont.) 1 14 6 <V. L. Bowron and Co., and employees (7th cont.) 1 16 0 jfetai data j£3o« fi U