STATE HEALTH SCHEME

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22180, 25 August 1937, Page 10

STATE HEALTH SCHEME

♦- Need for Adequate Child Endowment “DISASTROUS DECLINE . IN POPULATION” [THE PRESS Special Service.] GERALDINE, August 24. Fears that the declining population in New Zealand would eventually mean an insufficient number of young people to maintain the old ones under the Government’s proposed National Health and Superannuation Scheme, were expressed by Mr C. Morgan Williams, M.P. (Kaiapoi), in an address at Geraldine last night. Unless the number of children in each family increased, New Zealand would be faced with a disastrous decline in population, he said. The Dominion had reached a stage where the rearing of children was a national necessity, and provision should be made for an adequate child endowment scheme to be given to the mother of every child, rich or poor. The details of the National Health and Superannuation Scheme had not been decided yet, he said, and the extent of the service would depend on what the public were willing to pay. The National Health and Superannuation Bill which the Government intend to bring down this session would give the people another form of security, said Mr Williams. * “I do not know the details of the scheme. Neither does anyone else at present,’’ said Mr Williams. “Nevertheless, there is a lot of guessing going on.” A committee had been set up to bring down a number of proposals and to state what they would cost, Mr Williams proceeded. The Government did not possess a magic wand and could not sa’y, “Here is the money; buy what you want.” He could not see that they could get the money in any way but by taxation. “If the people want the service they will have to pay for it,” proceeded the speaker. “The Government will have to decide which scheme they will take. They would have to decide what the public will be willing to pay before they can decide which service they are going to give them. Making the decision is going to mean headaches for some in the Government. Everyone is looking forward to liberal pensions, but they do not feel so keen about paying for them. It was hoped, however, to give some relief by taking away the unemployment The committee, he said, would bring down various schemes, and the Government would consider them in the light of what the public would have to pay, for them. If the cost was going to be heavy then the Government would have to consider ways of relieving the people of taxation in other directions. Problem of Population “The greatest problem in New Zealand will be to keep the working population at such a strength that it will carry these schemes,” Mr Williams said. “If we go on as at present there is not going to be a sufficient number of young people to maintain the old ones.” It was no use bringing down reports and generous superannuation schemes if there were not enough people of working age to provide that superannuation. For another 15 years the number of children leaving school would diminish rapidly till in 1950 the number of children of school-leaving age would be 25 per cent, less than today. That meant there would be 25 per cent, fewer young workers in 1950 than to-day. “That is not the.most serious aspect of the position, however,” Mr Williams said. By 1960 there would be 25 per cent, fewer young parents, and unless some radical change took place in the vital statistics, there must be an even more rapid decline in the birth-rate because of this. More Young People Needed "The whole economic structure of the country was based on the assumption that the population was going to increase. If the population declined, the whole of the country would fall into decay, just as Kumara and some of the deserted towns on the West Coast. The whole of New Zealand would become like Kumara, only on a magnified scale. “We must make sure there is a healthy crop of young people coming on to maintain the country, and an essential thing is a decent child endowment scheme,” Mr Williams claimed. “Not one such as at present, where a family receiving less than £4 a week could get only 2s a week for the third and each subsequent child. The very rich man with an income of £IO,OOO was granted a heavier endowment. He was given an income tax exemption of £SO for each dependent child, which was considerably more than 2s a week. These two classes were given a family allowance—the very poor and the very rich. “The policy of the country should be to give the mother of every child, rich or poor, a decent allowance for every child she had. This, he thought, was absolutely fundamental. “We have reached a stage where the rearing of children is no longer a private matter but a national necessity.” concluded Mr Williams. “No one doubts that it is the duty of the State to educate, and similarly provision should be made for adequate child endowment.”