COST OF SECURITY

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22445, 5 July 1938, Page 12

COST OF SECURITY

SCHEME QUESTIONS RAISED IN DUNEDIN ADDRESS [THE PRESS Special Service.) DUNEDIN, July 4. The importance of the national superannuation scheme to the young men of New Zealand was emphasised at the annual meeting of the Dunedin Junior Chamber of Commerce to-night by the chairman (Mr W. H. Masters), when moving the adoption of the annual report. That there was an urgent need for a sound national superannuation scheme would not be denied by anyone, Mr Masters said. The statii'.ics of a well-known life insurance society recently showed that out of 100 men aged 25, after 40 years had elapsed, five were still working, five were independent, 36 had died, and the remaining 59 were dependent on pensions or charity. The tremendous growth of the New Zealand pensions bill in recent years showed the need far a contributory plan, by which recipients would not only help to defray the cost but would feel that their pension was paid not as an act of State benevolence, but as a right, irrespective of personal income. The fundamental principle in superannuation was that contributions should be based on what the contributor was likely to receive in benefits. For this reason, persons receiving incomes of more than, say, £3OO a year, should either receive a larger pension or should be excluded altogether.

Apart from this, Mr Masters said, thousands of people had made provision for their old age by insurances and superannuation, and it was unjust to them to contribute to a national scheme in addition to carrying their existing obligations. Another question was the cost, which might be greater than the country could bear. The cost of the scheme must increase tremendously in the next four years, and it was questionable if the national income would increase proportionately and whether with a declining population the burden would be too heavy for the contributors.