SERVICEMEN BURSARS

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24985, 20 September 1946, Page 8

SERVICEMEN BURSARS

INCREASED OVERSEAS ALLOWANCES

(From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Sept. 19. The Rehabilitation Board has decided to increase to £328 sterling a year the amount paid by way of sustenance allowance to former servicemen bursars overseas who are married. The new increase takes effect as from April 1 last, according to a statement issued by the Minister of Rehabilitation* (the Hon. C. F. Skinner) to-day. The previous amount paid was £250 sterling, although a separation allowance of £7B a year was also granted to married former servicemen who continued to maintain a home in New Zealand during their absence. By the new increase not only would such cas.es be covered but also those of married bursars whose wives accompanied them overseas. , » The decision followed a report to the board on the position of married bursars whose wives were- with them in the United Kingdom*! and who were finding it most difficult to meet bare essential living expenses on the £250 allowance. This £250 had been allowed to all overseas bursars, irrespective of their marital status. The new increase also applied to those married servicemen holding bursaries in Australia as apart from the United Kingdom, in which case the allowance would be £328 Australian currency. The previous sustenance allowance had been paid in sterling, the equivalent of which amounted to £312 in Australian money. In the case of full-time bursars studying in New Zealand, the position remained unaltered. Unmarried bursars were also not affected by the change.