Unemployment And Church

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31765, 23 August 1968, Page 6

Unemployment And Church

The Church needed to know what caused unemployment and then needed to lend its weight to responsible management to see that the economy did not become unbalanced, said a report by the public questions committee to the annual synod of the North Canterbury district of the Methodist Church. In addition, the Church had a duty to ask that the economy should be so managed that the unemployment caused by readjustments should not fall on individuals as long-term unemployment, and that much of the social costs incurred by the unemployed should be borne by the community in an adequate unemployment benefit.

A responsible Government would make it a major aim to restrain tendencies towards inflation—however popular they appeared to the electorate —since this involved painful adjustments that might cause major unemployment. Responsible citizens could not ask that unemployment be kept at the lowest possible level without being willing to support the Government in the steady management of the economy. It was likely that there would always be a few whose unemployment could not readily be cured, and it was much more reasonable to look after these as a social service rather than having such a pressure of spending that they were apparently worth employing commermercially. The report, which was formally received by the synod, endorsed recommendations of the Monetary and Economic Council’s report relating to measures to retrain workers, the adequacy of benefits, and the increasing of employment in particular industries or areas.