THE FAMILY

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 13, 16 January 1925, Page 4

THE FAMILY

AND THE BASIC WAGE

MR. PLDDINGTON'S PLAN. ; [Contributed.] . The article under this heading in "The Post" of the 13th instant, by-Air. A. B. Piddington, K.C., is interesting, but the plan outlined therein is not new. to. New Zealand, having been embodied in Mr. G. Mitchell's Child Sustenance Bill introduced in Parliament some three years ago. Mr, Piddington says that his method of-providing for children, is so simple as to be almost obvious,- but it may be said tnat there are weak points in the method which are undoubtedly obvious, and no doubt these weaknesses provide the reason why the .plan has never been tried so far_as this writer is aware, in any part of the world . ■

Th e plan, briefly stated should be adequate for the support of a man and his wife, and that m addition to paying every one of his employees this basic wage an employer shall pay to the State, for each male empbyee,, a further sum u-con-tribution to an endowment fund out of *f fund the State shall pay a. bonus to the wife of each worker in proportion X, 4? n™^ of her children. It is held by Mr. Piddington that-aa there ai c to-day only three children' in Aug. tralia for every four male employees, the payment by employers of 6s per W ■ P'V^yee to the endowment w£? T v en^ le a Paym<«t of 8s per week to be made out of the fund on account of ea*h child. What is obvio^ ly wrong with this is that if such a .plan-were, put into operation the prc~ wmmi

New Zealand or Austalf ,P 0Pulating increase at 8s • per W £ b7, natural' ■thii-a much fcrte ,' a- nd ar Sues l^rtinga^twtgUnThßß, impnt S at a cost of TfiOO 6 T* Ifigures are really w e3chcause the baby at th» bey««s is oer ?afniy not «nt:^ fonrteen ]and. nor is ha ,• Ued uPon the dnctUasset for SoW P^ Thi t0 b6 mUch " excess^ £28^ be Bin 1913 y n S 6 e^lvalent °f the wortang men's families rear^ °4 comfor^by thrifty parent^lrVthe ZB* % eajn^c?f be done, and a visit to ■ ony---of • our schools will afford con vmcmg proof that it is being doie, to

££%' "j*"? that family man usually spends-less on his Q wn personal pleasure than the single man ma similar position, but he does so cheerfully two that h6 " the better «2^ti£

One other point also is worthy of discussion, and that is the probable effect of the operation of Mr. Piddington's plan on earnings and on production. The majority of New Zealand workers to-day are being paid more than the Arbitration Court's award rates of wages, but under the proposed plan there would be a tendency to reduce all to the level of the basic wage, because every employer-would have to contribute to the endowment fund for each of his employees, no matter what. wages ie might pay. Production would almost certainly be reduced by the removal o£ the incentive which now causes married men to endeavour to make themselves more efficient and so increase their earning capacity. . ■ .'':■ i On the face of it, Mr. Piddington's plan may appear to be a simple solution of the problem of social justice, but unfortunately it will not stand analysis.

After a day and night of. continual searching, Mrs. A. Curtis, who disappeared_ from her home,' 12 miles from Kopaki, was found laet evening in the bush near the Mokau Biver, states a Press Association'message from Te Kuiti. Though she had been two days and a night in the bush, she was able to walk home "with the rescue party. •