"LIVING-OUT" ALLOWANCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 136, 11 June 1942, Page 4

"LIVING-OUT" ALLOWANCE

(To the Editor.) Sir,—l would like to draw attention to what appears to me unfair. There are several hundred men employed by the Army Department in New Zealand by day and living at home, for which the sum of 2s 6d per day is allowed above the usual pay for livingout expenses. I have yet to find the boarding-house or person that can provide food and shelter for a man -t 2s 6d per day under ruling food prices and the high rents. A private living away from his home has a total income of £3 6s 6d. If married, the total allowed for a man and his wife is £4 Us per week, which is not a very substantial living rate for a couple who must pay the high rents of toe city and buy their food as well as dress the wife. Many to whom this living-out allowance applies have returned from active service and have had their share of living away. In many cases one finds an Army munition examiner working alongside men receiving up to £8 per week with their overtime, while the soldier in some cases working just as hard receives his 7s per day plus the 2s 6d living-out allowance. On a holiday, the munition workers receive double pay, the Army employees the same pay. It is high time some increase was made for those employed under these conditions We did not receive a 5 per cent, rise —I am, etc

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