FRANCE’S 500,000 IDLE

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXII, Issue 12529, 15 April 1935, Page 7

FRANCE’S 500,000 IDLE

COST £20,C00,C00 TO FEED. PARIS, February 25. The drain upon the French Treasury to feed the unemployed was calculated today at more than £20,C00,OCO a year as unemployment figures topped 500,000, unprecedented in France. During the last year unemployment has gone up 44 per cent. The Government is .seeking to increase jobs by diverting part of toe unemployment funds to employers who take on additional help. The man in misfortune in France can look to three main sources to take care olf him in illness, to feed him and his family when ho is out of work, or :to get a new job. These are : 1. National-social insurance designed to give protection against illness, old age and unemployment. 2. Direct unemployment relief—the dole—through funds- provided by the Government and municipalities. 8. A huge public works' programme calling for expenditure of up to 12,OCO million francs (about £l6O million) aver a period of six years. Unemployment in Franco is much less than that in mast- other nations but it weighs heavily because of the high cost of living and the small incomes, even of those working. Under the dole system an unmarried man or woman draws 7 franco (about 2/-) a day; -a married man 10 francs and a man with a family up to 20 francs, depending on the number cif children. As a far-reaching measure of social aivl in times of trouble. France created a -s-ocial insurance scheme in 1923. Participation in. this insurance is obligatory for all men and women earning up to 15,000 a. year, or 18, 000 francs in cities or moi-e than 200 000 population. The employer and the employee both pay equally on a sliding scale up to 4per cent ot the salary.