THE FAMILY WAGE

Northern Advocate, 21 June 1926, Page 8

THE FAMILY WAGE

COMPENSATION BUREAUX. MORE PAY FOR MARRIED MEN. Great public interest has been aroused by the report of the results obtained to date by the institution known as “Compensation Bureaux.” The aim of this organisation is to secure for workers an addition to their wages in proportion to the number of their children. In France the movement is wholly Catholic in its origin. It is a principle very dear to Catholic “social societies” that a worker’s wages are not to be regarded solely as the strict reward for work done. They are also the means of support for the whole of his family, especially if it be numerous. Many of the annual Catholic “Sem'aines soeiales” have devoted time to discussing the problem and application of the principle. Although they have agreed on this principle, there arises a very grave objection. If the wages paid to the worker are higher when he has children than when he has none, it might easily give rise to a serious injustice by inducing employers to prefer unmarried and childless workers to those with families, thereby reducing their wages bill. A practical solution was suggested by i Christian employers at the “ Remaine ’ ’ held at Grenoble five yegrs ago. They" agreed to contribute to a common fund a tax calculated on the number of their employees, without distinguishing between single and' married men. From the sum produced by this levy they would pay ; the additional amounts claimed by the fathers of families.

Under these conditions the . • scheme would function without creating an interest in favour of unmarried lab-

At the same 'time was founded the first “Compensation Bureau,” Today, five years, after, there are 172 of these bureaux in France, dealing with 11,200 firms, and the wages of 1,210,000 workers. Nor is the movement now confined to Catholics.

Other social works are frequently organised and administered by the bureaux. For example, at Armentieres, public gardens and a public market; and one at Koubaix-Toureoing distributes sick relief.

In the report presented to the general Congress of Bureaux it was shown that among the recipients of the grants, the proportion of children per family had in three years risen from 1.66 to 1.81 and 1.93. The birthrate for the population grouped under the bureaux to that of the whole adult population was in the ratio of 47 to 30.

All the facts testify that this scheme contributes to the increase of families by making it possible to shoulder the burdens they imply. More noteworthy, too, is the decrease in infantile mortality in the households that have benefited by the “family wage.”

The founders and directors of the bureaux contend that the reform should be recognised and protected by the State. They ask, not that it should create new bureaux to take the place of the existing organisation, but that it should oblige workers and employers to adopt some such system. Whatever may happen, Catholics are rightly proud of having sown at Grenoble the seed that has produced such a harvest.