SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEME

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20465, 4 April 1938, Page 9

SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEME

Widespread Benefits Indicated STATE HEALTH AND PENSIONS SERVICE CONTRIBUTION OF SHILLING IN THE £ OUTLINE OF GOVERNMENT’S PROPOSALS Described by him as providing - a condition of social security unsurpassed anywhere in the world, the Government’s proposals for the establishment of a free health service for everybody and national superannuation for men and women 60 years of age and over were outlined by the Prime Minister, the Right Hon. M. J. Savage, in a broadcast address from Wellington on Saturday evening. The main features are the institution of a universal health service for all classes of the communtiy with free medical, hospital and sanitorium treatment and free maternity treatment and in addition sickness and incapacity benefits, invalidity pensions, increased widows and war vetV- erans’ pensions, provision for orphans, and higher family allowances. The State superannuation service will provide for payment of 30/- a week each for men and women of 60 and over with an allowable income of £l. It is planned to finance the schemes by a levy on wages and incomes of 1/- in the £. The State will subsidise pound for pound.

YEAR TO PREPARE OPERATION NEXT APRIL HIQHEft FAMILY ALLOWANCES SUPERANNUATION OF 30s The plan includes the provision of sickness and incapacity benefits, orphans' pensions for the first time in New Zealand, increased pensions for invalids, miners, widows and deserted wives, and increases in the family allowance and war veterans’ allowances’’ said Mr Savage. “These proposed benefits will provide a condition of social security unsurpassed anywhere in the world. The Government wiil place before the Parliamentary Committee next Tuesday a complete social security scheme that will be comprehensive in its scope and adequate in its benefits. “The Government proposed a universal general practitioner service free to all members of the community requiring medical attention. It also proposes free hospital or sanatorium treatment for all. It will also provide for free mental hospital care and treatment for the mentally afflicted. It will provide free medicines. It will free maternity treatment including the cost of maintenance in a maternity home, and in addition a grant will be made through some suitable agency to assist mothers in special circumstances to provide an outfit for the baby. ‘These are the proposals which we think can be established at the outset, but in addition to these we will establish when practicable the following services: Anaesthetic. Laboratory and radiology. Specialist and consultant. Massage and physiotherapy. Transport service to and from hospital. Dental benefit. Optical benefit. r Tn addition to these benefits it is proposed to provide home nursing and domestic help when the necessary staff has been trained to make such a proposal practicable. The Government will also provide for an extended health education, this being a continuation of measures to educate the public in the promotion of health and , the prevention of disease. “It will be remembered.” the Prime , Minister continued, “that tlie Government instituted for the first time in New Zealand’s history in 1930 an invalidity pension of 20s per week plus 10s for ttie wife, plus 10s for each child under 10 with a maximum pension of tk* We now find it possible to increase this pension to 30s per week. The maximum pension will remain at £*; there will be an allowable Income in addition to pension of 20s In the case of a single person and 30s In the case of a married invalid. Invalidity Pensions “The institution of the invalidity pension revealed the fact that there •re numbers of people in the community who cannot qualify as permanent invalids hut f**r whom some security should be provided. The Government’s proposal is to establish a sickness benefit, but the rates and conditions will be determined after the Parliamentary Committee has heard the evidence.” Mr Savage added that the Government proposed to co-operate with the friendly societies to utilise their serf Vices for paying this amount to their members. In addition to sickness benefits it would be necessary to provide for those who were not sick and who were not invalids but whom illcoss or injury had rendered incapable of earning a complete livelihood.

It was impossible to tlx any scale for such cases and tlie Government would determine the rates in individual cases according to particular circumstances. For those who were unable to find work sustenance benefits would be provided at present rates except that the children’s allowance, which was at present 4s per child, would be increased to 3s. “We have already increased the widows’ pension by 10s a week and we propose to increase it still further to 25s,’’ said Mr Savage. “At present the pension is payable for children until they reach 15 years of age. It Is now proposed to increase this age to 16 years and the pension may be continued in special cases to 18 years, while the children remain at school. The allowable Income in addition to pension will be 30s. Advantages to Widows “But one of the disadvantages arising out of the legislation in the past has been that the widow lost her pen- : sion when her youngest child reached the age of 15 years. That anomaly will he rectified. Wc intend to make provision for her by providing a pension of 20s with an allowable income above the pension of 20s whatever her ape might be when the youngest child attains tlie age of 16 years. Every widow who is otherwise eligible and who did once receive the pension which was discontinued because her children reached 15 years of age will be eligible to receive this pension. j “It will be realised that this does ' not cover the cases of a number of widows because of Hi' - fact that they have been childless. The position of these childless widows will be met by the institution of a pension of 20s ' per week with 20s allowable income, j in addition, from the age of 30 years ! at whatever age they were widowed, provided that they had been married for 13 years, or if*they were widowed after they had reached the age of 50 years, they will receive ttic pension provided that the marriage had lasted for not less than five years. The wnen the w dow remarries or when ' she attains tin* age at which she wiil <;uUify !’•■•• Stite superinnuation. “The pension instituted in 1936 for deserted wives with children will, o: course, he increased in conformity with the increase in widows’ pension Ntw. So also the wife of a mental hospital patient wiil receive a pension at widows’ pension rates so long as see is otherwise eligible and her bus- 1 she is otherwise eligible and her bus- | “Under the present legislation the ■ children of a widow who received a ! widows’ pension continue to receive • the children’s rate or pension arrer j the mother dies,” the Prime Minister

• went on. “If, however, the mother 1 died ilrst and the father later, there is s at present no provision for the payment of pensions to the children. We l intend to see that all children, irre- « spective of which parent died first, t who are left orphaned under the age > of 16 years, shall receive an adequate pension, and the amount is now being, fixed at 13s. This amount will be i paid to the relatives or guardians of the children who are willing to give • them the same care and attention as though they were in their own homes. Higher Family Allowances “There has been a great deal of talk concerning the need for increased i population, and surely the best nursery is the home. Recognising this the Government proposes to increase the family allowance appreciably. The present allowance is 2s for each child from the third onwards, with a maximum income of £4 plus the allowance, i The Government proposes to increase the amount for the third and each subsequent child to 4s per week; to continue it until the child reaches 16 and to pay it in cases where the family income, not including allowance, does not exceed £5 per week. “The miners have not been forgotten. The miners’ pension will be increased to 30s per week. “So far as war pensions are concerned, it is recognised by the soldiers . themselves that the present rates of I pension are reasonable and that the 1 conditions under which the grants are made are extremely fair. It is pro- : posed to increase the war veterans’ allowance to the following scale, name- , ly 25s for the veteran, plus 15s for . his wife, plus 5s for each child, with a i maximum of £3 10s, and an allowance i income in addition, to the pension of 20s. The Superannuation Scheme ! “Perhaps the class in the community who have looked forward with •n- st mticii at on to the Government’s action in establishing greater social security are the group who are approaching the age at which they are no longer aide to earn a full livelihood. “The needs of such people in the past have been partially met by the old age pension system. There is I no need for me to emphasise the great 1 social benefit that has accrued through i the years from this pension. i)iir j proposal is to go far beyond what i 'vas originally contemplated hv those j who instituted this pioneer movement j ana wen neyona wnat we have attained to-day.

"Our proposal is, In the meantimes, that at age 60, men and women will receive 30s per week each for the remailer of their days, and in addition to this State superannuation there will be allowed an income of 20s, from other sources, either in the case of an individual or a married couple. Thus a single man will be able to receive up to £2 10s including his superannuation and a married couple otherwise eligible may receive up to £4 Including superannuation. “These proposals will give some idea of the scope of the benefits that ■will be provided,” Mr Savage continued. “I want to emphasise that they are by no means the climax of the Government's endeavours to establish complete social security, but it will he pretty generally admitted that they are a substantial instalment. “There is no need for me to emphasise that at present these are the proposals of Ihe Government. They will be put before the Parliamentary Committee which has been set up to hear evidence concerning the effect of these proposals on all phases of our national life.- They may in some respects be amended, modified or extended, in accordance with the evidence that is produced before the Committee, but I can promise the people of this country that before very long they will have reached a condition of social security unsurpassed in any other country in the world. Method of Financing “Now we come to the cost. I notice that some critics anticipate a very heavy increase in direct taxation to lTnance the Government’s proposals and possibly many listening to-night will imagine that these substantial increases in social progress are going to cost an enormous amount,” he said. “So they will—but perhaps I ought to remind listeners that a few years ago we were paying Is in the £ on wages and incomes (greatly below present standard rates), and, although the tax was high, the benefits were appallingly inadequate. “Well now, we are going back to 1a In the £l, but what will you received for It this time?” asked Mr Savage. Unemployment benefits far in excess of 1933 level. Sickness benefits for the first time in our history. Incapacity benefits (also a new provision) . A generous increase in invalidity pensions. A very substantial increase in the scope and benefits of widows’ pensions. The institution of orphans’ pensions. Increases for miners, war veterans, and the recipients of family allowances. The institution of a universal health service for all classes of the community. “As a crown to these achievements there will be the institution of a State superannuation service that willremove once and for all the fear of want in the eventide of life. “You will realise that a contribution of 18 In the £ cannot pay for all these services and It was never Intended that It should. The State will subsidise the contributions £ for £ creating a load on the Exchequer that could only be borne by a country made Increasingly prosperous by the deliberate policy of the Government. “After all, the production of a country is the only course from which benefits can derive,” Mr Savage added. “The Government’s policy of utilising our wonderful resources and expanding production—primary and secondary —will enable us to give this social security for all, along the lines that I have mentioned, and to extend from time to time the scope of the benefits according to the urgency of the community’s needs. Benefits to Start Next April “The Parliamentary Committee will begin consideration of these proposals next week. After they have heard the evidence they will report to the Government, when the necessary legislation will be drafted for submission to Parliament during the next session. “When the Bill becomes law the Government will immediately prepare the necessary machinery to inaugurate the new Social Security Department and the benefits I have mentioned will be paid as from April 1 of next year, when the social security contributions commence. “I am sure you appreciate that the organisation of the new department required to administer a scheme of such dimensions is a huge task,” said Mr Savage. “The preparation of this departmental machinery and the negotiations with the institutions affected by the scheme will take several months of heavy work. We intend to see that every detail of organisation is thoroughly worked out so that, once the scheme has commenced, there shall be no hitch in giving to the people (he security which we intend they shall have. “The Emergency Unemployment charge will be abolished, I hope, forever, and in its stead comes the Social Security contribution, which will provide, may I reiterate, tne following benefits:— All necessary health attention. Sickness and incapacity benefits, Invalidity pensions. Widows’ pensions on a better scale than ever before, Provision for orphans, Better treatment for war veterans, family allowances on higher scales and the Best State superannuation system that has yet been recorded anywhere.