1.—6.

11. NATIONAL SUPERANNUATION AND SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS. (5) To provide for superannuation and security against disability it is proposed Invalidity Benefits. (a) That a payment of 30s. per week be made to invalids when certified as permanently unfit for employment, with supplementary payments to the wife and each dependent child of the invalid of 10s. per week, with a maximum benefit of £4 per week ; this benefit to supersede the existing pension of 20s. per week. Sickness Benefit. (b) That sickness benefit of appropriate amounts be paid to men and women during periods when they are prevented from earning a livelihood by reason of sickness or accident ; provision to be made for the payment of this benefit to the members of friendly societies through those societies. Disability Benefit. (c) That disability benefits be made available for persons who cannot qualify for invalidity, sickness, or sustenance benefit or State superannuation, but who are otherwise physically or mentally disabled from earning a livelihood. Sustenance Benefits. (■d) That sustenance benefits be paid to persons who are capable of, and available for, work, but for whom work cannot be found ; that the rates of benefit be 205., plus, if married, 15s. for wife with ss. for each dependent child, in lieu of the present rate of 4s. Widowed Mothers' Benefits. (e) That a social-security benefit be paid to widowed mothers at the rate of 255. per week and 10s. per week for each dependent child ; the benefit to continue until the child reaches the age of sixteen years (instead of fifteen years as at present), and, in special circumstances, until the age of eighteen years, so long as the child is still at school; this to replace the existing widow's pension of 20s. per week. Wives of inmates of mental hospitals to qualify as at present, and deserted wives with dependent children. Widows' Benefits. (/) That widows' benefits be payable— (i) At any age to a widow who has previously drawn a widowed mother's benefit and whose youngest child has reached the age at which the benefit ceased : (ii) To a widow who has not previously drawn a widowed mother's benefit — (a) If she was widowed before age fifty and has been married for not less than fifteen years, the benefit to be payable from age fifty ; (b) If she has been widowed after age fifty and has been married for not less than five years the benefit to be payable from date of commencement of widowhood. Orphans' Benefits. (g) That orphans' benefits be payable to relatives or guardians who have been approved as foster-parents, at the rate of 15s. per week in respect of orphans under the age of sixteen years. Family Allowance. (h) That the family allowance be paid at the rate of 4s. per week in respect of the third and subsequent children ; the maximum allowable income to be £5 per week, plus the allowance (instead of the present provision of £4 per week plus the allowance) ; the allowance to continue to be payable in respect of eligible children until they reach the age of sixteen years.

3