WHAT ENGLAND IS DOING
What England is Doing To Lessen Misery Among the Workers by Providing for Sickness and Unemployment THE BILL recently introduced in the English Parliament by Mr. Lloyd George, creating an...
...However, there are exceptions...
...In addition there will be two comparatively small classes of voluntary contributors, (1) small tradesmen and men working for themselves...
...The benefits to be paid in return for these contributions are as follows: (1) Free medical relief to all insured, (the doctors of the friendly societies are to be better paid and wherever a chemist is available the drugging is to be separated from the doctoring...
...workmen, 8 cents a week...
...NEWS NOTES — The new liberty bell in Independence hail, Philadelphia, was rung for the first time Memorial day...
...Commission agents employed by more than one person, and eertain classes of the most casual sort -of laborers—otherwise, the scheme as a whole is compulsory, and workmen, employers and the State will all contribute in their separate proportions...
...1.25 for men and women during subsequent three months...
...It deals with insurance against (1) sickness and invalidity...
...work women, 6 cents a week...
...Persons over 50, therefore, will receive reduced benefits...
...6) Young persons under 16 years will not receive sick pay allowance, but will receive medical treatment and the use of the sanatoria...
...other exceptions are servants of the Crown and municipalities, with retiring pensions...
...On the average, workers must not receive more than one week's benefit for every five weeks' contributions, a stipulation to eliminate imposition...
...The trade unions will pay their unemployed benefit to their members and then claim from the fund the amounts which the men would have received had they been dealing with the labor exchanges...
...The contributions are to be— (1), the workmen will pay 5 cents a week...
...2) those who have once been employed by others but afterwards work for themselves...
...3) the State- will pay ft of the total cost...
...Nothing is paid at death, this branch of insurance being left entirely to existing agencies...
...namely soldiers, sailors and teachers, who are to be provided for under special schemes...
...A very substantial abatement is to be made to employers if they will undertake to insure the whole of their workmen for a year...
...A heavy initial loss is expected...
...2) unemployment...
...No payment will be made for the first week of unemployment and none at all where it is due to the misconduct of the workmen or to strikes or lockouts...
...In these cases the employer will pay higher contributions...
...5) Special help in cases of consumption...
...The benefits are to be: (1) In the engineering trades, $1.75 a week for 15 weeks...
...The seven-ton bell is to be the successor to the original bell in striking a patriotic note on national holidays...
...4) In cases of permanent disablement allowance of $1.25 per week, (made to both men and women up to the age of 70, when the patient will be transferred to the old age pension fund...
...In the case of workmen receiving only $3.75 a week their contributions will be 6 cents a week...
...a large proportion of whom are in friendly societies...
...The contributions of the older persens will not warrant the payment of the substantial benefits in the scale at the present time...
...employer, 6 cents a week, and the state, for men and women alike 4 cents a week...
...All persons of all ages up to 65 are on exactly the same scale of contribution...
...It is contended that the heavy initial loss will be wholly wiped out in 15 1/2 years, and it is believed that at the end of that period the benefits can be substantially increased by the invested profits obtained from those who enter young...
...Lloyd George, creating an insurance against sickness, invalidity and unemployment is interesting...
...The salient points of the unemployment insurance are as follows: First, the machinery will be the labor exchanges...
...The scheme will apply both to men and women, with the proviso that married women must also be able to show that they work for wages...
...2) Weekly allowance for the first three months of illness, $2.50 for men, $1.87 for women...
...4 cents for those earning $3.00 a week and 2 cents for those earning $2.25...
...2) the employer, will pay 5 cents a week...
...For all these compulsory and voluntary contributors there will be one uniform class, and contributions will be as follows...
...3) An allowance of $7.50 will be paid in each case of maternity, providing the mother does not return to work within four weeks...
...that is, all earning less than $15 a week...
...2) In the building trades, $1.50 for fifteen weeks...
...second, only two great groups of trades, the engineering and the building, will be benefited by the scheme, numbering some 2,400,000 workmen...
...During period of sickness there will be no deduction of the contribution from the actual benefits, and to prevent lapses through unemployment every contributor will be allowed three weeks a year margin in which his contributions need not be paid, nor will the policy lapse until he has failed to pay for thirteen weeks, though after three weeks the benefits will be reduced...
...It is intended the entire Act will come into full force on May 1, 1912...
...The scheme is to include all wage earning men and women and young persons who are not included in the income tax paying class...
Vol. 3 • June 1911 • No. 23
