When Relief Exceeds Wages It would certainly be wrong if
the Unemployment Assistance Board offered relief on a scale exceeding the rate of wages current in any given district. But there are occasions, as Mr. G. Macdonald pointed out in Tuesday's debate on the new regulations, when this principle will lead to a reduction of the standard scale of relief. He quoted the case of miners with four children now earning only 32s. 6d. a week. The standard scale of relief for such a family under the regulations is 38s. ; but a reduction of 5s. 6d. becomes necessary if the amount is not to exceed the normal district wage. The real grievance here is not against the rules of the Board but against mining conditions which admit of an intolerably low wage. Mr. Macdonald's argument points not to a change in the principles of relief but to a change in wage conditions, possibly in the direction of family allowances. The regulations as a whole do provide, on as liberal a scale as could be hoped for, for the needs of an average family, with sufficient elasticity to meet special cases. But their working certainly ought to be reviewed by the House of Commons after a few months.
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