Allowances for Service Men's Families
The House of Commons has been of one mind in express- mg its views about the inadequacy of the allowances for the children of men in the fighting forces, and the Government has wisely bowed to its opinion in raising the rates to 4s. for the second child and 3s. for all other children. Thus, whilst the rate for a wife with one child remains at 29s. a week, substantial additions will be made where the families are large. If this, although it is considerable, had been the only concession, it would not have relieved the anxieties of thousands of men who have been drawn into the war and have special obligations, such as liability for house-rent. Nothing is more repugnant to public opinion than the thought that service men's families should be ejected from their houses because they cannot pay the rent. Mr. Hore- Belisha has announced that to meet such cases additional allowances may be granted up to £2 a week by the Military Service Advisory Committee. This probably is as much as can be expected. • The State can hardly be required to make provision on a scale higher than that which prevails in average working-class households. Needless to say, the pay- ments do not meet the case of the families of middle-class wage-earners, which are threatened with a distressing fall in the standard of living unless ex-employers or others are able to make up the difference between civil and military earnings.
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