§ 27. Mr. STEPHENasked the Minister of Labour the number of workers at present covered by the various trade boards and the lowest minimum wage of an adult male and female worker, respectively, sanctioned by such trade boards?
§ Miss BONDFIELDThe number of workers covered by trade boards is estimated to be approximately 1,300,000. The lowest general minimum time rates fixed for adult workers are for males a rate of 39s. 1d. per week of 48 hours for certain workers in the jute trade; and for females 24s. per week for women engaged in the flax and hemp trade and in the drift net mending trade. There is a minimum rate of 22s. for women engaged in the manufacture of aerated waters in the Orkneys and Shetlands.
| Country. | Towns covered. | Index numbers based on food. | Index numbers based on food, fuel, light and soap. | |
| (a) Based on hourly time rates of wages. | ||||
| Great Britain | … | London, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle. | 100 | 100 |
| Austria | … | Vienna, Graz, Linz | 53 | 52 |
| France | … | Paris, Bordeaux, Lyons, Marseilles | 59 | 58 |
| Germany | … | Berlin, Breslau, Hamburg, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich. | 77 | 77 |
| Italy | … | Rome, Bologna, Brescia, Genoa, Milan, Turin, Trieste. | 51 | 43 |
| Netherlands | … | The Hague, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht. | 89 | 87 |
| (b) Based on actual earnings.* | ||||
| Czechoslovakia | … | Prague, Bratislava, Brno | 77 | 74 |
| Denmark | … | Copenhagen | 112 | 112 |
| Poland | … | Warsaw, Katowitz, Lodz, Poznan | 68 | 65 |
| Sweden | … | Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmo | 115 | 113 |
| * These index numbers would be somewhat lower if based on a figure of actual earnings in Great Britain instead of on time rates of wages. |
§ The above index numbers are subject to certain reservations, which are explained in the "International Labour Review"; in particular they are based on the wages of workers in a limited number of towns, industries, and occupations, and no account is taken of differences in the relative costs of housing