§ Mr. T. WILLIAMSasked the Minister of Labour (1) the percentage increase in money wages on 1st June, 1933, over the 1914 level;
(2) the percentage increase in real wages on 1st June, 1933, over the 1914 level?
§ Sir H. BETTERTONThe information in the possession of the Ministry of Labour is insufficient to provide a basis774W for precise calculations, but it is estimated, from such particulars as are available, that for workpeople of corresponding grades weekly full-time rates of wages, at 1st June, were about 65 per cent., on average, above the level of July, 1914. The average level of working-class cost of living at 1st June, as indicated by the statistics compiled by the Ministry of Labour, was approximately 36 per cent. above that of July, 1914. On this basis, the average increase in "real" rates of wages for a full week would appear to have been about 21 per cent. These figures take no account of changes in average earnings resulting from increased unemployment and short-time working, or from changes in the proportions of workers paid at time and at piece rates of wages, as to which comprehensive statistics are not available.