Mr. SIMONasked the Minister of Labour whether she can give an index number of wages for December, 1930, or 1200W for the latest available month, as against the average wage level during the year 1926 for England and Germany, respectively?
§ Miss BONDFIELDFor Germany, the available information, relating to wage rates fixed by collective agreements for adult workers in the principal industries, indicates that in September, 1930, the latest date for which full particulars have been published, weekly full time rates of wages showed increases, as compared with the average level of the year 1926, averaging approximately 19 per cent. for skilled workers and 22 per cent. for unskilled workers. In Great Britain, weekly full time rates of wages, both in September and in December, 1930, are estimated, on the basis of such information as is in the possession of the Ministry of Labour, to have been between 2 and 2½ per cent. on average, below the level of 1926. These figures do not reflect changes in actual earnings resulting from variations in the state of employment and other causes, as to which statistics are not available. As regards real wages, according to statistics published by the International Labour Office, the purchasing power in terms of food of wages in Berlin, 1926, was about 70 per cent. of the purchasing power of wages in London, while in July, 1930, the corresponding index number for Germany (six towns only) was 74 as compared with 100 for Great Britain (seven towns only), the basis of these index numbers having been changed.