§ Sir G. Jonesasked the Minister of Labour the average rise in wage rates, including agriculture, which has occurred since the war, in England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States of America?
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§ Mr. BevinOn the basis of such information as is available to my Department, relating mainly to rates of wages fixed by statutory orders or by collective agreements between organisations of employers and workpeople, it is estimated that the average increase in weekly full-time rates of wages in the United Kingdom between the beginning of the war and the end of December, 1942, was about 32 or 33 per cent. For Australia and New Zealand the most recent particulars in my possession relate to the first quarter of 1942, and to the end of June, 1942, respectively. In Australia, statistics published by the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics show an average increase, in the weekly rates of wages for adult workmen, of approximately 13 per cent. between the third quarter of 1939 and the first quarter of 1942. In New Zealand, statistics published by the Census and Statistics Department show an average increase, in the weekly rates of wages for adult workmen, of approximately 11 per cent. between the end of June, 1939, and the end of June, 1942. Corresponding particulars are not available as regards all classes of workers combined, but in Australia the official statistics show an increase of approximately 11½ per cent. in the weekly rates of wages of adult women, between the end of June, 1939, and the end of December, 1941. For South Africa and for the United States of America statistics are not available showing the average amount of increase in wage rates generally during the war.