INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE

STUDIES AND REPORTS
Series B (Economic Conditions) No. 34

The Labour Situation
in

Great Britain
A Survey: M a y - O c t o b e r 1940

MONTREAL, 1941
Published in the United Kingdom for the INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE
By P. S. KING & SON, Ltd.

Orchard House, 44 Great Smith Street, Westminster, London, S.W. 1.

CONTENTS
PREFACE

T h e Political Background
T h e Machinery of Control
Economic Policy
T h e Regulation of Labour Supply
Registration of Men for the Armed Forces
The Schedule of Reserved Occupations
"Combing Out" Skilled Men from the Forces
Regulating the Distribution of Civilian Labour
T h e Transference of Labour
Industrial Training
Foreign Workers
Employment and Unemployment
Wages and Earnings
Real Wages
Wages in the Principal Industry Groups
Agricultural Wages
Hours of Work and Holidays
Industrial Welfare
Seamen's Welfare
Industrial Health and Prevention of Accidents
Industrial Relations
Trade Unions and the Employment of Women
Trade Union Co-operation with the Government
Trade Union Membership
The Trades Union Congress
T h e Standard of Living
T h e Social Consequences of Air Attack
Changes in Taxation
Rationing
Nutrition Policy
T h e Rise in Prices
T h e Social Services

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PREFACE

T.

T h e purpose of this survey is to present a general picture of the
manner in which Great Britain adapted its administrative machinery and
its labour and social policies and practices to the needs of total war
during the period May-October 1940. T h e situation portrayed is not a
stable one; it is constantly changing to meet the necessities of the moment
and of the immediate ' future. - Indeed the situation to-day is already in
some respects very different from that existing at the end of the period
covered in these pages. Nevertheless, the International Labour Office publishes this survey in the belief that it will enable readers to interpret more
accurately both the action already taken and subsequent developments.
Information on these developments is to be found in the monthly International Labour Review, a publication of the International Labour Office.
This survey was prepared in the London Branch of the International
Labour Office by Mr. A. D . K. O W E N , Stevenson Lecturer in Citizenship at the University of Glasgow and Secretary of the Civic Division
of P . E . P . (Political and Economic Planning), and Mr. Neil LITTLE,
a member of the Geneva staff of the International Labour Office.

The Labour Situation In Great Britain
A Survey: May-October 1940

T H E POLITICAL B A C K G R O U N D

Since the first week of M a y 1940 the economic and social life of
Great Britain has been dominated by the tremendous events which have
taken place across the narrow waters and, later, in the sky above the
island. During the earlier months of the war military and industrial mobilisation, air-raid precautions, the evacuation of children and nursing mothers
from areas thought to be vulnerable, and a mild instalment of rationing
and price control, bore witness to the fact that the community was undergoing an unusual strain, but hardly more. On the other hand many
old controversies, which had embittered political life and industrial relations, had been dropped, and there was evidence of quite remarkable
unity of feeling and opinion on the major issue of the war.
The
Government, with the approval of the Labour and Liberal Opposition, had
taken sweeping powers under emergency legislation at the outbreak of war,
and an impressive system of wartime controls, involving a considerable
expansion of the central administration and the creation of a regional
administrative organisation, had been established. But the tempo of the
war in the West seemed to reflect itself in the leisurely manner in which
some of Britain's war preparations were being carried out. There were
criticisms of lagging production, imperfect co-ordination of departmental
planning, and lack of imagination and zeal in the prosecution of the war
effort as a whole. The fact that unemployment had declined so slowly,
in spite of the calling up of hundreds of thousands of men and the demands
of the war supply industries, was held by many to be symptomatic of the
Government's failure to organise the community effectively for the conduct
of modern war.
T h e invasion of Scandinavia and the subsequent military reverses in
Norway opened up an entirely new phase in the British war effort. A s
soon as the extent and circumstances of the Norwegian reverses became
widely known, criticism of the Government sharpened and, following a
remarkable drop in their parliamentary majority, Mr. Chamberlain's Government resigned. They gave place to a new Government under Mr. Winston Churchill, which included several prominent members of the Labour
and Liberal Parties. Before this Government was actually formed, the

4

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

German invasion of the Low Countries destroyed any illusions which may
have remained that the war could be won without supreme exertion and
sacrifice. Within a few weeks of the formation of the new Government
the sensational successes of the German armies in Holland, Belgium, and
France, the surrender of the King of the Belgians, the evacuation from
Dunkirk, and, finally, the collapse of France, brought the people of Britain
face-to-face with an immediate threat of invasion and the possibility of
defeat.
During the summer months political, economic and social developments
in Great Britain were governed by two major factors: (1) the exigencies
of the military situation, and (2) the influence of the Labour Party on the
Government's domestic policy. The military situation was one of unparalleled gravity, and the main task of the new Government was to organise
the defence of Great Britain against the immediate threat of invasion and
to mobilise all the nation's resources of manpower and materials to make
good the losses at Dunkirk and to overtake the enemy's lead in war preparedness, especially in those departments — military aviation and mechanised land warfare — where this lead had been most plainly demonstrated
by the events in France.
In undertaking this formidable task, the Government had the almost
unanimous support of the House of Commons and public opinion, and they
were in a position to take whatever measures seemed necessary — however
radical they might be — to deal with the situation. The presence in the
Government of well-known labour leaders, with the full backing of the
Labour Party and the Trades Union Congress, made it possible to take
action on which a less representative administration could not have embarked
without risk of public opposition. At the same time, the labour leaders
were able to insist on certain elements in domestic policy which have helped
appreciably to strengthen the sense of national unity which a common danger
has engendered. Their influence is plainly to be seen in revised regulations
governing the administration of supplementary old-age pensions; the new
scales of workmen's compensation and other social insurance payments ; the
improved Service pensions; the announced modification of the "Means
Test"; the greater participation of trade union representatives in official
activities; the creation of an industrial welfare department at the Ministry
of Labour; and the raising òf the Excess Profits Duty to 100 per cent.
When the new Government took office on 11 May 1940, the Germans had already invaded the Low Countries. Ten days later, they had
reached Amiens, and Mr. Attlee, until lately leader of His Majesty's
Opposition, now a member of the War Cabinet and Deputy Leader of
the House of Commons, rose to introduce the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act, 1940. This Act had all the appearance of revolutionary legis-

THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND

5

lalion. It extended the powers already conferred upon the King by the
Emergency Powers (Defence) Act, 1939, to include the power to make
Defence Regulations "for requiring persons to place themselves, their services and their property at the disposal of His Majesty", and also prolonged the Act of 1939 by another year. The situation, declared Mr.
Attlee, was so critical that the Government were compelled to seek special
powers. They must mobilise to the full the whole resources of the country.
Every private interest must give way to the urgent needs of the community.
The Government should be given complete control over persons and property, not just some persons of some particular class of the community, but
all persons, rich and poor, employer and workman, man and woman, and
all property. And, lest there should be any doubt as to the implications of
this measure, Defence Regulations were immediately issued which gave the
Minister of Supply extensive powers over "controlled undertakings" and
conferred upon the Minister of Labour and National Service the power to
direct any person in the United Kingdom to perform any services or to register himself as directed.
These apparently far-reaching legislative measures were followed up
by administrative action over a wide field aiming at the intensification of
the industrial war effort. It is worth remarking that this was achieved with
comparatively little use of the compulsory powers which had been provided.
A thorough overhaul of the machinery of Government control exercised by
the Ministry of Supply had considerable results. Even more important,
however, was the extraordinary response of employers, managers, and workers, in all the important war supply industries to the appeal for greater output. Hard-won and long-established labour standards, embodied in protective legislation and collective agreements, were temporarily abandoned, and
extremely long hours were worked, often without week-end respite. Meanwhile an agreement was reached by the British Employers* Confederation
and the Trades Union Congress that there should be no stoppage of work
owing to trade disputes, and that disputes which could not be settled by
the normal machinery of collective bargaining should be referred for decision to a National Arbitration Tribunal.
By the end of September, a remarkable change had taken place.
France had been lost and the threat of invasion remained. But the coastal
defences of Great Britain were greatly strengthened; a voluntary Home
Guard, with nearly a million and a half members, had been recruited1 ;
strides had been taken towards replacing the military equipment left behind
in France and the aircraft lost in battle ; and a series of mass aerial attacks
by day on the South-East of England had been defeated. By this time,
1

On 20 October, Sir Edward Grigg, Under-Secretary for War, announced
that the Home Guard now numbered 1,700,000.

6

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

however, heavy night raids on London had begun, and these had given rise
to a new set of industrial and administrative problems. Meanwhile the
effects of the fatigue produced by the long hours worked during the summer months were beginning to be reflected in flagging output. And public
criticism of some aspects of the Government's policy showed that the
"honeymoon" period of the new administration was over. Mr. Churchill
decided that the time had come for ministerial changes, and a reshuffle of
appointments was begun on 3 October. Among other changes, Sir Andrew
Duncan replaced Mr. Herbert Morrison as Minister of Supply, and Mr.
Morrison succeeded Sir John Anderson at the Ministry of Home Security.
The month of October was dominated by the problems raised by the
intensive night bombing of London. T h e evacuation of mothers and children, invalids, and old people, to the safer countryside, and the safety and
welfare of the population, of London, were the chief preoccupations of the
Ministers of Health and Home Security. T h e maintenance of output and
the protection of industrial workers during air raids were matters of grave
concern at the Ministry of Supply and at the Ministry of Labour and National Service. On the other hand, there was some cause for general satisfaction that the threat of invasion seemed to have been removed for the
winter months. T h e mood of the country was still grim, and there was some
disposition to criticise Ministers for their failure to use the powers with
which they had been endowed. The view of some commentators that the
Emergency Powers Act had abrogated civil liberty in Great Britain was
scarcely justified by the facts. Certainly neither Mr. Bevin nor Mr. Morrison could be accused of excessive zeal in the exercise of compulsion in
respect of persons or property. And the fact that some 101 minor industrial
disputes, involving the loss of 8 7 , 0 0 0 working days, took place during the
month of October 1 must be taken into account by those who assume that
the Emergency Powers Act and the creation of the National Arbitration
Tribunal have had the result of eliminating industrial stoppages.

THE MACHINERY OF CONTROL

The first important domestic measure introduced by the new Government was the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act, 1940, which has already been described. It was followed up' by an overhaul of the machinery
of Government control of economic and social affairs. On 4 June Mr.
1
In October 1939, there were 90 disputes, involving the loss of 102,000
working days; but see the comparative figures for the whole period MayOctober 1939 and May-October 1940 given on page 38.

THE MjteHINERY OF CONTROL

7

Attlee announced 1 that the Cabinet direction of these questions was to be
in the hands of five Ministerial bodies:
(1)
The Production Council (under the chairmanship of Mr.
Arthur Greenwood, Minister without Portfolio, and including the SerTice Ministers, the Minister of Labour and National Service, the Minister of Supply, and the President of the Board of Trade") would exercise
general control over the Government's production programme;
(2)
The Economic Policy Committee (also under the chairmanship of Mr. Greenwood) would concert and direct general economic
policy;
(3)
The Food Policy Committee (under the chairmanship of Mr.
C. R. Attlee) would be responsible for food production and food supplies;
(4)
The Home Policy Committee (also under the chairmanship
of Mr. Attlee) would be in charge of "Home Front" questions and social
policy; and
(5)
The Civil Defence Committee (under the chairmanship of
the Minister of Home Security) would be responsible for every aspect
of civil defence.
T o co-ordinate these five committees there was to be another Cabinet
Committee, under the chairmanship of Mr. Neville Chamberlain (later
replaced by Sir John Anderson), including Mr. Attlee, Mr. Greenwood,
and Sir Kingsley Wood (Chancellor of the Exchequer). A n official research organisation, described as the Survey of Economic and Financial
Plans, which had been working for some months under the chairmanship
of Lord Stamp, would be at the disposal of the Ministerial Committees and
would prepare digests and reports.
Important changes also took place in the Departments. The organisation of the Ministry of Supply was overhauled, and the twelve Area
Boards, which had been set up by Mr. Bürgin, the former Minister2, for
the better co-ordination of official action in each area and for the settlement of local difficulties concerning production and contract priorities, were
reconstituted. Henceforth they were to include three representatives of employers and three representatives of trade unions, in addition to the official
area representatives of the Ministries of Labour, Supply, and Aircraft Production, the Admiralty, and the Board of Trade. When these changes
were announced in the House of Commons on 2 4 July it was stated 3 that
the official members of the Area Boards would continue to be responsible
1
2

Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons, 4 June 1940.

Mr. Bürgin announced in the House of Commons on 8 May that the 12
Area Boards had at length been set up.
3
The announcement was made by Mr. Harold Macmillan, Parliamentary
Secretary to the Ministry of SuppJ/ and Chairman of the Industrial Capacity Committee.

8

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

to their own Departments, but that the Area Boards in their corporate
capacity would be responsible directly to the Industrial Capacity Committee
of the Production Council. Meanwhile several important changes were made
in the higher personnel of the Ministry of Supply and the various "controls"
associated with it. A Tank Board was established to intensify production
in a section of the war effort which had been shown in the Battle of
France to be seriously deficient. And the pressing demand for cement and
other building materials for military and civil defence works and the Government's building programme made it necessary to bring building materials
under official control in October.1 A further step was taken early in October
when a Ministry of Works and Buildings was established, with Lord Reith
(then Sir John Reith, Minister of Transport) as Minister. This Ministry
wai made responsible for the erection of all new civil works and buildings
required by Government Departments2 (except those of a specialised character carried out for the Service Departments). It was made the licensing
authority for all private building and was also given the task of deciding
the priority of repairs to buildings damaged in air raids. The Minister has
become a member of the Production Council. He is also to report to the
Cabinet upon the measures necessary for reconstructing town and country
after the war.3
The crying need for more aeroplanes led to the creation of a separate
Ministry of Aircraft Production, under the leadership of Lord Beaverbrook, when the new Government was formed. Hard work and shock tactics appear to have led to an astonishing increase in output. It must be
recorded, however, that the vigour with which the claims of aircraft production for priority over all other forms of industrial effort have been
championed has not been without its embarrassments for concerns engaged
on other work of first importance.
In addition to the developments which have been described above,
many other new administrative arrangements were made during the summer and autumn. The arrangements made for the regulation of labour
supply and the control of employment will be described in a later section.
The difficulties of the coal industry since the loss of its European markets
have been grappled with by the Coal Production Council, a representative
body of coalowners, trade unionists, and coal consumers, which was set up
by Mr. Chamberlain's Government4, but which has since been supplemented
1
2

Ministry of Labour Gazette, October 1940, p. 264.

T h e new Ministry absorbed t n e Office of W o r k s , which was previously
responsible for all Government Buildings.
3
Statement by Mr. C. R. Attlee in t n e House of Commons, 24 O c t o b e r
1940.
* 5 April 1940.

ECONOMIC POLICY

9

by a system of regional councils of the same type. New arrangements have
been made by the Ministry of Food for the organisation of communal feeding and by the Ministry of Health for the welfare of homeless victims of
air raids in London and elsewhere. And the Unemployment Assistance
Board, whose functions were extended at the outbreak of war to include
the prevention and relief of distress due to war conditions, became responsible for the administration of supplementary old-age pensions on 1 July,
taking the shorter title Assistance Board as an indication of its wider functions.
ECONOMIC POLICY
The major objectives of British economic policy were not affected by
the change of Government or by the military events of the early summer,
though new stimuli were given to their more effective pursuit and some
revision of industrial priorities took place. The task was seen even more
plainly to be that of mobilising all the man-power and material resources
of the nation for the purpose of waging war, and it was recognised that
this implied a large-scale diversion of resources from the production of
goods and services for civilian use to the production of the trained men
and equipment needed for successful military operations. The positive part
of this task was undertaken by the Service Ministries and the Ministries
of Supply, Aircraft Production, and Labour, co-ordinated by the new
Production Council. Negatively, the Treasury, the Board of Trade, and
the Ministry of Supply "Controllers", play an important part by restricting
civilian consumption and releasing man-power, capital, equipment, and raw
materials, for use in the war sector.
Reference has already been made to some developments in the scope
and machinery of economic control under the new Government and to the
measures adopted to increase war production. Further restriction of civilian
consumption was sought chiefly by means of (1) increased taxation, (2)
encouraging voluntary savings, and (3) the limitation of supplies.
On 29 May the Finance Bill, which was introduced by Sir Kingsley
Wood, made provision for considerably increased taxation, including an
increase in Excess Profits Duty to 100 per cent; higher rates of income
tax (tapping lower levels of income) and postage dues; and the introduction of a Purchase Tax. A supplementary budget introduced on 24 July
imposed further increases in direct taxation and made provision for the
deduction of income tax at source by employers for the whole range of
salary and wage earners. Duties on beer, tobacco, wines, and entertainments,
were also increased. On the other hand the Purchase Tax was modified.
The flat rate "ad valorem" duty was abandoned, and two distinct rates

10

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

were introduced—one for luxuries, another for conventional necessaries.
T h e rate on luxuries was 3 3 % per cent, wholesale or 2 4 per cent, retail.
The rate on other goods was 16% per cent, wholesale or 12 per cent.
retail. All food, children's clothing, and footwear, and, as a result of
Parliamentary pressure, books and periodicals, were exempt.
T h e new Government continued to rely on the voluntary savings
movement and showed no greater disposition than its predecessor to adopt
a policy of compulsory borrowing for war purposes. By the end of the
first year of the war, savings over £475 million were raised by voluntary
means, a small proportion being loans without interest. Increased awareness of the vital importance of fighter aircraft led to another interesting
financial development during the summer. Lord Beaverbrook has disclosed
mat voluntary subscriptions to "Spitfire" and other similar funds have
yielded sums sufficient to cover the cost of making good all aircraft losses
in action since heavy air attacks on Britain began.
T h e most direct way of restricting civilian consumption has been the
legal limitation of supplies of a wide range of goods. T h e Limitation of
Supplies Order issued by the Board of Trade on 6 June 1 , lists nearly 2,000
articles including hosiery, pottery, glassware, cutlery, hollowware, furniture, clothing, toilet preparations, and jewelry, the supply of which was to
be reduced by a third. In addition the Ministries of Supply, Food, and
Shipping, have been indirectly responsible for considerable reductions in
civilian consumption. The Ministry of Supply is concerned to allocate raw
materials in such a way as to favour factories producing on behalf of the
armed forces. Thus steel for private building is prohibited. T h e Ministry
of Food has effected a considerable reduction in the consumption of foods
by the regulation of supplies and rationing. T h e Ministry of Shipping is in
a powerful position to control consumption because shipping promises to be
a prime economic bottleneck.
T h e place of exports in the British war economy has changed considerably during the period under review. Early in the year, many British
export industries were working full time to supply the needs of European
countries with which trade channels were still open, and to sell goods in
exchange for essential imports from America and elsewhere. T h e subsequent blockade of Europe cut off many of these industries from what had
been their most flourishing markets, and led to both a contraction and a
change of direction in British exports. The coal industry suffered particularly from these developments, and considerable increases in unemployment
took place in the exporting coalfields of Durham and South Wales. The
textile industries have suffered almost as seriously as the coal industry, but
1
Limitation of Supplies (Miscellaneous) Order, 1940 (S. R. and O.. 1940,
No. 7 8 4 ) .

THE REGULATION OF LABOUR SUPPLY

1 1

here shortage of raw materials has been a contributory factor. On the
other hand, there has been an expansion of exports to the British Dominions and America, and it is hoped that the despatch to South America of
an economic mission, under the leadership of Lord Willingdon, will result
in an increase in trade with the various South American States.

T H E R E G U L A T I O N OF L A B O U R S U P P L Y
T h e mobilisation of the nation's man-power for the Armed Forces
and for the war industries has been the main task of the Ministry of Labour
and National Service since the outbreak of war. Thus the Ministry has
been responsible for the registration of men called up for national service,
the application of the Schedule of Reserved Occupations, the "combing
out" of skilled men in the Armed Forces who are urgently needed in industry, regulating the distribution of labour between different occupations
according to wartime priorities, improving the transfer and billeting of
workers needed on jobs at a distance from their homes, and the organisation of industrial training, as well as for the day-to-day work of the employment exchanges. An interesting development during the summer has
been the creation of an International Labour Branch of the Ministry for
the purpose of organising the man-power of the Allied nations and "welldisposed persons of foreign nationality" in Great Britain.

Registration of Men for the A r m e d Forces
During the period under review over two million men between the
ages of 27 and 33 years were registered for military service. One age
group was registered in M a y ; two age groups in June; and four in July.
T h e six registrations in June and July were a direct result of the military
events in France. T h e actual calling up of those classes was spread over
several months, and it is significant that no further registrations took place
until November. Political events determined the rate of registration, but
limited training facilities and equipment were the bottlenecks which governed
the rate of absorption into the Armed Forces. T h e numbers registering
in May, June, and July, are shown below:

12

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN
NATIONAL SERVICE REGISTRATIONS
Date

May
June
June
July
July
July
July

25
15
22
6
13
20
27

Age g r o u p

Numbers
registering

Percentage of
conscientious
objectors

27
28
29
30
31
32
22

326,259
292,025
322,597
310,688
322,597
312,641
340,840

1.057
0.77
0.69
0.57
0.31
0.50
0.52

.

It is interesting to observe the decline in the percentage of men registering as "conscientious objectors" during this period.
Tpie Schedule of Reserved Occupations
Although*more than two million men were registered under the National Service ' (Armed Forces) Act during the summer, a considerable
proportion of them were exempted from military service because they were
engaged in work which was included in the Schedule of Reserved Occupations.1
The object of the Schedule is to ensure that the nation's man-power
is properly distributed between the Armed Forces, the Civil Defence Services, and other essential services and industry, according to their respective need.«.
In the early stages of the war of 1914-1918 failure to observe the
principle of "selective recruitment" for the Armed Forces seriously hindered
the British war effort. Large numbers of skilled men were allowed to volunteer jfor service who had later to be recalled to their civilian occupations.
This lesson has not been forgotten. In the present war the highest possible
rate of production of munitions and equipment has to be secured, and the
man-power problem is further complicated by the necessity of recruiting
and equipping large numbers of men and women for the Civil Defence
Services.
The first Schedule of Reserved Occupations was published in January 1939, at the date of the opening of thé National Service Campaign.
1
Inclusion of an occupation in the Schedule does not ipso facto grant
exemption from military service. T h e powers of the Minister of Labour
a n d National Service under the National Service ( A r m e d Forces) Act,
1939, a r e permissive. He may cause an enlistment notice to be served on
any person liable to be called up, and whether he does so or not is decided on the basis of the Schedule.

THE REGULATION OF LABOUR SUPPLY

13

Until the outbreak of war the Schedule imposed no restriction upon persons joining any branch of service in their trade or professional capacity;
the restrictions applied only to service outside a volunteer's trade or professional capacity which would involve whole-time duty in time of war.
A wartime Schedule came into operation on the outbreak of war to meet
the position created by the introduction of compulsory military service,
and afforded a greater measure of reservation than the original Schedule.
T h e Schedule is constantly under review and is amended from time to
time in the light of the varying man-power needs of national defence and
industry. Amendments are made under the authority of the Minister of
Labour and National Service, generally as the result of recommendations
by a Committee on which the Service and Supply Departments are represented and the meetings of which are also attended by representatives of
other Government Departments concerned. A new Schedule was issued
in a revised edition, containing all the amendments made up to that date,
in M a y 1940, and a later supplement set out the changes made up to
31 August.
A s a result of the changes made during the spring and summer several
thousands of men who had previously been reserved were released for
military service. They included a large number of clerical workers, teachers,
and professional men, whose age of reservation was raised from 25 to
30 years. On the other hand, a considerable number of occupations which
were previously reserved only from the age of 35 years were reserved from
30 owing to the importance of the work involved. Thus the reservation of
the managerial and supervisory grades in the retail food trades has been
extended in view of the heavy burden imposed by the rationing system on
the personnel of these trades.
"Combing Out" Skilled Men from the Forces
A s the Schedule of Reserved Occupations did not come into force
until January 1939 and was not retrospective in effect, many men in reserved occupations had already joined the Forces, and especially the Territorial Army. Arrangements have since been made for releasing to industry
as many men belonging to occupations of the greatest importance for essential production as can be spared. T h e Minister of Labour and National
Service stated in the House of Commons on 8 August that large numbers
of skilled men had been released from the Forces for return to the engineering factories. In July the total had risen to over 30,000. H e added,
however, that the release was only provisional and that, with the growing
needs of an expanding mechanised army, many of these men might have
to go back at a later date.

\

14

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

Regulating the Distribution of Civilian Labour
One of the first steps taken by Mr. Emest Bevin, when he became
Minister of Labour and National Service, was to set up a Labour Supply
Board, under his own chairmanship and including four Directors of Labour
Supply, of whom two represent the trade union movement. T h e task of
the Labour Supply Board was to ensure the fullest use of the civilian manpower in the country. The Ministry of Labour also took a more active
part in the Area Board machinery, which later became a responsibility of
the Industrial Capacity Committee of the Production Council, and in each
important area a local Labour Supply Committee was set up. Local Labour
Supply Committees work in close conjunction with the Employment Exchange and consist of a Chief Labour Officer, the Exchange Manager,
and two specially appointed Labour Supply Officers drawn from persons
with practical working knowledge of industry and industrial conditions.
Local Panels for particular industries have also been appointed to work
in association with the Local Committees.
The duty of inspecting firms to ensure that skilled labour is used to
the best advantage and that all necessary training facilities are provided is
entrusted to Inspectors of Labour Supply, who work in close association
with the Area Boards and the Labour Supply Committees.1 These Inspectors are sent to investigate cases in which there is an alleged delay due to
shortage of labour, and to recommend what steps should be taken to supply
additional labour, to ensure the more effective use of the existing labour,
or to call attention to the need for better organisation of the supply of
materials.2
It is worthy of remark that on 2 8 June the Minister had appointed
Sir William Beveridge as Commissioner to survey the available resources
of man-power of all kinds and to report upon them with suggestions as to
the means by which they could be fully utilised for national purposes.
The survey was to cover man-power in all forms—men, women, and young
persons, whether in or out of employment.3
The first Order made by the Minister under the Emergency Powers
(Defence) Regulations came into force on 10 June. It provided that
workers in the building industry, the civil engineering contracting industry,
and general engineering, should be engaged only through an employment
exchange or under an arrangement made between employers' organisations
and trade unions. Men employed in coal mining or agriculture, including
r
2

Ministry of Labour Gazette, June 1940, p. 156.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour, House of Commons,
22 August 1940.
3
Ministry of Labour Gazette, July 1940, p. 187.

THE REGULATION OF LABOUR SUPPLY

15

forestry and horticulture, were in general only to be engaged for work in
those industries.1 Subsequent Orders provided for the registration of "specified classes of persons" with a knowledge of the higher branches of engineering and with academic and practical qualifications in chemistry.2
On 7 August the Minister made an Industrial Registration Order.
Its purpose was to provide a register of all men in certain skilled occupations (mainly engineering) who were not known to be wholly engaged on
Government work. The Order applied to all males above the age of 21
years engaged in all the specified occupations and to all males under 65
years of age who had been engaged in those occupations for twelve months
at any time since January 1929. 3
T h e Transference of Labour

""

Before the war, the Ministry of Labour played an important part in
facilitating the movement of workers from jobs in one part of the country
to jobs elsewhere by means of the nation-wide Employment Exchange
system and the central clearing house in London. In the case of the unemployed living in distressed areas, considerable financial aid was given to
industrial transferees and special attention was paid to the welfare aspects
of transference and resettlement. Since the outbreak of war the transference
has become a matter of even greater importance. Changes in the location
of industry and in the character of industrial activity have called for considerable changes in the distribution of the employed population. The
Ministry has had to tackle the problem of inducing employed as well as
unemployed workers to move to other parts of the country.
Workers transferred by the Ministry of Labour to new areas to
undertake work of national importance are entitled to the payment of lodging allowances and travelling expenses if the work is in an area beyond
travelling distance from their homes.
Lodging allowances at the rate of 3s. 6d. a night (including Sunday)
are paid to a married worker (or an unmarried worker with similar responsibilities) who continues to maintain a home in the town from which he
has been transferred, provided that the employer to whom he is transferred
does not pay lodging or similar allowances under customary practice or
industrial agreement.4 For travelling, the transferred worker receives the
fare for the initial journey to the place of work and 5s. travelling time for
the journey, if it does not take more than four hours, or 10s. if it takes
1
2
3
4

Ministry of Labour Gazette, June 1940, p. 181.
Ibid., August 1940, p . 212.
Ibid., p . 236. E x p l a n a t o r y M e m o r a n d u m to the Order.
Ibid., J u n e 1940, p . 156.

16

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

longer than four hours. No payments are made for daily travelling to and
from work. This scheme does not apply where it is the practice, by custom
or agreement, for the employer to make these payments. If the employer
pays the fare, but not for travelling time, the travelling time allowance is
paid by the Government. The scheme does not apply to transferred dockers
or building and civil engineering workers, for whom special arrangements
have been made. 1 During the summer several new arrangements were worked out in connection with particular industries. In June an agreement between the employers and workers in the cotton industry set up area committees to arrange the transfer of operatives to mills adapted for Government work. 2
Arrangements were made for the transfer of surplus coal miners after
the collapse of the European export market. In September a scheme was
drawn up for the transfer of shipyard workers, in agreement with the
employers' and workers' organisations. It provides for the transfer, on a
voluntary basis, of shipbuilding workers from one district to another to
assist in the urgent completion of new ships or ships under repair. Local
Committees, on which the local employers and trade unions are represented,
have been set up in shipbuilding districts to call for volunteers willing to
travel at short notice to another part of the country. T h e lodging and
travelling allowances are the same as for other transferred workers. Men
transferred under this scheme are normally required to stay in the district
for as long as they are needed, but applications to return home are considered by the local Committee, and if they are approved the cost of the fare
home and travelling time are paid. Transferees are immediately put into
touch with suitable lodgings or other accomodation on their arrival in the
new area. 3 The Industrial Welfare Officers appointed by the Minister of
Labour during the summer are responsible for seeing that all workers engaged on important national duties at a distance from their homes have
proper billets.4 No information regarding the numbers of workers in any
industry who have been transferred to districts at a distance from their
homes has been revealed.

Industrial Training
The development of the war supply industries created a steadily increasing demand for certain types of skilled workers—particularly engin1
2
3

Ministry of Labour Gazette, July 1940, p. 187.
The Times, 18 June 1940.
Ministry of Labour Gazette, October 1940, p. 264.

* See page 32 below.

THE REGULATION OF LABOUR SUPPLY

17

eers. T o meet this demand the Ministry asked employers to undertake the
training of promising workers and made its own contribution by turning the
Government training centres, used before the war for training the unemployed, into schools for producing armament and munition workers. After
the change of Government in May, steps were taken to develop the Government training centres and employers were again asked to co-operate by
training men in their own workshops.
The trades now taught in the centres are : draughtsmanship, fitting, instrument making, machine operating, panel beating and sheet metal working,
and electrical and oxy-welding. The field of requirements has been widened,
and older men who have hitherto been unemployed have been given a
chance of acquiring a trade. Some months after the outbreak of war the
centres were thrown open to men in employment, and since that time a man
has been able to give up his job, provided it is one not essential to the
war effort, in order to train himself for armament work and so pass into
industry. T h e invitation to men employed in unessential jobs to change over
to engineering work met with a very large response, and nearly half the
men in the centres in October 1940 were men who came to training from
employment. Recently boys of 16 and Í 7 years of age have been admitted
to training. The centres consist of big training workshops run on factory
lines. The training is chiefly practical.
All men in training are eligible for a training allowance. A man of
21 years of age or over who lives in the centre gets his board and lodging
paid for and a personal allowance of 8s. a week. If he is married and
has a wife dependent on him, he gels an additional 30s. for her as well
as a children's allowance, if appropriate, at the rate of 4s. for each of the
first two dependent children and 3s. for each further dependent child. A
young man of 18 to 2 0 years of age who lives in lodgings gets a personal
allowance of 6s. a week in addition to his lodging expenses and a similar
allowance for his dependants. A man of 21 years of age or over who lives
at home while training gets 26s. himself and 15s. for adult dependants.
The children's allowances are the same as in the case of the trainee who is
living in lodgings. The allowances for boys of 16 and 1 7 years of age are
slightly lower. 1
In the House of Commons on 8 August, the Minister of Labour and
National Service stated that the number of centres had been increased to
19 and their capacity greatly extended. H e had set himself as a goal a
total of 4 0 centres. T h e present centres were being put on a full treble
shift and as soon as the instructors and necessary staff were obtained the
1

Ministry of Labour Gazette, J u n e 1940, p . 158; Industrial Welfare, October 1940, p . 306. (These allowances were increased in November 1940.)

18

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

annual rate of output from them should exceed 100,000 trainees a year.
This number could be greatly increased if the goal of 4 0 centres could
be achieved. T h e Minister also stated that a scheme of short courses of
training through the technical colleges had been initiated. H e hoped that
these colleges would produce at the rate of not less than 50,000 a year. 1
In addition to the technical colleges and the Government training centres,
training by employers in their own factories was to be organised on a considerable scale and industrial establishments which could not be used for
essential work were to be employed for training.
T h e training which is now being given involves the instruction of persons who have no knowledge of engineering and the provision of upgrading
courses for workers who have already a certain degree of skill.2 In these
establishments the employer or the local authority, as the case may be, provides the equipment and instructors and the Ministry pays for them on the
basis of so much per student-hour. Some of the new establishments provide
for the training of women as well as men. An agreement has been reached
between the Engineering Employers' Federation and the Amalgamated
Engineers' Union to allow men and women to be trained on the bench, provided that the allowances given are not greater than those given at the
training centres and provided that the man. when trained, does not remain
in the factory where he has received his training.
T h e expansion of training facilities was expected in October to enable the Government centres alone to produce well over 2 5 0 , 0 0 0 trained
men a year. This means that a very large number of recruits are wanted. 3
It was stated at the beginning of November that the flow of recruits had
been more than sufficient, but that recently the numbers of volunteers had
fallen off considerably and that in addition large numbers of men and
women would be required for the training programmes at the technical
colleges and in the employers' own establishments.4 Some 700 or 8 0 0
trainees were being placed a week.
Foreign Workers
The Minister of Labour and National Service announced in the
House of Commons on 1 August 1940 5 that he had decided to set up
an International Labour Branch, to organise the man-power of Allied nations and of other "well-disposed persons of foreign nationality" in Great
1
2

Ministry of Labour Gazette, August 1940, p. 212.

Ibid., September 1940, p. 240.
3
Industrial Welfare, October 1940, p. 307.
* Press Communiqué, Ministry of Labour and National Service, 14 November 1940.
5
Ministry of Labour Gazette, August 1940, p. 212.

THE REGULATION OF LABOUR SUPPLY

19

Britain. The functions of the Branch, he said, would be to obtain full
knowledge of the persons available for employment and to seek suitable
openings for them in industrial or other work. The co-operation of the
Allied Governments and other national authorities in Great Britain would
be sought. The personnel concerned would be known as the "International
Labour Force".
The numbers of foreign workers covered by this scheme are roughly
estimated at 23,000 Belgians, 10,000 Poles, 8,000 Czechs, and 2,000
Norwegians. These figures do not include seamen, except in those cases
where a seaman or fisherman has to be found shore employment, when for
any special reason he is unable to pursue his own calling.
In August 780 persons of foreign nationality were placed in employment through the International Labour Branch.1 An endeavour is
being made to work out, in agreement with all the Governments concerned,
a uniform scheme of military and civilian work obligations, and a schedule
of reserved occupations is to be prepared. The foreign Governments at
present established in Great Britain have, of course, no means of enforcing
obligations on their nationals. Legislation will therefore be necessary to
invest them in Great Britain with the powers that they require.
So far as possible, foreign workers are placed in employment in national groups, largely with the object of preventing the feeling of isolation
which foreign workers placed separately would experience, owing to language and other difficulties. No special welfare measures for foreign workers have yet been introduced, but it is hoped in time to provide them
with their own welfare officers. All the British social services are open to
foreign workers on exactly the same terms as to British workers. Compensation for loss of property from enemy action, for instance, is paid in the
same manner as to British subjects, and foreigners enjoy the same rights
as regards the evacuation of their families from dangerous areas.
For foreign professional workers a special central register has been
opened, similar to the Ministry of Labour and National Service's central
register for British subjects, and a Central Register Committee has also
been appointed. The register now contains about 4,000 names. In addition,
an Advisory Committee on foreign workers has been set up. It consists of
representatives of supply and contracting Departments and two representatives each from the British Employers' Confederation and the Trades Union
Congress. Foreign workers therefore are not directly represented on this
Committee. But the Trades Union Congress has been asked to undertake
the formation of a Committee of representatives of foreign trade union sec1

Labour,

November 1940, p. 669.

20

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

tions affiliated to the International Federation of Trade Unions. This
Committee will advise the Trades Union Congress, and in particular its
representatives on the Advisory Committee, on all matters relating to foreign
workers. Mention should also be made of the formation in Great Britain
of a Central Union of Allied Workers. Its membership includes Belgian,
French, Polish and Dutch workers.

EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT
T h e extent to which the Ministry of Labour and National Service
has succeeded in carrying out its major function of mobilising the civilian
man-power of the nation would, under normal conditions, have been reflected to some extent in the annual return, based on the count taken in
June, of the distribution of the insured population—employed and unemployed. For obvious reasons this return is not available this year, and there
is no basis, apart from mere conjecture, for any estimate of the trend of
employment in Great Britain. In June 1939, there were 13,774,000 insured workers in employment, of whom 4,101,000 were women and girls.1
There were also some 1,350,000 registered unemployed. Since then considerably more than a million insured men must have been absorbed in the
Armed Forces. On the other hand, a great many women, and some men,
not normally in the labour market have taken insured employment. And
the number of persons registered as unemployed has several times fallen
below the 8 0 0 , 0 0 0 mark. Of the occupational distribution of the employed
population since the outbreak of war nothing can be said. Statistics of unemployment were published as usual until August, when some details, including the occupational distribution of the unemployed, began to be withheld for reasons of security.

T h e Trend of U n e m p l o y m e n t
A t the beginning of the war there were approximately a million and
a third unemployed. The situation grew worse during the winter, and no
real improvement was recorded until March 1940. By the middle of April
the total had fallen to approximately 9 7 2 , 0 0 0 , the lowest total for 2 0
years. T h e official figures for each month in the period under review are
set out below.

1

Ministry

of Labour

Gazette,

January 1940.

21

EMPLOYMENT A N D U N E M P L O Y M E N T

U N E M P L O Y M E N T I N GREAT B R I T A I N 1

(Unemployed

Wholly unemployed
(.including
casuals)

Sate

15 Apr.-20
20Mav-17
17 June-15
15 July-12
12 Aug.-16
16 Sept.-14

persons on registers of Employment

May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.

Temporarily
stopped

Total

Exchanges)

Increase or
decrease from
previous month

778,092 102,730 880,822 — 91,873
685,455
81,380 766,835 — 113,987
674,024 153,242 827,266 +
60,431
645,072 154,380 799,452 — 27,814
644,846 185.000 829,846 +
30,394
663,769 171,082 834,851 +
5,005

Increase or
decrease from
1939 figure

—
—
—
—
—
—

611,460
582,744
429,158
432,240
501,082
595,787

* T h e f o l l o w i n g c h a n g e s h a v e b e e n m a d e i n t h e b a s i s of t h e official
u n e m p l o y m e n t statistics:
( 1 ) U p t o a n d i n c l u d i n g t h e f i g u r e s for u n e m p l o y m e n t in A u g u s t
1940, u n e m p l o y e d c a s u a l w o r k e r s w e r e s h o w n b y t h e Ministry
of
Labour
Gazette
i n t h e f i g u r e for w h o l l y u n e m p l o y e d p e r s o n s . In t h e f i g u r e s f o r
September and October wholly unemployed persons and unemployed casual
w o r k e r s a r e s h o w n s e p a r a t e l y . In t h e t a b l e a b o v e , t h e y h a v e b e e n a d d e d
together to facilitate c o m p a r i s o n .
(2) F r o m July onward, the figures exclude m e n attending Governm e n t t r a i n i n g c e n t r e s (7,794 o n 15 J u l y ) w h o w e r e u n e m p l o y e d w h e n
they entered the centres.
( 3 ) F r o m J u l y o n w a r d , t h e f i g u r e s e x c l u d e w o m e n a g e d 6 0 t o 64
y e a r s ( o w i n g t o t h e c h a n g e i n t h e a g e for d r a w i n g o l d - a g e p e n s i o n s ) .

The reduction recorded in April-May ( 9 1 , 8 7 3 less than the previous month) was not an adequate measure of the changes in employment
in the industries engaged upon war work. In addition to the unemployed
persons absorbed into those industries there was a steady flow of transfer to
them from less essential industries, which was not reflected in the total
number of unemployed persons.1 In the following month there was a greater reduction (1 1 3 , 9 8 7 ) , which affected most of the principal industries.
Unemployment increased, however, in the tailoring, dressmaking and millinery, and linen industries.2 In June-July unemployment increased by
over 60,000. T h e increase was mainly in the coal-mining industry, where
there) were temporary stoppages in a few areas, and in the textile, clothing,
boot and shoe, leather and furniture industries. There was a further reduction in unemployment in building and public works contracting and in
the distribution trades. 3
T h e recorded fall in unemployment in July-August ( 2 7 , 8 1 4 ) did
not give a true picture of the situation. There was in fact a reduction
of nearly 5 0 , 0 0 0 in the numbers of men and women registered as unemployed, but the numbers of boys and girls rose by nearly 2 2 , 0 0 0 ,
1
2
3

Ministry of Labour Casette, June 1940, p. 155.
Ibid., July 1940, p. 183.
Ibid., August 1940, p. 209.

22

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

owing mainly to the registration of juveniles who had reached schoolleaving age at the end of the summer term. The reductions were in the
distributive trades, dock and harbour services, building and public works
contracting, tailoring and dressmaking, hat and cap manufacture, hotel
and boarding house service, the entertainment and sports industries, linen
manufacture, and shipping service. Increases were recorded in pottery and
earthenware manufacture, the woollen and worsted industry, the hosiery
industry, and boot and shoe manufacture. 1
In August-September, the number of persons wholly unemployed
remained approximately the same, but there was a rise of 30,000 in persons temporarily stopped. The only industry in which unemployment increased considerably was coal mining.2 In reply to a question in the House
of Commons on 19 September the Minister of Labour and National
Service said that the collapse of France had radically altered the position
of coal miners in the exporting fields. Steps had already been taken to
modify the application of the Order prohibiting miners from leaving the
industry and causing unemployed miners to return to it, and unemployed
miners were being released to join other industries.3 In September-October
there was a very slight increase ( 5 , 0 0 5 ) in unemployment. An increase
in wholly unemployed women (by 3 1 , 2 0 3 ) was largely due to the registration at employment exchanges of considerable numbers who were
seeking work in districts to which they had been evacuated. 4
On 14 October the composition of the total of unemployed persons
in Great Britain was as follows:

Wholly
unemployed

Men
Boys
Women
Girls

Temporarily
stopped

Unemployed
casual
workers

Total

309,357
24,579
257,300
44,195

92,886
2,739
71,593
3,864

26,898
131
1,299
10

429,141
27,449
330,192
48,069

635,431

171,082

28,338

834,851

It will be seen that nearly half of the total number of unemployed
was made up of women and girls. Figures showing the duration of employment are no longer available, but a special analysis of the duration of
unemployment of registered persons on 25 November shows that out of
1

Ministry of Labour Gazette. September 1940, p. 239.
Ibid, October 1940, p. 259.
Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons, 19 September 1940.
* Ministry of Labour Gazette, November 1940, p. 286.
2

3

WAGES AND EARNINGS

23

a total of 359,000 men. 154,000 (or nearly 43 per cent) had been on
the register for less than two weeks and 191,000 (or over 53 per cent.)
for less than four weeks. As compared with 20 May last, the number
who had been on the register for 12 months or more was nearly halved,
totalling 54,000, of whom three-quarters were aged 50 years or over.1
The Minister of Labour stated on 11 October that a survey of
300,000 unemployed persons had been followed up, and this had led
to the placing of 200,00 of them.2

WAGES AND EARNINGS
In the aggregate wages increased every month during the period
under review. The greatest increase was in June, but there were also
considerable increases in May, July, and August. The few cases of
wage decreases affected only small numbers of workers and were slight in
amount. The table on, the following page shows the approximate number
of workers affected by wage increases and decreases and the estimated
amount of changes in weekly wages caused by them.3
The changes so far reported for ten complete months of 1940, in
the industries for which statistics are available, are estimated to have resulted in a net increase in weekly wages of £1,920,800 for about
7,795,300 workpeople. The corresponding figures for 1939 were increases of £305,300 for about 2,128,000 workpeople and decreases of
£56,450 for about 331,500 workpeople.4

1
2
3
4

Manchester Guardian, I1 December 1940.
The Times. 12 October 1940.
Ministry of Labour1 Gazette, June-November 1940.
Ibid.

24

T H E LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

INCREASES AND DECREASES IN WAGES, MAY-OCTOBER 1 9 4 0

Industry
group

Month

A p p r o x i m a t e number Estimated amount of
c h a n g e in weekly
of workpeople affected
wages
by
Increase

Decrease

Increase

Decrease

229,300
/ May
446,800
Mining
] June
272,600
and
•< July
August
251,700
quarrying
September 267,400
October
808,100

218,200
90,000
303,200
190,200
142,400

£
12,800
21,400
12,200
6,900
12,600
82,100

£
8,300
600
8,600
12,950
2,200

May
119,700
June
282,700
July
192,200
August
205,100
September
11,000
October
153,500

70,000

14,450
31,500
8,800
22,900
1,500
6,000

1,360

I

/
Engineering
and
J
metal
)
V

f
I

158,200
2,000

May
< July
October

139,900
442,200
380,800

Building
and
\ June
contracting I October

632,000
274,400

59,000
25,800

Transport

389,700

56,000

291,900
J July
September 175,000
(
250,000
j August

38,500
17,500

Textile

Clothing
Paper,
printing,
etc.

June

May
June
Other
July
industries •< August
September
\ October

506,200
412,500
592,100
353,400
241,900
207,800

12,800
31,800
19,300

6,200
80

45,700
300

'75,250
46,900
81,700
400 44,200
41,500 26,700
16,400

10
50
2,300

25

WAGES AND EARNINGS

Real Wages
While many earnings increased appreciably during the period under
review the cost of living also rose. The Trades Union Congress Index
Numbers (1925-29=100) give the following comparative figures:
Money wages

Real wages for
workers in full
employment

Real wages
taking account of
unemployment

1939
September

104.0

113.5

116.0

1940
April
May
June
July
August
September
October

113.0
115.0
115.0
119.0
118.5
119.0
120.0

107.5
108.0
107.5
107.5
108.0
107.5
105.5

111.0
113.0
113.0
114.5
114.0
114.0
Not available

Beginning of

It will be seen that, although there was a marked increase in money wages,
real wages fell slightly.

Wages in the Principal Industry Groups
The first results of a Ministry of Labour enquiry into average
weekly earnings at July 1940, which have recently been published1,
throw some light on earnings in some important industries. The enquiry
covered about 61,000 establishments and more than 5 H million workpeople. The results so far published deal with metal, engineering and
shipbuilding industries; textile industries; clothing industries; food, drink
and tobacco industries; woodworking industries; paper, printing etc. industries; and building and contracting.
The following table summarises the percentage increases in average
weekly earnings between October 1938 and July 1940 for these industry groups.2 As it was not found practicable to ascertain the working
1

Ministry of Labour Gazette, November 1940, p. 280.
The Ministry of Labour Gazette, November 1940, should be referred to
for full details.
2

26

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

hours to which these earnings relate it cannot be said to what extent the
increases were due to higher wage rates or to overtime.1
PERCENTAGE INCREASES IN AVERAGE WAGE EARNINGS,
OCTOBER 1 9 3 8 - J U L Y 1 9 4 0

Men

Industry group

Youths
and
boys

Women

Girls

Metal, engineering and
shipbuilding industries

36.3

44.9

34.4

32.2

Textile industries

32.6

35.9

25.5

24.5

Clothing industries

11.9

14.1

10.4

13.7

Food, drink, and tobacco
industries

16.3

14.5

7.5

10.4

Woodworking industry

16.1

23.8

16.8

13.8

Paper, printing, etc.,
industries

0.6

11.7

4.4

10.1

27.9

44.5

—

Building and contracting,
etc.

—

The contrast between the improvement in earnings in the war supply
industries and that in the industries producing mainly for civilian consumption will be remarked when the varying percentage increases are read
in conjunction with the amount of the cost-of-living index figure during
the same period (an increase of 21 per cent., or 24 per cent, if corrected
for seasonal variation). It will be seen that, while in many industries real
earnings increased appreciably, in other industries they fell.
Agricultural Wages
Perhaps the most outstanding non-military event in the social history
of Great Britain during the summer of 1940 was the fixing in June
by the Agricultural Minimum Wage Board of a national minimum wage
for England and Wales of 48s. The award wasl accepted by 47 out of
the 48 Agricultural County Committees, and in the outstanding case
(Cornwall) the Board decided that no modification would be justified.2
1
In an account of wage rates and earnings a p p e a r i n g in the Economic
Journal, June-September 1940, it was shown t h a t t h e r e was a general increase of earnings over a wide r a n g e of industries of 16 p e r cent, between
March 1939 and March 1940, while the wage-rate index rose only 9 per cent.
1
Ministry of Labour Gazette, June 1940, p . 158.

HOURS OF WORK AND HOLIDAYS

27

The far-reaching implications of this "up-grading" of the agricultural
worker are as yet scarcely realised. T h e Board later fixed wages for
inexperienced male farm workers at 38s., and for the Women's Land
Army, for the first two months of employment, at 28s. 1

HOURS OF WORK A N D HOLIDAYS
T h e course of the war in M a y and June, culminating in the collapse of France and the imminence of invasion, led to a great acceleration of the output of war materials. Although figures of hours of work
at this period cannot be quoted — and their length and arrangement necessarily varied widely with the conditions in different industries "— all the
evidence indicates that exceptionally long hours, amounting sometimes to
as much as 8 0 in the week, were being worked in all industries associated
with war production. A t the same time holidays and rest periods were
either cancelled or drastically curtailed.
Under the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 2 the Minister of
Labour and National Service was given power to determine hours and
conditions of work. In practice, however, this power was not exercised
and hours of work continued to be fixed by collective agreement, except
in the case of women and young persons. In response to the call for a
supreme effort in May much longer hours were worked without any
compulsion, and when, at the end of the month, the Minister of Labour
requested employers and workers to forego all holidays for the time being3,
he had every reason to be pleased with the result. Mr. Bevin explained
that, in order to maintain health and physical efficiency, the Labour
Supply Board was considering suggestions for organising methods of
giving rest periods; and that advice on this would be issued as soon as
possible.
On 13 June, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour
stated in the House of Commons that as far as was humanly possible
production must continue at the same high pressure for some time to come.
But periodical rest periods for individuals were necessary even on urgent
priority work if output was to be maintained at the highest level. Arrangements should therefore be made to provide such rest periods, and they
should include the building up as quickly as possible of a scheme which
would allow one day's rest periodically for the personnel. T h e cancel1
2
3

The Times, 16 July 1940,
Ministry of Labour Gazette, June 1940. p. 156.
Ibid., p. 157.

28

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

lalion or suspension of complete stoppages for holidays must hold good,
not only for holidays extending over several days but also for day holidays such as the August Bank Holiday (the August Bank Holiday was
in fact cancelled by an Order of 2 July). Where it was the practice
for holidays to be taken in rotation by individuals and thus to be spread
over a period of months, it should be considered whether they interfered
in any way with urgent war requirements or with other urgent requirements
for transport; if they did so, they should not be taken. If they did not,
it would be better that they should be taken as arranged. He urged those
spending holidays in the country to volunteer for work on the land. 1
A t the end of June the Minister of Labour issued a General Emergency Order, covering works engaged in the manufacture of munitions
and shipping, authorising the employment of women and young persons
in derogation of the Factories Act, 1937, for longer than the period
normally allowed, arranged on one of four specified schemes. Under all
these schemes provision was made for a weekly rest of 24 hours and for
rest periods during the week.
This Order was to remain in force until 30 September. In July,
however, the Minister of Labour decided that the Factories Act should
be brought back into full force at the beginning of August and that
applications from firms desiring to employ women and young persons for
hours not authorised by the Act must be made to the factory inspectors.
It was realised that the short period of intensive effort had achieved most
of what could be expected of it. The danger now was that decreasing
returns would set in as a result of fatigue. The Seventh Report of the
Select Committee on National Expenditure2 recommended that overtime,
and especially Sunday work, should be watched carefully, in the interests
of maintaining the efficiency of labour and keeping down costs. The
inducement of extra wages, the Report stated, and the fact that employers
were paid on a cost-plus-profit basis, made both sides unduly willing to
carry on the practice. In July the Minister of Labour and National Service published a pamphlet on hours of work and maximum output. It had
been prepared in consultation with the British Employers' Confederation
and the Trades Union Congress General Council, with the co-operation
of the supply Departments concerned.3
This pamphlet pointed out that the continuance of seven-day working, with an average working week of between 70 and 8 0 hours, would
quickly cause a rapid decrease in individual productivity. The optimum
hours must vary according to the circumstances of different industries,
1
2
8

Ministry of Labour Gazette, June 1940, p. 157.
The Times, 17 June 1940.
Ministry of Labour1 Gazette, August 1940, p. 211.

29

HOURS OF WORK AND HOLIDAYS

but experience showed that they were materially below the general hours
at present being worked on wartime production. The adjustment must
however be made so as to prevent any falling-off in output. This could
be achieved only by increasing the size of the working force, and that
would take time, since the new labour must first be trained. Interim arrangements must therefore be made to relieve the strain on the workers.
The pamphlet suggested as an illustration a two-shift system, under which
the day shift would have an average working week of 60 hours, while
the night shift worked 10í4 hours on five nights in the week, with a sixth
night fortnightly if production required it.
As soon as the necessary labour force had been acquired and trained,
a permanent scheme should be introduced, with the double object of
reducing the working week to the optimum hours and increasing manhours and production per man-hour. Experience in many manufacturing
fields, it was stated, showed optimum hours to be about 55 or 56 in the
week. The vital importance of granting adequate breaks during die working period was also emphasised. The pamphlet suggested that a 10 minutes' break might be introduced near the middle of the normal working
period. In other cases such an arrangement as a break in each hour might
be preferable. In a foreword to this pamphlet the Minister said the essential adjustment of hours must be dealt with by firms in accordance with
their particular circumstances, and not by a general order.
By the beginning of August it was stated that the Cabinet was satisfied that the equipment lost by the British Expeditionary Force in France
had substantially been replaced and that the most urgent needs of home
defence had been met. It was therefore considered possible to make some
relaxation of the ban on holidays. A confidential letter was circulated on
9 August to all unions affiliated to the Trades Union Congress stating
that, though anything in the nature of a general holiday was impossible,
the Government desired short periods of rest for relaxation to be given
between that date and the end of September. Both sides in the industries
concerned were asked to get together and arrange these breaks so that
production would not be impeded. There should be no complete stoppage
where holidays in rotation could be arranged. There was no objection to
a week's rest in non-essential industries. In other cases the problem might
be met by a long week-end break.1
The policy of reducing hours of work was again advocated by the
Minister in September.2 A good deal of confusion had undoubtedly been
caused, he said, by urgent appeals to work seven days a week. These long
1

TRADES UNION CONGRESS GENERAL COUNCIL,: 72nd A n n u a l

2

Speech to t h e W o r k s Management Association, 18 September, in

of Labour Gazette, October 1940, p. 261.

Report,

p . 173.

Ministry

30

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

hours were to be regarded as a spurt. It was impossible to keep them up,
and production was beginning to decline. H e urged industry, as a further
volume of trained labour became available, to give continuous consideration to the amount of overtime, which as then permitted meant great physical strain. Wherever the rest pause had been introduced bonus earnings
had remained unaltered, which meant that production had gone up. In
October an Admiralty instruction was issued to private firms engaged in
shipbuilding and repairing, forbidding overtime and Sunday work, except
where it was essential.1 It appears that by this time the excessive hours of
May and June were being reduced in most of the war-production industries.
Statutory holidays in trades covered by the Trade Board Act, in
agriculture, and in the road haulage industry, were dealt with in July by
an Order which prolonged the season within which workers must be allowed
a holiday with pay until 31 March 1941, to meet cases in which the holiday could not be given at the normal time. Where a whole week cannot
be given at one time the holiday may be given in not more than two spells,
one of which must normally precede or follow the worker's weekly rest
clay. Subject to these changes the workers' statutory rights to holidays
remain in full force.2 In the woollen industry, the Wool Control Advisory
Committee in June approved a joint recommendation by employers and
trade unions that there should be no complete stoppage in any factory,
but that workers should receive six consecutive days' holiday in relays
between 5 August and 14 September with due regard to the production
position of each individual mill. 3
Since the beginning of heavy air raids in September a scheme has
been worked out to enable workers living in crowded industrial areas, particularly those subject to air attack, to spend occasional nights and days
in quieter places near at hand, either in hostels, rest homes, etc., or through
private hospitality.
INDUSTRIAL WELFARE
T h e heavy strain which has been imposed on industrial workers by
the intensification of war pioduction since the spring has made it necessary
to devote special attention to industrial welfare. Within a few weeks of
the change of Government a Factory and Welfare Advisory Board was
appointed to advise the Minister of Labour and National Service on
questions of welfare — inside and outside the factories. In addition to
official representatives, the members of this Board include a well-known
1
2
3

The Times; 26 October 1940.
Ministry of Labour Gazette, june 1940, p. 157.
The Times, 24 june 1940.

INDUSTRIAL WELFARE

31

progressive industrialist, two leading trade unionists, two prominent social
welfare workers, and the secretary of the Industrial Health Research
Board.1 Another important development has been the transfer of the
Factory Department of the Home Office to the Ministry of Labour and
National Service. The Minister has also taken steps to secure an extension
of welfare arrangements beyond existing legal requirements, particularly
with regard to the appointment of welfare supervisors in factories and the
provision of factory canteens. Although it was recognised that services of
this kind were being provided, on a voluntary basis, by an increasing
number of progressive firms, it was considered necessary to institute a legal
basis for these developments by making Orders under which binding directions to provide such services can be given in particular cases. Special
training courses for industrial welfare supervisors have been established
with the help of educational authorities and other organisations.
The welfare of workers outside the factory is a question with which
the Government has not previously been concerned in Great Britain. Its
interest in the question is almost wholly due to war conditions. Large
numbers of workers are now employed, owing to transfer, away from
their homes, and others whose wives and families have been evacuated,
are deprived of their normal domestic assistance and, in case of sickness,
of nursing and attention. The Ministry of Labour has, therefore, stepped
in to meet these requirements and has concerned itself for the first time
with the worker outside the factory gates. In doing so the policy of the
Ministry has been to provide the facilities the worker needs without creating the impression that they are being forced on him or that he is being
"dragooned" in his private life.
Two new pieces of administrative machinery have been created to
deal with these questions — the Factory and Welfare Board to which
reference has been made above, and a Central Consultative Council on
Industrial Welfare. The Central Consultative Council consists of representatives of a large number of voluntary organisations and is divided into
four consultative groups, dealing with health, recreation, juveniles, and
general problems, respectively. The welfare of men employed in building
and civil engineering work, especially in rural areas where amenities are
limited, has also been taken up, and considerable improvements, it is
stated, have been secured, with the assistance of officials of the Ministry
of Labour.
The Ministry of Labour has also appointed a Divisional Industrial
Welfare Officer for each administrative division and local Industrial
Welfare Officers in every important industrial centre. The function of
1

Ministry of Labour Gazette, June 1940, p. 157.

32

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

these officers is to supervise welfare arrangements outside the factory.
They are attached to the local Labour Supply Committees and act in
co-operation with the local government authorities and voluntary organisations.
Welfare work outside the factory has taken many different forms.
Canteens and other communal feeding arrangements have been established
for the benefit of the employees of firms too small to justify the provision
of a works canteen. Day nurseries have been provided for the children of
working mothers. Local authorities—the official billeting agencies—have
been encouraged to establish hostels for workers living away from home,
and "clearing hostels" have been set up, which offer accommodation, to the
worker for one or two nights on his first arrival in a strange town, before
he can secure permanent lodging. Special attention is given to the billeting
and general welfare of transferred families. Hospital accommodation is
arranged for workers who fall sick in their billets, where they cannot be
suitably nursed. Recreation is provided mainly in the form of works concerts provided by the Entertainers' National Service Association, a wartime creation of the entertainments industry. Special arrangements have
been made for the welfare of men employed in building and civil engineering work, especially in rural areas where amenities are limited.

Seamen's Welfare
Welfare arrangements for seamen in port are organised on lines similar to those for factory workers. They are directly inspired by the
Seamen's Welfare Recommendation, adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1936. The Seamen's Welfare Board is a parallel
body to the Factory and Welfare Board. It includes four employers' representatives, four seamen's representatives, and two representatives with special knowledge of the voluntary organisations. T h e
Board decided in October to set up or reconstitute Local Welfare Committees in eight ports. 1 Welfare Officers are to be appointed, who will act
as secretaries to these Committees and be responsible for taking local
action in accordance with their decisions. In three ports Lascar welfare
officers are also to be appointed. A Central Consultative Committee of
voluntary organisations concerned with seamen's welfare in port has also
been set up. About twenty major voluntary organisations are represented
upon it.

1

Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Hull, Leith, London, Merseyside, and Newcastle.

INDUSTRIAL HEALTH AND PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS

33

INDUSTRIAL HEALTH
A N D T H E PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS
T h e importance of safeguarding the health of industrial workers was
realised as a result of bitter experience during the war of 1914-1918, and
the appointment of the Committee on the Health of Munitions Workers
at that time, followed by the creation of the Industrial Fatigue Research
Board (since renamed Industrial Health Research Board) led to
far-reaching improvements in health conditions in British factories and
workshops. T h e outbreak of the present war revived the danger of industrial ill-health due to long hours and overstrain, aggravated this time by
the "black-out" (with its effect on both lighting and ventilation) and
the effects of air raids. With these considerations in mind, the Industrial
Health Research Board issued in March 1940, a summary of research
findings capable of immediate application in furtherance of the national
effort. Its chief recommendations dealt with the avoidance of over-long
hours of work, the alleviation of boredom, avoidance of unnecessary, movements and effort, sufficient lighting and absence of glare, and satisfactory heating and ventilation.1
In July 1940 a Departmental Committee on Lighting presented a
report which drew attention to the bad effects of working under inadequate
artificial lighting and recommended a new code of lighting for factories.
T h e possible effect of the speed-up of production on the health of
munition workers not unnaturally caused great anxiety during the summer
and the Minister of Labour and National Service took an important step
forward when he issued the Factories (Medical and Welfare Services)
Order. This Order, which came into force on 16 July, provided that
occupiers of certain factories may be required by a factory inspector to
make arrangements for the supervision of the health and welfare of the
workers employed. T h e arrangements must provide for the whole-time or
part-time employment of such numbers of medical practitioners, nurses,
and supervisory officers, as the inspector may specify.2 Many progressive
firms already had full-time or part-time doctors and nurses at their works,
but the new Order provided legal sanction for bringing less enlightened
undertakings into line. In October the Minister prepared to give effect to
the recommendations of the Committee on Lighting by sending a draft
Code of Regulations to employers for their consideration. It is proposed
to apply the recommendations to factories where more than 4 8 hours a
1

MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL, INDUSTRIAL HEALTH RESEARCH BOARD: Industrial

Health in War, 1940.
2
Ministry of Labour Gazette, August 1940, p. 213.

34

T H E LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

week or shifts are regularly worked.1 In recent months special attention
has also been paid to the remedying of bad conditions of temperature and
ventilation, which often resulted last winter from hastily improvised blackout arrangements.
The loss due to accidents is a particularly serious matter in wartime,
and the risk is increased by the employment of many people in unaccustomed surroundings. The Minister of Labour and National Service has
therefore promoted, with the help of the National Safety First Association, a special campaign for the prevention of factory accidents.
The Factory Welfare Department, which is responsible for stimulating and developing safety arrangements inside the factory, has issued
an illustrated pamphlet on First Aid and Ambulances for Factories.
A pamphlet, Worh.s Safety in War-Time, describing the service of posters
and pamphlets issued by the Ministry of Labour and produced by the
National Safety First Association, has been distributed to employers by
the Chief Inspector of Factories.
Fatal industrial accidents occuring to workers, other than seamen,
in Great Britain and Northern Ireland were as follows2:

Mines and quarries
Factories
Railway service
TOTAL

1939 figures

May

June

July

100
96
31
227
166

89
99
24
212
190

92
112
22
226
140

August September

76
129
23
228
—

78
124
25
227 1
209

October

95
168
20
283
254

1

In November this figure was revised and given as 225. T h e r e is reason
to believe that non-fatal industrial accidents h a v e also increased in n u m b e r .
Statistics of these accidents a r e normally published in the Annual
Report
of the Chief Inspector of Factories, t h e publication of which has been
delayed this year.

During the period under review there were 309 cases and 15
deaths in Great Britain and Northern Ireland of industrial diseases reported under the Factories Act, 1937, or under the Lead Paints (Protection against Poisoning) Act, 1926.
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
The importance of good industrial relations in wartime needs no
emphasis, and it has been a matter for real satisfaction to the authorities
that no labour troubles comparable to those which impeded production
1
2

The Times, 16 October 1940.
Ministry of Labour Gazette, July-November 1940.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

35

during the war of 1914-1918 have arisen, so far, this time. Disputes
have occurred and are likely to occur, but if the record of the; first year
of the war is maintained there will be no grounds for anxiety on account
of industrial stoppages. In spite of long hours, week-end work, cancelled
holidays, transport difficulties, and air raids, the spirit in the factories
and workshops has been astonishingly good. Some experienced observers
have expressed the view that relations between employers and employed
have never been better. T h e reasons for this state of affairs are not far to
seek. W h a t Mr. Will Lawther, the President of the Mine Workers' Federation, has said of the mining industry 1 , "Owners of pits, miners, and
officials, are on one side, Hitler is on the other", expresses the dominant
feeling in British industry to-day. The threat of invasion has led to a
closing of ranks. The participation of labour leaders, with the full approval of the Labour Party and the Trades Union Congress, has removed
a good deal of suspicion. And the efforts made by the Government to
"take profit out of war" and to maintain social standards as far as possible have created confidence.
After the change of Government in May several new measures were
taken to remove general wage problems from the field of controversy and
to settle trade disputes without interference with work. A s a first step the
Minister of Labour invited the advice and assistance of the National Joint
Advisory Council, which consists of representatives of the British Employers' Confederation and the Trades Union Congress. The Advisory
Council then appointed a Consultative Committee, which in June made
the following unanimous recommendations:
(1)
In this period of national emergency it is imperative that there
should be no stoppage of work owing to trade disputes. In these circumstances, the Consultative Committee agreed to recommend the arrangements which follow.
(2)
T h e machinery of negotiations existing in any trade or industry
for dealing with questions of wages and conditions of employment should
continue to operate. Matters in dispute which cannot be settled by such
machinery should be referred to arbitration for a decision which should
be binding for all parties and no strike or lock-out should take place
Where the machinery for negotiation does not at present provide for
reference to arbitration the parties should have the option of making provision for such arbitration, failing which the matter for dispute should
be referred for decision to a National Arbitration Tribunal to be appointed
by the Ministry of Labour. T h e Ministry should have the power to see
that the wages and conditions of employment settled by negotiation or arbitration should be made binding for all employers and workers in the
trade concerned.
1
Message to the Coal Mining Industry, endorsed by the Secretary for Mines
and the Coal Production Council, 25 June 1940.

36

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

(3)
In any case not covered by these provisions any dispute concern
ing wages or conditions of employment should be brought to the notice
of the Minister of Labour and if the matter is not otherwise disposed of
should be referred by him within a definite time-limit to the National Arbitration Tribunal for decision and no strike or lock-out should take
place.
(4)
These arrangements are to be subject to review on or after 31
December 1940.
The principles of these recommendations were accepted by the Minister, who, on further consultation with the Consultative Committee and
the National Joint Advisory Council, issued the Conditions of Employment
and National Arbitration Order, 1940, which came into force on 25
July. 1 The main purpose of the Order is to prevent work from being
interrupted during the war by trade disputes. A s stated in the joint recommendations, it is desired that disputes should be settled as far as possible
by the joint machinery of employers' organisations and the trade unions.
It was also realised that it was necessary, not only to strengthen existing
machinery, but also to enforce the observance of recognised wages and
working conditions in order to minimise causes of disputes. T h e Order,
therefore, requires employers to observe terms and conditions which have
been settled by collective agreement or by arbitration. Lock-outs and
strikes are prohibited, unless the difference has been reported to the Minister and has not been referred by him for settlement within' three weeks
from the date on which it was reported. The Order further provides for
the recording of departures from trade practices during the war, to facilitate the operation of legislation for the restoration of those practices after
the war. The Minister also established a National Arbitration Tribunal.
The National Arbitration Tribunal consists of five members; three
are appointed members, one of whom is the chairman, and the two other
members represent employers and workers. These two members are
selected in each case by the Minister from two panels of representatives constituted by him after consultation with the Trades Union Congress and
the British Employers' Confederation. Either party to a dispute may
report the dispute to the Minister. If collective joint machinery suitable
for settling the dispute exists, the Minister must refer the dispute to that
machinery. If no settlement is thus reached or if settlement appears to the
Minister to be unduly delayed, he can cancel the reference and refer the
dispute to the Tribunal.
Where no suitable joint machinery exists or there is failure to settle
a dispute by conciliation, the Minister may refer it to the Tribunal. H e
1

Explanatory Memorandum, Conditions of Employment and National Arbitration Order, 1940.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

37

must so refer it if the dispute has not been settled otherwise under the
foregoing procedure within twenty-one days from the date on which it
was reported to him, unless there are special circumstances which make
postponement of the reference necessary or desirable. It sometimes occurs
that further time makes it possible for the parties to reach a settlement ; but
if no settlement is reached the case must ultimately be referred to the
Tribunal.
Any agreement, decision, or award, which results from conciliation,
existing joint machinery, or reference to the Tribunal, is binding upon the
parties, and so is any award reached through agreed arbitration under
existing machinery, reference to which is made through the Minister.
Thus the principle applied is that the joint machinery in the trade or
industry shall continue to operate; reference to the Tribunal is required
only for those cases in which the matter has not been settled by negotiation between the parties or there has not been a reference to another
form of arbitration by agreement.
The first three awards of the Tribunal were issued towards the
end of August. Twenty awards were made in September, and six in
October. Of the 29 claims made, 2 8 were made by trade unions against
particular firms or employers' associations, and one by employers (two
London theatrical concerns) against a trade union (the Musicians'
Union). Twenty-five of the trade union claims related, directly or indirectly, to remuneration (wage increases, war bonus, holiday payments,
etc.), and increases were awarded in 14 cases. Of the 12 disallowed claims,
four were made by the Bank Officers' Guild for increases in the remuneration of bank officials on a "cost-of-living index" scale. T w o of the
trade union claims were for compensation for time lost through air raids
(including air-raid warnings), and awards were made providing compensation, under specified conditions, for workers who have presented themselves for work. One trade union claim related to the observance of T r a d e
Union Working Rules. No award was made on the claim against the
Musicians' Union.
T o prevent the work of the Tribunal from becoming congested the
Minister of Labour is considering the reference of certain types of cases
to other forms of arbitration. T h e trade unions have been urged to make
arrangements so that the joint negotiating machinery should include provision for arbitration if the parties cannot reach a settlement. The establishment of the Tribunal has in fact noticeably stimulated the trade unions
in the direction of setting up their own arbitration machinery for their
industries. 1
1

Report of the Trades Union Congress General Council, 1940-41, p. 172.

38

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

In spite of these developments, a certain number of industrial disputes
involving stoppages of work have occurred, but they involved less than
half the number of working days similarly lost during the corresponding months of 1939. The number of disputes in progress in May-October
1940 was 4 2 0 , involving 107,700 workpeople and 2 9 0 , 0 0 0 working
days. For the same period in 1939 the figures were: 5 5 2 ; 197,900; and
6 8 5 , 0 0 0 . T h e figures for June 1940 were the lowest recorded since
September 1934, and those for August 1940 were almost as low. 1
Trade Unions and the Employment of W o m e n
A s in the last war great efforts have been made during recent months
to substitute women workers for men called up for military service. In the
past the employment of women in men's jobs has often led to industrial
disputes, but no serious dispute appears to have arisen from this cause
during the period under review.
Though many collective agreements continue to fix different rates of
pay for women and men, there have also been two or three agreements
applying the principle of "the rate for the job". Reference should be
made particularly to the agreement of 2 2 M a y between the Engineering
and Allied Employers' National Federation and the Amalgamated
Engineering Union, the Transport and General Workers' Union, and the
National Union of General and Municipal Workers. 2 This followed the
decision of the Industrial Court with regard to workers employed on trams
and buses by the Manchester Corporation 8 , and preceded the award of
the National Arbitration Tribunal in respect of workers in the printing
trade*, which was part of the Tribunal's first award.
Trade Union Co-operation with the Government
Since the present Government entered office in May, the Trades
Union Congress has been taken into consultation on an increasing number
of questions. Reference has been made elsewhere to the Consultative Committee, which consists of fourteen representatives, seven of the British
Employers' Confederation and seven of the Trades Union Congress
General Council, and to the Labour Supply Board, which includes two
leading trade unionists. T h e part played by trade unionists on the reconstituted Area Boards (dealing with industrial capacity) and on the
1
2
3

Ministry of Labour Gazette, June-November I94C.
Ibid., June 1940, p. 159.
Labour. May 1940, p. 469.
* Ibid., October 1940, p. 663.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

39

local Labour Supply Committees has also been mentioned. In M a y an
Order provided that the non-trade members of the Food Control Committees should also include a trade union representative.1
Representation has also been secured by trade unions on a very large
number of other bodies. There is trade union representation on the Factory
and Welfare Advisory Board and on the local Welfare Advisory P a nels appointed by the Minister of Labour. A t the Ministry of Supply
there is a Trades Union Congress Advisory Committee, and trade unions
are represented on the R a w Materials Advisory Committee and the Trade
Panels Management Committees. A t the Ministry of Food there is another
Trades Union Congress Advisory Committee, and trade unions are represented on the Commodities Advisory Committee, the local Food Committees, Slaughter-House Tribunals, and the Consultative Committee of
the National Food Campaign. T h e Trades Union Congress General
Council is represented on the Central Price Regulation Committee, and
trade unions are represented on 1 7 regional Price Committees. A t the
Ministry of Information there are trade union representatives on both
regional and local committees.
Other bodies on which trade unions are represented are the
Export Council, the Coal Production Council, the Agricultural Executive
Committees, the Fisheries and the Shipping Advisory Councils, and the
Cotton Board. 2

Trade Union Membership
T h e total of trade union membership at the end of 1939 was given
by the Ministry of Labour as 6,234,000, as against 6,052,000 at the
end of 1938. Male trade unionists had increased by 2 . 6 per cent, and
female by 5.4 per cent., a joint increase of 3 per cent. 3 T h e present total
membership is stated to be probably more than 6%. million.4
While an increase of membership was to be expected, it has to be
remembered that many trade unionists are now in the Armed Forces. Some
unions have therefore to meet considerable financial obligations while receiving fewer subscriptions. Other unions, in "reserved" occupations, are better
placed in this respect.

1

2

John PI«CE: Labour in the War, pp. 133, 148, 155.

Report of the Trades Union Congress General Council, 1940-41, pp. 225226; John PRICE: Labour in the War, pp. 151-162.
3
Ministry of Labour Gazette, October 1940, p. 212.
4
Industrial News, 12 November 1940.

40

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

The Trades Union Congress
The annual Trades Union Congress was held from 7 to 9 October;
6 4 5 delegates attended the Congress. T h e number of organisations affiliated to it was I 76, with a membership of approximately 4,867,000 at the
end of 1939 (an increase of nearly 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 ) . T h e Congress was addressed by the Minister of Labour, who appealed for every possible effort
to expedite the production of armaments and equipment and gave particulars of further provisions which are being made for the welfare of workers
engaged in or transferred to munitions production.
A special resolution carried by an overwhelming majority recorded
the "inflexible resolve of Congress to go on with the struggle against the
aggressor Powers" and approved the measures taken by the General Council to safeguard the interests of trade unionists and to enlist the active cooperation of the organised workers, through their unions, to make the fullest
use of the country's man-power and industrial equipment.
Other resolutions dealt with the working of the National Arbitration
Tribunal and the effects of its findings on trade union aims and' conditions ;
the restrictions imposed on the trade unions by the Trade Disputes and
T r a d e Unions Act, 192 7 ; the regulations concerning the conditions and
payment of unemployment benefit for married women; the income limit
for National Health Insurance; the reform of workmen's compensation
legislation; the payment of National Health Insurance benefit in addition
to workmen's compensation to incapacitated workers ; the welfare of young
children in wartime; and the preparation of plans to deal with the effects
of the diminution in armament manufacture after the war. 1
T H E S T A N D A R D O F LIVING
It is not possible to make a simple generalisation about the effect of
the war on the standard of living of the people of Great Britain other
than the statement that the war has caused some astonishing divergencies
from the normal standards of every class in the community. Some, whose
incomes come from businesses or occupations which have derived advantages from the war, are "better off" in many ways than they were a year
ago, in spite of heavier taxation, higher prices, rationing, and the limitation
of supplies. Others, dependent on businesses or occupations which have
suffered as a result of the war, are now in much reduced circumstances.
Arbitrary forces outside the control of any of the individuals concerned
have upset the pre-war income relationships of millions of people. It is cer1

TRADES UNION CONGRESS GENERAL COUNCIL: 72nd Annual Report;

of Labour Casette, October 1940, p. 263.

Ministry

41

THE STANDARD OF LIVING

tain, however, that the number of people who are "better off" in a material
sense as a result of the war is very small compared with the number of
people who have suffered a reduction in their standard of living. Excess
Profits Duty, the higher scale of Surtax, and the Purchase Tax, have made
it well-nigh impossible for the business class, however favourably placed, to
"do well out of the war". T h e professional and salaried classes have, for
the most part, experienced an appreciable reduction in their standard of
life. A small proportion of manual workers have been able to increase their
weekly earnings by a greater percentage than the increase in the cost of
living (including the increased cost of wartime necessaries and conventional
luxuries, not taken into account in the official index). In all probability,
however, the great majority are rather worse off, and a considerable number distinctly worse off, than they were before the war. The absorption
of over half a million unemployed workers into employment has probably
raised the standard of living of at least double that number of people in
spite of the higher cost of living. The revised scale of Service separation
allowances has placed the wives and families of many men normally working for low wages at no disadvantage compared with their pre-war position.
The supplementary old-age pensions scheme has improved the lot of thousands of elderly people. On the other hand, the dependants of Service
men whose normal earnings were not less than average must be living at
an appreciably lower standard, except in cases where it has been possible
for a wife or some other non-earner in the family to take employment. The
increased scales of workmen's compensation, unemployment insurance benefit, and unemployment allowances, do not make up for the higher cost of
living. And the position of those who have to rely on National Health Insurance sickness or disability benefit—unchanged since the outbreak of war
—has obviously worsened.
The only available data for a quantitative comparison between the
standard of living of wage earners before and during the war are those
provided by an investigation into the propensity to save, carried out by
Charles Madge on behalf of the National Institute of Economic and Social
Research. Mr. Madge and his team in Coventry, Blackburn, and Bristol,,
have obtained sufficient particulars of the economic circumstances of a
random sample of homes to make a general comparison with their pre-war
position possible. In the case of working-class families, excluding those with
earners called up, Mr. Madge gives the following picture:
Income more
Per cent.

Coventry
Blackburn
Bristol

55
57
54

Same
Per cent.

33
25
25

Less
Per cent.

12
18
21

42

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

A middle-class sample were asked if their income was more, same, or less,
than before the war, with this result (again excluding families where earners were called up) :

Coventry
Blackburn
Bristol

Income more
Per cent.

Same
Per cent.

Less
Per cent.

28
17
10

33
50
40

39
33
50

Mr. Madge points out that these percentages are based on small figures
but that they show an unmistakable contrast with the working-class figures.
It should be noted that these results relate only to money incomes and
take no account of the increased cost of living. But in Bristol, where Mr.
Madge followed in the footsteps of the British Social Survey, a detailed
comparison of the relation of net income to standard needs in 1937 and
1940 was possible. The result shows that astonishingly little change had
taken place:

1

1937

1940

More than 50 per cent, above needs1
Less than 50 per cent, above needs

68.4
20.9

66.0
24.3

Total above needs

89.3

90.3

Below needs

10.7

9.7

Including a small proportion of " u n k n o w n , certainly a b o v e " .

The various factors which might have been expected to produce changes
appear to have cancelled out.
During the period under review the principal developments affecting
the standard of living of the wage-earning population were ( 1 ) the social
consequences of air attack, (2) changes in taxation, (3) changes in the
official rationing scheme, (4) the Government's nutrition policy, (5) the
rise in prices, (6) developments in the social services, and (7) improvements in the scale of war pensions and allowances. These developments
will be considered briefly in tum.
The Social Consequences of Air Attack
During the first ten months of the war, air attacks on Great Britain
were sporadic and relatively unimportant. After the collapse of France
they developed with great intensity but were, for another two months, directed mainly against shipping and fighter aerodromes. During September

THE STANDARD OF LIVING

43

and October 1940 they were concentrated on the population of London.
T h e loss of life from the air raids on London was surprisingly small1, but
the material destruction which they caused was enormous.2 Thousands of
working-class houses were destroyed or so damaged as to be uninhabitable
for some time, and many workers employed in factories, workshops, warehouses, and retail stores, which were affected by bombing, were temporarily
thrown out of employment. T h e homeless survivors of these raids were
provided for in various ways. Many of them went to live with friends or
relatives, near their own homes or elsewhere. Others were given accomodation in official Rest Centres, organised by the Public Assistance Department of the London County Council, until billets could be found for them
through the official billeting organisation of the London Boroughs. Others
again were sent away to official evacuation areas outside London (or, as
happened in some cases, found their way to towns and villages round about
on their own account). Those who had lost all were provided with shelter,
food, clothes, and ready cash, through the Rest Shelter Service and the
Assistance Board (whose wartime functions are summarised below) ; those
who had lost furniture but wished to set up a new home were given a grant
for this purpose; those who wished to move furniture from damaged
"houses were helped, so far as possible, to do so. Travelling expenses and
billeting allowances were granted to encourage evacuation, and claims for
•civilian war pensions and for war damage compensation began to be dealt
with. Gradually those thrown out of employment are being reabsorbed
•either at their former place of work or elsewhere. Meanwhile they have been
maintained, where necessary, by the Assistance Board.
Changes in Taxation
Reference has already been made to the two Finance Bills which
.passed through Parliament during the period under review. A s a result of
these measures the standard of living of the wage earner was affected in
^ The figures are as follows:
CIVILIAN AIR RAID CASUALTIES

(Compiled from Times
1940

Review

of the Year, 2 January 1940.)
Killed
Seriously injured

336
476
258
321
1,075
1,261
6,954
10,615
6.334
8,695
4,588
6,202
19,545
27,570
Total
^ Though it was small relatively to the total value of the property in the
"raided area.
June
July
August
September
October
November

44

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

several ways: (a) the reduction of the tax-free limit and the re-adjustment of allowances has brought a large number of lower-paid workers
within the income-tax class and has necessitated the arrangement whereby
income tax on wages and salaries is now deducted by the employer at the
source; (f>) increased postal charges and duties on beer, tobacco, and
entertainment, affect the family budgets of the great majority of the wageearning class; (c) the Purchase Tax, even in its revised form1, remains a
stiff impost on a wide variety of goods which are regarded by wage-earning
families as ordinary necessaries of living. The effect of these changes cannot be seen, but it is evident that they will make an appreciable difference
to the purchasing power of the wage-earning and salaried classes.

Rationing
The purpose of rationing is, in the words of the Ministry of Food,
to ensure the fair distribution of foods which are not available in full normal quantities. Only foods in general used in approximately similar quantities throughout the population are suitable for rationing. During the
period under review the following changes were made in the weekly ration
of such foods.
Butter and Margarine.

The ration, which was 8 ozs. in May, was reduced on 3 June to
4 ozs. On 22 July the combined butter and margarine ration was raised
to 6 ozs. ; the butter could be taken in any proportion. On 30 September
the butter ration was reduced to 2 ozs. but the total butter and margarine
ration remained at 6 ozs.
Cooking Fats.

This ration was reduced to 2 ozs. on 22 July.
Sugar.
The ration, which was 12 ozs. at the beginning of May, was reduced
on 27 May to 8 ozs.
Tea.

Rationing was introduced on 9 July. The ration is 2 ozs.
Meat.

The ration, which was 1 s. 10d. worth in May, was increased on 30
September to 2s. 2d. worth.
A reference to this tax has already been made on page 9.

45

THE STANDARD OF LIVING

The following table sets out the rations which were allowed at the end of
October, together with the average pre-war consumption of each commodity :
Ration per head
per week
October 1940

Food

Meat

2/2d worth ( = about
1 M to 2 lbs.)

Pre-war domestic consumption
per head per week
(average)

About lyi, lbs. (27.4 ozs.)

fButter 2 ozs.
\
/-Butter 7.1 ozs.
-\
Fats J Margarine 4 ozs. L 8 ozs. J Margarine 1.8 ozs. 110.3 ozs.
{Cooking fats 2 ozs. J
( Cooking fats 1.4 ozs. J
Bacon and ham
Sugar
Tea

4 ozs.
8 ozs.
2 ozs.

5.6 ozs.
17.0 ozs.
2.6 ozs.

It will be seen that the meat ration was equal to average peace-time consumption, and only about 80 per cent, of the ration is taken up by the
public. The total fats ration represented a reduction of about one-fourth.
The small butter ration of 2 ozs. was to some extent compensated for by
the 4 ozs. margarine ration. All margarine sold to the public contains vitamins A and D in quantities equal to those of summer butter. The cut in
bacon and ham consumption was relatively small and unimportant. The
sugar ration was only half the normal consumption. But British sugar
consumption has for years been among the highest in the world and it is
claimed that most dieticians would agree that its reduction is likely to be
beneficial rather than otherwise. The tea ration involved a cut of about
25 per cent. This is undoubtedly the ration that has been most resented,
but there are ample supplies' of coffee and cocoa to remedy the shortage.
It is not at present possible to give any very accurate figures showing
the extent to which the various rationed foods are actually consumed. A
rough estimate of the proportion at present taken up by the public for
domestic consumption is summarised below:
Per cent.

Meat
Sugar
Bacon and ham
Tea
Margarine
Butter
Cooking fats

80
96
65
100
100
80
90

Supplies of the rationed foods to hotels, restaurants, canteens1, etc.,
are restricted, but ration coupons do not have to be given up for these
Works canteens enjoy priority for a n u m b e r of supplies.

46

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

meals. Thus the factory worker in his canteen and the office worker in his
café or restaurant can supplement their rations to a limited extent. Such
important foods as bread, flour, and potatoes, are unrationed and supplies
are available without restriction of any kind at prices little above pre-war. 1
Nutrition Policy
T h e Ministry of Food has been concerned, not only to see that available food supplies are distributed fairly and economically, but also to make
sure that the nation's wartime diet conforms as far as possible to the
requirements of the nutrition experts. Thus, the Ministry has encouraged
the growth of fruit and vegetables in private gardens and allotments and'
has arranged for their distribution and the disposal of any surplus produce. In the case of bread, the Ministry has emphasised the superioritjr
of wholemeal bread over white bread. It has, however, allowed the production of white bread to continue for two reasons. First, because the great
majority of consumers much prefer white bread; secondly, because for
reasons of security it is necessary to store reserve stocks in the form of
flour and not of wheat and the keeping qualities of white flour are greater
than those of wholemeal flour. The Ministry proposes to remedy the lack
of vitamin content in white flour by fortifying it with vitamin B l and
to introduce into the loaf a small quantity of calcium salt. The public will
have a choice between fortified white bread and wholemeal bread at the.
same price. Milk has been the subject of a special scheme.
National Milk Scheme.

A national milk scheme has been in force since 1 July, on which date
the retail price of milk was raised. The object of the scheme is to ensure
that the rise in the price of milk, made necessary by increased cost of production and distribution, does not affect those classes of the community
whose need for milk is greatest. The scheme covers all expectant or nursing.
mothers and all children up to the age of compulsory school attendance
(5 years). ( A scheme was already in operation for the supply of milk
to schoolchildren.)
These mothers and children can obtain one pint of milk daily at
2d. per pint (the retail price in most areas was 3 ^ d . in June and 4d. in
July). This arrangement applies irrespective of income.
If the family income is small the milk can be obtained free. Where
the father and mother together have not more than 40s. a week, they
qualify for free milk. The limit is increased by 6s. for every dependent
1

Information supplied by the Ministry of Food.

THE STANDARD OF LIVING

47

member of the household who has no income of his or her own. If there
is only one parent the limit is reduced to 27s. 6d., with the same 6s.
allowance for dependants. Permit holders under the scheme may obtain
tuberculin-tested, sterilised or other special milk by additional payment.
On 8 November the number of persons benefiting under the scheme
throughout the United Kingdom was 2,526,000, out of an estimated number of 3,900,000 potential beneficiaries. Nearly 10 million gallons of
milk are being1 distributed under the scheme each month, but the national
consumption has probably not increased by more than half this amount,
the remainder being in substitution of milk previously purchased at the
full price. 1
The cost of the scheme is estimated at £7,500,000 a year. 2
Communal

Feeding.

The disturbance to family life caused by evacuation, the employment
of married women, and industrial transference, air raids, and transport difficulties, has had a profound effect on the eating habits of the community.
Workers whose wives are evacuated or themselves working can no longer
rely on a well-cooked mid-day or evening meal at home. Workers who are
living in billets often depend on canteens or restaurants for their food.
Housewives living in houses which have been damaged in air raids, or
temporarily lost their water, gas or electricity supply as a result of bombing,
often find it difficult to prepare hot meals at home.
T o meet this situation the Government, following the example of
many progressive firms and voluntary organisations, has organised the
provision of communal feeding facilities on a large scale. In July the
Ministry of Labour undertook a survey of the requirements of factory
workers throughout the country and the Ministry of Food made a survey
of all existing catering establishments, to obtain information regarding
premises and equipment.5 A n officer was appointed by the Ministry of
Food to organise communal feeding facilities throughout the country. A
large number of canteens, communal kitchens, and public feeding centres,
have since been established where cheap nutritious meals may be obtained.
Since the beginning of intensive air raids on London a great deal
of attention has been paid to the provision of emergency feeding centres.
U p to 4 October, 58 feeding centres had been opened by public authorities
and plans had been made to open some 2 0 0 more centres if they were
1

Information communicated by the Ministry of Food.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food, House of Commons,
IS July 1940.
3
Ditto.
2

48

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

needed. Many more feeding centres are being run by voluntary societies.1
Food is also being provided in air-raid shelters. Some 9 5 authorities in
the Greater London area were asked to take action 2 , and on 2 5 October
food was being provided in about 3 6 0 shelters in the London County
Council area.
T h e Rise in Prices
Although the prices of many articles of food, clothing, and domestic
utensils, have been controlled since the outbreak of war, increased costs
of production and distribution have been reflected in rising prices. T h e
Ministry of Labour Cost of Living Index has been as follows ( 1 9 1 4 =
100):
Food only
AU items
—
1939
138
September
155
1940
181
May
158
June
187
168
185
July
164
August
187
166
September
189
169
October
192
172
T h e increase (nearly 2 4 per cent, since the war began) has not
very greatly advanced since the spring of 1940. In June the food index
rose by 10 per cent. This was attributed mainly to the increase in the
price of potatoes (new crop). T h e price of potatoes fell in July and more
than counterbalanced the increased price of eggs and other foodstuffs.
In August some further reduction of potato prices did not offset other
price increases, especially for sugar and eggs. T h e increase in September
was mainly attributable to an increased cost of eggs and fish and (in some
districts) milk. T h e October increase was due to a further increase in the
price of eggs and a slight increase in the price of potatoes. 3
Orders made by the Minister of Food have at various times between
May and October fixed maximum prices for oranges, cheese, canned salmon, bacon, milk, condensed milk, eggs, tea, sausage, potatoes, cream (the
sale of which was later prohibited), sugar, jam, peas, dried peas, beans,
and lentils, canned corn beef, onions, lemons, imported cod fillets, and
rabbits.*
Other items which increased in cost were coal (in M a y ) , tobacco and
cigarettes (in July, as a result of increased taxation), and clothing, which
1
2

Ministry of Food Bulletin, No. 54, 4 October 1940.
Ibid., No. 57, 25 October 1940.
3
Ministry of Labour Gazette, June-November 1940.
* Ibid.

THE STANDARD OF LIVING

49

increased in price in May, August, September, and October.1 Railway
fares were increased, but no increase was made in the cost of workmen's
tickets.2 As the purchase tax did not come into force until 21 October, its
effects were not felt during the period under review.
It is worthy of note that nearly three million workers are governed
by agreements under which their wages are affected by sliding scales based
upon the cost of living.3 The cost of living is also a primary factor in all
claims put forward by workers for increases in wages.
The Social Services
During the period under review social conditions have deteriorated
in many respects, but some important developments have taken place in
the public social services. Education and the school medical service have
suffered gravely in some parts of the country as a result of air raids and
a new wave of evacuation. The building of new houses has come almost
to a standstill, and large numbers of people who were comfortably housed
a few months ago are now living in conditions which, by peace-time standards, are grossly overcrowded. On the other hand, improvements have been
made in the scales of workmen's compensation payments, unemployment insurance benefit, and unemployment allowances; the scope of unemployment insurance has been extended to even higher-paid workers ; a modification of the "Means Test" has been announced; and a major reform, in
the shape of a supplementary old-age pensions scheme, has been introduced.
Moreover several new social services have come into existence to deal with
the social consequences of large-scale bombing attacks.
Education.
Education has been the most serious social casualty of the war in
Great Britain. At the beginning of this war hundreds of thousands of
children were transferred from areas considered vulnerable to air attack
to safer areas all over the country. Hundreds of school buildings were
commandeered for war purposes, and the need to provide some protection
against the effects of aerial bombardment made it necessary for hundreds
of others to be closed temporarily. The building of new schools ceased for
the time being and the extension of the school-leaving age to 15 years had
to be postponed. By the end of May, however, reasonably satisfactory
educational arrangements had been made in most parts of the country and
the majority of children, whether at home or in the evacuation areas, were
1

Ministry of Labour Gazette, June-November 1940.
» The Times. 22 October 1940.
» Ibid.

50

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

receiving some form of regular schooling. In June 1940 new difficulties
began to arise. T h e threat of invasion in the summer led to the evacuation
af several coastal areas which had previously been "reception" areas for
London children, and the heavy raids on London in September and October caused thousands of parents to send their children away to the country.
A t the reception end educational arrangements were speedily improvised
and the majority of evacuees of school age were soon attending classes, if
only for two or three hours every day. A t the sending end, however, conditions were not favourable for continuing normal classes for the children
whose parents had kept them in London and, although many schools were
kept open, great difficulty was experienced in getting children to attend regularly. A t the end of October some 110,000 children of school age were
still living in the London county area, of whom only 1 7,000 were attending school. 1
Although British education has suffered grievously as a result of the
war it would be a mistake to suppose that there have been no gains. Many
interesting educational experiments are being carried out in the reception
areas, and the advantages of life in the country for thousands of children
drawn from the poor quarters of great cities are manifest. Reports from
the reception areas indicate that most of the children have gained in health
and that they have benefited greatly from this wider range of social experience and their life among natural surroundings.
T h e creation of a National Youth Council and the official encouragement which has been given to organisations providing for the welfare of
young people between the ages of 14 and 20 years are also worthy of remark. In response to a circular of the Board of Education, 129 local education authorities out of 149 in England and Wales replied by 31 August
1940 that they had started some form of youth welfare scheme. Some of
them had appointed paid youth organisers. In order to encourage these developments grants were made by the Board of Education to local authorities and voluntary organisations. Arrangements were also made with the
W a r Office to release physical training instructors from official war duties.
Some 5 0 instructors were released immediately and 2 0 0 were put on a "no
action" basis as club leaders.2 In some areas, "Youth Service" Schemes
—combining informal education and active participation in some form of
national service—have sprung up. These developments are causing a new
ferment of ideas in education circles which may affect profoundly the future trend of educational policy in Great Britain.
1

Since the end of October the number of schoolchildren living in London
has fallen considerably, and as a result of an intensive campaign to improve
school attendance the majority of those who remain are now receiving
some education.

2

The Times Educational Supplement, 26 October 1940.

THE STANDARD OF LIVING

51

Public Health.

Air raids and the partial evacuation of dangerous areas have had a
disturbing effect on the civilian public health and medical services, which
had, in any case, suffered a reduction in personnel. Great efforts, however,
have been made—apparently with some success—to maintain those services
in the heavily bombed areas and to strengthen them in the reception areas.
Special attention has been paid to the health of people in air-raid shelters,
and measures have had to be taken to prevent epidemics. Immunisation
against diphtheria has been carried out—voluntarily—on a considerable
scale, and in some areas precautionary measures have been taken against
typhoid infections. Happily no marked deterioration in the state of public
health has yet been observed and the Minister of Health was able to make
a very reassuring statement on this subject to the House of Commons in
November.
Housing.

The outbreak of war naturally caused an immediate reduction in
house building. In September 1939 local authorities were asked for the
time being to postpone slum clearance and, also for the time being, not to
begin work on new houses unless they were required for workers in the
war factories or on the land. They were, however, instructed to complete
houses in an advanced state of construction. A s a result of these measures
the number of new houses finished declined rapidly during the first nine
months of the war and by the beginning of May little building for civilian
use was being undertaken, except in a few areas serving new war supply
factories. During the summer the building industry was engaged almost
entirely on defence works, military buildings, and accommodation for the
expanding war industries. Since September it has also been engaged on
war damage repairs. Very few houses have been built.
T h e effect of the reduction in house building has been aggravated by
evacuation, the movement of workers to expanding armament centres, and
the bombing of residential areas. A s a result severe overcrowding exists
in some parts of the country, though in other areas (notably London)
there are large numbers of unoccupied houses.
T h e rents of working-class houses were stabilised at the beginning
of the war.
Workmen's Compensation.

A s a result of the war, sittings of the Royal Commission on Workmen's Compensation were suspended. Fundamental changes which were
generally admitted to be necessary had to be postponed for the time being.
Meanwhile it was decided to introduce a temporary measure which would

52

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

bring scales of compensation in closer relation to current needs. Thus
the Workmen's Compensation (Supplementary Allowances) Act received
the Royal Assent on 8 August.
The Act provides that in cases of total incapacity a supplementary
flat-rate allowance of 5s. a week shall be paid to any injured perso»,
of either sex, who is entitled to weekly payments of compensation under
the principal Act. Provision is also made for the payment of increased
allowances in respect of the children of an injured male workman. These
allowances are 4s. a week in respect of each of the first two children
under the age of fifteen years and 3s. a week for each additional child
under that age.
The children in respect of whom allowances are payable are legitimate or illegitimate children born to the workman not later than nine
months after the accident giving rise to compensation, step-children whose
mother was married to him before the accident, and children adopted by
the workman, or by him and his wife jointly, before the accident.
In cases of partial incapacity there is a scaling down of the allowances so as to bear the same proportion to the maximum allowances as
the weekly payment in respect of partial incapacity bears to what the
weekly payment would have been in the case of total incapacity.
The maximum amount of compensation and allowances which can
be drawn in cases of total incapacity is fixed as seven-eighths of the preaccident earnings. In cases of partial incapacity the maximum is seveneighths of the difference between the average earnings before and after
the accident.
The measure also provides some safeguards against the abuse of
the practice of redeeming weekly compensation payments by lump sums.
The Act, which came into force on 19 August, applies not only
to accidents arising thereafter but to all cases where the accident in respect of which compensation is payable occured after 1 January 1924.
It is calculated that the increase in the total amount of compensation
payable will be about 30 per cent, of the present total, which is estimated
at about £9,000,000 a year.1
Unemployment Insurance.

One of the first social measures introduced by the new Government
was an Unemployment Insurance Bill, which passed through Parliament
during the summer and received the Royal Assent on 25 July 1940.
The chief provisions of this measure were as follows:
1

The Act applies to workmen entitled to compensation under any Compensation Scheme for silicosis or asbestosis, subject to the adaptations,
modifications, and exceptions, contained in the Workmen's Compensation
(Silicosis and Asbestosis) Amendment Scheme, 1940.

THE STANDARD OF LIVING

53

( I ) It provided for raising the weekly rates of benefit under the
general scheme by 3s. for men and women aged 21-64 and by 2s. for
young men and young women aged 18 - 20. The rates of agricultural benefit were raised by 3s. for men aged 21-64 and by 2s. for young men
aged 18-20 and women aged 18-64, and the maximum weekly
amount of benefit which can be received under the agricultural scheme
was raised by 6s. There was no change in the rates of benefit for persons under 18 years of age.
( 2 ) It also provided for altering the benefit rule which permitted
payment of benefit only if an insured contributor had been unemployed for
at least three days out of any six consecutive days, so that an insured contributor is now entitled to benefit (subject to the usual conditions) if
he is unemployed for two days out of any six consecutive days.
(3)
These additional benefits are met by increased contributions,
which are provided for in the Act in respect of all classes of persons
aged 18 years and over; under the general scheme the weekly rates for
all persons of those ages were increased by 1 d. for each contributing party
(employer, worker, and Exchequer) and under the agricultural scheme
by lAd. for each party.
The provisions regarding benefit came into operation on 1 August
1940, and the new rates of contributions on 5 August.
( 4 ) The Act provided for the inclusion' within the unemployment
insurance scheme, as from 2 September 1940, of "non-manual" workers
whose rate of remuneration exceeds £250 but does not exceed £ 4 2 0 a
year. Non-manual workers who are outside the scope of unemployment
insurance by virtue of other provisions of the Unemployment Insurance
Acts (e.g., established Civil Servants, teachers, and police) are not affected by these extensions.
(5)
It was further provided that persons thus brought within the
scope of the unemployment insurance scheme should, as from 1 September
1941, also be included within the scope of the unemployment assistance
scheme.
In a financial memorandum accompanying the Unemployment Insurance Bill when it was first presented to Parliament it was stated that
the additional income to the Unemployment Fund from the increases in
the rates of contributions and extension of insurance was estimated by
the Government Actuary to be about £9,400,000 a year in the case of
the general scheme and £ 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 a year in the case of the agricultural
scheme. It was also stated that, in the opinion of the Government Actuary,
the additional income under normal peace-time conditions (i. e., assuming

54

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

an average rate of unemployment of 1 5 per cent, for the general scheme,
as envisaged by the Unemployment Insurance Statutory Committee)
would be approximately equal to the new expenditure out of the Unemployment Fund. During the war, however, with unemployment at a
much lower level, the proposals in the Bill would probably result in some
increase in the balance of the Fund as a reserve for the post-war years.
Old-age and Widows' Pensions.

The Old Age and Widows' Pensions Act, 1940, received the Royal
Assent on 21 March, that is to say about six weeks before the new Government took office. It will be recalled that the Act provided for the
lowering from 65 to 6 0 of the age at which contributory old-age pensions
are payable to women, and for the payment of supplementary pensions,
in case of need, to old-age and widow pensioners over the age of 6 0
years. The duty of administering the supplementary pensions scheme was
placed on the Unemployment Assistance Board, renamed the Assistance
Board. T h e question whether a person is in need of a supplementary
pension, and the amount of the supplementary pension, were to be determined in accordance with regulations made jointly by the Minister of
Health and the Secretary of State for Scotland, and approved by Parliament.
T h e first set of Regulations prepared under this Act was withdrawn
before it was submitted for Parliamentary approval, presumably in deference to the views of the labour members of the new Government. Revised regulations were issued on 8 June, and the supplementary pensions
scheme came into operation in the first full week in August.
The Regulations follow the same broad principles as the existing
Unemployment Assistance Regulations They determine the general
standard of supplementary pensions, but the rates can be adjusted to meet
the circumstances of the particular case. T h e method of arriving at the
amount of the supplementary pension is to assess the needs of the pensioner
(together with the needs of any dependants living with him) as if the
household had no resources; and then to deduct the resources of the
whole household, including the main pension to be supplemented. Not all
resources are taken fully into account, however, and some may be disregarded altogether. The rate for a married couple who are not members
of a larger household is 31s. if only one of them is a pensioner, or 32s. if
they are both pensioners. In the absence of any other resources and subject to adjustment for rent or special circumstances, the main pension
is made up to this sum. The basic rate for a pensioner living alone is 19s.
6d. Under a special provision all these amounts may be increased during

THE STANDARD OF LIVING

55

winter.1 There is a right of appeal to an independent Tribunal, and the
Board takes into account any general recommendations of local Advisory
Committees, notably with regard to the treatment of rent.
The new scheme has proved to be remarkably popular. Over 300,000
women between the ages of 6 0 and 65 years have become pensioners,
and about a million and a quarter old-age pensioners are receiving supplementary allowances.

Special Assistance.

One of the most interesting developments in British social administration since the outbreak of war has been the enlargement of the
functions of the Assistance Board (formerly Unemployment Assistance
Board). T h e Board is now responsible not only for the administration of
unemployment assistance and supplementary pensions, but also for the
prevention and relief of distress due to the war ; for the payment of civilian
war mjury allowances; and for the payment of compensation for war
damage to property belonging to persons of limited income. Since July
the principal activity of the Board has been the inauguration of the new
supplementary pensions scheme. But the heavy air raids on London in
September and October gave the Board many opportunities of exercising
its wider wartime functions.
The new supplementary pensions scheme took a great deal of the
work of the local Public Assistance authorities away from them, and,
as the Assistance Board has been made responsible for the domiciliary
relief of war distress, the functions of the Public Assistance authorities
have become much more restricted. They are, however, responsible for
the provision of rest centres for homeless people after air raids. Since
September the London Rest Centres Service (which is an outgrowth of
the London Public Assistance authority) has played an important part
in rendering first aid to the social casualties of air attack. A t the end of
October there were over a hundred official Rest Centres in London, and
many more have since been provided. Similar developments have taken
place in other cities. In the reception areas the Public Assistance authorities have also played an important part in providing food and shelter for
"unofficial" evacuees.

1

Extra winter allowances have been paid since the week beginning 4
November. They are payable until the end of March. Each case is dealt
with on its merits, but the usual allowance is Is. in the case of a single
applicant and 2s. in the case of a normal household. Parliamentary
Debates,
House of Commons, 16 October 1940 (written answer).

56

THE LABOUR SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

The Modification of the Means Test.

Another development which owes its origin to the participation of
labour in the Government is the proposed modification of the basis of
determining need in the administration of unemployment allowances, blind
persons' pensions, and supplementary old-age pensions. It was announced
in the House of Commons on 6 November that the Government intended
to introduce legislation the effect of which will be to limit enquiry to the
needs and resources of the applicant, his wife, and dependants. The resources of other members of the household will not be included.1

1

Ministry of Labour Gazette,
ment ¡n full (page 282).

November, sets out the Government state-

The I.L.O. has also just published
Studies a n d Reports, Series B, N o . 3 3

STUDIES IN WAR ECONOMICS
CONTENTS
I.

Economic Organisation for Total War, with Special Reference to
the Workers. By E. F . PENROSE.
A general introduction to the study of war economics. It discusses the underlying principles involved in changing from a prewar to a war economy, dealing with changes in productive activities,
the adaptation of consumption to these changes, problems of war
finance and foreign trade, and methods of distributing the war burden in the most equitable manner.

II.

W h o Shall Pay for the W a r ? A n analysis of the Keynes Plan.
By E. J.

RICHES.

A detailed summary and discussion of the proposals put forward
in Mr. J. M. Keynes's How to Pay for the War. Various amendments are suggested and the applicability of the Keynes Plan to
other countries is briefly discussed.
III.

Relative Wages in Wartime. By E . J. RlCHES.
An analysis of the nature and causes of wartime movements in
the relative wages of different groups of workers, and of the problems involved in attempts to limit such movements. T h e article
concludes with suggestions as to the safeguards desirable in any
system of wage control.

IV.

Control of Food Prices. By A . S. J. B A S T E R .
A discussion of the objectives and limitations of food price
control against the background of the experience of the last war.
The problems of administration and enforcement of price regulation
and the prevention of profiteering are investigated.

V.

Housing Policy and W a r Economy. By Carl Major W R I G H T .
A discussion of the place of housing in an effective defence effort. It examines the ways in which housing policy has been adjusted to new conditions both in belligerent and in neutral countries.
Special attention is paid to methods of adapting housing policy as
quickly as possible to new and urgent requirements.

VI.

The Effect of W a r on the Relative Importance of Producing
Centres, with Special Reference to the Textile Industry.
By Edith Tilton D E N H A R D T .
An analysis of the effect of war on international trade and,
through trade, on industry in different countries. T h e position of
the textile industries in Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia and
New Zealand, the Far East, Canada, the United States, and South
America, is discussed, as well as the way in which thé war is likely
to affect the development of these industries.

Price: $1.00; 4s.

199 pages

SOME RECENT I.L.O. BOOKS
J. L. 0. Y ear-Book 1939-1940
Like its predecessors, this new edition deals with the most outstanding features of industrial life throughout the world, but since it deals
with 1939 and the early months of 1940, it derives special interest
from the exceptional circumstances in which its publication has taken
place. The consequences of war and mobilisation in the different
fields covered by the work are noted chapter by chapter. In addition,
a special chapter is devoted to measures taken for the assistance of
mobilised men and war victims.
VIII+392pp.
Price: 8s.; $2.00

Year-Book of Labour Statistics 1940
An international work of reference comprising in tabular form the
most complete data obtainable in some 50 countries relating to
Population, Employment and Unemployment, Hours, Wages, Cost of
Living, Family Budgets, Migration, Industrial Accidents, etc.
VIII+175 pp.
Price: 8s.; $2.00

The Compensation of War Victims
This study, the topical interest of which is self-evident, consists in
part of a comparative account of the essential features of compensation for war victims at the beginning of the present conflict (legal
basis, right to compensation, conditions under which this right comes
into play, and benefits guaranteed), and in part of a series of four
monographs analysing the systems in force in France, Germany,
Great Britain, and Italy.
92 pp.
Price: 2s.; $0.50

Silicosis
Report of the Second International Conference on Silicosis, held at
Geneva from 29 August to 9 September 1938, and attended by distinguished experts from many countries. Contains a summary of the
Conference's debates, followed by the Report that it adopted and
appendices consisting of the text of notes and Reports submitted
to the Conference.
Price: 5s.; $1.25

Methods of Family Living Studies
Income - Expenditure - Consumption
A complete guide to the subject of conducting enquiries into family
income and expenditure ; special attention is paid to methods of
analysis of results and their interpretation. A special chapter deals
with problems of food consumption and nutrition.
Price: 4s.; $1.00