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20 
APPENDIX A. 
MEMORANDUM. 
AN ExaMINATION OF CERTAIN FEATURES OF THE SICKNESS AND DISABLEMENT 
CrArMs OF THE SELECTED SOCIETIES IN THE YEARS 1921-23. 
1. The records of the sickness and disablement claims of the ¢ Selected 
Societies ” were sufficiently complete in detail to enable the investigation 
to include enquiries as to the proportion of members claiming benefit of 
each kind in each year at the various age groups, with the related average 
duration of claim. Statistics were also obtainable as to the working of 
the three days’ waiting period and as to the extent to which the claims 
for disablement benefit represented other than permanent incapacity. 
The information thus secured is believed to be both of interest and of 
importance to those engaged in the administration of sickness risks as 
well as to actuaries who are called upon to deal with the financial aspect 
of these risks, and it is accordingly presented in Tables I, IT and III 
appended to this memorandum. These tables relate, respectively, to the 
experience of men, unmarried women (spinsters and widows) and married 
WOL1e1 
2. It was desired to compare the new experience with earlier (friendly 
society) experience in regard to some of the points covered by these 
tables, but this was only possible in the case of men, since women were 
not insured against sickness to any material extent before the institution 
of National Health Insurance and no women’s sickness experience of any 
authority has previously been obtained. The features examined in 
paras. 3 to 9 below relate exclusively therefore to the experience of men 
and no corresponding investigation can be made in the case of women. 
3. On examining Table I it was found that the sickness claims of men 
were relatively fewer than in the Manchester Unity Experience, but that 
the average duration of sickness and disablement was longer than in that 
experience. This feature has been further investigated and use has been 
made of the analysed table of the Manchester Unity Sickness Rates 
contained in p. 593 of the Report for 1912-13 on the Administration of 
National Health Insurance (Cd. 6907) to obtain approximations to the 
proportion sick ’’ in the ‘first six months’ and “ after six months ’’ 
periods respectively and to the proportions entering on the ‘‘ after six 
months ’’ period which are necessary for a complete comparison of this 
standard experience with that of the Selected Societies. 
4. The following table relates to sickness benefit (1st six months of 
sickness). The headings are self-explanatory. 
Taner 1. 
Proportion of Members Claiming 
Benefit in the Year (per thousand). 
Average Duration of Attack in the 
Year (stated in weeks). 
Central Age of 
Group. 
13°... we 
22% ... are 
27%... eh 
32} ... tae 
Jit... ove 
4924... vor 
47% ... ‘oe 
52% ... vee 
H7% ... ure 
G25... rn 
M.U., 1893-97 
(approximate). 
1) 
302 
236 
232 
232 
236 
246 
258 
273 
300 
200 
Selected Societies, 
1921-23. 
(2) 
158 
151 
147 
152 
155 
160 
171 
195 
221 
92092 
M.U., 1893-97 
(approximate). 
(3) 
3-0 
3-3 
3-4 
37 
4-0 
4°; 
4-8 
54 
61 
oi 
Selected Societies 
(adjusted for 1st 
3 days). 
(4) 
4-0 
4-4 
46 
4-7 
48 
50 
5-3 
57 
fe 
7.