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CHAPTER XIII,

has an effect on the indebtedness of the worker which is at all compar-
able with the effect of paying wages monthly. Provided that the delay
in payment is of uniform length (and this is usually the case) the only
effect of the waiting period is to increase the time which elapses before
the first wage is paid. For example, to take a frequent case, if monthly
wages are paid about a fortnight after the end of the month, the effect
of the waiting period is to increase from a month to about six weeks, the
initial period of service without wages. The mere reduction of this
period to, say, five weeks would be of some assistance; but it would
seldom place the worker in a position to dispense with fresh borrowing.
Short Wage Periods and Debt.
The reduction of the wage period itself, on the other hand,
would have important effects. Long intervals between wage payments
invariably add to the embarrassments of the poor, and have an appreciable
influence in binding the worker to the money-lender. The mere purchase
of goods on credit is not necessarily equivalent to running into debt and
the shopkeeper (who is often the money-lender) frequently does not charge
interest on the current account for provisions. But he gets the equiva-
lent of interest in an enhanced price and where the worker has already
other debts, a month’s credit is a distinct and insidious addition to his
burden. It strengthens the chain which holds him to his creditor,
and it acts as an additional obstacle to the habit of saving.” Some
workers spoke to us of the advantage they would secure from weekly
wages in being able to do more purchasing in cash, and we believe
that the general adoption of weekly payments would have important
effects in this direction. A shorter period of payment should also
improve the workers’ financial position in other ways. The illiterate
worker tends to take a short view; the longer view of life is largely a
matter of education. Itis, therefore, of particular importance in his
case that the connection between cause and effect should be as short
and obvious as possible. Where payment is on piece rates, there is a dis-
tinct tendency for the standard of work to improve as pay-day approaches,
We believe that a reduction in the period would have a definite
effect on efficiency. It would also assist the worker to more judicious
expenditure. -It is unfortunately impossible to produce conclusive proof
of our view by a comparison of the position of those workers who are paid
weekly or fortnightly with that of the monthly-paid workers. Accurate
statistics of indebtedness are not available and, even if they were, the
differences of race and training between workers in different centres and
different industries would make it difficult to base conclusions upon
them. We believe it to bea fact that the coal miner, who is paid weekly
or daily, is much less in debt, in proportion to his income, than the
railway worker, who is paid monthly; but the differences between the
two cases in respect of the other factors which can affect indebtedness
is so great that no deduction can safely be-drawn from the fact. It
should be added, however, that a number of employers who pay
monthly make advances against wages to their workers during the