MAJORITY REPORT. 
bution from the National Exchequer towards the cost of the 
Scheme, apart from the cost of the Central Departments, takes 
the form of the payment of two-ninths of the total cost of the 
benefits and of their administration, payable on disbursement, that 
is to say, a payment by a Society attracts the State contribution 
of two-ninths. 
The total income received from contributions in the year 
1994 amounted to £27,377,000, and a sum of about £5,000,000 
was derived from interest on accumulated funds. The expendi- 
ture on benefits was £26,118,000, and the cost of administration 
of these benefits by Approved Societies and Insurance Committees 
was £3,804,000. The total expenditure from the Hxchequer 
towards the cost of the Scheme, inclusive of the cost of the 
central Government Departments concerned in the administra- 
tion, was £7,045,000. 
15. The benefits provided under the Scheme are :— 
(1) Medical benefit, i.e., medical treatment and 
attendance, including the provision of proper and sufficient 
medicines and of the prescribed medical and surgical 
appliances. 
(2) Sickness benefit, i.e., periodical payments during 
incapacity for work through illness. The ordinary rates of 
sickness benefit are 15s. a week for men, and 12s. a week 
for women, commencing on the fourth day of incapacity 
and continuing for a maximum period of 26 weeks. 
(8) Disablement benefit, i.e., a continuance of periodical 
payments during illness at the reduced rate of 7s. 6d. a week 
for both men and women after the title to sickness benefit 
has been exhausted. 
(4) Maternity benefit, i.e., payment of the sum of £2 on 
the confinement of an insured woman or the wife of an 
insured man. (A total sum of £4 is payable in the case of 
a married woman who is or has recently been herself an 
employed contributor ; these cases represent 25 per cent. of 
the whole number of payments to married women.) 
(5) Additional benefits, which may be provided by an 
Approved Society having a disposable surplus on valuation, 
and may take the form either of an increase of the normal 
cash benefits, or payment towards the cost of various forms 
of treatment, such as dental, ophthalmic, hospital or 
convalescent home treatment. 
16. The Act makes provision for variation from the normal 
contributions or benefits in the case of certain special classes of 
insured persons, such as women who cease employment on 
marriage, men serving in the armed forces of the Crown, seamen 
of the Mercantile Marine, and others. There are also special