290) 
MAJORITY REPORT 
ability to obtain work subject to arrangements being made for 
the certification of unemployment by Employment Exchanges 
or its establishment otherwise in accordance with our recommen- 
dation in paragraph 655. 
524. At the end of eight consecutive weeks of voluntary 
abstention from employment a woman should be transferred to a 
special class of insurance on the lines of the present arrangement 
and would become entitled to special benefits for a limited period. 
The special benefits which we recommend are :— 
(1) Sickness Benefit subject to the usual three days’ wait- 
ing period at the ordinary rate for a maximum period of six 
weeks during a fixed period of twelve months from the date 
of the transfer to the special class; this benefit should not 
pe liable to be linked up with previous sickness, thus 
entailing a liability of reduction to the rate of disablement 
benefit. 
(2) A single Maternity Benefit at the ordinary rate on the 
first confinement within two vears after the date of 
marriage. 
(3) Medical Benefit up to the 30th June or 31st December 
next following the anniversary of the date of transfer to the 
special class. 
(4) Any additional benefits provided under the Scheme of 
the Society of which the woman is a member, 
525. We also recommend that the ordinary penalties for arrears 
should be applied, with the exception that Maternity Benefit 
should in. all cases be paid in full, irrespective of arrears. We 
recommend the retention of the present provision that a woman 
who returns to employment after having been transferred to the 
special class should be treated as a new entrant, and that pend- 
ing her qualification for benefits in respect of her new insurance 
she should continue to be entitled to the benefits of the special 
class so far as her title had not already been exhausted. 
HxEMPT PERSONS. 
526. The statutory grounds on which a person employed within 
the meaning of the Act is entitled to claim exemption are— 
(1) the receipt of a pension or private income of at least 
£26 a year; 
(2) dependence for his livelihood on another person; 
(3) dependence on another occupation which is not 
insurable ; 
(4) the intermittent nature of his employment. 
597. The number of exempt persons is small in relation to the 
insured population, amounting in England to approximately 
33.600. of whom 24,700 have claimed on the ground of pension