OCCUPATIONS, WAGES AND LABOUR ORGANIZATION
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Fuel Index, but from I July the Retail Price Index was used instead. The effect of the change was to increase take-home pay by an average of $6 per month.
The Government has begun to convert its regularly employed daily-rated workers to monthly terms which are more favourable. The change takes place subject to medical fitness after a qualifying period of three years in the case of artisans, and of five years in the case of unskilled and semi- skilled workers.
Working Hours. Some Chinese concerns, and in parti- cular the building trade, favour a 7-day week, and this is sometimes coupled with a 9-hour day. These long hours are accepted by the workers concerned, whose earnings are correspondingly greater. The working tempo also tends to be slower, and liberal tea breaks are given. Hours of work for women and young persons are, however, regulated by law in conformity with I.L.O. Conventions.
The 48-hour week is standard in European undertakings and in Chinese concerns run on Western lines. In public utilities and in some of the cotton spinning and weaving mills a system of three 8-hour shifts is used. In such con- cerns, where continuous production must be maintained, rest days are arranged in rotation. In manufacturing concerns the rest day is usually Sunday.
Cost of Living. Following the removal of price control in August 1954, rice prices declined steadily and by May 1955 had reached the lowest point in recent years, the whole- sale price for a pound of medium quality being 35 cents, compared with 45 cents a year previously. In general, however, the cost of living remained constant throughout the year, such changes as did occur being the result of normal seasonal fluctuations in the price of foodstuffs.
No separate index for a European-style cost of living is produced, but price fluctuations for imported goods were in line with those in exporting countries. The table below shows the fluctuations which occurred in the two officially published indices. The Food and Fuel Index is based on the prices of specific quantities of ten items of common consumption. The Retail Price Index covers a wider range of commodities and services, and is weighted according to