ENG-1954 — Page 43

OCCUPATIONS, WAGES AND LABOUR ORGANIZATION

hours are popular with workers since wages are corres- pondingly greater, and the speed of working tends to be slower. Hours of work for women and young persons are regulated by law.

Cost of Living

The Government, most European concerns and some Chinese employers whose businesses are run on Western lines pay a variable cost of living allowance to their staff in addition to basic wages.

Such an allowance was essential in the unsettled conditions following the war but a number of firms have since consolidated a substantial portion of the variable allowances into basic wages, retaining only a small amount as a cushion against price fluctuations. Two indices are published regularly by the Government Statistician. The Food and Fuel Index by which the variable allowances of most manual workers are calculated is based on the market price of a number of staple articles of food and of firewood. It fell from about $15 at the beginning of the year to $13 at its close which is the lowest since early 1947 and was mainly due to the steady fall in rice prices. The Retail Price Index which reflects price variations in a wider range of commodities and services and is com- monly used in assessing cost of living allowances for white collar workers and higher grades of staff stood at 125 in December, 1953, but dropped slowly after some fluctuation in the late summer and autumn to 115 at the close of 1954.

One of the changes arising from the Government's salary revision scheme announced late in 1954 was that the variable allowances for all Government monthly

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