CGIL. Designating themselves as the "Unitary Christian Current," the leaders of this group were participating in CGIL deliberations in an advisory capacity, pending decisions regarding their status to be taken at the national CGIL congress in July 1949.

In spite of the sharp differences in political opinion held by the minority groups remaining within the CGIL, there is apparently a strong sentiment among them in favor of trade-union unity within the CGIL. Trade-union conferences of the United-Socialist, the Fusionist-Socialist, and the Republican parties, held in the fall of 1948, all officially endorsed the action taken by their leaders in remaining within the CGIL.

Free General Italian Confederation of Workers

The LCGIL was officially launched at an organizational assembly held October 16-19, 1948. It was established to serve as a central organization for uniting and coordinating the activities of the various trade-unions and provincial labor centers which had been established in the fall of 1948 as a result of withdrawal from the CGIL of the Christian-Democratic trade-union leaders.

Negotiations and planning which preceded the establishment of the LCGIL were conducted by a 34-man committee which included the 11 Christian-Democratic trade-union leaders who had previously served on the CGIL directive bodies. Attending the organizational assembly were members of this planning committee, and delegates from the various trade-union confederations and regional trade-union centers, organized after the CGIL split, which were contemplating affiliation with the new confederation.

The LCGIL parallels the CGIL in structure. It consists of a similar organization of tradeunions, and operates through a confederal congress, a general council, an executive committee, and a secretariat.

National Federations and Regional Labor Centers. Twenty-five national federations joined the new confederation during its organizational assembly in October. They include federations representing workers in agriculture, postal and telegraph offices, the government service, and transportation and in the textile, food, chemical, glass and pottery, and construction industries. As of December 1948, the process of organization and

affiliation was still continuing, and it was not possible to estimate the LCGIL's total member ship. The affiliated federation of textile workers with a reported membership of about 100,000 appeared to be one of the largest single groups a that time.

Comparable to the CGIL with its 91 provincia labor chambers, the LCGIL operates through regional trade-union centers set up in each of the 18 regions of Italy.'

Executive Bodies. Under the provisional constitu tion adopted at the organizational assembly, th general council was elected by the organizationa assembly. It consists of 1 representative from each affiliated national federation and each regional trade-union organization, in addition t 12 members at large. The executive committee elected by the general council, is made up of 1 members-4 representing industry, 4 agriculture 3 public employees, 2 commercial employees, an 2 employees in credit and insurance establish ments. The secretariat, also elected by th general council, consists of a secretary-general, secretaries in charge of union activities and d organization, respectively, and 4 vice secretaries Giulio Pastore, the trade-union leader of th Christian-Democratic faction at the time of th split from the CGIL, and the guiding spirit in th planning which preceded the formation of th LCGIL, was elected to serve as secretary-gener on the secretariat.

Policies. Initially, the policies of the new co federation had been formulated at a special co gress of the Italian Workers' Christian Associ tion 8 convened in mid-September 1948 ar attended by representatives of over 620,000 wor ers. This congress had called for the establis ment of a nonpolitical and nondenomination labor confederation, and had emphasized the ne of winning support from other moderate group such as United-Socialists and Republicans, and achieving, through interconfederational agr ments and understandings, the greatest possil unity with other labor organizations in matt relating to collective bargaining.

The organizational assembly laid down certa

Each region of Italy (Tuscany, Lombardy, Sicily, etc.) is made u several provinces.

• A workers welfare organization sponsored by the Christian-Democ Party.

other basic principles of procedure. It stressed the need for democratic methods in the conduct of the internal affairs of the organization. It also adopted the principle of a referendum among its membership preliminary to the calling of any strikes.

Advisory Council Report on Public Assistance

INCREASED FEDERAL AID for dependent children under the public assistance provisions of the Social Security Act; Federal participation in more adequate medical care for the aged, the blind, and dependent children; and establishment of a StateFederal general assistance program for those not covered by any existing public assistance programs, were recommended by the Advisory Council on Social Security in its third report to the Senate Committee on Finance.1

Four of the seventeen Council members opposed Federal participation in general assistance, but favored expansion of aid to the needy blind to include other persons of working age with total and permanent disabilities. Three members held. that the recommendation on Federal aid for general assistance should be as generous as for other categories of assistance.

The Council also went on record (with one dissent) as being opposed to the granting of Federal funds for any public assistance program in which the State imposed residence requirements for eligibility, except old age assistance (to be limited to 1 year). The dissenting member advocated freedom for the States to impose up to a 5-year residence requirement in the old-age assistance program-more in line with the present requirement of the Social Security Act.

1 Public Assistance: A Report to the Senate Committee on Finance from the Advisory Council on Social Security (Senate Doc. No. 204, 80th Cong., 2d sess., Washington, 1948). The Advisory Council was appointed by the Committee on September 17, 1947, in accordance with Senate Resolution 141, 80th Cong., 1st sess. This report is intended to supplement the reports previously submitted on old age and survivors insurance and on permanent and total disability insurance, respectively. For summaries of the earlier reports (Senate Docs. Nos. 149 and 162, 80th Cong., 2d sess.) see Monthly Labor Review, June 1948, p. 641, and August 1948 p. 146.

In making its recommendations, the Council states, it "has been guided by the conviction that social security should be provided insofar as possible through [contributory] insurance rather than through assistance." Its proposals, therefore, presuppose that the essential recommendations of its earlier reports, on old-age and survivors insurance and on permanent and total disability insurance, will be enacted into law. The need for public assistance then would be greatly reduced, in the long run, and assistance would serve merely to supplement and fill in the gaps in social insurance; but during the next decade or two, until such time as the comprehensive insurance system could function completely, there would be a much greater need for assistance, according to the report, than later. For this reason, and because of serious existing imbalances, the recommendations were directed toward correcting certain gaps and inequities in the current public assistance programs.

Although the Council advocated continuation of public assistance under certain conditions, it held that its administration should continue to be on the basis of a strict needs test, all income being taken into account in determining both eligibility and amount of payment. It expressed concern that average monthly payments to retired workers under contributory old-age and survivors insurance have been lower since January 1941 than the average paid for old-age assistance. In June 1948, old-age and survivors insurance averaged $25.13 as compared with $38.18 for old-age assistance increases over January 1941 of $2.53 and $17.69, respectively. "Unless the insurance system is expanded and improved so that it in fact offers a basic security to retired persons and to survivors," the Council foresees "continual and nearly irresistible pressure for putting more and more Federal funds into the less constructive assistance programs."

The report was based on three major considerations:

1. The public assistance program should not interfere with the growth and improvement of the insurance program.

2. The Federal Government's participation in

2 For a summary of these recommendations, see sources referred to in foot note 1.

public assistance should be designed to encourage the best possible administration by the States and localities and promote adequate support of the needy by the States and the localities.

3. The Federal Government should continue its present practice of setting only minimum standards relating to conditions of eligibility and administration but, beyond the minimum, it should leave to the States wide discretion both in determining policies and in setting standards of need.

However, because of the wide variations among the States in operating policies and in eligibility requirements for assistance, the Council suggested that a special investigation of the situation was worth consideration.

Recommendations for Federal Action

Following are the recommendations on (1) increased aid for dependent children, (2) Federal participation in general assistance, (3) medical care, (4) care of aged in public medical institutions, and (5) residence requirements.

1. The Federal Government's responsibility for aid to dependent children should be made comparable to the responsibility it has assumed for old-age assistance and aid to the blind. In determining the extent of Federal financial participation, the needs of adult members of the family as well as of the children should be taken into consideration. Federal funds should equal three-fourths of the first $20 of the average monthly payment per recipient (including children and adults) plus one-half the remainder, except that such participation should not apply to that part of payments to recipients in excess of $50 for each of two eligible persons in a family and $15 for each additional person beyond the second.

2. Federal grants-in-aid should be made available to the States for general assistance payments to needy persons not now eligible for assistance under the existing State-Federal public assistance programs. Federal financial participation should equal one-third of the expenditures for general assistance payments, except that such participation should not apply to that part of monthly payments to recipients in excess of $30 for each of two eligible persons in a family and $15 for each additional person beyond the second. In addition, the Federal Government should match administrative expenses incurred by the States for general assistance on a 50-50 basis, in the same manner that it now shares in administrative expenses for the existing State-Federal public assistance programs. The proposed grants-in-aid for general assistance, however,

The maximum amount of monthly assistance payments in which the Federal Government participates (since October 1, 1948) is $50 for old-age assistance and aid to the blind, and $27 for the first child and $18 for each additional child in a family receiving aid to dependent children. Federal payments equal three-fourths of the first $20 of average payments to the aged and blind, plus one-half the remainder within the maximums, but only threefourths of the first $12 of average payments for dependent children. plus onehalf the remainder within the maximums.

should not be considered as a substitute for a program designed to deal with large-scale unemployment.

3. To help meet the medical needs of recipients of old-age assistance, aid to the blind, and aid to dependent children, the Federal Government should participate in payments made directly to agencies and individuals providing medical care, as well as in money payments to recipients as at present. The Federal Government should pay one-half the medical care costs incurred by the States above the regular maximums of $50 a month for a recipient ($15 for the third and succeeding persons in a family receiving aid to dependent children) but should not participate in the medical costs above the regular maximums which exceed a monthly average of $6 per person receiving old-age assistance or aid to the blind and a monthly average of $3 per person receiving aid to dependent children.

State public assistance agencies should be required to submit plans to the Social Security Administration for its approval, setting forth the conditions under which medical needs will be met, the scope and standards of care, the methods of payment, and the amount of compensation for such care.

4. The Federal Government should participate in payments made to or for the care of old-age assistance recipients living in public medical institutions other than mental hospitals. Payments in excess of the regular $50 maximum made to recipients living in public or private institutions or made by the public assistance agency directly to those institutions for the care of aged recipients should be included as a part of medical care expenditures under recommendation 3. To receive Federal funds to assist aged persons in medical institutions under either public or private auspices, a State should be required to establish and maintain adequate minimum standards for the facilities and for the care of persons living in these facilities. These standards should be subject to approval by the Social Security Administration.

5. Federal funds should not be available for any public assistance program in which the State imposes residence requirements as a condition of eligibility for assistance, except that States should be allowed to impose a 1-year residence requirement for old-age assistance.

The Council held that "in our society mobility of population is essential. Individuals should be free to move where jobs are available and if, as a result of illness or other misfortune, they become needy, they should not be denied assistance because they have crossed State or county lines. We believe that residence and settlement provisions are socially unjustifiable."

The Social Security Act now authorizes the Federal Government to share in money payments to aged individuals living in private institutions, but does not permit sharing in aid to persons who are living in public institutions unless they are receiving only temporary medical care. Many recipients of old-age assistance need prolonged treatment, for chronic ailments, in medical institutions.

Living Costs of

New York Working Women

THE AVERAGE WORKING WOMAN in New York State, living with her family, needed $1,990 in 1947 to support herself adequately (11 percent more than in 1946). The weekly average required was $38.27.1 In computing the average cost of a working woman's living, a budget was set up which included approximately 180 requisite items of food, clothing, and other articles and services. Prices or costs of these items were obtained in 11 New York State municipalities.2

In five of these municipalities, each with a population of less than 10,000, average annual costs were lower than in the larger cities. The highest city average ($2,024) was found in Poughkeepsie, which had 40,478 inhabitants; this was $27 above the average ($1,997) in New York City, with a population of nearly 7% million, but $202 above the lowest ($1,822) in Cuba, with a population of less than 2,000.

The accompanying table shows distribution of average costs in the various cities by general groups of expenditure items.

Out of each dollar of the working woman's 1947 budget, 37 cents was needed for housing, food, and other household expenses. Clothing required 17 cents. To clothing upkeep, personal and medical care, insurance, leisure-time activities, transportation, and miscellaneous living essentials, 23 cents was allotted. The remaining 23 cents was needed for State and Federal income taxes and to provide a reserve (or savings) for contingencies not elsewhere covered.

Averages have been compiled yearly since 1937, the number of communities covered varying from 11 to 22. In 1937 the average annual cost was

1 Data are from New York, Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Relations, Women in Industry and Minimum Wage: Cost of Living for Women Workers, New York State, 1947. New York, 1948.

Data were obtained from Buffalo, Carthage, Cortland, Cuba, Gowanda, New York City, Norwich, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Schenectady, and Wayland. The cost of living in large and small communities is weighted according to the number of working women under coverage of the minimumwage law, which applies to all types of employment except domestic service and agriculture.

$1,058; in 1939, it was 1.3 percent less, or $1,044; but it rose steadily thereafter, the increase from 1939 to 1947 being 90 percent.

Although the items priced in the 1947 and the 1937 budgets are similar, certain changes in procedures and standards have been made to keep

the budget up to date. For instance, income taxes, not included in 1937, were first added in 1941. Prior to 1942, a flat sum of $35 was allotted for savings; since that time, this item (needed to meet major types of contingencies) has been allotted 10 percent of the total budget.

MOST WOMEN WHO WORK on night shifts do so by preference, according to recently published findings of a New York State survey made in early 1947.2

Prior to Pearl Harbor, employment of women in factories of New York State later than 10 p. m. was prohibited by law. The wartime emergency, however, caused relaxation of the statute to permit employment of a limited number of women after that hour.3

In 1946, emergency provisions were terminated, but an amendment to the labor law effective for 1 year, permitted employment of women over 21 years of age until 12 p. m. in factories operating

1 New York Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Relations, Women in Industry and Minimum Wage: Women Who Work at Night. New York, 1948.

In the survey, personal interviews were held with 347 women night workers in 20 plants located in the New York City metropolitan area and four other major industrial areas-Buffalo, Syracuse, Elmira, and Albany. The plants, which were of all sizes, manufactured food, metal products, paper, rubber, brushes, glass products, and textiles. In some, there were large night shifts for women; in others, only a few women were employed after 10 p. m.

See Monthly Labor Review, January 1943 (pp. 40-41).

cities of over 10,000 population; and 6 percent in communities of less than 10,000.

multiple shifts. In 1947, this provision was extended for a year; and in 1948, by another amendment to the State labor law, it was made permanent.

Seventy percent of the women interviewed preferred night work, most of them because it gave a greater number of daylight hours to be devoted to home responsibilities. Nearly 30 percent were mothers who felt that daytime hours were best for care of their children; nearly 40 percent reported that housework was more easily managed when they worked on a night shift; and 3 percent explained that better care could be given in daylight to invalids.

Out of 345 who reported beginning and ending hours of night-shift work, 77 percent began at 3:30 p. m. or later. All worked until 11 p. m. or later, and 75 percent worked until midnight.

Women in general, and especially those who had children, were in favor of continuing the late starting hour even though it resulted in a closing time later than 10 p. m. Forty-two percent of those on night shifts had children under 16. A worker with two children aged 6 and 8 years said: "It wouldn't pay me to work days and get a girl to care for the children. This way my husband is home at 3:30 and it works out fine." Another