By SIDNEY MARGOLIUS

How much money do you
need for a fairly comfortable
standard of living these days?
; A moderate level of living
for a family of four with two
children under 14 now takes
just about $10,000 a year in-
cluding taxes, we estimate on
the basis of new Bureau of
Labor Statistics data. That’s
provided you don’t smoke or
have any other costly habits
like buying new cars or using
more than 21% pounds of meat
a day for all three meals.

For the first time the BLS
has developed budget figures
at three different levels: mod-
erate, lower and higher. The
moderate standard of living
averaged, in the spring of
1967 and for the U.S. as a
whole, $9,076, and for metro-
politan areas $9,243. We’ve
taken the liberty of making a
crude adjustment in these
figures to allow for a rise of

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- $10,000 A YEAR

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

about 8 per cent in prices
since then. This makes the
current cost approximately
$9,800 for the U.S. as a whole,
including small towns, and
$9,980 for urban families of
four.
Out of Sight

The lower standard, simi-
larly adjusted to reflect high-
er prices since 1967, costs
about $6,475 in metropolitan
areas. The higher-cost stand-
ard is out of sight for working
people, with a price tag of ap-
proximately $14,440 in metro-
politan areas.

In fact, the average produc-
tion worker can barely afford
even the lower standard.
Gross average weekly earn-
ings of production workers
this winter have been running
a shade under $111 a week, or
at the rate of about $5,760 a
year.

In comparison to the cur-
rent cost of about $10,000 the

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ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

Logger’s Lad: “Dad, I want
to tell you something, I’m in
love with a girl.”

Logger: “Son, you couldn’t
have made a Pere choice!”

*

Sawmill Sue says that
women are very loyal. When
they reach an age they stick
to it.

ne eS

Kamloops Katie says that
when you see what some girls
marry you realize how much

NEW SC

By MARC WYMAN

The “no-fault” system of
basic auto insurance proposed
by a Social Credit-dominated
committee of the B.C. legisla-
ture looks progressive on the
surface — until you examine
the minority report produced

Let us pray:

For Ever and Ever.

Or when alone

tren en us
fei oat Thy servants

CIVIL SERVICE PRAYER

O Lord, grant that this day we come to no decisions,

Neither run into any kin ;
But that all our doings may be ordered to establish

New and quite unwarranted departments

d of responsibility,

Hymn:
O Thou, who seest all things below,
Grant that Thy servants may go slow,
That they may study to comply
With regulations till they die.
Teach us, Lord, to reverence
Committees more than commonsense;
Impress our minds to make no plans
But pass the baby when we can.

And when the Tempter seems to give
Us feelings of initiative,
we go too far,
Chastise us with a circular.

i d tumult, fire and storms,
Sen | we pray, with forms, '
ever be

A flock of perfect sheep oe

they hated working for a liv-
ing.
Ko x

Logger’s wife to another:

“Ocsar handles all the money

in our family—I only handle
the charge accounts.”
Te tae tak

Chokerman Charlie says
that middle age is the time of
life when a guy doesn’t care
where his wife goes as long
as he doesn’t have to go along.

NEEDED

Tue? :

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= ‘.
peat ee aie

moderate budget priced by
the BLS in late 1966 cost
$9,191 for the country as a
whole, and $9,376 for metro-
politan areas.

Basic Living Costs
Actually basic living costs
have gone up even more than

MODERATE BUDGETS -
A budget obviously has to be adjusted by family size,
but not in direct proportion, and also by the ages of the
children and parents. Older children require larger allot-
ments for food, clothing, and other needs. Here are
relative costs of a moderate budget:

ment policy in respect to the
health dangers. Another
minor change which helped
keep the new cost down a
little is lower prices for repair
of color TV sets than the high
costs BLS found in 1966.

In general, the moderate

Doubled In Cost o
The standard budget has al-
most doubled in cost in recent

years, The 1951 budget fora

family was priced at $4,200.
The 1959 cost was $6,100. The
sharp increase is due not only
to higher prices, but to higher
taxes and a small improve-
ment in the standard of living
represented by the budget.
The BLS figures indicate
that it costs about $800-$900 a
year less to live in a small
town than a large one. Too,
renting families in metropoli-
tan areas find their living
costs are about $800 a year
less than those of homeown-

en $650 - $700

If you eliminate taxes, the
moderate standard of living
costs about $650-$700 for a
family of four. The table with
this article shows relative
costs of a $700 after-tax

budget (just for goods and

Four children, 6-15
the $500-$600 a year shown
by these figures. While the
moderate budget is basically
the same, the BLS made sev-
eral revisions, including drop-
ping cigarettes out of the
budget because of govern-

Relative Relative
TWO-PERSON FAMILIES Per Cent Monthly Cost
Husband, wife, under 35 ._____-_ 49 $343
Husband, wife, 35-54 ____.._._ 60 420
THREE-PERSON FAMILIES
Husband, wife, under 35
One child under 6 ___--____.. 62 434
Husband, wife, 35-54
One child, 6-15 __________— 82 574
One parent, 35-54, two children 76 532
LARGER FAMILIES
Husband, wife, under 35
Two children under 6 _____.._ 72 504
Husband, wife, 35-54
Two children, 6-15 ____-____. _ 100 700
Husband, wife, 35-54
Two children, 16-17 ___________- 113 791
Husband, wife, 35-54
Three children, 6-15 __..._____- 116 812
Husband, wife, 35-54
Threechildren, oldesti8orover 119 833
Husband, wife, 35-54
132 924

Sree ee

budget is truly moderate. It
allows for a late-model used
car, not a new one; for moder-
ate use of meat as noted
above; a new suit for papa
and a winter coat for mama
once every three years.

services) for families of diff-
erent sizes.

APRIL BUYING OPPOR-
TUNITIES: If you think these
living costs are high, the
worst is still ahead when food ~
prices reach for new records
this summer. In clothing, you
do have a chance to anticipate
needs at reduced prices in the
post-Easter clearances of wo-
men’s dresses, men’s and boy’s
suits, and infant wear.

FOOD BUYING CALEN-
DAR. Eggs are the buy of the
month, April is the flush sea-
son of highest production and
top quality. Pork still is rea-
sonable this month, and espec-
ially in this year of increased
production. Broilers, too, are
in heavier supply this spring.

CIAL CREDIT AUTO INSURANCE PLAN SCORED

by New Democratic commit-
tee members.

Then, the Socreds’
looks merely indifferent.

The majority report calls
for basic “no-fault” insurance
which would be compulsory
for all vehicle owners, and is-

plan

AMEN.

sued by private companies
under direction of a govern-
ment board.

Wootton Commission

This is essentially what the
Wootton Royal Commission,
which reported last Novem-
ber, recommended. The chief
difference is that the Wootton
report called for a uniform
death benefit of $20,000, the
committee for death benefits
of $7,000 for the head of a
household or spouse, and
$1,000 per dependent child.

The NDP minority report
didn’t specify benefits, but
said they should be no less
than present Workmen’s Com-
pensation payments for death
or injury.

But the big difference isn’t
benefits — it’s the structure
and financing of the plan it-
self.

Provided Direct

The NDP members said
auto insurance should be pro-
vided direct by the provincial
government, to avoid the pro-
liferation of private carriers,
the excessive costs, the legal
delays, the administrative and
adjusters’ expenses, and the
frequently inadequate com-
pensation which are all asso-
ciated with private coverages.

NDP spokesman Alex Mac-
donald, the member of the
legislature for Vancouver

East, pointed out that the ma-
jority report would involve
an increase of at least $20 per
policy, province-wide.

The majority report didn’t
even give a cost estimate.

No-Fault Coverage

The NDP idea is to provide
no-fault coverage at auto reg-
istration time. This would
eliminate direct premiums
and policies. The plan would
be funded by a two per cent
surtax on gasoline sales
(which would raise $11 mil-
lion) and a sliding schedule
of increased license fees.

A good driver would pay $5
a year extra on his license
fee; a poor risk, $25. This
would raise another $17.22
million.

Among the advantages of
the NDP proposal are ade-
quate compensation, low ad-
ministrative costs (no poli-

cies, no pink slips, no prem- ~

ium collections), and built-in
revenue increases through in-
creased gasoline sales as more
cars go on the road.

The “no-fault” feature of
the NDP proposal isn’t uni-
versal, but it’s basic, for per-
sonal liability. Under general
negligence laws, drivers
would be liable for up to $500
in property damage (includ-
ing other vehicles).

Private Carriers

Optional profit-free collis-

ion insurance should be offer-
ed too, the NDP said. Private
carriers could compete in this
area. And unlike the major-
ity report, tourists in the
province would be covered.

Public coverage is logical
and practical. It’s also cheap-
er than private coverage, and
fairer too.

ee

lb

BROADWAY
PRINTERS
LIMITED

printers and lithographers
since 1911

SS

115 EAST 8th AVENUE
VANCOUVER 10, B.C.

Telephone 876-2101

ta,