system of unemployment insurance and they made a number of
recommendations designed to insure that the exchanges should
be fully effective for their purpose. The committee recommended
that the facilities of the employment exchanges should be avail-
able to all persons, whether or not they were liable to compulsory
unemployment insurance. (J. S. Nc.)
United Kingdom Statistics.
The statistics of unemployment most commonly used indeed the only statistics available over a long series of years without a special, and laborious, inquiry are those of unemployment among members of certain trade unions. The principal trade- union statistics of unemployment are therefore given here in Table III. accompanied by some observations as to the limita- tions of their utility.
It should be remarked at the outset that the figures in Table III. cannot be taken as necessarily an accurate measure of general unemployment; all that can safely be assumed is that they give a fairly trustworthy indication of the direction of the curve of rising or falling employment, and some indication of the severity of each successive depression, and of the high-water mark reached by the intervening period of good trade. For this purpose the exaggeration of the fluctuations, due to the pre- ponderance of the metal, engineering, and shipbuilding trades, is no great disadvantage; but it is always necessary to remember that the fluctuations are exaggerated by the use of these figures.
It should also be remembered that the figures relate to members of trade unions, and to those only in certain trades, and are almost confined to (i.) men, as distinguished from women or young persons, and (ii.) to skilled men, as distinguished from labourers. It is instructive to examine the constitution of those sections of the work not covered by the trade-union percent- ages of unemployment given above. These include:
(i.) AH those workpeople, whether in the trades covered or not, who do not belong to any trade union.
> (ii.) The great majority of labourers, or of semi-skilled men, whether in the trades covered or not.
(iii.) Practically the whole of the mining industry and of the textile industries; and the whole of the railway, tramway, and omnibus services; the gas, water, and electricity services; dock and wharf labour; agriculture; the mercantile marine and sea fishing; the clothing and the boot and shoe trades; commerce, banking, and insurance; retail trade; the Post Office, and other branches of the civil service and of the municipal services; and many other industries and services.
It will be observed that many of the industries and services mentioned are less subject to fluctuations in employment than the metal, engineering, and shipbuilding trades, which pre- ponderate in the trade-union figures. The industries or occupa- tions mentioned may, for the present purpose, be roughly grouped under three headings:
(i.) Industries or services which are subject to relatively slight fluctuations in employment. Examples are the Post Office, and other branches of the civil service and of the municipal services; agricul- ture; the railway, tramway, and omnibus services; the gas, water, and electricity services; employment in banks, insurance offices, and commercial businesses.
(ii.) Unskilled or semi-skilled occupations. The men and women employed in these occupations generally either do not belong to any trade union, or else their trade unions are not in a financial position to pay unemployment benefit.
(iii.) Industries which meet fluctuations in trade by other means than the discharge of workpeople. Mining and the textile trades are good examples of this group.
The third group is deserving of somewhat detailed con- sideration, as helping to define, by contrast, the term " unemploy- ment " a term which does not, as is sometimes supposed, cover a perfectly definite and clear-cut conception.
The most frequent alternative to the discharge of workpeople is " short time." A factory, for example, may be entirely closed on Saturday, and work only seven hours (instead of eight or nine) on the other days of the week. It is important to ob- serve, however, that, when the time worked is reduced (say) to three days in each week, the worker is entitled, under the pres- ent system of unemployment insurance, to unemployment bene- fit for the remaining days when he is not working (after the first
TABLE III. Percentage of Trade Union members unemployed.
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In Metal,
Year
Engineering and Ship- building
In other trades making returns
Mean of columns (2) and (3) 1
trades
(i)
(2)
(3)
(4)
i860
1-9
1-8
1-85
1861
5-5
1-9
J
3-70
1862
9-0
3-1
6-05
1863
6-7
2-7
4-70
1864
3-o
0-9
1-95
1865
2-4
1-2
1-80
1866
3'9
1-4
2-65
1867
9-1
3-5
6-30
1868
IO-0
3-5
6-75
1869
8-9
3-o
5-95
1870
4-4
3-1
375
1871
1-3
2-0
1-65
1872
0-9
1-0
'95
1873
1-4
0-9
I-I5
1874
2-3
0-9
i -60
1875
3'5
0-9
2-20
1876
5-2
1-6
3-40
1877
6-3
2-5
4-40
1878
9-0
3'5
6-25
1879
15-3
6-1
10-70
1880
6-7
3-8
5-25
1881
3-8
3-3
3'55
1882
2-3
2-4
2-35
1883
2-7
2'5
2-60
1884
10-8
3-5
7-15
1885
12-9
4-2
8-55
1886
13-5
5-6
9-55
1887
10-4
3-9
7-15
1888
6-0
2'3
4'iS
1889
2-3
1-8
2-05
1890
2-2
2-O
2-IO
1891
4-1
2-7
3-40
1892
7-7
47
6-2O
1893
11-4
4-0
7-70
1894
II-2
3'2
7-20
1895
8-2
3-8
6-00
1896
4-2
2-5
3'35
1897
4-8
2-1
3-45
1898
4-0
1-9
2-95
1899
2-4
i-7
2-05
1900
2-6
2-3
2-45
1901
3-8
2-9
3-35
1902
5-5
2-9
4-20
1903
6-6
3'4
5-00
1904
8-4
4.4
6-40
1905
6-6
3-9
5-25
1906
4-1
3-3
3-70
1907
4-9
3-o
3-95
1908
12-5
4-8
8-65
1909
13-0
4-4
8-70
1910
6-8
3-4
5-io
1911
3-4
2-7
3-05
1912
3-6
2-7
3-15
1913
2-2
2-0
2-IO
1914
3-3
3-2
3-25
1915
0-6
1-4
1-00
1916
0-3
0-6
o-45
1917
O-2
I-O
0-60
1918
0-2
1-2
0-70
1919
3-3
1-8
2-55
1920
3-2
1-9
2-55
1921
End of
Jan.
8-6
5-8
7-2
Feb.
10-9
7-0
9-0
March
14-0
7-3
10-7
April
2O-O
14-7
17-4
May
28-8
16-5
22-7
June
30-8
16-9
23-9
July
27-3
IO-I
18-7
1 It should be observed that this is not necessarily identical with the percentage of trade union members unemployed in all trade unions making returns, taken together. In the early years of the period the metal, engineering, and shipbuilding trades, which are subject to much more violent fluctuations of employment than most other industries, are over represented. By taking the mean of the fluctuating engineering and shipbuilding figure and of the relatively stable " other trades " figure in other words, by giving the metal, engineering, and shipbuilding trades a constant weight " equal to one-half of the total this source of error. is corrected.
