Introduction

The case for Family Allowances does not rest on any one concrete scheme. It rests on a principle which, as we shall see, can be and is embodied in a variety of schemes. This principle is that Society should include in its economic structure some form of direct financial provision for the maintenance of children, instead of proceeding on the assumption that, save in cases of exceptional misfortune, this is a matter which concerns only individual parents and should be left to them, because normally men’s wages or salaries are, or ought to be and can be made to be, sufficient for the support of their families.