attempt to
secure equality of opportunity for employment for all the classes with
which it is dealing. But it is admitted that there is a "lag" in women's
wages which has been but partially made good.

If the standard wage must provide for a family, what must be the size of
the family? Discussion on the subject generally assumes a "statistical"
family of man and wife and three children under age. This is criticised
on the ground that it does not meet the human needs of larger families
and is in excess for smaller ones. The reply to this is that a general
rate can only meet general needs. Calculation easily shows that the
minimum suited for three children is by no means extravagant if there
should be but two children or only one, while it gives the bachelor or
newly married couple some small chance of getting a little beforehand
with the world. On the other hand, it is impossible to cater on general
principles for the larger needs of individuals. The standard wage gives
an approximation to what is needed for the ordinary family, and the
balance must be made good by other provision, whether public or private
I will not here discuss. I conclude that for adult men the minimum is
reasonably fixed at a figure which would meet the "human needs" of a
family of five, and that for women it should be determined by the value
of their services relatively to that of men.[1]

[Footnote 1: I am assuming that this value is sufficient to cover the
needs of the independent woman worker. If not, these needs must also be
taken into account. As a fact both considerations are present to the
minds of the Trade Boards. A Board would not willingly fix a wage which
would either (_a_) diminish the opportunity of women to obtain
employment, or (_b_) enable them to undercut men, or (_c_) fail to
provide for them if living alone.]

How far have Trade Boards actually succeeded in fixing such a minimum?
Mr. Seebohm Rowntree has put forward two sets of figures based on
pre-war prices, and, of course, requiring adjustment for the changes
that have subsequently taken place. One of these figures was designed
for a subsistence wage, the other for a "human needs" wage. The latter
was a figure which Mr. Rowntree himself did not expect to see reached in
the near future. I have compared these figures with the actual minima
for unskilled workers fixed by the Boards during 1920 and 1921, and I
find that the rates fixed are intermediate between the two. The
su