where the national income is low."[119]

The living wage has ordinarily been assessed on different bases for men
and women. The basis of assessment for each has been the subject for
much controversy. The most generally upheld basis of assessment is, in
the case of the male wage earner, to assess his needs on the supposition
that he is the supporter of a family consisting of himself, wife, and
two or three small children; and in the case of the female wage earner,
to assess her needs on the supposition that she is living alone, and is
dependent upon her own earnings for her support, and that she has no
other obligations. These bases of assessment do not meet all of the
demands of logic--applied to the living wage idea--nor, as will be seen,
is the choice of different bases of assessment for men and women
entirely free of difficulty.[120]

The reasoning, which has been used ordinarily in support of the
suggested basis of assessment for men is well set forth in another
decision of Justice Brown, "I look upon the maintenance of home life as
of supreme importance to the community. I regard the wage paid to the
adult male as essentially and in substance a family wage. True, so far
as single men are concerned, it has long been settled that the minimum
(living) wage should not be less than that of the married man. In other
words, in discussing the needs of the male worker, a man with a family
to support has been taken as a basis of assessment. Any other conclusion
would prejudice the married man in search of employment and would tend
to produce sterility of the population, and would place the industrial
court in the invidious position of fixing wages at a rate which would
make it difficult, if not impossible, for single men to save something
for the time when they may have the felicity to become supporters of a
family."[121] The argument in support of the suggested basis of
assessment for women rests upon a sentiment to the effect that every
worker should earn, at least, enough to enable her to support herself,
even though the actual necessity does not exist in many cases, and
though in many other cases the female wage earner has obligations beyond
self-support.

4.--After these preliminaries, it is possible to make more definite
recommendations concerning living wage policy--with a view towards the
adoption of the living wage principle as part of a policy of wage
settlement.

Firstly, as to scope. It should apply to all