Labour Value of the Housewife s Work

september 14, 1974 SEVERAL welfare states in the West pay out family allowances. Among them is Britain where since 1949 a weekly sum has been payable by the state to every mother towards the maintenance of her children. This sum is to be collected by the mother and is expected to provide security against irresponsible husbands, especially in low- income families. In 1972, the Conservative government, in the course of a scries of measures attacking the income of the low-paid worker, proposed to transform this allowance payable to the mother into a tax credit for the wage- earning member of the family. The proposal was withdrawn following women's demonstrations of protest. The campaign for the continuance of the family allowance was greeted with abuse by many liberal men: "hysterical", they don't undertand the nature of the welfare state", etc. However, the campaign did succceed in" protecting the right to a measure of security for many women in a society where the family structure is slowly disintegrating and leaving them and their children most vulnerable.