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the divisions figuring in the Soviet budget for "Social Security" into three
groups:
(In thousands
of roubles);
I.—Payment for sick days and accidents, annual vacation, maternity pay,
etc 1,023,500
Retirement and invalidity 993,840
total 2,017,340
II.—Public education, pre-school organizations, scholarships, cultural
travel, etc 639,150
Houses, public gardens, stadia 992,500
Inspection of labor and traveling expenses of the "Social Security"
department 88,400
total 1,720,050
III.—Care of the sick and medicine, construction and upkeep of hospitals,
food for sick, etc 1,709,160
Houses of rest, sanatoriums, beaches, sea-side resorts (construction
and upkeep) 455,750
total 2,164,910
GRAND TOTAL 5,902,300
Let us now examine the divisions in order:
1.—In case of sickness or injury, the worker has, from the first day, a
right to receive security benefits if he has been adjudged to be incapable
of working by the specially authorized doctor of his factory or the neighborhood where he lives. Free choice in the matter is gone. The visit to the
physician resembles a visit to the regimental doctor. You report that you
are ill. You get your number at the infirmary. You wait for your turn in
the corridor, hoping patiently that you will get the miraculous slip giving
you "security."
The worker whose illness is not acknowledged by the doctor has the
choice of returning immediately to his shop or being branded as a malingerer. The worker who has missed an entire day of work and cannot furnish
to the authorities the doctor's report is fired as a "deserter from the front
of labor."
At the beginning of the Revolution, and even until the era of the five
year plans, a sick or injured worker had a right to his wages, and getting
them was a simple matter. But a State-employer that wants to "overtake
and surpass capitalism" will inevitably begin to nibble away at "social
security," which, in fact, is rather inconvenient in face of world competition—especially since the State-employer has developed such very costly
items of the budget as War, Police, Diplomacy. The gnawing away of the
"social security" benefits is accomplished gradually, to save appearances.
For the lucky recipient of the doctor's "favorable" report, the situation is
now as follows:
The benefit varies from half of the wages to the entire salary, depending on the case. For example, the worker who has not joined the State
trade-unions—it does not matter how long he has worked at his trade—gets
only half of his wages for thirty days and then two-thirds. To get more, he
must join the State trade-union. In that case, if he has worked at least two
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