DR. BARBARA SUTHERLAND'S PAPER 407 



only, for otherwise one might ask : What of the 

 deposit contributors ? The case of the deposit con- 

 tributors is often very pitiful, for while benefit often 

 amounts to a few shillings only, the midwife's fee at 

 the advanced rate is demanded. Typical sums 

 received by the contributor as maternity benefit are 

 75. 6d., 8s. Qd., and iis. 8d. Happily, there is 

 evidence of dissatisfaction among the deposit con- 

 tributors, and many of them are now resolved to 

 transfer to approved societies. 



Delay in Payment. The interval between confine- 

 ment and payment of benefit varies from about three 

 to fourteen days normally, although many cases occur 

 in which payment is delayed for four or five weeks. 

 The most common cause of delay is the ignorance of 

 the insured person, accompanied by a vague dread of 

 signing a schedule. Earlier in the year it was very 

 noticeable that Society employees made no effort to 

 help these people in their difficulties, and sometimes 

 even deliberately neglected their duties toward them. 

 One instance is worth quoting now. An insured 

 woman gave birth to an illegitimate child. When 

 she applied for maternity benefit she was told that 

 she was in arrears with her weekly payments and was 

 not entitled to benefit. Upon investigation, it was 

 found that the entry of payment had been wrongly 

 made by the insurance agent in her insurance book, 

 and that in consequence of this she had not known of 

 the arrears in contributions. Shortly before this time 

 the agent had been dismissed from his employment, 

 and the Society would accept no responsibility in the 

 matter. 



Any delay in payment almost invariably leads to 

 misapplication of the benefit, as the necessities of the 

 actual confinement have had to be obtained otherwise, 

 if obtained at all. 



The commonest misapplication is found in the 

 payment by the mother of arrears in rent and of 



