H—ll

berths allocated have been taken up by children. Sponsored berths for fare-paying passengers during this period (September, 1946, to March, 1948) have been allocated as follows :—■ Men .. .. .. .. .. .. 444 Women .. .. .. .. ..336 Children .. .. .. .. ..218 Total .. .. .. .. ..998 (3) It is estimated that during 1948 some 4,500 berths will be available to the Department for all purposes, and during 1949, some 10,000 berths. This latter estimate is subject to the continuation of the present agreement with the shipping companies. (4) The improvement in the shipping position and the probability of a further improvement in the near future, coupled with other factors such as the lesser availability of certain female categories and the very large response from men willing to undertake unskilled work, has enabled an extension to be made in the occupational categories and a nomination scheme to be introduced. (5) Consideration has been given to the question of the introduction of a scheme of child migration, and it is expected that arrangements will soon be finalized for the bringing to New Zealand at Government expense of a number of British children who will, in the first instance, be under the guardianship of the Child Welfare Department. The children selected will be between the ages of five and seventeen years and will be placed with New Zealand families anxious to receive them. Guardianship may be transferred to the approved foster-parents after a period of six months. It is unlikely that many of the children will be available for adoption. (6) The free and assisted-passage schemes have to date resulted in an addition to our labour force of 606 young men and 695 young women. The vast majority of these young people have settled down to life here and are giving every satisfaction as new settlers and as workers. The numbers who had arrived by 31st March, 1948, are tabulated below (details of departures from and arrivals in New Zealand during 1947-48 will be found in Appendix I, Table VIII): —

15

Females. Males. Category. Number. Category. Number. Shorthand-typists 57 Postal staff 4 Maternity nursing trainees 7 Compositors 27 Nurse aids 42 Letterpress machinists 21 General nursing trainees 52 Other printing tradesmen 3 Hospital domestics 71 Labourers 179 Hospital cooks 13 Cooks 4 Hostel domestics 47 Kitchen hands 3 Hotel domestics 23 *Farm workers 1 Home aids 33 Timber-workers 92 Mental hospital nursing trainees 240 Forestry workers 22 Mental hospital cooks 19 Footwear operatives 14 Physio-therapists 2 Coal-miners 79 Trained maternity nurses 9 Cable-jointers 4 Footwear operatives 6 Tradesmen for State hydro-electric 43 Clothing operatives 39 construction projects General factory workers 20 Sheet-metal workers 5 Printing operatives 3 Coppersmiths and other engineering 3 Woollen-mill operatives 12 tradesmen Fitters and turners 61 Floor-moulders 16 Blacksmiths 3 Boilermakers 22 695 606 • This category is a recent addition to the scheme.