How Russia Ranks

For the first time since 1937, the Soviet Government has published absolute figures (instead of just percentage increases) on the average pay of Russian workers. The figure: 54 kopeks, or 600, an hour.

Where does the Russian worker stand among the workers of the world? Meaningful comparisons are difficult because statistics on pay scales do not take into account the variable purchasing power of wages. Moreover, in computing wages, some nations figure in fringe benefits, while others don't. Still, the U.S. Department of Labor last week released estimates in dollars comparing the average hourly earnings of manufacturing employees in representative nations. The list, not including the U.S.S.R., whose 600 wage covers workers in all fields:

United States $2.64 Canada 1.96 Sweden 1.51 Britain 1.20 Australia 1.10 West Germany 1.04 France .73 Italy .71 Israel .63 Argentina .58 Mexico .56 Poland .45 Greece .42 Peru .41 Japan .40 Philippines .21 Colombia .20 Ghana .15 Formosa .13 South Korea .08 Thus, it would appear that nearly half a century after the Russian Revolution the Soviet worker ranks just behind the Israeli, just ahead of the Argentinian and the Mexican-and that he earns less than a fourth as much as the average U.S. worker.

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