Page:Economic Development in Denmark Before and During the World War.djvu/65

Rh In the course of time, however, the matter came to be considered from a much more humane point of view, and in 1908 the legislature came to the aid of unmarried mothers by passing an act entitling them to get the alimony which the father owes, paid in advance by the public. But if illegitimate children are thus helped, there is much to be said in the support of the argument that legitimate children should not be put in a less favourable position. The Widow's Act becomes in reality an act of justice to the woman who has married.

Care of Consumptives

It was pointed out above that the Danish old-age pension act lacked the necessary supplementary provision for the support of invalids. In regard to this matter, however, it must be noted that one of the chief causes of invalidism, tuberculosis, is being vigorously attacked in Denmark, not only by private institutions but also by the state and municipalities. In Germany invalid insurance has given rise to the establishment of a large number of sanitoriums, for it is evident that the insurance institutions are directly interested in this matter. But in Denmark, without this stimulus, the struggle against tuberculosis has sensibly advanced. An act of 1905 proposing 'Measures to Overcome Tuberculosis' (later amended and modified, the last time in 1918) lays down a number of hygienic regulations. Teachers who are dismissed on account of having contracted infectious tuberculosis are thereby entitled to a pension amounting to two-thirds of their salaries; and the same applies to other officials and office-workers who come in contact with the population in such a way that there is danger of their spreading infection. The act further provides that the state or municipality may require persons suffering from tuberculosis to be placed in hospitals or may take other measures to prevent the spread of the disease, the expense to be borne by the state and municipality jointly. An act of 1905 (later amended), concerning public allowances 