The first statutory provision for old-age pensions. Excludes Māori receiving money under the Civil List Act 1873. Most Māori received less than the full rate and were likely deterred by application requirements, such as providing proof of birth.[i] Nevertheless, Māori were defined as ‘a distinctive problematic class’ when they asserted their right to claim the pension in numbers well beyond that expected by the Treasury and the Old-age Pensions Office.[ii]
Footnotes
- [i] go to main content Alex McKenzie, Social Assistance Chronology 1844–2022: A historical summary of social security benefits, war pensions, retirement pensions, taxation measures, family assistance, housing assistance, student support and labour market programmes (as at April 2022), Ministry of Social Development, pp. 13–14.
Social Assistance Chronology – a chronology of social assistance policy and programmes in New Zealand – 1844 to 2023 - Ministry of Social Development (msd.govt.nz) - [ii] go to main content Margaret McClure, A Civilised Community: A History of Social Security in New Zealand 1898-1998, Auckland University Press, Auckland, 2013, p. 33.