Chronology for 1938-1971
Assimilating into universal welfare
Labour’s policies were underpinned by a principle of universality and a vision of the nation as a classless community. Rich, middle-class and poor were linked by the same national system of state support and social services; superannuation, however small, was to be available to every aged person who was not already on another benefit and was an important symbol of citizenship. The ‘system as a whole was removed from ‘the taint of charity’ and became a source of national pride’.[i] go to footnote
This was a period of great demographic change for iwi Māori with the mass migration of its rural population to the cities of New Zealand. The need for workers in essential industries and the post-war labour boom provided rangatahi and whānau Māori with ample employment, 'incomes that were almost equal to those of Pākehā, and access to family welfare benefits that boosted the incomes of large families by around 50 percent.'[ii] go to footnote However, the financial rewards were offset by one or both parents working long hours to cover the costs of city living and it exposed Māori to discrimination. The Department of Māori Affairs played a welfare role in the lives of whānau Māori during this period, with a policy of integrating Māori into the social fabric of ‘mainstream’ New Zealand society. Through housing allocation policies attempts were made to pepper pot Māori in Pākehā suburban streets.[iii] go to footnote Young Māori women who moved to the cities for essential industry work or single rangatahi simply moving to the city for work opportunities were directed into hostels.
Before the 1950s, child welfare agencies endeavoured to keep Māori children with their families or in their own tribal area.[iv] go to footnote In the 1950s, Māori became a disproportionate minority in all areas of child welfare work with a steady growth in Māori juvenile delinquency with recorded Māori offending at three or four times the rate of Pākehā, particularly in the 15–20 age.[v] go to footnote
Chronology events
Displaying 11 - 20 of 64 events.
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Fareham House opened
Fareham House was opened in August 1944, specifically for Māori girls to separate them from female Pākehā ‘sexual delinquents’ on whom they were thought to have detrimental effects. Kuini Te Tau was appointed to run Fareham House in the late 1950s and emph…
Date: 1944 Period: 1938-1971 -
Māori population
More than 500 Māori were working in essential industries during WW2.[i] The Māori population was 100,870 on 31 December 1944, with 19% of Māori living in urban areas.[ii]
Date: 1945 Period: 1938-1971 -
Māori Social and Economic Advancement Act
The Act[i] incorporated MWEO tribal and executive committees into the Native Affairs Department. Māori welfare officers appointed under the Act set up a network of committees and executives concerned with welfare and marae administration. The Act gave tri…
Date: 1945 Period: 1938-1971 -
The Social Security Amendment Act
Introduced universal family benefit. This brought almost every family into the social security system and receiving benefits became a common experience from rich to poor, multiplying the number of parents receiving the family benefit by five.[i] Like its p…
Date: 1945 Period: 1938-1971 -
Support through Needy Families scheme
More than 900 families and more than 5,000 children were helped through the scheme. Support includes: 296 rental subsidies and grants, another 68 rental subsidies, 342 grants for food, bedding or furniture and families moved into 382 homes.[i]
Date: 1946 Period: 1938-1971 -
Māori replaces Native in official usage
This change was legislated in the Maori Purposes Act 1947.
Date: 1947 Period: 1938-1971 -
Responsibility for the Needy Families scheme
The Child Welfare Branch of the Department of Education was responsible for giving practical assistance to large or needy families and was now solely responsible for the ‘Needy Families’ scheme.[i] Work included supervising children from the Pacific Island…
Date: 1948 Period: 1938-1971 -
Labour Government defeated by National
First Māori woman MP, Iriaka Ratana (until 1969), elected.[i] Throughout her 20-year political career Iriaka focused much on the welfare needs of Māori.[ii] Māori Electoral Roll established for the Māori seats.[iii]
Date: 1949 Period: 1938-1971 -
Māori Welfare Division
Comprised 63 tribal executives and 381 committees under the 1945 Act, headed by Rangi Royal.
Date: 1949 Period: 1938-1971 -
Establishment of Māori Boys and Māori Girls’ trade training hostels
From the 1930s, as Māori began moving to urban centres, concerns arose among iwi Māori, mission organisations and the state about the safe accommodation of young Māori girls and boys in the country’s cities. By the 1950s, trade training institutions such a…
Date: 1950 Period: 1938-1971
Footnotes
- [i] go to main content Tim Garlick, Social Developments: An organizational history of the Ministry of Social Development and its predecessors, 1860-2011, Steele Roberts Aotearoa, Wellington, 2012, p.70.
- [ii] go to main content Melissa Matutina Williams, Panguru and the City, Bridget Williams Books, Wellington, 2010, p. 195.
- [iii] go to main content Urbanisation – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand
- [iv] go to main content Bronwyn Dalley, Family Matters, Wellington, 1998, p. 6.
- [v] go to main content Dalley, 1998, p. 192.