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 21 - 30 of 64 events.
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Māori Purposes Act 1950
This iteration of the Māori Purposes Act excluded Māori customary marriage from legal benefit qualifications,[i] although family benefits were paid for all children whether legitimate or not.
Date: 1950 Period: 1938-1971 -
Establishment of the Māori Women’s Welfare League (MWWL)
The League undertook myriad community-based voluntary welfare activities. In its first few years it advocated for te reo Māori in schools, culturally responsive hospital services and preserving Māori arts. The League brought Māori women together to address…
Date: 1951 Period: 1938-1971 -
MWWL survey of Auckland housing for Māori
Survey provides evidence of Māori need for housing.[i]
Date: 1952 Period: 1938-1971 -
Enquiry into Māori offending
Growth of Māori delinquency encouraged the Justice Department to undertake a special inquiry in 1953/4 which examined all Māori offending.[i]
Date: 1953 Period: 1938-1971 -
Child Welfare Amendment Act (No.2)
Targeted the allegedly central role of girls and young women in fostering illicit relationships by creating the new category of ‘delinquency’ for all adolescents who committed indecent acts, or allowed them to be performed on them.[i]
Date: 1954 Period: 1938-1971 -
The Mazengarb Report
The Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents criticised films, comics and declining standards of family and religious life. Later described as leading to a ‘moral panic’.[i]
Date: 1954 Period: 1938-1971 -
Adoption Act
This Act and its 1962 Amendment upheld the principle of secrecy via ‘closed adoption’. Legislation inferred the transparency inherent to ‘whangai practices [was] somehow detrimental to the child and their whangai parents.’[i]
Date: 1955 Period: 1938-1971 -
Mainstreaming of Native schools began
Māori Education Conference leads to establishment of Māori Education Foundation.[i]
Date: 1955 Period: 1938-1971 -
Māori Trust Boards Act
Between 1922 and 1953, ten Māori trusts were established by statute to receive and administer compensation awarded by the Crown in settlement of various long-held Māori grievances. In 1955, as part of a move to update all existing Māori legislation, the Ac…
Date: 1955 Period: 1938-1971 -
Marriage Act
Did not recognise Māori customary practices.[i]
Date: 1955 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.