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 61 - 70 of 270 events.
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Public Works Act
The 1928 Act continued most of the principles and policies developed in previous years, including many of the inheritances of the 1882 Act regarding Māori land. However, land could be taken under the Public Works Act 1928 for State housing purposes, provid…
Date: 1928 Period: 1900-1937 -
First Māori Women’s Institute formed
The first Maori Women's Institute, Te Awapuni, was formed at Kohupātiki in Hawkes Bay.
Date: 1929 Period: 1900-1937 -
Native Land Amendment and Native and Claims Adjustment Acts 1929
Māori Land development schemes begin. They provide a lifeline to whānau Māori.
Date: 1929 Period: 1900-1937 -
The Division of Māori Hygiene disbanded
Responsibility for Māori health passed to the Department of Public Health’s medical officers.[i]
Date: 1930 Period: 1900-1937 -
The Great Depression
Unemployment grew to 12%, forming a new group demanding government assistance. The government set up an Unemployment Board and legislated to raise an annual levy of 30 shillings from every adult working male to fund the Board’s activities which became an i…
Date: 1930 Period: 1900-1937 -
Unemployment Act
Established government responsibility for the support of the unemployed, but relief works and payments proved inadequate.[i] The Act established an Unemployment Board, charged with making arrangements with employers for the employment of the unemployed, pr…
Date: 1930 Period: 1900-1937 -
Native Land Act
Removed recognition of adoptions by Māori custom for things such as succession to native land where there was no will (unless the adoption had been registered pre-31 March 1910 and was still in place). The Act also impacted land development and title.[i]
Date: 1931 Period: 1900-1937 -
Health Camps
The first permanent Children’s Health Camp was built at Ōtaki.[i]
Date: 1932 Period: 1900-1937 -
Māori Purposes Fund Act
During 1934-35, this Act constituted the Māori Purposes Fund Board, charged with promoting Māori health, education, social and economic wellbeing. It amalgamated three former Boards: The Māori Ethnological Research Board (1923); The Māori Purposes Fund Con…
Date: 1934 Period: 1900-1937 -
Native Housing Act
Initiated the beginning of nationwide surveys.[i]
Date: 1935 Period: 1900-1937
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.