Benefiting Women

Ann Beaglehole

What has been the role of the state in providing income support for women in the last hundred years? What forms of assistance were established and why?

This paper summarises the findings of a survey of the major pieces of legislation over the period, and on the forms of income maintenance which involved the state providing a cash benefit or pension. It is not concerned with other legislation relating to the “feminisation of poverty”, such as that for a minimum wage or equal pay; nor with other forms of assistance ? via taxation, or health, housing and childcare provisions ? which have also affected the lives of women. The focus is on continuity and change ? in attitudes, social and economic conditions, and the roles of women.

The paper shows that the story of welfare benefits has not been one of simple advance from niggardly, piecemeal charity to comprehensive, generous state provisions. Social security provisions have expanded and contracted in response to New Zealand’s changing economic climate, and income maintenance has been introduced, amended or withdrawn in responses to social climate. The state’s policies have been uneven and at times contradictory. Gender inequalities have been perpetuated, but women have sometimes benefited.