"DESERTED " WIVES

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 195, 18 August 1936, Page 8

"DESERTED " WIVES

SEEKING PENSIONS.

EARLY APPLICATIONS.

DAGGER OF COLLUSION

The recent legislation passed which provides, among other things, for deserted ! wives being granted a pension of £1 a] week with 10/ for each child, villi lighten the load at present placed upon i ; social workers, and particularly on his-' 1 pital boards, which in recent years have J t been hard pressed to meet the demands ! for assistance which have, been so con-1 sistently made. This is. admitted by{ the organisation*, but it is considered j that the greatest difficulty is the defining j of a "deserted" wife. i Up to the present, where the husband for any reason has not been supporting his wife and family, assistance has been fairly freely given, it being recognised that distress could not be allowed to go 011 unrelieved. The value of the assis- j tance given could not be accurately estimated, because there were so many 1 organisations, some working quietly, but • continuously, in helping those in need. | The Hospital Board alone dispenses some j thousands of pounds annually in cash | and goods. I j There are in the Dominion probably j thousands of women living apart from j 1 their husbands, but possibly only a small j proportion of them would come within j the category of "deserted" wives. Befoie . a wife can establish desertion, it is j expected that she will have to show that all avenues have been explored to trace' her husband. Social —orkers are convinced that to prove a parting only will not be sufficient, because if this were so the granting of the pension would be open to abuse, and possibly collusion. A man who at the moment had to deal with applications for relief in a big way in Auckland, said this morning that the women who were living apart from their husbands were not allowing the grass to grow under their feet. Already he had received a number of letters asking for information, and ho had interviewed some wives who claim to be deserted. He said that he was satisfied there would be many who would not wish to see their ,husbands again; in fact, one or two had admitted it° being of the opinion that a reliable pension was to bo . preferred to an unreliable husband. -