CHANGING SOCIETY AND THE DEPENDENT CHILD

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24401, 30 October 1944, Page 4

CHANGING SOCIETY AND THE DEPENDENT CHILD

CHILD WELFARE

The waste of war enhances the value of every child. If war causes the lives of young men to be held cheap, children become correspondingly precious. We cannot afford to lose any. nor to damage any in the rearing. The waifs and strays must be salvaged. Society must attend to the problem of her dependent children. They are too valuable to be wasted. An appeal for children always meets with ready and generous response in New Zealand. Orphanages and homes for the destitute can always count on popular support. But do we inquire closely whether the children are getting the best treatment? Are our homes always the happiest for the child and the best training for the. citizen of the future? One has nothing but admiration for the devoted workers who give such love and service to the children in the homes and those who give time and care to the organisation and committee work outside. But we need to examine the social problems which make their work necessary. Charity should appeal not only to the heart but to the head. Our reason should supplement our emotions, investigation on scientific lines, designed to solve the problem, should support activity that relieves the victims of its evils. Society evolves, and its problems change. What is an acute need in one generation is abolisped in the next. Questions that need urgent remedy in one age disappear in another. The ambulance ceases to be needed at the foot of the cliff when an adequate fence, is erected above. It is necessary periodically to undertake resurvey of society and apply its conclusions to particular problems. To most people the appeal for orphaned or destitute children is irresistible. The picture of a cheeky, dirty-faced little boy or a shy. tousledheaded little girl rises, to the minds eye. Then the boy grins or the girl sheds, a tear, and that pulls our heartstrings. We demand that something shall be done and we offer to help. And for the' most part something is done, and well done. But do we demand that the best be done? Do we look further than the immwiiate need. Do we ask why these children should be in need of our help? in An examination of some statisbcsin the New Zealand Year Book reveals some striking and . suro ri sing facte about dependent children. Changing society is altering the whole incidence of this problem. Has not the time come for a resurvey? Group Figures Regarding the figures given below, certain points must be borne in mind. (1) The figures are for all. inmates under 21 years of age in about iza institutions. (The number vanes slightly, as institutions are opened or closed.) The institutions are under the control of hospital boards, churches, and charitable bodies. There may be others, not registered. , (2) The figures, in addition to orphaned and destitute children may include some (e.g.. from maternity homes for unmarried mothers) tnat are not “dependent.” But they are sumciently accurate to' indicate social trends (3) The figures 'refer to, the years 1925-1938. Before 1925 these statistics were not given. After 1938 a new arrangement was adopted, .which is not exactly comparable. ' ■ , (4) This last fact may be an advantage The figures show trends before the Social Security Act was in full effect, and also before war conditions disturbed the world. They reveal trends in more normal growth which* later figures (where they are procurable) confirm. , . The main purpose of this article is to give the figures of dependent children cared for by the various institutions in New Zealand. The total number is 2700 to 3000, and has remained thereabouts for the last 20 years, with one remarkable exception. The figures showed a surprisingly sharp decline in the depressioil years. In 1925 there were 2770 inmates under 21 years in. institutions. This number rose to 3107 in the boom year, 1929, and remained about the 3000 mark until 1933. Then was recorded a sharp drop to 2609 (15.7 per cent.), and a further drop to 2546 in 1936. After

(Specially written for- "The Press.") [By the REV. A. H. McC. ACHESON.]

that the numbers began to rise again and were back to 2713 in 1938. This fact alone—that there are fewer “dependent” children In depression years—suggests a weakness in. our social organisation. The cause is not that orphanages are obliged to refuse destitute children by lack of funds; they are always able to arrange generous overdrafts. A deeper cause must be sought. So we come to analyse the groups of children in these institutions and their family background. Omitting a small group (under 100) about whom no information is obtainable, the Govern, ment Statistician divides them into five groups: . , (1) Those with both parents dead. This is the smallest group. There were \ 241 in 1925, rising to 252 in 1926. The# a steady decline followed to 144 in and a rise to 187 in 1938. This repre. >; sents a decline from 8.5 per cent, to 5,8 per cent, of the total. - (2) Those with the father dead and. the mother living. This is the second smallest group and shows the greatest percentage decline: 433 in 1925, rising to 447 in 1927, then declining to 200 in 1936 and rising slightly to 232 in 1938; or from 14.4 per cent, to 7.8 per cent ' (3) The illegitimate group. This re. mains fairly steady: highest number, 464 in 1928; lowest, 399 in 1938—aver, age, about 13 per cent, or 14 percent (4) Those with the mother dead and the father living. This group showed In 1925 the largest number, 877, but showed a decline (specially sharp in the depression years) to 657 in 1937 and a rise to 695 in 1938. A decline of 31.8 per cent, to 25.6 per cent. (5) Those with both parents living,' Since 1926 this, has been the largest• group and the only'group to increase." The increase makes up the decline fa all the other groups. There were flf* in 1925, more .than 1000 in 1929, «nj 1157 in 1938. The percentage rose-fqaj. 24.3 per cent, to 42.6 per cent. A New Need? Such figures demind an explanation.: Do they show that our social develop* ment has outgrown the condition!; which made the provision of chariteblf homes for orphans necessary? Death tute children, are in a different c4(e-" gory, because orphanhood Is peraui- > nent, while destitution may be only ■ temporary. Such a contention may be extreme; but there is .no doubt that ' the trend is away from the circumstances which caused the homes to& ( founded. Do they also illustrate a new need? Most of our orphanage homes wire built or inspired about the beginning of the present century. The SoSal philosophy and legislation then popu- ' lar aroused people to supply an obvioot need. But it must be asked whether popular notions about orphanage hafter become frozen at that era. The irtresa* of social legislation has gfown atfaiStthe Widows Pension Act in 191% - feoi. ily allowances in 1926, child welfare, education reforms, etc., all culminating':/ in the Social Security Act of : vl9» v These have changed the whole tions. As these changes Work them* selves out In the social fabric, do;net. the various problems of social care lid responsibility assume new forms? .n. ~; The question of institutions verni! - cottage homes is a vexed one. It'fieeds' : special investigation. And that inYtofi* gation should review not only CQSts jif erection and maintenance but also, ibg happiness of the children and their training for future home-making. ' ■ Never in the history of the world have there been so many dependent, children nor has their dependent been , so complete. Never have the problems been so vast, so diverse, so complex. Emigres have been moved to otherctrtaltries; evacuees, from slums to counter or from one country to another. dren have-been bombed out of -their homes, lost, naked, injured in body tod mind. From the wealth of experience gained in tackling these conditions it should be able to evolve the very best method of providing for our owndependent children, the happiest for-tbs children in their childhood and -tbs finest for training them to be the dti* . zens we so desperately need to main' wastage of war. \