Should Married Women Have Careers?

Wanganui Chronicle, 1 February 1950, Page 7

Should Married Women Have Careers?

For women in New Zealand there is a tradition of choice between a home or a profession, not a combination of the two. The opinion was expressed by Miss Pamela Rathbone, Dunedin, addressing the conference of the New Zealand Federation of University Women. She was discussing the difficulties facing married women who wanted to continue their professions. “The attitude that married women should not work is a •middle-class idea,” she said, “and I suggest that New Zealand is a middleclass society. Many men are insulted —their vanity is offended if their wives are earning, too. Men don’t like their wives to be independent.” It was also a sad fact, Miss Rathbone continued, that women them-: selves were jealous of others who continued to work and have families. “Professional women should sympathise and work to help these others, but very often they are their fiercest opponents.” She said that inquiries had proved that income tax anomalies played a part in discouraging married women from working. A wife’s earnings were lumped with the husband’s for taxation purposes, so that the total tax was very much higher than if the two .incomes were assessed separately. Again, a married woman with children who had to employ a housekeeper if she w’ere to continue working, was unable to get a tax exemption for the housekeeper. This exemption was granted a widower with children.