Unemployment Insurance in New Zealand

Abstract

This thesis is not so much an economic dissertation as an account of the political and social implications of the growth of unemployment in New Zealand. Apart from a short Introduction, discussion has centred on the twentieth century, when proposals for measures against unemployment first made their appearance. The development and fruition of these measures cannot be viewed apart from the general economic development of New Zealand over these years, a subject which has been handled in two unpublished theses by Belshaw J. "The Post-war Unemployment Problem in New Zealand," and "The Crisis in New Zealand." The Maoriland Worker and the New Zealand Worker have been an invaluable source, and were searched page for page from 1910 to 1935. The Red Worker and the Workers' Weekly, and equally valuable source for the depression of 1930-35, were also searched page for page form 1931 to 1935. With the daily press, sepcimen dates were taken, and the newpapers searched accordingly. For example, newspapers published on the days after the debates on the National Insurance Bill (Imp.) and the Unemployed Workers' Bills of the New Zealand Labour Party were consulted for comment, as well as those published during the month for two month-long election campaigns of 1911, 1914, 1919, 1922, 1925, 1928, 1931, and 1935.