The passing of the Unemployment Act in 1930 fuelled public resentment toward the government's reaction to the effects of the Depression.
In October 1928 the Government established a committee to advice them on how to approach the increasing issue of unemployment in New Zealand. It issued two reports, which were the first comprehensive studies of the problem. They analyzed several ways that the government could target unemployment and this resulted in the Unemployment Act being passed in 1930. This established a sustenance payment which would be payed to all unemployed males. This was funded by a tax imposed on all adult males, regardless of their employment status. All male citizens aged 20 and over were required to register with this scheme and pay a levy of £1 10s. a year, which was able to be paid quarterly. The revenue of this tax was put into the Unemployment Fund, from which it was used to finance sustenance payments.
In the time that this legislation was established, Prime Minister George Forbes was in London for the 1930 Imperial Conference. When he returned to New Zealand in January 1931 he ammended the Act so that sustenance payments would only be provided for people who applied and were willing to work for it. This lead to the creation of a number of government work schemes, collectively called Scheme 5, which included hard labour and work camps. When the register was opened in February, 23,000 people put their names down; by June the number of registered unemployed had risen to 51,000.
The Unemployment Act was the official measure of employment during this time. However, this provides us with inaccurate information because it doesn't consider the employment status of Maori, women or boys under sixteen years of age. |
When Prime Minister Forbes amended the Unemployment Act in 1931 it became necessary for men to work in order to receive sustenance payments. Several work schemes were established under the collective title "Scheme 5". The nature of these work schemes caused contempt among the unemployed and their families.
The work schemes included building and repairing roads, as well as other hard labour. Some of these schemes required men to be sent to stay at work camps in rural areas while the work was completed. The living conditions at these camps were often unhygienic and had poor sanitation. The men that were sent to these camps were often unmarried, but not always. Although these work schemes had been developed to target unemployment the work had to be rationed as there were too many people that applied. Men were often sent between work camps as new jobs became available. This work was often seen as demoralizing, and some people referred to the work camps as "slave camps". As a result of Scheme 5 many unemployed workers became resentful of the government, which in their opinion was not considering the basic needs of the citizens. |