Single working mothers in NZ in 60s and the diffculties they faced

Single working mothers in NZ in 60s and the difficulties they faced. We have all heard about the teenagers from the 60s but this isn't about them. This is more about how difficult it would have been even for working single mothers at that time. This is merely my own observation of how I envisage the state of affairs in New Zealand in the mid 60s would have been for an unwed expectant mother, especially the Auckland reality, based on quite a few different sources (my own observation of NZ society/mores whilst growing up there as a young child and also both IRL and online resources) - other countries would of course have been fairly similar but with probable regional differences. New Zealand was a rather more "uptight" country than say Australia or the US in the 60s - we were considered more English than the English lol. I am not doing this for any particular reason, maybe just me collecting my own thoughts about the topic. Perhaps others from other regions may say how it is different - again this is just my observation of NZ in the 60s. I sort of had a fair idea about the basics but perhaps not so much of the difficulties when things went wrong. First of all, when an unmarried pregnant woman first discovered she was pregnant and she went to her doctors, that doctor, seeing she was unmarried and without a partner or family support would have most likely referred her to a social worker. The social worker would have talked to her about her situation and after discovering her lack of support would have told her her limited options and "spelt out the realities" of life as an unwed mother. The young pregnant woman who had already worked at a job would have probably recognised the truth in a lot of what she had been told about the realities of bring up a child alone but even if she did feel that she wanted to try to parent anyway, she may have been made to feel selfish (or may have just felt that herself) for even thinking of doing so and there often was no talk of any other possible avenues of assistance (this may depend on individual SWs of course). For example, there was apparently some minimal government help available but the woman would unlikely to have been told about it. Perhaps churches may have helped with things but I don't know how many women were pointed in that direction and the likelihood of help may have depended on individual churches. She may also have been told that it would be unfair to her child to try to parent because her child would be referred to as a bastard and perhaps shunned by children from "good families". Of course, she may not even considered parenting on her own because she have felt herself that a child must have 2 married parents if she wanted to avoid her child being shunned by society (especially if she was from a small town). It is quite probable that she may have nowhere to live whilst pregnant because she may been asked to leave her job when she started to show (thus had to move out of rented accommodation). Therefore, she would need to find somewhere to live and it is quite probable that a maternity home etc would quite possibly have been the only option while pregnant. In the past (40s and earlier), these homes were places for women to prepare themselves for motherhood while pregnant and then they could live there for a few months before going out into the world - they may have even been found places to live by those homes. However, in the 50s and 60s, in Auckland especially, those homes were pretty well 100% adoptive - they only took in those women who were going to place their child - if you wanted to use them as a place to live before preparing yourself for motherhood, then too bad, there was usually no place for you. Other women awaiting adoption would be put with host families where they worked as domestics or nannies - if you were lucky, you got a nice family (eg my bmom's host family seemed very nice). Though in the late 50s, there were many more adoptive parents than bmoms by the late 60s the tide had turned and eventually some women were turned away - it did still take a couple mre years before the single benefits was made known and then the numbers plummeted. Anyway, an emom may well have still decided to try and parent. I know my sister&brothers mother tried. I expect the following would have been not dissimilar to her reality: Housing: If you had just given birth and was looking for somewhere to live, you would have found it very hard to find a room (because a room would be all you could get) and if you did, the owner may well have been rather disapproving. Of course, it depends on the luck of the draw but my experience of trying to find a bedsitting room as a single girl (no child) with a poorly paid job in the mid 80s in the UK was rather depressing, most rooms I looked at were dingy places where I never really saw the other residents so I had no idea what they would have been like - I am sure we would have all kept to ourselves. In the end, I rented a room in a house with a lovely Indian couple but you couldn't really flatshare with a baby. So if it was like that in the 80s, I can really see how hard it would have been in the 60s. Work: First of all, you would have to find someone who was prepared to hire you. If your previous work experience was menial work eg factory work, then you would probably try to find similar, and it would have been fairly poorly paid. If someone did hire you, there is the probability that you would be told that you would be hired subject to attendance - if you took too much time off you would be out of a job. If you had nursing experience, my impression is that you would have had to live in the nurses home and of course you wouldn't be allowed a baby there. You could get a job as a domestic and if you were lucky you could take your child along but that would depend on the situation, I doubt very few employers would allow that. Childcare: In most cases, you would need someone to look after your child while you were at work. Back then, childcare was fairly non-existent and quite probably would have been an older retired woman taking children into her home rather than childcare centres. She probably would have been quite strict about attendance as well. Below is an article about childrearing practices and attitudes in the 60s: [url]http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/2090/Ritchie%20NZ%20Families.pdf?sequence=1[/url] Anyway, all the above would have been "possible" but if your child got sick, it may well have collapsed llike a house of cards. First of all, you would have to take time of work which your boss wouldn't like - you may well get the sack. Secondly, your child wouldn't be attending the carer who may well give your place to someone else. Thirdly, the crying of the child may cause your landlady to chuck you out. Then you would have to go looking for more employment, another place to live, another childcarer and then of course if your child got sick again..... Of course, some women were able to do it but it would have involved a lot of luck and everything coming together. My siblings' bmom had them taken off her for neglect at 6 weeks, it had all got too much. Anyway, they were placed for adoption with mum and dad. Apparently their father offered to marry their bmom and they tried get them back but it was unsuccessful. In regards to my own bmom, I think I have always been basically aware that the above situation is how it was for unmarried women in the 60s so when I did get my OBC, I pretty well accepted it from the start especially since I had just come back from a work holiday overseas - coincidentally my time overseas on a working holiday was at the same age as bmoms age - so I intrinsically understood the reality of the living/employment arrangements at the very least. All the above is the reality in the 60s and those were just how things were back then, society's mores were different and so was the thinking of most people. One does hope though that those conditions back then remain in the past. The conditions in New Zealand are very different now to back then like in many other places. Though things have vastly improved and there are more options available, I sometimes wonder whether the "working poor" fall through the cracks these days. This is often a problem in many western countries as they may not have access to assistance that those who are not employed have. Below are just general observations about today (btw it is NOT about the US per se, just a general ramble about the those who earn money below the poverty line in western countries in general). Housing: For example, there is obviously more public housing today in most countres. However, for a working woman earning below the poverty line, there may be very little housing options available to them. From what I've heard, there do seem to be a few mother's homes that are for those wishing to pursue motherhood but on first glance it seems hard to tell which are which and it is possible that many people don't know they still exist as separate entities - I thought they had gone out with the ark lol. Employment: One hopes that today's employers around the world are more open to the challenges facing mothers. I am sure that that has improved immensely. In some countries, you would want a job with medical benefits. Childcare: Much more prevalent now but in many countries, it may be quite expensive for workers and they may not be able to afford it. So though those on benefits may get far more assistance than in the past, those who are the working poor may find it harder to find resources. I am fairly lowly paid so I do realise how hard it is for a single woman living on her own (I get by) but there are other jobs that pay far less and it would be very hard to live in your own place with those jobs. Anyway, there was no real point to this long ramble but just to me collecting my thoughts about the topic - it may be of no interest to anyone but myself lol.