After unrelenting attempts for many years to press successive governments into implementing electoral policy recognising the principle of equal pay for equal work, many women's organisations were repaid for their efforts when, in the 1961 session of Parliament, legislation was passed providing for equal pay, in several stages as from 1 April 1961, for women employees of the Public Service Commission. This will ultimately force the issue with those private employers who still have a lower automatic maximum salary or a lower basic scale for females than for males. The acceptance of this policy removes certain concessions which women now enjoy, and in the initial stages some will reluctantly go on to do 40 years' service instead of 30, before qualifying to retire on superannuation.

The first step of major importance in the recognition of women's standing in the community came with the introduction in 1893 of women's suffrage. Since then many other legal provisions for, or implied, public acceptance of women's rights and privileges have come into force. In 1919 the Women's Parliamentary Rights Act made women eligible to stand as parliamentary candidates, but there have seldom been more than one or two elected at each parliamentary term. Among the very few who have been appointed as cabinet ministers, Dame Hilda Ross gave many years of sincere and humanitarian work. Women who have contested local body elections successfully are very much in the minority on city and borough councils and hospital boards. It is regrettable that not many women who have the necessary maturity and experience in public affairs seem willing to project themselves into politics or local body work. Possibly they have felt diffident about their capacities; possibly they would have been most enthusiastic at a time when they were prevented by household duties from offering themselves as candidates; probably there is a general apathy which will only slowly be overcome as more women gradually assume public office and stimulate others to be more aware of the potential value of such service to the community. In 1942 the Women Jurors Act allowed women between the ages of 25 and 60, if they so desired, to have their names placed on the jury list. Here again, women have shown reluctance to volunteer for a public service. The Women Jurors' Amendment Act of 1963 provides that the names of all women be included in the Jury List, with absolute right of withdrawal.

About one married woman in eight is at present in gainful employment. Married women constitute one-third of the total female labour force, a considerably larger proportion than the twelfth who participated only 25 years ago. This change is due to a number of factors – the availability of work, the change in attitude towards married women in employment, the modern conveniences which lessen the time they need to spend in running their homes, and the desire for certain “extras” which cannot be paid for out of the husband's income. A few women work through inclination or social pressure to relieve a difficult labour situation – the current shortage of teachers has resulted in a return to the schools of married women with young children who would normally be happier at home. Another small group of women with young families who are obliged to take up employment comprises those who by force of circumstances are themselves the breadwinners.

As has happened in many other countries, once the family is self-supporting and independent, a number of women resume their careers because they sincerely get more stimulation and satisfaction from their work than they do from their household and leisure activities or because they are anxious to acquire further possessions. Others take on some entirely different work from that for which they were trained in order to gain a fresh interest. Older women are tending to be just as keen as the young unmarried ones to make an overseas trip, and they look for employment to help to pay for it.

The country's economic gain from the number of married women at work is to a slight extent offset by a rise in child welfare cases and offenders charged in the Children's Court. Investigations have shown that in many instances the mother's absence has been a contributing factor to the behaviour problem. It has also engendered an impatience to have as soon as possible a complete range of material possessions which parents only a generation back were prepared to accumulate over a much longer period of their lives. The spirit of competition to have as good as the next person has undoubtedly been one of the factors in the almost uniformly high standard of living achieved by the women of New Zealand.

For the majority of girls, marriage terminates or interrupts working life in their early twenties. About two-thirds of the female population are housewives. In New Zealand today there is little domestic help offering, and in any case most families could not afford to pay the wage demanded. Thus the average woman not only does her own cleaning, cooking, and shopping, but also makes clothes for herself and her children, spends time in the maintenance of a garden, and often attempts with marked success such tasks as painting, papering, and simple upholstery. Although labour-saving household appliances have reduced the amount of manual work in the household, most women seem to have relatively little leisure for sport and hobbies. This is probably the basic reason for their lack of active participation in civic and national affairs, and also for the preponderance of older women in such organisations as the Housewives' Association, Women's Institutes, Federation of University Women, and the Women's Division of Federated Farmers

Sharing in their children's activities involves the more conscientious mothers in play-centre supervision, baking or sewing for money-raising projects, and attendance at parent-teacher association meetings. While their children are young, they are often precluded from sharing in evening outings with their husbands because of the expense or difficulty of arranging for baby minders. What social intercourse they have is often at morning coffee or afternoon tea in haphazard conversation with neighbours and friends, or, when all is at peace, over the telephone at night. As the family grows older, there is more opportunity to get relaxation from hobbies – reading, concerts, floral art, continental and oriental cookery, adult education courses in subjects of interest – as well as from sports such as golf, tennis, croquet, and the increasingly popular bowls, both indoor and outdoor. This increasing fondness for sport is reflected in the large number of local and national tournaments arranged for women each year and in the enthusiasm which is shown by the competitors.

The range of occupations open to women at present is reasonably wide. Both men and women are found in draughting, floral work, technical and research laboratory work, domestic work, social work, photography, medicine, the armed services, and numerous other occupations. A unique training in elementary dentistry is available to New Zealand girls for staffing the school dental service. Only girls train as occupational therapists, kindergarten teachers, and Karitane nurses. Among fields predominantly staffed by men, such as law, dentistry, architecture, veterinary science, and agriculture, there may be found a sprinkling of girls. Vocational guidance officers report that those who take advantage of their help in choosing a career are more interested in the work content and personal satisfaction to be derived from it than in the monetary rewards of jobs under consideration. Usually allowances and wages are adequate to good, but a few girls would be barred from entering a suitable apprenticeship or training course through lack of financial assistance from home to augment their earnings, particularly if they are required to live away from home.

Most young people go into a job prepared to do as well as possible in the limited time they are likely to be in employment. The average ambition is to qualify by training and experience, enjoy leisure hours, perhaps have a working holiday overseas, and then get married. These are the ones who set the fashion in women's clothing (as they generally have the time and money to expend on this), and their current attitudes, taste, and behaviour have a considerable impact on the social habits of the community. Sometimes they finish in positions of responsibility without ever having aimed at more than a subordinate level. Those who set out with high goals or unusual ambitions are more likely to be thwarted and frustrated by the amount of discrimination which still persists against women. Their generally short working life prejudices their chances in competition with men for senior posts, their supposed lack of stamina prevents them from being accepted for rigorous outdoor work, and even women's lack of confidence in women has to be overcome in certain professions. Such frustrations are gradually being eliminated as capable women, given the opportunity, have shown that they can command the same respect and carry out efficiently the same duties as men. A few have been ordained as ministers; some have achieved diplomatic status; many have been appointed to the teaching staffs of the universities; and more and more are having the chance to prove themselves in administrative and personnel work.

On-the-job training is given in such fields as manufacturing, retail sales work, and general office work. This is sometimes supplemented by special classes run by local or national groups of employers' representatives or by night school courses. Special vocational courses are available for teaching, nursing, ancillary hospital services, graduate library work, and so on. Girls commonly enter into apprenticeships in the clothing trade and hairdressing, and occasionally in such trades as bookbinding, jewellery and watch repairing, horticulture, and mechanical dentistry. There is no encouragement given to them by the provisions of the Apprenticeship Act to consider any of the light woodworking or engineering trades, but few would be interested in any case. In most instances female apprentices are employed under the verbal agreement of an award, not under the Apprenticeship Act, and do not enter into a written contract with the employer and the local commissioner of apprenticeships. Consequently there is a less strict adherence to the obligations of the employer and the apprentice than there is in the case of boys, and so some girls become skilled operatives rather than fully trained journeywomen.

Facilities for education have been available to girls from the time when schools began to be established, but the proportion of girls taking advantage of courses beyond the school leaving-age level has increased correspondingly with the demand for their services in a widening range of occupations. Many schools in the national system are coeducational, though this is not the case with the majority of private (e.g., church) schools. At the post-primary stage there are a considerable number of State schools for boys or girls only, with the result that in some districts there is no option for parents who wish their children to attend a coeducational school. Valuable work was done in some of the early girls' high schools by such well-known educationists as Louisa Dalrymple and Kate Evans. Girls have the same syllabus as boys at primary school, but beyond that, in addition to a common “core” compulsory in all post-primary schools, some take subjects which are essentially feminine – homecraft, clothing, shorthand, and typewriting. At a few post-primary schools they are able to enrol for an engineering or agricultural course, but few are attracted to these. The majority get a general education which becomes more specialised in higher classes according to vocational plans. At university level, girls are admitted to most courses, but, again, there is little interest shown in any type of engineering, and comparatively few women enter agricultural courses. Current figures showing the probable destination of girls leaving school indicate that about 30 per cent go into office work, 14 per cent work in shops, 10 per cent enter health services, 8 per cent do domestic work or are at home, 7 per cent become teachers, and 3·5 per cent study full-time at university.

Women in New Zealand have emerged from a predominantly domestic sphere in much the same way as was done in other countries during the past century. The struggles of the early settlers accelerated this trend at the outset by forcing women to be adaptable, ingenious, and independent, in situations where they could not count on outside help. There were early signs of the desire for emancipation in the women's organisations which sprang up towards the end of the nineteenth century – for example, the Women's Christian Temperance Union and the Suffrage Movement, and in the demand for education at all levels. In a rapidly developing new country, opportunities for employment became more numerous and varied. The two World Wars increased the recognition of women's potential in the employment field, and at the present time they are making a valuable contribution not only to the social, sporting, and cultural activities of New Zealand, but also to its economic development.

The Women's Division Federated Farmers of New Zealand is a non-party political and non-sectarian society with aims to better the conditions of women and children living in the country, and to stimulate and encourage interest among the farming community in every way by the cooperation of women with farmers' organisations. The movement began in 1925 when a group of 16 farmers' wives, on holiday in Wellington while their husbands were attending a conference of the Farmers' Union (now the Federated Farmers), became concerned with the hardships of farmers' wives and families living in isolated and backblocks areas, and so formed a group which has now grown into the second largest organisation of women in New Zealand. Membership is open to all women interested in these aims, and in 1965 the membership total was over 27,000. There are 800 branches, which form 60 provincial units, and an annual Dominion Conference elects the Dominion Council for the control of their affairs, with a permanent secretary in Wellington. This organisation has its own emergency housekeeper service for country women in time of sickness, and, should payment for these services be a hardship, financial assistance may also be given. The division has been responsible for various publications, including cookery books, and has its own magazine, N.Z. Countrywoman, published every two months.

Rest and holiday homes have been established throughout the country to enable country women to take a rest at moderate cost and in congenial surroundings. Amongst these are “Scotlands” at Auckland; “Te Kiteroa” at Waimate; “Melrose” at Nelson, which was bequeathed to the Women's Division by the late Colonel and Mrs Noel Adams; and “Harris Cottage” at Stanmore Bay, a bequest by Miss M. Harris. In 1948 Dr Agnes Bennett bequeathed her home, “Honda”, at Lowry Bay, Wellington, as a rest and holiday centre, but this property has now been disposed of and the funds are to be used to extend the headquarters building in Hawkestone Street, Wellington, so that this may become a residential club for the use of members. This property will be known as “Honda – the Agnes Bennett Memorial Clubrooms”.

Members are linked with kindred organisations overseas through the Associated Country Women of the World.

by Olive Rita Croker, M.A., Botanist, Wellington.

The motto of the Women's Christian Temperance Union is “For God, Home and Humanity”, and its original platform consisted of “Peace, Purity, and Prohibition”. The movement began in New Zealand in 1885 with the arrival from the United States of Mrs M. C. Leavitt, who brought with her a petition to be signed by women in all parts of the world urging their governments to introduce the prohibition of alcohol. Branches were soon established, the condition of membership being a pledge to abstain from all intoxicating liquors. The union has also been associated with a number of other reforms, including women's franchise, the purity of the home, the teaching of religion in schools, and welfare work, particularly amongst seamen. Its headquarters are in Wellington. There are 76 branches. It is affiliated to the National Council of Women and has given support to the Pan-Pacific and South-East Asia Women's Associations, as well as the New Zealand Alliance.

by Pamela Somers Cocks, M.A., DIP.N.Z.L.S., Archivist, Wellington.