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Before widows' pensions were introduced in 1911, widowed mothers with dependent children often had to rely on charity, other family members or their own meagre earnings. Widows' pensions pioneered the principle of state support for women without a male breadwinner. In this cartoon, Prime Minister Joseph Ward is gratefully embraced by flocks of widows dressed in black.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Reference: New Zealand Freelance, 21 October 1911, p. 9 (N-P 1685-9)
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.