26 mars 1941 - Needy Families Scheme - starts

Description:

A Needy Families Scheme, administered by the Child Welfare Branch of the Department of Education was established. This provided assistance, primarily by re-housing large or poor families to maintain the household unit. By 1946, the scheme had helped over 900 families and more than 5,000 children.
The scheme was established primarily in response to a serious shortage of adequate housing in inner-city areas and administered by a Committee comprised of representatives of the State Advances Corporation, Social Security Department and Child Welfare Branch (Department of Education).
The Committee soon discovered that the assistance was needed beyond rent subsidies and from 1942 it was authorised to approve other forms of assistance from a special supplementary fund. These included small grants for the purchase of basic supplies such as food, clothing and bedding.
In 1947 the Child Welfare Branch was made fully responsible for the scheme, extending the range of families coming under the ambit of the Branch to “needy” or “problem” families.

Source: https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/about-msd/history/social-assistance-chronology-programme-history.html