ADJUSTING TO MODERN LIFE

Te Ao Hou, March 1960, Page 61

ADJUSTING TO MODERN LIFE Similarly it seems that Maori women are in many cases adjusting themselves to the demands of this modern age more readily than their menfolk. Maori women can often break through racial prejudice on a personal basis by joining women's groups such as Women's Institutes, Parent-Teacher Associations and even simply over a cup of afternoon tea with pakeha neighbours—easier than men can in their work or in business. Perhaps modern housing with all its amenities and the cares and responsibilities they bring are more attractive for women than the men's lot of daily, regular (and monotonous) working for a living. In more recent times, the payment of Family Benefit direct to the mother has meant a great deal: it has increased her purchasing power and consequently her prestige and self confidence, it has relieved her of financial worries for her family in times of hardship or unemployment; in the more backward families it has brought a measure of independence from her dominating and perhaps unemployed and errant husband. Perhaps these observations are not confined to Maori women—perhaps women in general are more adaptable than the men.