Social
The unemployment rate significantly increased due to the Governments changes causing anger and confusion among many New Zealand citizens.
With the New Zealand economy vulnerable and suffering, many citizens of the country had their jobs and wages slashed increasing the unemployment rate. The precise figure of how many were unemployed will always remain a mystery. Not all who were unemployed had put their names down on the unemployment register or were on the Unemployment Benefit. The official unemployment statistics had excluded women, youths and Maori’s therefore the "official" unemployment statistics would have been significantly larger if they included these specific groups in society. In the beginning of February 1931 the unemployment rate was 8,000. All of a sudden the rate substantially rose by the end of February at 27,000 people unemployed and continued to climb by June with a number of 51,000 unemployed. The figure was at soaring heights in 1933 at 80,000 people, which represented 12% of the workforce. By the year of 1932 two out of five able-bodied men were without permanent employment and were receiving relief work provided by the Government. Gordon Coates stated in the Otago Daily a Times 20th January 1932 that “there may perhaps be 70,000 registered unemployed before the winter is over and 250,000 in resultant difficulties”. It was not “the Government’s job to keep them, but to make the road open for them to help themselves”. The Government felt that they were helping those who were unemployed, this made the civilians of New Zealand loose faith in their Government if this was considered support.
The New Zealand society began to feel the hardships and injustices dolled upon them by the Great Depression and the inadequate Government.
On the side of the mobile soup kitchen from the Salvation Army it states 'Hot Soup and Bread for Poor Families'
The Depression in New Zealand was also dubbed the Sugar Bag Years and was humiliating for many people. As people’s situations worsened so did their anger. Resentment began to build against the Government because many unemployed felt that the Government was not doing anything to help them in their situation. This was starting to have a negative psychological effect on the unemployed causing them to feel isolated and insecure. Those who were unemployed their families felt the harsh effect of the lack of money. Children through all levels of society were impacted. Some were sent to school with no shoes, fashioned in clothes made out of sacks from Auckland’s Chelsea Sugar Refinery, this is why it was called the Sugar Bag Years. It was the wives who were trying their best to provide for their families too, they struggled just as much as their unemployed husbands or where unemployed themselves. It was the wives who creatively came up with clothing their children in sacks because it was all they could afford. Many people had become creative in obtaining food, many started vegetable patches in their backyards or even fished. Lots of people tried to “recycle” by getting creative in how they obtained resources or made their own furniture. The Depression was forcing people to become inventive in finding ways to live and survive. The Salvation Army was some hope families had to hold onto to get a slim supply of food or a meal. Many mobile soup kitchens were set up two to three times a week to provide soup and stale bread. Many parents were too proud or ashamed of their situation, this was called the stigma of the undeserving poor. It stopped many from asking for help when they truly needed it. Adults were too humiliated to queue or ask for soup, so many children queued for their parents with their tin billies. The Depression was taking to take a massive toll on families, the majority of families could not pay their rent so they had to be evicted out of their homes. Unemployed men began to feel insecure and inferior that they could not provide for their families, which in the time period for many it was their job, to be the man of the household. It angered the unemployed to see their families suffer and hostility was growing. The numbers of swaggers had increased, Swaggers were civilians that traveled and drifted through the country. These men had no work and no permanent home, this gave them the ability to stray away from society. Majority of Maori people lived in rural areas so they were able to at least provide for themselves off the land. The Depression was such a shock to the majority of people in New Zealand because previously in their lives they were accustomed to security. The Depression impacted their lives, they were no longer secure and this frightened many people in society.
An economist A.G. Fisher stated, “In the times of depression it is necessary to curtail the community’s consumption of many goods and services. Already people with large or moderate incomes have diminished their expenditure on many pleasant but unnecessary things which formerly they enjoyed”
Through this cartoon, the author Gordon Minhinnick is able to portray the words of A.G. Fisher in a humorous fashion. As a primary resource it states how the Great Depression impacted many social classes, not just the poor. A wealthy couple starts off in a Rolls Royce car however through the years of the Depression they downgraded until they are riding on a bicycle. Showing the economic deterioration of New Zealand and how people could not afford the luxury items. Those who spent superfluously had to be controlled, the whole population had to make changes to survive. Many people hoped by eliminating their luxurious spending it would guarantee them their homes and jobs, however this did not happen for a large amount of people. The New Zealand population had to economise to survive through poverty and the hardships of the Great Depression.
Through this cartoon, the author Gordon Minhinnick is able to portray the words of A.G. Fisher in a humorous fashion. As a primary resource it states how the Great Depression impacted many social classes, not just the poor. A wealthy couple starts off in a Rolls Royce car however through the years of the Depression they downgraded until they are riding on a bicycle. Showing the economic deterioration of New Zealand and how people could not afford the luxury items. Those who spent superfluously had to be controlled, the whole population had to make changes to survive. Many people hoped by eliminating their luxurious spending it would guarantee them their homes and jobs, however this did not happen for a large amount of people. The New Zealand population had to economise to survive through poverty and the hardships of the Great Depression.