I move amendment No. 1:—
In page 13, before Section 38, but in Chapter I, to insert a new section as follows:—
38. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Acts, where—
(a) the widow of a man remarries, and
(b) a child of such man is during any period—
(i) detained in a reformatory or industrial school, or
(ii) in pursuance of an order of a court, in the custody of some person other than such widow, or
(iii) deserted or abandoned by such widow, or
(iv) resident in an institution or boarded out by a public assistance authority,
payment may be made in accordance with the Acts during that period of an orphan's (contributory) pension in respect of such child, but such pension shall be at the same rate as the rate of the child's (contributory) allowance that would be payable if such widow had not remarried and such child were living with her.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Acts, where—
(a) the widow of a man remarries, and
(b) a child of such man is at the time of the marriage—
(i) detained in a reformatory or industrial school, or
(ii) in pursuance of an order of the court, in the custody of some person other than such widow, or
(iii) deserted or abandoned by such widow, or
(iv) resident in an institution or boarded out by a public assistance authority, and
(c) such widow subsequently resumes custody of the child,
payment of any child's (contributory) allowance that may be appropriate may be made in accordance with the Acts in respect of the child as from the time when custody of the child is resumed.
(3) This section shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 1st day of January, 1947.
Perhaps I should explain the purpose of this amendment. A case came to notice, and it may be one of many, in which, because of the structure of the main Widows' and Orphans' Pensions Act, what appeared to us to be a case of hardship occurred. The case was one of a widow who had three children attending an institution where they were accommodated and educated. In accordance with the provisions of the Act an orphan's allowance was payable to the institution in respect of the detention and education of the children there. The widow subsequently remarried and, on remarriage, the Act provides that the orphans' allowances will cease to be payable to the institution in respect of the children. Because the children's allowances were not payable to the widow at the date of her remarriage—the children being in an institution and the orphans' allowances being paid to the institution, the widow was deprived of the orphans' allowances and could not qualify for the children's allowances. It was felt that that was a hardship which the widow might have circumvented if she had known the provisions of the Act because she could have arranged to have had the children discharged from the institution a week before her remarriage and would thus have got behind the provisions of the Act. It is felt that in a case of that kind we ought either to allow the children to remain in the institution, the State paying the allowances to the institution, or allow the widow to draw children's allowances under the Widows' and Orphans' Pensions Act in respect of the children if she resumes the custody of the children. This amendment is designed to meet a situation of that kind.
