In the late 19th century, New Zealand's economy fell into a long-term depression, and poverty became the main problem perplexing most new Zealanders. The early colonists regarded New Zealand as the "welfare test ground" of the British colony, emphasizing that the idea of citizens' independence and voluntariness dominated. The colonial rulers did not adopt the poor law like Britain, because they thought that the new world (New Zealand) must be better than the old world (Britain). Therefore, the government's poverty relief activities were regarded as unnecessary, Families should be able to take care of themselves. A society eager to live and work in peace and contentment should choose self-help rather than help the homeless. However, the depression of the early colonial economy and the lack of resources made many families in a dilemma of survival. Therefore, friendship societies, private charities, neighborhood mutual aid organizations and other organizations came into being. The significance of these non-governmental mutual aid organizations and charities to stabilizing social order is self-evident, However, due to the lack of financial resources of these mutual aid organizations and charities, they were unable to shoulder the heavy responsibility of poverty relief, and finally evolved into the main responsibility of poverty alleviation and assistance by the state. The introduction of New Zealand's first old-age pension act in 1898 marked the beginning of institutionalized social security <<