Up to this time, many women had to turn to their families for help. They had to live with their parents, and depend on them for support. Many women must have felt trapped. Unless you were married or a widow, you could get no help to live in a home of your own. Sometimes, the family would not help. Other times, the family could not afford to help the mother and her children. Then the woman had to apply for public relief. To get it, she had to prove she had no other way to survive.

The times were changing. The way people thought about public welfare was changing too. People began to think of human rights as part of welfare. People in the social welfare field were writing about this. People in governments thought about it too. This thinking helped change laws. When Newfoundland looked at other provinces, it could see the kinds of changes that were being made. It could see examples of things that could be done here.

One change that made a big difference for women was the Mothers' Allowances Act. It was passed in 1949. This took the place of the widows' allowances. Many more women could get the new mothers' allowances. Separated and divorced mothers could get them. Women with husbands who were sick or in prison could get them. Single mothers who had never been married could get them. Newfoundland was the first province in Canada to do this for unmarried mothers.

These were very important changes. Women and their children would not have to live with the old system that judged whether or not they deserved help. They could now apply for help based on their needs.

Some people did not agree with having the same rules for single mothers and widows. They were used to living with the idea that unmarried mothers were different from other mothers.¹¹ At this time, the children of married and unmarried women were put in different groups in reports and records.

We can see this in a report of the Child Welfare Association, a group that worked to improve the health of children. They ran clinics, visited homes, and gave advice on child care. They also told the public about what they did. In 1950, this group gave its report for the year in The Evening Telegram¹² This report lists how many babies were born in St. John's that year, and how many died. The list points out how many babies were "illegitimate"—born to single mothers. The report also has a whole section called "Illegitimate Births." It tells what happened to each of the 119 babies born to single women.¹³