ABSTRACT
The concern within the Labour Party, and indeed the wider Labour movement, over child welfare in the inter-war period was largely conditioned by the pressures of domestic and international politics and the claims of malnutrition and of nutritional science. In the inter-war period, one of the many illustrations of The Labour Party can be found in 1929 in Children First, wherein labour described itself as the party of childhood, because it is the party of the future. Labour's child welfare policies directs to the important of political aims, making the world safe for the coming generation. The concern about the role of children in securing the nation's future in an ever more unstable and complex world is focused by concerning about the nature and extent of malnutrition. Labour women clear regarding the contentious issue of cash family allowances. Similarly, some women prominent in the Labour movement, such as Averil Furniss, saw cash family allowances as important in furthering female emancipation.
