“For the Health of the People:” Public Health and the Compensation of Maternity Leave in the 1910s

Peterson, Anna M.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-75481-9_3

Anna M. Peterson²

142 Accesses

Abstract

Soon after the 1892 Factory Act was implemented, women responded to its restrictive maternity leave clause by working to develop new pieces of legislation that gave women access to financial assistance during maternity leave. This chapter shows how women succeeded in incorporating compensatory maternity leave coverage in Norway’s 1909 and 1915 health insurance laws. It demonstrates how feminists and midwives directly engaged policymakers in their efforts to institute a maternity benefit that included free midwifery, maternity home stays, and covered not only women factory workers, but also the wives of men who worked in industry. They were able to do so largely because they relied on medical arguments that resonated with public health concerns. The chapter shows how these concerns were ubiquitous throughout Europe, and why their translation into law had a different outcome in Norway than in France or Germany.

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Notes

1.
Høidal was later convicted of the crime of clandestine birth and sentenced to 15 months of jail time. She served most of this time at the National Women’s Prison in Kristiania. Gulating lagmannsretts dombok, October 22, 1919, Statsarkivet i Bergen; Dom 8293, Fangeprotokoller, rekke 4 Dagbøker over innkomne fanger 1913–1923, Landsfengselet for kvinner, Riksarkivet.
2.
No fewer than eleven responses were written to Christensen’s article and published in both Bergen newspapers and national newspapers. “Ansvar,” Bergens Aftenblad, August 15, 1919; Dagny Tyvold, “Arrestationen. Svar til Pastor Christensen ,” Bergens Aftenblad, n.d.; Georg Madsen, “Til Pastor Christensens Artikel,” Bergens Aftenblad, n.d.; Peder Christensen, “Misbrugt sin stilling som sjælesørger,” Bergens Aftenblad, August 16, 1919; Peder Christensen, “Den Fængslede Kvinde: Frøken Læge Tyvold!” Bergens Aftenblad, n.d.; L. Andree Winciansen, “Til Dagny Tyvold,” Bergens Aftenblad, n.d.; Cand. Jur. Conrad Falsen, “Fængslede Barnemødre,” Bergens Aftenblad, n.d.; “Anmeldt,” Bergens Aftenblad, August 18, 1919; En mor, “Arrestationen,” Bergens Aftenblad August 19, 1919; “Barselkvinden i fængslet: En artikel av srenskriver Sitje,” Bergens Tidende, August 16, 1919; “Barselkvinden I fængslet,” Bergens Tidende, August 22, 1919. Many of these articles were reprinted in the national newspaper, Tidens Tegn.
3.
Peder Christensen, “Politiforhold som trænger Reformation: En Arrestation,” Bergens Aftenblad, August 13, 1919.
4.
Norsk lovtidene, “Revision of straffesaker,” 1921, 317; “Fængsling av barselkvinder,” Nylænde , 1921, 323.
5.
Inger Elisabeth Haavet, ed., Katti Anker Møller: mødrenes forkjemper 125 år (Bergen: Senter for humanistisk kvinneforskning, 1994).
6.
In fact, Møller’s parents Herman Anker and Marie Elisabeth Bojsen ran Norway’s first folk high school at Sagatun near Hamar.
7.
Møller developed close connections to women who worked for mothers’ rights in other European countries, especially France and England. Ida Blom, “Voluntary Motherhood 1900–1930: Theories and Politics of a Norwegian Feminist in an International Perspective,” in Maternity and Gender Policies: Women and the Rise of the European Welfare States, 1880s–1950s, eds. Gisela Bock and Pat Thane (London: Routledge, 1991), 28–33.
8.
The Radical People’s Party was not socialist, but a leftist party concerned with workers’ and small landholders’ rights.
9.
Øivind Bjørnson, “Johan Castberg: jurist og politiker,” Norsk biografisk leksikon, Foreningen SNL, March 18, 2015, accessed March 10, 2013, http://snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Johan_Castberg/utdypning.
10.
The length and services granted to insured women expanded throughout the 1910s. For a comparison of the development of German and Swedish maternity policies, see: Teresa Kulawik, “An den Grenzen des Maternalismus. Der Kampf um eine Mutterschaftsverischerun in Schweden und Deutschland,” Feministische Studien 18, no. 1 (2000): 99–103.
11.
Seth Koven and Sonja Michel , “Womanly Duties: Maternalist Politics and the Origins of Welfare States in France, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States, 1880–1920,” American Historical Review 95, no. 4 (1990): 1706–1109; Jane Lewis, “Dealing with Dependency: State Practices and Social Realities 1870–1945,” in Women’s Welfare: Women’s Rights, ed. Jane Lewis (London: Croom Helm, 1983), 31–32.
12.
Karen Offen, “Body Politics: Women, Work and the Politics of Motherhood in France, 1920–1950,” in Maternity and Gender Policies, eds. Gisela Bock and Pat Thane (London: Routledge, 1991), 138–160; Susan Pedersen, Family Dependence, and the Origins of the Welfare State: Britain and France, 1914–1945 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 17–18.
13.
In contrast, Marian van der Klein credits the absence of these two factors as “allowing the Dutch state to remain uninvolved in maternity issues.” Marian van der Klein, “Risks of Labour: Maternity Insurance and Economic Citizenship in Pre-1940 Europe,” in Reciprocity and Redistribution: Work and Welfare Reconsidered, ed. Gro Hagemann (Pisa, Italy: Pisa University Press, 2007), 98.
14.
van der Klein, “Risks of Labour,” 102.
15.
One of the ways they tried to achieve this was through encouraging women to implement hygienic measures in their homes. This was especially important to middle-class women and a clean and sterile home became a marker of social status. More information on the Norwegian case can be found in: Karin Ericson, “‘Renslig med sin Person og i sit Arbeide’: Hygenisering av kvinner 1888–1910” (master’s thesis, NTNU, 2007).
16.
Aina Schiøtz, Folkets helse – landets styrke: 1850–2003 (Oslo : Universitetsforlaget, 2003), 51.
17.
Schiøtz, Folkets helse, 44.
18.
Nicolai Rygg, “Om børn, fødte udenfor ægteskab,” Norges officielle statistik nr. 37 (Kristiania: Aschehoug, 1907 ), 32.
19.
Norway’s combined infant mortality rate for illegitimate and legitimate children born between 1896 and 1900 was 266 for every 1000 live births. In comparison, France had a rate of 404 out of 1000 and Finland 325 out of 1000 births. Rygg , “Om børn, fødte udenfor ægteskab,” 32.
20.
Blom, “Den haarde dyst”: fødsler og fødselshjelp gjennom 150 år (Oslo : Capplen, 1988), 49.
21.
Charlotte Borst, Catching Babies: The Professionalization of Childbirth, 1870–1920 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995).
22.
Of particular concern were medical findings that pregnancy and childbirth allegedly could alter a woman’s psychological state. In 1902 the Norwegian Journal of Midwifery reported on the findings of an English doctor who discovered that 7.5% of insane women had become that way because of pregnancy or breastfeeding. He advised that these women should be kept in asylums for six weeks, at which point the women would return to a normal state. Brandt also mentioned that parturient women were in danger of suffering psychologically from giving birth.
23.
Kristian Brandt, Lærebok for jordmødre (Oslo : Aschehoug, 1913), 1, 191.
24.
Judith Leavitt, Brought to Bed: Childbearing in America, 1750–1950 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986).
25.
Tora Korsvold, Sykehusfødselen tar form: med en nærstudie av E.C. Dahls stiftelse (Oslo : Abstrakt Forlag, 2001), 98.
26.
Some of this is related to the statistics gathered by Nicolai Rygg.
27.
Blom, “Den haarde dyst,” 107.
28.
Indstilling S. No. 171, (1896).
29.
MS 4 2416:III Morstrygd 2, “Om sykeforsikringsloven” Norwegian National Library, Katti Anker Møller’s archive.
30.
Norsk kvinnesaksforening , Aarsberetning, November 30, 1903; Nylænde , February 1, 1909, 37.
31.
Dagny Bang, “Fabriktilsynsloven: Saerlove for kvinder,” Nylænde , March 15, 1909, 83.
32.
Stortingsforhandlinger 1907, Odelstingstinget, 6. mai 1907.
33.
Lars Olsen Sæbø (Arbeiderparti) mentioned that he would also like midwives included but understood that this would be impossible to pass in 1909. Forhandlinger i Odelstinget, August 20, 1909, 1365.
34.
Forhandlinger i Odelstinget, August 20, 1909, 1365.
35.
Stortingsforhandlinger, Indstilling O. IX, (1909). “Forslag til lov om sykeforsikring av sykeforsikringskomite, 1907,” 39.
36.
Marian van der Klein, “The State, the Women’s Movement and Maternity Insurance, 1900–1930: A Dutch Maternalism?” in Maternalism Reconsidered: Motherhood, Welfare and Social Policy in the Twentieth Century, eds. Marian van der Klein, Rebecca Jo Plant, Nichole Sanders, and Lori R. Weintrob (New York: Berghahn Books, 2012), 54; van der Klein, “Risks of Labour,” 98.
37.
Stortingsforhandlinger, Indstilling O. IX, (1909). “Forslag til lov om sykeforsikring av sykeforsikringskomite, 1907,” 39.
38.
Ot. Prp. nr. 19, 1909, 27.
39.
Stortingsforhandlinger 1909, Forhandlinger i Odelstinget (nr. 80), “Fabriktilsynsloven, §28,” 632–634.
40.
Stortingsforhandlinger 1909, “Fabriktilsynsloven,” 633.
41.
Stortingsforhandlinger 1909, Forhandlinger i Odelstinget, “Fabriktilsynsloven,” 634.
42.
Rygg , “Om børn, fødte udenfor ægteskab,” 32.
43.
Stortingsforhandlinger 1909, Forhandlinger i Odelstinget, August 20, 1909, 1365.
44.
At this time the national health insurance largely only affected women employed in factories and domestic service. Other industries would slowly be covered by this legislation during the 1930s.
45.
The vast majority of these women came from the two middle income classes covered through the obligatory insurance, making between 300 and 900 kroner a year. Marius Ormestad, “Kristiania Health Insurance Fund Report on ‘Mother Insurance,” August 29, 1913, Forhandlinger med legene 1915/1916, Oslo Trygdekontor, Statsarkivet i Oslo.
46.
“Utgifter per medlem og procentvis i 1916, 1915, 1914, 1913,” Oversikt over kassens stilling, Oslo Trygdekontor, Statsarkivet i Oslo.
47.
Katti Anker Møller, “Om sykeforsikringsloven,” MS 4 2416:III Morstrygd 2, Håndskriftsamlingen, Nasjonalbiblioteket.
48.
Katti Anker Møller, “Om sykeforsikringsloven (Utvidet sykeforsikring, fri jordmorhjelp),” MS 4 2416:III, Håndskriftsamlingen, Nasjonalbiblioteket.
49.
Katti Anker Møller, “Om sykeforsikringsloven,” MS 4 2416:III Morstrygd 2, Håndskriftsamlingen, Nasjonalbiblioteket.
50.
Norske kvinners nasjonalråd to Katti Anker Møller, September 10, 1913, Katti Anker Møllers archive, MS 4 2416: III, Mødreforsikring, Morstrygd 3, “Udkast til lovbestemmelser om m;dreforsikring,” Håndskriftsamlingen, Nasjonalbibliotekt.
51.
Johan Castberg to Katti Anker Møller , February 15, 1912. “Om sykeforsikringsloven,” MS 4 2416:III Morstrygd 2, Håndskriftsamlingen, Nasjonalbiblioteket.
52.
Johan Castberg to Katti Anker Møller, February, 1912 and February 15, 1912, “Om sykeforsikringsloven,” MS 4 2416:III Morstrygd 2, Håndskriftsamlingen, Nasjonalbiblioteket.
53.
Johan Castberg to Katti Anker Møller, February 15, 1912, June 13, 1913 “Om sykeforsikringsloven,” MS 4 2416:III Morstrygd 2, Håndskriftsamlingen, Nasjonalbiblioteket.
54.
Johan Castberg to Katti Anker Møller, February 15, 1912.
55.
“Arbeiderdemokratenes program: Sociale opgaver,” Partidokumentarkivet, 1912, From Norsk sammfunnsvitenskapelig datatjeneste, http://www.nsd.uib.no/polsys/data/parti/partidokumentarkivet/?q=Arbeiderdemokratenes%20program%20&rows=100&fq=&sortresult=aarstallstigende, accessed February 12, 2013.
56.
Ot. Prp. Nr 35 1913, additions to the health insurance law of 1909 with additional law of April 1911, 24.
57.
Katti Anker Møller, “Mødreforsikring,” MS 4 2416:III, Mødreforsikring, Morstrygd 2, Håndskriftsamlingen, Nasjonalbiblioteket.
58.
Forslag om Moderskapsforsikring 1913, Syketrygd: lover, Handels og industridepartement, Sosialkontoret D, Riksarkivet.
59.
This may have been arranged by Dr. Axel Johannessen who spoke to the Minister of Justice, Fredrik Stang, about the maternity insurance on Møller’s behalf in 1912. Axel Johannessen to Katti Anker Møller, 1912, MS 4 2416:III, Mødreforsikring, Morstrygd 3, Håndskriftsamlingen, Nasjonalbiblioteket.
60.
Ot. Prp. Nr 35 1913, additions to the health insurance law of 1909 with additional law of April 1911, 24.
61.
Ot. Prp. Nr 35 1913, 24.
62.
According to the 1909 law, premiums were paid 6/10 by the mandatory member, 1/10 by the employer, 1/10 municipality and 2/10 by the state. For voluntary members: 7/10 by the voluntary member, 1/10 municipality, 2/10 state.
63.
Ormestad , “Moderforsikring,” September 11, 1913, Forhandlinger med legene 1915/1916, Oslo Tygdekontor, bidrag til mødrehygienekontorets drift 1931–1932, Statsarkivet i Oslo .
64.
Ibid.
65.
Letter to Medicinaldirektøren, October 2, 1913, Mødreforsikring 143, folder 4, 1913, Oslo Trygdekontor, S1913/143 Mødreforsikring, Statsarkivet i Oslo .
66.
“Om sykeforsikringsloven,” Sykeforsikringsbladet , March 1914, 38.
67.
Morgenbladet nr 127 quote from Dr. Lund: “Mødreforsikring er ingen forsikringer” in “Om sykeforsikringsloven” Sykeforsikringsbladet , March 1914, 38. At the national meeting this proposal was accepted with a vote of 37 to 3. “Beretning fra Kredssykekassernes landsforenings 2. landsmøte,” Statsarkivet i Oslo , 7.
68.
“Mødreforsikringen,” Kvinden, August 1, 1915.
69.
She noted that such was the case in other countries, such as Germany, that had already passed maternity legislation. Katti Anker Møller, “Om sykeforsikringsloven,” (undated speech) MS 4 2416:III Morstrygd 2.
70.
Kristian Brandt to Katti Anker Møller, July 10, 1913, “Om sykeforsikringsloven,” MS 4 2416:III Morstrygd 2.
71.
Johan Castberg to Katti Anker Møller, July 16, 1913, “Om sykeforsikringsloven,” MS 4 2416:III Morstrygd 2.
72.
Axel Johannessen to Katti Anker Møller, March 1, 1913, MS 4 2416: III, Mødreforsikring, Morstrygd 3, Håndskriftsamlingen, Nasjonalbiblioteket.
73.
“Romdals amts jordmorforening,” Tidsskrift for jordmødre , November 1, 1913, 132.
74.
Castberg to Møller , July 16, 1913 and August 28, 1913, MS 4 2416: III, Mødreforsikring, Morstrygd 3, “Udkast til lovbestemmelser om mødreforsikring.”
75.
Ot. Prp. Nr. 1, changes to the health insurance law 1914, 6.
76.
Ibid., 25.
77.
Stortingsforhandlinger 1914, indstillinger og beslutninger B. Inst. O III, 48.
78.
Ot. Prp. Nr. 1, Appendix 5, “Skrivelse til Socialdepartementet av 5te september 1913 fra distriktsjormoren I Aarstad pr. Bergen,” 69.
79.
Ot. Prp. Nr. 1, changes to the health insurance law 1914, 9.
80.
Forhandlinger i Odelstinget, nr. 28, “Sykeforsikringsloven §16,” 1914, 216.
81.
Ibid., 216–217.
82.
Ibid., 220.
83.
Ot. Prp. Nr. 1, changes to the health insurance law 1914, 12–13.
84.
Ibid., 9.
85.
Forhandlinger i Odelstinget, nr. 28, “Sykeforsikringsloven §16,” 1914, 220.
86.
Ibid., 236.
87.
As a social democrat, Foshaug wanted maternity insurance to encompass all birthing women, not just those in the lowest social classes. Forhandlinger i Odelstinget, nr. 28, “Sykeforsikringsloven §16,” 1914, 220.
88.
Ibid., 221.
89.
“Mødreforsikringen,” Dagbladet , October 16, 1913.
90.
Stortingsforhandlinger 1914, indstillinger og beslutninger B. Inst. O III, 42.
91.
The list started was topped by Russia (45 births per 1000 inhabitants), while Norway was listed as having just over 26 births per 1000 inhabitants.
92.
Forhandlinger i Odelstinget, nr. 28, “Sykeforsikringsloven §16,” 1914, 222, 244.
93.
Forhandlinger i Odelstinget, nr. 166, “Sykeforsikringsloven §16,” 1915, 1321–1322.
94.
Harry Hendrick, Child Welfare: Historical Dimensions, Contemporary Debates (Bristol: The Policy Press, 2003), 64. For a detailed discussion of the British and French cases, see also: Susan R. Grayzel, Women’s Identities at War: Gender, Motherhood, and Politics in Britain and France During the First World War (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1999).
95.
Forhandlinger i Odelstinget, nr. 28, “Sykeforsikringsloven §16,” 1914, 249.
96.
Forhandlinger i Odelstinget, nr. 166, “Sykeforsikringsloven §16,” 1915, 1319.
97.
Forhandlinger i Odelstinget, nr. 28, “Sykeforsikringsloven §16,” 1914, 223.
98.
Forhandlinger i Odelstinget 1914, 245.
99.
Ibid., 244.
100.
He was a representative for Ytre Sogn, which is north of Bergen.
101.
Forhandlinger i Odelstinget 1914, 227–228.
102.
Forhandlinger i Odelstinget, nr. 28, “Sykeforsikringsloven §16,” 1914, 216–240.
103.
Forhandlinger i Odelstinget 1914, 269–270.
104.
Ibid., 242–243.
105.
Ibid., 249–250.
106.
The measure passed overwhelmingly in Odelstinget with 71 to 18 votes in June 1914, but the legislative debate was further delayed and only barely passed again in July 1915 with 45 to 40 votes. This discrepancy was most likely caused because WWI broke out in between the voting and parliamentarians were concerned about the effects WWI might have on the Norwegian economy.
107.
Forhandlinger i Odelstinget 1914, 274.
108.
Ibid., 231.
109.
Forhandlinger i Odelstinget 1915, Lov om sykeforsikring, 1326.
110.
Ibid., 1317.
111.
This restrictive aspect of the law was not debated in parliament. “Lov om sykeforsikring,” Norsk lovtidende 1915, 643–645.

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Luther College, Decorah, IA, USA
Anna M. Peterson

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Peterson, A.M. (2018). “For the Health of the People:” Public Health and the Compensation of Maternity Leave in the 1910s. In: Maternity Policy and the Making of the Norwegian Welfare State, 1880-1940. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75481-9_3

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75481-9_3
Published: 14 June 2018
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