– The purpose of this paper is to highlight and report on women's work during and after the Christchurch earthquakes.
– The paper reports findings of some of a large number of life history interviews conducted with Christchurch women in 2012.
– Three specific sets of roles for women are identified, arising from the interviews that were undertaken. The first role is in keeping families together, meeting a range of diverse family needs and supporting all family members. The second role is in working with, and leading, post-quake services to offer disaster relief. Finally, a third role is in working in a range of ways to engage with and beautify communities and improve their lives.
– Women's work is often unseen in the post-earthquake environment. But this lack of visibility should not imply that women are not active in earthquake recovery.
– As far as the authors are aware, this is the first life history study of women undertaken to understand the impact of the earthquakes on their lives.
