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Child poverty in New Zealand is unacceptably and unnecessarily high and it can be reduced, and it ought to be according to Professor Jonathan Boston. “Doing so would constitute a great investment in all our futures. But it will require public support, sensible policies, sustained effort and political will.”
Boston says there are three myths about Child Poverty in New Zealand:
Myth 1: There is little or no child poverty in New Zealand.
Myth 2: Children are poor and deprived mainly because their parents are bad, mad, foolish or indifferent. In other words, children are going to school hungry, have worn-out clothes and shoes, and live in cold houses because of poor, incompetent parenting. Every family has enough income, it is claimed. The problem is simply that some people don’t know how to live within their means.
Myth 3: We cannot reduce child poverty simply by increasing the incomes of poor families. Throwing more money at the problem, it is argued, doesn’t work. For instance, it is claimed that the additional funding for low-income families provided via the Working for Families package, introduced seven years ago, has not reduced poverty.
Boston is professor of public policy at Victoria University and co-chair, together with Dr Tracey McIntosh, of the University of Auckland, of the Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty, established by the Children’s Commissioner.
Over the past seven months the committee as been assessing the best available international and domestic evidence on how to reduce child poverty and mitigate its effects.
The Committee has also prepared 20 Working Papers on a multiplicity of policy issues. These are available on the website of the Children’s Commissioner.
A Unicef report ranks New Zealand 20th out of 35 countries for child poverty.
Source
- The New Zealand Herald
- Image: TV3
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- Unicef Report on Child Poverty
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- Brief Statistics on Child Poverty in New Zealand
- Bay kids' heartbreaking poverty
- A sobering report. 270,000 New Zealand children live in poverty
News category: New Zealand, Top Story.
