"Why then are we not as caring as a nation when it comes to our own children and young people?" asks Owen Glen. "When I look at the appalling statistics on child abuse and neglect, youth unemployment, crime and suicide I must agree with Dame Anne Salmond when she wrote in the Herald that ‘more than a change of government, what is needed is a change of heart".

How on earth did we reach the point where we are now? First there is our record on child abuse. It is a national disgrace. The statistics show why:

• New Zealand has the fifth-highest rate of child abuse in the OECD (and the second-highest rate of teen pregnancies after the US).
• A child dies of child abuse every five weeks (most are under 5; the largest group is less than a year old).
• 150,757 notifications of child abuse were made to the Child, Youth and Family Services over the year ending June 2011
• Every five days a child under 2 is admitted to hospital with preventable injuries.
• Over one in four adults has experienced childhood trauma or abuse, family violence or sexual assault.

Owen Glenn is a businessman and philanthropist and an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Image: Stuff.co.nz

The yearly Children's Social Health Monitor, released on Monday, examines the effects of the economic downturn on children.

Researchers say children with preventable illnesses are being left untreated and, at times, suffering permanent health damage because doctors' fees are too high for many families. Low income and beneficiary families feeling the pinch were being forced to cut back on essentials such as heating, fruit and vegetables, and visits to the doctor.

There are stark differences in the levels of ill-health, abuse and neglect for different groups of children, according to the monitor, which shows children reliant on beneficiaries are missing out on the basics.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: The Press

New Zealand has one of the lowest rates of spending on children in the OECD, at $3 billion dollars annually.

This information is contained in a report, "1000 days to get it right for every child. The effectiveness of public investment in New Zealand children", commissioned by Every Child Counts

The report says outcomes in areas such as health and education for New Zealand children are almost twice as bad as those for children in Denmark, the country with the highest ranking.

It suggests that the Government create programmes focusing on the first 1000 days of a child's life - the period that experts say is the most important for children's development.

Every Child Counts is a coalition of organisations and individuals led by Barnardos, Plunket, Unicef, Save the Children and Te Kahui Mana Ririki.

Its author of the report is Infometrics economist David Grimmond

Source

Stuff.co.nz