15 December 2015

Time for children's best interests to guide Government policy

The Child Poverty Monitor released today confirms that a "hands-off" approach to income policies leaves children vulnerable to poverty and hardship. UNICEF New Zealand is urging the Government to take concerted and coordinated actions to ensure children have an adequate standard of living, with a 'best interests' test to ensure that policy is upholding children’s rights.

“For years now Governments have ignored the prevalence of child poverty as if they are powerless to do anything about it. New Zealanders should be clear: Governments can make a difference by prioritsing children for additional investment so that all Kiwi kids have an adequate standard of living," said UNICEF NZ National Advocacy Manager, Deborah Morris-Travers.

"The Prime Minister acknowledged the problem when he said after the 2014 election that child poverty would be a priority for this term of Parliament. So far, the Government has done nothing to materially improve the incomes of the poorest families. This is unacceptable given the clear evidence of the need for Government action.

"UNICEF NZ is calling for policy - including current welfare settings - to be rigorously assessed against children's best interests. The Government should have policy processes that ensure children's standard of living supports their development and achieves the highest attainable standard of health. Anything less is a breach of children's rights but also produces significant costs to families and to our society.

The Child Poverty Monitor shows very clearly that Government policy is not doing enough to ensure children have an adequate standard of living - with 29 percent (305,000) of children living in income poverty, with an increase in children living in severe poverty - from 5 percent in 2014 to 9 percent in 2015.

Ms Morris-Travers added, "Leaving families struggling on inadequate incomes means large numbers of children are missing out on basic items needed for their health and wellbeing, such as fruit, vegetables, meat, milk and warm housing. Families struggling to meet their children's needs often become isolated from their communities, living transient lives, and missing out on basic experiences that enable children's education, such as early childhood education, books, computers, school trips and swimming lessons.

"UNICEF NZ has written an Open Letter to the Ministerial Committee on Poverty calling for urgent action to reduce poverty - with a focus on children living in sole parent homes reliant on welfare benefits. 70 percent of the 148,000 children in material hardship are in sole parent homes reliant on benefits. These children live in deeper poverty than others. Improving the incomes and support for these families will help to break cycles of disadvantage and ensure a brighter future for all of us," concluded Ms Morris-Travers.

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