Income Equality Aotearoa New Zealand Inc. Closing the Gap

14th February 2016.

Kids suffer consequences of inequality

“It must be pretty embarrassing to be a National MP,” says Peter Malcolm of income equality advocacy group Closing the Gap.

“When report after report comes out slamming New Zealand’s growing income inequality and pointing out the very real social consequences that inequality has for all kiwis, you’d think that the government would do something about it.”

The latest embarrassing finding for the government, which continues to deny poverty in New Zealand, is that children from poor families don’t do as well as others at school.

An OECD report shows that kids from poor families are six times more likely to do badly at maths than those from well off families. It found that low socio economic status was likely the largest risk factor for below average academic performance.

“Such results threaten the believers in the current government’s neo liberal economic model,” says Malcolm. “Those people will tell you until they are blue in the face that it’s all about individual effort. If poor kids apply themselves they can learn just as well as rich kids.

“That’s a load of rubbish. There might be the odd exceptional kid who can do well despite their economic situation, but the majority are behind the eight ball. Even if they attend a great school and have a good teacher, a lack of food, healthcare and money to participate in school activities will have an effect on a child’s ability to learn. So will lack of quality time with over-worked parents, lack of exposure to books in a household, and a stressful atmosphere at home.

“To give all our kids a fair go at education, we need to address the root causes of poverty. We need to make sure our children can be nurtured through their early years by providing households with adequate income.

“Lots of people who subscribe to the ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ motto ignore the changes that have taken place in NZ society. John Key’s own story of being raised by a solo Mum in a state house and going on to become a millionaire is touted as one such example. But the NZ that John Key grew up in doesn’t exist any more. Very few poor families have access to state housing and even with two working parents many families struggle to live.

“The divide between rich and poor in New Zealand is shameful. We used to value a fair go and egalitarianism. Now it seems we just look the other way. And National MPs should be ashamed of themselves.”

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