Education Solution to Poverty

A report saying that 22 percent of New Zealand children are living in unacceptable poverty still highlights the path the Labour Government is on is the right one.

“But there is still a lot to do,” says Labour Candidate for Te Tai Tokerau Kelvin Davis.

“Any poverty is unacceptable. As a Principal and Teacher for twenty years I saw first hand the effects poverty had on children. Children who live in poverty have greater physical, emotional and learning problems.”

“Unfortunately those most in need were our Maori children. One way to lift Maori children out of poverty is to raise their educational achievement. If the next generation of Maori parents work in high-skilled, stable employment poverty would cease to be an issue for Maori.

I look forward to the day when as a Member of Parliament I can join the fight against child poverty, by influencing educational policy based on what I know works in education,” says Davis.

“It is also interesting that the solutions described in the report, including Working for Families and income-related housing, reflect the policies this Labour Government has implemented over the last nine years.

Without doubt the best form of social security is a job. Unemployment has been under 4 percent for almost four years. That in itself has had an incredible impact on reducing poverty. I accept there is still a lot more to be done and I look forward to being able to contribute at the highest level in the fight to eliminate poverty.”

“Unfortunately the opposition’s strategy to reduce poverty is to increase support for the rich. The wealth just doesn’t trickle down to those needing it most. We only need to remember how it was in the nineties to know the opposition’s solutions are a return to their failed past.” Davis says. “A significant number of children are still paying the price of reforms of the 1980s and 1990s when child poverty and economic inequality rose in New Zealand more than in any other country in the OECD.”

“Over the last nine years Labour has lifted 130,000 children out of poverty through tax relief, paid parental leave, cheaper doctors’ fees, raising the minimum wage and a reduction in unemployment. We just know there is more to do. Raising educational achievement is one way forward where I can contribute.”

ENDS

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