Action on Child Poverty – Is It Credible Enough?

Media release. Methodist Public issues

Betsan Martin

Methodist Public Issues heartily congratulates the government for introducing Wellbeing as a measure for ‘success’. Using measures for social, environmental, economic and cultural wellbeing as a basis for budget allocations for the 2018-2019 budget round places New Zealand policy well within the sustainability agenda. This takes us beyond GDP as the only official measure of economic activity.

The Prime Minister has made it clear that her government is committed to systemic change and wants to remedy a ‘failed system’ – of which the high rate of imprisonment, which is disproportionately Māori, and child poverty and dirty rivers are symptoms.

We have issue with the Child Poverty Reduction targets. The goals are laudable and long awaited. The ten year goal has the risk of very slow action on benefits to children as this is a more-than-three term aspiration.

The goals over 10 years are designed more or less to halve child poverty. Halving poverty in ten years does not seem so ambitious.

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/historic-commitment-reduce-child-poverty

We hope that the child poverty reduction goals for 3 years are credible. Paula Bennett today cited National’s poverty reduction as more solid – reducing hardship by 85,000 – according to the figures.

The Prime Minister proposes clarifying shorter term targets during the select committee process for the Child Poverty and Eradication Bill. It is true that child poverty has been a long time building, and it will take time to fix. It has been more that it has taken a long time for Government to recognize it. Delay in turning it around means growing up in New Zealand continues to be risky for a high number of our children.

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