Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Much Work Still Needed To Lift Kiwi Families Out Of Poverty Bearing Brunt Of Rising Cost Of Living: Save The Children

Today's launch of the Child Poverty Monitor 2022 reaffirms that much work is still needed to lift children out of poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand, with Save the Children fearing the current cost of living crisis and rising inflation will add pressure to already vulnerable families.

Save the Children’s Advocacy and Research Director Jacqui Southey says that while it is positive to see some progress on reducing child poverty overall following Government efforts to lift benefit levels, reduce transport costs and support families to pay for essentials such as household energy, the current cost of living crisis, coupled with Reserve Bank measures to curb inflation, is likely to unfairly impact low and middle-income families even more.

"The sad reality is that low-income families can’t be squeezed any harder to cut spending," says Ms Southey.

"Instead, they will have to make sacrifices on necessities: nutritious food versus health care, rent or mortgage payments versus energy costs.

"Poverty is not felt equally, with tamariki Māori, Pasifika, and disabled children amongst those families more likely to bear the brunt of too-low incomes, especially when housing costs are taken into consideration.

"Bringing about the end of child poverty means we need to look for fairer ways to share incomes and costs, such as government policies that support income adequacy for disabled whānau. Disparities that contribute to enduring rates of poverty for disabled children and their whānau must be addressed.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

"Expecting whānau on too low incomes to work their way out of poverty is unrealistic. Research released by the Ministry for Social Development earlier this year found that 75% of parents are in some form of paid work, therefore policies to ease the burden of living costs are essential.

"As we head toward next year’s Election, we urge all political parties to support sustained investment in policies that will reduce economic hardship for families, particularly for those on the lowest incomes."

Other areas that concern Save the Children include low and falling rates of immunisations for preventable and serious childhood illnesses such as measles, high and inequitable rates of Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI) for pepi Māori and Pasifika infants, and the continued impact of the housing crisis with too many children living in unaffordable or precarious housing situations.

These issues were highlighted in Save the Children’s thematic report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, released earlier this year.

 

About Save the Children NZ:

Save the Children works in 120 countries across the world. The organisation responds to emergencies and works with children and their communities to ensure they survive, learn and are protected.

Save the Children NZ currently supports international programmes in Fiji, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands. Areas of work include child protection, education and literacy, disaster risk reduction, and alleviating child poverty.

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On National’s Fantasy Trip To La La Landlord Land


How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is:
(A) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was touting to voters last year has now blown out to $2.9 billion. (That’s a 38% size error in the calculations.)
(B) unable to provide assurance that this handout won’t simply be pocketed by landlords
(C) unable to explain why Treasury (in research as recent as August 2023) wasn’t citing the loss of interest deductibility as a prime factor driving up rents.
More than anything, the Great Landlords Handout undermines the government’s alarmist talk about the state of the country’s books...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.