Christchurch City Sets Up Povert Task Force
Ewen Coker: Poor Peoples Embassy, Christchurch, New Zealand
A task force to look into ways of relieving
poverty in Christchurch has
been set up by the
Christchurch City Council.
During a presentation by the
Poor Peoples Embassy, councillors heard
that over the
past 20 years the number of Christchurch residents
living
in poverty has increased from one in five to one
in three. That
represents over 100,000 people without
adequate income. The Embassy
asked the Council to "roll
up its sleeves and become proactive" in
finding ways to
alleviate poverty in the city.
An accompanying report
prepared by Council staff stated that "high
accommodation
costs as a proportion of limited incomes play a
critical
role in poverty and hardship in Christchurch."
The report also said that
"one of the most insidious and
destructive components of modern urban
poverty in
Christchurch is social isolation and alienation." Hardship
is
also a contributing factor to the high level of health
problems
experienced by low-income people.
A Council
policy adviser has expressed her optimism to the response
of
the councillors. She said that every councillor
attending the
presentation had agreed there was poverty
in the city. Three years ago
some would have denied the
fact.
ENDS