Child Poverty In New Zealand

In light of TV 3′s Documentary Inside Child Poverty screened tonight:

I always thought that child poverty in NZ was a bit of farce but over the last few years I have come to realise, as with most things in life, it is not as black and white as it first appears. I have had to step out of my easy middle class sheltered life and take a closer look at what is happening in NZ. For example, recent statistics put the number of children living below the poverty line (as defined for NZ) at a whooping 22%! And this is having a huge impact on members of our society as being born in a low socio-economic situation can affect a child’s cognitive ability, health outcomes, employment and criminal behaviour later in life, and there is relationship between child abuse and poverty.

Now before I continue I think it is important here to comment that I think we have to be careful that we don’t blanket all families who are considered poor to be abusers of children and that all children growing up in these families are experiencing horrific upbringings and that children from wealthy families are all happy and dandy as that would be a serious misunderstanding. Absolutely not, being loved, supported and given self worth has no attachment to monetary value. Here I think we have a problem with terminology as the word poverty doesn’t sum up what we are actually talking about – I think a better term to use here is that NZ has an issue with child security which can be or is closely related to a lack of money in a number of cases. As we know it is not so much poverty in itself as much as it the issues that often go hand in hand with poverty creating depressing generational cycles.

Now I realise that many people will roll their eyes at the statistics about this issue and say well compared to the rest of the world we are doing fine, you don’t see people living in the streets here (well that all depends on where exactly you are looking for them), you don’t have to be poor if you don’t want to, people are just lazy and should get off the dole and find a job. Hmm yeah great and very helpful attitude to have. I know my mother is a great fan of the argument that it is all about choices and personal responsibility, you know how it goes “it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from everyone has choices and you can choose to make something of yourself or not…I know somebody who had nothing and is so successful now.” Well that is lovely but for every one person that manages to “make it” how many more are left behind. It’s always easier to blame the vulnerable rather than step back and make active change. Not everyone has the same oppourtunites if they are not given the knowledge and skills to access them, or feel excluded from society because of their financial position or family; two things a child has no control over.

I do agree in some aspects with the arguments that the child poverty we are talking about is not comparable to the child security issues and poverty facing children in developing countries. Having seen this first hand I couldn’t agree more and to be fair New Zealand has been criticised for its poverty rates among the OECD countries (basically the wealthier or developed countries of the world). However, this does not take away from the fact the we can always strive to do better for the future generations of New Zealand for a failure of one child is a failure for all, not just now but in also in the future. Not one of us lives on an island isolated from those in society around us we have to see ourselves as one unit, one community in which we all have a role to play. One has to clean up their own backyard before they go pointing the finger at others and this is why we cannot turn a blind eye to what is happening in the green out the back. The longer we leave it the worst it will become with widening chasms between social groups becoming harder and harder to bridge. If people feel excluded from society and have no investment in it then they will act out against it. There is no personal sense of commitment to living within the acceptable boundaries of society and there is evidence that often children experiencing poverty feel excluded. Research shows that children feel the full forces of their position in society at school when they cannot afford to participate in school trips, having no stationary, incorrect uniforms and so forth. Exclusion had huge impacts on any individual.

It is important we hold our governments responsible for the policies they make that directly or indirectly violate the security and development of our nation’s children. The current situation facing many NZ families is the direct result of policies in the late 80s and 1990s. Income inequality and poverty rates in New Zealand have grown since this period as governments have liberalised New Zealand’s markets and cut back social services. Since then low incomes have failed to rise and meet the higher costs of living (which continue to increase) and over the last couple decades we have seen growing gaps between incomes in NZ. The richer are getting richer and the poor and getting poorer something that is very likely to continue in the current political environment. A very dangerous situation for any society and democracy.

It is vital we think on a political level about this, however we must also take responsibility ourselves as we are the participants that make society work. We are the ones with the power to change our communities. It is so easy to criticise and comment than be an agent of change but if we are serious about making sure every child in New Zealand has access to fair opportunities then we all have a responsibility to work within our communities to see these changes occur. So what can you do? Well it really needs to be a two way approach one on a community level and one on a political level to make systematic changes to the way we organise our society and economy.

At the community level
Get involved with your children’s school and see if you can start fund-raising to create a pool fund from which all children can have the opportunity to be involved in all aspects of school life (this of course needs to be carried out with discretion to protect children from embarrassment etc)
See if you can support the Red Cross or other such organisations that do breakfast in schools
Know who is living in your community and make sure it is an inclusive community
If you are thinking of sending your children to a private school reconsider as it is not a true reflection of society and further creates further inequality. That money could be better invested in the education of all through donations to public schools
Support NGOs who are working with those who are vulnerable in society
Get involved with volunteer work with vulnerable groups such a refugee communities you will learn so much and help create a more inclusive NZ
Start thinking about how we can change small things like making homes in NZ warmer, making sure every child has a uniform and enough food each day
Think about becoming foster parents
Don’t assume you know what people need make sure you ask and listen before you act

At a political level

With the upcoming election make sure you get on-line and read different parties policies, go to meeting with politicians as they campaign and ask what they are going to do to address child security issues and growing income gaps in NZ. You can also write to Ministers asking for an update on what is happening in this area – Minister of Social Development, Minister of Finance, Minister of Education etc. See http://www.cpag.org.nz/how-to-help/ for more information.

Political Parties policies

The Green Party – http://www.greens.org.nz/endchildpoverty
The Maori Party – http://www.maoriparty.org/index.php?pag=cms&id=130&p=election-policy.html
The National Party – http://www.national.org.nz/children.aspx
The Labour Party – http://www.ownourfuture.co.nz/lifting-achievement-school
The ACT Party – http://www.act.org.nz/families-at-risk-policy