Voters asked to make child poverty key issue

by ROWENA OREJANA
AUCKLAND — Children’s Commissioner Dr Russell Wills has called on voters to make child poverty top of mind when pollsters ask them what they are concerned about the most.
Speaking before the Economic Inequality: Effects on Children and Families Forum held by
the Auckland Justice and Peace Commission on July 15 in Auckland, Dr Wills said it is hard for
politicians to come together on an issue unless there is popular support.
“Unless there is a very clear message from all of us that we demand that we have a plan and that we set targets and that child poverty be a key priority for whoever is in power,
it’s not going to happen,” he said.
He said the Expert Advisory Group on child poverty found that 285,000 (one in four) children in New Zealand are poor. This means their families have less than 60 per cent of their
income left after housing costs.
About 180,000 children — young people 18 and under — or 17 per cent, are in material hardship, which means they go without things New Zealanders consider essential like warm housing,
their own beds or shoes that fit.
Ten percent are in severe poverty, which means they are going without the things they need.
Child Poverty Action Group spokesperson Dr Susan St John added that the government’s response to child poverty has failed so far, particularly because social benefits are tied to
paid work.
She said Working for Families, the tax benefit meant to help children, is tied to the number of hours parents work. If the parents are on other benefits, they cannot qualify for the tax
credit.
“We see a feminisation of poverty in New Zealand.” Women lose their ability to get paid work
when they are caring for the old and the young, she said.
When they care for their families, they get disqualified for the tax credit, she said. And yet, as soon as they go to work, the unpaid labour they do for their family suddenly has
value. Women have to pay for caregivers for what they used to do for free.
“Today, in policy rhetoric, a mother is valued only for the paid work she does, not the work of procreation or nurturing the young life,” said Dr St John.
She said the most effective thing government could do to alleviate child poverty is to get rid of the requirements that parents must work a certain number of hours and not be on other benefits, like sickness benefit or student allowance.
She said there is a need to invest in health and education so children will have the opportunity to get out of poverty.

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