Report must be final wakeup call on poverty

green-party

Tue Dec 02 2014 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

Report must be final wakeup call on poverty

Tuesday, 2 December 2014, 8:57 am
Press Release: Green Party

A report showing one in six children are going without basics like fresh food and warm clothing must be the final call to action on child poverty for John Key and his Government, the Green Party said today.

“The Child Poverty Monitor, produced by the Children’s Commissioner and Otago University, confirms findings that more than 100,000 kiwi kids are going without the basic necessities, and life’s not getting better despite the end of the Global Financial Crisis,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said.

“The report confirms that a quarter of New Zealand children are living in income poverty and nearly a fifth are going without the basics like fresh food and warm clothes. Most people in New Zealand would be horrified by those findings.

“This latest report must be the National Government’s final call to action. Small tweaks are not good enough for the vast number of kiwi kids who are missing out. Parents can’t make food and clothing for their kids appear out of thin air.

“If National is serious about making life better for children in poverty it needs to raise incomes to ensure families earn enough for kids to thrive.

“It’s no surprise that the report found that while GDP had increased over the past decades, real wages had increased very little over the same time.

“It’s time for John Key to stop pretending that income doesn’t matter. Children will continue to go without if their parents are earning enough for them to thrive. It’s not rocket science.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

“A small decrease in the less severe poverty measure in 2013 compared with 2012 was expected as a natural bounce back post-economic crisis.

“It’s the numbers of children in severe poverty, who stay poor for years, and who go without the basics that are not changing.

“Nearly half of children in the most deprived areas are living in overcrowded houses, the report found. These kids are six times as likely as those from wealthier homes to get sick from a condition associated with low income, like asthma.

“John Key needs to accept that these children need their parents to earn more money so they can afford fresh food, and warm dry housing,” Mrs Turei said.

ends

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}

Using Scoop for work?

Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.

Join Pro Individual Find out more

Find more from Green Party on InfoPages.