Social Investment Approach Welcomed

Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand welcomes Minister Upston’s Child and Youth Strategy and the increased Social Investment focus on children.

The government places significant emphasis on achieving strong educational outcomes in primary schools. However, these outcomes are less likely when children lack access to quality early childhood education (ECE) or experience a smooth transition into school," says Kathy Wolfe, Chief Executive of Te Rito Maioha.

“There is robust research that demonstrates that a child’s education journey starts at 0, not at 5, which is why we need our government to be investing in quality ECE from the outset and supporting children’s education from 0-5. This includes learning support and ensuring a fully qualified teacher workforce.

“We also know that ECE plays a significant role in enhancing cognitive, social, and behavioural outcomes. ECE also increases the ability for tamariki to learn, and there is a significant body of research that backs this up”.

“It is pleasing to see the government recognise that ‘supporting children and their families and whānau in the first 2,000 days’ is of vital importance and has been enshrined as one of the government’s three priorities within the new Youth Strategy. Those first 2,000 days cover the period from conception to entering primary school, and it is in this phase of a child’s life, that the foundations of life-long learning and development are established.”

“That is why we believe it is so important to reduce any barriers to entry so parents can access affordable and quality ECE,” says Mrs Wolfe”

“The government has already implemented Family Boost which is a good start and aimed at assisting low to middle-income families to access ECE. But more needs to be done, as the rebate system is proving too difficult for many parents to access as indicated by the low adoption rates of some 39,200 families, which is 60,000 fewer families than Minister Willis indicated were eligible.”

“The government has also implemented a Regulation Review which should remove unhelpful red tape and has the potential to assist in reducing the rates at which fees have been rising, and in 2025 they’re implementing a food programme in targeted ECE services. These are positive actions, but we need to do more to increase participation rates, invest properly and to ensure ECE remains high-quality,” says Mrs Wolfe.

Participating in ECE benefits parents, and in turn tamariki, by:

• supporting peer-to-peer modelling of good parenting that can lead to improved parenting and can reduce child abuse.
• connecting vulnerable families to social services, linking them into health, housing and income support services as appropriate.
• developing their social and community networks.
• more time to participate in paid employment.

“The research is clear, early investments shape the future, while later investments often focus on addressing gaps from missed earlier opportunities.”

“Economic evaluations consistently show that the benefits of public investment in ECE outweigh the costs. Investing in ECE leads to positive outcomes such as increased maternal employment, higher lifetime earnings, reduced need for special education services, lower crime rates, and decreased reliance on social services. These improvements have a broader and longer-term economic impact,” says Mrs Wolfe.

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