PRESS RELEASE: Child Abuse Report Misses Critical Issue

The report on the factors associated with child abuse issued today by the Children’s Commissioner, omits proper mention of one of the most serious factors – namely welfare dependency, says Dr Muriel Newman of the New Zealand Centre for Political Research.

“The family circumstances of abused children including whether or not they are dependent on welfare, has always been regarded as a critical risk factor for children. Its omission in this report is a woeful mistake, as policy responses that don’t take this into account are likely to fail the very children they are meant to be protecting”.

“Since it wasn’t politically correct to discuss the critical problems associated with long term welfare dependency under the Labour Government, one can only assume that the former Children’s Commissioner who commissioned this report did not want these matters investigated. Accordingly, I would urge the new Children’s Commissioner to examine the effects of long term benefit dependency on child welfare so that future policy development is based on sound research”, Dr Newman said.

ENDS

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