Give children in poverty the same respect as retirees

New Zealand has an opportunity to tackle its high levels of child poverty by prioritising the needs of children just as it has done for the elderly, two prominent academics say.

Jonathan Boston, Professor of Public Policy at Victoria University of Wellington and Simon Chapple, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Otago have written a new short book that builds on their highly acclaimed work, Child Poverty in New Zealand, published last year.

The new book, which is part of the BWB Texts series, highlights the contrast between the way New Zealand society views poverty among the elderly compared to vulnerable children.

Figures show the rise in hardship during the financial crisis and recession (from 2007-2012) was much more pronounced for children than for retired New Zealanders and for most other groups of New Zealanders.

By 2013, only 7 per cent of older New Zealanders were poor (using a 60 per cent measure of the median income, after housing costs) compared with 22 per cent of children.

Simon Chapple said: “No matter what measure you take – whether access to income or measures of material hardship – children are significantly worse off in New Zealand.

“Older New Zealanders have been well provided for. More than two decades ago, political parties banded together to agree on the universal provision of superannuation. Combined with higher rates of home-ownership, those interventions have been extremely effective in keeping poverty rates lower for older New Zealanders.”

Jonathan Boston said: “New Zealand can realistically aspire to be world-leading in addressing child poverty. At the moment we fall behind a number of other OECD countries. The forthcoming budget in May provides a welcome opportunity to make meaningful progress.

“We achieved ambitious outcomes for retirees a generation ago. Surely our children deserve the same. We have an opportunity to secure rates of child poverty and material hardship that are among the lowest in the developed world by setting explicit targets for reducing child poverty that are ambitious yet credible.

“If all children are to participate in, and belong to, New Zealand society we also need to change the basic structure of welfare benefits and tax credits so they are adjusted regularly to reflect not only changes in prices but also movements in wages. This is what already happens for elderly people – and it is working.”

In addition, Jonathan Boston said we need to change the way we are supporting our youngest citizens.

“There is a strong case to focus support on children under the age of 5 years – giving them better access to social assistance and improving support for parents so they can provide the intensive parenting we know is so vital.

“Once the youngest child in a family gets to a certain age the emphasis should shift to getting parents into employment. There is a strong case for Government to provide a policy framework that encourages and properly supports parents back into the workforce once the youngest child is beyond a certain age.”

Jonathan Boston and Simon Chapple are available for interviews

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