Poverty you can have an effect.

Poverty:

Introduction: One can spend hours and hours looking into the subject of poverty, one can speculate on the causes and reasons for poverty. Be they economic, financial or social they affect billions throughout the world and hundreds of thousands here in NZ.

The Greens and others suggest that ‘Poverty and especially Child poverty is a major issue but others disagree: They consider that poverty in real terms simply does not exist here in NZ. Below are the comments made by an unnamed reply to a blog on the issue of the greens approach to poverty, it is an interesting insight into the blindness that exists with many of our citizens and especially older white folks:

In trying to align themselves with the NZ ‘Poverty Industry’ they are doing themselves, this country and the billions of people around the world in genuine poverty a huge disservice, and making a complete mockery of the word poverty. To then try and make money for their own political purposes is hypocrisy of the highest order.

The problem in NZ is the definition of ‘poverty’ – currently this seems to be if you live in a household with less than 50% or 60% of median disposable income. This is how all these ‘magical’ figures of 270,000 children ‘living in poverty’ in NZ suddenly appear.

Even those with an elementary understanding of Statistics and Mathematics must realize that by this definition we will always have 270,000 children ‘living in poverty’. We could be the richest nation in the world, with the highest living standards (oh that's right we nearly are) – and by these definitions we would still have the same number of children ‘living in poverty’.

If you are interested in these definitions have a look at http://www.nzchildren.co.nz/child_poverty.php

Let’s have a look at a little of the detail of what ‘living in poverty’ is from this well-meaning web site:

http://www.nzchildren.co.nz/userfiles/2011_child_poverty_table1b.gif

Deprivation in this table is:
went without music or dance
involvement in sport had to be limited
unable to pay for school trip
lack of friends at a birthday party
lack of one weeks holiday away from home last year
lack of computer
lack of internet access

You see – this is deprivation and poverty in New Zealand, for which the Greens want to fleece the gullible and stupid for money to run endless political campaigns on. A problem that by definition can never go away.

This is a gross insult to the real poor in the world – children that living in developing world slums, that are coerced into forced labour at age 5 or less, sold into prostitution before puberty, are lucky to eat twice a week….the list goes on.

In NZ – I am a child in deprivation if I don’t have a computer or internet access. It surely seems to be a huge problem. [signed Ross]

But not all agreed with the above, by clearly pointing out the half-truths spouted in defence of doing nothing and pretending the problem doesn’t exist, or if it does that nothing need be done. This is typical neoliberalist propaganda at its worst. Poverty matters because it leads to various social and community upheaval that later we all [other than the wealthy] have to pay for via our taxes and reduced or overloaded social services.   

bsprout said…

Ross, I think there must be some sort of conspiracy because the Children’s Commissioner, Health professionals, University academics, mainstream television, the New Zealand Institute (supported by the Business Round table), most political parties and schools are all saying that we have a huge problem with child poverty. Yet despite this you are suggesting that they are all “pretending”. Can you please share the institutions, organisations or researches that are providing the information you are using to expose this conspiracy. I would be grateful if you could provide links like I have done below to prove that what your claim isn’t just something that you have just invented by yourself.
http://www.occ.org.nz/home/childpoverty
http://www.nzchildren.co.nz/child_poverty.php
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/7655339/Child-poverty-our-biggest-enemy
http://www.tv3.co.nz/Shows/InsideNZ/InsideChildPovertyASpecialReport.aspx
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/social-issues/news/article.cfm?c_id=87&objectid=10839028
http://www.nzinstitute.org/index.php/nzahead/measures/income_inequality/

And…

By the way, Ross, you were very selective with what you chose as some of the indicators for poverty and should have also included:
-Sharing a bed
-Continuing to wear worn out clothing and shoes
-Serious health problems
-Not being able to afford meat or fresh vegetables regularly
-having to live in a house that is difficult to keep warm and has major issues with dampness.

The Ross’s of this world obviously live very sheltered existences, technological changes have given us a new insight into poverty and its effects on health and education, housing and life in general. What technology has not done for many over forty or fifty is bring about meaningful attitude change about where the blame is laid for poverty as it now actually exists. 

Politically we can seriously consider the human ramifications of doing nothing if we continue to vote the way we do. I believe we need to reconsider our position regarding poverty and the ever growing gap between the rich and poor. This year is the year for action.

If you can meet with others and discuss the issue, join community and maybe church groupings, that’s a first step. Try were possible to forget being judgmental, forget the blame game and instead step onto the doing machine every little bit helps and your help is vital.      

References:

https://yournz.org/2012/10/26/what-is-poverty-in-new-zealand/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty#Wealth_concentration

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accumulation_by_dispossession

Telling it like it is Child Poverty

Report on Child Poverty released...

The group looking [yet again] into child poverty in NZ has now produced its final report. The National party has for four years suggested that they had no data on child poverty and that talk of two hundred and seventy thousand children living in poverty was simply a beat-up figure.

This latest report proves them wrong yet again and no doubt John Key will need to read this report while on holiday in his mansion in Hawaii or London or New York. While he sips on his wine and nibbles on a plate full of goodies he will need to consider the plight of those living in poverty in New Zealand.  

Russell Wills’ [Children’s Commissioner] final report into child poverty has thrown the ball back to the Government, recommending 78 changes, including enshrining child welfare in law.

He suggests that a $2 billion Government overhaul, including more state homes and universal child support, is needed to fight child poverty,

However, the Government has already poured cold water on the report, rejecting one big-ticket recommendation and emphasising tight finances. This is strange when you consider what the government paid to Warner Brothers and to Sky City along with the massive spending on roads to nowhere.

The report paints a bleak picture of the 270,000 children living in poverty, many of whom regularly go hungry, get sick and live in overcrowded homes.

It says the first step is to create a strategy to monitor child poverty and set ambitious targets for improvement.

Some recommendations are simple and cheap - with a few reflecting existing Government policy - but others could cost billions. They include:

• Scrapping many benefits for parents and replacing them with a universal payment for every child under 5.
• Building 2000 new state homes a year and requiring all rentals to pass a health and safety “warrant of fitness”.
• Warrants of fitness for homes
• Government to work with finance sector to provide zero-interest or cheap loans for struggling families:

• An expanded food-in-schools programme for low-decile primary and immediate schools

• Increased focus on keeping young parents in education

• Create community hubs as a one-stop shop for support services.

Some recommendations would take longer, be harder and more expensive:

• Review all child benefits and refocus them on child welfare.
• Create a new universal child payment for all children under 5.
• Support for older children would be targeted, based on income.
• Increase the number of social houses by at least 2000 a year for the next eight years.
• Extend free doctor visits over time to cover all children under 18.

The combined changes are estimated to cost the Government between $1.5b and $2b a year and reduce child poverty by up to 40 per cent. The report estimates the economic cost of child poverty to be between $6b and $8b a year.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett quickly rejected universal child payment, claiming it was too expensive.

“It is those on the lowest incomes who are in the greatest need, so any new spending needs to be tightly targeted,” she said. Warrants of fitness for homes, and community hubs, were ideas with “merit” and other suggestions were already being pursued by Government, she said.

Finance Minister Bill English said throwing more money at child poverty would not necessarily solve it.

 “Too often, governments have, for political reasons, persisted with programmes that have been ineffective and expensive.”

But others have a differing view, Professor Jonathan Boston, who co-chaired the group that wrote the report, said that, while the cheap options would help, costly and ambitious reform was required for deep and lasting change.

“Making a substantial dent in child poverty can’t be done on the smell of an oily rag.”

Some of the more costly projects could be shelved until the Government books were in better shape, he said. Others could be funded by diverting money from people who did not have dependent children.

“As resources become available, it is our most needy children that should have the first claim.”

Dr Wills said there had been a strong consensus about the best way forward.

Labour’s children’s spokeswoman Jacinda Ardern supported the report but was skeptical about how many of the changes would be adopted by the Government.

The report has also been endorsed by Every Child Counts, a coalition of child agencies including UNICEF, Plunket and Barnardos. Its manager, Deborah Morris-Travers, said the evidence was clear and the Government needed to act.

 This from Ian Ritchie:

Successive governments have indeed actively resisted addressing the issue of child poverty to the extent that different Prime Ministers have refused to say the noxious P word. As far back as Rob Muldoon who wanted to deregister CORSO for wanting to address poverty issues here.

In the UK, the Government several years ago adopted the goal of eliminating child poverty in a defined time frame.

Unless our government priorities change the downstream costs will continue to escalate for the whole of our society.

All power to the Commissioner’s Group of experts and their recommendations

Ian Ritchie