What is poverty doing to our young children

As stated in my last post, according to Child Poverty Action Group (“[CPAG], 2012”) one in five children live in poverty, in New Zealand. How is this able to be measured? Paula Bennett Minister of Social Development states "there is no official measure of poverty in New Zealand…” (“APNZ, 2012”). Without a clear government definition of what poverty is, then how are we able to know who lives in poverty and who does not? Labour spokeswoman Jacinda Ardern states that “child poverty would not be resolved if the Government would not acknowledge the scale of the problem” (“APNZ, 2012”). It is clear that there needs to be an official way to measure poverty in New Zealand.

The Children’s Commissioner (“n.d.”) states poverty in New Zealand as “households with incomes below the 60 percent median income poverty line, after taking housing costs into account”.  The children social health monitor New Zealand (“[TcshmNZ] n.d.”) acknowledges “children aged 0–17 years are living in households with incomes below the 60% income poverty threshold”. These two statements of poverty are very similar and it is very interesting that these organisations can come up with a definition but the government does not have an official measure of what poverty is in this country.

What is poverty doing to our young children? Poverty can have a negative effect on our young children, which is a shame because they are our future and we are meant to look our future.  According to (“[TcshmNZ] n.d.”) some of these negative outcomes are “low birth weight, infant mortality, poorer mental health and cognitive development, and hospital admissions from a variety of causes”. Poverty is clearly not allowing a child to get the best start in life. He mana tō ia Tamaiti (“n.d.”) states that “… poverty can have serious and permanent effects on a child as it influences their physical, emotional and social development”. These effects are extreme and we all need to step up and take action to ensure these children do not continue to live in poverty.

So what is needed so that a child can have a brighter future? “The 1,000 days between a woman’s pregnancy and her child’s second birthday offer a unique window of opportunity to shape healthier and more prosperous futures” (“1,000 DAYS, n.d.”). This will not save all the problems of poverty but it can help to ensure that children will have a good start to life. The government therefore needs to put more resources into these first 1000 days to ensure every child gets a good start.  Good antenatal care, support networks to all at risk families, education on budgeting and diet are all needed to support families. “Evidence shows that the right nutrition during the 1,000 day window can save more than one million lives each year” (“1,000 DAYS, n.d.”). This shows that a lot of effort needs to be put into expectant mothers and young children to ensure children have the best opportunity in life.

References

1,000 DAYS (n.d.). Why 1,000 days. Retrieved from http://www.thousanddays.org/about/

APNZ (2012, August 16). Measuring poverty line not a priority - Bennett. The New Zealand herald.
Retrived from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10827418

Children’s Commissioner (n.d.). Child poverty in New Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.occ.org.nz/home/childpoverty/about_child_poverty

Child Poverty Action Group, (2012). Bare your soles for child poverty. Retrieved from http://www.cpag.org.nz/news/rally-at-parliament-wed-12th-dec/

He mana tō ia Tamaiti (n.d.). Child poverty. Retrieved from http://www.everychildcounts.org.nz/resources/child-poverty/

The children social health monitor New Zealand (n.d.). Child poverty and living standards. Retrieved from http://www.nzchildren.co.nz/child_poverty.php

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