Child Poverty introduction

Welcome to my blog

Child poverty is a social issue here in New Zealand as well as around the world. "Many people find it difficult to believe that there is child poverty in New Zealand and are amazed to learn we have one of the higher levels in the developed world" ("He mana tō ia Tamaiti, n.d."). Recent New Zealand statistics have indicated that one in five children live in poverty ("Child Poverty Action Group [CPAG], 2012"). Poverty can be due to the changing family situations such as job loss or redundancy, illness and costly medical treatment and relationship breakdown.

I believe a lot of people know about child poverty overseas because of charities standing on the side of the street corner or on the television asking for donations. It is easy to ignore child poverty when we think it is not happening in our own back yard (New Zealand). I must admit I did it the other day I was asked to donate for UNICEF but shook my head and carried on with my day not really thinking too much about it. Looking back on it now it's not hard to donate a couple of dollars. I donate that much to the parking meter when I'm in town. This example just shows how easy it is for us to ignore child poverty.

I am interested in finding out how child poverty affects children's growth and learning and development. Poverty is "where people's basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter are not being met" ("BusinessDictionary.com", n.d.). This is a very broad definition but gives an idea of what poverty is. With each new post I plan to have a greater understanding of what poverty is and how it is affecting children on a daily basis.

Throughout this blog I will be looking at child poverty more in depth by using a wide range of perspectives. I will be drawing on information from databases and websites to learn more about poverty.  I will be looking at the effects child poverty has on early childhood and the pedagogical implications for practice in the early childhood setting. I will also be looking at what the government is doing about child poverty.

References

BusinessDictionary.com (n.d.). Poverty. Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/poverty.html

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/

Photos

Photo 1