I found after pondering
my previous questions that perhaps I should first understand exactly what the
word poverty meant. According to the business dictionary, poverty is a
“condition where people’s basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter are not
being met” (Businessdictionary.com). “Damp, cold housing and overcrowding are a
common experience of children living in poverty, and contribute to ill-health,
poorer learning environments and family stress” (Children’s Commissioner, 2008). “Child poverty rates in New Zealand, while
declining, are still above the average of other developed countries” (Children’s
Commissioner, 2008).As I went on and read
brief statistics on child poverty in New Zealand, provided by the Children’s
Commissioner (2008), I came across poverty rates for sole parent families and
two parent families. The rate of poverty for children within a sole parent household
sits at 49%, five times higher than that of a two parent family which sits at
9%. This also stated “poverty rates are also significantly higher among Maori
and Pacifica children than Pakeha children”. This made me wonder
just how many of our children are living in these conditions. The Green Party
of Aotearoa New Zealand (2013) stated that, “New Zealand should be the best
place in the world to grow up”, which was my thought exactly, before I discovered
how much poverty is a social issue within New Zealand with 270,000 kiwi
children presently living in poverty (Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand,
2013).
Recent statistics in 2006/07 show 230,000, or 22% of kiwi children living in what is classed as the ‘poverty line’. This means that a home with one adult and one child is 60% below the average income after housing costs, meaning they are “living on $430 a week before housing costs” (Children’s Commissioner, 2008). Out of these children 170,000 or 16% live on $355 a week before housing costs which is less than 50% of the average income. Furthermore, in a household where there is no full time worker the poverty rate is 6 times higher than where there is at least 1 full time worker.
These figures shocked me due to the lack of knowledge I had of poverty within my own country. A country where I grew up, felt safe and had a home provided for me that catered for my basic needs. There was a glimmer of hope when I discovered that there had been decreases in child poverty statistics from 1996 to 2006/07 however the numbers are still heart wrenching. This left me wondering what it means for a child to grow up in poverty.One in six children living in poverty (Child Poverty Action Group, cited in KidsCan, 2012), miss out on their basic needs.
Some children experience temporary stages of poverty and others experience poverty for either long periods or throughout the duration of their childhood. Dr Peter Didsbury (2012) who chairs Auckland’s biggest primary health organisation, ProCare, explains the effects he sees of deprivation daily. He explains the most common skin diseases such as, impetigo (school sores) and cellulitis are often a sign of overcrowding and poor housing. “It’s spread person to person by germs. It’s difficult to keep the hygiene going when you have too many people in the house” (Didsbury, 2012). Furthermore, in the colder weather it is common to treat children with respiratory or breathing illnesses such as bronchiolitis, caused by damp and cold housing which families cannot afford to heat. He then explains why extended families crowd into one house and the reason is simple - to save money.
My concern here is, can parents afford to take their children to the doctors if they are not well? I then discovered that most South Auckland practices are on the governments ‘very low-cost access’ funding scheme which provides fees at $11.50 for children age 6 – 17 and free for under 6 years, “but even those fees still put some families off” (Didsbury, 2012).
Here is a link to Bryan Bruce and his opinion on poverty. I felt this was smacking the nail right on the head, especially after reading what Dr Peter Didsbury explained:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aosyR0zBSNs
Karen Salmon (2012) then further explains that poverty is the “greatest threat to child well-being”. She explains because of poverty, children have limited essentials such as education or school related expenses. These children suffer quality interactions with peers, adults and parents (Salmon, 2012 cited in, The Dominion Post, 2013).
The next question I pondered on was what are the long lasting effects?Children who have lived in poverty may suffer ever lasting effects such as, “reduced employment prospects, lower earnings, poorer health and higher rates of criminal offending” (Children’s Commissioner, 2008). Every child counts (2013), explains that sole parenting, disabilities, and workforce skills are also effects of poverty.
Additionally, Jack Shonkoff (2012) says “poverty is associated with a myriad of lost social and educational opportunities and compromised quality of the life for the children who experience it and the adults they become” (Shonkoff, 2012 cited in, The Dominion Post, 2013).
With all the information gathered here I have decided my next blog will touch on housing, health and employment, as I feel this could be a good place to start investigating policies and criteria. What policies and criteria are required when applying for help in these areas? And what impact does this have on our children?
Recent statistics in 2006/07 show 230,000, or 22% of kiwi children living in what is classed as the ‘poverty line’. This means that a home with one adult and one child is 60% below the average income after housing costs, meaning they are “living on $430 a week before housing costs” (Children’s Commissioner, 2008). Out of these children 170,000 or 16% live on $355 a week before housing costs which is less than 50% of the average income. Furthermore, in a household where there is no full time worker the poverty rate is 6 times higher than where there is at least 1 full time worker.
These figures shocked me due to the lack of knowledge I had of poverty within my own country. A country where I grew up, felt safe and had a home provided for me that catered for my basic needs. There was a glimmer of hope when I discovered that there had been decreases in child poverty statistics from 1996 to 2006/07 however the numbers are still heart wrenching. This left me wondering what it means for a child to grow up in poverty.One in six children living in poverty (Child Poverty Action Group, cited in KidsCan, 2012), miss out on their basic needs.
Some children experience temporary stages of poverty and others experience poverty for either long periods or throughout the duration of their childhood. Dr Peter Didsbury (2012) who chairs Auckland’s biggest primary health organisation, ProCare, explains the effects he sees of deprivation daily. He explains the most common skin diseases such as, impetigo (school sores) and cellulitis are often a sign of overcrowding and poor housing. “It’s spread person to person by germs. It’s difficult to keep the hygiene going when you have too many people in the house” (Didsbury, 2012). Furthermore, in the colder weather it is common to treat children with respiratory or breathing illnesses such as bronchiolitis, caused by damp and cold housing which families cannot afford to heat. He then explains why extended families crowd into one house and the reason is simple - to save money.
My concern here is, can parents afford to take their children to the doctors if they are not well? I then discovered that most South Auckland practices are on the governments ‘very low-cost access’ funding scheme which provides fees at $11.50 for children age 6 – 17 and free for under 6 years, “but even those fees still put some families off” (Didsbury, 2012).
Here is a link to Bryan Bruce and his opinion on poverty. I felt this was smacking the nail right on the head, especially after reading what Dr Peter Didsbury explained:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aosyR0zBSNs
Karen Salmon (2012) then further explains that poverty is the “greatest threat to child well-being”. She explains because of poverty, children have limited essentials such as education or school related expenses. These children suffer quality interactions with peers, adults and parents (Salmon, 2012 cited in, The Dominion Post, 2013).
The next question I pondered on was what are the long lasting effects?Children who have lived in poverty may suffer ever lasting effects such as, “reduced employment prospects, lower earnings, poorer health and higher rates of criminal offending” (Children’s Commissioner, 2008). Every child counts (2013), explains that sole parenting, disabilities, and workforce skills are also effects of poverty.
Additionally, Jack Shonkoff (2012) says “poverty is associated with a myriad of lost social and educational opportunities and compromised quality of the life for the children who experience it and the adults they become” (Shonkoff, 2012 cited in, The Dominion Post, 2013).
With all the information gathered here I have decided my next blog will touch on housing, health and employment, as I feel this could be a good place to start investigating policies and criteria. What policies and criteria are required when applying for help in these areas? And what impact does this have on our children?
References
Business Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/poverty.html
Children’s Comissioner. (2008.). Brief statistics on child poverty in New
Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.occ.org.nz/home/childpoverty/about_child_poverty
Didsbury, P. (2012.). Dr says he sees the effects of poverty on kids every day. Retrieved
from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10784293
Every Child Counts. (2013.). Child poverty. Retrieved from www.everycwhildcounts.org.nz/resources/child-poverty/
KidsCan. (2012.). Retrieved from http://www.kidscan.org.nz/our-work/child-poverty
Salmon, K. (2012.). Child poverty our biggest enemy. Retrieved from http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/7655339/Child-poverty-our-biggest-enemy
Shonkoff, J. (2012.). Child poverty our biggest enemy. Retrieved from http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/7655339/Child-poverty-our-biggest-enemy
The Green Party of Aotearoa. (2013.). End child poverty: Take the step.
Retrieved from http://www.greens.org.nz/endchildpoverty
Louise that was an interesting read. Living in south Auckland for some years I saw some poverty in these families and the effects it had on their children. It is heart breaking to see and hear of poverty in the world and so much of it in New Zealand. I look forward to reading more.
ReplyDeleteHi Louise,
ReplyDeleteYou have made a powerful start to your blog and have used the evidence to answer your questions from a variety of perpectives. Try to join your comments together so you create a story that takes the reader on a journey with you. I am so glad you found that video. What Bryan does is place the discussin of poverty in the changes to neo-liberal politics and it might be useful to make some comment about the impact of these policies on the increasing gap between rich and poor in this country. Your friend who commented on it not being like that when she grew up was correct in some ways as her memory is of a more egalitarian society.
Cheryl.