CPAG  

Child Poverty Action Group


fighting the injustice of poverty

Haere mai  Haere mai  Haere mai

Welcome to the website of CPAG, the leading organisation working toward the elimination of child poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand through independent research and education. A rich life for all children: End child poverty in NZ by 2020.

"E aku rangatira, he aha te mea nui o tenei ao? Maku e kii atu, he tamariki, he tamariki, a taatou tamariki.
Leaders, where does the future lie? In our children."

- Professor Dame Anne Salmond, Knowledge Wave Conference 2003

 

Learning from Australia: Welfare forum 10 September 2010

This welfare forum, put on by Child Poverty Action Group, and the Departments of Economics and Sociology at the University of Auckland, on the 10th September will be an informative day where we can learn from the Australian experience. We hear a lot about "catching up with Australia" in terms of economic growth, but very rarely about their welfare policies. We are very lucky to be able to host three speakers from Australia to help correct that omission.

Paul Smyth will talk about "Reframing the Social Inclusion/exclusion debate for the 21st century" Paul will suggest that we "'create a social investment state' to promote an inclusive society....a life course approach to understanding the resources citizens need to master the risks of twenty first century living......Here welfare and the economy are not opposed but good social and economic policy reinforce each other"

 

Peter Saunders presents on "Child Deprivation in Australia; Findings and Implications for Welfare Reform" Peter will examine research which looks at "the consequences of adopting an approach which ignores payment adequacy...special attention will be given to what the results imply for child poverty...(and)will end with how the welfare reform debate would differ if it was directed at improving the welfare of children rather than increasing paid work among adults and/or reducing welfare spending paid for by taxpayers."

 

Our Third speaker, Eve Bodsworth, will speak about "Listening to Sole parents-lessons from Australian ‘welfare to work' reforms and a framework for a supportive, secure land flexible welfare system". Eve's research "reveals that Australia's income support system has failed to adapt to the new economic environment and equip its most disadvantaged citizens..to manage the many risks they face when engaging with insecure forms of paid work....sole parents need and want a system which allows them flexibility to prioritize the needs of their children when necessary....and support to reach their longer term aspirations around paid work."

The full programme is here.

 

Please register now to hear these speakers joined by experts from New Zealand as we find a better way forward for our Welfare debate.

 


What work counts? A new report from Child Poverty Action Group

What work counts? asks whether work incentives really improve the wellbeing of sole parents and children. It finds that despite the prevailing philosophy that work is the way out of poverty, children are at risk economically from being dependent on a volatile labour market for sufficient income. The Executive Summary is here.

To get a full copy of the report contact Julie Timmins at admin@cpag.org.nz.


Budget 2010

Budget breakfast 2010 had the highest attendance ever. CPAG would like to thank all those who attended, as well as those who registered but were unable to make it. While we were delighted to have so many attendees, it also seems to reflect a growing disquiet at the state of New Zealand's youngest citizens. Sadly, this budget did little to ease that disquiet.

Susan St John and Alan Johnson presented a thought provoking analysis of the budget. Their PowerPoint presentation can be found here.

 

Tapu Misa attended the Breakfast and her article which addresses growing inequality can be read here.  We also commend Gordon Campbell's excellent commentary to you.

 

CPAG discrimination case at the Human Rights Review Tribunal

Child Poverty Action Group NZ has obtained a legal decision confirming the In-Work Tax Credit is discriminatory. This is because children whose parents cannot meet a work test are denied the support needed to keep them out of poverty.
CPAG has appealed this decision and the hearing is set down for June 2010. A summary of the case and legal documents can be found here.
 

 

What's New?

CPAG comment on income-splitting

31 Aug 2010
It might appear to be common sense to enable one parent to remain at home to provide the essential care-giving for children but the income splitting bill being promoted by Peter Dunne is not the way to go.
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What work counts?

30 Jul 2010
Work-first policies sideline the needs of children, says CPAG. Children’s needs must be at the centre of policy decisions – not a by product of an increasingly precarious and volatile labour market.
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Fixing child poverty will take more than a pair of shoes, Minister

30 Jul 2010
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) has congratulated Paula Bennett on finally acknowledging New Zealand's high rates of child poverty.But, says CPAG's Dr Claire Dale, if the Minister really cared about children going without shoes in winter she would do far more than take her shoes off.
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What work counts? A new report from Child Poverty Action Group

28 Jul 2010
What work counts? asks whether work incentives really improve the wellbeing of sole parents and children. It finds that despite the prevailing philosophy that work is the way out of poverty, children are at risk economically from being dependent on a volatile labour market for sufficient income. The Executive Summary is here.
More >>

Professor Asher's presentation to Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

25 Jun 2010
Professor Asher reviews the effects of government policies on New Zealand children and offers some ways forward
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Latest Resources

Budget 2010

21 May 2010
Budget 2010 was supposed to make the tax system fairer. Did it achieve this? See the CPAG analysis here.
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Child Support-a summary and comparision of legislation and policy in New Zealand and Australia

18 Mar 2010
Child Poverty Action group is pleased to publish this backgrounder on child support. It is a policy issue that is well-overdue for attention........Inappropriate Child Support policy is part of a wider picture that keeps one in five New Zealand children below the poverty line.
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Commentary on the Prime Minister's Statement

23 Feb 2010
Reminiscent of the welfare attacks of the early 1990s, there is a disturbing lack of empathy for the hardship endured by the people who cannot work or who can only work part-time while on a benefit.
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Inquiry into the tobacco industry in Aotearoa and the consequences of

23 Feb 2010
For children, harm comes from several sources, including economic hardship due to the cost burden of tobacco, smoking-induced sickness and mortality among parents, and the consequences now or in the future of exposure to second-hand smoke.
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Income Splitting

4 Feb 2010
CPAG agrees that recognising the costs involved in raising children, and assisting single income families, and/or making it easier for one parent to remain at home, are worthwhile aims. However, income splitting is not an appropriate policy response.
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