"Politicians or the media talk about family rather glibly. We're talking about children. No one deserves poverty, but least of all a child." - Gerry Walker, Salvation Army, Manukau.
For children, poverty means missing out on what most of us take for granted.
Poverty means not having the same opportunities.
Some of the following material is adapted from "The Poor List" by Tim Watkin, as published in NZ Herald 19.07.2003. It describes the vicious cycle of poverty, encompassing income, food, housing, health and education.
When money runs short, often the only option is the humiliation of resorting to foodbanks. Of the people coming into the Salvation Army, Manukau, 46 per cent are spending more than half of their income on housing. The poorest people don't own a house. Most won't be renting either. The Salvation Army's Gerry Walker has seen a three-bedroom house with 16 people living in it. Overcrowding is run of the mill, with some people living in cars or garages.
What this means is a high rate of transience, which does terrible damage to a child's education. Pre-schoolers miss out on kindergarten and start school already a year or two behind. "They very rarely catch up and the gap just widens. They get disillusioned, their confidence goes and the cycle starts again," he says. "You get the 7-year-old who's been to seven or more schools." Shocking? "That's low level," Walker says. "I can cite the case of a 7-year-old who's been to 18 schools. That's not uncommon."
CPAG has created a series of case studies reflecting the realities of life for families with children left behind by current government policies (particularly the Working for Families package):
Case Study 1: Constantly going backwards: Deb's story
Case Study 2: Linda's story
Case Study 3: Beverley's story
Case Study 4: Max and Jean