Raising happy and healthy kids is a parent's dream but trying to do this as a sole parent is sheer hard work. They don't need it made into a nightmare by mean-spirited and so last century, visionless 'welfare reforms'.
Dr St John asks: "Is this reform designed to help the people who somehow ‘choose’ to live at the poverty line become socially included, or is it to save money and salve moral indignation? John Key says the package is about ‘improving outcomes for beneficiaries’ but saving costs is clearly the main aim. He gives the example: “if we were to assist just five percent of sole parents with a youngest child aged over six into work, there would be a saving of almost $200 million over the next 10 years.”
Read the full article here: The dream is over, but has the nightmare just begun?
A child's potential is a terrrible thing to waste.
Child Poverty Action Group is an independant charity working to eliminate child poverty in New Zealand. CPAG works on behalf of the 230,000 New Zealand children whose well-being and future is compromised by their meagre standard of living.
Left further Behind: how policies fail the poorest children in New Zealand, is an urgent call for policy changes that provide solutions to child poverty
To download Left further Behind: how policies fail the poorest children in New Zealand, click here
CPAG took the Government to Court arguing that the In Work Tax Credit (IWTC) is discriminatory, and this discrimination denies children the support they need to keep them out of poverty.
Read CPAG's latest press release
Our guiding principle, is the right of every child in New Zealand to security, food, shelter, education and healthcare. Child Poverty Action Group
