Editorial: Hungry kids need our aid

Children going to school hungry attracted a strong response from readers

Recent stories on children going to school hungry attracted a strong response from readers who believe the blame lies solely with parents.

As reported in the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend, the number of hungry Tauranga children receiving food at school doubled last year.

Data from the KidsCan charitable trust shows it fed 336 Bay children each week in seven schools in 2014.

This week, a principal's survey concluded Northland was in "crisis" with 22 per cent of students from schools surveyed turning up without any, or very little, lunch.

The figures make a mockery of Prime Minister John Key concluding the problem was not widespread based on the results of a survey of just three schools.

The information also raises serious questions for those MPs who voted against two food in schools bills that aimed to tackle the problem.

Any debate on this issue cannot ignore the impact of personal decisions. One reader pointed out that parents who choose to spend their money on alcohol and cigarettes or at the TAB need to get their priorities in order.

They are correct, but it would be wrong to suggest this is the sole cause of the problem.

Public policy also shoulders some of the blame for the conditions that have seen this problem grow.

An OECD report released in 2013 scored New Zealand highly in safety, education, community involvement and even health - but noted the big gap between the richest and poorest remains.

The top 20 per cent of the population earned five times as much as the bottom 20 per cent, it concluded.

On top of this, the rising cost of housing and rents is further straining family budgets.

If it is accepted that there is significant inequality in this country then it is foolish to ignore the net result of the public policy that got us to this point.

It is wrong that any child should go to school hungry in this country and the Government and community, as well as parents, have a role to play in addressing this problem.