Editorial: New Zealand is failing our most vulnerable - our children

What sort of future awaits New Zealand if we don’t urgently make life better for the next generation? Photo / 123rf

EDITORIAL

Many New Zealanders consider themselves lucky to be living in our peaceful “Godzone”, removed from the conflicts and chaos of the world, but the past week has painted a bleaker reality for hundreds of thousands of Kiwi kids.

Two reports examining living conditions for our most vulnerable raise serious concerns about the world an increasing number of kids experience.

Not only are more of them living in poverty, but “extremely distressing” stories have emerged from the very agency tasked with helping those most at risk.

On Thursday, Stats NZ released its latest child poverty measures, showing in the year to June 2023, 202,100 children were deemed to be living in poverty in this country. That’s an increase of 3.1 per cent on the previous year.

A further 143,700 kids were deemed to be living in households experiencing material hardship, meaning they went without basic needs, such as fresh fruit and vegetables and doctor visits, and had to put up with being sick. That equates to roughly one in every eight of our children.

Victoria University of Wellington professor of public policy Jonathan Boston says the data show how difficult it is to reduce poverty.

“We remain a country with significant child poverty and particularly high rates of poverty among Māori and Pasifika communities, which is very concerning.”

Less than 24 hours earlier, it was the Chief Ombudsman sounding the alarm over our children, with an urgent call for systemic change at Oranga Tamariki.

Peter Boshier reviewed about 2000 complaints over four years for his report, Children in care: complaints to the Ombudsman 2019-2023, and said he could not yet provide reassurance Oranga Tamariki’s practices and processes consistently operated as they should.

He uncovered multiple incidents of unjust or discriminatory decisions, procedural failures, factual or legal errors, inadequate advice or reasons, and more.

One of the most concerning stories was of a disabled mother whose newborn was uplifted without warning and never returned.

The woman stands no chance of regaining custody of her now-10-year-old due to “the passage of time and subsequent decisions”.

The two reports make for depressing reading. When combined, the task ahead can feel impossible. Where do you even start when we’ve fallen so far below what’s acceptable?

A Kiwi childhood - for many, traditionally illustrated with trips to the beach, school camps, homegrown fruit and bedtime routines - is being replaced with hunger, neglect, sickness and family estrangement.

The New Zealand these children are growing up in is so far from what most of us experienced, it’s hard to even imagine the damage being inflicted and the impact that’s to come.

If the National-led Government is serious about getting New Zealand “back on track”, addressing these issues must be a priority.

Aside from simply wanting to improve the lives of others and help those struggling, it would also work to its advantage politically.

National, NZ First and Act have all pledged to restore law and order and crack down on crime while in power. But with poverty a proven driver of crime, those pledges are pointless without tackling the issues confronting our youngest residents. Crime may seem bad now, but is there any value in focusing on the present wave when there’s a potential tsunami brewing?

It’s a well-worn cliche, but children really are our future. And what sort of future lies ahead for this country if we don’t urgently make life better for the next generation?