Should voting age be 16?
It's thought lowering the voting age could help with voter engagement.
It's thought lowering the voting age could help with voter engagement.
Annual monitor shows child poverty rates are stable but children's commissioner calls for a poverty reduction target to be set.
Almost 80 children have died in the care of the New Zealand state in the past 15 years - an average of five a year.
Young people in state care will soon have a right to stay in or return to care until they turn 21.
COMMENT: Recent cases indicate violence between and against children is widely accepted.
The Chief Ombudsman will investigate the use of seclusion rooms in schools, following reports that locked "time out" rooms had been used to restrain children.
An independent inquiry should immediately investigate the use of "time out" rooms in schools, says the head of the national Autism charity.
Angry parents say they will pull their children from a Wellington school caught using a "time-out" room for naughty pupils unless there is more accountability.
Children's ministry name is too negative, says Commissioner, who urges Kiwis to use only the Maori name.
The latest report tells us 29 per cent of children lived in poverty in 2014, up from 24 per cent the previous year. About 14 per cent live in material hardship, lacking several of the items most New Zealanders would consider essential.
More financial support is needed for caregivers of vulnerable children to do their job properly, says Children's Commissioner Russell Wills.
Children's Commissioner Russell Wills has done the Government a huge favour with his State of Care report this week, whether he intended to or not.
Tupua Urlich was just 17 when the state ended its care for him.
The Children's Commissioner wants a rethink of universal services so more public spending can go to the neediest families.
Overseas studies support Kiwi research on role of casual relationships in child abuse, writes Ewen McQueen.
Next year is election year and all the parties have an opportunity to show us their commitment to children, writes Russell Wills, Children's Commissioner.
The measurement of child poverty is complex, hard to understand and has become a highly polarised matter, says John Dew.
Children's Commissioner, Dr Russell Wills, wants motorists, the well-off and the elderly to take less from taxpayers so that more public funding can go into tackling child poverty.
"Why should under-25s, with nothing but a desire for a romantic stroll in the park, be driven out for nothing more than the crime of having acute hearing?" asks Brian Rudman.
The respected policy expert charged with finding solutions to child poverty has challenged men to take responsibility for children's well-being - it's not enough to leave it to the womenfolk.