Brian Easton wrote a good piece on this topic on www.pundit.co.nz. It cut to the chase, making it clear that child poverty rose when the National Party cut income support in 1991. He also made the point that calculations of income don't account for the costs of childcare taken out of the take-home wage, so it may be worse than it appears for the working poor. This week, the late, great Jonah Lomu's finances were dragged into the spotlight with claims that he died broke - apparently a result, in part, of his generosity. There have also been comments that he didn't make as much money as people may have assumed, at least in more recent years.
And isn't that the crux? Some people just don't have enough money. Their income is less than their basic costs combined.
I don't want to criticise Lomu, or anyone in a tight financial situation. I just believe that with the cost of rent, heating, food - and especially health, transport and childcare - life is tough for those on benefits and low-paid jobs, whether they live in Auckland where average weekly rent has hit $500, or in Whanganui where the costs of living are a little less.
As researcher Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw said on the Morgan Foundation's website www.garethsworld.com this week: "What is really at the heart of poor outcomes for children in poverty is a lack of resources in a family and an environment filled with stress."
She says it is not primarily a lack of material things that hurt children growing up in poverty, although that doesn't help. Berentson-Shaw: "The science tells us that children in poverty do poorly not because they have feckless irresponsible parents, but because they live in families under intense pressure who want to do better but cannot."
Just like with climate change and the other so-called wicked problems in the world, the long-term answers come with system change. But, in the meanwhile, as we wait for our political masters to engage in less populist solutions like increasing taxes, raising benefits and introducing an unconditional basic income, what can we do as individuals?
Some extra food in your Christmas shop for the foodbank collection bins at the supermarket or signing up to a charity working with Kiwi families.
It won't change the world, but it will bring a little joy to someone - isn't that what Christmas is about?
-Nicola Young has worked in the government and private sectors in Australia and NZ and now works from home in Taranaki for a national charitable foundation. Educated at Wanganui Girls' College, she has a science degree and is the mother of two boys.
