tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-592326009528370628.post5865845467675915420..comments2024-03-06T08:13:40.937+11:00Comments on Whenua Fenua Enua Vanua: Ae Marika Column - Hone Harawira - Friday 30 March 2007Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304303649328535925noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-592326009528370628.post-23254380973554010742007-03-27T10:15:00.000+10:002007-03-27T10:15:00.000+10:00If we care about our children we must protect them...If we care about our children we must protect them from poverty<BR/><BR/>9 April 2006<BR/><BR/>PRESS RELEASE: In Work Payment fails Maori and Pasifika<BR/>children Rather than reversing existing disadvantage, the burden of<BR/>discrimination built in to the new In Work Payment (IWP) will fall<BR/>particularly hard on Maori and Pasifika families, says the Child<BR/>Poverty Action Group (CPAG).<BR/><BR/>CPAG research analyst and author of Hard to Swallow: Foodbanks in NZ<BR/>Donna Wynd says tamariki Maori and Pasifika make up just over half of<BR/>all those excluded from the IWP's largesse. The IWP fails to address<BR/>the poverty of 230,000 New Zealand children.<BR/><BR/>The IWP is a major plank of the Working for Families package, and was<BR/>introduced on April 1 2006. "It is based on the idea that parents'<BR/>paid work is the way out of child poverty," explains Wynd. Children<BR/>whose parents cannot work the required number of hours weekly, or<BR/>receive a benefit, are excluded. CPAG alleges this is discrimination<BR/>on the basis of parental work status.<BR/><BR/><BR/>An increasing proportion of children are of Maori or Pacific descent,<BR/>and this group has been particularly adversely affected by the rise in<BR/>child poverty in recent decades. CPAG's Dr Lorna Dyall says "Tamariki<BR/>Maori and Pasifika are more likely to be in families reliant on<BR/>insecure jobs, insecure working hours and benefit income. They are<BR/>thus are more likely to miss out on the new, long-delayed assistance."<BR/>Wynd agrees, adding "Children who, as a matter of government policy,<BR/>fall behind because of their family situations are unlikely to grow<BR/>into the educated, healthy adults our country needs.<BR/><BR/>Spending on the bottom income groups needs to increase for these<BR/>families to recover the ground they have lost since the economic and<BR/>labour market restructuring of the late eighties<BR/>and nineties." Dr Dyall points out that, as it is currently designed,<BR/>the IWP undermines the Government's commitment to address health<BR/>disparities for Maori and Pacific families, along with other<BR/>national and international obligations. "Access to secure, adequate<BR/>income is urgently needed to safeguard and enhance the health of<BR/>generations to come," she says. "More than any adult lifestyle<BR/>choices, income status in childhood helps determine health status for<BR/>a lifetime."<BR/><BR/>Wynd emphasises "The Government's stated goal is to ensure `that<BR/>families, young and old, are able to be secure and have the<BR/>opportunity to reach their full potential.' Under the IWP this goal<BR/>will only become more elusive as many of the poorest become relatively<BR/>worse off.<BR/><BR/>CPAG believes the discrimination built into the IWP must be removed,<BR/>as a matter of social<BR/>justice." In 2001, 35% of children under 15 were of Pacific or Maori<BR/>descent, as compared to 21% for the population as a whole. For<BR/>children under five years of age the proportion<BR/>was 38%.<BR/><BR/>For more information, see Donna Wynd's background paper Committed to<BR/>Fairness and Opportunity? A brief analysis of the impact of the In<BR/>Work Payment on<BR/><BR/>Maori and Pasifika families. Freely downloadable from<BR/><BR/>www.cpag.org.nz/resources/backgrounders/<BR/><BR/>For information about CPAG's legal case concerning discrimination in<BR/>the IWP, see<BR/><BR/>www.cpag.org.nz/campaigns/Child_Tax_Credit_IWP.htmlAnahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01304303649328535925noreply@blogger.com