Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Bryan Gould: What should we do about child poverty?

Bay of Plenty Times
16 Dec, 2018 03:30 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

No fewer than 80,000 New Zealand children live in poverty. Photo/Getty

No fewer than 80,000 New Zealand children live in poverty. Photo/Getty

We now know, courtesy of the annual Child Poverty Monitor, that no fewer than 80,000 New Zealand children live in poverty.

As Judge Andrew Becroft, the Children's Commissioner, points out, that number is enough to fill Eden Park twice over.

What does "living in poverty" actually mean? There was a time when statistics about child poverty were dismissed, particularly by those who didn't want to hear them, on the ground that they were no more than a measurement of those living below a certain percentage of the average income; so, it was argued, an increase in child poverty was meaningless, since it would rise automatically in response to any increase in average income.

Read more: Bryan Gould: Charity should not be equated with public funding
Bryan Gould: Tightening belts and trickle-down theory not the right call
Bryan Gould: Rugby could have been invented for New Zealanders

This latest figure is not, however, simply a percentage of something else but is the outcome of a survey on the basis of specific criteria such as the availability of enough to eat. The figures are therefore not so easily dismissed and provide us with a snapshot of what it means in today's New Zealand to grow up in poverty.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

What the survey tells us is that 80,000 New Zealand children are poor in the sense that they do not have enough to eat and what they do eat is often not of good nutritional quality. It tells us that they do not have adequate clothing or footwear and that they are often not only hungry but also wet and cold - problems that are exacerbated by the poor-quality, damp and rotting accommodation they live in.

What is also clear is that children growing up in such conditions suffer worse health, are more likely to go to hospital, achieve less educationally, and go on in large numbers to struggle for the rest of their lives. Child poverty means, in other words, that we are shaping the future - a future that is not a happy one but is fraught with problems for both the individuals affected and for our society as well.

The survey's conclusions cannot therefore be dismissed by any thinking person. The question for all of us, therefore, is whether this is acceptable and if not, what should we do about it?

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Should we shrug our shoulders and say that it is not our responsibility - that it is admittedly bad luck for the kids born into poor families, but that the price that must be paid for that misfortune is theirs and theirs alone; they cannot look to others - that is, to us - for a solution.

Poor people, some will say, shouldn't have children until they know they can look after them properly. Parents without resources, others will say, should solve the problem themselves rather than look to others to bail them out. And (this one is a favourite), if they do get help, how do we know that it will go to the children and not on fags and booze - a good one, that, since it not only blames the parents for being poor but doubts whether they really care for their children or not.

Attitudes such as these simply ensure that our society continues to be disfigured by the plight of children in a rich society growing up, through no fault of their own, without the chance to make something of their lives.

What we could say instead is that small children have no power to decide how income is distributed in our society. They simply have to accept what is determined by the attitudes and values by which our society operates. But we could, if we so choose, change those attitudes and values, and demand that we do better.

Discover more

Bryan Gould: School friends for life

21 Oct 06:29 PM

A worrying time in global and domestic politics

28 Oct 03:00 PM

Bryan Gould: Rethink needed on Judith Collins

04 Nov 03:35 PM
Opinion

Gould: The acid test for Labour will come in 2020

11 Nov 04:00 PM

We could insist that more resources - that is public resources, our resources - are put into alleviating poverty and ensuring that our children are properly fed, warmly clothed, adequately housed. No one can doubt that these goals are achievable - we have the resources; all that is required is the political will.

We have at least made a start by electing a government that is committed to ending child poverty; the Child Poverty Reduction Bill they have introduced is a first step. We now need to make sure that, as well as measuring and understanding the problem, we - that is, our government - does something, in our name, to solve it.

. Bryan Gould is a former British MP and Waikato University vice chancellor

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

live
Bay of Plenty Times

Wild weather set to ease across the country, clean-up efforts begin

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Powerful example': Mum overcomes addiction to build a life helping others

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

11 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Wild weather set to ease across the country, clean-up efforts begin
live

Wild weather set to ease across the country, clean-up efforts begin

11 Jul 06:00 PM

The North Island is expected to get off to a wet start this morning, with lingering rain.

'Powerful example': Mum overcomes addiction to build a life helping others

'Powerful example': Mum overcomes addiction to build a life helping others

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Tearful hunter admits shooting and killing friend

Tearful hunter admits shooting and killing friend

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP