Our children: It's hard to fix problems of poor kids

By MEGAN PACEY*

In March 1999, Tony Blair pledged to end child poverty in Britain. The country has long had by far the worst record on child poverty in Europe.

No other developed state, except New Zealand, had suffered such a brutal increase as during the Thatcher-Major years of government. One in three children - just under 4.5 million - were living in relative poverty when the Blair-led Labour Government was elected in 1997.

Mr Blair's historic aim was to be "the first generation to end child poverty". It was, he claimed, a 20-year mission. Later, the pledge was affirmed by more specific assertions to halve child poverty in Britain within 10 years and reduce it by at least a quarter by 2004.

Statistics in April revealed that 500,000 fewer children are now officially poor than when the Blair Government came to power. Opposition parties, the media and pressure groups were quick to condemn, saying the Government had failed.

But no serious society should ever seek to measure poverty by a single numerical yardstick. Poverty is much too multi-dimensional for that. It needs to be measured in terms of the material and social conditions in which people live and their participation in the economic, social, cultural and political life of the country.

Poverty has various manifestations, including lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods, hunger and malnutrition, ill-health, limited or lack of access to education and other basic services, increased morbidity and mortality from illness, homelessness and inadequate housing, unsafe environment, and social discrimination and exclusion.

It is also characterised by a lack of participation in decision-making and in civil, social and cultural life.

Children experience more persistent poverty than any other group. Research in Britain suggests the effects of childhood deprivation last at least through to age 33 and manifest themselves through low educational achievement, more unemployment and lower wages. Long periods of relative deprivation matter more than short bursts of low income.

The relationship between poverty and child outcomes is dynamic and complex. Key factors include the individual characteristics of parents and children, family circumstances, neighbourhood effects and the efficacy of public policy interventions.

As Britain moves forward in its crusade to end child poverty in a generation, it is apparent that a coherent strategy for attacking child poverty in New Zealand needs to consist of:

* A major increase in the income of poor households with children, especially those with younger and larger families.

* A drive to reduce the number of children growing up in families with no one in work. Work is vital to prevent families from just existing on welfare payments for extended periods. Increasing welfare payments are never likely to get a family far beyond the poverty line.

* A diminution or elimination of the ways in which deprivation is transmitted from childhood through to adulthood.

No other New Zealand Government has been so bold as to pledge the elimination of child poverty. Helen Clark's Government is to be commended for its vision and commitment, but there should be no hiding the immense challenge that this represents or the resources it requires.

Quite a legacy has been created. Child poverty doubled between 1987 and 1997 to a level at which almost a third of New Zealand children are poor and living in families who exist on 60 per cent of the median household income.

There will be no quick wins. Eliminating child poverty requires us to explore broader definitions of poverty and to develop indicators to measure poverty and social exclusion that encompass the social conditions in which people live and their ability to participate in economic, social and cultural life.

Levels of such acute poverty leave policy-makers with a dilemma. How does one prevent poverty from occurring, protect those already in poverty and promote opportunities to avoid poverty through education, welfare and work initiatives, while propelling individuals sufficiently up the income scale so they are unlikely to slip back into the poverty trap? Finite fiscal resources equate to tough choices.

An effective strategy to eliminate child poverty has to improve opportunities to work, make work pay, provide greater security and opportunity for those not in work, and improve public services to support families with special interventions for at-risk groups.

The Government is beginning to act on all these fronts. There are fairer employment laws, and it has reintroduced income-related rents for state housing tenants.

This has improved the financial situation of many low-income families with children, while the Government continues to look to improve the design and delivery of childcare and other assistance, such as tax credits available to low-income families when moving into paid work.

The substantial investment needed to tackle child poverty must be sustained. It will need cross-Government departmental commitment and investment well beyond the likely second term of a Clark-led Government.

And while a national strategy to tackle child poverty will be devised and delivered by central Government, there are many others players. It must also have the commitment and involvement of local government, the wider public sectors, trade unions, church groups and the private, voluntary and community sectors.

Tackling child poverty requires a comprehensive strategy, with work for those who can and financial support for the families who need it most. It also requires access to excellent universal public services for children and young people, their families and the wider community.

The Government has set out a most impressive agenda in its efforts to make life better for children. It is an investment in all our futures that our country can ill-afford not to make. Hats off to it and let the hard work begin.

* Megan Pacey, a London-based New Zealander, is the senior policy officer at Daycare Trust, a charity that promotes quality, affordable childcare for all.