Latest from Social Issues

Brian Fallow: Playing politics with poverty hides truth

If the issue of inequality and poverty is to loom large in this election year there are a couple of cherished beliefs on both sides of politics that need to surrender to evidence, writes Brian Fallow.

Editorial: Bringing some vital balance to social media

Never has the downside of social media been more apparent than over the past week, after TV presenter Charlotte Dawson was found dead in her apartment.

Nanny care no longer a luxury

Once a luxury for the rich and famous, having a nanny is becoming an affordable childcare option for NZ families.

Govt to veto 26 weeks of baby leave

Families are all but certain to get more paid parental leave in this year's Budget, but not 26 weeks as proposed in a Labour bill.

Poverty data leaps after OECD request

Statisticians have discovered thousands more children and the elderly living in poverty than have been reported previously.

Troy McEwan: How to tell a troll from a stalker

Online abuse can range from one-off racist, sexist or otherwise distasteful comments to threats of rape and violence and sustained campaigns of harassment, writes Troy McEwan.

Call for united plan on abuse

A specialist scheme to identify high-risk violent spouses needs a consistent national approach, says a report into fatal domestic abuse.

School to work with student's family

The school that excluded an Asperger's student after a row with a teacher says the decision to remove the boy was not taken lightly, but it'll work with his family.

Restaurant serves up living wage

Eleven employers have been accredited as the country's first living wage employers - among them, former Cabinet minister turned restaurateur, Laila Harre.

Neknomination craze 'claims fifth victim'

The controversial Neknomination craze has reportedly led to the death of another young British man, after a rugby player mixed two pints of gin with teabags and said to the camera: "This is how you drink."

New opportunity for crowded families

Twenty-two families who have mostly been doubling up with relatives in overcrowded homes finally have room to breathe in a new housing project opened by a Tongan princess in Mangere.

Nia Glassie's mum granted parole

The mother of tortured Rotorua three-year-old Nia Glassie will be released from prison after being granted parole.

Crime, jobs and our kids - things are looking up

Simon Collins takes a look at the 'state of our nation' report, a stock-take of New Zealand's social trends.

Security, clean-ups cost millions

Taxpayers have spent nearly $30 million targeting vandalism at schools in the past two years, while thieves have made off with items such as plastic guttering and wooden seats.

Degrees of difference on boards

Harvard Business School researchers find striking variances between the gender profiles of directors.

Call to include checks for P in house WoF

A leading group in the campaign against methamphetamine use says a planned rental housing warrant of fitness should test whether a house has been used as a P-lab.