Latest from Social Issues

UK opens supermarket for beneficiaries

In a UK first, shoppers in South Yorkshire are being offered food at up to 70 per cent of normal prices - but they have to prove they're on benefits to get the bargains.

Times are changing...

Website helps to banish the blues

Almost three-quarters of the depressed Kiwis who have gone to Sir John Kirwan's website depression.org.nz are no longer depressed after finishing the six lessons.

John Minto: A great man but not a great president

When we look at Nelson Mandela's legacy as South Africa's post-apartheid leader, we must acknowledge serious failings, writes John Minto.

Cost of home dream - 19 incomes

It would take 19 median incomes in Auckland to buy a home for the city's median house price, a Herald analysis has found.

Child poverty report applauded

A new report on child poverty in New Zealand has been applauded by groups who have criticised the Government for failing to thoroughly monitor the issue itself.

Channel cash to poor, sick children

Children's Commissioner Dr Russell Wills wants Kiwis to shift support from older, middle-income families to give more to our youngest and poorest children.

Child poverty ills rising

Start rating rest homes: watchdog

The Human Rights Commission is calling for a star-rating system that would expose poorly performing rest homes to help families avoid them.

Readers' comments on rest homes

Here are a sample of readers' emails in response to our series on rest homes.

Dad 'starved in rest home'

A former rest home manager is calling for better care for the elderly after her father was "starved of food and fluid" in a Whakatane centre.

Editorial: Clearer data on rest homes badly needed

Editorial: Documents for public consumption should be written succinctly and in plain English. Their value is much reduced if this is not done.

Follow checklist to find right care

You've got to look, listen - and sniff - when choosing a rest home for yourself or your elderly mother or father, experts advise.

Financial problems lead to termination of contract

A rest home company which was overcharging some residents is about to have its district health board contract terminated.

New place to serve after helping others

At 92 this year, Connie Bythell has had a full life. She grew up in Blenheim, worked as a teacher, went to India as a missionary, then worked in her home church until retiring at 70.

Peter Lyons: Casualised labour no production panacea

If people feel they are being treated as disposable units of labour then outcomes will suffer, writes Peter Lyons. This may help explain why the growth in labour productivity in NZ over the past few decades has been less than spectacular.