Election 2017: A New Zealand where all children can flourish

Election2017-image.jpg

Election 2017: A New Zealand where children can flourish 

In the lead up to the 2017 general election, Child Poverty Action Group published five key election documents focusing on health, social investment, incomes, housing and education with the aim of putting children at the heart of policy making.  

On this page you can read CPAG’s 2017 priorities and how each party’s proposed policies ranked against CPAG’s recommendations (PDF).  


Priorities for Health 

Without good health, our whānau cannot flourish. With good policies - designed to ensure the wellbeing of children across all areas of life and all socio-economic levels - they can. 

CPAG’s health priority for the 2017 election is the introduction of measures to substantially reduce child hospital admissions for preventable illnesses. These measures must address three key areas that desperately require remedial attention: 

  • Inadequate basic healthcare services and education; 

  • Income poverty and material hardship; and 

  • A lack of affordable, healthy housing. 

Read CPAG’s Priorities for Health in full (PDF) here 


Priorities for ‘Social Investment’ 

 The current ‘social investment’ policies are poorly designed. Under these policies, the Ministry of Social Development targets funding for children based on whether they meet a specific set of experience-related criteria. While poverty is a strong determinant for poor outcomes for children, it is not considered one of the ‘social investment’ risk factors. 

Many of the children who meet the experience criteria may not actually have poor outcomes.  Some children who need services will not receive them, while others who will not need assistance will have better access to it. We can do better than this. 

Read CPAG’s Priorities for ‘Social Investment’ in full (PDF) here  


Priorities for Family Income Support 

CPAG’s recommended priority for family incomes in the 2017 election is to significantly improve Working for Families in order to markedly reduce child poverty, and support substantially reducing the number of child hospital admissions for preventable illnesses. 

CPAG has compiled a comprehensive list of recommendations to improve Working for Families and welfare payments. Implementing these recommendations would substantially reduce the worst child poverty and contribute to a reduction in hospital admissions for poverty-related illnesses. 

Read CPAG’s Priorities for Family Income Support in full (PDF) here 


Priorities for family housing 

Warm, dry, secure housing provides a foundation for children’s health. 

There are about 40,000 hospital admissions of children in New Zealand every year, with preventable illnesses that have links to poverty and unhealthy housing. If we had adequate systems for regulating the supply and condition of housing, the numbers of children admitted to hospital with illnesses associated with poverty would be reduced.  

If the incoming government brings in policies to markedly increase the supply of state houses, introduces a system of regulating conditions for all rented homes, and addresses the income needs of low-income families, then we will have a New Zealand where all children can flourish. 

Read CPAG’s Priorities for Family Housing in full (PDF) here 


Priorities for Education 

It is crucial that the education system is resourced adequately so that children from all socioeconomic backgrounds can flourish. 

Public schooling in New Zealand is contributing to a significant financial burden upon families. This is in part due to the hidden costs of a ‘free education’, which requires families to spend money on ‘voluntary donations’, uniforms, school trips, examinations, and electronic devices. The sad reality is that the longer students stay at school, the greater the pressure on families to bear the financial costs of them being at school. 

Early education is vitally important in providing children with the foundations for learning and life. CPAG calls on the incoming government to:  

  • Ensure that high quality, culturally responsive early childhood education is available for all children in early childhood care and education by requiring 100% degree-qualified teachers in all ECCE centres. 

  • Markedly increase funding for public education to ensure that expenditure on education becomes less of a household burden, and introduce systems to ensure that a genuinely free public education in New Zealand can be guaranteed. 

Read CPAG’s Priorities for Education in full (PDF) here 

Campaign Items

Children’s Advocacy Community United in Calling for a Strong and Enduring Response to Reducing Poverty

New Zealand’s children’s advocacy community agrees that the time is now to create a strong, enduring and non-partisan commitment to reducing child ...

A New Zealand Where All Children Can Flourish: Briefing to Incoming Ministers

We can expect to see some immediate improvements to income support through Working for Families, as Labour has indicated in an agreement with the ...

Education priorities for a New Zealand where all children can flourish

It is crucial that that the education system is resourced adequately so that children from all socioeconomic backgrounds can flourish.

Every Child’s Right to a Healthy Home

Families are living in substandard housing that is causing alarming rates of illness, particularly among young children, and many do not have a home ...

Summit 2017: Beyond Social Investment

Building on the 2016 event, this Summit will focus on the Government’s proclaimed ‘social investment approach’ to welfare reform.

Parental Income Test Needs Urgent Attention

“It is worrying that so many are in hardship and that is impacting negatively on their education.”

Policy Priorities for Supporting Family Incomes

The upcoming election provides an opportunity for all political parties to put the wellbeing of all New Zealand’s children at the centre of their ...

Priorities for Health Policy

CPAG believes it is possible to halve the number of these hospital admissions, and in addition reduce the chances of preventable illness harming our ...