Election 2020
Ahead of the 2020 General Election, Child Poverty Action Group outlined its policy recommendations in the areas of income, housing and health to better inform voters and political parties about how the next Government could most effectively reduce child poverty.
CPAG said, “With foresight and commitment, the next Government could guarantee adequate resourcing for all children; alternatively, through neglect, the next Government might allow the crisis of child poverty to continue, or worse, it might enable scenarios of increased poverty and hardship for children to come true. The COVID-19 crisis brings serious challenges … But it also brings opportunities to implement effective responses to reduce child and whānau poverty”.
On this page you can read CPAG’s policy recommendations, view a scorecard of the policies each party proposed, and briefings to incoming Ministers in the areas of income, housing and health.
2020 General Election policy recommendations
Priority 1: Kia Piki Ake Te Mana Tangata: redesign the income support system
CPAG researcher Janet McAllister says eliminating poverty starts with improving the income support system which holds back so many families.
“Our current income support system has too often entrenched inequities, indignity and intergenerational trauma,” she says. “It penalises people in relationships and it keeps those caring for children or unable to work below the poverty line.”
CPAG’s vision is for an income support system which upholds the mana and dignity of all people. “Such a system would guarantee all of us an adequate standard of living regardless of our ethnicity, gender, age or relationship status,” she says. “It would protect all children and their whānau and families, including those in low-paid work.”
Priority 2: Healthy homes for all - so our children grow up in warm, stable environments.
For all children to be guaranteed safe, affordable and secure housing, the next government must:
Stop over-incentivising private investment into rental property
Accelerate state and social house building to a target of 5000 homes a year within three years.
Continue to increase legal protection for tenants
Plan a shift away from reliance on rent subsidies to an increase in other income support programmes
Together, these policies are designed to ensure Aotearoa New Zealand appropriately acknowledges that good housing is essential for children’s wellbeing; and treats housing as a right for all.
Read CPAG’s full policy paper - Housing (PDF) here
Priority 3: A health and disability system that cherishes and supports our children.
CPAG Health spokesperson and paediatrician Dr Innes Asher says New Zealand needs a health and disability system that cherishes and supports our children.
“CPAG believes that a strong health and disability system can contribute to Aotearoa New Zealand being the best place in the world to be a child,” she says. “And given children and their families living in poverty are at additional high risk of experiencing a range of physical and social challenges, the health system must be robust and comprehensive to ensure they are not held back by preventable illnesses.”
The key recommendations include; ensuring universal health coverage up to 18-year-olds, greater wraparound services for those with disabilities and for those who are pregnant, and that the system is managed under a centralised framework.
“We can’t afford to allow our high rates of hospitalisation for children, with preventable diseases to continue. New Zealand can be the best place to grow up, but it starts by making sure we have a healthcare system that matches our aspirations.”
Election scorecard
To inform voters about which policies would most effectively reduce child poverty, CPAG produced an election scorecard which showed our assessment of the efficacy of the parties’ proposed income, housing and health policies.
Briefings to incoming Ministers
In late 2020 and early 2021, CPAG produced briefings to incoming Ministers across our three priority areas – income support, housing and health.
2020 Briefing to the Incoming Minister: Income Support (Dec 2020)
2020 Election Policy Scorecard