18 August 2005
Labour recognises raising children costs money
“The announcement today of the tax relief package aimed at middle income families at last gives some recognition to the
realistic costs of raising children”, said Ian Hassall, spokesperson for Every Child Counts.
“The government’s rhetoric on sustainability has been hollow without recognition of the central importance of children
to the country’s future. The Working for Families package was a beginning in redressing the balance of years of neglect
of families at the lower end of the income spectrum. Now we have some recognition across the board of the importance of
child-rearing.
“Whatever you may think about the timing, the tax relief will help in enabling families to make the important choices
they need to in doing what is best for their children.
“There is a remaining concern which is that there seems to be little or nothing for children and their families at the
very bottom of the heap. A commitment to eliminating child poverty would attend to them as well”, said Dr Hassall.
Every Child Counts is a coalition including Barnardos, Plunket, Save the Children, Unicef NZ and AUT’s Institute of
Public Policy, supported by more than 335 other organisations and thousands of individual supporters. It will be
providing informed comment, sometimes critical, throughout the election campaign, identifying sensible or poor policy
proposals from any political party from a children’s perspective.
The public are invited to demonstrate their support for the nation’s children by adding their names to the Every Child
Counts campaign at: www.everychildcounts.org.nz
ENDS