Media release from Every Child Counts
Comments by Race Relations Commissioner welcomed
Every Child Counts* welcomes comments by the Race Relations Commissioner, Dame Susan Devoy, describing a cartoon in
newspapers today as “offensive and stigmatising.”
“The cartoon highlights some of the ill-informed opinions New Zealanders have about the issues around poverty,” says
Deborah Morris-Travers, manager of Every Child Counts.
“Of the 270,000 children living in poverty, half are Pakeha. This does mean that Maori and Pasifika children are
over-represented but not as a result of parental choice. The advice to governments around the world, from authorities
such as UNICEF, the OECD, and the World Bank is that government policy settings have the single biggest impact on
poverty rates.
“The government’s role in perpetuating poverty isn’t fully understood here in New Zealand but evidence is very clear
that child poverty is a result of political decisions taken by successive governments. Blaming parents lets the
government off its legal responsibility, under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to ensure all children in
New Zealand have a standard of living that meets their physical, mental and emotional needs.
“Poverty has a lasting impact on the health and education of our nation’s children, particularly our youngest children,
and is undermining our economy and society. This means that all New Zealanders have an interest in ensuring the issue is
addressed and our children’s potential is nurtured. Addressing poverty requires a range of mutually reinforcing actions
that address income levels, housing, education, health, community development, and parenting. Government is central to
this.
“There is no evidence at all that parents on low incomes are any worse than those on high incomes at managing their
money; simply, that they do not have enough money.
“Dame Susan has said that the cartoon in question stigmatises efforts to address the situation that sees too many of our
children living in poverty. Indeed, the attitudes underlying the cartoon are the very attitudes that perpetuate
government and societal indifference to our poorest and most vulnerable children and deserve to be challenged,”
concludes Ms Morris-Travers.
*Every Child Counts is a coalition of organisations and individuals working to increase the status and wellbeing of new
Zealand children, driven by UNICEF, Save the Children, Plunket, Barnardos and Ririki.
ENDS