Australia should follow New Zealand model to reduce child poverty

Australian anti-poverty advocates say Australia should follow New Zealand’s lead and enact legislation to halve child poverty by 2030.

Toni Ren, executive director of Anti-Poverty Week, said poverty is spreading across the country. It creeps into her home of 760,000 children and affects women disproportionately.

“Our members of Congress must pass legislation to halve child poverty by 2030 and demonstrate measurable goals and actions to reach this goal,” said Len. rice field.

“The New Zealand government introduced such a law in 2018 and has made great strides in reducing the number of children living in poverty. It changes lives for the better.”

A study published last week by Australian Council of Social Welfare 1 in 8 Australians live below the poverty line. It is defined as 50% of median after-tax household income after adjusting for household size. One in six (16.6%) of her 760,000 children live in poverty, according to the survey.

Professor Carla Treloar, Director of the Center for Social Policy Studies at UNSW Sydney, said the report highlighted unacceptable levels of poverty.

“Australia is one of the richest countries in the world, yet 1 in 8 people and 1 in 6 children live below the poverty line.

“3.3 million people in Australia struggle desperately to pay their bills or feed themselves. 761,000 children are not getting a good start in life.”

The study also found that poor people lag further behind the rest of society, with an average weekly income of $304 below the poverty line.

In the first three months of 2020, the poverty rate soared to 14.6% as COVID restrictions shut down large parts of the economy and put thousands out of work. But an increase in income support announced in April of the same year lowered the poverty rate to 12% in the next three months, his lowest level in 17 years.

However, by April 2021, the Coronavirus Supplement (originally $275 per week) was discontinued and instead JobSeeker and related payments were increased by $25 per week.

“These figures are a great shame for our country,” said Dr. Cassandra Goldie, CEO of ACOSS.

She said the study shows there are definite ways to reduce child poverty in Australia.

“With job seeker rates nearly doubling, 646,000 people have been lifted out of poverty in 2020. This is a huge step forward in an incredibly short period of time.

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