“..Researcher singles out stress arising from chronic money shortage as a major factor.
Five out of every six children who are abused or neglected in their first five years are in families on welfare, new research has found.
The research conducted by the University of Auckland for the white paper on vulnerable children found that 13 per cent of children in families that went on welfare in the child’s first two years were abused or neglected before they turned 5 -
- almost 10 times the rate for children whose parents were never on welfare (1.4 per cent).
That meant 83 per cent of New Zealand children who were abused or neglected in their first five years lived in families that were on welfare in the child’s first two years…”
(ed:..which brings us to george bernard shaw…
“The greatest of evils and the worst of crimes is poverty.”
(and as a commenter on shaw has noted..)
“..The tragedy of poverty is, of course, obvious to all-
The calamity of deprivation and penury can hardly be missed by those who have bothered to think about the subject – no matter whether they are themselves poor or not.
Lives are battered – happiness stifled – creativity destroyed – freedoms eradicated by the misfortunes of poverty.
But Bernard Shaw was not talking on this occasion about the hardship of poverty – or the misfortune that goes with it.
He was commenting in a rather unusual way – about the causation and consequences of poverty –
- that it is bred through evil -
- and ends up being a crime…”
(ed:..and locally part of that ‘crime’ is that as a govt/society..we can afford large tax cuts for the richest..
..but we can do nothing to raise the incomes of the poorest..
..we are told by the political-leaders who awarded those tax cuts for the richest..that we ‘cannot afford’ to do that..
..and of course a takeaway-lesson from that excellent piece of journalism from the campbell team when they compared the school lunch-boxes of the poor and those who earn enough..
..was that families that earn enough money are able to afford to give their children healthy school-lunches..
..and that those who don’t..both beneficiaries and the working poor..can’t afford to provide that basic service/responsibility for their children..
(and if i could just digress for a moment..and address those well-off media commenters who sneer/pass judgement that ‘anyone could afford weetbix and milk’..
..and perhaps the worst example of this is the news-reader on tvone breakfast..peter williams..
..i have heard him push this canard on multiple occaisons..
..and perhaps mr williams could uncurl his upper-lip long enough to do some basic maths..
..lets just say..a working-poor family..with three children..trying to live off one wage..
..try to assess their basic need costs..ie rent/power/petrol etc etc..and then see how much they have left for food each week..
..and then think how long a packet of weetbix + milk for three..(and that is just the children)..@ approx $10-12..and how long that would last..how many such combinations each week..?
..and that is just breakfast..
..and when you have a bit of a grasp of those realities for/of the working-poor..mr williams..
..perhaps you might like to consider how those parents/families who are unemployed/beneficiaries..those you are so wont to sneer at as being ‘bad-parents’..
..perhaps you might like to consider how these families..earning far less that those struggling working-poor..
..how are they meant to cope..?
..how are they able to avoid your judgements..?
..and you know what totally grates with me..and i suspect with many others..
..is that you mr williams..are from the privileged-generation..
..raising yr family in times of plenty..when a family could live on a single wage..
..and the care/raising of children/the next generation was given the respect it is due..
..you probably got your first house by cashing in child-support..as most of your generation did..eh mr williams..?
..it is clear mr williams..that in your curled-lip sneering-judgements on the poorest..
..all you are displaying is your own ignorances..)
..anyway..back to this poverty-issue..
..what those empty/non-existent lunch boxes in the poor schools told me was that until we give/guarantee a living-wage for all new zealanders..
..we are just fiddling around the edges with the poverty-problem..
..the two glaring facts/connections that confirm that imperative are that 83% of abuse/hunger/cold is in the poorest houses..
..and that were we to institute a living wage for all..we would have no need for any plans for schools providing food for those students struggling in poverty..
..and this is not to impugn the motives/works of those doing that for the poorest children..trying to feed them..these people are undoubtedly doing-good..
..but it is not their job..it is the job of the govt..
..to institute/pass legislation for a living wage..
..to end that..in shaws’ words..
..’greatest of evils and the worst of crimes’..
..eh..?..)
(cont..)
go to source/story>>>
Abuse rate 10 times higher in welfare families: study – National – NZ Herald News.
