Do 27% of kiwi kids need to live in poverty?

Last week I shared a story that a friend of mine experienced while he was at work. I wanted to continue examining this as it is one of the leading issues that our country, particularly our tamariki face on a daily basis.

To hone in on this issue, I want to examine more closely the delicate area of child poverty and what that looks like in Aotearoa. I researched into who's taking a closer look at this issue and came across Child Poverty. It uses a "Poverty Monitor" and the platform is a partnership project between the Children’s Commissioner, the JR McKenzie Trust and Otago University. Alongside this meter, it looks at ways in which child poverty can be decreased as it recommends ways we can tackle this issue head on. To give a better example of what they do, here's a deliverable of their stats from 2017 on material hardship and income poverty:

Above images from childpoverty.co.nz

Going on from income-related child povery rates, we can also examine how this has changed and increased since the 1980s. 

Image from childpoverty.co.nz

As the wellbeing of people is close to my heart, seeing these sorts of statistics always hurts a little. Though through the history of our country, I can see how trends from colonialism have had a play in this, but since that time, how have we not developed in this way as a forward-thinking country? New Zealand is leading the game in environmental care, being a paperless economy, and providing good wellfare through work and income on top of having good systems such as StudyLink which allows our students to study without paying full price. Engari, tonu! What's happening despite the mahi government is doing to create change. This is not small, but a raru ki tai - a serious problem. How do we have healthy trees? Prepare the soil, then plant the tree.

UNICEF adds to this issue and their research has showed the following:

290,000 NZ children - around 27 per cent of kiwi kids - are currently living in income poverty.*

A quick breakdown on child poverty by UNICEF is that there are 3 big things tamariki are missing out on:

• Missing out on essentials
• Social exclusion
• Health consequences

One of the largest problems that is keeping the fire burning in my opinion, is our abundance of cold, damp housing. If the parents are struggling to keep the house warm because of high power bills, how can they afford kai to feed their tamariki? The money used for medicine when the kids are sick cannot be spent on things to keep them warm or prepared for school. Automatically a lot of these families are on the back foot and the systems to move up this ladder are as slippery as the runny noses that these tamariki are fighting to sniffle up.

This is a systemic problem that is tightly integrated in many whanau in Aotearoa - what can we do about it? I am very aware that a lot of people are conscious of this issue and doing what they can to create kōrero around this but it is an issue that needs a lot of mahi by a lot of tāngata.

As someone not in politics, but as many other kiwis - born with the classic kiwi ingenuity these are some ideas that I would love to hui with those in power to create governmental change.

-> Get rid of all the old houses. The money in creating new ones might not be sustainable in the short term, but for the longevity of our country is much more important than that. Using what you can recycle can be put into materials to create new whares with sustainable energy such as solar and guttering being connected to grow your own kai to cut down on food costs, but allow the opportunity and encourage people to go back to our roots.
-> Subsidise sustainable energy such as solar panels made available to those who are in income poverty and are fighting to just meet their basic needs.
-> Remove the stigma and being whakama about these struggles. We are have to start from the bottom and that conversation should be had together. Strength is not found in the individual alone, but in the collective. More people want to help than most realise. How can we cultivate that wairua of kotahitanga and do whakawhanaungatanga together?

To create change in every day, Dear NZ has some create ways you can show your aroha through your resources.

Tena koe for your gracious taringa to this post.

Please see these other posts on the same topic around kiwi kids and education:
The girl stronger than fear
How should we educate ngā tamariki?

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How should we educate ngā tamariki?

A dear friend of mine has returned to do his post-graduate diploma in order to become a teacher. He has often shared his goals and dreams with me of pursuing education over the years and has a burning passion for the tamariki of Aotearoa. I've had many kōrero with him about the value and importance of education and what it means for them as they grow into rangitahi and then into the future leaders that will take us forward. 

It was a Friday afternoon and in celebration of the end of the week, we went out for a catch-up. He was nearing the end of his placement at a school in South Auckland and was gleefully telling me all these beautiful stories recounting the tamariki's earnest hearts to learn, the art they'd created, their fascination grow in subjects like maths and science, and how they were learning to powhiri manuhiri onto the schools marae.

However, there is a darker reality that is sparking this passion. Many families around the country undergo a lot of struggles in their day to day lives for these kids to attend school. Whether that be putting bread on the table, paying the bills, dealing with domestic violence, transportation issues - all of these things come into direct effect to the children who are in those homes. Now before I go on, I don't want to point out individuals or anything like that, but rather highlight the systemic issues that are often swept under the rug and overlooked. 

One anomaly that he found was one student who every day had to get a uniform pass for wearing the incorrect uniform. He inquired with some of the teachers about what was going on and it turned out that this student, along with his tuakana and mother had been kicked out of home by his father. This is the short of the story but it really tugged at my heartstrings. To hear that their 'home' was outside a McDs left me feeling extremely raw and with a large array of questions.

This sort of situation isn't something new nor is it unheard of, but I wonder if we have become desensitised to it. Or have we become desensitised to the idea of it so that coming up with a solution is what we're numb to? 

Firstly, where is the root of this stemming from? Clearly, the main issue presented is that this family is living on the streets while still going to school and likely without adequate food and shelter.

Secondly, the deeper issue is with the father and why he's acting in this way. What has been deeply instilled and rooted in him that this has been his reaction and action towards his family?

For a tree to grow well, it's root system is one of the important parts of being healthy and fruitful. The same principle applies to the human psyche. If the heart is hurt or bruised, then the actions that follow through will unlikely be that of love and consideration. If this is then planted in another, like the sons, then this system statistically repeats itself. 

However, we all know this analogy but when the rubber hits the road, or the kids hit the street - that's the kōrero we need to involved in. What prevention can be used for future cases instead of this cycle running around and becoming engrained and normalised as these precious tamariki come to school? What's gone on in the past in the individual's life, or the history of the family, iwi, region, etc? How can we work as a collective to restore what's been so broken for so long?

As the saying goes, learning starts in the home but there is learning in the schools in that process too. Knowing that singlehandedly one cannot break this oppressive chain that is wrapped around so many, but if a mindset grows within passionate people who band together, that kotahitanga and whanaungatanga can surpass the walls and hurdles that pain and misunderstandings have put in place.

If you are a teacher, I'd love to know how you feel on this topic and if this is a familiar story. 

Let's talk about changing leadership on twitter and start with whakawhanaungatanga today.

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The girl stronger than fear

I can clearly remember the day I heard the story of Malala Yousafzai. 

I was sitting on a bus going scrolling through my social media to see an unusual trend on twitter. With the little information I had, I found it difficult to decipher what was going on until I looked further into the story:

A young girl, stands up for education, gets shot in the head on her way to school by the Taliban.

Once I'd figured out the aforementioned, that's when I noticed that quickly this news was spreading like wildfire. 

Surprised and outraged by this news, I started to dig for more research. People get shot often around the world, and news like this didn't shock me to my core initially. However, despite frequent desensitisation by this type content of current media, this was an article that particularly struck my heart; namely, because she was a young, innocent girl who was retaliated for standing up for her right to an education.

My morning continued and I noticed my local cafe displayed a newspaper with a sub-title informing me that inside its pages held more details on the status of this brave, young woman. I read through the article and decided to really keep an eye on where this story led as Malala started her journey to recovery as her family went to the U.K. to escape Pakistan.

Later, as the years went on, I did what I could to keep a track on the story and made sure to purchase her book as soon as it was released.

As her story grew more and more on an international scale, she spent some time on national TV following her respite care from the wounds she recieved:

"Nothing can stop me in this mission and in this campaign of education - that girls deserve the right to go to school."

Since then, she won a Noble Peace Prize but only found out as her teacher told her during a chemistry lesson - as she describes in the interview with Ellen.

Following on from that to a few weeks ago today, Malala returned to Pakistan for the first time since the incident in 2012 which you can read more about here.

Despite Malala's incredibly inspiring story, there is still a fight being fought - that being the right for girls to receive an education. History has told many tales of young girls not having the access to an education but the times are changing.

Having grown up as a girl in the education system in New Zealand, I feel extremely blessed to have had the opportunity to receive education and be encouraged to pursue higher goals such as completing a PhD. Following Malala's story to this day has not only motivated me to value and pursue my education more but to be educated about human rights and to make sure I also speak up for those who do not have the basic right to an education.

With more people becoming aware and advocating for Human Rights around the world - there is a stir in the waters and we are slowly but surely creating change and peace for the betterment of humanity.

If you'd like to read other posts I've written about Human Rights, please see the following articles about the story of Ms. Ju-In Gu who was recently murdered for her choice in religion:

The Global Protest Shaking the World

Coercive What? Unnecessary Death of a Young Woman

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