Child Poverty is an issue often associated with developing nations; nations in Africa, South-East Asia and Latin and South America. It is not however often associated with being a wide-spread issue in New Zealand Society. Whilst New Zealand is considered to be a well-developed OECD nation, it still has many of the issues that face developing nations especially in terms of poverty. This essay will seek to examine the disproportionate numbers of Māori children living in poverty, focusing on the impact of housing and education. It will then go on to look at programs such as Whānau Ora which seek to incorporate Māori ideas into policy and the ways that such policies compare with European epistemologies. Finally, this essay will recommend ways
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It will argue Child Poverty is an issue which, largely due to Colonization and the forcible impression of Pākehā ideas, is both created by and creates issues that lead to large pockets of underdeveloped communities in what is considered a highly developed nation …show more content…
however this is not to say that New Zealand does not have issues of poverty. Poverty is a hard concept to define, it can materialize in many different shapes and forms and can have a huge array of impacts on those living within its bounds, and the societies it exists within. Globally, it is attempted to quantify poverty by establishing a global poverty line at $1.90 a day, of which, if you live below you live in poverty (World bank, 2011). Whilst this may seem like an easy way to begin to work out who is and isn’t in poverty it is hard to make this call from a single figure as it often comes down to much more than income. Thus in New Zealand there is no official way of defining what is and is not classed as poverty. The office of the Children’s Commissioner, however has defined child poverty as follows:
Children living in poverty are those who experience deprivation of the material resources and income that is required for them to develop and thrive, leaving such children unable to enjoy their rights, achieve their full potential and participate as equal members of New Zealand society. (Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty, 2012, Pg.
It will argue Child Poverty is an issue which, largely due to Colonization and the forcible impression of Pākehā ideas, is both created by and creates issues that lead to large pockets of underdeveloped communities in what is considered a highly developed nation …show more content…
however this is not to say that New Zealand does not have issues of poverty. Poverty is a hard concept to define, it can materialize in many different shapes and forms and can have a huge array of impacts on those living within its bounds, and the societies it exists within. Globally, it is attempted to quantify poverty by establishing a global poverty line at $1.90 a day, of which, if you live below you live in poverty (World bank, 2011). Whilst this may seem like an easy way to begin to work out who is and isn’t in poverty it is hard to make this call from a single figure as it often comes down to much more than income. Thus in New Zealand there is no official way of defining what is and is not classed as poverty. The office of the Children’s Commissioner, however has defined child poverty as follows:
Children living in poverty are those who experience deprivation of the material resources and income that is required for them to develop and thrive, leaving such children unable to enjoy their rights, achieve their full potential and participate as equal members of New Zealand society. (Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty, 2012, Pg.