Whakamana Tangata: Where to from here?

Child poverty, and the need to substantially reduce it, has been at the forefront of public policy since the election in 2017.

The Families Package was a beginning. Valuable recent developments include a newly minted Child Poverty Reduction Act, an in-depth report on welfare reform from the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG), the first official Government child poverty reduction targets, and a fresh range of statistics. Measures and benchmarks are important priorities. But progress on reducing poverty for the worst-off children is yet to be seen. The need for charity assistance is at an all-time high, and while there is increased Government spending on special needs grants and emergency housing needs these interventions are far from adequate. 

Late into 2019, 174,000 children living in the most impoverished, desperate situations are yet to see any real gain. Thus far, uptake of the extensive WEAG recommendations has been disappointing, with Government announcements providing little relief for the children living in the deepest poverty. The limited government response to the WEAG’s Whakamana Tangata is frustrating, and the lack of public focus is perplexing.

This year’s CPAG social welfare summit, being held in Wellington on 18 November, offers Government and stakeholders some answers to the question: when it comes to reducing child poverty, where to from here?

Join CPAG and friends, and hear from the experts speaking at our Summit about how we can make Aotearoa a better place for children and families - and how this Government can be convinced to make the bold steps to achieve the transformational impact it promised.

Our summit speakers include:

***Podcast recordings will be made available after the Summit. To find out more keep an eye out on our CPAG Facebook page.***