2. Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour) Link to this
to the Minister for Social Development and Employment
In light of her answer on behalf of the Prime Minister yesterday, that there is child poverty in New Zealand, what is the estimated cost of child poverty per year?
Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development and Employment) Link to this
That very much depends on whom one asks. New Zealand does not have either an official poverty measure or an official measure of the cost of child poverty—nor does any country in the OECD. Recent reports into child poverty take data from Statistics New Zealand and the Ministry of Social Development’s household incomes report. They then undertake their own analysis. Two recent reports go a step further and come up with an estimate of the cost to New Zealand of child poverty. These reports used assumptions from the UK and USA in their cost estimates, which range from $6 billion to $8 billion per year. I am not in a position to comment on the accuracy of those estimates.
If the Government is putting massive investment into child poverty, as she said in the House yesterday, how many children have been lifted out of poverty in the last 3 years by this investment?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
As I stated, New Zealand does not have an official poverty measure. It did not have one under Labour—
Mr SPEAKERI apologise to the member. I say to some of the Labour front-benchers that their deputy leader asked a fair question and I believe she deserves to hear an answer. That absolutely excessive interjection level means no one can hear the answer.
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
New Zealand does not have an official measure of poverty. It did not have one under the previous Labour Government and it does not have one under this National one. I stand by my stance that we have put millions and millions of dollars into those children and their families. Some examples are insulating over 100,000 homes where those children live, putting $1.4 billion into early childhood education, focusing on those children who most need it, spending money on Incredible Years, our immunisation rates going from 73 percent to 90 percent, and the focus on children in care. The list can go on.
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. My question was based on an answer given yesterday by the Minister about putting massive investment into child poverty, which I raised in my question. Then I asked her how many children had been lifted out of poverty by this investment in the last 3 years. The Minister told us about a lot of programmes, but that did not address the question.
I believe, in fairness, that in the early part of the Minister’s answer she re-emphasised the fact that the Government does not have an official measure of child poverty. If there is no official measure of child poverty, it is not possible to estimate the number of children who have been lifted out of poverty. In that regard, I believe the member’s question was answered.
What did she base her answer on yesterday, when she said that there was not a lot of work being done in research and evaluation of children’s policy, in light of the following reports: the Ministry of Health report on child health and well-being, the Public Health Advisory Committee’s report on child health, her own ministry’s report on indicators of child well-being, the household incomes inequality report, the Children’s Social Health Monitor report, the Child Poverty Action Group’s annual reports, the OECD Doing Better for Children report, and the Every Child Counts report—every one of them highlighting child poverty in New Zealand?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
What I was referring to was the evaluation and the effectiveness of programmes, so it would be fair to say that when National came into office, and certainly when we were in Opposition, we had concerns about how effective they were in reaching those children, and then how good some are, compared with others. We have done some work—as much as we can—in starting those evaluations and working our way through them. We have held a number to account, and I make no apologies for that, but I do think there is still a lot more work to be done.
Will the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal study, commissioned by the Ministry of Social Development, involving 7,000 children and their families, provide the Government with the sort of research that will enable it to formulate policies for children?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
Yes. The member raised the longitudinal study Growing Up in New Zealand yesterday. When we came into Government a huge investment had already been made by the previous Government into that study. However, it had not funded it ongoing, so within weeks of being in this job I was informed that we had to find money to keep the study going. I had to go to my colleagues, cap in hand, and ask them to find some money out of their baseline. We have since put millions of dollars more into that study and do support it. But $25.9 million into the longitudinal Growing Up in New Zealand study, out of taxpayers’ pockets, is a lot of money and I think it is an incredibly fair investment in that programme.
Is the Ministry of Social Development funding the study, and is the funding continuing from the ministry after July 2012; if not, why not?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
I do not have all the facts in front of me, because the member did not actually ask that in her main question. If she wants more information on the longitudinal study I would welcome a written question. But I can say that we have supported the longitudinal study. I have had to find millions more dollars, since I have been Minister, to keep it going. I think an investment of $25.9 million into the longitudinal study over a period of time shows our commitment to it.
Te Ururoa Flavell Link to this
Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. Kia ora tātou. When will the Government be implementing the Māori Party policy of having a polity measure?
Has she not been told that the funding from the Ministry of Social Development has been stopped, from July 2012, and is she aware of the outcomes of withdrawing such funding for a project that requires ongoing research through to at least 2014, which include the loss of participants, the loss of data, the loss of goodwill, and putting the whole project in jeopardy?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
As I have stated, I am more than happy to answer questions and put the actual facts on the table for the member because I do not believe that she has her facts right and that funding does stop there. We had a huge hole in funding that we had to find millions of dollars to fill, and we have done that. I think members will see that we have ongoing funding for the longitudinal study. I am sure that there are gaps in some of it. We are trying to fill them, but there were no appropriations ongoing from the previous Government for that study.
Will the Minister apologise to this House when it is shown that funding from the Ministry of Social Development does stop in July 2012, as I have been advised by the University of Auckland today?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
I will apologise when the previous Government apologises as well for the hole in funding it left the programme with.