New Zealand: New Zealand pandemic policies pushed 18,000 children into poverty, study shows (Includes video)
Guardian – July 26, 2021
An additional 18,000 New Zealand children were pushed into poverty in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to new research, despite child welfare being one of prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s main concerns. The Child Poverty Action Group – a group focused on eliminating poverty – put much of the increased poverty, inequity, homelessness and food insecurity down to government neglect as it created its policies during the pandemic. Its 72-page report shows that demand for food banks spiked during the March 2020 lockdown and remained at roughly double pre-Covid levels; that those getting in debt through loans was at a record high; and that Māori and Pasifika children are more likely to have been pushed into poverty since last year.
Also: The first year of Covid-19: Initial outcomes of our collective care for low-income children in Aotearoa New Zealand (Report): https://bit.ly/3zIa4CY
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/27/new-zealand-pandemic-policies-pushed-18000-children-into-poverty-study-shows