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The Child Poverty Action Group says Bill English’s fifth budget leaves Māori and other children worse off.
Economics spokesperson Susan St John told a post-budget breakfast in Auckland that it’s hard to work out what was new money and what was reprioritised spending.
But she says spending on health and education is going backwards, and there are no structural changes that could address child poverty, such as extending Working for Families to beneficiaries.
Associate Professor St John says the National Government has a narrow view of children.
"A child is an object that can be trained to be useful in the labour market and make the economy grow. A child is not described as having worth in his or her own right. That right of course is to have a happy childhood, to have sufficient food, to have sufficient income, to enjoy the kind of life that a New Zealand child should enjoy," she says.
Susan St John says pre-budget announcements and minister’s budget speeches don’t square with what is in the actual document, making it hard to assess its real effect.
Copyright © 2013, Uma Broadcasting Ltd
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