February 11, 2014
Sallies call for child poverty outrage
The Salvation Army is calling on New Zealanders to take child poverty and domestic violence more seriously.
In its latest state of the nation report, the Army says there is some improvement in areas like Maori participation in early childhood education, infant mortality, and teenage pregnancy rates.
But there is little change in child poverty, family violence, the harmful use of alcohol, and the failure to address criminal re-offending and serious crime.
Social policy director Major Campbell Roberts says every day Salvation Army workers see the tragic results of the failure to deal with poverty and violence.
He says Government addresses social deficits when citizens indicate they require action, and the failure to effectively reduce child poverty suggests New Zealanders are not putting enough pressure on policy makers.
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