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Download AudioChild Poverty Action Group member Alan Johnson says slight changes to benefits are ignoring the need for more substantive change.
The Government has announced the April 1 benefit rise will be in line with inflation rather than wage growth, and the difference will help families who are having difficulty meeting their children’s basic needs.
Mr Johnson says it’s actually more of the same.
“We’ve turned out backs on our poorest, most vulnerable whanau for decades and we really do need to shift the whole game. We just can’t keep on meddling along with what we’ve done pretending it’s okay and make kids grow up in poverty,” he says.
Mr Johnson says there’s a limit to what we can do as citizens and neighbours, which is why government action on poverty is essential.
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