A good article in the Herald today, not letting the Nats attempt at censorship of the issue of Child Poverty get in their way!
The vital passage:
A long-term study of 1265 children born in Christchurch in 1977 has found that those whose families were poor in their first 10 years of life earned about $20,000 a year less by the age of 30 than those who grew up in rich families.
Those from poor families were more likely to leave school without qualifications, have babies before they were 20, commit crimes, go on welfare and have addiction and other mental health problems in adulthood.
…
study director Professor David Fergusson said the effects of childhood income on later educational and career achievement persisted even after allowing for all other factors.
The Nats might not like to acknowledge it, but this is an issue that needs a great deal of focus – even (especially!) during election time. We need some solutions to a problem that’s dragging our country down.
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