What are we doing to help break cycles of disadvantage and intergenerational poverty?
There are also a number of Budget 2022 initiatives that are unlikely to materially reduce poverty in the short-to-medium term, but which should nonetheless have a positive impact on the wider wellbeing of some children living in poverty and may also help break cycles of disadvantage and intergenerational poverty over the longer term. These include initiatives related to child protection and family violence, child development and education.
Changes to address harm caused by family violence and sexual violence
- We want all children to live in safe homes, which is why we're continuing our investment towards eliminating family violence and sexual violence. Our first ever national strategy, Te Aorerekura, sees a shift towards primary prevention and community-led, whānau-centred approaches to help break intergenerational cycles of violence. This includes expanding community-led integrated responses to ensure the immediate safety of victims and children, and to work with perpetrators to prevent further violence. We are also ensuring that we build specialist and general workforce capability to ensure the right response every time, particularly around meeting the needs of tangata whenua, children and young people and diverse communities.
Changes in the education sector to ensure equity, affordability and availability
- Education transforms children's lives, but we know that some tamariki and rangatahi do not receive equitable support. This is why we're providing a funding increase for the Incredible Years Programmes to address the cost pressure of their delivery. These are targeted early intervention and capability-building programmes for caregivers and teachers to support young children's' social and emotional learning.
- We are also replacing the outdated decile system with the new Equity Index and significantly increasing funding allocated on that basis. Schools and kura will be better supported to mitigate the socioeconomic barriers faced by ākonga/learners, the wider school community and whānau.
- For some children in New Zealand, poverty and disadvantage can pose a barrier to regular school attendance. We're supporting the Creating Safe, Inclusive Schools Programme, providing targeted and intensive support for Māori and Pacific learners at risk of disengaging. This initiative supports attendance and engagement using kaupapa Māori approaches.