Youth and Poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand

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Youth and Poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand
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You will listen and listen again,but not
understandlook and look again, but not
perceive.For the heart of this nation has grown
coarse,their ears are dull of hearing, and they
have shut their eyes,for fear they should see
with their eyes,hear with their ears,understand
with their heart, and be healed by me.Matthew
1314-15
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I think we are reluctant to admit that poverty is
an issue for Aotearoa. People feel like poverty
on international aid TV ads is the real
poverty as long as were not Africa-poor, then
were doing ok. Ive seen people freezing
because they cant afford power or starving
because all they eat is instant noodles, or sick
because they couldnt go to the doctor before
things got quite bad, or constantly fearing
eviction. Unless we are willing to name
poverty as a real issue for our people, we cant
even begin to create solutions, a different way,
a better way. Nat Hornyak, LOGOS
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What is poverty? In a broad sense, that
powerlessness which prevents the integral
development of a person, a society, a nation.
Poverty is a socio-economic reality which not
only affects ones environment and resources but
also has strong psychological impact lack of
self-esteem and inability to cope with life, and
the resulting despair and dependencies on drugs
and alcohol. Bishop Remi de Roo (Victoria,
Canada), Cries of Victims Voice of God, 1986
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The benefits of economic growth have not been
shared by all. Despite a decades social
investment, the governments statistics indicate
that living standards have not improved for the
poorest New Zealanders.New Zealand Catholic
Bishops, Poverty in an Affluent Society,
2008Wherever there are people in need of food
and drink, clothing, housing, medicine,
employment, education wherever people lack the
facilities necessary for living a truly human
life or are afflicted with serious distress or
illness or suffer exile or imprisonment there
Christian love should seek them out and find
them.Second Vatican Council, Apostolate of the
Laity, 1965What do you think poverty is like
in Aotearoa New Zealand?
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• In Aotearoa New Zealand
• 15 of adults have low living standards
• 8 live in severe hardship
• 7 live in significant hardship
• 50 are European, 23 Maori, 17 Pacific
  peoples
• 54 have dependent children
• 81 had disposable incomes (after housing) of
  less than 20,000
• Being a benefit recipient, Maori or Pacific,
  working in unskilled occupations, being a housing
  NZ tennant and having few assets all increased
  the likelihood of experiencing severe or
  significant poverty.
• In what ways might this poverty affect young
  people?

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HealthWhen I was young I was sick a lot. I had
all the allergies. I was always in and out of
hospital with asthma. We had a couple of
families living in our house in the City Council
Flats six rooms. There was no heating and it
was really cold in the winter. I didnt know
about heaters until I went to school. Heat would
have cost money and it was probably a safety
thing too with all those people in the house.
Young New ZealanderNew Zealand children have
higher rates of preventable illness and deaths
from injuries than children in almost any other
OECD countryThe single most important
determinant of health is income. A child growing
up in poverty is three times more likely to be
sick than a child growing up in a higher income
household. Poor nutrition, a stressful
environment and substandard housing are factors
that diminish a childs ability to fight
infection. Child Poverty Action Group, Left
Behind, 2008
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Good health is a wonderful gift. Basic, adequate
health care is a fundamental human right. Not
many of us can expect to live our entire lives in
good health, no matter what our backgrounds. But
while some can afford the medical care they need,
others miss out on crucial treatment. Bishop
Owen Dolan, in Health, a Social Justice
Perspective Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, 1999
What things would have to change to improve the
health of young people?
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Housing Low income families increasingly unable
to meet day-to-day expenses are often doubling up
in the cheapest accommodation available, often
state housing. Transience is a significant
problem for the many thousands of low-income
families in private rental accommodation, and has
high costs for childrens socialization,
education and health. Child Poverty Action
Group, Left Behind, 2008
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Poverty affects peoples self esteem. It causes
deep shame. The hardest thing is for a family to
have to live in someone elses garage or spare
bedroom. They would have come from a good home in
Samoa or elsewhere. It causes anxiety for young
people because they hear and see what is going on
in the house. It might have gone ok for the
first week, but then tensions grow between the
host family and the migrant family. Bickering
starts over the small things, maybe over use of
hot water. The migrant family tries not to be in
the way. They try not to put the host family
out. There is a real sense that they are a
nuisance. It is a hard thing for a young person
to see their parents undermined by others. Del
Soti, Auckland Regional Youth Coodinator, St
Vincent de Paul Shelter is one of our most
fundamental needs. The dignity of each person
requires that they live in an environment which
provides stability and a sense of belonging.
Lack of secure, adequate housing undermines
family and personal stability and causes physical
and mental illness. New Zealand Catholic
Bishops Conference, Housing, 1983 What do
you think is adequate housing for yourself and
others?
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Family and Community
Poverty caused Mom and Dad to be stressing out at
home. We were worried and scared because Dad had
a short fuse. We also knew Dad never had time
for us. Its the same for the people I work with.
The Dads not home because hes working or is
drinking with his mates. Kids dont like their
dads drinking because it affects their dads
behaviour at home. Young New Zealander
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For youth in gangs, their reality is not having
food to eat. They may come from broken or
dysfunctional families which they see as the
norm. Exposure to gangs, drugs, alcohol and
family violence is prevalent. They become used
to not living in a safe environment. Coming from
a place where basic needs like food, shelter,
family, community arent met, the gangs offer
that. Sam Drumm, Edmund Rice
Justice Poverty is often the companion of
hunger, disease, family stress, domestic
violence, alienation, drug addiction and
hopelessness. Within New Zealand a growing
number of disenfranchised families are emerging,
shut out of the economic mainstream and deprived
of its major benefits. New Zealand Catholic
Bishops Conference, A Consistent Ethic of
Life Te Kahu-o-te-Ora, 1997 What makes a good
family environment?
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Education
Because I was sick a lot, I missed a lot of
school, especially early in primary school. I
struggled with reading and writingand that
affected my confidence. At college you had to
put up your hand in order to learn. At home
you had to sit down, shut up and listen. Most of
the teachers took from the way I was that I
didnt want to learn. Only one or two realised
that I actually did. Young New Zealander
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Young people from poor backgrounds give up
quickly when they dont understand something at
school very reluctant to ask for help. They
have not grown up with a normal daily rhythm
get up, shower, have breakfast, go to school,
come home, do homework, have tea, relax Young
people who live in poverty also often live with
violence and ugliness. If someone has a bad
night at home, his/her mind and heart will be
totally unable to cope with ordinary
relationships or schoolwork in the next
days. Judith McGinley OP, Challenge
2000 Disparities in educational achievement are
a reflection of wider socio-economic disparities
in society Everyone has a right not to be shut
out from participating in those institutions
necessary for human fulfillment, such as work,
education and political participation. Caritas
Aotearoa New Zealand, Look and look again,
2008 What kinds of things affect achievement at
school?
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Working and Employment
The unemployment rate for 15-24 year olds 9.6
in 2006 has, in every year, been greater than
that for older age groups 3.8 overall in 2006
for 15 because those with fewer skills and less
experience take longer to find suitable
employment. MSD, The Social Report 2007
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At one of my previous jobs I was working almost
every lunchtime at my school canteen and I fell
sick because of stress and being tired so I had
to go to hospital. Iwasnt really breaking
during school, ie I never had time to eat or
rest. Food Industry worker, age 15, Caritas
Aotearoa New Zealand, Protecting Children at
Work, 2003 The United Nations Committee on the
Rights of the Child repeated at several points
its concern that New Zealand review and
strengthen legislation protecting those under the
age of 18 who are employedThe Committee is
concerned that the protection of persons under 18
in employment does not fully conform to the
principles and provisions of the Convention UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child. Caritas
Aotearoa New Zealand, Delivering the Goods,
2007 What could be done to better protect young
workers?
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Living the Hope - Being the Change
Solutions to poverty require both personal and
structural responsesWe need to constantly engage
at all ends of the spectrum responding to the
immediate needs of those in hardship, and at the
same time advocating for fair and just social
policies. New Zealand Catholic Bishops, Poverty
in an Affluent Society, 2008
July 2008 Dear Prime Minister, We are
writing out of concern for the poor in our
country. Our group has done some research in
this area. We found that while most people
in Aotearoa New Zealand have done well in past
years, our poorest citizens have not fared very
well. The Working for Families programme
and the rise in the minimum wage may have helped
poorer working families. But the families of
adults on benefits are still often living in poor
housing, relying on food banks, and suffering
from
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I would love to see the government and people of
this country invest as much money, passion and
emotion in our young people as we do in our
sporting cups (or lack of them!). It would be
great if social policy was matched with the
necessary funding to the frontline I wish that
we would, as a people, do away with our
adversarial and oppositional behaviour. What if
we could treat each other with respect and
acceptance and a spirit of trust and
reconciliation? Kitty McKinley, Challenge 2000
Living the Hope Being the Change
The Gospel is demanding. We are always in need
of conversion, a change of heartwe seeksecurity
in material things, in power, in indifference, in
popularity, in pleasure In order to remain
truly a community of Jesus disciples, we will
have to say no to certain aspects of our
culture, to certain trends and ways of acting
that are opposed to a life of faith, love and
justice. US Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice
for All, 1986 What aspects of our culture might
change if we were true disciples?
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To be sure, Christians do not openly support
Blessed are the greedy. Nonetheless, that is
the way most of us live. Why? Quite simply,
because we are members of a society, now a
worldwide one, that accepts, almost without
question, an economic theory that supports
insatiable greed on the part of
individuals. Sallie McFague, Gods Household
Subverting Greed Religious Perspectives on the
Global Economy, 2002
The Church in New Zealand will need to be
liberated and to discover a new spirituality one
which enters into the suffering of the oppressed
and is sufficiently liberated from society to be
critical of it in a radical way. Instead of
being a middle class religion with middle class
ideas of autonomy, property and success, and
serving the security needs of the dominant
culture, the church needs to become the church
of Jesus sharing the insecurity of the powerless
in society. Gerald Fitzgerald, in Christ in the
Culture of Aotearoa-New Zealand by Helen Bergin
OP, 1990
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our Catholic tradition has long taught that
poverty to be embraced as a voluntary freeing
of ourselves from material possessions becomes
an evil when it is forced on people through
oppression or disadvantage. New Zealand Catholic
Bishops Conference, Poverty in an Affluent
Society, 2008
Through individual acts of waste and selfishness
we have built a selfish society, characterized by
a desire for short term gain and disregard for
the needs of others. Caritas Aotearoa New
Zealand Renew the Face of the Earth, 2006
How does our society promote greed? How can we
say no to it?
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Luke tells the story of the rich man who dressed
and ate very well every day. At his gate lay a
poor sick man named Lazarus, who was not even
given the scraps from the rich mans table.
After they both died, it was Lazarus who was
comforted and the rich man who was tormented.
There was also a rich young man, who obeyed
the commandments all his life. One day he asked
Jesus what else he should do to have eternal
life, and Jesus said, There is still one thing
you lack. Sell all that you own and distribute
the money to the poor, and you will have treasure
in heaven then come, follow me. But when he
heard this he was filled with sadness, for he was
very rich.How might our wealth or our poverty
keep us from living life to the full, as Jesus
hoped we would?
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The gospels teach us that poverty is having too
much or too little of this earths resources.
Either way we become prisoners to our material
wants and have our choices restricted. Whether
we are Lazarus or the rich young man our material
condition will limit our growth. I thank you,
God, for teaching me to recognise where my true
values lie. Joy Cowley, from Tzedekah
(Justice), Psalms Down-Under
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Acknowledgements
Interviewees, named and unnamed Research and
design Mary Betz, Caritas Aotearoa New
Zealand Original artwork Ben
Caldwell Photos LOGOS Mary Betz
St Vinnies Youth, Auckland Quotes from
McFague Fitzgerald David Tutty