That there is a problem of children growing up in poverty is unquestioned.
But most of those who are calling for action on it are directing their pleas at the government to address the symptoms.
Lindsay Mitchell points out that most fail to acknowledge the cause:
. . . “Wilson and Stoughton (2009) report that about 18 percent of New Zealand children are born to a parent on a main benefit (about 13 percent are born to a parent on the DPB). . . .”
Most people are on a benefit temporarily and will join or return to the workforce as soon as they can.
Some people will never be able to support themselves.
The problem is people who could work who don’t, not because they can’t but because they won’t.
The government’s welfare reforms are aimed at these people for their own sakes and that of the society and the economy. Yet among the strongest opponents of the reforms are the people who want action on poverty.
They are short-changing the people on whose behalf they’re purporting to advocate if they want relief of the symptoms without accepting the need to address the causes.
