Max Rashbrooke

The drive to tackle child poverty has to be re-energised. National's plan is, broadly speaking, to make things no worse than they are now. And currently most people are just trying to survive themselves. But as the economy recovers, I hope that concern and empathy will too.

Obviously some allowance has to be made for the pandemic, but the data show child poverty fell or plateaued 2020-22. It was the failure to support the poorest families through the cost of living crisis that really created the problems.

Today's statistics show 12-18% of children – between one in eight and one in five – live in poverty. This is 3-4x higher than in the best performing countries, so it is entirely avoidable. It also costs us immensely in talent wasted and $bns in costs. stats.govt.nz/information-re…

@danwallacenz Nope: it got a 2% increase last year when inflation was still 3-4%. You might be thinking of benefits, which are indexed to inflation under National (meaning they increase more slowly than under Labour, when they were indexed to wages).

@MaxRashbrooke I thought the minimum wage is now indexed to inflation. Am I mistaken?

Quick PSA about the child poverty stats to be released tomorrow. Although the data will be labelled '2023-24', they will actually represent the last reading on Labour's record. 1/

@Tauranga2020 I'd be surprised if there are any green shoots! But yes, paying attention always wise.

@MaxRashbrooke It take it means any "green shoots" (if that's the case) will be something National will try to take credit for & the media will let them? So we need to pay attention? I'm speaking as someone having heard them heap all negative framing on the previous govt - that wldn't stack up

More important than the attribution, of course, are the actual numbers and the situation for the country's most vulnerable children. But it is also important to understand who is responsible for what. 5/5

It's worth recalling that this is the same method by which the '2017-18' data – when child poverty was particularly high – was (rightly) attributed to the previous National administration, rather than Jacinda Ardern's first year. It's just a matter of being consistent. 4/

Today, as the world grapples with the rise of authoritarian populism and extremism, misinformation, and a rising tolerance for politicised violence, National is gutting the Marsden Fund of funding for scientific and social research to provide tools to address these challenges

@HenryLockhart14 Fair question but my column specifically mentions only the curriculum principles, which have Māori history as the "foundational" history of NZ but don't seem to mention Pākehā history except as "colonisation". One cd argue that's just the principles but surely principles matter.

@MaxRashbrooke Or what you would see as a more balanced approach? Common topics for year 9-10 social studies include early Māori history, nz wars + international wars, migration & culture, & social/environmental issues & movements often relating to crown-Māori disputes/Tiriti breaches

If you’re looking for bright spots in current politics, my weekend column argues that Erica Stanford’s education reforms are one such – and are likely to endure, as they continue a direction Labour had tentatively trod. 1/ thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360503…

Obviously, it's complex, and some will disagree w/ me. But many experts support the basic direction of travel; Stanford's reforms don't feel like a purely partisan project. And we need more bipartisan successes here (alongside robust contestation across political viewpoints). 5/5

Caveats include: this applies only to Stanford’s reforms, as the evidence suggests Seymour’s charter schools, etc. will be an expensive failure; and poverty remains the biggest driver of under-achievement. But still: some positives. 4/