Children are bearing the brunt of austerity. From obesity to infant mortality, child health is affected by sustained under-investment. What can be done to reverse the decline?
Teens are more clued in to family finances than many people think.
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Over one million Canadian children live in poverty. Child poverty is a pernicious childhood adversity that has detrimental long-term impacts on health, development and well-being throughout life.
Izi (Kane Robinson) and Benji (Jediaiah Bannerman) in The Kitchen.
Netflix
Republicans and Democrats have committed to making this family-friendly government benefit a little more generous. Unless lawmakers act, it will get much smaller in 2026.
Susan St John, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Working for Families tax credits favour those in work, yet discourage them from working or earning more. But there is a cost-effective way to improve the system for those on welfare and low incomes.
Susan St John, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Both major parties are promising to increase payments for families ‘in work’. But the changes will only entrench the problems already faced by beneficiaries and the working poor.
The UK Labour Party used to radically advocate for common ownership. But as private wealth in Britain benefits from ever greater tax breaks, anti-inequality sentiment is waning.
Food insecurity can impact both a mother’s ability or decision to breastfeed, and also the ability to purchase baby formula.
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People who have experienced domestic violence can have trouble finding and keeping jobs because of physical injuries and their abusers’ efforts to sabotage their employment.
Kate C. Prickett, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Making further dents in child poverty will mean implementing bold support for those families being left behind. This week’s budget already feels like a lost opportunity.
The pandemic-era expansion of SNAP benefits ended in all U.S. states by March 2023.
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New Zealand is making some progress in its treatment of children and young people. But there is still a way to go to meet its obligations under international law.
Charities often promote the benefits of child sponsorship. However, the practice perpetuates damaging patterns of thinking.
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Child sponsorship is often billed as a significant way of improving children’s lives. However, sponsorship is based on narratives that fail to address the role of rich countries in global poverty.
Children are among waste pickers exposed to hazards while working at the Olusosun landfill. Photo by: Lionel Healing/AFP.
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