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Ardern adamant child wellbeing improving despite damning report - 'We are making a difference'

September 7, 2020

Her comments come after a damning UNICEF report ranked New Zealand near the bottom of wealthy counties for wellbeing of children.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is adamant child wellbeing has improved in New Zealand despite a damning report comparing the nation to other wealthy countries.

Of the 41 OECD and European Union countries surveyed, a UNICEF report found New Zealand ranked 35th in overall child wellbeing outcomes.

The UN Children's Fund rankings show New Zealand's youth suicide rates are the second highest in the developed world, with 14.9 deaths per 100,000 adolescents, and only 64 per cent of 15-year-olds have basic reading and maths skills.

The rankings also show too many children and young people in New Zealand are overweight and obese.

Aotearoa was ranked 35 out of 41 countries for child well-being outcomes.

On TVNZ1's Breakfast this morning, Ardern also pushed back on the report being a reflection on the Government's performance, saying it was instead due to a lag in data.

"The one thing I will say on that particular report, though, it was historic data, for instance the data on youth suicide was from memory 2013 or 14 and that's the same across the board so none of the data actually took into account the policies of this current Government," she said.

"On child poverty we have actually gone from a worsening situation to having improved seven out of the nine child poverty indicators through the initiatives as a Government, including increases to the family tax credit, the introduction of the best start payment, the winter energy payment and of course we've also recently increased main benefit rates.

"All of that will make a difference, we just haven't seen it in the most recent reports."

With 70,000 more children expected to plunge into poverty as a result of the pandemic.

However, on TVNZ1's Breakfast today host Scotty Stevenson asked: "Are our kids better of after three years of this Government?"

"Yes, yes they are," Ardern responded.

"You can absolutely guarantee to us that we will not be 35th out of 41 again in this kind of report?" Stevenson questioned.

"I can tell you they are better off, the last survey data we go got through said that 18,000 children had been lifted out of poverty and that seven out of nine of those indicators had improved," Ardern said.

"But I can only guarantee so much. I still don't really know why UNICEF used old, for instance suicide data, so I don't want to make guarantees on behalf of other reports but I can say that we are making a difference."

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