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Post by Kiwi Frontline on Nov 30, 2016 5:29:55 GMT 12
2014 New Zealand Statistics report, reveals that 40 percent of Maori mothers, are unpartnered. This has a direct bearing on child poverty.
The official source of child poverty statistics is the Household Incomes Report published by the Ministry of Social Development. It finds:
…the poverty rate for children in sole-parent families living on their own is high at 60%…the poverty rate for children in two-parent families is much lower at 14%…
Is there some systemic discriminatory force that prevents Maori and Pacific Island parents from forming stable partnerships?
There is validity to the theory that welfare benefits have undermined marriage. If the state is prepared to financially replace fathers, especially low income fathers, then there will be inevitable repercussions.
When the universal, non-means-tested family benefit – paid directly to mothers – was introduced in the 1940s, Maori marriage rates climbed. Only married mothers qualified to receive them.
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