Child poverty reaching 'crisis levels' in NZ

from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation

By New Zealand correspondent Kerri Ritchie

Doctors in New Zealand say the level of child neglect has hit crisis point with a new report claiming 185,000 children are living in poverty.

The report was released by the Child Poverty Action Group, an independent charity, which believes one in five New Zealand children are living in poverty.

The report states that between 2000 and 2004 the number of children facing hardship jumped by a third to 26 per cent.

Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Auckland, Dr Innes Asher, says it is a crisis.

"We now have double the rates of admissions to hospital for children with preventable diseases compared to the 1980s," Dr Asher said.

"It's a shocking situation."

Dr Asher says children are not a priority in New Zealand and their basic needs are often ignored.