Louise Upston: Child Poverty Reduction Minister on the Government's new strategy to support children in the first 2000 days

The Government's released a new child and youth strategy, with a focus on supporting children and their families in the first 2000 days.  

It aims to lift 17,000 children out of material hardship by 2027.  

2000 days is just over five years. 

Child Poverty Reduction Minister Louise Upston told Mike Hosking the Government needs to focus its efforts – if they attempt too many things, they won't achieve anything.  

She says this is a plan to work across government ministers' departments to get things done. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We've got the Child and Youth Strategy for the next
three years being launched this morning. Now we've got three
priorities here is supporting families in the first two thousand days,
reducing hardship and preventing harm. So what's all that means
our child poverty reduction? Minister Louise Upstoon with us, good morning,
Good morning might So the three priorities you talk of,
aren't we already doing this?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, what this does is actually allows us to combine
our efforts across government and focus on the things that matter.
If I want to ensure that we're improving the lives
of young New Zealanders and this is a government that's
committed to delivering, so we'll focus on supporting children and
their families in the first two thousand days. Reducing child
material hardship will be our focus, and also preventing harm

(00:43):
against children.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
How much of it's about money and what you literally
tangibly can do versus about skills, versus about willingness, and
no matter what you do, some people can't be helped.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well, there's a couple of things in that. The first
is the government needs to focus its efforts. If we
try to attempt too many things, we won't achieve anything.
So what this is doing is bringing a number of
ministers together and government departments and having a plan to
work across departments to get things done and to actually
focus our efforts where it matters the most. We do

(01:16):
know that we have to focus our investment where it
will make the biggest difference, and that's why we've prioritized
these three areas.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
How much of it's your specific area because one of
the things you sprew because tax cuts now, tax cuts
are for most people, it's got nothing to do with
whether a kid does well in the first two thousand days.
How much of what you're doing is specific versus just
generalized government.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Well, there's what we've selected in the strategy is five
child poverty related indicators. So they're on school achievement, school attendance,
housing affordability, material hardship, and the number of children and
benefit dependent households. So they're pretty clear areas of focus

(02:00):
that the government knows we can and will make a difference.
And that's how we improve the lives of the young.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
New Zealanders without making it too political. Labor of course,
had a good crack at the old child poverty thing,
and we had a special minister for that and they,
as far as I can work out, they made next
to no progress at all. Now you could argue that's
because they were useless. Have you tangibly and can you
point to material progress?

Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yes? Well, if I look at what we managed to
achieve in the last National government, we lifted fifty six
thousand children out of material hardship. The years of the
Labor government increased it by four than one hundred. That's
why we have set a target for reducing material hardship.
We know what we need to do to do that.

(02:45):
It's around family boost it's around tax relief, helping families
out of emergency housing, all practical, tangible things that we
know will make a difference in the lives of children.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Will you be able to go to the next election
in twenty six with the campaign that, at least in
parts says here's what we did, here's how it's improved.
You want more of.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
This absolutely, and that's why we have simplified it. The
Child and Youth Strategy launched today is much simpler. We've
got a clear focus and we've got a simpler method
of measuring whether or not we have achieved what we
set out to achieve. I think that's what New Zealand
is good to see.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
All right, go well with it. Louise Upston, child poverty
Reduction Minister. For more from the mic Asking Breakfast, listen
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