Will child poverty ever be eradicated?
Discover the complex causes and consequences of child poverty, and learn about the organisations committed to eradicating it in New Zealand and around the world.
Your Challenge
Come up with some definitions of child poverty and discover why it is such a persistent worldwide problem, even in wealthy countries.
Engage the wider community in identifying and finding solutions to child poverty in New Zealand.
Follow this Process
- Watch the video above.
- Discuss - Define child poverty. In what ways is it distinct from general poverty, and why is it seen as a more urgent problem? Compare New Zealand's child poverty problem with that of other countries. What support is available to our poorest children and is it enough?
- Brainstorm - How many manifestations of child poverty can you come up with, and which ones do you believe are particularly serious in New Zealand? Discuss the possible consequences of the various forms of child poverty on individual children and our society as a whole. Share your own stories and experiences if you feel comfortable doing so. Now ask yourselves, 'how could these problems be solved?' Record your ideas so that you can combine them later with your research results and contributions from the wider community.
- Research - Use the web to discover whether child poverty around the world is improving or getting worse, and the possible reasons. Is the same thing happening in New Zealand, and whose job should it be to alleviate it? Discover what strategies are commonly used by governments, charities and other organisations here and abroad to solve these problems, and capture the most inspiring success stories. Devise a way to generate new and innovative solutions yourselves, and involve the wider community in this, using paper, online, audio or video surveys to gather their suggestions. Can you or your community think of any solutions to child poverty in New Zealand that no one has yet thought of? Can ideas from your favourite global success stories be applied here in New Zealand?
- Summarise - prepare a report detailing your findings and present it to the school and wider community in any format you wish, even this website.
- Take action - decide your next step. How can you use your new-found knowledge to make a positive difference? Are there people in your community who are directly affected by this issue and if so, can you find a way to support them? Do you want to contribute your time or money to a certain organisation, or help educate others on this issue? There are many ways to raise awareness and take action on this issue either locally or on a global basis.
- Capture and share these outcomes using photo and/or video and post on this site to inspire others. Provide regular updates if this becomes an ongoing project.
Educator Notes:
Links to the New Zealand Curriculum:
Differentiation suggestions:
Useful links:
References and Acknowledgements:
Related links:
- Background reading - Key Competencies for the Future, Rosemary Hipkins, Rachel Bolstad, Sally Boyd, Sue McDowall, NZCER Press. This book has an interesting case study which describes the 'food swamp' as a wicked problem which might make useful background reading for educators who wish to explore this complex issue further.