Vol. 16 No. 1 (2020): Focus On Family Wellbeing
In October 2017, the Labour party formed a coalition government with a mandate to address child poverty and with aspirations to make New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child. Towards this aim, the ensuing Child Poverty Reduction Act (2018) legislated that current and future governments set child poverty rate targets and report on their progress, and a corresponding amendment to the Children’s Act (2014) required governments to devise and publish periodic child wellbeing strategies. The articles in this special issue, while heavily focused on some of the most vulnerable tamariki in Aotearoa New Zealand, highlight the centrality of family and whanau wellbeing in stemming the systemic inequities in child poverty and state care. Supporting children involves shifting the public and policy discourse in ways that recognises the primacy of family wellbeing.
