Lucy Lawless: Hungry children - the hidden toll
Written by: Lucy Lawless
NZ Herald 12 September 2014
If you don’t want your taxes to help feed poor kids, think again — we’re all already paying a big price
Social scientists and doctors from the Child Poverty Action Group are up in arms because more than a quarter of a million Kiwi children are living beneath the breadline.
Who are these kids? I can't see them from my suburb. And why the hell should my family's tax dollars be spent on people who can't or won't look after their own?
The concept of being my brother's keeper is totally out of fashion. When I was a kid we were always raising money for the "pagan babies", but we are now hardened to the plight of people we can't see or don't understand.
But here's the truth: we are already paying for the offspring of poverty.
Hungry children are sick children. Sick children make poor students who struggle to become productive members of society. Feeding children in schools is a smart strategy. More accomplished students will profit all New Zealand in the long run.