1000 days to get it right for every child Presentation to the Wellington Health Economics Group

Why do children matter?  Citizens with inherent rights  First 1000 days/ 3 years of life  Vulnerability  Return on investment vs cost of getting it wrong  Tomorrow’s parents, employees and community leaders

Why do children matter?  Children will comprise a smaller proportion of the population in the future, decreasing from 23.0 percent in 1996 to 15.5 percent in 2051  In 11 years, for the first time ever we’ll have more people over 65 than children under 14  By the year 2051, over half (54.7 percent) will be of either Māori or Pasifika ethnicity

Why do children matter? “The general socio-economic milieu within which children are raised has far- reaching consequences for their health and development.” - Gluckman et al 2011

How are we doing?  OECD ranking – 28 out of 30  Rheumatic fever at 14 times the OECD average  22 percent (230,000) in poverty and those most likely to be in poverty are the youngest children (0-4 years) – link to poor outcomes  Over 13,000 children are admitted to hospital with conditions that could have been avoided  About 160,000 children are considered vulnerable at any one time and there are around 21,000 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect every year

How are we doing?  More than 47,000 children live in homes with family violence  30,000 students truant each day  Low public investment and political invisibility of children - we spend 5 times as much on people in their last 2 years of life as we spend on children in their first 5 years of life

How are we doing?  Political parties developing policies  High public concern about child abuse  Growing awareness of children in poverty  Green Paper - White Paper  Select Committees  Ministerial Committee on Poverty  No cross-party agreements

What do children say? “My message is that the government should put the prices down on things like food and living supplies, and fruit and vegetables so that we can all live healthier lives, and put the cost down on school fees so that we can all have a good education not just the rich.” “Kids should get school lunches or school fruit.”

What do children say? “I think that the Government should honestly pay more attention to children, because the children are the future of NZ basically, and if the children of NZ are not getting treated as they should, obviously in the future then they won’t be how you want them…” “Free medical care for under 16’s.”

What do children say? Of 1659 children, 1117 said NZ should have a Children’s Action Plan that helps make sure children are healthy, safe, loved and cared for and do well at school. (Callers to 0800 What’s Up)

The ‘1000 days’ campaign  The economic case for more effective investment (at least $2bn child maltreatment, $6bn poor outcomes from poverty)  Play your part – wheel of action  The Netherlands Study  The parliamentary term  ECC- BusinessNZ discussion series - 10 May and 12 July

What do we need?  Public participation and political action  A strong economy  Liveable incomes  Expansion of free healthcare for under 6s  Accessible, quality, early childhood care and education  Affordable, healthy, housing  Targets and a plan to improve all outcomes for children

What do we need?  Monitoring of child and youth health  Stronger, connected communities  Support for parents - and parents linked into their children’s education  A budgetary review – efficacy and equity- increased and more effective public investment  Child impact reporting and policies that meet our obligations under the UNCROC – visibility and voice

Who’s looking out for me?

Play your part!  Join Every Child Counts  Write to MPs and newspapers  Attend the Te Papa events  Spread the word … 1000 days to get it right for every child