What we can look forward to

I now have some official statistics from Sweden relating to children in state care. Unfortunately they only arrived this morning. Remember this is the country that has been held up as a child mecca since it banned corporal punishment in the home in 1979.

During 2005 around 20,300 children and young people were subjects of 24-hour measures. At November 1st 2005 around 15,200 children and young people were subjects of 24-hour measures

24-hour measures include care outside the home, immediate custody or a placement in the home of a designated caregiver, similar to a care and protection placement in NZ. Around 73 percent were in foster care.

Non-institutional measures - On November 1st 2005 around 28,500 children and young people were subjects of one or more of the reported non-institutional measures.

This group is similar to those in NZ who receive care and protection social work services but are not in placements.

How does NZ compare?

Compared to the first group CYF had 4,853 distinct clients in care and protection placements as at 30 June 2005. 80 percent were in foster care.

Compared to the second group CYF were providing care and protection social work services to 14,335 distinct clients.

Sweden has around 2.2 million 0-19 years-old. NZ has 1.17 million.

Sweden had 11,148 child and young people in foster care. NZ had 3,898.

In 2005 Sweden had 6.69 children and young people per 1,000 receiving 24-hour measures. NZ had 4.2 per 1,000 in care and protection placements.

Based on these figures we can expect more state intervention. And will the increased state intervention reduce child deaths from maltreatment?

Here is a 2005 excerpt from the British Journal of Social Work.

The available evidence suggests that Sweden has a low, though not uniquely low, incidence of child maltreatment deaths. Widely cited statistics suggesting that Sweden is in an entirely different league from other countries are, however, seriously misleading. Nor does the evidence really allow us to conclude that Sweden’s relative success in this area is attributable to the ban on corporal punishment. Other countries without a corporal punishment ban also have low or lower child maltreatment death rates; the figures that are commonly cited in any case pre-date Sweden’s corporal punishment ban and there are a number of other important variables, other than a ban on corporal punishment, that could account for international variations.

This is the last post I will do on the subject. The debate has been a glaring example of propaganda and misinformation and outright lies. And the majority of parliament bought it.