Poverty is no excuse for child abuse

Simon Collins has a piece in the NZ Herald today,

Asian youngsters are now more likely to suffer overcrowding and poverty-related illnesses than European children, a report has found.

The second annual Child Poverty Monitor, published by Children's Commissioner Dr Russell Wills today, shows the rate of poverty-related illnesses for Asian children has kept rising through and beyond the recent recession - in contrast to all other ethnic groups, which saw increased poverty-related illness rise in the recession but fall back since 2012.

Pacific and Maori young still have by far the highest rates of poverty-related illness, but the Maori rate dropped steeply from 58 hospital admissions for poverty-linked conditions for every 1000 kids in 2012 to 52 for every 1000 people last year. The Asian rate has almost doubled from 21 hospital admissions for every 1000 Asian children in 2000, and 29 in 2007 before the recession started, to 40 admissions for every 1000 children last year.

Yet their admission for injuries from assault or neglect and their mortality rates are still well below Maori and Pacific and trending down.So perhaps Asian/Indian families are simply accessing medical services better. Poverty certainly doesn't make them abuse or neglect their children.