Mitchell on why Maori must take control

Lindsay Mitchell writes:

There were 17,028 Maori babies born in 2024.

According to an official information response from the Ministry of Social Development, 5,997 were dependent on welfare by the end of the year. That’s 35.2 percent.

Most would have been born onto a benefit.

Of the 17,397 born in 2023, 7,737 were on a benefit by age two. That’s 44.5 percent.

The equivalent percentages for non-Maori babies are respectively 11.4 and 14.8 percent

These extraordinarily high Maori numbers aren’t due to unemployment – just one in ten of the Maori babies born last year became dependent on a Job Seeker benefit. Eighty percent have sole parents.

The future expected time on a benefit for sole parents is 17 years.

Growing up in homes where nobody works is bad for children. They are more exposed to transience, abuse and neglect, violence, poor educational outcomes, poor health outcomes and substance abuse.

Reducing the number of Maori babies born into households with no working adults would do 100 times more to reduce inequities in health, education, incomes and life expectancy than anything related to the Treaty of Waitangi.