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There were 17,028 Māori 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 per cent.
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 per cent.
The equivalent percentages for non-Māori babies are respectively 11.4 and 14.8 per cent.
These extraordinarily high Māori numbers aren’t due to unemployment – just one in 10 of the Māori babies born last year became dependent on a Job Seeker benefit. Eighty per cent 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.
This is an entrenched pattern of behaviour for too many Māori.
It lies at the heart of all of the downstream negative statistics which we are then told to believe are caused by colonisation and racism.
Come on. Non-Māori might feel aggrieved by this finger pointing but they are not the ones who are hurt and damaged by it.
Māori children are.
They are the real victims in this decades-long mess. Yes, too many went on to suffer in state care but why were they there? Who failed them initially?
Probably my opinion will be labelled racist and beneficiary bashing but name calling won’t solve anything. Not for the children.
Children need stability, routine, security, and a mother and a father they can rely on.
Welfare has robbed too many of these vital necessities.
It isn’t the rest of New Zealand, the government, the public service, the Waitangi Tribunal, charities or academics who can fix this problem.
It is Māori themselves. And to not say so is a cop out.
Sources
https://infoshare.stats.govt.nz/ViewTable.aspx?pxID=f038b7c1-b055-45f7-8056-ae4b3c56abe1
This article was originally published on the author’s blog.
