One in five children are living in households where putting food on the table is a struggle, according to a new report from the Ministry of Health.
It found that many parents were stressed and anxious about providing food, or were forced to rely on charities or emergency assistance, because of a lack of money.
The report said almost 20 percent of children aged 0 to 14 were living in households experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity.
That could mean families that could not afford to eat properly, ran out of food because of lack of money, ate less, had less variety in their diets, relied on others for food, or used food grants or food banks.
This is simply evil. There is no other way to describe it. And stopping it from happening is why government exists in New Zealand. Unfortunately, our "left-wing" government would rather stash money away to win the approval of bankers and rich pricks than perform the task it exists to do. The gap between its rhetoric and reality couldn't be any more yawning.