15-05-2025
'More needs to be done' to reverse dire well-being ranking
Minister for Social Development and Employment Louise Upston says the government is committed to doing the work needed to improve the lives of rangatahi.
Photo:
123RF
Warning: This story discusses suicide.
Newly released ranking from UNICEF revealed New Zealand is one of the
worst for rangatahi mental health
and wellbeing, timely with Budget day 2025.
The latest UNICEF Innocenti Report Card 19:
Fragile Gains - Child Wellbeing at Risk in an Unpredictable World
ranked New Zealand 32nd out of 36 countries for overall child wellbeing.
It ranked Aotearoa last place for child and youth mental health.
The report card - published a week before Budget day - is a reflection of "systems are valuing the wrong things", Wellbeing Economy Alliance director Gareth Hughes noted.
"This ranking should be a wake-up call for all of our elected representatives, but we also need to remember these aren't just rankings, these are real people.
"They're reflective of the values that we're expressing collectively. These aren't automatic outcomes, these are the result of policy choices and we can make better policy choices."
Hughes hoped the budget would place an emphasis on child wellbeing.
"We all hear in our day-to-day lives that young people are struggling.
"They struggle when they compare themselves to their parents' generations and some of the opportunities they might've had, but also they're struggling with bullying."
Wellbeing Economy Alliance director Gareth Hughes.
Photo:
©VNP / Phil Smith
Report card 19 revealed that before Covid, Aotearoa youth suicide rate was the second highest in the world, now, after Covid it is the highest.
"We've known for many years about our dire youth suicide statistics, and this report is just another reminder for too many young people - we're seeing them take a terrible action as a result of the despair they're seeing in their lives."
Alongside the ranking, the number of children living in poverty grew from 144,100 in 2023 to 156,600, according to StatsNZ.
Hughes said those statistics were worsening in Aotearoa.
"It's even higher rates for Māori, Pasifika, and disabled Kiwis. We need to make sure that we're living our values, which is, I believe, we're a country that wants to see every young person with great opportunities and a chance at success.
"We need to look at the wider systemic causes - why young people are struggling in modern Aotearoa?"
Chief Children's Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad said the rankings showed investment in children and young people was urgently needed to support child and youth mental health, including suicide prevention measures, and to better support the prevention of bullying in schools and communities.
"This is necessary to deliver on the government's own Child and Youth Strategy to make New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child," she said.
"It's devastating that among other high-income countries, we reported the highest youth suicide rate. We also know that attempted suicide rates for rangatahi Māori, Rainbow children and young people and disabled children are higher."
Minister for Social Development and Employment Louise Upston.
Photo:
RNZ / Reece Baker
Minister for Social Development and Employment Louise Upston recognised more work needed to be done to improve the lives of rangatahi, which she said, the government was committed to doing.
"The Child and Youth Strategy sets out our plan to improve the lives of young Kiwis by creating social and economic prosperity - something that will benefit New Zealand's current and future generations.
"Our strategy aligns with many of the recommendations made by Innocenti such as those focused on improving child mental and physical health, and ensuring young New Zealanders are well supported to achieve core proficiencies in reading, writing and maths."
It was pointed out to RNZ by the ministers office that New Zealand ranked 35th in September 2020, which is the next most recent Innocenti report.
"We are committed to giving New Zealanders more opportunities to get ahead, including investing in children and young people to ensure they experience a good life."
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
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