The NSW Council of Social Service says the benefits of reforms introduced by Bob Hawke in the 1980s are being eroded.
Gwen Rumbel grew up in a world in which brand-named groceries were an unobtainable luxury. She never got to choose her clothes because they were always second-hand, her school excursions required weeks of saving and money was a constant stress.
Her new friends come from suburbs where one in 20 children grew up in poverty. In the region surrounding Rumbel’s home town of Dungog, it’s more like one in five. In areas such as south-west Sydney, child poverty is twice as prevalent as it was when Hawke made those comments more than 35 years ago.Now, more than 15.5 per cent of children in NSW are growing up in homes where families struggle to pay rent or afford basic health care, where light and heating are sometimes cut because of unpaid bills, where meals are missed and parents rely on payday loans.The impact of financial stress in childhood can lead to health and employment struggles in later life.
In the south-west, inner south-west and Parramatta, poverty affects more than 20 per cent of children. The rate is far lower in the north, east and inner west of the city. On the northern beaches, it’s less than 5 per cent.
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