Youth suicide, struggling families highlighted in Salvation Army's State of the Nation report

Tuesday, 11 February 2020

After a decline, the youth suicide rate spiked significantly in 2019.

A significant spike in youth suicide is a growing problem that needs urgent action, the Salvation Army says.

The issue is just one of many highlighted in the The Salvation Army's just-released State of the Nation report.

The 13th report of its kind, named Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Huia Tangata Kotahi, is broken down into six categories.

It found there had been some recent progress in household incomes, employment, education and teen pregnancy.

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However, poverty, social housing demand, youth suicide and children at risk of harm remained of great concern.

Overall, its authors Ronji Tanielu, Paul Barber and Vincent Wijeysingha said if you looked at all 24 indicators covered in the report, most New Zealanders were doing well, but the small group of New Zealanders who weren't doing well, were 'doing really badly'.

The report showed the youth suicide rate leapt 'sharply' in the year to June 2019, driven largely by about a 50 per cent increase among 15-19-year-old males.

'During the year to 30 June 2019, 73 young people aged 15-19 years committed suicide, the highest number since 2012 when 80 people in this age group took their own lives,' the report said.

CHILDREN

At the end of 2019, the gender pay gap was an average of $3.78 between men and women.

The report found a 'significant' proportion of children and young people were not experiencing the life most Kiwis expect to be the acceptable minimum.

Nearly a quarter of all children in New Zealand live in households with low incomes, and their families are struggling to get by.

Latest statistics show serious assaults on children resulting in serious injury had increased by 40 per cent over the past four years.

On a positive note, teen pregnancy continues to fall, having been on a decline since 2008.

Family violence, violence in the home, and intimate partner violence continue to be serious issues, the report said.

'The evidence is that young people in this country are delaying becoming sexually active and using more effective contraceptive methods,' the report said.

WORK AND INCOME

The total number of people employed in New Zealand reached a record high of 2.66 million at the end of 2019, the report said.

Unemployment remains at a low level when compared to other OECD countries and is not likely to change anytime soon.

A new $320m budget package has been announced to deliver more support services to the one million New Zealanders dealing with domestic and sexual violence every year.

Despite there still being a gap, the report said the past two years had seen some progress in reducing the gender pay gap.

'At the end of 2019, the average ordinary-time wage for females was $30.73, while that of males was $34.51 – representing a gap of $3.78 per hour.'

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Family violence, violence in the home, and intimate partner violence continue to be serious issues, the report said.

'According to specialists, such violence includes physical, emotional and sexual violence, as well as controlling or coercive behaviour.'

There was a record number of 4,683 meth-related convictions in 2019.

However, the report said the number of imprisonments are down and there is some indication that more cases are being resolved at pre-charge or pre-trial stages.

But the proportion of Māori women in prison continues to be 'extremely high'.

SOCIAL HAZARDS

Convictions for meth-related use now dominates drug offences, with cannabis convictions on the decline.

The report said meth-related offences had been increasing since 2008 and there were a record number of 4,683 convictions in 2019.

It said it was difficult to determine why the patterns had emerged, but it was likely a combination of changing social attitudes towards cannabis, and the profitability of meth.

Problem gambling was also of concern, with more than $2.3 billion spent by New Zealanders in the year to June 2019.

HOUSING

Housing remains a concern, with affordability, suitability and location the main issues.

Renting across the country is stabilised in some places, but has increased in others, such as Wellington.

Low income families were really facing the challenge of rental pressure, author Ronji Tanielu said.

Renting a three-bedroom home in Kaikohe, in the Far North, had increased 13 per cent in one year and renting a three bedroom in Upper Hutt's Trentham had increased by 20 per cent in one year.

The median house price across the country was $629,000 at the end of 2019, the report said.

In Auckland alone, the median price was $890,000 – just ahead of $880,000 in 2018.

INEQUALITY

Inequality for Māori people was found to be a major issue throughout the report, its authors said.

It found Māori children were more than four times more likely to be taken into state care than non-Māori children, and the Māori imprisonment rate is six times higher than non-Māori.

However, it found the best signs of progress in reducing inequality for young Māori was in educational achievement and unemployment.

'The percentage of Māori leaving school with less than NCEA Level 1 reduced by a quarter between 2014 and 2018, faster than for non-Māori school leavers, so this area of educational inequality is improving.'