Children

UnitedFuture not only places children and parents firmly at the centre of all our policy and planning – we exist as a Party to keep Government focused on the family in all its shapes and sizes. Our main principle is that we believe that investing in those on whom children rely for their well-being is key – namely parents.

It is UnitedFuture policy to:

  • Retain the Families Commission and Children’s Commissioner
  • UnitedFuture would also introduce income splitting for couples with dependent children. Each partner is taxed as if they had earned 50% of the household income, which would result in a significant reduction in income tax. It attributes equal value to the different roles each parent plays, whereas our current tax system does not recognise the stay-at-home parent's contribution.The savings in income tax for couples with children would be significant, for example:
  1. If Partner A was earning $60,000p.a. and Partner B was working part-time for $10,000p.a. the annual saving would be $1,780.
  2. If Partner A was earning $80,000 and Partner B chose to stay at home to raise the children full-time, the annual saving would be $5,280.
  3. If Partner A was earning $70,000 and Partner B worked part-time while the children were at school, for $20,000p.a the annual saving would be $2,750.
  • Extend paid Parental leave to 13 months, as recommeded by the Families Commission.
  • Extend one-stop shop family service centres to meet community needs in a coherent and family-friendly way. A one-stop family service centre would offer parents information on opportunities that exist for them and their children. Centres would provide services demanded by the community, such as:
    • health checks
    • early childhood education and care options
    • relationship counselling
    • Working for Families entitlements, other benefit information and budget advice
    • parent education opportunities and support.
  • Regularly update the child and youth health indicators and ensure a focus to improving these outcomes where a need is identified
  • Support the ongoing funding and development of the longitudinal programme, "Growing Up in New Zealand" and the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study and the Christchurch Health and Development Study.
  • Focus on increasing affordable housing for families with children
  • Take all necessary steps to safeguard children from harmful internet material, working with the Internet Safety Group and the industry to ensure that filtering software and other appropriate safety measures, including effective Codes of Practice, are adopted.

Children with Disabilities

It is UnitedFuture policy to:

UnitedFuture understands that parenting children and young people with disabilities brings many strains and stresses, these are complex areas but we will:

  • Establish and fund a Disability Commission to be accountable for the full implementation of the disability Strategy;
  • Introduce a Caregivers Allowance for those currently providing unpaid support, such as Grandparents rasing Grandchildren;
  • Ensure that sufficient and appropriate respite care is available in every region;
  • Establish advocacy services so that parents have more energy to give to parenting rather than chasing entitlements;
  • Address workforce planning, pay rates and qualification issues for people working in this sector;
  • Increase Ongoing and Reviewable Resourcing Schemes (ORRS) funding to schools by 10% and ensure that it is not pruned if a student makes academic progress but remains disabled.
  • Allow schools to transfer unused ORRS funding in a particular year to other students within the school.

Supporting parents supporting children 

It is UnitedFuture policy to:

  • Extend paid Parental leave to 13 months, as recommeded by the Families Commission.
  • Improve access to parenting programmes for a wider range of parents.
  • Provide subsidies to parent educators, relationship counsellors and relationship course providers to reduce cost and improve access for clients
  • Ensure that years 7 – 13 at school take an integrated approach to life skills by establishing it as a separate subject, including segments on career planning, budgeting advice, civic education and parenting skills.
  • Recognise the imperative for fathers to bond with their newborns by giving fathers an entitlement to paid parental leave.
  • Support flexible working hours.
  • Change family law to a presumption of shared care in custody disputes, to recognise the right and best interests of the child to continue his/her relationship with both parents following separation.

Child Health Issues

  • Fund Plunketline, separate to funding for Healthline.
  • Target infant health by concentrating on the appropriate support for parents before and after birth and ensuring high-quality extended care and support, including home visits, by lead maternity carers and Plunket.
  • Treat child obesity as a parenting issue and use parent education as the first line of attack to reduce obesity rates.
  • Supplement the work of social workers in schools with health clinics where appropriate.
  • Improve dental services to Primary and Secondary school age children by:
    1. increasing the number of dental therapists trained;
    2. ensuring DHBs secure sufficient contracts with local dentists for the provision of services to secondary students and additional services to Primary age students;
    3. expanding the use of mobile  dental clinics.