Universal child payment a 'dopey' idea - Key

The call for a universal payment for the first five years of a child's life has been described as "dopey" by the Prime Minister.

The recommendation came from a group set up by the Children's Commissioner.

Greens co-leader Metiria Turei asked John Key whether he supports the move.

He responded that it doesn't make sense when Ms Turei claims we live an in unequal society and the rich are getting richer.

"And now she's on her feet telling me 'give the rich families even more for their kids' - what a dopey idea that is.

Mr Key says 60 percent of people in poverty come from welfare-based households, and alongside other measures, reforming the welfare system will help solve some of the issues.

"We supported things like Working For Families and those sorts of programmes even in tough economic times, so there's clearly New Zealanders that are down on their luck and we need to try and give them support where we can."

And he's cool on the proposal to introduce in work tax credits for people who aren't working.

"We think that narrows the incentive for people to work, the whole design of the system was to encourage people into work and that's an important financial lever to do that."

However Mr Key is open to encouraging the private sector to do more improve the quality of rental homes.

Opposition leader David Shearer says child poverty is an absolute blight on our country.

"Forty percent of those kids are coming from households where there are parents working, now what does that tell you about the minimum wage and what we're being paid in New Zealand? It's an appalling indictment of the situation.

There are high hopes the new report into child poverty will gain Government backing in dealing with the issue.

The Children's Commissioner's report has recommended there be a warrant of fitness system for rental properties, as well as a universal child payment be introduced.

Otago University's Professor Richie Poulton contributed to the recommendations and says any perception that this is 'just another report' is sad.

"This brings the best of the evidence to bear on the issue, but it's very much geared to rolling your sleeves up and getting things done for the children. The fact that we've got 270,000 children living in poverty is a very uncomfortable thing for this country."

The report will now be put out for public comment before being given to government later this year.

And questions remain about just how much a universal child payment would cost, after a new report recommended it as an effective way of dealing with child poverty.

The report has today recommended a payment of around $150 per week for children under six.

One of the report's authors, Professor Jonathan Boston, says the payment would be of maximum value for the first year of the child's life, and become more targeted after that.

"Clearly introducing a universal child payment would involve hundreds of millions of dollars extra, on top of current levels of expenditure in that area. The exact cost would of course depend on the level at which it was set and the number of years for which it applies."

Meanwhile a Northland health promoter says having milk in schools is only a band aid solution to dealing with child poverty.

Fonterra introduced a pilot programme this year to provide free milk to primary schools in the region.

Dr Ngaire Rae says while it's a great start, it still doesn't address why poverty exists in the first place.

"Providing milk in schools, they are measures that will help, but what we also need to make sure is that we have a guaranteed minimum family income as well."

Dr Rae supports recommendations made in a new child poverty report and says the Government needs to start prioritising children.

And the Greens are backing the main recommendations made in a new report on child poverty.

The party agrees with the work done by the office of the Children's Commissioner and an expert advisory panel

Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei believes the universal child payment proposal and the changes to in work tax credits should be picked up.

"The report also recommends landlords have minimum standards for their rental housing. The Green Party has legislation to put that in place."

National leader of Baptist Churches, Reverend Craig Vernall says politicians need to take a multi-party approach to reducing child poverty.

"There needs to be some cross-party talks that allow them to pull together and work towards a solution that everybody can agree on. Otherwise child poverty, like a lot of other issues just become political footballs."

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