Putting Children at the Centre: Making policy as if children mattered

Abstract

What do we mean when we say we want to put children at the centre of policy? What are the moral justifications for this approach? Has it become harder for us to understand this concept, when in practice paid work has been at the centre? In part confusion arises because the unpaid work of caring for children is invisible until it is marketized. In turn, the underlying problem is that we have forgotten our traditions of egalitarianism and adopted a powerful mindset that is proving to be paralyzing. Exploring New Zealand family policies such as paid parental leave (PPL), early childhood education, child tax credits (CTC) suggests that there is much room for improvement if the needs of children are to come first. But first and foremost we must have a very different, child-centric, colour-blind, non-judgmental change of heart.

Keywords:

• child poverty
• evaluation
• incentives
• paid parental leave
• child tax credits
• working for families

Acknowledgements

This article is based on a paper prepared for the ‘Children in Crisis Conference’, Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research, Waikato University, held at the Kingsgate Hotel, Hamilton, 7–9 October 2013. Helpful comments from Jonathan Boston, Janfrie Wakim and Frances Joychild acknowledged.