NZ's first real State of the Nation report

“People are the common denominator of progress” said the famous Canadian economist
John Kenneth Galbraith. We run the risk of loosing this simple truth if we become
distracted by recent turmoil in global financial markets. While this turmoil may be
important to our immediate economic future, the real and enduring basis of progress is
people. This means of course that we do not just measure progress in economic terms
but we also consider the experiences of people particularly the most vulnerable people."

These are the opening words of the very first State of the Nation report issued by one of the biggest helping agencies in New Zealand – the Salvation Army.

This report reminds us that it is people who are important, its people who live the desk top policies of the bureaucrats. It reminds us again and again the cost that people pay that is never measured in government’s glossy version of reality

The report covers social indicators and progress in five areas

1) Our children
2) Crime and punishment
3) The working lives of Kiwis
4) Social hazards
5) Housing

The report looks at how much money is spent on welfare, health and education over the years, revealing that although the amounts increase each year we have very little if anything to show from it. Thus the report reveals our social priorities, and points out that what we value as individuals and as a nation may need a huge re think

The report reveals

The number of referrals to CYPs increased 140% from 2004 to 2006
Rising youth offending up 7% from 2005 to 2006
Teenage pregnancies continue to climb
Serious concerns of education disadvantages
School suspension rates increase
Reported crime is dropping
Levels of crime may be rising
More prisoners and more prisons
Health costs of alcohol $655 million
Alcohol fueled crime costs us $240 million
Drug offences falling
Slight decline in gambling
Unemployment dropping
Rise in part time work
No reconciliation of benefits with the real cost of living thus real hardship and poverty exist

Major Campbell Roberts who is the Director The Salvation Army Social Policy & Parliamentary Unit and who writes the introduction says

“Our measures of progress at this time next year should not just be those of how much
the economy has grown or the value of the share market or of house sales. Rather, more
relevant measures could be those of how few people are locked up in prison, how few
violent crimes have been committed and how much better children in poorer schools are
achieving. The first change necessary to achieving this sort of progress is to change our
minds about what is important.”

The report is available free for download in PDF form from the Salvations web site