Poverty and Disability
There is a strong relationship between poverty and disability in Aotearoa. Disabled children are more than twice as likely than non-disabled children to be in low income households, with 1 in 5 disabled children living in material hardship. There are various direct and indirect costs associated with raising a disabled child, including additional travel and health costs (e.g. having to pay for non-funded therapies), and the increasing need for one parent to give up paid employment in order to manage caregiving requirements.
Disabled children are doubly vulnerable to poverty: both as children, and later as disabled adults. Indeed, disabled youth are twice as likely to leave school with no formal qualifications and four times as likely to not be in employment, education or training. This has implications for the life course of the disabled young person.
Poverty in the context of disability is strongly linked to income inadequacy, with disabled people less likely to say that they have enough money to meet their everyday needs. The income gap reflects both discrepancy in the employment rate and that disabled persons are more likely to be in part-time work. Income inadequacy is exacerbated by the high cost of housing in Aotearoa. Disabled people in particular face additional challenges due to an insufficient supply of accessible homes and are more likely to live in lower quality homes that are cold, mouldy, damp and unsuited for their needs.
Families with a disabled child are typically juggling multiple demands, insecure housing, and complex health issues. In addition, there is an expectation that such families will attend multiple health, education, and social welfare-related appointments, without any form of recompense for their time. This expectation occurs alongside restrictive access to welfare support and a propensity for paternalistic state control over disabled people’s lives. This can result in parents spending disproportionate amounts of time navigating overly administrative welfare processes and having to provide their child’s disability over and over again. Not only that, but parents note that information is difficult to access and typically requires previous knowledge of said supports.
“You’re never told what you are entitled to, you have to try and figure it out yourself.
Basically, I thumb a ride through Facebook and ask other parents what they got and how they got it.”
– Lara, as quoted in “’Living well’? Children with disability need far greater income support in Aotearoa.”
Insufficient and minimal state support exacerbates inequities and discriminates against Māori and Pacific whānau and families, who already face higher-than-average disability rates. A recent report on child disability from Child Poverty Action Group found that in the predominantly Pacific, low-income Auckland suburb of Otara, four out of every five households with children with a disability or chronic health condition were unfamiliar with the child disability allowance and/or unaware that they were entitle to receive monetary assistance from Work and Income.
“We didn’t always know what was possible or even options available to us so having support people
around us providing information and wisdom and imparting experience so that we could then be confident knowing what
we could push for, especially when like was said previously, things won’t happen unless we as parents make them happen.”
– Nettie, PVI parent
As if financial stress, poor quality homes, and inaccessible support wasn’t enough, families must also contend with judgmental attitudes and unfair characterisations. The last 3 decades have seen untrue stereotypes, myths and outright lies perpetuated about people who require welfare support. These have in turn influenced societal attitudes towards poverty, which has subsequently resulted in a lack of political will and sluggish action on the very policies and recommended changes that would immediately lift the incomes of disabled persons, such as those recommended in the Welfare Expert Advisory Group and in Child Poverty Action Group’s “Living Well’? Children with disability need far greater income support in Aotearoa” report.
In sum, the poverty-disability link is not inevitable. Understanding of, and recognition for, disability rights, is increasing in Aotearoa. Raising awareness of societal attitudes and working to change them is an important step in addressing inequities. Providing financial support without heavy bureaucratic requirements would alleviate much of the burden families face. Universal benefits for disability are more effective than means-tested ones. Thoughtful, empathetic responses that remove barriers to support are invaluable, as are welcoming and accessible educational environments.
What can we do? How do we collectively agitate for change? There are many things we can do to make a difference. Some suggestions are below, from raising awareness through to more specific actions:
· Share stories, articles, blogs that speak to this issue and shift our collective thinking.
· Amplify the voices of disability activists.
· Sign and share petitions. Start a petition!
· Write to your local MP expressing support for raising benefits and reducing the administrative burden on disabled people.
· Use inclusive/non-ableist language.
· Listen to what disabled people have to say about what they would like.
· Schedule IEPs at times and places that are convenient for parents.
· Change your pedagogy if it is excluding disabled children.
· Prioritise the needs of disabled children and their families for access and alternate formats.
Dr Rebekah Graham (Pākehā) lives in Kirikiriroa with her husband, three of their four children, and two cantankerous cats. Dr Graham is the National Executive Director for Parents of Vision Impaired NZ, a blind consumer group with Blind Low Vision NZ. In this role, Rebekah advocates strongly and consistently for inclusion, accessibility and support for all, with a focus on parents/whānau of a vision impaired child. A registered community psychologist, Rebekah has academic research interests in the area of food insecurity, disability, health, and community resilience.
Email: rgraham@pvi.org.nz
Twitter handle: @bexgraham https://twitter.com/BexGraham