WHAT DO THEY KNOW?

“It's Christmas time, there's no need to be afraid.  At Christmas time we let in light and we banish shade.”

These are the opening lines to the song Do They Know It’s Christmas written by Bob Geldof and recorded by the supergroup Band Aid just before Christmas 1984 to raise money for famine hit Ethiopia.  With its saccharine lyrics and stellar lineup (including Geldof, Bono, Sting, Boy George, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson) it went the 1984 equivalent of viral. 

Since then it’s become a Christmas anthem, and at this time of year you’re guaranteed to hear it many times over. 

Apparently Sir Bob, as he has since become, now says it is the worst song ever written and that it ruined his life.  May all his problems be so small.  Because the gloomy truth is that for a very large number of the world’s children, life is indeed a “world of dreaded fear, where the only water flowing is a bitter sting of tears.”

Here in New Zealand that has just been borne out by a report released on Monday 9^th December 2013 on child poverty in this country.  Written by Childrens Commissioner, Dr Russell Wills, the Child Poverty Monitor confirms that indicators like childhood illnesses are all on the rise, and one in four New Zealand children are now living in poverty.

This should not come as a surprise when read in the context of other recent studies such as the 2010 report, Comparative Child Well-being across the OECD which found that, out of 30 OECD countries, New Zealand was the 21^st lowest when it came to the material wellbeing of our children, and the 29^th lowest in terms of their health and safety.  On the up side, we had the fifth highest teen pregnancy rate and the highest youth suicide rate.  Additionally we were the 24^th highest in terms of risk behaviours, but the 21^st lowest in terms of average incomes.  And finally we had the 20^th highest infant mortality rates.

“And the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging chimes of doom.  Well tonight, thank God, it's them instead of you.”

The Child Poverty Monitor confirms these trends have all worsened in our country, and yet John Key was on air immediately after it was released denying its findings and talking up what his government had done to reduce childhood poverty. 

Given that the report comes from his own appointed Childrens Commissioner, his denial is startlingly hollow.  Especially when measured against the reality of our own lived experiences in the Far North, where food banks cannot keep up with demand, and annual Christmas Tree appeals cannot meet the need.

“And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy,
Throw your arms around the world at Christmastime.
But say a prayer to pray for the other ones,
At Christmastime.

Here's to you, raise your glass for everyone. 

Here's to them underneath that burning sun.

Do they know it's Christmas time at all?"