Reducing child poverty is not only a moral imperative; research shows it’s a sound economic investment, the St Vincent de Paul Society says this Anti-Poverty Week.
“Children growing up in poverty have higher risks of poor health, lower educational outcomes, and are three times more likely to experience disadvantage as adults,” the society’s national president Mark Gaetani said.
“Each year of inaction robs children of the opportunity to thrive, costing the nation billions now and into the future.
“This is why the society has called on the federal Government to appoint a Minister for Children and to halve child poverty by 2030.
“That’s just five years off, but action cannot be postponed until the next election; it’s already too late for thousands of vulnerable families who are suffering today.”
Alarming figures from the New South Wales Council of Social Service show child poverty imposes an estimated annual economic cost of nearly $60 billion in NSW alone, undermining productivity, increasing health and welfare expenditure, and perpetuating cycles of disadvantage. About one in six Australian children and one in seven adults live in poverty.
“Failing to address poverty leaves the nation paying dearly for lost opportunities, increased health and welfare spending, and ever-growing demand on overstretched crisis services such as those our organisation provides around Australia,” Mr Gaetani said.
“Over the past year, the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW has seen a 13 per cent increase in demand for Vinnies Vans across the state, with 115,000 people supported. One in three of the people seeking our help in NSW are coming to us for the first time.”
Mr Gaetani said the data shows that the assistance St Vincent de Paul Society members provide just to keep people afloat is filling the gap between the rate of JobSeeker and the poverty line.
Meanwhile, rising demand for poverty relief is matched by the increasing dollar-value and complexity of each case.
“A modest increase in working age welfare payments, as proposed in the ANU’s A Fairer Tax and Welfare System for Australia paper commissioned by the society, would help ease the poverty crisis,” Mr Gaetani said.
Anti-Poverty Week 2025 in Australia runs 12-18 October; antipovertyweek.org.au. To find out more, visit vinnies.org.au/national-council/advocacy/children
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Raise the rate now to lift more children out of poverty (St Vincent de Paul Society Australia)
