Early investment will drive positive impacts across a range of later life outcomes
We have already taken action to improve the lives of New Zealanders, including children and young people. We have set ambitious targets to focus agencies on improving services and turning around poor outcomes in key areas such as health, education, housing, and law and order.
Through this Strategy the Government is committing to a coordinated cross-government approach in three priority areas that encompass policies and interventions across ministerial portfolios, sectors and agency responsibilities. We will work together to strengthen prevention and early interventions to reduce risks and strengthen protective factors that influence a wide range of outcomes.
The three priorities are:
- supporting children and their families and whānau in the first 2,000 days
- reducing child material hardship
- preventing harm against children.
These three priorities have been selected because evidence shows these are the areas where we can have the biggest impact. The priorities also recognise the foundational role of the early years in influencing later outcomes, and the critical role of family, whānau and communities in shaping children's lives.
These priorities align with the Government's overall priorities and objectives and support progress towards the Strategy's vision and six enduring outcomes. The targeted consultation we undertook on the Strategy showed strong support for a focus on these areas.
Detailed description of diagram
This Strategy establishes a cross-government programme of work in three priority areas that are critical to improving child and youth outcomes. The priorities will help address the common underlying risk and protective factors that influence the life trajectories of children.
The Strategy takes a life course approach for which recognises that children and young people are supported by family, whānau, communities and wider institutions across their lives from conception to age 24.
The Strategy covers children and young people from:
- conception to 2 years old
- 3 to 4 years
- 5 to 12 years
- 13 to 17 years and
- 18 to 24 years.
Across all these ages, children and young people are surrounded by the layers of family and whānau, community and iwi and the social, economic, and wider environment.
The Strategy priorities, Government Targets and Portfolio Targets map across the life course.
- Increased childhood immunisations (a Portfolio Target) maps across conception to 2 years old.
- First 2,000 days (a Strategy Priority) maps across conception to 5 years old.
- Preventing harm against children (a Strategy priority), Reducing child material hardship (both a Portfolio Target and Strategy priority) and Fewer children in families receiving benefits (a Government Target) maps across conception to 17 years old.
- More students at expected curriculum levels and Increased student attendance (both Government Targets) maps across 5 to 21 years old.
- Reduced child and youth offending (a Government Target) maps across 10 to 17 years old.
Other Government and Portfolio Targets such as Health, Mental health, Housing and Crime also improve outcomes for New Zealanders.
