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New figures showing that three in 20 children under the age of 15 are living in poverty in the Illawarra and South Coast are no surprise to Southern Youth and Family Services.
SYFS chief executive officer Narelle Clay said they constantly raised the issue of poverty.
‘‘Poverty and homelessness are linked,’’ Ms Clay said.
‘‘We’ve said for a very long time income measures need to be increased to address poverty for young people.’’
The recently released Child Disadvantage in NSW report showed 10,363 – or 15.09per cent – of the region’s under 15s were living in poverty based on the latest available figures collected in 2011-12.
Shadow minister for the Illawarra, Keira MP Ryan Park, said the figures were very alarming.
‘‘When you consider a child who is born into poverty will experience and suffer in so many areas throughout their life, I need to question what the Baird government is doing to assist our most vulnerable,’’ he said.
The highest rates of child poverty were in the Far West (22.45per cent) and Northern Rivers (21.61per cent). But the Illawarra’s child poverty rate was above the NSW average of 13.80per cent and higher than the Hunter (13.66per cent) and Southern Highlands (13.79).
‘‘It’s a region that’s going through a difficult period economically and people are
doing it tough so the support services we have available for the region’s most vulnerable – our children – need to be well resourced and well funded.’’
Mr Park said the government had slashed funding to community services that provide crisis accommodation, affecting at least three specialist women’s services in the Illawarra.
‘‘I hold grave fears that there is just not enough support for young people and families to help break the poverty cycle,’’ Mr Park said.
He praised organisations such as SYFS and said they would need continued support.
Ms Clay said they dealt with a lot of young parents and families struggling on low incomes who were caught in the poverty trap.
High rents, power bills and housing costs all had a strong effect on families and children.
‘‘We either need to raise the income level for people on pensions and benefits, but also increase rental assistance for those unable to get subsidised social housing, or reduce the cost of housing, private or public,’’ Ms Clay said.
The federal government’s proposed budget measures, such as a six-month wait for the dole for young people, would have the biggest effect on increasing homelessness and disadvantage.