A call for children to have their own agency in the breakdown of relationships

Photograph: 123RF

This week, Deputy Housing Minister Tama Potaka announced that the number of families living in emergency housing has increased. It was reduced by 68 percent during this government period.

It’s now down to 993 to be more precise.

The difference between a stable home and being in crisis can be as simple as losing a job or ending a relationship.

Long-time child and poverty advocate Professor Mark Henaghan calls for changes to the law Property (Relations) Law To better protect children when relationships break down.

“We are unfortunately not doing enough in both the private and public sectors to address families who are having to be separated and torn apart,” he told RNZ. Saturday Morning.

“In relationships, there is a provision in the Property Code that says the court must take into account the interests of the children. But basically this section is used very rarely. In fact, the courts only consider this in exceptional cases…

” UN Convention on the Rights of the Child…there is no property right in this. It just seems like a blind spot.”

Changes the government has made to the way families with children are prioritized when moving families from emergency housing to social housing.

“Since then, 786 households, including 1,608 tamariki in emergency housing, have been relocated to social housing through the Priority One pathway,” Potaka said. he said.

Henaghan said when couples separate, her research has found that often the woman is forced to move out, taking the children with her.

“Most of the mothers said it was completely devastating for them. They felt like they had to leave the house. But then they found out in terms of the cost to themselves and trying to find a new place to live, and that they were often in a different area. It was very stressful for the children, very stressful and financially difficult.” “It’s very, very difficult in terms of that.”

He said that in disputes over property ownership, the Family Court had “generally” ruled in favor of selling to provide capital for both parties, but were left in a financial position to purchase something similar, perhaps forced to move out of the area. completely.

According to the Ministry of Justice“The Family Court must ensure that all dependent children are cared for when dividing the relationship property”:

• resolving relationship ownership for the benefit of the children
• Postponing the sale or transfer of relationship property if it would cause undue hardship to the person providing day-to-day care for the children
• Make sure both people have enough furniture to set up another home, especially if children will be living there.

But Henaghan said that wasn’t often the case, and in cases where the custodial parent wanted to stay, court orders forcing couples to retain property for the sake of the children often last only a few months.

“One of the things we really need and don’t have in property cases is someone who represents the children. We have that in day care and when parents are fighting over children, but when it comes to property, they don’t really have representation…

“Under the UN charter, every decision made by the state, whether it’s a court or someone else, has to be in the best interests of the children. A lot of times it’s in the best interest to stay there for a year, maybe even a little bit longer, so that the children can kind of have that stability, because The study I was involved in… the biggest thing that came out was having to leave the house and find somewhere else, it was devastating for the kids…

“If they have to leave the house they’ve lived in for years and move somewhere else, where they probably won’t have their children and friends with them, it’s very difficult for them to move somewhere else.”

University of Otago law professor Mark Henaghan.
Photograph: University of Otago.

Henaghan also questioned where families moved from emergency shelter would end up.

“Recently, 60 percent of children in emergency rooms is of Maori originAnd something else has recently emerged: 21 percent of Maori children live in overcrowded homes. This is what happens.

“Maori people are very generous in that respect. They let people in under these circumstances and it’s a wonderful thing that they do, but that becomes a limit to that. Overcrowded homes are stressful for children and can also lead to health problems, all those kinds of things, probably.” They’re going there, and actually it’s not the right way.

“It would be nice if we could build houses that could accommodate more than one family, because I know for a lot of Māori living with grandparents is the way to go, I think it’s a great way to go. But the normal Western style house doesn’t allow too many people to live in one house.” – maybe a few bedrooms and a living room are not enough space for two or three families…

“I mean, when we were students we could do that. But with young kids it’s almost impossible…it doesn’t have the stability that kids need.”

He wants the best interests of children to be included in the Property (Relations) Law.

“That was it Recommended by the Law Commission In 2019 when they did a big study on the Relationship Property Act.

“And I think we need to reinforce that further to remind people that the consequences of children having to move away when their parents are no longer living together are quite dire, and that creates real problems for them educationally, to move into this area and force them to stay in one place.” It bothers me.”

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