New Zealand's "Wellbeing" budget reveals billions for mental health services, child poverty and record investment in measures to tackle family violence, according to a news report.
The budget specifically appropriates:
- $1.2 billion to mental health, with close to a billion spent on new frontline mental health workers that are stationed at hospitals.
- $320 million to fight family violence, as the police currently report a domestic violence incident every four minutes, the report says.
- More than $1 billion for child wellbeing.
The report says, Unicef reports that 27 percent of New Zealand children live in income poverty, defined as going without necessities such as nutritious food, healthcare, and a warm, dry home.
The wellbeing budet is aimed at improving the declining mental health in New Zealand, the economy for all working families and family and sexual violence.
