Abuse of children increasing says report

The number of children being abused and assaulted by people who ought to be caring for them is rising, according to the Salvation Army’s state-of-the-nation report.

During the past five years, reported assaults on children had risen by 152 per cent and reported cases of child neglect doubled, it says.

The report, The Growing Divide, suggested a growing proportion of the population was increasingly being sidelined from mainstream economic and social life.

The Salvation Army said it feared ‘‘a permanent and dangerous fracture’’ in society if policymakers continued to concentrate wealth and influence in the hands of a privileged few.

It showed some social gains, including falling rates of teenage pregnancy, declining rates of youth crime and overall crime, and more Kiwis paying down housing debt.

But it underscored a lack of progress in reducing child poverty and a big increase in child abuse and neglect by caregivers.

The rise was attributed in part to the campaigns to address domestic violence.

Major Campbell Roberts, director of social policy for the Salvation Army, said the report tragically signalled ‘‘that we have few aspirations for our children and young people and have all but given up on any serious efforts to relieve child poverty, youth marginalisation or address the causes of crime’’.