Call to write off student loans as NZ struggles with youth poverty

New Zealand’s government should suspend student loan repayments for low-income families as part of a strategy to tackle child poverty, a University of Auckland economist has said.

Susan St John, an economics professor and spokesperson for the Child Poverty Action Group, also suggested that the government should “write off debt” from past student loans and allowances.

She says the government must take bold and immediate action to deal with a national child poverty crisis that is reflected in “alarming” rates of homelessness, preventable diseases and suicide among NZ youth.