Stanley – universal programs

I know this in Canada and other developed countries and increasingly will be so in developing countries, is this increase in the social gradients, the increase between the haves and the have-nots. In our society, for almost every single of the outcomes that I’ve talked about, if you look at juvenile crime, you look at educational achievement, you look at mental health problems, you look at some of the complex problems, health problems affecting children, birth weight, everything you can think of. Not only is there a gradient, you know, that there’s a lesser amount in the people who are most advantaged and a higher amount in the people who are disadvantaged; that seems to be increasing. Now there are messages from that. One is that this is an unacceptable aspect of any developed country that says its social justice and human rights are important, but it also says that the middle group of kids, that’s the most numerous group of kids, this isn’t just about disadvantage.  
 
You know so when we look at mental health and income distribution in our children in Australia it’s 15 percent in the most advantaged going up to 45 percent mental health problems in the disadvantaged. But it’s still 15 percent of children in the most advantaged group in Australian society. So the middle and higher income groups still have these problems. So it’s about universal programs rather than: oh this is just a problem of poor kids or marginalized kids. This is a universal problem. So that means that we shouldn’t just be providing targeted programs, although there is a place for those with children with special needs that are important. It’s about the whole of society and that’s also an important point to lobby the politicians about. Because you know it is actually about their kids.  It’s about everyone’s kids.