In his recent speech ‘Social and economic goals of labour market policy ‘, the Hon Steve Maharey says:

“Economic costs of social problems
In New Zealand, half of all female homicides are the result of domestic violence. Ten children are killed every year in acts of domestic violence. The non-financial cost of family violence is inestimable. The financial cost of family violence in New Zealand is between four and five billion dollars. And this is a conservative estimate calculated ten years ago. This cost is partially comprised of greater use of health services and police and court time. But it also includes loss of income and work for employees due to family violence. ”

Maharey is referring to Susan Snively’s badly flawed study on the costs of family violence, previously discussed in MENZ Issues. Posing as an “independant researcher”, this Woman’s Refuge fundraiser assumed that all violence is by men against women and children, and came up with totally unrealistic estimates of injury rates.

Stuart Birks has a critique of the Snively study on his website.