Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has been accused of being flippant about child poverty by saying measuring poverty was difficult because children moved in and out of poverty on a daily or weekly basis.
In return, Ms Bennett accused Labour's Jacinda Ardern of not being in the real world, saying that measures of poverty would be speculative and the circumstances of any child could change quickly.
The exchange happened after Ms Ardern asked Ms Bennett about official measures of poverty and whether she agreed with the green paper on vulnerable children which stated that 20 per cent of children lived in poverty.
Ms Bennett said there was no official measure of poverty and any measure was likely to be speculative because it was constantly changing.
After Labour MPs scoffed at her claim that children could move in and out of poverty "on a daily basis," Ms Bennett told them to "get in the real world".