One in 8 (149,900 or 12.7%) New Zealand children live in households with less than 50% of the median household equivalised disposable income before housing costs.
One in 8 (149,900 or 12.7%) New Zealand children live in households with less than 50% of the median household equivalised disposable income before housing costs.
Under the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018, the minister in charge is required to set immediate (three-year) and long-term (10-year) targets for three primary measures.
In June 2021, then-Child Poverty Reduction Minister Jacinda Ardern set three immediate targets, the period for which ended in June 2024.
The results for the year to June 2024 were released on Thursday and showed the three poverty reduction targets were not met.
One in 8 (149,900 children or 12.7%) lived in households with less than 50% of the median household equivalised disposable income before housing costs. The target for this measure was 10%.
While it has dropped from 16.5% in 2017/18, there has been no statistically significant change since June 2021, when the target was set.
The second measure shows 1 in 6 (208,000 or 17.7%) lived in households with less than 50% of the baseline year’s median household equivalised disposable income after housing costs. The target for this measure was 15%, from 22.8% in 2017/18.
There has been no statistically significant change between June 2023 and June 2024 but the measure has worsened 2.7 percentage points since June 2021.
On the final of the three measures, 1 in 7 (156,600 or 13.4%) live in households experiencing material hardship. The target was 9%, down from 13.3% in 2017/18.
There has been no statistically significant change between June 2023 and June 2024, but it’s up 2.4 percentage points since June 2021.
The lack of change in these measures over the past year is reflected in the lack of statistically significant change in all nine measures of child poverty. Three of the measures have decreased since 2017/18.
“There has been no movement in the child poverty rates since June 2023,” statistical delivery spokesperson Abby Johnston said.
“If we look over the longer term, however, we can see that two of the primary measures and one of the supplementary measures have statistically significant decreases from the baseline year ending June 2018.”
Child Poverty Reduction Minister Louise Upston says it's an ongoing challenge. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Child Poverty Reduction Minister Louise Upston said the lack of change under successive governments shows lifting children out of material hardship was an ongoing challenge.
“It’s encouraging that there has been no significant increase year-on-year. However, if we look at what has happened over the previous two years we can see that rates are trending upwards,” Upston said.
“Today’s figures do reflect the challenges of a prolonged cost of living crisis which began under the previous administration and which we are tackling head-on.
“We know there are some Kiwi families and their kids still doing it tough. Our Government is working to fix that.”
She pointed to actions like providing tax cuts, introducing the FamilyBoost tax rebate and providing lunches to school children.
“Reducing material hardship is a priority in our Child and Youth Strategy, which is why we have a target to lift 17,000 more children out of material hardship by 2027, compared to 2023,” said Upston.
“We recognise that child poverty is a long-term issue and our strategy of tackling the deeper causes of poverty, including reducing long-term benefit dependency and lifting education and skills, will make a big difference in driving down child poverty rates.”
Carmel Sepuloni, Labour’s child poverty reduction spokesperson, said the latest results were “hugely concerning”.
“Labour is staunchly committed to child poverty reduction, and I am proud that it remained a priority for us throughout our time in government, even with the immense challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. But there is still so much more work to do.
“The Government must put our tamariki first. Now is not the time to be bending over backwards for landlords and tobacco companies, instead we must focus on alleviating the struggle for families and their children who need our support most.”
The Greens’ co-leader Marama Davidson said the statistics should be a wake-up call for the Government.
Unfortunately, as we have seen today, 156,000 children are growing up in material hardship. This is a national shame.
“Māori, Pacific and disabled children are disproportionately affected by child poverty, with 1 in 4, 1 in 3, and 1 in 5 children growing up in material hardship respectively. These are the very groups hit the hardest by the policies of a government which has bent over backwards to hand billions of dollars in tax cuts to wealthy landlords, while ignoring the many struggling.
“The Green Party campaigned to end poverty for all families in Aotearoa by providing everyone with an Income Guarantee that would ensure every household and every child has all they need to thrive.”
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub Press Gallery office.
