We were world leaders on social security in 1938. We can be so again, argues Mike O'Brien

Taskforce members propose reshaping education agencies to strengthen links among schools.

National MP's bill to change school decile system missing the point

Child Poverty Action Group says the National Party "methodically" reduced welfare.

Urgent cross-party talks are needed to help end child poverty, group says.

Jacinda Ardern wants to reduce child poverty. Simon Collins explores how she can do it.

Malnutrition is putting twice as many kids in hospital now compared to ten years ago

A boost for the poor is a boost for everyone, says a social service provider.

Steven Joyce says throwing money at a problem is not necessarily the answer.

Child advocates call for access to be simplified

A brief liaison with a man she didn't know cost a young Auckland woman $28 a week off her benefit for two years.

More than 20,000 students are missing out on student allowances because of tighter eligibility rules since 2010, a new report says.

The In Work Tax Credit fails children and is a policy that cannot be justified, writes Michael Timmins. Its operation is so complicated and ultimately punitive in that its costs outweigh any supposed benefits.

The Government's 2015 Budget had at its centerpiece a push towards "compassionate conservatism", writes Michael Timmins. While more compassion is indeed welcome, the end result is mere tokenism.

A group which campaigns against child poverty says while it is heartening to see an increase in beneficiary incomes for the first time in over 40 years, there is still work to be done.

Child poverty campaigners say the Budget has “broken the mould” of austerity – but say any fiscal surpluses in the next few years should be used to relieve the country’s unjust “social deficit”, not to cut taxes.

An 8-year-old Manurewa boy is one of 11,000 disabled children to lose a welfare benefit, even though his asthma is so bad that he missed one in every four school days.

The latest figures show nearly one quarter of our 1.1 million children under 18 live in households with very low incomes after housing costs.

A new poll on child poverty has found most Kiwis want more done to fix the problem - but not if it meant paying higher taxes.

More than 21,000 beneficiaries have had their benefits cut for going on unapproved overseas trips in the last nine months.

Our minimum wage is so low about 40 per cent of children living in poverty are not living in beneficiary families, but have low-wage-earning parents, writes Emily Keddell.

Almost 13,000 parents with dependent children have had their benefits cut for failing work tests in the first 2 years after sole parents first had to look for work.

Just over half of voters support extending Working for Families in-work tax credits of at least $60 a week to beneficiaries.

A group of Auckland charities have quietly started lending money at zero interest rates to low-income families in a pilot project which may drive loan sharks out.

Good policies require good information, not prejudices and ill-informed judgments expressed from the sideline, writes Michael O'Brien.