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

Poor nutrition and inadequate housing put children at risk of mental health problems.

Warning for parents amid cases of children being left alone: 'We're not a daycare.'

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.

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.

We are already paying for the offspring of poverty, writes Lucy Lawless. Hungry kids are sick kids - so feeding them in schools is a smart strategy.

A "poverty of benevolence within the corridors of power" was denounced today as crowds marched to raise awareness of child poverty in New Zealand.

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.

After motorbiking round the world and saving Happy Feet, economist Gareth Morgan wants to revolutionise our tax and welfare system. Andrew Laxon asks him why.

Why is the idea of helping poor children so difficult to sell in a country with a supposed 'socialist streak'?

The causes of increased poverty, and the growth of school food programmes go back to National's big benefit cuts of 1991.