Minister Anne Tolley says the UN Rights of the Child committee in Geneva asked her 250 questions but only one on child poverty.

Prime Minister John Key finds it remarkably hard to measure child poverty when so many other challenges are possible, says Toby Manhire.

Data shows students at underprivileged high schools are less likely to sit exams than those from wealthy families.

COMMENT: Hurimoana Dennis, chair of Te Puea Memorial Marae, looks back over the marae's efforts to help homeless people during the winter.

When Hannah and Jordan 'Pedro' Miller did their grocery shopping this week, they allowed themselves to splurge - on an extra can of tuna.

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

Maori Party co-leader and Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell says he is sick and tired of attending tangi of Maori who have died as a result

The gap between rich and poor is growing in New Zealand, new data shows, partly driven by rising housing costs.

This year's World Water Week, held in Stockholm, Sweden, will focus on water and sustainable growth.

More than half of New Zealand's 41,000 homeless people are now families with children, according to new Otago University research.

A family living in a South Auckland garage faces eviction in October because the landlord converted it into a flat without a council permit.

A stand-alone ministry that will replace Child, Youth and Family has been officially named as the Ministry for Vulnerable Children.

The Government has no idea how much money it lent to beneficiaries to stay in motels, the Ministry for Social Development has admitted.

How much would you spend to feed a family of four for a week? $150? $200? 300? For many New Zealand families, a food budget like that is a distant dream. So how do you feed a family on a wafer-thin budget? South Auckland charity “Feed a Family” shows us how it can be done.

Margaret Sampson from Edmonton Primary School talks about how families are coping with low incomes.

Manurewa MP Louisa Wall asked consumers to add pads and tampons to their shopping lists, in order to help young women who are unable to afford them.

COMMENT: We have the power to change our own lives and far better to live a life of hope and ambition than one of hopelessness and despair.

Items as basic as soap and toothbrushes are in growing need among the country's most impoverished children this winter, says a national charity.

Over one million tourists visited a township, favela or slum somewhere in the world in 2014.

Lima's huge shantytowns are not the standard fare of tourists, but for some, they're precisely why they come.

About 200 people braved freezing conditions overnight to sleep in their cars as part of the Park Up for Homes event in Auckland's Onehunga.

COMMENT: Nothing can justify that 41,000 Kiwis have no safe place to lay their head each night.

Helen Clark is one of 11 candidates seeking the job, each of whom has held a public job interview with the UN General Assembly.

COMMENT: People in crisis need help, not judgment made in ignorance, writes the mother of a family once homeless.

Boxing legend David Tua will sleep in his car for a night next week, joining a growing national movement calling for houses for homeless families.

Mangere Town Centre carpark is packed with people this evening as they prepare to sleep in their cars for an event raising awareness on homelessness.

Hundreds spend night in cars in support of homeless families.

COMMENT: Heart-breaking stories of families living in cars, garages and overcrowded houses demonstrate that our welfare state is broken, writes Catriona MacLennan.

What makes people get into politics? Imagine being the Minister of Social Housing, and seeing someone who helps the homeless as the enemy.