The number of NZ children living in households earning below 60 per cent of the median household income has almost doubled.

The Government has a long-term plan of introducing "milestone payments" for non-government providers which improved the social outcomes of their tenants.

One of New Zealand's biggest aged-care providers is believed to have been picked by Auckland Council to take over managing the council's 1412 pensioner flats.

Pensioners, disabled people and low-income families will benefit from a surprise Government decision to fund 508 social housing units in Auckland.

When Daryl Brougham was 11, his social worker said: "Daryl, the way you're going, you're going to end up in jail."

Growing numbers of Kiwis risk becoming homeless in old age because of falling home ownership rates, rising rents and static housing subsidies, the Salvation Army says.

The Citizens Advice Bureau said the shortage was experienced not just in Auckland and Christchurch, but nationwide.

More than 30,000 New Zealanders had their benefits cut last financial year for travelling overseas without letting officials know.

Editorial: While it is in our interests to provide all reasonable assistance to enable them to establish a new life here, we should not sympathise with their predicament too much.

The CYF review panel recommends a child-centred system, "where the voices and needs of children and young people are at the forefront of everything the agency does".

State house tenants from around New Zealand plan to march on Parliament against Government plans to sell 1600 houses in Tauranga and Invercargill.

Having lived a life on the streets, Sue Henry believes in the right to a home. She's been fighting for state housing tenants since the 1980s.

They don't deserve to be swept off the streets like just another pile of rubbish, writes Kerre McIvor.

The disabled boy social workers said was being used by his alcoholic mother and her boyfriend has lost access to a vehicle specially modified to meet his needs.

It is a grim glimpse of the front line of social work - an 1100-page dossier of abuse and misery cataloguing the life of Benjamin*.

Severely disabled child used by his alcoholic mother and her boyfriend to access up to $80,000 in benefits.

It is extraordinary that a West Auckland teenager was held in police station cells for four days because CYFs could not find a bed for her, Labour says.

"These kids just need a chance, it's really hard at 17, they are too old to be in the system but too young to have rights."

Walz Brown works quietly behind the scenes for the youth of Manurewa, always mindful of how a helping hand, a skateboard and his son lifted him from a life of drugs, drink and despair.

Fixing child abuse and neglect is all about building relationships with families in need, social workers say.

Should you walk up the elevator to help quicken everyone's journey, or remain still to keep everything orderly?

We demand action. But equally we should be dispassionate and rational in demanding measures that seek to prevent these things occurring, writes Jarrod Gilbert.

Jacob Lewis found himself on the streets and struggling to afford food. Now he's studying law at prestigious university.

A $25 increase in welfare payments will be cancelled out by new obligations for parents to return to work sooner and for longer hours, advocacy groups say.

I saw a pregnant lady on the bus offer her seat to an elderly lady. Meanwhile, college teenagers were going about their conversations.

Lorde has expressed her support for a lunch delivery program that helps our most vulnerable Kiwi kids.

Welfare rolls have increased for the first time in a June quarter since 2010, confirming other signs of that New Zealand's economic growth is slowing.

A long-term contract to inspect all state houses for potential risks to health and safety was axed the year before two Auckland tenants died last winter.