Stats NZ have released its annual data on child poverty for the year ended June 2024. Photo:
There has been no significant change in the percentage of children living in poverty and the government has missed all its child poverty targets, new figures show.
StatsNZ data released on Thursday showed the number of children living in material hardship grew from 144,100 (12.5 percent) in 2023 to 156,600 (13.4 percent) in 2024.
The number of children living in low income households also grew.
StatsNZ said the increases across those measures were not statistically significant.
But it confirmed the government missed its targets across the three primary measures of child poverty.
- 13.4 percent or one in seven children live in material hardship - going without things like heating, doctor's visits and fresh fruit and vegetables because they cannot afford them (target: 9 percent). For tamariki Māori this figure was 23.9 percent, and for Pacific children it was 28.7 percent.
- 12.7 percent of children live in households with less than 50 percent of the median disposable income before housing costs are deducted (target: 10 percent). For tamariki Māori this was 15.2 percent and for Pacific children it was 14.8 percent.
- 17.7 percent of children live in households with less than 50 percent of the median disposable income after housing costs are deducted (target: 15 percent). For tamariki Māori this was 19.3 percent and for Pacific children this was 17.4 percent.
The "true rate" of child poverty was somewhere between 11.7 and 13.7 percent, household financial statistics senior insights analyst Ryan Sutcliffe said.
That level of uncertainty existed because just 19,000 of approximately 2 million households were surveyed. However the sample was designed so it was broadly representative of the country's demographic makeup, he said.
Housing costs put pressure on households
Renters and homeowners were struggling to make ends meet with rising housing costs, the data showed.
While the average household income increased 6.5 percent, it was not enough to keep up with rent and mortgage payments.
A third of low-income households spent more than 40 percent of their income on housing.
Across all households an average of $22.20 per $100 of income was spent on housing costs - up from $20.80 in 2019.
Average rent payments jumped 9 percent from $427.20 in 2023 to $465.50 last year. More than half of renters felt their income was not enough, or only just enough, to meet their every day needs.
For homeowners, mortgage payments also jumped nearly 9 percent, from $605.50 to $658.20.
"Although incomes increased, these statistics show that people spent a higher proportion of their money on housing costs than they had in the past," household financial statistics spokesperson Chris Pooch said.
"This creates further pressure on a household's budget, along with things like groceries and petrol getting more expensive over the same time period."
Minister for Child Poverty Reduction Louise Upston, told Checkpoint, it was clear there was a "lot more work" for the government to do.
"There is always a lag effect on the work the government is doing, so that will start to have some impact. The measures for Budget 2024 are some of the initiatives that will deliver 17,000 fewer children in poverty," she said.
She said that delivery was due by 2026 - 2027.
"It's a complicated issue...material hardship is one of our government's priorities," Upston said.
"We're not giving up we're taking practical steps to reduce the number of children in material hardship."
Child advocates call for urgent action
Children’s Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The children's commissioner Dr Claire Achmad said the statistics were unacceptable.
"156,000 children in our country [are] in material hardship, that's filling up Eden Park three times," she said.
Children could not wait for the economy to be "fixed", said Achmad.
"In this year's budget, I am wanting to see the government really bring that practical support into the homes, into the lives of children experiencing poverty."
That included investing in housing affordability, lifting basic incomes and addressing food insecurity, she said.
Unicef New Zealand communications director Tania Sawicki Mead said the government should extend the Best Start payments to families with children under three, to those with children under five.
Tania Sawicki Mead Photo:
She also wanted it to begin planning for a universal child payment to support those under 18.
So far the coalition lacked policies that would make meaningful change, she said.
"Trickle down policies aren't simply going to cut it, when we see that thousands and thousands of children remain in poverty since 2018, and there's no clear evidence of any policy changes which will actually address that long term trend."
Save the Children, the Salvation Army and the Wellbeing Economy Alliance were also among those calling for better policies designed to lift kids out of poverty, including boosting welfare levels.
Meanwhile Labour's child poverty reduction spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni said when her party was in government, it was told changes to Working For Families would make the biggest dent in reducing child poverty.
But its review was not completed before the election.
She denied Labour was to blame for the lack of movement in child poverty statistics, citing global inflation pressures.
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