David Cunliffe has just announced that, if the Labour Party is elected, families with newborns will receive $60 a week for their first year.
Mr Cunliffe in his state of the nation address in Auckland said families with newborns earning less than $150,000 dollars a year would receive the weekly payment.
The party says that amounts to about 59,000 families, or almost 95 per cent of children under the age of one.
Families on modest and middle incomes would continue receiving the payment until their child turned three.
Mr Cunliffe said Labour is unashamedly asking the wealthy few to contribute to giving all New Zealand children the best start possible.
