Child Poverty Monitor

December 14, 2018 at 2:16 PM

From the Child Poverty Monitor

For the last 5 years, the Child Poverty Monitor has provided an effective gauge of the extent of child poverty in New Zealand. The Child Poverty Reduction Bill, introduced at the start of 2018, will require the government to provide regular measures of child poverty. This will be a significant breakthrough and holds the potential for child poverty statistics to become even more robust.

Child poverty continues to be a persistently harsh reality for too many New Zealanders. The indicators we have followed in recent years show little sign of a significant increase or decrease. Robust and reliable statistics are critical for beginning to address the issues of child poverty.

Data quality concerns, which are being addressed due to the introduction of the Child Poverty Reduction Bill, led the Ministry of Social Development not to publish statistics specifically relating to the level of child poverty in the 2018 Household Incomes report.

The 2018 Child Poverty Monitor provides examples of the on-going tangible effect poverty has on children and families in New Zealand, specifically relating to:

  • Food insecurity
  • Housing
  • Health
  • Education

Click here for more information about the 2018 Child Poverty Monitor

Click here to view the Child Poverty Monitor 2018: Technical Report



Category: Reports