Source: Save the Children
Save the Children is calling on the Government to “keep children in its sights” and continue investing in policies to lift more children and whānau out of poverty following the release of today’s latest child poverty statistics showed no real change in numbers.
The child rights organisation acknowledged the Government’s continued investment in reducing child poverty, but Advocacy Director Jacqui Southey says it is a long and committed journey to ensure every child in New Zealand lives in a secure home with a decent standard of living.
“Far too many tamariki and their families in Aotearoa are still living in poverty, with material hardship significantly felt by tamariki Māori, Pasifika children and children with disabilities, with no real change in numbers since 2019. This means these tamariki continue to live without the essentials they need. Disabled children are more than three times more likely to experience material hardship than non-disabled households.
“While child poverty has not seemed to worsen over the past two years, it is concerning that families living in emergency accommodation are not included in the survey, so essentially this data misses the families living at the hardest end of poverty.
“It is vital that the Government continues to help lift the incomes of our most vulnerable families through targeted support such as lifting the lowest incomes, and effective policies that directly reach children like Healthy Food in Schools.”
Ms Southey says the lifts to family support, including increases to the Family Tax Credit and Best Start payments, due to begin on April 1 will certainly be beneficial to many low and middle income families, but far greater investment is required to reduce numbers of children living in poverty.
“We’re all experiencing a cost-of-living crisis and high rates of inflation but for children and families on the lowest incomes this is crippling, even further acute if you’ve been impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle or flooding events” she says.
“Housing costs remain a real pressure for families on lowest incomes and is more severely felt by families that are renting. This is extremely concerning given the median rent price was announced this morning to have increased to over $600 a week. This level of living cost increase has not been captured in today’s data, potentially indicating an even further struggle for low-income households to make ends meet.
“The disparity experienced by too many children in New Zealand is a child rights issue. Every child deserves a decent standard of living, access to nutritious food, healthy and affordable housing, education, and healthcare. Government investment is required to ensure these rights for all of our children.”
Ms Southey says the recent examination of New Zealand’s progress on upholding children’s rights by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child urged the Government to continue to prioritise public spending on measures to lift children out of poverty.
About Save the Children NZ:
Save the Children works in 120 countries across the world. The organisation responds to emergencies and works with children and their communities to ensure they survive, learn and are protected.
Save the Children NZ currently supports international programmes in Fiji, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Areas of work include child protection, education and literacy, disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation, and alleviating child poverty.
