IHC is calling for urgent action to address the disproportionate impact of poverty on children with intellectual disability, following the release of the Ministry of Social Development’s latest Child Poverty in New Zealand report.
The report shows child poverty is getting worse in New Zealand. Material hardship rates for children increased from 10.6% in 2021-22 to 14.3% in 2024-25.
An estimated 210,600 children (17.8%) are living in households below the poverty line, 169,300 children (14.3%) are experiencing material hardship, and around 71,000 children (5.5%) are living in severe material hardship. More than 101,000 children are experiencing both low income and material hardship.
The report also shows disabled children are significantly over-represented in hardship. Around one in five children experiencing material hardship are disabled, increasing to one in four children experiencing severe hardship. Nearly 60% of children living in material hardship live in households where at least one member is disabled.
While these figures paint a concerning picture, IHC Director of Advocacy Tania Thomas says they mask an even harsher reality for children with intellectual disability.
“IHC’s Cost of Exclusion research is the only New Zealand research that specifically examines poverty among people with intellectual disability,” Tania says.
“Our findings show that children with intellectual disability are among the most disadvantaged children in New Zealand. Across every measure of hardship we examined, they experience greater deprivation than other children.”
IHC’s research found that, compared with other New Zealand children, children with intellectual disability are:
- more than twice as likely to go without fresh fruit, vegetables or meat because of cost
- nearly twice as likely to lack internet access or a computer for homework because of cost
- three times more likely to wear worn-out or incorrectly sized clothing because their family cannot afford replacements
- more than six-and-a-half times more likely to miss out on school trips and activities because of cost.
“These aren’t luxuries. These are the everyday essentials that allow children to learn, participate and belong,” Tania says.
“For many families supporting a child with intellectual disability, poverty isn’t a temporary setback. It’s the result of a system that fails to recognise the additional costs and barriers they face every day. That includes parents leaving work or reducing hours to be carers, and time and money lost to navigating an overly complex government system,”
IHC says disability must be at the centre of any credible child poverty strategy and that children with intellectual disability require explicit attention rather than being hidden within broader disability statistics.
IHC’s Cost of Exclusion report calls for the following reforms to help address poverty experienced by people with intellectual disability:
- Guaranteed Minimum Income for Disabled People: replace current benefit systems with a liveable, non-means-tested income for disabled people.
- Reform Disability Allowance and Special Needs Grants: move from an application-based, discretionary model to automatic entitlements based on disability status. Remove medical certificates for long-term conditions.
- Disability Housing Strategy: explicit targets in Kainga Ora planning for accessible, supported, and secure housing for children with ID and their families.
- Rental System Reform longer-term tenancies, anti-discrimination enforcement, and prioritised placement for families with disabled members.