Source: Green Party
The Green Party says this year’s Budget show the Government is failing to meet child poverty targets.
“This budget does nothing to lift the 100,000’s of children now living in poverty, even as the Government’s own child poverty report confirms it is not on track to meet the targets it is legally bound to hit.”
Budget documents show the Government missing both 2027 and 2026 targets for children living in poverty adjusted for housing costs, with this number still at almost 20%.
“Behind every one of these numbers is a tamaiti going without a warm bed or a decent feed. This Budget had the power to change that for whānau, and the Government has chosen not instead to live children and their whānau struggling,” says Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson.
“The Child Poverty Reduction Act means the Government has to put a child poverty report on the table every single Budget. Today’s report confirms the every-day strain that whānau have been talking to us about, and it tells us this Government is still leaving them behind,” says Davidson.
“You don’t get to set targets in law, miss them year after year, and then act surprised when one in seven kids is still going without the basics.”
“This is a political choice. Child poverty is not a force of nature. It goes up when Governments strip support away from people, and it comes down when Governments trust whānau with what they need to raise their tamariki with dignity,” says Davidson.
“Our tamariki and mokopuna can’t wait for the economy fantasy of ‘growth’, and they can’t wait for this Government to find its conscience. This is a solvable problem. What’s missing is the will and the heart to solve it,” says Davidson.
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/28/government-miss-child-poverty-targets/