Despite the Ardern government’s stated child poverty focus, more and more of New Zealand’s children, particularly Māori and Pacific children, are suffering. In the face of miserable outcomes in relation to child poverty, obesity, suicide and basic education, the Prime Minister remains upbeat about her government’s efforts to date. “You would be hard pressed to Read more
When Pamela* found out her daughter had gone to prison last November, she didn’t know where to turn. Her daughter’s three children had been left without parents to look after them, and the whānau were struggling with the emotional load. Pamela took in her three grandchildren, but on top of the heartbreak was struggling with Read more
The Labour government promised to prioritise tackling child poverty. But for the 4368 children living in motels across the country as at 31 March, the problem is still all too real. That number jumped by 480 in three months. At the end of December there were 3888 children in motels. There were 465 children in Read more
Only a small percentage of children will be lifted out of poverty over the next three years by Budget announcements last week, Tauranga social agencies have been told. About 40 members of social agencies gathered to discuss the effects of the Budget announcements on child poverty at a breakfast meeting organised by the local Western Read more
Child Poverty Action Group welcomes the income support increases announced today by the Government, saying the rises will be a good step towards income adequacy for many children in need. “The changes today are useful if insufficient. Our modelling shows the changes fall short of liveable incomes, but these increases should still be high enough Read more
You may have heard an increasing number of child poverty experts and frontline support services calling on the Government to increase the amount of income support paid to effectively address poverty in New Zealand. What you may not have heard about is the recent UMR poll in February showing seven in 10 New Zealanders support Read more
New child poverty statistics from Stats NZ paint an optimistic picture for the period before the 2020 Covid lockdowns, Monte Cecilia Housing Trust CEO Bernie Smith says, but the months since then have been brutal for low-income earners and government support is desperately needed. “We’re always happy to see those arrows going in the right Read more
Child advocates are slamming the Government for its “unjustifiably slow” action on welfare reform, with a new report finding just four of 126 recommendations have been fully implemented. And it found none the 42 key recommendations made by the Welfare Expert Advisory Group early last year have been achieved almost two years later. The Child Read more
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has rejected a plea from 59 organizations to lift the level of welfare payments before Christmas. Trade unions, charities and poverty action groups were among those asking the government to address mass unemployment and poverty. Working through umbrella group ActionStation Aotearoa [New Zealand], the groups published an open letter, saying the Read more
Calls are coming in for the government to fast-track its child poverty mandate. The Child Poverty Action Group is one of several advocating for the new government, led by Child Poverty Reduction Minister Jacinda Ardern, to immediately raise income support. Campaigner Janet McAllister said benefit levels were so low they locked many children into severe Read more