The then leader had made improving the lives of the poorest children a key plank of her agenda
New Zealand’s child poverty rates have plateaued, despite government efforts and former leaderReducing the country’s stubborn child poverty rates has been a central commitment of the Labour government since, creating a new minister for child poverty, introducing legislation to ensure child poverty data was measured and published yearly, and bringing in a series of additional financial support packages for low-income families.
While the situation has improved for some children since then, in the year ended June 2022, New Zealand’s primary measures were unchanged from the previous year: 12% of children lived in households that had less than 50% of the median household income before housing costs, and 15% after housing costs. 10.3% were living in material hardship – where they frequently went without basic essentials such as nutritious food, clothing, and doctors’ visits.
“It’s a challenging environment but child poverty figures staying steady this year is encouraging. It shows the government’s policies targeting kids and families are helping, despite the pandemic and tough economic times,” said Jan Tinetti, who replaced Ardern as child poverty reduction minister after her resignation.“It’s not good enough for the government just to say that they care – people need action and results,” said National party spokesperson Louise Upston.
“Poverty is a political choice,” said Greens spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March. “The tools to lift every family and child out of poverty exist, the government just needs to use them.”
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