Kia mataara. This story discusses violence and harm to tamariki and whānau. Discretion advised.
More than 70,000 tamariki Māori are living in material hardship as systemic inequities continue to widen New Zealand’s social gap, according to a new report from The Salvation Army.
The State of the Nation 2026 report shows 23.9% of Māori children remain in poverty, an increase of 4,400 since 2019, while national efforts to halve child poverty in its entirety by 2028 have stalled,, and earlier progress is now said to be reversing.
Minister for Social Development, Louise Upston, points to increasing jobs as a way to lift tamariki out of poverty.
“We know when unemployment rises, Māori are disproportionately affected. That’s why our focus is absolutely on creating jobs through a growing economy so that we can support more whānau to be able to look after themselves and their children,,” says Upston.
Co-leader of the Green Party, Marama Davidson,, says the findings are scandalous and completely unacceptable.
“This country has enough where no child should be living in hardship and poverty and going without kai...There are changes that any government could make overnight, like, for example, increasing the food hardship grants that are currently available that have been left at the same level since nearly 20 years ago.”
Violence against children, including sexual assault, also remains high, with 10,448 cases recorded by police in 2025. The number of assaults is almost 50% higher than in 2020.
72.3% of Māori students achieved at least NCEA Level 1 in 2024, a 10-point drop from a peak seven years ago.
Another statistic shows that although the number of tamariki Māori in state care has fallen to 8.5 per 1,000 children, Māori still make up more than two-thirds of the total care population and are five to six times more likely than non-Māori students to be removed from their whānau.
Te Ora o Te Whānau
The report, using the Te Ora o Te Whānau wellbeing framework, also finds that one-third of tamariki Māori experience food insecurity, as rising living costs force whānau to choose between kai and housing. Salvation Army analysts say these outcomes reflect the enduring impacts of colonisation and breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and call for reforms that prioritise cultural connection and whānau-led solutions to break cycles of harm.
Te Ao Māori Policy Analyst of the report, Charm Skinner, says a different light needs to be shed on Māori issues.
“The people are doing the best that they can with the resources that they have. It’s not that people need to do better or they need to go and do ‘XYZ’. They’re operating out of systems that restrict them from being able to thrive and flourish, ” says Skinner.,
