Political parties are facing mounting pressure to commit to aggressive child poverty reduction policies following a stark new manifesto released by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG).
The data reveals a deeply concerning reality: one in four tamariki Māori are now experiencing material hardship, and the total number of children affected has surged by nearly 50,000 over the past four years, bringing the total to 169,300.
CPAG spokesperson Issac Gunson said the country has taken a significant step backward.
“None of the measures or indicators suggest that we are anyway on track to reduce child poverty the way that we promised to as a country. It’s sad and it’s a deeply serious issue.”
Auckland Kickback organiser Aaron Hendry echoed this urgency, noting that he witnesses the daily toll of poverty firsthand: “Our children have to be more important than what we’re doing right now.”
A crisis shaped by political decisions
Passed with cross-party support in 2018, the Child Poverty Reduction Act set a national target to halve child poverty by 2028, including reducing the proportion of children experiencing material hardship to 6%. While leaders from both Labour and National reaffirmed that goal in 2023, CPAG’s manifesto warns that Aotearoa is moving rapidly in the wrong direction.
Authored by 11 child wellbeing researchers and advocates, the manifesto frames child poverty not as an inevitable crisis, but as a political choice driven by policy decisions dating back to 1991. Crucially, it argues that failing to act is the most expensive option for children, whānau, and the wider economy.
The manifesto’s five priority areas
To change course, the manifesto outlines clear, actionable solutions across five core areas for the next government:
- Income: Lift the minimum wage to the Living Wage, raise and index benefits to wages, and replace Working for Families with a single, non-discriminatory Child Tax Credit for low- and middle-income households. It also calls for urgent fixes to abatement settings that currently cause some families to lose up to 96 cents of every additional dollar earned.
- Housing: Build 3,500 to 4,000 social homes each year, lock income-related rents at 25% of income, end no-fault evictions, and restore Accommodation Supplement asset thresholds.
- Health: Deliver free GP and after-hours care for all children and youth up to age 18, provide free GP care during pregnancy, and expand health and mental health support across schools.
- Disability: Increase the Child Disability Allowance to $98 a week and remove the partner income test and abatements from the Supported Living Payment.
- Education: Introduce fees-free, community-based early childhood education and increase Equity Index funding to 10% of total school funding, as recommended by the Tomorrow’s Schools Taskforce.
Political response and the path forward
Attending the manifesto’s launch, Labour’s Te Tai Tokerau candidate Willow-Jean Prime noted that the proposed solutions align closely with the party’s platform:
“Ko te mahi, ko te kāinga, ko te hauora hoki. Ko ērā kaupapa ētahi o ngā kaupapa i roto i tēnei rīpoata. Nōreira e hāngai ana ō mātou kaupapa here ki ngā kaupapa nui ki tēnei rōpū, me tēnei rīpoata.”
With the solutions clearly mapped out, advocates emphasise that political will is the only missing ingredient.
“We cannot afford to allow this to continue; we cannot afford to allow children to continue to experience poverty, to continue to experience homelessness, when we have the power and the resources to make a difference,” Hendry said.
Gunson added that immediate action is essential to securing a fairer future for the nation: “We have an opportunity here and now to lift our tamariki out of poverty and make sure that they have a fairer future.”
