Poverty – latest Govt report

ability to improve the lives of more than one in 10 children who live in poverty and hardship.

‘‘Most children and young people in New Zealand are doing well. However, there is still a group of children for whom life at home is quite different,’’ Ardern said, in a statement accompanying the report’s release.

‘‘Many of the issues facing children, young people and their families are complex, stubborn and intergenerational, so we know change will take time, and will require sustained action across government and across our communities.

‘‘While it is too soon to assess the longer-term impacts of Covid19, we know it has given rise to major challenges in the lives of our most vulnerable.’’

The report, which covered a broader range of measures than official income and material poverty thresholds, showed that housing affordability has slightly worsened between 2018/19 and 2019/20. In the 2019/20 year, 36 per cent of children had been living in households spending more than 30 per cent of their disposable income on housing, up from 35 per cent the year prior. This shift was within a margin of error, so may not represent a real increase.

‘‘Spending more than 30 per cent of disposable household income on housing costs is generally considered unaffordable,’’ the report said. There was no ‘‘statistically significant’’ change in the number of children living in homes with major dampness or mould problems, counted as 7 per cent of children.