Small gains made on child poverty

Child poverty has dropped for the first time in nearly a decade and experts are cautiously attributing the turnaround to a lift in welfare payments under the last government.

But Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft has emphasised an 18-month lag in the data, so the full effect of a 2016 increase to the incomes of beneficiaries with children had not yet been measured.

It was a ‘‘major positive step’’, though work had to remain intensely focused to ensure improvement on New Zealand’s shocking child poverty rates

The report of the latest Child Poverty Monitor showed 12 per cent of children, or 135,000, were living in material hardship - without seven or more items, from a list of 17, which are considered necessary for their wellbeing. That was down from 14 per cent, or 155,000, in 2016.

There were 70,000 New Zealand children - or 6 per cent - who were experiencing the worst material hardship, with households missing out on nine or more items from the list of 17 - down from 8 per cent, or 85,000, last year.

A 1 per cent drop in the number of children living in low-income homes saw 27 per cent - 290,000 - in homes where money was tight and were considered to be in income poverty. And more than 7 per cent

"It's the first time we can say that we're sure that things aren't getting worse." Children's Commissioner Andrew Becroft

of children were living in severe poverty.

That meant 80,000 New Zealand children were experiencing both material hardship and living in a low-income household. It was 10,000 fewer than the year prior.

‘‘It’s the first time we can say that we’re sure that things aren’t getting worse; it’s the first time there’s been a small drop and it’s genuinely encouraging and cause for cautious optimism,’’ said Becroft.

‘‘We’re probably seeing the first initial signs in terms of what the previous government did, in terms of increasing benefit levels by $25 a week for families with children.

‘‘And it’s the first time we’re probably seeing the flow through of general economic growth.’’

But the figures only told the story to the end of June 2016.

Becroft said the new Government had to prioritise the faster release of such measures, so it could paint an up-to-date picture.

The Government was due to release a ‘‘mini budget’’ next week, along with the half-yearly economic and fiscal update, and it was ‘‘absolutely crucial’’ that its Families Package, repealing planned tax cuts and accommodation supplement boosts, was replaced with something that built on the previous one’s work, he said.

The monitor showed the burden of child poverty fell severely on the shoulders of the 20 per cent of children aged 6 to 17 years in the lowest income quintile.

Otago University NZ Child and Youth Epidemiology Service clinical epidemiologist Dr Mavis Duncanson said all children needed the same things to support physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.

‘‘Such as a warm, dry home, a sustaining meal with vegetables and protein regularly, clothes and shoes that fit properly, a place to study quietly, and the use of a computer and internet at home,’’ Duncanson said.

The Child Poverty Monitor is funded by the J R McKenzie Trust. The trust’s executive director, Robyn Scott, said solving child poverty was the responsibility of all New Zealanders.

The monitor is in its fifth year of tracking various measures of child poverty using government data sources.

It is a joint project by the Children’s Commissioner, J R McKenzie Trust and Otago University’s NZ Child and Youth Epidemiology Service.