News and Updates

Child Poverty Related Indicators Report released

Issue date:

The Government has released the first report on the Child Poverty Related Indicators (CPRIs). These are measures related to the broader causes and consequences of child poverty.

The report is a requirement of the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018, with the first annual report due after the 2020/21 financial year.  This report is therefore intended as a baseline report, and serves as a template for future reporting.

The report focuses on trends up to and including the 2018/19 year.  As a result of COVID-19, the trends that we were beginning to see for these indicators will likely shift, and for some indicators this shift could be significant.  We won’t be able to assess the full impact of COVID-19 on all of the CPRIs until the reports in 2022 and 2023.

Where possible, the report includes a break-down by ethnicity and socio-economic status.

The Child Poverty Related Indicators are:

  • housing affordability – as measured by the percentage of children and young people (ages 0-17) living in households spending more than 30 percent of their disposable income on housing.
  • housing quality – as measured by the percentage of children and young people (ages 0-17) living in households with a major problem with dampness or mould.
  • food insecurity – as measured by the percentage of children (ages 0-15) living in households reporting food runs out often or sometimes.
  • regular school attendance – as measured by the percentage of children and young people (ages 6-16) who are regularly attending school.
  • avoidable hospitalisations – as measured by the rate of children (ages 0-15) hospitalised for potentially avoidable illnesses.

Taken together, these indicators help tell a broader story about the lived-experience of children living in poverty in New Zealand.  Overtime, they can also tell us more about the impact of policies established to reduce child poverty and mitigate its consequences.

The Government will release the next report on the CPRIs for the 2019/20 financial year in 2021.

Read the Child Poverty Related Indicators report 

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