The Child Poverty Monitor 2014 update carries very little good news despite a small decrease in overall poverty over the past year to 260,000 in poverty, this is still one in four children. Three out of every five children currently in poverty (around 156,000 children) will live in poverty for more than 7 years  and there are 110,000 children living in severe poverty, households with very low income and also living in material hardship.

Dr Jean Simpson from Otago University laments the 40,000 hospital admissions per year for poverty-related diseases, most of which are preventable. Children’s Commissioner Russell Wills called for the government to start recording and reporting child poverty information to track progress on the Prime Minister’s commitment to make child poverty a priority. UNICEF’s Deborah Morris-Travers reminded us that state housing is vital to providing the affordable and good quality rental accommodation that children in low income families need to thrive.