The latest Household Incomes Report produced by the Ministry of Social Development is out.This now iconic and much anticipated report is packed with data and explanation about different measures of child poverty.  No matter how you cut it though, New Zealand still has an unacceptably high level of children living in poverty.

The report seems to show an increase in children living below 60% of the median income poverty line from 260,000 in 2013 to 305,000 in 2014 after housing costs – an increase of 45,000.

As Deborah Morris-Travers, National Advocacy Manager, UNICEF NZ puts it, “The increase in poverty announced today is clearly unacceptable by anyone’s standards.  The Prime Minister needs to make good on his promise to prioritise solutions child poverty and deliver real change through boosting benefits, fixing cuts and improving access to quality housing for people on low incomes“.

Max Rashbrooke has put together Key points from the 2015 Household Incomes Report