This is the third report on child poverty to be released with the Budget. It shows the
progress we have made in reducing child poverty since we set child poverty reduction
targets in 2018
This Government has made child poverty reduction a priority, to help make Aotearoa New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child. Reducing child poverty helps children now and lays the foundation for healthy development and positive wellbeing in the future. Good material standards of living enable parents and caregivers to provide children with a good start in life, which has been shown to contribute to lasting wellbeing outcomes in areas like health, housing and education.
In Budget 2021, to tackle inequality and child poverty,
we are lifting weekly main benefit rates by between
$32 and $55 per adult, to bring these rates in line with
a key recommendation of the Welfare Expert Advisory
Group (WEAG) and provide an additional boost to families
with children. This is expected to lift between 19,000 and
33,000 more children out of poverty on the after-housingcosts measure.
