January 30, 2018
Measures set for child poverty reduction
The Government has unveiled its Child Poverty Reduction Bill setting the framework for measuring and targeting child poverty.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she wants to drive a significant and sustained reduction in child poverty that lasts beyond successive governments.
The bill requires governments to set ten-year targets on the defined set of measures of child poverty including income, housing costs and measures of material hardship.
They must also periodically set and publish three-year targets.
Governments need to report how each Budget will reduce child poverty and what progress is being made.
Between 150,000 and 290,000 children are currently living in poverty or hardship depending on the measure used, with around 80,000 in more severe hardship.
Half of all children in poverty are Maori or Pasifika.
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