Listen Now: 
The Child Poverty Action Group says the Government needs to go more faster to deal with what is a chronic mass emergency.
The latest Child Poverty Related Indicators Report says almost a third of tamariki Māori and 46 percent of Pasifika children live in households where food runs out sometimes or often, and 36 percent of households with children spent more than 30 percent of their disposable income on housing.
Action Group spokesperson Janet McAllister says the report was based on pre-Covid data, and the situation has been getting worse.
She says the Government’s small steps approach isn’t enough, and something big is needed in next week’s Budget.
"We have to ensure there are core entitlements that ensure all our whānau and families are over poverty lines. It's not okay to say there is supplementary assistance, because we know people fall through the cracks, we know people don't know what they can access," Ms McAllister says.
!["p_facebook"]("/site/uma/images/story_img/facebook.jpg")
& !["p_twitter"]("/site/uma/images/story_img/twitter.jpg")
Copyright © 2021, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
