December 06, 2022
Child poverty gap growing
The latest Child Poverty Monitor has found Māori, Pacific and disabled tamariki are disproportionately impacted by poverty in Aotearoa.
The annual report is jointly published by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, Otago University and the JR McKenzie Trust.
They found progress toward the child poverty reduction targets at the national level, but specific groups of tamariki and their whānau are still left behind.
Families of Māori and disabled tamariki are twice more likely to live with material hardship, and 26 percent of Māori and 37 percent of Pacific whānau said they run out of food sometimes or often, compared with 11 percent of pakeha families.
Barnardos chief executive Mike Munnelly says the report confirms what his organisation sees on the ground, and shows the poverty gap is growing.