Nearly 170,000 children across Aotearoa are living without everyday essentials, prompting the Child Poverty Action Group to challenge political parties heading into Election 2026 to spell out how they will tackle poverty rather than allow another generation of tamariki to fall behind.
The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) is launching its Manifesto to Reduce Child Poverty, setting out a package of measures across income, housing, health, disability and education that it wants the next Government to prioritise.
The manifesto comes as around 169,300 children are estimated to be experiencing material hardship, meaning families are struggling to afford essentials that most New Zealanders would consider basic necessities.
For CPAG, the figures make child poverty an immediate political issue rather than something that can be pushed into another term of government.
Five areas where CPAG wants action
At the centre of the manifesto are five interconnected areas that determine whether tamariki and their whānau have the foundations needed to thrive.
Income matters because families cannot consistently meet the costs of food, electricity, clothing, transport and other necessities when household income falls short.
Housing matters because cold, damp, overcrowded or insecure accommodation can affect children’s physical health, mental wellbeing and ability to learn.
Healthcare matters because poverty should not determine whether a child receives treatment when they need it.
Disability support matters because whānau raising disabled tamariki can face additional costs and barriers that deepen financial hardship.
And education matters because poverty experienced at home can follow children through the school gate, affecting attendance, participation and ultimately opportunity.
CPAG’s argument is that addressing only one part of that equation will not be enough.
Māori children remain particularly exposed
The manifesto carries particular significance for Māori because persistent economic and social inequalities mean tamariki Māori remain disproportionately exposed to material hardship.
That turns child poverty into a wider issue of hauora, housing, educational opportunity and intergenerational wellbeing.
When whānau are forced to choose between kai, power, rent, transport and medical costs, the consequences can accumulate throughout childhood.
Those disadvantages can then follow tamariki into adulthood, affecting employment, income, housing and health and potentially creating another cycle of hardship for the next generation.
An Election 2026 challenge
The timing of the manifesto places the issue directly into the election campaign.
CPAG wants political parties to move beyond acknowledging that child poverty is a problem and instead commit to policies capable of producing measurable reductions.
That means voters should expect parties to explain how their policies on benefits, wages, tax, housing, healthcare, disability support and education will affect children living in the country’s poorest households.
It also puts pressure on parties making significant spending or tax promises to demonstrate where reducing child poverty sits among their priorities.
A question of political choices
New Zealand has already established statutory child-poverty reduction targets through the Child Poverty Reduction Act, making the issue one against which successive governments can be measured.
CPAG’s intervention effectively asks whether those commitments are being matched by policies capable of achieving them.
The organisation argues child poverty is not inevitable.
Government decisions determine benefit levels, tax credits, housing investment, healthcare access and education funding. Those decisions can either reduce the pressure on low-income households or increase it.
With almost 170,000 children experiencing material hardship, CPAG says the country cannot afford to treat those choices as abstract economic arguments.
They are decisions affecting whether tamariki have enough food, live in healthy homes, receive healthcare and participate fully in education.
Tamariki cannot wait another political cycle
The manifesto lands during an election campaign already dominated by debates over the cost of living, taxation, public spending, housing and the future of public services.
CPAG is now demanding that child poverty becomes part of that conversation.
For Māori, the challenge is particularly urgent because improving outcomes for tamariki Māori requires addressing the economic conditions experienced by the whānau surrounding them.
Ultimately, the manifesto presents voters and political parties with a straightforward test.
If nearly 170,000 children are going without the essentials in one of the world’s wealthier countries, what will the next Government actually do differently?
With Election 2026 approaching, CPAG wants every party seeking power to provide an answer — because for tamariki growing up in hardship today, another three years is a significant part of a childhood.
#ChildPoverty #ChildPovertyActionGroup #CPAG #Election2026 #NZElection2026 #Tamariki #TamarikiMaori #Whanau #MaterialHardship #Poverty #CostOfLiving #Income #Housing #SocialHousing #Hauora #HauoraMaori #MaoriHealth #Disability #Education #MaoriEducation #HealthEquity #HousingCrisis #IncomeInequality #WorkingFamilies #WhanauOra #SocialPolicy #MaoriPolitics #NZPolitics #Aotearoa #MaoriNews #ElectionNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea #WaateaDigital
