NZ Politics

The lack of progress happening in New Zealand to reduce child poverty is both "hugely disappointing" and "unacceptable", the Children's Commissioner says.

Data released by Stats NZ on Wednesday for the year July 2024 to June 2025 showed one in seven children are living in hardship.

About 17,900 households were interviewed for the research.

The number of children that were recorded as living in material hardship was 14.3 percent - one in seven.

There was no significant change in that from the year recorded prior or since 2018.

In the latest statistics, a child recorded as facing material hardship was recorded as being in a household going without seven or more of 18 necessities.

Those included being unable to pay for utilities on time, having to put up with feeling cold and putting off doctors visits.

That was a change to the year prior where the threshold for material hardship was six or more.

A total of 25.1 percent of Māori children were recorded in material hardship which was not statistically different to the year prior.

For Pacific children, that figure was 31 percent, which was also statistically unchanged.