Poverty in New Zealand

Abstract

Poverty is an important socio-political issue in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Children’s Commissioner’s Child Poverty Monitor has established the following measures of poverty: material hardship (households that go without things they need), and income poverty (where household income is less than 60% of the current median income). It was also identified that households in extreme poverty (including 80,000 children) are experiencing both material hardship and income poverty. Various policy proposals are made to government to relieve poverty in both the short and long term.

Short-term measures will not involve high cost and include greater child-support payments to sole parents who are receiving a benefit. Long-term measures involve increased child-related benefits and greater commitment by government to social housing and continuing free healthcare. This paper also recognises the importance of a cultural shift in the Department of Work and Income in relation to staff treatment of benefit applicants.