25,000 fewer in child poverty

Once again Labour gets struck with the inconvenient statistic getting in the way of its crisis.

The Herald reports:

Child poverty has dropped back almost to pre-recession levels, as New Zealanders’ jobs and incomes finally climb out of a five-year downturn.

The Ministry of Social Development’s latest annual report on household incomes says the number of children in households earning below 60 per cent of the median wage fell by 25,000 to 260,000 last year …

Isn’t that good.

However, beneficiaries slipped further behind average incomes because benefits are adjusted in line with prices, not incomes, so inequality worsened at the bottom of the income scale.

The answer to that is have fewer people on welfare, and for temporary, not long-term support.