Child poverty dropped in 2016

Stuff reports:

The report of the latest Child Poverty Monitor showed 12 per cent of children, or 135,000, were living in material hardship – without seven or more items, from a total list of 17, which are considered necessary for their wellbeing. That was down from 14 per cent or 155,000 in 2016.

There were 70,000 New Zealand children – or six per cent – who were experiencing the worst material hardship, with households missing out on 9 or more items from the list of 17 – down from 8 per cent or 85,000 last year.

The material hardship stat is the one I think we should focus on. Other measures of poverty are about income inequality which can create perverse incentives such as reducing poverty by making everyone poorer (but the wealthier households more poorer).

Material hardship is about if kids are actually going without stuff which is generally regarded as desirable such as more than one pair of shoes.

“It’s the first time we can say that we’re sure that things aren’t getting worse; it’s the first time there’s been a small drop and it’s genuinely encouraging and cause for cautious optimism,” Becroft said. 

“We’re probably seeing the first initial signs in terms of what the previous Government did, in terms of increasing benefit levels by $25 a week for families with children.

“And it’s the first time we’re probably seeing the flow through of general economic growth.”

But the figures “unsatisfactorily” only told the story to then end of June 2016.

So let’s see what the figures for June 2017 and June 1018 are. They will also be attributable to National. Then it will be interesting to see the June 2019 and June 2020 data and see if Labour can actually match its rhetoric with results.