Child Poverty Action Group NZ - CPAG

Child Poverty Action Group NZ - CPAG CPAG is an independent charity working to eliminate child poverty through research and advocacy.

That's 47,500 children, btw. In three days, CPAG will lay out the key policy priorities for the next Government to reduc...
24/08/2026

That's 47,500 children, btw.

In three days, CPAG will lay out the key policy priorities for the next Government to reduce child poverty.

Enough is enough.

For 32 years, CPAG has worked to eliminate child poverty.In recent weeks, we've been working hard to speak to politician...
20/08/2026

For 32 years, CPAG has worked to eliminate child poverty.

In recent weeks, we've been working hard to speak to politicians about what is needed to ensure all of Aotearoa New Zealand's children can flourish free from poverty.

Next Thursday morning, we'll be sharing our manifesto for this year's election. It lays out, in simple terms, the policy fixes needed to reduce systemic child poverty and chart a course back to honouring the promises of the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018.

We love all Kiwi kids. We know what we need to do. Let's get on with it.

Enough is enough.

To help understand one of the core drivers of child poverty, housing researcher Greg Waite looked into the growing affor...
23/07/2026

To help understand one of the core drivers of child poverty, housing researcher Greg Waite looked into the growing affordability crisis in rental houses across Aotearoa.

Te Wai Pounamu, the South Island, doesn’t escape unscathed. Only post-quake Canterbury bucks the trend, with the supply of affordable rental increasing 6% from 2015-2024. Nelson decline of ‑13% is a symptom of house prices in urban centres rising so high that rents could no longer increase in line with capital costs.

This paper has used a set of benchmark ‘affordable rents’ to measure change in the stock of private rental homes over time, which you can read more about in the full report: https://www.cpag.org.nz/research/trends-in-affordable-rental-housing-supply

To help understand one of the core drivers of child poverty, housing researcher Greg Waite looked into the growing affor...
21/07/2026

To help understand one of the core drivers of child poverty, housing researcher Greg Waite looked into the growing affordability crisis in rental houses across Aotearoa.

The North Island bears some of the sharpest drops in affordable rental supply were in rural regions; Bay of Plenty and Manawatu-Wanganui (‑40%; from 84% to 44%), Hawke’s Bay (‑39%), , Northland and Gisborne (‑34%), Waikato (‑33%). Declines in affordable rental were lower in most larger regions; Auckland (‑6%), and Wellington (‑16%).

We found that house prices in these large urban centres had risen so high that rents could no longer increase in line with capital costs. Basically, too many renters didn’t have the income to pay.

This paper has used a set of benchmark ‘affordable rents’ to measure change in the stock of private rental homes over time, which you can read more about in the full report: https://www.cpag.org.nz/research/trends-in-affordable-rental-housing-supply

If you’ve tried to find a rental lately and thought there weren’t many you could afford, it’s not bad timing.In the last...
20/07/2026

If you’ve tried to find a rental lately and thought there weren’t many you could afford, it’s not bad timing.

In the last decade, the amount of New Zealand’s rental stock that could be considered affordable by families on low incomes has shrunk significantly.

We’ve used three different benchmark incomes (appendix and full report linked below) to show how the share of rental houses people can afford on different incomes is shrinking.��

Unaffordable rentals mean parents weigh up other basic expenses, and our children deserve more than that. They deserve enough housing, enough food, and the chance to participate in society.

Full report (incl. appendix): https://www.cpag.org.nz/research/trends-in-affordable-rental-housing-supply

Where you get your income isn't nearly as important as whether there's enough left after you've paid rent - and for a sh...
17/07/2026

Where you get your income isn't nearly as important as whether there's enough left after you've paid rent - and for a shocking amount of the population, there isn't.

Our latest research found:

• 85% of households earning somewhere between the minimum wage and living wage can afford rent and a basic standard of living.

• For low-income working households earning less than the equivalent of the full-time minimum wage per adult and receiving no benefit support, that falls to 34%.

• For households relying on a full adult-rate benefit, it's just 12%.

You'll often see the conversation get stuck on "workers" versus "beneficiaries", but the reality is that housing costs are leaving both working people and people relying on income support without enough to get by.

Read the research: https://www.cpag.org.nz/research

Two numbers that tell a story about housing in Aotearoa:12%That's the share of private renting households receiving a fu...
15/07/2026

Two numbers that tell a story about housing in Aotearoa:

12%

That's the share of private renting households receiving a full adult-rate benefit who can afford both rent and a basic standard of living.

70,000+

That's how many working renter households earn less than the equivalent of the full-time minimum wage per adult.

When rent takes too much, families are left with less for everything else.

In the first of two new CPAG research papers,housing researcher Greg Waite examines private rental affordability in Aotearoa New Zealand, and the pressure on low-income families to make ends meet.

Research here:
https://www.cpag.org.nz/research

Everyone deserves a home they can afford.New CPAG research released this morning finds:• Only 12% of private renting hou...
15/07/2026

Everyone deserves a home they can afford.

New CPAG research released this morning finds:
• Only 12% of private renting households receiving a full adult-rate benefit can afford rent and basic living costs.
• More than 70,000 working renter households are still struggling to make ends meet.
• Affordable rental housing has become harder to find across much of Aotearoa.

Housing researcher Greg Waite explores both sides of the challenge: household affordability and the shrinking supply of affordable rentals.

Read the research: https://www.cpag.org.nz/research

Budgets are moral documents, and child poverty is the result of policy choices.Ending child poverty requires a sustained...
28/05/2026

Budgets are moral documents, and child poverty is the result of policy choices.

Ending child poverty requires a sustained commitment to income adequacy, affordable housing, and an unconditional approach to supporting children.

Budget 2026 contains few short-term relief measures but it falls well short of the transformational change needed to ensure every child in Aotearoa can thrive.

What will we see from the Government to reduce growing child poverty in the year ahead?That's the central question we'll...
13/05/2026

What will we see from the Government to reduce growing child poverty in the year ahead?

That's the central question we'll be answering at People Over Politics: CPAG's annual post-Budget hui this year.

We're delighted to have the incredible brainpower of economist Shamubeel Eaqub, senior research fellow Dr Kelly Garton, and CPAG's own Dr Yu Shi breaking down the Budget the morning after it's released, making it absolutely clear how the Government's fiscal priorities align with its moral imperatives.

Later in the morning, Aaron Hendry of Kick Back, Agnes Magele of Auckland Action Against Poverty, and Mike Potter of Disability Connect will share their perspective on the hardship hurting so many communities right now.

Then, Dr Yu Shi will chair a discussion on trust in the political system - the system we've entrusted to end child poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand - with commentator Grant Duncan and Wellbeing Economy Alliance Aotearoa NZ director Gareth Hughes.

All of that, plus the release of new original CPAG research into regional housing affordability by Greg Waite, and our friends at Save The Children NZ bringing greater insight into youth perspectives.

Where: Akarana Event Centre, 8-10 Tamaki Drive, Okahu Bay, Auckland 1071.
When: Friday 29 May, 9:30am - 1:15pm.

Register now on our website: https://www.cpag.org.nz/events

If you can't join us in person, sign up for our livestream: https://cpag.infoodle.com/form_process?g=dd0a6e47-4e8a-4212-8695-781e1b7e8f41

And for those in Pōneke / Wellington, we're partnering St Peter's on Willis for a breakfast discussing the Budget and its impact on equity and wellbeing from 7:30am to 9am. Tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/st-peter-s-post-budget-breakfast

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PO Box 56 11, Victoria Street West
Auckland
1142,

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