Child Poverty Action Group NZ - CPAG

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.

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

15/04/2026

CPAG member and Professor of Public Health Nutrition Carol Wham spoke to TVNZ’s Breakfast this morning about the alarming rise in food insecurity across Aotearoa New Zealand.

In a nation that feeds 40 million people globally each year, there is no excuse for letting our tamariki go hungry ever - let alone on a regular and severe basis.

25/03/2026

Where is the support for benefit-reliant households?

CPAG spoke to ABC News about the support New Zealand's government is offering to low-income families during the current energy crisis - and those who'll miss out.



ActionStation Wellbeing Economy Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand Auckland Action Against Poverty

24/03/2026

Energy crises affect families receiving benefits, too. Where is their support?

Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) is calling for an increase to the Winter Energy Payment (WEP) to help offset the current surge in an already desperate cost of living crisis for families living on core benefits.

Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis stood before the New Zealand public today and pointed to the automatic 3.1% inflation adjustment to core benefits on April 1 as the support they’re offering to benefit-dependent households.

In the last three weeks, the cost of 91 petrol alone has climbed nearly 40%, and diesel by more than 80%.

Our Income Floor research clearly shows core benefits are already woefully inadequate to cover even the bare essentials for many.

That's why we're calling for an overdue increase to the WEP by 30% in time for the coming winter.

It’s an approach that aligns with the Government’s move to use already-established systems to support low-income families, but which also recognises the pain being felt in households receiving core benefits while making up for the lack of increase in the WEP since its introduction in 2018.

In a nation where nearly a quarter of a million children live in benefit-receiving households, the idea that none of them would see any extra support is simply outrageous.

Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) is calling for an increase to the Winter Energy Payment (WEP) to help offset the current surge in an already desperate cost of living crisis for families living on core benefits. Minister Nicola Willis announced today that from April, 143,000 low-to-middle income f

26/02/2026

We know the solutions, because for four out of the last seven years, they worked.

1. Lift core benefits to liveable levels so our lowest income families can provide a basic living standard.

2. Index the growth of those supports to wage growth, no general CPI (inflation), because the cost of housing, utilities and food frequently rise faster than the average inflation.

3. Ensure wages keep pace with basic living costs, or inflation will effectively mean wages that stand still are still a pay cut.

Government budgets which have focused on trying to achieve these three goals have also seen material hardship decrease in the same years.

That’s it. It’s that simple. But instead, in the last three years, 50,000 more children have been forced into material hardship.

It’s not rocket science, it’s political will.

26/02/2026

Nearly 170,000 children are living in material hardship according to Stats NZ today.

That’s the highest number in 10 years.

Child poverty needs to be a central issue in this election. We know the solutions. We just need the political will to enact them.

20/01/2026

Our organisations’ comments on today’s revelation that the Government will wind back Jobseeker Support for certain 18- and 19-year-olds, despite the Prime Minister's office having no evidence jobs exist for those young people to go to.

19/01/2026

Despite hinging his Government’s Jobseeker changes on the claim that there are plentiful jobs for the young people he’s about to boot off of it, today we can reveal the PM’s office received no evidence to back that claim up.

We submitted a very simple OIA request, asking for evidence he’d seen that these jobs exist. His office’s response?

“A search of this office’s records has returned no information within scope of your request and, as such, your request is refused under section 18(e) of the Act as the requested information does not exist.”

*The requested information does not exist.*

ICYMI: The Government's set to make 18- and 19-year-olds with no children and whose parents earn more than $65k ineligible for Jobseeker Support.

The PM has travelled the length and breadth of the country, saying jobs are plentiful, and that regions and industries are “crying out” for young people.

We knew something was up when regional businesses disputed those claims. Now we know the truth. The PM has not received any advice of this nature.

The Government’s plan to reduce poverty by moving people into jobs doesn’t work if those jobs don’t exist, and those jobs don’t exist if you just keep saying they do.

Child Poverty Action Group, Auckland Action Against Poverty and Back Make Change agree: it's time for the Prime Minister to pause the upcoming Jobseeker Support changes and release any labour market evidence showing it’s a practical solution, not just a punishment for young people.

16/01/2026

Stats NZ has announced it will change how it measures material hardship as part of its annual child poverty reporting.

CPAG is concerned these changes risk minimising the varying experiences of children in material hardship, how they could leave out important measures of social participation, and why these changes have come about now.

Full concerns + new Stats NZ methodology:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) is concerned about today’s announcement from Stats NZ detailing significant changes to how material hardship will be measured in the Household Income and Living Survey, changes that could affect how child poverty is officially u