Child poverty statistics provide estimates of the proportion of children in households with low income or experiencing material hardship for measures listed in the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018.
There are four primary measures of child poverty, and six supplementary measures. Targets for the primary measures are required to be set by the responsible minister.
Statistics for nine child poverty measures, including annual changes, are available in the files under Download data below. Figures are available by ethnicity, disability status, and regional council area.
Reporting on persistent child poverty will commence in 2027, for the year ended June 2026.
The Household Income and Living Survey (HILS) was established to replace the Household Economic Survey (HES) from July 2024.
The HILS, from which these latest poverty rates were estimated, was conducted between July 2024 and June 2025. Households were asked to report income and housing costs expenditure for the 12 months prior to interview. This means that for some households, income refers to income received in the 2023/2024 year.
A change between two years is considered statistically significant if the difference between the estimates is larger than the sample error on the change.
| Year ended June | Percent |
| 2014 | 14.5 |
| 2015 | 16.3 |
| 2016 | 15.4 |
| 2017 | 14.2 |
| 2018 | 16.5 |
| 2019 RB | 13.6 |
| 2020 RB | 13.3 |
| 2021 RB | 12.9 |
| 2022 RB | 11.7 |
| 2023 RB | 12.1 |
| 2024 R | 12.7 |
| 2025 | 12.6 |
| 13.4 | 15.6 |
|---|---|
| 15.2 | 17.4 |
| 14.3 | 16.5 |
| 13.1 | 15.3 |
| 15.4 | 17.6 |
| 12.7 | 14.5 |
| 12 | 14.6 |
| 11.7 | 14.1 |
| 10 | 13.4 |
| 10.8 | 13.4 |
| 11.7 | 13.7 |
| 11.3 | 13.9 |
| Year ended June | Percent |
| 2014 | 27.3 |
| 2015 | 27.2 |
| 2016 | 24.3 |
| 2017 | 22.4 |
| 2018 | 22.8 |
| 2019 RB | 18.7 |
| 2020 RB | 17.9 |
| 2021 RB | 15 |
| 2022 RB | 14.6 |
| 2023 RB | 17.8 |
| 2024 R | 18.2 |
| 2025 | 17.8 |
| 24.4 | 30.2 |
|---|---|
| 24.3 | 30.1 |
| 22 | 26.6 |
| 20 | 24.8 |
| 20.9 | 24.7 |
| 17.6 | 19.8 |
| 16.6 | 19.2 |
| 13.8 | 16.2 |
| 12.9 | 16.3 |
| 16.3 | 19.3 |
| 17 | 19.4 |
| 16.7 | 18.9 |
Material hardship - measure (c)
In the year ended June 2025, 14.3 percent of children lived in a household experiencing material hardship.
There was no statistically significant change to the rate from the year ended June 2024 or to the rate from the baseline year ended June 2018.
For data collected using the HILS, a household that lacks seven or more of the 18 items on the MH-18 index is defined as being in material hardship.
Examples of items on the MH-18 index include:
- unable to afford a computer or internet at home, because of the cost
- having to put up with feeling cold, to keep costs down
- unable to afford an unexpected $500 expense, without borrowing
- having to buy cheaper or less meat, because of the cost
- putting off doctor's visits, to keep costs down.
Note that in the HES, the 'Dep-17' index with a threshold of six or more items was used to measure material hardship.
Measuring child poverty: Material hardship in the Household Income and Living Survey has a full list of the MH-18 items and information about the methodology used to derive material hardship rates in Aotearoa New Zealand, including differences between the HES and the HILS.
| Year ended June | Percent |
| 2014 | 16 |
| 2015 | 17.5 |
| 2016 | 12.1 |
| 2017 | 12.7 |
| 2018 | 13.3 |
| 2019 RB | 13.3 |
| 2020 RB | 11.6 |
| 2021 RB | 11 |
| 2022 RB | 10.6 |
| 2023 RB | 12.6 |
| 2024 R | 13.5 |
| 2025 | 14.3 |
| 12.2 | 19.8 |
|---|---|
| 13.2 | 21.8 |
| 8.5 | 15.7 |
| 10.3 | 15.1 |
| 11 | 15.6 |
| 12.2 | 14.4 |
| 10.5 | 12.7 |
| 10 | 12 |
| 9.1 | 12.1 |
| 11.4 | 13.8 |
| 12.3 | 14.7 |
| 13.1 | 15.5 |
Persistent child poverty
In 2026 Stats NZ will provide estimates for persistent poverty for the year ended June 2024 and for the year ended June 2025, ahead of ongoing annual reporting commencing in early 2027.
Stats NZ delivers on its commitment to measure persistent child poverty has more information.
More data
No annual change in child poverty rates for year ended June 2025 has information on child poverty by ethnic group and disability status.
Household income and housing-cost statistics: Year ended June 2025 includes statistics on household income and housing costs.
How we measure child poverty in the Household Income and Living Survey is an infographic explaining the process of producing child poverty statistics.
Technical enquiries
Household Financial Statistics
[email protected]
ISSN 2624-2915
Next release
Child poverty statistics: Year ended June 2026 will be released in 2027.
