Māori, Pacific and disabled children are bearing a much greater burden from hardship, according to the latest Child Poverty Monitor report.
Photo: 123rf
While targets to reduce child poverty were mostly on track at a national level, and for Pākehā children, Children's Commissioner Frances Eivers said structural barriers like racism and ableism meant some groups were in danger of being left behind.
That meant much more focused efforts would be needed to lift all whānau out of poverty.
"On all main measures we track, Māori, Pacific and disabled children are bearing a much greater burden from poverty and hardship," Eivers said.
"Unless something dramatic changes poverty rates for these children will not reach the target level."
The child poverty statistics in the report come from the 2019/20 Household Economic Survey, which concluded in March 2020 before the first nationwide lockdown.
Those statistics were released by StatsNZ in February.
Just over 11 percent of all children are experiencing material hardship, but for Pacific children this is just over 25 percent.
For Māori and disabled children it's 20 percent.
For Pākehā it's nine percent.
The government wants to reduce material hardship to six percent of children by 2028.
"While rates across the board were lower than the previous year, the proportion of Māori, Pacific and disabled children in hardship is so high that a much more targeted effort will be needed to get anywhere near the goal," Eivers said.
But Eivers said there was no denying progress had been made - and measures like benefit and wage increases, and the school lunch programme, were making a difference.
She said raising incomes further and bringing in greater protections for whānau who are renting were necessary to make further in-roads in reducing child poverty.