New Zealand pandemic policies pushed 18,000 children into poverty, study shows

Report says 10% increase in child poverty hit Māori and Pasifika children hardest

An additional 18,000 New Zealand children were pushed into poverty in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to new research, despite child welfare being one of prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s main concerns.

The Child Poverty Action Group – a group focused on eliminating poverty – put much of the increased poverty, inequity, homelessness and food insecurity down to government neglect as it created its policies during the pandemic.

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