Stats NZ

Stats NZ delivers on its commitment to measure persistent child poverty

The Government Statistician has provided a definition for ‘persistent child poverty’ and confirmed the way Stats NZ will measure it, using a mix of survey and administrative data.

Under the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018 the Government Statistician is required to define persistent child poverty before 1 July 2025.

Government Statistician and Stats NZ Chief Executive Mark Sowden has defined persistent child poverty as ‘children living in households with less than 60% of the median household equivalised disposable income before housing costs are deducted (relative rate), in the current year and for at least 2 of the previous 3 years’.

“The definition is important as we will be able to measure the number of children experiencing the impacts of ongoing low income, which will inform the development of government policies designed to improve the wellbeing of children in Aotearoa New Zealand,” Sowden said.

Method for measuring persistent child poverty

Persistent child poverty will be measured by using a mix of survey data from the Household Income and Living Survey and administrative (admin) data already collected by other agencies, such as data held by Inland Revenue.

The survey data will come from the current year, while the administrative data will look back over the previous three years.

“This survey and admin data collection model will reduce the survey burden and associated costs as participants only need to be interviewed once, instead of annually over several years,” Sowden said.

“This methodology was developed and refined following careful quality testing, and we are confident this approach will allow for the production of statistics that meet our obligations under the Child Poverty Reduction Act.”

Baseline estimates of persistent child poverty

The Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018 requires the government to set targets for child poverty reduction by 31 December 2024. To assist the Minister for Child Poverty Reduction to set these targets, Stats NZ has provided some early baseline estimates of persistent child poverty.

The estimates suggest that for the year ended June 2023 about one in ten children in New Zealand (9.4 percent) lived in households experiencing persistent poverty.

“It is important to note that these estimates are intended as a guide for target setting and should not be treated as official statistics,” Sowden said.

As required by the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018, Stats NZ will provide official statistics on persistent child poverty in February 2027.

“I would like to acknowledge our stakeholders and advisory groups for their advice and support as we have worked towards this milestone,” Sowden said.

“We will take the time between now and 2027 to continue further refining the methodology for this important child poverty measure.”

Developing a methodology to measure persistent child poverty using survey and admin data provides more detail, including the rationale behind the chosen definition.

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