Progress in the last financial year
Child poverty statistics for the most recently completed financial year, 2022/23, were released by the Government Statistician in February this year.[2] These indicate that the material hardship and AHC50 poverty rates were higher in 2022/23 than in the previous year, by two percentage points and three percentage points respectively. The one percentage point increase in the BHC50 poverty measure was not statistically significant.
| Primary measure | Per cent | Change between 2021/22 and 2022/23 [3] |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | ||
| Material hardship | 13.3 | 10.5 | 12.5 | 2.0 percentage point increase in poverty measure |
| AHC50 | 22.8 | 14.4 | 17.5 | 3.0 percentage point increase in poverty measure |
| BHC50 | 16.5 | 11.7 | 12.6 | 1.0 percentage point increase in poverty measure |
These changes reflect, at least in part, the impact of high inflation on the cost of living, which has made it harder for families to afford the basics in the year to June 2023.
Notes
- [2] More information on these statistics for the year ended June 2023 can be found on the Stats NZ website (www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/child-poverty-statistics-year-ended-june-2023/).
- [3] Apparent differences between year-on-year statistics with the poverty rates reported are due to rounding.