Children and young people have what they need
This means:
- they and their parents / caregivers, have a good standard of material wellbeing
- they have regular access to nutritious food
- they live in stable housing that is affordable, warm and dry
- their parents / caregivers have the skills and support they need to access quality employment.
All children and young people deserve to grow up in families and whānau that have the resources they need for everyone to thrive.
Unfortunately, too many families and whānau don’t have enough money to meet basic material needs, which excludes them from a minimum acceptable standard of living in New Zealand.
Improving the material wellbeing of households constrained by poverty will have significant impact on other wellbeing outcomes, and help unleash the skills and capabilities of our children, young people and their whānau.
Earlier support for young parents so that they may provide a positive and better life for their children – I reckon that if my dad had that support earlier we would’ve been living much better earlier
Focus and key actions
Our priority is reducing child poverty by improving the material wellbeing of households in poverty and hardship. This focus has the potential to break the cycle of disadvantage and intergenerational poverty, and improve many other wellbeing outcomes.
The current work programme includes:
- Improving earnings and employment
- Creating a fairer and more equitable welfare system
- Improving housing quality, affordability and security
- Helping families with the cost of the essentials
Indicators
Indicators are used to measure the outcomes in the most direct and simplest way possible. The specific indicators that are relevant to this outcome are:
- Material wellbeing
- Material hardship (child poverty)
- Low income BHC50 (child poverty)
- Low income AHC50 (child poverty)
- Food insecurity
- Housing quality
- Housing affordability
You can learn more about these measures on the Indicators page.
Find out more about the Child Poverty legislation, including the measures and targets that underpin this outcome.
