Child poverty statistics show increase in material hardship for the year ended June 2023

Selected child poverty measure	Year ended June 2019
Measure (a): BHC 50	17.9
Measure (b): AHC 50 fixed	22.4
Measure (c): material hardship	22.6

16.0	19.8
20.2	24.6
20.3	24.9

Selected child poverty measure	Year ended June 2020
Measure (a): BHC 50	15.8
Measure (b): AHC 50 fixed	19.7
Measure (c): material hardship	19.7

13.6	18.0
17.5	21.9
17.3	22.1

Selected child poverty measure	Year ended June 2021
Measure (a): BHC 50	17.7
Measure (b): AHC 50 fixed	16.8
Measure (c): material hardship	20.2

15.2	20.2
14.6	19
17.6	22.8

Selected child poverty measure	Year ended June 2022 R
Measure (a): BHC 50	13.7
Measure (b): AHC 50 fixed	15.8
Measure (c): material hardship	18.8

10.5	16.9
12.7	18.9
15.2	22.4

Selected child poverty measure	Year ended June 2023
Measure (a): BHC 50	14.4
Measure (b): AHC 50 fixed	19.8
Measure (c): material hardship	21.5

12.2	16.6
17.1	22.5
19.1	23.9

Selected child poverty measure	Year ended June 2019
Measure (a): BHC 50	18.6
Measure (b): AHC 50 fixed	21.5
Measure (c): material hardship	28.2

15.3	21.9
18.3	24.7
24	32.4

Selected child poverty measure	Year ended June 2020
Measure (a): BHC 50	18.8
Measure (b): AHC 50 fixed	20.5
Measure (c): material hardship	26.5

15.3	22.3
17.3	23.7
22.3	30.7

Selected child poverty measure	Year ended June 2021
Measure (a): BHC 50	17.1
Measure (b): AHC 50 fixed	14.7
Measure (c): material hardship	24.0

14.0	20.2
11.9	17.5
19.6	28.4

Selected child poverty measure	Year ended June 2022 R
Measure (a): BHC 50	19.3
Measure (b): AHC 50 fixed	19.5
Measure (c): material hardship	25.9

13.1	25.5
14.4	24.6
19.5	32.3

Selected child poverty measure	Year ended June 2023
Measure (a): BHC 50	17
Measure (b): AHC 50 fixed	17.3
Measure (c): material hardship	28.9

12.8	21.2
12.9	21.7
23.8	34

Selected child poverty measure	Year ended June 2020
Measure (a): BHC 50	16
Measure (b): AHC 50 fixed	21.5
Measure (c): material hardship	20.7

12.7	19.3
17.9	25.1
17.3	24.1

Selected child poverty measure	Year ended June 2021
Measure (a): BHC 50	15.9
Measure (b): AHC 50 fixed	16.6
Measure (c): material hardship	20.5

12.9	18.9
13.5	19.7
17.5	23.5

Selected child poverty measure	Year ended June 2022 R
Measure (a): BHC 50	16.6
Measure (b): AHC 50 fixed	14
Measure (c): material hardship	21.8

12.5	20.7
10.5	17.5
17	26.6

Selected child poverty measure	Year ended June 2023
Measure (a): BHC 50	12.7
Measure (b): AHC 50 fixed	16.5
Measure (c): material hardship	22.3

10	15.4
13.6	19.4
18.6	26

Data collection for the year ended June 2023

Data collection for the latest Household Economic Survey was reduced due to ongoing challenges in the collection environment. The achieved sample size was approximately 14,100 households, whereas the designed target sample size for the survey is 20,000 households.

After thorough data quality analysis, the child poverty statistics for the year ended June 2023 were deemed fit-for-purpose, but users should note that margins of error are higher than designed for. This is especially true for smaller groups such as tamariki Māori, Pacific children, and disabled children. Furthermore, estimates of annual change have larger sample errors than in previous years due to the significantly reduced sample size for the year ended June 2022.

Stats NZ typically publishes child poverty statistics by regional council area. While these are published for the year ended June 2023, data quality issues associated with the previous year mean that annual changes are not available.

Child poverty statistics: Year ended June 2023 – technical appendix provides more information regarding this decision and analysis of data quality.

Impacts of disrupted data collection on 2022 Household Economic Survey statistics details the impact of COVID-19 on data collection and impact on data quality for the year ended June 2022.

/Stats NZ Public Release. View in full here.