One in seven New Zealand children are going without the basics with Māori, Pacific and disabled children disproportionately affected.

The new figures from Stats NZ show material hardship and poverty rates remain persistently high with no major change from the previous year. The survey was conducted between June 2024 and July 2025.

Around 14% of New Zealand children are living in material hardship, meaning they lack or cannot afford certain items or services from the specified list, such as putting off a doctor’s visit or putting up with the cold to keep costs down.

A household is classed as facing material hardship if they lack seven or more of the 18 items and in severe material hardship if they lack nine or more.

One in four – or one quarter – of Māori children, one third of Pacific kids and one in four disabled children are living in material hardship.

While Stats NZ has income-based measures of poverty, material hardship rates provide an indication of the actual day-to-day living conditions of New Zealand households and their ability to afford things most people would regard as essential or near-essential, such as food and clothing.

Labour’s child poverty reduction spokesperson Jan Tinetti said the figures were a “disgrace” and reflected the “real choices” families had to make to get by.

Labour’s child poverty reduction spokesperson Jan Tinetti. Photo/Supplied

“We’re seeing more families putting off doctor’s visits, more children putting up with feeling cold, and more children going without the basics.”

Addressing child poverty was a priority for former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who was the minister responsible during her term in office. Requirements for the Government to report and track child poverty were introduced in 2018.

Child poverty reduction minister Louise Upston said last year the Government’s efforts to reduce material hardship included lifting the threshold for the Working for Families tax credit.

Upston said the Government had also extended funding for community providers to source and distribute food through food hubs and foodbanks and reprioritised funding to deliver additional social housing places and affordable rentals.

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.