Wage Increases Outpace Income Support for Children
Families in low-paid work with three children would have received up to $1900 more over the last two years if income support for children ...
NZ Is Being Shown up by Australia’s Family Tax Credit System - CPAG
CPAG finds that Australia’s family tax benefits system is significantly more generous than New Zealand’s Working for Families tax credits.
Budget Delivers Disappointment for Children in Poverty but CPAG Has Hope This Can Be Fixed
CPAG executive officer Georgie Craw says: "We hope the Government will take up the opportunity it has afforded itself to enable our nation to be the ...
The Latest Child Poverty Statistics Are a Wake-up Call
This morning Stats NZ released child poverty statistics for the year ended June 2019. The results show that any changes in child poverty are small ...
Monitoring Report Suggests Progress, but Worst-off Children Need Next Steps Urgently
CPAG says that putting the building blocks in place to clean up an inherited mess is a very important part of the process to achieve the targets set ...
State of the Nation Report Shows Little Improvement for Children
CPAG believes a meaningful reduction in child poverty rates is not attainable unless the harmful inadequacy of benefit levels is addressed.
Benefit Data Shows Families Cannot Wait Till Budget 2019 Announcements
CPAG calls on the coalition Government to increase welfare benefits by at least 20% immediately and index to wages like New Zealand Superannuation.
Slowdown Possibility Raises Concerns for Family Incomes
More than ever families will need financial support if job losses occur, or work hours are reduced along with spending power.
What Happens for Children When the Winter Energy Payment Runs Out?
This year we are calling on policy-makers and politicians reform the welfare system so that it is fit for families in the 21st century.
CPAG Welcomes Working for Families Increases on July 1
Working families on low incomes have been particularly hard hit by past cuts to the income threshold from which families’ payments start to reduce.
New CPAG Paper - Will Children Get the Help They Need?
While it has been indicated that the 1 July changes are just the start, families are desperate now, and cannot wait.
Families Package Is Tip of the Iceberg for Families in Poverty
“Many working families on low wages are facing increased financial pressure as they struggle to meet housing costs, and food insecurity is a growing ...
Child Poverty Targets Realistic, but Income Needs Urgent
By the time the Families Package comes in, families’ costs, such as rent, may have increased yet further.
Muddled Numbers Provide an Opportunity for Government to Lead Visionary Change
More money needs to be channelled to the families currently falling below the very low 40% poverty line. There is a way to do this without creating ...
Children’s Income Needs Should Be Addressed Urgently
Christmas is fast approaching, and charities are gearing up to support families in need, with the expectation that the numbers of people requiring ...
Abatement Rates Must Be Restored for Working Families to Thrive
CPAG urges the new government to make a firm commitment to the low-income working families, by ensuring that their ability to earn extra is not ...
NZ First’s Anti-Discrimination Policy Could Be Promising
With a new government undecided, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) urges participants in coalition talks to prioritise child wellbeing policies.
Bold Plans Needed to Tackle Child Poverty, Not Vague Promises
“Right now, 14% of children in New Zealand are living in material hardship. Reducing that percentage figure by 10 points - to 4% - would mean 110,000 ...
Parental Income Test Needs Urgent Attention
“It is worrying that so many are in hardship and that is impacting negatively on their education.”
Make Eliminating Child Poverty New Zealand’s No.1 Priority
CPAG urges all major political parties to agree to reform Working for Families as matter of top priority.
Bold Changes and Combined Efforts Could Work for Families
By raising core benefits and the earned income threshold at which benefits begin to abate, there is a better chance for all families on benefits to ...
A Good Start to WFF Changes, What Will Greens Have in Store?
While both National and Labour policies will reduce child poverty a little, this is not the big boost that is needed.
CPAG Welcomes Attention to Working for Families at Last
"For ten years we have argued that WFF is a flawed programme in its design and we have been especially alarmed at the silent erosion under National’s ...
Policy Priorities for Supporting Family Incomes
The upcoming election provides an opportunity for all political parties to put the wellbeing of all New Zealand’s children at the centre of their ...
CPAG Stands Behind Figures Showing $2.8 Billion Cuts to Working for Families
These cuts have affected families in low-paid, full-time work and are quite contrary to Bill English’s claim to want to look after "hard-working" New ...
Hospitalisations Linked to Poverty Must Be Reduced
There are more than 40,000 hospital admissions of children in New Zealand every year with illnesses that often have their roots in poverty and ...
Latest Income and Welfare Changes Fall Short of Addressing Need
“It is no wonder we are seeing more low-income working parents depend on food banks and other charities for survival.”
Technical Efficiency Not Enough for Children
Currently, WFF is far too complex and has been undermined through both failure of policy to index it properly, and by deliberate cuts that reduce its ...