This report focuses on New Zealand's child poverty trends and indicators up to and including the 2019/20 year. These trends and indicators are measures related to the broader causes and consequences of child poverty. Taken together, these indicators help tell a broader story about the lived experience of children living in poverty in New Zealand. Over time, they can also tell us more about the impact of policies established to reduce child poverty and mitigate its consequences.

Key findings:

• 32% of Māori households with children spent more than 30% of their disposable income on housing; in the case of Pacific households, this was 34%.
• The rates for children with disabilities, or in households with at least one disabled person, was 35% and 33%, respectively.
• There is some evidence of a downward trend in the percentage of children in households with major dampness or mould.
• Housing quality issues are more severe for Māori and Pacific children. 11% of Māori children and 17% of Pacific children lived in households with a major problem with damp or mould.
• For children with disabilities, and children living in households with a disabled family member, 10% and 11% had a major problem with dampness or mould respectively.
• The proportion of Māori and Pacific children living in houses where food runs out sometimes or often were 30% and 46%, respectively.
• The proportion of Māori and Pacific children living in houses where food runs out often were 8% and 10%, respectively.
• There is some evidence that food insecurity decreased over 2012 to 2020 for Māori and Pacific children
• Regular attendance means attending school 90% of the time. Regular school attendance was lower for Māori and Pacific children: 48% and 51%, respectively
• This rate was higher for Māori and Pacific children - 56 and 72 per 1000 children respectively.
• Over the five years to 2019/20, rates of potentially avoidable hospitalisations have been decreasing