PRESS RELEASE
www.cpag.org.nz
Comments on the release of the NZCCSS poverty indicators report
Child Poverty Action Group is a non aligned independent body seeking better policies for children. It is clear from the
statistics in this report that far too many NZ families do not have enough money to adequately feed their children. For
too long family incomes have been neglected. The Family Support Tax Credit should be used to reduce the incidence and
seriousness of child poverty in New Zealand, but it has fallen well behind in purchasing power. It is not adjusted
annually for inflation like social welfare benefits, and the top income level from which it reduces has been fixed for
more than a decade.
Family assistance was increased in the form of the Child Tax Credit in 1996, but around 300,000 of the poorest children
miss out on this help only because of the work status of their parents. These children have had only very small
increments over the last 16 years, nowhere near enough to compensate for increases in food prices which have risen
sharply recently. The CPAG calls on the government to immediately extend the Child Tax Credit of $15 a week to all low
income children and engage in a fundamental overhaul of family assistance.