Children living in households with low income in New Zealand
By region, lower than 50% of median income after housing costs, 2019 & 2021, % of children
| Year ended June | Region | % of children |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Northland | 24.4% |
| 2019 | Northland | 28.4% |
| 2021 | Auckland | 21.1% |
| 2019 | Auckland | 21.7% |
| 2021 | Waikato | 23.2% |
| 2019 | Waikato | 21.7% |
| 2021 | Bay of Plenty | 22.5% |
| 2019 | Bay of Plenty | 23.1% |
| 2021 | Gisborne, Hawke's Bay | 18.7% |
| 2019 | Gisborne, Hawke's Bay | 16.8% |
| 2021 | Taranaki | 21.3% |
| 2019 | Taranaki | 21.1% |
| 2021 | Manawatū-Whanganui | 21.3% |
| 2019 | Manawatū-Whanganui | 18.4% |
| 2021 | Wellington | 16.5% |
| 2019 | Wellington | 16.1% |
| 2021 | Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast | 19% |
| 2019 | Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast | 19.2% |
| 2021 | Canterbury | 19.9% |
| 2019 | Canterbury | 16.3% |
| 2021 | Otago | 18.7% |
| 2019 | Otago | 19% |
| 2021 | Southland | 14.1% |
| 2019 | Southland | 15.7% |
Definitions
Income: This data refers to the equivalised disposable household income. It is the household income divided by a factor that takes into account household size and composition. This is to allow living standards to be compared across households.
DEP-17 score: The DEP-17 index focuses on the low living standards end of the spectrum and includes questions about ‘enforced lack of essentials’, ‘economised, cut back, or delayed purchases a lot’, ‘in arrears more than once in last 12 months’, and ‘financial stress and vulnerability’. For more information: https://www.stats.govt.nz/methods/measuring-child-poverty-material-hardship#appendix2
'Material hardship' is defined as having a DEP-17 score of six or more, while 'Severe material hardship' is defined as having a DEP-17 score of nine or more.
Housing costs: Total housing costs consist of expenditure on mortgage payments, rent payments, property rates payments, and payments associated with building-related insurance.
AHC: After housing costs.
BHC: Before housing costs.
Data calculation/treatment
Data for the year ended June 2020 is only for nine months, to March 2020, due to being unable to collect data for the household economic survey (HES) during the COVID-19 lockdown. Stats NZ investigated the quality of the data that has been collected and are confident in the data’s ability to give a clear picture of child poverty prior to the COVID-19 lockdown.
For more information
https://www.stats.govt.nz/methods/child-poverty-statistics-year-ended-june-2021-technical-appendix
https://www.stats.govt.nz/methods/measuring-child-poverty-concepts-and-definitions
Limitations of the data
Stats NZ emphasises the need to look at the general trend over time and caution against reaching definitive conclusions from reported year-on-year changes.
Due to its relatively small sample size prior to the 2018/19 year, the underlying data source (i.e. the Household Economic Survey) was not able to deliver robust results when more precision is required in a given year.
The Household Economic Survey tends to have lower response rates from households in low socio-economic areas, which means that these households are often underrepresented in the sample.
Data provided by
Dataset name
Child Poverty Statistics: Year ended June 2021
Webpage:
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/child-poverty-statistics-year-ended-june-2021
How to find the data
At URL provided, select 'Child poverty statistics: Year ended June 2021' Excel file.
Import & extraction details
File as imported: Child Poverty Statistics: Year ended June 2021
From the dataset Child Poverty Statistics: Year ended June 2021, this data was extracted:
- Sheet: Table6.02
- Range:
B7:K58 - Provided: 195 data points
This data forms the table Child Poverty - Children living in households with low income: less than 50% median equivalised disposable household income after housing costs by region 2019–2021.
Dataset originally released on:
February 24, 2022
About this dataset
Child poverty statistics provide estimates of low income and material hardship rates for measures listed in the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018.
Purpose of collection
Statistics in this release will be used as baseline rates by Government to set 3- and 10-year targets for reducing child poverty for the three primary measures specified in the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018.
Method of collection/Data provider
These statistics are based on the household economic survey (HES), a sample survey of more than 20,000 households across New Zealand. The HES was conducted over 12 months, from July 2019 to March 2020, and collected annual income for people aged 15 years and over for the 12 months prior to the interview. This means that the incomes of households interviewed in 2019 include some income from 2018, and only the very last households interviewed include income from the entire 2019/20 year.