Reporting on child and youth wellbeing and child poverty

Regular statutory reporting requirements provide transparency and accountability. Key reports include:

  • a Child and Youth Strategy Annual Report
    • Note: The most recent 2024 report was combined with the Child Poverty Related Indicators Report
  • a Child Poverty Budget Report released each year with the Budget
  • Child Poverty Statistics released annually by Stats NZ, and
  • a Child Poverty Related Indicators Annual Report.

Links to current and previous statutory reports are provided below, along with links to the Ministry of Social Development’s non-statutory Child Poverty Report which provides detailed information on various aspects of child poverty rates in New Zealand, including long term trends.

Annual Reports

The Annual Reports on the Child and Youth Strategy and Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy, for the year ended June 2025, were released on 2 April 2026.

The Annual Reports detail progress towards achieving the outcomes, as measured against both the current Strategy's indicators and the previous Strategy’s indicators. It includes specific information about outcomes for Māori children and young people, Pacific children and young people, disabled children and young people, and children and young people in disabled households, where data is available.

Monitoring Report - progress in implementing the Strategy

Historically, the Strategy was accompanied by a Monitoring Report that provided an annual update on Strategy implementation. Cabinet agreed to discontinue the requirement for this report in October 2024.

Child Poverty Budget Report

Section 15EA of the Public Finance Act 1989 requires the Minister of Finance to present to the House on Budget Day a report on child poverty. This must:

  • discuss any progress made, in the most recent completed financial year, in reducing child poverty consistent with the targets under the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018, and
  • indicate whether and, if so, to what extent, measures in or related to the Budget will affect child poverty.

Links to the annual Child Poverty Budget reports are below:

Child Poverty Statistics

Stats NZ is responsible for reporting the official child poverty statistics. 

Find earlier Stats NZ child poverty reports on the Stats NZ website.

  

Material Hardship Lead Indicators Dashboards

The Ministry of Social Development provides the Minister for Child Poverty Reduction with a quarterly dashboard that provides more up-to-date information about a range of ‘lead indicators’ that are related to child material hardship.

Child Poverty Related Indicators Reports

The latest reports on the Child Poverty Related Indicators - focusing on trends up to and including the 2024/25 year - were released on 2 April 2026.  

Child Poverty Related Indicators are measures related to the broader causes, consequences and correlates of child poverty. They reflect key factors affecting children’s future outcomes and life chances.

The CPRIs were first set in 2019. They were reviewed and updated in 2022 and then again in November 2024 as part of the development of the Child and Youth Strategy.

Ministry of Social Development – Child Poverty Report

The Ministry of Social Development’s child poverty report uses Stats NZ's Household Economic Survey (HES) to provide detailed information on various aspects of child poverty in New Zealand, including long term trends.

This report is not a statutory report required under the Act. It is designed as a resource to inform public discussion, research, and policy development for addressing child poverty. It complements the Stats NZ release which focuses mainly on shorter-term changes and progress to government child poverty reduction targets.

Further relevant data sources

The Child and Youth Strategy has a measurement framework that encompasses 14 measures which are the basis for the Strategy Annual Report. However, there are a wide set of measures that a range of government agencies and international organisations also routinely report on that are relevant to children’s outcomes. Links to some key data sources are provided below.    

Earlier reports related to the Strategy