A Porirua mental health provider says New Zealand’s worsening child poverty figures should be treated as a mental health warning, not simply an economic statistic.
Te Waka Whaiora says families struggling with cold homes, food shortages and financial pressure are experiencing conditions that can have lasting effects on children’s wellbeing.
The latest Ministry of Social Development figures show about 169,300 New Zealand children were living in material hardship in 2024/25, around one in seven children. The number has risen sharply since 2022.
Carole Koha, Pou Kaihautu of Te Waka Whaiora, said the wellbeing of tamariki could not be separated from the conditions they lived in.
“A cold house and an empty cupboard don’t just make a child sick. That’s the kind of hardship that follows a person for life, and we see where it leads if nothing changes.”
Te Waka Whaiora provides kaupapa Māori mental health and addiction services across the Porirua to Ōtaki corridor, including health coaches working within GP practices.
Koha said the organisation regularly worked with whānau dealing with pressures extending well beyond what could be addressed through clinical care alone.
“We work with whānau every day who are carrying more than any family should have to. You can’t fix a child’s mental health in a clinic room and send them home to a house that’s cold and a fridge that’s empty.”
The issue has also been raised nationally by outgoing Children’s Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad, who has described the latest child poverty picture as a “national shame” and called for political parties to agree on a long-term Child Poverty Reduction Accord.
Achmad said about 47,500 more children were living in material hardship than in 2022.
With New Zealand’s general election scheduled for November 7, Koha said child poverty should be treated as a long-term priority rather than simply an election issue.
“This is the kind of thing that gets talked about at election time and forgotten straight after. Given the state of the country right now, and the real chance of a change of government, whoever’s in charge next needs to actually commit, not just talk.”
Te Waka Whaiora is backing the Children’s Commissioner’s call for a cross-party agreement on reducing child poverty.