"Not going backwards is not good enough for our tamariki."
The Government set three key targets to achieve by June 2021: reducing child poverty before and after housing costs, and the percentage of children experiencing material hardship.
The Government aimed to reduce the percentage of children in poverty before housing costs from 16.5 per cent to 10.5 per cent, but this had only fallen to 13.6 per cent.
The Government did meet its target of reducing the percentage of children in poverty after housing costs from 22.8 per cent to 18.8 per cent, with the 16.3 per cent result outside the sample error of 1.8 per cent.
The third target was to reduce the percentage of children experiencing material hardship from 13.3 per cent to 10.3 per cent. The 11 per cent result was within the sample error of 1.4 per cent.
According to Statistics NZ, a target is met if it falls within the lower bound of the sample error.
Overall, 66,500 children had been lifted out of poverty over the time period.
This year's figures are the first to fully take into account the impact of Covid-19, after reporting for the year ended 2020 was stymied because of the first lockdown.
Prime Minister Jacinda Arden, also Minister for Child Poverty Reduction, claimed the statistics showed two out of three targets had been met.
"Despite Covid-19 causing the greatest global economic downturn since the Great Depression the Government has delivered reductions in child poverty across all nine measures," Arden said.
"These results continue our record of delivering one of the most significant drops in measured child poverty in decades."
But Asher said the statistics showed "show very small progress on some measures, and none on others.
"The picture is especially bleak for the tens of thousands of children with disabilities or living with a disabled parent, who experience the highest rates of material hardship, while Māori and Pacific children continue to experience unchanged, and very high rates on all poverty measures.
"Clearly the discriminatory policies which trap these children in the worst poverty need to be changed."
The figures also did not capture the 2021 Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. Asher said there was also increasing reliance on charity.
"With the Omicron surge now hitting communities, children and families in poverty are more desperate than ever, and yet have been invisible in Government's pandemic policy responses," Asher said.
"Rents and household costs have gone up significantly in the past year and foodbank demand demonstrates that the Government is falling in its duty to children."
CPAG called on the Government to immediately bring forward promised benefit increases, lift income support levels and ensure all low-income families were eligible for all Working for Families payments such as the In-Work Tax Credit.
Meanwhile, National's Child Poverty Reduction spokeswoman Louise Upston said the Government's approach had failed and was "all spin and no delivery".
Upston said since June 2017, before the targets were introduced, 156,300 children were in poverty before housing costs were deducted. By June 2021 it had increased to 156,700 children.
"In 2017 the Prime Minister promised her Government would lift 100,000 children out of poverty. But annual child poverty statistics released today show more children are living in poverty than when she took office," Upston said.
Upston said any reductions were due to tweaks to the benefit system, with more people now spending longer on benefits than when Labour was elected.
"Tragically, one in every five children in New Zealand is now growing up in a benefit-dependent home, an increase of 36,000 children since 2017.
"If Labour can't get people off benefits and into work when unemployment is low and employers across the country crying out for workers, then when can they?"
Auckland Action Against Poverty coordinator Brooke Pao Stanley said while there were overall downward trends material hardship and low income rates for Māori, Pacific and disabled children remain relatively unchanged.
"This Labour Government has no excuses in eliminating child poverty and poverty in Aotearoa NZ.
"As we've seen in their response to Covid, they have the capacity to change things very quickly.
"We don't need targeted measures for alleviating poverty, we can be bold and brave and eliminate it."
Stanley said eliminating poverty would involve ensuring liveable incomes and universal services.
Ardern said their policies like the wage subsidy and benefit increases throughout the course of the pandemic had made a difference.
"The reductions in child poverty we've delivered are down to a wide range of policies and measures including the $5.5 billion Families Package, ongoing minimum wage increases, and the implementation of our Free and Healthy School Lunches programme across the country," Ardern said.
The statistics do not factor in recent Government policies including benefit increases announced in Budget 2021, and Working for Families changes announced in November 2021.
The Government also has new three-year targets and aims to more than halve child poverty within 10 years.
"Our plan for achieving our intermediate and long-term targets is based around making progress in three key areas: increasing incomes for families, reducing housing costs and other pressures on low-income households, and changes to support the wider wellbeing of families," Ardern said.
The Government was also continuing to implement recommendations of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG), including a full review of the Working for Families system.
"Achieving our longer-term 10-year targets will place New Zealand alongside those countries with the lowest rates of poverty and hardship in the world and contribute to our goal of making New Zealand the best place in the world for children and young people," Ardern said.
The Government's child poverty reduction targets:
By 2020/2021:
• Reduce number of children living in poverty before housing costs from 16.5 per cent in the 2017/18 baseline year to 10.5 per cent – reduction of around 70,000 children. 2020/2021 result: 13.6 per cent - target not met (outside sample error 1.7 per cent).
• Reduce number of children living in poverty after housing costs from 22.8 per cent in the 2017/18 baseline year to 18.8 per cent – a reduction of around 40,000 children. 2020/2021 result: 16.3 per cent - met (outside sample error of 1.8 per cent).
• Reduce number of children experiencing material hardship from 13 per cent in 2017/18 to 10.3 per cent – a reduction of around 30,000 children. 2020/2021 result: 11 per cent - not met (but within sample error of 1.4 per cent).
By 2027/2028:
• Reduce the number of children living in poverty, before housing costs, to 5 per cent.
• Reduce the number of children living in poverty, after housing costs, to 10 per cent.
• Reduce material hardship to 6 per cent.
