Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Posted on

Save the Children: Child poverty figures demand Government action to address stagnation

Source: Save the Children

Thursday 26 February 2026 – Save the Children: Child poverty figures demand Government action to address stagnation.

Save the Children is calling on the Government to strengthen its response to child poverty following the release of the latest Child Poverty Statistics today.
Statistics for the year ending June 2025 released by Stats NZ show no annual change in child poverty rates. The figures show that the number of children experiencing hardship in their everyday lives has largely remained the same, with specific groups of children – including mokopuna Māori, Pasifika and disabled children and those living in sole parent households – particularly impacted by poverty.
The data shows that despite the aims of the Child Poverty Reduction Act to achieve a significant and sustained reduction in child poverty, rates have largely remained the same for the past five years.
Save the Children New Zealand’s Advocacy and Research Director Jacqui Southey says while public reporting is important for transparency and accountability, the figures represent real children experiencing hardship every day.
“Behind every statistic is a child growing up in a household trying to survive on too little,” says Ms Southey. “Too little income, too little food security, and too little stability. Living on too little limits children’s wellbeing now and their opportunities in the future.”
New Zealand has legislated targets to reduce child poverty, yet recent years have shown progress stalling and, in some measures, reversing since 2021. Gains made between 2018 and 2021 have been eroded.
In 2025, one in seven children were living in material hardship, rising to one in four for tamariki Māori and disabled children, and jumping to one in three for Pacific children. Nearly 80 percent of households on the lowest incomes were sole parent households, living on an average disposable income of less than $46,000.
“An income at that level is simply not enough to provide a decent standard of living for children and families in Aotearoa,” Ms Southey says.
Save the Children is concerned that continued high living costs, low wage growth and rising unemployment are placing additional pressure on families, with more households relying on welfare and hardship assistance. Rising food insecurity, increasing preventable hospital admissions and higher rates of violence against children are all indicators closely linked to deprivation.
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has repeatedly urged New Zealand to prioritise child poverty reduction because of its immediate and long-term impacts on children’s development and wellbeing.
Ms Southey says addressing child poverty requires sustained investment in lifting incomes for families on the lowest incomes and strengthening the welfare and income support system.
“Paid work alone will not solve child poverty. Some families are locked out of the labour market due to illness, disability or caring responsibilities. Others are working but earning too little to keep pace with the cost of living.”
“If we are serious about eliminating child poverty, we must invest in income support, housing security and food security so children can thrive, not just survive.”
About Save the Children NZ:
Save the Children works in 120 countries across the world. The organisation responds to emergencies and works with children and their communities to ensure they survive, learn and are protected.
Save the Children NZ currently supports international programmes in Fiji, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Areas of work include child protection, education and literacy, disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation, and alleviating child poverty.
Posted on

Child material hardship climbs to 10-year high – CPAG

Source: Child Poverty Action Group

The number of children living in material hardship has reached a 10-year high, with 14.3% of children, nearly 170,000 children, living in material hardship.
Figures released by Stats NZ this morning show the number of children living in material hardship hasn’t been this high since 2015, and marks the third consecutive annual rise in child material hardship.
“Today’s figures are worrying but not surprising,” says Child Poverty Action Group Executive Officer Lyn Amos.
“Child poverty rises when incomes at the bottom fall behind the cost of living. We know what works: lift incomes, index supports to wages, and properly fund services. New Zealand has reduced child poverty before and can do so again.”
Analysis:
14.3% of children, around 169,300, are living in material hardship, which from this year is measured using the MH18 index rather than the DEP17 index.
This year’s material hardship rate is the highest number Stats NZ has on record since 2015, and has seen a significant increase since 2022, when the rate was 10.6%, or around 121,800.
It remains higher than the baseline year of June 2018, when the rate was 13.3%, or around 150,900.
The BHC50 figure, which measures the number of children growing up in households that earn less than half of a normal family income, is around 12.6%, or 148,700 chuldren.
This has remained roughly similar for the last three years, but is lower than the baseline year of 2017/18, when the rate was 16.5%, or around 183,400 children.
The AHC50 (fixed) figure, which measures the number of children growing up in households that don’t have enough money left to live on once rent is paid (compared to what counted as a basic living standard in 2017/18), is 17.8%, around 210,600 children. This is down from the baseline year of 22.8%, around 253,800 children.
The organisation’s research and programme officer, Dr Yu Shi, says inflation’s silent cuts to incomes are making families’ experience of material hardship tougher.
“Indexing income support to general inflation rather than wage growth means families are being punished by the costs of housing, utilities and food, which are all rising faster than average inflation,” says Dr Shi.
Even if the Government isn’t actively cutting income support, rising rents have meant the real value of accommodation supplements are falling, and with thresholds for Best Start and Family Tax Credits remaining largely frozen since 2018 [CR1] , inflation is effectively performing cuts to families’ incomes.
“The Government’s Budget Policy Statement leaves practically no fiscal headroom for the wealth transfers needed to reduce child poverty this year. As a result, its statutory child poverty targets are mathematically impossible to achieve under these settings.”
The Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018 introduced a target to reduce material hardship rates among children to 6% by 2028.
Despite reaching a recorded low of 10.6% in 2022, today’s announcement by Stats NZ, showing material hardship rates to the year ended June 2025 are at 14.3%, all but confirms the Government will not reach this target.
It also set targets to lower the percentage of children growing up in families that earn less than half of a normal family income, not counting housing costs (BHC50) to 5%, and reduce the rate of children in families that don’t have enough money left to live on once rent is paid, compared to what counted as a basic living standard in 2017/18 (AHC50) to 10%.
It is worth noting that the scale of poverty continues to rise for two years. The number of children living in a family with little money left after paying rent is over 353,000, comparable with the former peak in 2008, the Global Financial Crisis.
Today’s figures show the weight of poverty is being predominantly carried by tamariki Māori, Pasifika children and children in households with disabilities, whose experience of poverty is consistently higher than the average New Zealand population.
“A quarter of tamariki Māori are living in material hardship. Nearly a third of Pasifika children are, too. Where is the urgent action needed from the Government?”, asks Child Poverty Action Group’s Isaac Gunson.
“How many more generations of tāngata whenua, tagata moana, and tāngata whaikaha must bear the deeply unjust weight of poverty before the Government steps up and gives them a fair shot at life?”
“Young people with disabilities face higher, lifelong costs due to healthcare needs, and are being penalised in their formative years by poverty. There is no decision being made in by children experiencing poverty that prolongs their hardship more than the decisions made for them in Wellington,” Gunson says.
“The solutions are clear because they’ve worked: in the initial years after the Child Poverty Reduction Act came into law, we saw significant reductions in child poverty rates.”
“All we need now is for that action to be sustained, and the same political will to meet the moment and ensure our youngest generations can flourish free from poverty.”
Posted on

Tech – Fujitsu automates entire software development lifecycle with new AI-Driven Software Development Platform

Source: Fujitzu

Platform will be used in modifications of all 67 software packages provided to medical and governmental industry customers by end of fiscal year 2026 
Fujitsu Limited. Sydney, Australia, 26 February 2026 – Fujitsu Limited today announced the development and launch of its AI-Driven Software Development Platform, a new initiative to bring software development into the AI age and contribute to the sustainable growth of its customers and society. 
This platform automates the entire software development process, from requirements definition and design to implementation and integration testing. 
By leveraging the Takane large language model (LLM) [1] and agentic AI technology for large-scale software development developed by Fujitsu Research, the AI-Driven Software Development Platform enables AI agents to understand complex, evolving large-scale systems owned by enterprises and public organisations. 
The platform has multiple AI agents collaboratively execute each stage of software development, achieving full automation of the entire process without human intervention. 
Fujitsu aims to use this AI-Driven Software Development Platform to carry out revisions to all 67 types of medical and government business software products provided by Fujitsu Japan Limited by the end of fiscal year 2026.
The revisions are necessary due to legal and regulatory changes. From January 2026, the platform has been used in Japan for software modifications made necessary by the 2026 medical fee revisions [2]. 
In a PoC that updated software as per the 2024 medical fee revisions, the platform demonstrated a significant reduction in development time for one of approximately 300 change requests. 
Using conventional software development methods [3], the modifications would have taken three person-months. With this technology that was dramatically shortened to four hours, achieving a 100-fold increase in productivity. 
By utilising this AI-driven development platform, Fujitsu will dramatically improve the speed of software modifications necessitated by legal amendments and system changes. 
This will significantly reduce the burden previously required for system verification during modifications, thereby freeing up time for the planning and development of measures and services that lead to improved patient, resident, and customer services, as well as enabling customers and partners to continuously adapt to ever-changing operations and societal needs. 
Furthermore, Fujitsu envisions that this technology will also help customers and partners to respond to expanding IT demand and alleviate the worsening shortage of IT professionals. In AI-driven development, Fujitsu positions AI-Ready Engineering—the process of preparing assets and knowledge to ensure AI correctly understands existing systems and achieves highly reliable automation – as crucial. 
With AI-Ready Engineering and the AI-Driven Software Development Platform working in tandem, Fujitsu will accelerate AI-driven software development. Fujitsu will promote a transformation in engineers' work styles, strengthening its Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) complement, and shifting the paradigm of software development from a conventional person-month-based approach to a customer value-based approach.

Moving forward, Fujitsu plans to expand the application of the AI-Driven Software Development Platform to a wide range of sectors, including finance, manufacturing, retail, and public services, by the end of fiscal year 2026. 
Fujitsu will also begin offering this service to customers and partner companies to enable them to rapidly and flexibly develop systems that adapt to changes in their business environments. 
Through these efforts, Fujitsu aims to transform the software development process into an AI-driven model as an industry standard. 
Notes

[1] Takane large language model (LLM): Jointly developed by Fujitsu and Cohere Inc.
[2] Medical fee revision: A national system that reviews public medical fees and adjusts cost allocation for medical procedures.
[3] Conventional software development methods: Development methods where quality is verified at each stage, from software requirements definition, design, and implementation to integration testing.

Posted on

University Research – School experience plays a critical role in teen mental health, new Growing Up in New Zealand findings show – UoA

Source: University of Auckland – UoA

How young people experience school plays a critical role in their mental health, according to new findings from Growing Up in New Zealand.

The Now We Are Fifteen Education and Mental Health and Wellbeing snapshot reports, released today, show that 15-year-olds who feel satisfied with school and confident coping with everyday school demands report better mental wellbeing, lower anxiety and depression, and more positive peer relationships. By contrast, young people who experience discrimination at school are more likely to struggle both academically and emotionally.

The reports draw on data from more than 4000 participants who are part of this country’s largest longitudinal study of child health and wellbeing, led by the University of Auckland. The study provides a new window into how young people are navigating mid-adolescence.

“School isn’t just a place where young people learn, it’s an environment that plays an important role in shaping their wellbeing,” said Growing Up in New Zealand Research Director Professor Sarah-Jane Paine.

“Teenagers spend a large part of their lives at school, so it’s not surprising that school experiences matter for mental health. What’s powerful about these findings is that feeling supported, able to cope, and treated fairly is closely linked to wellbeing. That tells us school environments are an important lever for adolescent mental health.”

Professor Paine said the findings are not about adding to schools’ already full workloads or placing responsibility solely on educators.

“This research shows that schools are integral to young people’s wellbeing, and recognising that means ensuring they are properly supported and resourced to create environments where young people can thrive.”

Key findings include:

  • School experience and mental health are closely linked
  • Young people with higher school satisfaction and higher academic buoyancy (confidence in handling school demands) reported better mental wellbeing, lower anxiety and depression, and stronger peer relationships.
  • Discrimination undermines both learning and wellbeing
  • Young people who experienced discrimination were less likely to feel satisfied with school (34% compared with 44%) and reported lower academic buoyancy (3.9 compared with 4.5). Experiencing discrimination was also associated with poorer mental wellbeing and higher anxiety and depression, with most discrimination reported as occurring at school.
  • Disabled young people face additional barriers
  • Only 26% of disabled young people reported high school satisfaction, compared with 43% of those without a disability. Disabled young people also reported lower academic buoyancy, higher levels of discrimination (34% compared with 17%), poorer mental wellbeing, and less positive peer relationships. 
  • Connection matters
  • Strong friendships, feeling connected to culture, and feeling supported at school were all linked to better wellbeing and more positive school experiences. Young people with higher cultural connectedness were more likely to feel satisfied with school and better able to cope with school demands. 

The reports also highlight that while most young people have high hopes for their future, with tertiary education the most common aspiration, many feel pressure about exams, NCEA, and what comes next.

Professor Paine said the findings show that young people’s mental health and learning environments cannot be viewed in isolation.

“How young people feel at school influences their wellbeing, and their wellbeing in turn affects how they cope with learning. Supporting young people means looking beyond academic achievement alone and recognising that wellbeing, inclusion, connection, and learning are deeply intertwined.”

“Creating positive school environments and addressing discrimination are not ‘nice to haves’, they are practical, evidence-based steps that are central to helping young people thrive. Doing this well requires sustained support for schools, alongside coordinated action across education, health, and community services.”

The reports point to opportunities for action across education, health, and community settings:

  • Create positive school environments that build school satisfaction and academic buoyancy, recognising these as foundations for mental wellbeing.
  • Strengthen anti-discrimination policies and school-level responses, including monitoring and practical support for students who experience unfair treatment.
  • Invest in inclusive education, with tailored learning supports and protections from discrimination, including co-design with disabled young people and their families.
  • Support cultural connection through culturally sustaining teaching and curricula, visibility of language and identity, and stronger partnerships with whānau and communities.
  • Expand wellbeing and career guidance in senior secondary school to help young people navigate academic pressure and future pathways.
  • Take a whole-system approach to adolescent mental health, combining universal supports with targeted responses that recognise different stressors and experiences.

About Growing Up in New Zealand
Growing Up in New Zealand is Aotearoa’s largest contemporary longitudinal study of child development. It has followed the lives of more than 6,000 children from before birth, including around 1,200 Tamariki Māori, since their pregnant mothers volunteered for the study in 2009.  The children in the study reflect the ethnic and sociodemographic make-up of children born in New Zealand in the early 21st century. Since starting in 2008, the study has collected more than 100 million data points.
 
The data in the study offers policymakers, researchers, community advocates and other stakeholders evidence and insights into child and youth health and well-being in New Zealand.  Children and families have generously given their time to the study. Growing Up in New Zealand is a University of Auckland study funded by the New Zealand government and administered by the Ministry of Social Development.  

About Now We Are Fifteen
Now We Are Fifteen: Navigating Life in Mid-Adolescence brings together new insights from Growing Up in New Zealand participants at age 15, focusing on education experiences and mental health and wellbeing. The snapshots provide evidence to inform schools, policymakers, health services, and communities about what supports young people during this important stage of development.

The findings reinforce the importance of whole-school approaches that foster belonging, strengthen positive peer relationships, support cultural identity, and actively prevent discrimination alongside targeted supports for young people facing greater challenges.

Posted on

Financial Results – Kiwibank delivers positive half-year result and continues faster than market growth

Source: Kiwibank

Kiwibank delivered a positive half-year result for the six months to 31 December 2025 (1H26), with net profit after tax of $103 million, up 12% on the prior comparative period. The increase reflected strong balance sheet growth and a more favourable credit environment for customers. It's also clear some customers continued to face financial pressure. In 1H26:        

Lending of $1.8b increased total lending to $37.6b:

  • Retail home lending grew 1.6 times faster than the market, increasing $1.3b, reflecting strong demand for Kiwibank’s competitive rates. In the six months to December 2025, Kiwibank accounted for 13% of all net new bank mortgage lending growth, helping 6,213 Kiwi get on the ladder and more than 3,000 to refinance.
  • Kiwibank backed businesses and owners with lending of $0.4b, taking total business lending to $8.7b.

Deposits increased $1.4b, with total deposits rising to $31.8b.

Chief Executive Steve Jurkovich said the growth showed more customers were choosing a New Zealand-owned bank.

“In a tough period for many, more Kiwi chose to bank with us. We supported businesses to expand, helped more customers get on the ladder as our lending continued to grow faster than the market, and had strong deposit activity as Kiwi backed a purpose-led, New Zealand-owned alternative,” Jurkovich said.

Net interest margin decreased to 2.18 percent (from 2.29 percent) reflecting the competitive environment and increased cost of funding.

Market-leading value for customers  

Kiwibank remained focused on making banking simpler, fairer and more competitive:

Kiwibank continued to offer market-leading or joint-leading rates across key home loan and deposit terms, ensuring customers benefited from sharper pricing when borrowing or saving.[1]

Kiwibank home loan customers repaid their home loans faster than the market. This helped them build equity sooner and reduced their long‑term interest costs.[2]
Kiwibank’s Retail Online Call account has no conditions, no penalties and no hidden hurdles, so every customer receives the full rate on offer.[3]
Kiwibank removed 12 everyday banking fees, including the Visa Debit Card annual account fee, overseas ATM withdrawal fees, and card replacement fees.

“We focused on delivering the most value for the greatest number of customers and we did that by helping Kiwi to build equity in their homes faster while growing their savings and benefiting from lower fees,” Jurkovich said.

Building the bank of the future

Kiwibank made further progress on its multi-year transformation, including key upgrades to its digital banking and payments platforms[4], improvements to fraud and scam protections[5], and continued development of its new core banking platform.

“Our transformation is about building a modern, resilient bank that can deliver new and competitive products faster and give customers a better experience,” Jurkovich said.

Kiwibank also maintained New Zealand’s largest physical banking network, providing face-to-face access for customers and communities across the country.

Outlook

With lending and deposit growth continuing to outperform the market and business confidence expected to lift, Kiwibank is well positioned heading into the second half of the financial year. This momentum comes as economic activity is forecast to broaden through 2026, with more sectors strengthening despite global uncertainty and cautious household spending.

“We continue to back our customers through the good times and the tougher times as we build a stronger Kiwibank that drives more competition in New Zealand for the long term,” Jurkovich said.

[1] In 2025, Kiwibank offered the lowest or joint-lowest 12-month fixed home loan rate for 92 percent of the time, and the lowest or joint-lowest 24-month rate for 52 percent of the time; and held the highest or joint-highest 180-day rate for 84 percent of weeks and the highest or joint-highest 270-day rate for 80 percent of weeks.

2 Over the past two years, Kiwibank customers have been repaying equity in their home loans around a third faster than the market average. Based on RBNZ C35 data and internal benchmarking (June 24-December 25). Kiwibank customers’ net amortisation has been consistently around 0.6% above the market average, narrowing to ~0.3% when interest rates rose. Customers also make 0.3–0.5% more excess repayments on average, and scheduled repayments have typically been 0.1–0.2% higher than the market when interest rates are stable or falling.

3 Kiwibank’s Retail Online Call account offers customers the advertised rate of 1.50% without conditions that can limit access and returns.

4 Kiwibank rolled out Modern Digital Banking and Modern Payments technology to around 860,000 customers in November and December, making everyday banking faster, safer and more reliable, which supports switching and helps protect customers from fraud.

5 Kiwibank delivered changes required under the industry wide Scam Protection Commitments that took effect on 30 November 2025. This included the implementation of Confirmation of Payee, improved real time fraud blocking, high-risk transaction monitoring, and in the moment scam education that gives customers more control over potentially risky transactions.

About Kiwibank

Kiwibank is a Purpose-led organisation that has modern, Kiwi values at heart and keeps Kiwi money where it belongs – right here in New Zealand. As a Kiwi bank, with more than a million customers, our trusted experts are focused on supporting Kiwi with their home ownership aspirations and backing local business ambitions, so together we can thrive here in Aotearoa and on the world stage. Kiwibank is the #1 bank in Kantar’s 2024 Corporate Reputation Index and the only bank in the top 15. To find out more about Kiwibank visit www.kiwibank.co.nz.

[1] In 2025, Kiwibank offered the lowest or joint-lowest 12-month fixed home loan rate for 92 percent of the time, and the lowest or joint-lowest 24-month rate for 52 percent of the time; and held the highest or joint-highest 180-day rate for 84 percent of weeks and the highest or joint-highest 270-day rate for 80 percent of weeks.

[2] Over the past two years, Kiwibank customers have been repaying equity in their home loans around a third faster than the market average. Based on RBNZ C35 data and internal benchmarking (June 24-December 25). Kiwibank customers’ net amortisation has been consistently around 0.6% above the market average, narrowing to ~0.3% when interest rates rose. Customers also make 0.3–0.5% more excess repayments on average, and scheduled repayments have typically been 0.1–0.2% higher than the market when interest rates are stable or falling.

[3] Kiwibank’s Retail Online Call account offers customers the advertised rate of 1.50% without conditions that can limit access and returns.

[4] Kiwibank rolled out Modern Digital Banking and Modern Payments technology to around 860,000 customers in November and December, making everyday banking faster, safer and more reliable, which supports switching and helps protect customers from fraud.

[5] Kiwibank delivered changes required under the industry wide Scam Protection Commitments that took effect on 30 November 2025. This included the implementation of Confirmation of Payee, improved real time fraud blocking, high-risk transaction monitoring, and in the moment scam education that gives customers more control over potentially risky transactions.

Posted on

Alternative Dental Policy – New report highlights overseas oral health models, showing alternatives for New Zealand

Source: Dental for All

A new report published today by Dental For All explores eight overseas approaches to oral healthcare and shows another way is possible for Aotearoa New Zealand.

Adult dental care currently sits outside of the public health system, leaving nearly half of the population unable to afford it.[1] The report, titled ‘There Are Alternatives: Analysis of Overseas Models of Expanding Access to Oral Healthcare within Public Health Systems’, is the third released by Dental for All, a group calling for free, universal, Te Tiriti o Waitangi-consistent oral healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand.

“This research draws together examples of how other countries provide oral healthcare and shows how we can transform our approach to ensure everyone has access to the care they need,” says Dental for All campaigner and report coordinator, Kayli Taylor.

The countries included in the report (Niue, Japan, Colombia, Canada, Cuba, Finland, the United Kingdom, and Brazil) all take a more comprehensive approach to oral healthcare and provide publicly-funded care to a wider population. The report explores the benefits of each example and lessons for Aotearoa New Zealand. Research work was done by a researcher and a dentist with the support of the Dental for All team. It included desk research and conversations with oral health professionals working in these countries, or familiar with their contexts.

“In Aotearoa, children can access funded oral healthcare until their 18th birthday, however adult oral healthcare is fully privatised, making it inaccessible to many. This report shows that there are alternatives; a better approach to oral healthcare is possible,” says oral health researcher and co-author Anne Campbell.

“Rather than being the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, the approaches researched for this report show that investing in good, regular oral healthcare provides long-term benefits for individuals, communities and the country as a whole,” continues Campbell.

In 2024, Dental for All released a report by FrankAdvice which found that the social, economic and fiscal costs of people not being able to afford dental care exceed the cost of funding free dental care for everyone.[2] Following this, a 2025 report focused on lived experience and shared ten stories from people who have struggled to access necessary dental care – highlighting the stress, shame and stigma that results from our current approach to oral healthcare.

“There is a strong public mandate to change how we approach oral health in Aotearoa, and we have the economic case and human stories to back this up,” says Dental for All campaigner Hana Pilkinton-Ching.

“People often ask the question, ‘What do other countries do?’. This research provides an answer. We can learn from these overseas examples, as well as local case studies and Māori leadership in the oral health space, to move towards a system which provides everyone the care that they need and upholds Te Tiriti o Waitangi,” says Pilkinton-Ching.

Dental for All will release a fourth report in the coming months which outlines a policy model for free, universal and Te Tiriti o Waitangi-consistent oral healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand, and aims to secure policy commitments from political parties ahead of the 2026 General Election.

The report is publicly viewable here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G29aZ-OFKbYiDDxSFFeX0e6jAt0rLYx2/view?usp=drive_link
and linked on the Dental for All website: https://www.dentalforall.nz/research

[1] In the latest NZ Health Survey, 43% of adults reported unmet need for dental care due to cost, with higher rates of unmet need for Māori, Pacific and disabled communities.

[2] This research finds more than $6 billion in social costs, $5 billion in economic costs, and further fiscal costs (including impacts on the health system) as a result of unmet dental need in NZ adults. The cost of funding free, universal dental care is estimated to be less than $2 billion per year (based on costings published by ASMS, Stuff and the Green Party).

Posted on

Increasing household income offset by higher housing costs in year to June 2025 – Household income and housing-cost statistics: Year ended June 2025 – Stats NZ news story and information release

Source: Statistics New Zealand

Increasing household income offset by higher housing costs in year to June 2025 – news story
26 February 2026

Household income increased at a slightly higher rate than housing costs in the year ended June 2025, according to data released by Stats NZ today.

Average weekly household disposable income increased from $1,977.70 to $2,077.70 in the 12 months to June 2025, up 5.1 percent from the previous year (not adjusting for inflation).

Housing costs also increased between June 2024 and June 2025, for households with housing expenditure, the average weekly cost for housing increasing from $457.90 in 2024 to $478.00 in 2025, up 4.4 percent.

“While household income increased in the year ended June 2025, increasing housing costs meant households were spending a similar proportion of their income on housing as the previous year,” household financial statistics spokesperson Victoria Treliving said.

Follow the links for full information release and to download CSV files:

Posted on

No annual change in child poverty rates for year ended June 2025 – Child poverty statistics: Year ended June 2025 – Stats NZ news story and information release

Source: Statistics New Zealand

No annual change in child poverty rates for year ended June 2025 – news story
26 February 2026

No statistically significant movements occurred in child poverty rates in the year ended June 2025, compared with the year ended June 2024, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.

“While child poverty rates haven’t changed compared to the previous year, there have been decreases in two of the primary measures of child poverty since the year ended June 2018,” social and environment spokesperson Abby Johnston said.

There is no single official measure of child poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018 (the Act) sets out a multi-level, multi-measure approach, consisting of four primary and six supplementary measures.

Follow the links for full information:

Information release and to download CSV files:

Posted on

Alcohol available for consumption: Year ended December 2025 – Stats NZ information release

Posted on

Land transport rule tinkering won’t deliver meaningful productivity growth

Source: Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand

Road freight association Transporting New Zealand says the Government’s latest heavy vehicle reforms will see small productivity improvements, but says the Minister of Transport and transport officials must be more ambitious if they want to see meaningful savings for businesses and consumers.
The proposals announced today include allowing drivers on a Class 1 license to operate heavier electric trucks and buses, remove permitting requirements for vehicle rental service providers moving empty trucks, and simplifying the conversion of overseas heavy vehicle licenses.
Transporting New Zealand’s Chief Executive Dom Kalasih says that the proposals are a step in the right direction, but that tinkering with the regulations wouldn’t deliver the productivity improvements the country needs.
“To put things in perspective, the current proposals would remove the need for about 79 heavy vehicle permits a year, affect around 30 battery electric heavy vehicles annually, and remove a $100 fee and a paper form from international driver license conversions.”
The changes are Phase 2 of the Government’s Heavy Vehicle Productivity reform programme.
Consultation on Phase 1 concluded in December last year, and included consultation on the removal of 50MAX permits and H Plate requirements.
Kalasih says that the modest proposals don’t match with the Government’s ambitious growth agenda and increasing national freight task.
“There are some really exciting technological developments in higher productivity and lower emission trucks that are being blocked by the current land transport regulations.”
“Our submission on Phase 1 of the productivity reforms contained six specific recommendations, including changes to permitted axle configurations and spacing limits. Officials are currently considering this feedback, and we want to see those changes adopted.”
“Similarly, with these Phase 2 proposals, particularly around increased weight limits for heavy electric vehicles, we’ll be pushing for more meaningful changes that accommodate larger battery electric, hydrogen and hybrid truck and trailer combinations.”
Submissions on the proposed changes close on 25 March.