WELLINGTON, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Child poverty in New Zealand has dropped slightly over the last year, but almost one in four children is still growing up in poverty and one in six is going without basic healthcare, clothing, accommodation and fresh fruit and vegetables, according to a report out Tuesday.
The second annual Child Poverty Monitor, compiled by the government's Children's Commissioner and the University of Otago and funded by a charitable trust, also found that 10 percent of children were at the hardest end of poverty and three in five children in poverty would remain that way for much of their childhood.
The report said the families of 260,000 children, or 24 percent, live off less than 60 percent of the median household income its poverty line down from 265,000 last year.
The monitor also revealed more than 40,000 children under 14 were hospitalized each year "for conditions related to a social gradient."
Children's Commissioner Russell Wills said that clear and accurate information on child policy was needed to inform policy choices given that Prime Minister John Key had committed to making the issue a priority.
"Child poverty has become one of the most talked about issues in New Zealand in recent months and we're starting to see a swell of action. There are more initiatives happening in communities, within government and by the business and philanthropic sectors to improve children's lives and the country's future," Wills said in a statement.
"However, I am really worried about the 10 percent of children living in severe poverty, and the number who are staying in poverty for long periods. Any action to reduce child poverty needs to focus on these children as a matter of urgency."
Dr Jean Simpson, of Otago University, said the health issues associated with child poverty were also starkly apparent in the high rates of hospital admissions for infectious and respiratory diseases.
"These diseases include bronchiolitis, acute upper respiratory infections, pneumonia and rheumatic fever, which can have lifelong implications for those who have suffered them in childhood," Simpson said in the statement.
Opposition parties described New Zealand's persistent child poverty as shameful and criticized the government for concentrating on economic growth, while ignoring the lack of growth in incomes.
The United Nations Children's Fund New Zealand (UNICEF NZ) reminded the government of its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to ensure that every child in New Zealand had a standard of living that supported their physical and mental development.
Deborah Morris-Travers, UNICEF NZ national advocacy manager, said the government policy had the single-biggest impact on poverty rates and was a central part of ensuring that families and communities had the resources necessary to meet the needs of their children.
The monitor was "a reminder that a more comprehensive response from all of the government is needed in the critical areas of family income, education, housing and health," Morris-Travers said in a statement.
Social Development Minister Anne Tolley told Radio New Zealand that Prime Minister John Key was leading plans focused on the thousands of children living in hardship, with not enough money going into the household.
"It's shaping up to be a really big piece of work, some of it short term but most of it very long term," said Tolley.
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