Half a million New Zealanders living in poverty

The New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services (NZ CCSS) published a report this morning showing measures of the number of people in Aotearoa who are hungry and living in poverty has risen over the last year to their worst-ever levels. One in six households are living in income poverty after housing costs, just over one in ten have to go without essential items regularly, and one in three households experienced food insecurity in the last year. (See more detail and charts below, along with a full interview above with NZ CCSS CEO Alicia Sudden).Elsewhere in the news today:* The Government has executed another handbrake turn under pressure from New Zealand First, delaying the start date for its widely-opposed and already-passed Health and Safety law rewrite until well after the election (See more below in my Picks n’ Mixes of scoops and deep-dives);* Work on designing and consenting the Northwest Busway project has halted after a dispute between NZTA and Auckland Council over the fast-tracking of approvals for the $4.9 billion project to transform public transport in West Auckland, Thomas Manch reports for BusinessDesk-$ this morning; and,* A conflict of interest controversy has engulfed National MP for Waimakariri and Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey over his cousin’s 850-section development in North Canterbury. The project was rejected twice by the local council, but is now being fast-tracked under legislation Doocey voted for without declaring his family’s interests, Stuff’s Nadine Roberts reports this morning.(Usually, I put a paywall in at this point in the email and the podcast and video above is only available to paying subscribers, but I wanted to make sure this was available to all immediately today so have opened it immediately. The Kākā covers Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate. Subscribe to support more of this work being done in the public interest and being made available to the public.) (I am considering removing the paywall on The Kākā’s entire archive and all emails and articles produced between today and the election on November 7. I am also considering offering half-price annual subscriptions to new subscribers until the end of 2026. I did this in 2022 and at the ends of 2023 and 2024, but not 2025. But I first want to ask permission of existing paying subscribers, almost all of whom now pay the full price for The Kākā and have come to expect it will not be available to all. I have created two polls for paying subscribers to ask for that permission over the next week. Non-paying subscribers cannot vote. I’ll proceed if over 50% of voting paying subscribers say yes to both questions.)Half a million New Zealanders now living in povertyThe New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services (NZ CCSS), which represents over 100 non-Government social services organizations, has called for major structural change and the passing of a Poverty Reduction Act after publishing a major new report documenting a worsening of poverty and hunger across the Motu.“Social service providers report increasing demand for support with the cost of living, including a rise in demand for financial mentor support and provision of food parcels and housing support. “The New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services calls for structural change to recognise and reduce the levels of poverty in Aotearoa. The introduction of a Poverty Reduction Act would help to identify and track cohorts who are experiencing high levels of poverty in Aotearoa, while changes to the welfare and housing systems would help to free New Zealanders from poverty and ensure that no one is left behind.” NZ CCSS CEO Alicia Sudden wrote in the foreword to the 85-page report titled: Kua Mahue | Left Behind Poverty in Aotearoa in 2026.The report details how:* 10.2% of New Zealanders experience income poverty;* 16.5% of New Zealanders experience income poverty, after housing costs are paid;* 9.1% experience material hardship, which is defined as going without essential items such as shoes, food or not being able to visit the doctor or dentist;* Almost half of benefit recipients with children reported they were in material hardship;* 47% of beneficiaries without children reported being in income poverty;* 473,000 people overall were estimated to be living in hardship in 2025;* Over 900,000 people were given food parcels in the year to June 2025;* One in three households reported food insecurity in the past 12 months;* More than half of New Zealand’s lowest-earning 10% are spending more than 40% of their disposable income on private rentals, which is the highest in the OECD;* The decline rate for applications for special needs grants for food has more than doubled to 7% since mid-2023; and,* The decline rate for applications for special needs grants for housing have sextupled to 30% since mid-2023, while the number of applications has collapsed from over 8,000 per month in mid-2023 to just over 1,000 by the end of 2025.There is much more detail in the report and in my interview above with Alicia Sudden.Chart Pack of the DayMy Picks n’ MixesScoops* Craig McCulloch for RNZ: Govt pushes back date of health and safety shake-up* Nadine Roberts for Stuff: Death threat, conflict claims and an 850-home subdivision: The row engulfing Matt Doocey* Kate Green for RNZ: Rapid review to be carried out after patient dies in Waikato Hospital ED waiting room* Justin Wong for LDR/RNZ: ACT candidate resigns after Chinese political group link revealedDeep-dives* Mary Argue for RNZ: In with the bulldozers, out with the gravel - flood-hit farmers want change in river management* Phil Pennington for RNZ: The police back-office holding back the front line* Reuben Smith for 1News: Severe specialist doctor shortage at Palmerston North Hospital. The hospital’s last gastroenterologist resigned two weeks ago.* Interview with Combined Building Suppliers Cooperative Carl Taylor with Kathryn Ryan for RNZ’s Nine to Noon: Builders fear new home warranty rules will price them out of market* Anna Whyte for Interest: Treasury’s internal issues pile up* Shannon Pitman for RNZ: Former Whangārei Coin Saver owner Snehal Patel accused of blackmail and migrant exploitationCartoon of the Day: We get it.Ka kite anoBernard This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thekaka.substack.com/subscribe