25% of children in New Zealand live in poverty. These children often go without food, new clothes, proper medical treatment, and live in unacceptable standards. Child poverty plays a huge role in children’s education. Each year, 7,000 children leave school without qualifications and 30,000 children bunk school each day. A survey in 2006 showed that 15% of children left to school without eating breakfast. In 2010, over 20,000 children were admitted into hospital for illnesses and diseases caused by poor housing. Children from low income families are three times more likely to get sick than children from higher income families, and they have a 1.4 times higher risk of dying prematurely. About 375,000 children live in cold houses because they cannot afford heating. Child poverty also increases the chances of criminal offences, poor physical and mental health, unemployment as adults, and the risk of dying at a younger age. Children who are born into poverty have a high chance of dying before they are one.

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