Jacinda Ardern has responded to criticism about the number of New Zealand children in poverty, saying she agrees there's more work to be done.
The Prime Minister spoke to TVNZ1's Breakfast this morning after more than 50 organisations penned an open letter urging her to act now and help lift children out of poverty.
The letter was sent to Ardern this morning but she said she hadn't read it at the time of the interview.
"We are calling on you to urgently lift one of the biggest limitations on whānau and child wellbeing, before Christmas: not having enough income," the letter reads.
Ardern said "huge progress has been made" in the sector, but added "it was never enough for me either".
"We were never going to fix everything in three years. My intention is to keep going and I will very, very happily continue to work with each of those organisations as I have in the last term.
"I'm asking us to constantly do more as well," she said.
On October 15 during an election leaders' debate with National's Judith Collins, Ardern said there are nine measures of child poverty.
"Seven of them were getting worse under the last (National) Government and those seven we have turned around.
"I’m not denying there is more to do. That’s why we are doing food in schools and making doctors visits cheaper," Ardern said at the time.
That night Ardern and Collins agreed on the target of halving child poverty in New Zealand by 2030.
"If we can possibly do it we would love to get there," Collins said.
In 2018, Ardern’s Government passed the Child Poverty Reduction Bill.
Her Government aimed to halve child poverty in New Zealand in under 10 years, with three targets in that period including: reducing the proportion of children in low income households from 20 per cent to 10 per cent and reducing the proportion of children in material hardship from 13 to 15 per cent down to seven per cent.
The following groups have co-signed the open letter:
ActionStation, Auckland Action Against Poverty, Auckland City Mission, Auckland Womens Centre, Barnardos, Belong Aotearoa, Beneficiaries & Unwaged Worker Trust, Beneficiary Advocacy Services Christchurch, Birthright NZ, CCS Disability Action, Child Poverty Action Group, Citizens Advice Bureau, Community Networks Aotearoa, Disabled Person’s Assembly, Equality Network, FinCap, FIRST Union, Lifewise, Manaaki Rangatahi, Manawatū Tenants’ Union, Māngere East Family Services, Mental Health Foundation, Methodist Alliance, Monte Cecilia, National Council of Women, New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services, New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations, Ngā Tāngata Microfinance, NZ Disability Advisory Trust, NZ Accessibility Advisory Trust, NZEI Te Riu Roa, Pacific Women’s Watch NZ, Public Issues Network: Methodist Church, Public Service Association, Renters United, Salvation Army, Save the Children, Social Justice Group of the Auckland Anglican Diocese, Social Link, St Matthews in the City, Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga: National Network of Family Violence Services, Tick for Kids, Tokona Te Raki, UCAN, Unite, Urban Neighbours of Hope, VisionWest, Waipareira Trust, We Are Beneficiaries, Wesley Community Action, Whānau Āwhina Plunket.
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