Part 5: Communication with the public

5.1
In this Part, we look at the effectiveness and transparency of the agencies' communication with the public.

5.2
We expected the agencies to report child poverty trends to the public in meaningful and accessible ways. Information should be easy for the public to find and understand. This is important for transparency and accountability.

Summary

5.3
Although public organisations and NGOs told us they appreciate the child poverty reports and decision-makers find them useful, they are not always easy for the public to understand. This is largely because the multiple child poverty measures are complex.

5.4
These communication challenges can contribute to misunderstandings about the data and whether public organisations' work is making a difference to child poverty rates. The agencies are aware of this, and have taken steps to improve how they communicate child poverty measures and changes in the results. We encourage the agencies to continue this work.

Child poverty reports are not always easy to understand

5.5
Although the child poverty reports serve the agencies and Ministers well, they are not always easy for the public to understand. Many times during our interviews we heard that there is confusion over the child poverty measures.

5.6
In its advice to Ministers, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet said that commentary and public debate indicate a relatively poor level of understanding and some confusion about the child poverty measures and progress towards the targets.

5.7
Also, while government and non-government stakeholders view the range of measures positively, some told us they worried that the measures do not represent the full experience of child poverty. Related to this, there are perceptions that the child poverty measures do not fully reflect te ao Māori perspectives.

5.8
Clear communication about what the measures represent and what changes in results mean is important. This helps the public understand the impact that initiatives and other factors such as wider economic conditions are having and what value is gained for the money invested.

Multiple factors contribute to public misunderstanding

5.9
Although international best practice is to use multiple measures of child poverty, the multi-measure approach is complex.

5.10
Some of the child poverty measures can also seem counter-intuitive because they are estimated relative to the median income in the year of measurement. For example, if the median income goes down and more people fall above the BHC50 threshold, the measure would show fewer children in poverty, even though their circumstances might not have changed.

5.11
Other factors contribute to public misunderstanding. These include:

• a lag in the time that it takes for the results of policy changes to show in the child poverty statistics;
• Statistics New Zealand revising the statistics a year after they are first released to account for updated population and tax data;
• relatively large margins of error in the child poverty estimates;
• limited overlap between the different child poverty measures, making it possible for some measures of child poverty to improve while others get worse; and
• official statistics not always matching people's experiences.

5.12
There are reasonable explanations for each of these factors. For example, the lag in the time that it takes for the results of policy changes to show in the income-related statistics is partly unavoidable because of the way survey data must be collected. Survey respondents provide information about their income for the previous year over a 12-month period. This means that the dataset can include income data that is up to two years old. This makes it difficult to understand whether policy changes are making a difference until some time later.

5.13
Statistics New Zealand revises the statistics a year after they are first released to include the results of tax assessments finalised after the end of the tax year. The revisions can sometimes change reported child poverty rates by statistically significant amounts.

5.14
The large margins of error on the child poverty estimates make it more difficult to interpret whether changes are meaningful, especially over one year. This is one of the reasons why Statistics New Zealand and the Treasury encourage people to look at trends over multiple years rather than for just one year. Longer-term trends provide a more robust and reliable picture of progress.

5.15
Some people see a mismatch between the story that the official child poverty estimates tell and frontline perceptions of the levels of child poverty and the experiences of people affected by it.

5.16
Both the official statistics and frontline perceptions can be true at the same time. The child poverty estimates are based on the rate of poverty within the whole population of children. However, frontline services and NGOs typically work with a subset of that population, which is often those living with chronic or multiple disadvantages.

5.17
The child poverty related indicators are designed to help bridge the gap between the child poverty measures and what NGOs and other stakeholders see children and families experiencing. The indicators do this by telling the story about the wider changes we expect to see in children's lives when the country is making progress in reducing child poverty.

The agencies have taken steps to improve communications

5.18
The factors that can contribute to misunderstanding might be unavoidable. Nevertheless, they pose a significant communication challenge for the agencies.

5.19
One step that Statistics New Zealand takes to improve people's understanding of the data is to hold annual briefings for NGOs and the media before it releases its latest child poverty statistics. MSD has made improvements to the front sections of its 2024 child poverty report. These are positive changes.

5.20
We also consider that a focus on material hardship, which we were told is closest to the public's understanding of child poverty, could simplify communications.

5.21
We also agree with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Minister for Child Poverty Reduction that there is further scope to simplify messages and improve the public's understanding about child poverty. We encourage the agencies to continue improving their communications, ensuring that they are in an accessible format and easy to understand.

5.22
This would help to improve the public's understanding about whether government's efforts to reduce child poverty are working, and provide greater transparency and accountability.