21. This section summarises the current situation for those most affected by inequalities, namely children and young people, Māori, Pacific people, women, disabled people and refugees. A. Material Deprivation 22. The number of children in New Zealand who live in poor households and face material deprivation remains unacceptably high for a developed nation. The correlation between household income poverty, poor quality housing and poor child health outcomes, including hospitalisation and mortality rates, is extremely concerning. It is further compounded by ethnic disparities, with disproportionate numbers of Māori and Pacific children living in households with incomes below the relative income poverty line. Family status has a significant bearing on outcomes amongst these groups. In 2015 46% of children aged 6+ from sole parent families were in hardship compared to 17% from two parent families.5 Similarly a greater percentage of children in families with more than 4 children were identified as being in hardship – 35% of children aged 6+ in households with more than 4 children were identified as being in hardship compared to 22% in one child households.6 23. Disabled children are more likely to live in low-income households and in socioeconomically deprived areas than non-disabled children. 7 24. According to the most recent government data on living standards approximately 25% of New Zealand children live in low income households, and 150,000 live in material hardship.8 25. New Zealand’s Child Poverty Monitor9 – a joint project from the Children’s Commissioner, J R McKenzie Trust and Otago University - monitors trends in four measures of child poverty: income poverty, material hardship, severe poverty and persistent poverty. The 2015 Child Poverty Monitor found:10  305,000 (29%) of dependent 0–17 year olds were living in income poverty defined using a relative threshold measure of below 60% of the median income after housing costs were taken into consideration. In 2013, the percentage was 24; 5 http://www.nzchildren.co.nz/#toc_17 Ibid. 7 Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty, Solutions to Child Poverty in New Zealand: Evidence for Action, p 2, http://www.occ.org.nz/assets/Uploads/EAG/Final-report/Final-report-Solutions-to-childpoverty-evidence-for-action.pdf 8 New Zealand Household Incomes Report https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/monitoring/household-incomes/ 9 http://www.childpoverty.co.nz/ 10 http://www.nzchildren.co.nz/# 6 7