Alliance Party unveils New Zealand child poverty elimination plan

The Alliance Party has released detailed social security and welfare policies aimed at eliminating child poverty in New Zealand. Central to this platform is the Universal Child Benefit, which the party says provides a broader focus on social justice.

Sara Dyatlova Murphy, the party’s social security spokesperson and West Coast-Tasman candidate, stated that the policy recognizes children as citizens with their own rights rather than mere dependents of adults. She emphasized that government policy audits should consider the impact on children with the same level of care applied to women, the environment, and tangata whenua.

The policy was shaped by research from the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), an organization that has documented the effects of poverty on children for over thirty years. The Alliance's proposal serves as a response to CPAG’s 2026 election manifesto, which calls for all political parties to commit to solutions for children.