Children stand outside a house during a polio immunization campaign in an outskirt of the Yemeni capital Sanaa April 7, 2014. Yemen's Ministry of Public Health and Population launched a national polio immunization campaign on Monday, according to World He
Children stand outside a house during a polio immunization campaign in an outskirt of the Yemeni capital Sanaa April 7, 2014. Yemen's Ministry of Public Health and Population launched a national polio immunization campaign on Monday, according to World Health Organization (WHO). REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Child poverty rates in New Zealand have barely changed while more Kiwis admit they don't have enough money to buy food. According to the latest report by UNICEF, child poverty is "stagnating" in the country. The Children of the Recession report said New Zealand was not among the countries that have managed to reduce their child poverty rates following the global financial crisis.

UNICEF found that youth unemployed in New Zealand has increased. The report studied the effect of the global financial crisis on children in the 41 countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and in the European Union.

New Zealand was ranked 16th based on its efforts in reducing child poverty. The top countries with the biggest improvement in fighting poverty among children are Chile, Poland and Australia. UNICEF said New Zealand has managed to reduce the poverty rate to 0.40 percent since 2008. Small countries like Norway and Finland have almost the same size as New Zealand. Norway had reduced poverty rates by 3.2 percent while Finland also managed to lower the rate by 4.3 percent.

Deborah Morris-Travers, UNICEF New Zealand national advocacy manager, criticised the government's tax cuts which have done nothing to improve children's lives. Unlike New Zealand, Australia has welfare payments to low-income families to protect poor children and stimulate consumption to improve recovery. She mentioned Prime Minister John Key's comments when he admitted that children in the country were missing out. It was previously reported that Mr Key had acknowledged that something must be done to address it.

Travers called on the government to prioritise the wellbeing of children in developing a response to the recession. She believes it is the moral obligation of governments to improve the welfare of children. Some of the factors of child poverty that have worsened as indicated in the report were food security, overall satisfaction with life and children's opportunities to learn. However, the UNICEF report found New Zealand has the lowest level of stress.

UNICEF estimates that around 76.5 million children live in poverty in the 41 wealthiest countries. Out of 41 countries, 23 nations were found to have increasing child poverty rates while the rest have managed to reduce the number of poor children.