People with Intellectual Disability Left Behind in Poverty Crisis
The latest Ministry of Social Development social cohesion report confirms what disability advocates have long warned: poverty is deepening across Aotearoa, and disabled people are hit hardest.
IHC Director of Advocacy Tania Thomas says the situation for people with intellectual disability (PWID) is even more severe – and has been for decades – yet government strategies continue to ignore this crisis.
“Two in five New Zealanders now say they don’t have enough income to meet everyday needs, and the number of people cutting back on food is soaring,” says Tania. “For people with intellectual disability, poverty is not a new reality – it’s a constant one.”
IHC’s data from The Cost of Exclusion report shows that people with intellectual disability are:
• Twice as likely to live in hardship up to age 39 and almost three times as likely at ages 40–64 compared to other New Zealanders
• Four times more likely to miss meals because they cannot afford meat or a vegetarian equivalent every second day
• Three times more likely to cut back on fresh fruit and vegetables due to cost
• Twice as likely to put up with being cold because they cannot afford heating
• Almost four times more likely to live in a rented home and seven times more likely to spend life in social housing.
Children with intellectual disability face some of the most extreme impacts:
• 6.5 times more likely to miss school events due to cost
• Almost three times more likely to wear clothes or shoes that are worn out or the wrong size because new ones are unaffordable
• Twice as likely to lack internet or a computer for homework.
“These are not just numbers – they represent thousands of New Zealanders who have always been left in poverty,” says Tania. “Our statistics go back 10 years, which means this hardship is long-term, structural and remains unaddressed.”
IHC’s feedback on the draft New Zealand Disability Strategy asks for the inclusion of a section on poverty alleviation that is broader than focusing on employment alone.
“Employment is important but when nearly half of disabled people report they cannot meet their daily needs, we need a comprehensive strategy that seeks to address this,” says Tania. “We cannot just tell people to get a job when many cannot access the support they need to work, and when the work available often doesn’t lift them out of poverty.”
IHC is calling for:
• A government-led plan to reduce poverty for disabled people, including targeted financial supports
• Annual monitoring and public reporting on hardship rates for people with intellectual disability
• Integration of poverty reduction into the Disability Strategy alongside employment.
“Poverty for people with intellectual disability is not inevitable – it is a policy failure,” says Tania. “We need urgent action, not another decade of data telling us that disabled people often live in severe poverty.”
Editor’s note: the MSD Social Cohesion in Aotearoa New Zealand 2024 report can be found here: https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/work-programmes/community/social-cohesion/2024-social-cohesion-indicator-report-final.pdf
