First-ever measure of older people's poverty reveals nearly one in five living in hardship

The Selwyn Foundation was pleased to support the launch at Parliament on 19 August 2026 of the first-ever measure of older people's poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand. The New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services’ ‘Older Persons Poverty Monitor 2026 Report’ highlights concerning levels of hardship amongst our older citizens and reveals that nearly one in five are living in hardship.

The Monitor establishes a baseline across ten measures covering income, essentials, housing, social connection and health, and will allow New Zealand to track whether hardship among older people improves or worsens over time.

It finds:

• 168,000 older people reported delaying a doctor or dentist visit because of cost – almost one in five people aged 65 and over;
• 147,000 people (17.25%) aged over 65 live in accommodation they do not own;
• 102,000 older people are living below 50 percent of mean income after housing costs; and
• 25,000 older people are living in material hardship – living without essential items needed for a decent standard of living.

Poverty in older age is not evenly shared amongst the population. Women, Māori, and Pacific older people were shown to experience disproportionately higher levels of hardship. Women had higher rates of poverty than men across all ten measures, both in terms of total number and proportional to their population size. Pacific older people had the highest rates of poverty in seven of the nine measures, while M̄aori were the second most impacted across every measure.

Alongside financial pressures, many older people are experiencing loneliness, social isolation and age-based discrimination. When asking older people to define poverty themselves, social isolation and isolation from whānau comprised a third of all responses – demonstrating that wellbeing in later life depends not only on material offerings, but also in meaningful social connection.

The new Monitor will provide an important foundation for action and should form part of a national conversation going forward.

As part of the launch, The Selwyn Foundation’s CEO Denise Cosgrove hosted a cross-party political panel on the key drivers of older people’s poverty and the opportunities for change.

For more: https://nzccss.org.nz/older-persons-poverty-monitor/