NZ’s Ardern Unveils Childcare Subsidy in Cost-of-Living Relief

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a cost-of-living package for families battling surging inflation, and she warned that 2023 will be more difficult “in many ways” than this year.

More than half of New Zealand’s families with children will become eligible for subsidized childcare assistance from April 1, including all sole parents, Ardern said. The government will spend NZ$189 million ($112 million) to increase the income threshold for assistance in the program, reversing a freeze imposed in 2010.