Published today in PLOS ONE, the collaborative study led by Dr Nichola Shackleton and Associate Professor Barry Milne from the University’s social science research centre COMPASS wanted to know if children in lower-income households ended up in hospital more frequently. “Hospitalisation was only slightly elevated among those in poverty, and only for some conditions, notably oral health, and there was no evidence of a causal association between income poverty and hospitalisations,” says Associate Professor Milne. New Zealand has high rates of child poverty, and poverty disproportionately affects children. Latest estimates suggest 21 percent of children live in income poverty, and 13 percent live in material deprivation (NZ Child Poverty Monitor 2020), and there is overwhelming evidence that socio-economic conditions have an impact on child health in New Zealand.