The Green Party will deliver Kiwi kids a more financially secure future, while reducing inequality, by introducing a national savings scheme for all New Zealand children.

The Green Party announced a pre-Budget savings policy today, called Kids' KiwiSaver, which will provide all newborns a kick-start deposit of $1,000, on-going top-up contributions, and matching savings incentives to assist families to save for their children's future.

With careful saving, most children could reasonably build a nest egg of $12,900 by the age of 18 that they can then use for either tertiary education, a deposit on a first home, or roll over into an adult KiwiSaver account for their retirement. The scheme was fully costed by Infometrics and will cost $224 million over the first three years of operation.

"The Green Party is providing struggling families a game-changer for their children – a savings plan that will build wealth and give them real choices when they turn 18," said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.

"This policy is about providing middle and low-income families with opportunities for their children that they don't currently have.

"A $1,000 kick-start deposit, top-up contributions, and matching savings contributions will create good incentives to save for our kids' futures.

"With careful saving, most children could have saved at least $12,900 by the time they turn 18 – money they can then use to help fund a tertiary education, invest in their adult KiwiSaver account, or use to help with a deposit on their first home.

"National has lost touch with the real lives of many New Zealanders and the upcoming Budget is unlikely to offer their children much hope. Most families today don't have enough income to save and build wealth, and National is doing nothing to help them.

"While income inequality is high in New Zealand, wealth inequality is twice as high. The top 10 percent of New Zealanders own around 52 percent of all wealth. Only a third of all kids are currently enrolled in KiwiSaver.

"By building the wealth of our kids, we can empower the next generation of New Zealanders to invest in their education and homes to help them build the future they deserve. It's game-changing."

The Green Party has previously announced a comprehensive range of measures to address poverty directly, lifting the incomes of the very poorest, and delivering enhanced health, education, and housing outcomes.

"Kids' KiwiSaver is designed to complement our measures to address poverty directly by building wealth over the medium-to-long term, enabling all our children to make the best start in life possible when they reach adulthood," said Mrs Turei.

Kids' KiwiSaver details: https://www.greens.org.nz/policy/fairer-society/kids-kiwisaver

Green Party Media release