There is a tendency to consider universal payments to be the best and most generous method of redistribution within a society but this idea is relatively unfeasible in the New Zealand context as would involve a dramatic increase of the top tax rates in order to pay for it or major adjustments to spending elsewhere Child poverty is experienced in households with the lowest incomes, indicating a need for targeting of this part of the population in order to have a real impact on the rate of child poverty in New Zealand.
Targeted payments will be the best use of resources allocated to alleviating child poverty. Problems associated with targeted payments such as stigmatisation of those receiving assistance and the possibility of missing those in need have not been seen in the Australian case where high income thresholds to be eligible for the Family Tax Benefit remove much of the possibility of those most in need missing out.