A report on child poverty has shown some promising reductions in the number of children in poverty but the Children's Commissioner warns there is still much more progress to be made.

The Child Poverty Monitor results for 2017 saw the number of children living in material hardship drop from 14 to 12 per cent in the last year.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who has taken personal responsibility for reducing child poverty, says the small drop is welcome but there are still thousands of children going without the basics they need.

She has a Child Poverty Reduction Bill in the pipeline and says it will set up an opportunity to reach a long-term commitment to tackle the problem.

"I'm keen to work with the opposition to make that commitment durable," she said.

The report shows children living with more severe material hardship, defined as missing out on nine or more of the 17 items listed by the monitor, also fell from 8 to 6 per cent. This means there are now 15,000 fewer children living in severe material hardship than a year ago.

Children's Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft is pleased that improvements have been made but that it is important the progress is sustained.

"We need to see changes like these every year to see a substantial long-term decrease in poverty and ensure these gains are not cancelled out by increases in the cost of living.

"We can see for the first time some real progress towards wiping out child poverty, but it will take many small steps to get there," he said.

Judge Becroft said that the increases to benefit levels in 2015 contributed to the drop in material hardship and the government's Families Package, Best Start and increases to Paid Parental Leave would also make a real difference.

Whilst income poverty also dropped by one per cent to 27 per cent it is still almost double what it was in the 1980s.

The Monitor uses a list of 17 items to measure material hardship which includes living in a household where visits to the doctor or dentist are postponed, going without fresh fruit or vegetables and not having at least two pairs of shoes in good condition.