But can we take the claim behind its Kiwi Kids Grant – that population trends are at a “crisis point” – at face value? Advocates of such policies use terms such as “crisis” or “ticking time bomb”, but the reality of New Zealand’s population growth isn’t that simple. New Zealand’s population size has been steadily increasing, and is projected to keep increasing for the rest of the century. The New Zealand-European TFR of 1.6 is lower than the Māori TFR, currently at 1.9. The Māori population is also youthful, with a median age of 26.8 years compared to the New Zealand-European median age of 41.7.