Minister Paula Bennett says feeding children is a parental responsibility but figures show New Zealand has some of the poorest families in the developed world.

Minister of Local Government Paula Bennett says she expects parents to send their children to school with lunch.

National, ACT and United Future parties have voted down the Feed the Kids bill by 61-59 which sought to feed 20 per cent of New Zealand's lowest decile school children.

"It absolutely is the right thing to do. We provide breakfast into any school that wants it and this is being taken up which is great, but we believe in parental responsibility and I stand by the decision we made," Bennett says.

Meanwhile Labour Justice Spokesperson Jacinda Ardern says of course it's the role of parents to feed their kids but some parents cannot afford to feed their families.

"Food in schools is not the answer to poverty, but it is a short term solution that means kids will at least be guaranteed a meal at school, which will help with their learning. Surely that means it's the the right thing to do," she says.



In 2013 the New Zealand Children's Commissioner reported up to 25 per cent of New Zealand children live in poverty and launched the country's first detailed strategy to combat child poverty through the Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty group.

But figures show New Zealander's are still feeling the pinch of the purse with 17 per cent more families cannot afford to buy food according to the 2014 OECD Social Indicators for New Zealand.

Labour, the Greens, NZ First and the Maori Party supported the bill.