Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, December 18th, 2008 - 46 comments
So, I’m out of work. I was employed on a contract and when it came up for renewal the boss told me business is too tight, have to let me go. It wasn’t their fault and they were pretty good about it. For the first few weeks I just looked for work but there’s not …
Written By: - Date published: 11:36 am, August 11th, 2008 - 39 comments
That nice man, Mr Key, the one who says the old Left/Right divide is over, that he’s a new man with a new (ambitious) vision for New Zealand has rolled out an unprecedented and exciting policy today: beneficiary bashing. At present, we have a world-leading benefit system. By investing in staff, WINZ has become more …
Written By: - Date published: 1:20 pm, August 7th, 2008 - 14 comments
Unemployment rose again last quarter but remains under 4%. It has now been under 4% for 16 of the last 17 quarters. Interestingly, the number of employed people also increased last quarter but more people came into the workforce who were previously not looking for work. So, workforce participation grew faster than employment grew, meaning …
Written By: - Date published: 1:50 pm, July 4th, 2008 - 32 comments
The MSD’s Incomes Report provides a wealth of information. For instance, here’s how the mean and median household incomes have moved since 1982. Households suffered a massive erosion of income during the rightwing revolution from 1984 to the late 1990s. The leftwing governments since 1999 put that to a stop that. Now, incomes have regained …
Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, July 4th, 2008 - 34 comments
13% of people are living in poverty in New Zealand (defined as less than 60% of the median income, less than $40K a year for a household, $16K for an individual) compared with 17% in 2004 and 23% in 1994. Child poverty dropped 7% between 2004 and 2007. Since the Government came to power it …
Written By: - Date published: 3:36 pm, April 30th, 2008 - 44 comments
If National were the Government, Judith Collins would be Social Services Minister. That should be enough to send shudders down the spine of anyone who is worried about ensuring there is a safety net for the most vulnerable members of our society. Collins is rabidly anti the welfare state and a nasty piece of work. …
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