Headline: Inequality crisis is not fiction
Failure by the Government to recognise that inequality in this country has reached a crisis point – and act on it – will cost future generations, Labour’s Social Development spokesperson Jacinda Ardern says.
“A book out today, authored by experts in their fields, should be compulsory reading for every National MP.
“Inequality- A New Zealand Crisis not only points out the damaging effects of inequality, but emphasises the fact that is increasingly being recognised around the world as one of the greatest threats, if not the greatest threat, facing the global economy.
“The OECD says ignoring it is ‘not an option’.
“John Key, in a video uploaded this morning, talks about National’s 2011 promise of building a brighter future for kids and their families.
“Funnily enough he doesn’t mention how New Zealand now has the widest income gap since detailed records began in the early 1980s, or the fact National’s policies have done little to address that.
“As the authors point out, across all adults in New Zealand the top 1 per cent owns three times as much wealth as the poorest 50 per cent.
“Inequality matters because with it comes increasing poverty. Without enough to get by, families suffer. Kids get sick, they become disengaged from school, and they are worse off when they come to enter the workforce – if they do – as the next generation of tax payers.
“We used to be proud of our egalitarianism, but the wider the gap becomes, the greater the depth of the poverty.
“The Government can’t continue to ignore the problem.
“We won’t address inequality unless we are willing to address our low wage economy and make more than piecemeal policy.”
—
