Headline: Report reveals families still feeling the pinch
The latest household income survey reinforces what many Kiwi families already know – that they are simply treading water, Labour’s Social Development Spokesperson and Spokesperson for Children Jacinda Ardern says.
“There’s good reason why households are still feeling the pinch. The Perry report shows that net median household income in real terms has hardly moved in the last five years.
“Combined with recent hikes in the price of fuel, power, and groceries, it’s little wonder that families feel like they have been going backwards.
“Housing costs are also an on-going pressure point, with low and middle income families increasingly forking out some 30 per cent or more of their after tax income on keeping a roof over their heads.
“As the report points out without Working for Families, Kiwi households would be hurting even more, and these tax transfers continue to mask the cost of our low wage economy.
“For kids living in poverty, it’s tragically more of the same. The Government has had five years to tackle the problem. It has failed – there are still an estimated 270,000 children living in poverty.
“What’s more, for every 100 children living in poverty, 60 could be described as being in chronic poverty.
“New Zealand can do better than this. So long as we have a government that is focused on the politics of social welfare rather than the cost of living, decent jobs, and higher incomes, it won’t.
“Social Development Minister Paula Bennett might be satisfied with the status quo. No one else should be.”
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