Poverty in New Zealand deals with the incidence of relative poverty in New Zealand and its measurement. Between 1982 and 2011, New Zealand's gross domestic product grew by 35%. [1] Almost half of that increase went to a small group who were already the richest in the country. During this period, the average income of the top 10% of earners in New Zealand (those earning more than $72,000) [1] almost doubled going from $56,300 to $100,200. The average income of the poorest tenth increased by only 13% from $9700 to $11,000. [2] Figures from 2016 show that about 15% of the population lives in poverty, compared to 9% in the 1980s, and 22% in 2004.[ citation needed ]
Growing inequality is confirmed by Statistics New Zealand which keeps track of income disparity using the P80/20 ratio. This ratio shows the difference between high household incomes (those in the 80th percentile) and low household incomes (those in the 20th percentile). The inequality ratio increased between 1988 and 2004, and decreased until the onset of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, increasing again to 2011 and then declining again from then. By 2013, the disposable income of high-income households was more than two-and-a-half times larger than that of low-income households. [3] Highlighting the disparity, the top 1% of the population now owns 16% of the country's wealth – the richest 5% owns 38% [4] – while half the population, including State beneficiaries and pensioners, receive less than $24,000. [1]
In the 21st century concern has been growing that an increasing number of New Zealanders, especially children, have been pushed into poverty where poverty is defined in income terms as households living at below 60% of the national median income. [5] In 2005, an international report found that one in six children in New Zealand were being raised in poverty – making New Zealand children 23rd poorest out of 26 rich nations. [6] In 2009 according to NCCSS, over half a million New Zealanders, including 163,000 children were living in poverty. [7] The Expert Advisory Group established by the Children's Commissioner found that the number of children falling below the threshold has continued to grow. In 2013, around 265,000 children, a quarter of all children in New Zealand, were now "mired in poverty". [8]
Statistics New Zealand also publishes a range of data on the economic well-being of New Zealanders and, in 2012, released a discussion paper highlighting the need for government agreement on the development of more useful criteria and statistics related to poverty. [9] Currently the information that is collected is 'static data' – it shows the percentage of citizens below a certain level of income. But New Zealand is unique among western OECD countries in that it does not collect 'dynamic' data which captures the extent to which people move in and out of poverty. [10]
In 2013 over a dozen different reports were released which focused on the issue and the need to develop agreed ways of describing and measuring poverty. [11] However, the National Government resisted these attempts maintaining that "endless arguments about definition and measurement are a waste of time". [11] Because of the Government's reluctance to define and measure the problem, in 2012 Children's Commissioner Dr Russell Wills, established an expert advisory group which produced a comprehensive report, called Solutions to Child Poverty in New Zealand: Evidence for Action [12] which contains 78 recommendations to combat poverty. Dr Wills also set up the Child Poverty Monitor [13] to highlight the living conditions of children in New Zealand on an ongoing basis. [8]
Factors contributing to the growth in inequality include substantial cuts in the top income tax rate in 1986-88 combined with a surge in unemployment caused by Rogernomics and the stock market crash of 1987 which pushed more people onto welfare. [14] Then in 1991, benefits were also cut back substantially as part of the reforms and those on welfare have been struggling ever since.
Professor Jonathan Boston of Victoria University says nearly 20% of poorer households in New Zealand now depend on welfare benefits. He says the growing gap between rich and poor enables the rich to "exercise disproportionate political influence", and that "if disadvantaged citizens are not to be excluded from political life, they must have access to education, healthcare and social assistance". [2] British epidemiologists, Richard Pickett and Kate Wilkinson, argue that inequality is damaging for everyone in society, not just the poor. [15] They say that when the gap between the top and the bottom levels of society becomes too wide, this erodes trust and empathy between citizens leading to alienation and social fragmentation. This exacerbates a multitude of health and social problems such as high infant mortality, obesity, teenage pregnancy, crime and imprisonment. [14]
In 2014, Pickett and Wilkinson were invited to Auckland and Dunedin to discuss the relevance of their research to New Zealand. [16] They argued that as inequality in New Zealand has grown, there has been a dramatic increase in the youth suicides, [17] [18] although in contrast, recent Department of Health data shows that the age-standardised suicide rate decreased by 19.5% from the peak rate of 15.1 deaths per 100,000 population in 1998 to 12.2 deaths per 100,000 population in 2012. [19] The proliferation of food banks increased dramatically; [20] and the number of families and children living in poverty has increased. However serious crimes causing injury and death decreased by 20% between 2012 and 2014, whilst assaults decreased by 3% over the same period. [21] At the same time, health care spending has increased. In 2011 Health spending accounted for 10% of GDP, higher than the OECD average of 9.3%. As in many OECD countries, health spending in New Zealand slowed post-GFC but still reached 3% in real terms in 2010 and 2011 – higher than the OECD average. [22] in 2012 New Zealand has 2.7 doctors per 1,000 population, and increase from 2.2 in the year 2000.
Wealth inequality in New Zealand, measured by the Gini coefficient, stands at 0.34 as of June 2019. [23]
In 2012, life expectancy at birth in New Zealand stood at 81.5 years, more than one year higher than the OECD average of 80.2 years. [24]
In December 2014, the OECD released the Global Income Inequality Report which said "[r]ising inequality is estimated to have knocked more than 10 percentage points off growth in ...New Zealand" between 1990 and 2010. [25] The paper found no evidence that redistributive policies, such as taxes and social benefits, harm economic growth, provided these policies are well designed, targeted and implemented. [26] It concluded that "focusing exclusively on growth and assuming that its benefits will automatically trickle down to the different segments of the population may undermine growth in the long run." [27]
The economy of New Zealand is a highly developed free-market economy. It is the 52nd-largest national economy in the world when measured by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and the 62nd-largest in the world when measured by purchasing power parity (PPP). New Zealand has a large GDP for its population of 5 million, and sources of revenue are spread throughout the large island nation. The country has one of the most globalised economies and depends greatly on international trade, mainly with Australia, China, the European Union, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States. New Zealand's 1983 Closer Economic Relations agreement with Australia means that the economy aligns closely with that of Australia.
Rogernomics were the neoliberal economic reforms promoted by Roger Douglas, the Minister of Finance between 1984 and 1988 in the Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand. Rogernomics featured market-led restructuring and deregulation and the control of inflation through tight monetary policy, accompanied by a floating exchange-rate and reductions in the fiscal deficit.
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for the average adult. The cost of housing, such as the rent for an apartment, usually makes up the largest proportion of this estimate, so economists track the real estate market and other housing cost indicators as a major influence on the poverty line. Individual factors are often used to account for various circumstances, such as whether one is a parent, elderly, a child, married, etc. The poverty threshold may be adjusted annually. In practice, like the definition of poverty, the official or common understanding of the poverty line is significantly higher in developed countries than in developing countries.
In economics, income distribution covers how a country's total GDP is distributed amongst its population. Economic theory and economic policy have long seen income and its distribution as a central concern. Unequal distribution of income causes economic inequality which is a concern in almost all countries around the world.
Poverty in Australia deals with the incidence of relative poverty in Australia and its measurement. Relative income poverty is measured as a percentage of the population that earns less in comparison to the median wage of the working population.
Poverty in the United Kingdom is the condition experienced by the portion of the population of the United Kingdom that lacks adequate financial resources for a certain standard of living, as defined under the various measures of poverty.
Social class in New Zealand is a product of both Māori and Western social structures. Researchers have traditionally discussed New Zealand, a first-world country, as a "classless society", but this claim is problematic in a number of ways. Since at least the 1980s it has become easier to distinguish between the wealthy and the underclass in New Zealand society.
Income inequality has fluctuated considerably in the United States since measurements began around 1915, moving in an arc between peaks in the 1920s and 2000s, with a 30-year period of relatively lower inequality between 1950 and 1980.
In China today, poverty refers mainly to the rural poor. Decades of economic development has reduced urban extreme poverty. According to the World Bank, more than 850 million Chinese people have been lifted out of extreme poverty; China's poverty rate fell from 88 percent in 1981 to 0.7 percent in 2015, as measured by the percentage of people living on the equivalent of US$1.90 or less per day in 2011 purchasing price parity terms, which still stands in 2022.
Poverty in Canada refers to the state or condition in which a person or household lacks essential resources—financial or otherwise—to maintain a modest standard of living in their community.
Israel's standard of living is significantly higher than all of the other countries in the region and equal to Western European countries, and is comparable to that of other highly developed countries. Israel was ranked 19th out of 189 countries on the 2019 UN Human Development Index, indicating "very high" development. It is considered a high-income country by the World Bank. Israel also has a very high life expectancy at birth.
In the United States, poverty has both social and political implications. In 2020, there were 37.2 million people in poverty. Some of the many causes include income inequality, inflation, unemployment, debt traps and poor education. The majority of adults living in poverty are employed and have at least a high school education. Although the US is a relatively wealthy country by international standards, it has a persistently high poverty rate compared to other developed countries due in part to a less generous welfare system.
Poverty in South Korea has been in drastic decline since the mid-20th century, particularly the absolute poverty rate. Relative poverty was also in decline until the late 1990s, rose in the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis, and has been in decline since the 2010s. While only about 2% of South Koreans are affected by absolute poverty today, about 14-15% of these 2% are elderly and are affected by relative poverty. Elderly relative poverty has been in consistent decline since 2011, according to the OECD.
Social determinants of health in Mexico are factors that influence the status of health among certain populations in Mexico. These factors consist of circumstances in which people grow, live, work, and age, as well as the systems put in place to deal with illnesses.
New Zealand suffers from one of the highest rates of child poverty in the Western world. According to Statistics New Zealand, by the end of June 2022, 12% of all children were directly affected by poverty. Historically, child poverty has had, and continues to have a disproportionately high effect on in Māori and Pasifika households, with 14.5% of Māori children and 19.5% of Pacific children living in poverty. These two ethnic groups continue to experience lingering effects of forced land alienation and immigration discrimination.
Sweden enjoys a relatively low income inequality and a high standard of living. Unemployment as of 2017 was estimated to be 6.6% by the CIA World Fact Book, lower than in other European Union countries. The Nordic model of a social welfare society exemplified by Sweden and its near neighbours has often been considered a European success story compared internationally with the socioeconomic structures of other developed industrial nations. This model of state provided social welfare includes many unemployment benefits for the poor, and amply funded health, housing and social security provision. within essentially corruption free nations subscribing to principles of a measure of openness of information about government activity. The Income inequality in Sweden ranks low in the Gini coefficient, being 25.2 as of 2015 which is one of the lowest in the world, and ranking similarly to the other Nordic countries; although inequality has recently been on the rise and several central European countries now have a lower Gini coefficient than Sweden.
Economic inequality in New Zealand is one of the social issues present in the country.
Poverty in Norway had been declining from World War II until the Global Financial Crisis. It is now increasing slowly, and is significantly higher among immigrants from the Middle East and Africa. Before an analysis of poverty can be undertaken, the definition of poverty must first be established, because it is a subjective term. The measurement of poverty in Norway deviates from the measurement used by the OECD. Norway traditionally has been a global model and leader in maintaining low levels on poverty and providing a basic standard of living for even its poorest citizens. Norway combines a free market economy with the welfare model to ensure both high levels of income and wealth creation and equal distribution of this wealth. It has achieved unprecedented levels of economic development, equality and prosperity.
According to data from 2010, low-income earners make up 37.8% of South Korea's labour force. Conversely, the highest income earners make up 1.4% of the labour force.
Child poverty in Canada declined since 2015, with the number of children who were living in poverty decreasing 71% by 2020.
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